I am very sorry to mention that the Company’s Servants at Madrass took every method in their Power to obstruct the expedition, except Mr. Pigot (who proved himself hearty in it & wished it success) their behaviour on this occasion was shamefull; they would admit only of two Companys of their own Troops to goe on the Expedition; and those composd. of French deserters,[2] and Prisoners they released on this Occasion; of two thousand Seapoys they were to furnish about 500 only was embarked; they even refused a small Vessel which would have been of great use, the Master being a good Pilot in ye Streights of Mallacca and well acquainted with the Bay of Manila, he was threaten’d to be turn’d out of their Service, for Shewing a readyness for going with me; but of these Circumstances and many others regarding their behavior in the outset of the Expedition your Lordship will receive particular Information from Genl. Draper. I wish I could forbear to tell Your Lordsp that My Constitution is much hurt by my long Continuance in the West & East Indies during the course of this war, and puts me under the necessity of begging whenever the Public service will admit, that Your Lordship will indulge me with the favor of being relieved.
For a more particular State of the Squadron I take the liberty of referring your Lordship to Captn. Kempenfelt, whom I send with my dispatches, and will have the Honour to present to you some Coppar Plates of the Philippine Islands, that were found in Manila.[3] This Gentleman having approved Himself a very able & diligent officer, as such I beg leave to recommend Him to Your Lordship’s Protection. I have the Honour to be with the greatest Respect Your Lordship’s most
obliged & most humble Servt
Norfolk, off Cavita in the Bay of Manila 1st of Novr. 1762.
[Endorsed: “Copy of a Letter from Admiral Cornish to Lord Anson giving an acct. of Taking of the Manila Islands: Novr. 1st, 1762. Rece’d at the Admty. April 14th, 1763 at night.”]
[1] Lord George Anson was descended from a family long established in Staffordshire, and was born at Shugborough manor, in the parish of Colwich, April 23, 1697. Choosing the sea as his career, he became second lieutenant May 9, 1716. In 1718 he took part in the action near Sicily in which the Spanish fleet was destroyed. The years 1724–27 he spent in a naval position in South Carolina, erecting there the town Anson Bourgh, and giving name to a county. He made two other trips to South Carolina, where he had acquired considerable property. On the outbreak of hostilities with Spain in 1739, he was chosen commander of the fleet to attack the Pacific Spanish-American settlements, and while engaged in this mission made his celebrated circumnavigation of the world, capturing the Philippine galleon on June 20, 1743. He arrived at England, June 15, 1744, after many dangers, in which he displayed great hardihood and courage. Shortly after his return, he was made a rear-admiral of the blue, and soon after that was elected to Parliament. December 27, 1744, he was appointed one of the commissioners of the admiralty, and April 23, 1745 was made a rear-admiral of the white. July 14, 1746 he was appointed vice admiral, and during that and the succeeding year performed many services for his country. June 13, 1747, he was appointed to the peerage. Most of the rest of his life was passed as a member of the admiralty board, he finally becoming its head, having attained the rank of admiral. He died June 6, 1762, so that the letter written by Cornish never reached him, being written indeed some months after that event. See New and general biographical dictionary (London, 1798), i, pp. 389–391; Chalmers’s General biographical dictionary (London, 1812–1817), ii, pp. 294–311; Rose’s New general biographical dictionary (London, 1848), ii, pp. 489–500; Barrow’s Life of George Lord Anson (London, 1839); and the various editions of his Voyages. [↑]
[2] Le Gentil (Voyage, Paris, 1781, ii, pp. 247, 248), says of these Frenchmen: “The English, on arriving at Manila, had with them about three hundred and fifty Frenchmen, enrolled by force. These people formed a plan to desert them at the first opportunity. The English had not yet finished their battery, when the little French troop sent two trusty men to confer with the place and to agree with them for a sortie, during which the French troop would take the side of the Spaniards. Two men were sacrificed; they went without weapons, their arms crossed, to present themselves at the gate of the city. Instead of opening it to them, they were allowed to be massacred by the Indians who did not know them. At Manila, innumerable chimerical ideas have been formed as to the sudden arrival of these two men. But what can two men who come without weapons and with crossed arms to present themselves at the gate of a city do? What is there to fear from them to refuse to receive them? I believe that they were taken for English at Manila, and that a poorly understood religious motive was the reason for the very great fault of not opening the gate to them. Whatever it was, this treatment did not engage others to sacrifice themselves. But the English, having some doubt of some resolution on the part of the French, put it out of their power to attempt anything to their prejudice, by placing them between the Sepoys and their national troops, with orders to fire on these French, if they were seen to comport themselves differently than the others.” [↑]
[3] Scots Magazine for 1763, xxv, p. 235, contains the following in regard to these plates: “They write from London, of April 21, thus. ‘There were found at the Manilas, among many other curiosities, and brought here by Col. Draper, eight copper-plates, on which are engraved a most particular map of the Philippine islands, adorned with the customs and habits of the inhabitants of those parts, which was done by order of the governor, in 1734, and dedicated to his Catholic Majesty.’—By an advertisement since inserted in the papers, some few impressions are proposed to be taken of these original copper-plates.” What is probably one of these impressions was sold recently by the firm of Henry Stevens, Son and Stiles, London, to the Library of Congress. This is the celebrated Murillo Velarde map. The map is printed in four sheets, as are also the pictures (three to a sheet) of the “customs and habits of the inhabitants,” and are so arranged that the map is in the middle with the pictures grouped on its right and left sides. The map as sold by the above firm was arranged in two large sheets, with a margin left so that the sheets could be easily joined. The whole map if pasted on one single sheet with the pictures would measure about 1170 mm. wide, and 1082–1087 mm. high. The difference in height between the two halves seems to be due to the lines not being drawn quite true on the plates, although shrinkage of paper may affect it slightly. This map is described by Pardo de Tavera in his El mapa de Filipinas del P. Murillo Velarde (Manila, 1894); and La carte des Philippines du Pere Murillo Velarde (Paris, 1898), the latter being a separate or “Extrait du Bulletin de geographie,” No. 1, 1897. Marcel reproduces several of the pictures. The map contained in the Ayer Murillo Velarde is unaccompanied by the pictures, and was engraved in 1744. We are indebted for much of this note to the courtesy of the above-named firm. [↑]