while they contribute to the safety of a government too imbecile and corrupt to unite the good wishes of all classes, have not unfrequently given rise to affrays which have polluted even the churches and their altars with blood.
Such are the three great classes of men which may be considered as natives of the Phillippine Islands. The Creole[1] Spaniards, or those whose blood is but little mingled with the Indian ancestry, pass as Spaniards. Many of them are respectable merchants and men of large property; while others, from causes which will be seen hereafter, are sunk in all the vices of the Indian and Mestizo.
The government of the Phillippine Islands is composed of a governor, who has the title of Captain General, with very extensive powers; a Teniente Rey, or Lieutenant Governor; the Audiencia or Supreme Court, who are also the Council. This tribunal is composed of three judges, the chief of whom has the title of Regent, and two Fiscals or Attorney Generals, the one on the part of the king, the other on that of the natives, and this last has the specious title of "Defensor de los Indios." The financial affairs are under the direction of an Intendant, who may be called a financial governor. He has the entire control and administration of all matters relative to the revenue, the civil and military auditors and accountants being under him. Commercial affairs
- ↑ "To be born in Spain was enough to secure one marked tokens of respect; but this advantage was not transmitted. The children who first saw the light in that other world no longer bear the name of chapetons, which honored their fathers; they become simply créoles." (Raynal, Etablissemens et commerce des Européens, ii, p. 290.)–Eds.
