Colonel Draper’s answer to the Spanish arguments, claiming the Galeon, and refusing payment of the Ransom Bills, for preserving Manila from pillage and destruction :

in a Letter addressed to the Earl of Halifax, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Southern Department. London : printed for J. Dodsley, 1764. Octavo, recent half calf over cloth boards with gilt rule; spine with raised bands ruled and lettered in gilt; pp 43; slightly later annotations on title page and page 33; lacking half title, title page and last few leaves lightly foxed.

A contemporary publication relating to the British invasion of Manila, a military action which took place as a consequence of Spain’s entry into the Seven Years’ War as an ally of the French. In January 1762, England and Spain had opened hostilities against each other, and in late September 1762 a British force of sailors and marines sent from Madras under Sir William Draper arrived in the Philippines, occupying both Manila and the nearby port of Cavite. The occupation lasted until March 1764, when the new Spanish governor, Francisco de la Torre, arrived with orders from London for the English to surrender Manila to him.

‘During the Anglo-Spanish War, in 1762, an English force under the command of Sir William Draper invaded the Philippines and took the city of Manila. Instead of destroying the city and with it the Spanish government’s property, the British ransomed it for four million dollars, half of which was paid immediately. With the balance remaining, the war ended with the treaty of Paris in 1763 and the Spanish refused to honor their ransom obligations. Draper wrote this memorial to urge the government to insist on payment. Many of the officers had banked on bonuses resulting from this sum, Draper’s share of which amounted to 25,000 pounds.” (Hill)

Hill, 495