Excerpt from An Historical Sketch of the Portuguese Settlements in China: And of the Roman Catholic Church and Mission in China<br><br>To trace the beginning of this settlement and its progress, and to examine on what ground Macao is numbered among the ultra-marine dominions of Por tugal was of consequence. Historians who detailed the earliest achievements of their countrymen in Asia, and records of the first missionary labours in China, gave the clue and exhibited to us the origin. Nation al and foreign authors of later dates describe the ad vancement, prosperity and decline of Macao, the in habitants of which, being principally by birth from Portugal, claimed in virtue of their allegiance, the protection of their sovereign: it was granted and a government instituted. By this concession, the court of Lisbon fancied that it had acquired an inherent right to the dominion of Macao, though the members of the Senate in 1593, assured his majesty, Philip I.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.