Spanish Manila was seen in the 19th century as a model of colonial governance that effectively put the interests of the original inhabitants of the islands before those of the colonial power. As John Crawfurd put it in its History of the Indian Archipelago, in all of Asia the "Philippines alone did improve in civilization, wealth, and populousness under the colonial rule" of a foreign power.John Crawfurd, History of the Indian Archipelago, (1820), page 445 John Bowring, Governor General of British Hong Kong from 1856 to 1860, wrote after his trip to Manila:
