THE LIB R ARY

OF
TH E U NIVER SITY
O F CALIFO R NIA
LOS ANG ELES

G IFT OF

Cl ar k J. Mil l ir on
 E R R ATA

On i le p ag e and o n p ag e 2 3 1
the t t D r . Rob in s o n
should read D r James A R ober t son
. . .

O n pag e 237 Se nor Mi g uel Z ar ag o s s a should re ad

S e nor Mi g uel Z ara g oza
.
B u id e rs o f a Nati
on
A Se rie s o f Bi o graphi c al Ske tc h e s
By

M M NORTO N
. ,

H I S T O RI C A L S KET C H
O F P H I LI PP I N E S
M ariano Po nce

L I T E R A R Y RESU M E O F
T A G A L O G PR OS E AND POET RY
sto b al
D e lo s San to s y C ri

L E CTU R E O N T H E
P H I LI PPI N E A SS E M B LY
G r e gorio Nie va

SHORT PAPE R ON
P H I LI PPI N E U N I V E R S IT Y
Au stin C r ai g

SHORT PAPER O N
T A B A C A LE R A C O LLE C TI O N
D r Robin son
.

M AN I L A
PH ILIPPINE ISLANDS
 B Y TH E SAM E AUTH OR

G l oria Victis , ( a drama) A merica

Verses f rom the O rient ( poems ),
Mani l a

K ingdom of the Sea ( poems )

,
Man ila

S ongs of the Pacific (poems )

, Manila

S ongs of Heroes and D ays ( poems ) ,

Tokyo

O utposts o f A sia (prose )

,
Manila

Charity in the Philippines ( prose ) ,

Manila

Quills and Seals ( prose )

, Manila

Studies in Philippine A rchitecture (prose ) , Manila

 AUTH OR S N OTE
’

wm
These arti cles were prepared most o f them for the
, ,

daily press and appeared in the Cablen e s A erican

-

throughout the year 1 9 1 3 The stirring events of this

.

year when the Filipinos have realized more deeply their

w
,

N atio nal destiny and have risen to assume n e responsi

bi li
ties seem to give a reason for the publication in book
,

f orm of these biographies of some of the leading figures in

the Philippines who have been and are shaping its history .

Manila February
, ,
1914 .
 TH E PH I LI PP I N E I S LAND S
W itt f
mH h
t h e Mer c an ts Ba q gi
’
r en or Ass oci
ati
on n u et v en for Vi
siti
ng

C g on r ess en , ote lM etr o p ole .

Castle and lion ! le l Strength

Cas ti o f an ancient domain !
B ars of red ; Field of blue ! Young blood far purpose , ,

E agles flight presaging a grander refrain !

,

Past years freedom and manhood mingled in strif e

,

For the good and the ne w ,

Proud isles cities of seas horizons vast as th e blue !

, ,

O ur escutcheon is strength and ou r f aith is true !

 M ab i n i A g u i n al d o

A p ac i b l e L l o re n t e

Po n ce D e l P i l ar

Osm e na Pal ma

A re ll an o M ap a

D e l Pan T ave ra

Kal a w V i ll a m or

T o rre s Si n g son

E ar n sh aw
AR TS AN D LE TTE R S

D e lo s San to s C r i sto b al
 I N TR OD U CTI O N

The prenatal life o f the Filipino N ation has its

roots in the earliest history wh en the proud and ,

independent sea people roamed free afar the Pacific

and over their lofty mountains then after hundreds ,

of years of for e ign occupation the Malay soul awoke ,

anew from dreams never quenched to a desire for life ,

the life o f an I ndependent N ation .

R izal came in the fulness of time as the liber

, ,

ator A witness of the highhanded methods of u n

.

scrupulous men his poet soul was wrung even in early

,

youth and was a lready dedi cated to the liberation of his

lan d
.

A ll he was was patriotism all he thought was

, ,

patriotic .

Like Toussaint L Ou v er tu re like K ossuth like

’
, ,

Patrick Henry he burned with a quenchless fire of

devotion to country which has inspired many and con
sumed t h e chosen few those great enough to crush,

down all personal desire in service for their country s

,
’

freedom great enough to die as they have lived f or

,

the same end .

Ri z al s death is o n e of the sublimest of all the

’

overmastering dramas of history ; none in profane

history for its simplicity sublimity and depth can ,

excel it.

This death is on e o f the triumphs o f history .

I t meant the lifting o f a race to the rank o f those who

command the respect sympathy and love of their,

f ellow men .

Many Filipinos before that memorab l e hour

, ,
”
but dimly understood the word country on e a mere , ,
—
youth and he was but one o f many coming home from
—
the execution wrote verses passionate with the first
birth of this dominating love .
 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
B ut when the hour pleaded and died for has struc k in
eterna l spaces
A nd at the cry of Liberty an arm of venge ance chal
len g eth ,
U p from thy burning soi l Liberty the people are
calling ,

Crying with mu ffled uproar like the sound of the sea ,

in torment ,

B efore it rises in tempest .

The echo resou n ding speaketh o f redress and of batt l e

, ,

From the l imits of earth with terrible clamor ,

R usheth to the contest an armed host athirst f or b l ood ,

shed ,

A nxious for thy glory and fame and tightening about

the f oe ,

We see a routed Spain .

Who lis ten s h ear s the cries of terrib l e unyielding combat ,

N ot a s on who trembles or turns in his fierce in d ig ,

nation ,

A nd at each onslaught his valor grows with the day ,

For thy love is his inspiration in the midst of the strug ,

gle ,
He presses on and his fury o erleaps as a volcanic torren t ! ’

A nd the voice of triumph sounds from thy land s f ar ’

limit ,

She A urora awakens at the sound o f the musi ca l

, ,

trumpet ,

A nd the far vibrations o f cannon in the distance te ll

Thy coming redemption !
O Mani l a embedded in flowers j ewel adorning ou r
, , ,

ocean ,

Lift high thy glistening f orehead by sorrow bent an d ,

darkened ,

D ress thee in garments of splendor .

Come sit thee here fair Sultana , ,

Here on thy shores free from sorrow thy pain and ,

submission are over .

The heavens are rosy with D awn ,

Th D awn of to morrow -

e
.

4
 IN T R O DU CT I O N
D ream in peace blest and bowed one
, ,
i
n our brea s t
confide
Thy affliction from a f ar thy desire is coming
, ,

Thy sacred hope awakens thy to day will be soon to

,
-

morrow ,

For we see a star a star ascending the star o f f reedom

, , ,

A nd its light forever white and burning shall shine upon

us ,

Living or dying .

Fortunately the light not the darkness of that

,

epoch for R izal was a soul of light filled the land

w
, , ,

and f orgiveness for the Past ov erfl o ed and they arose

and stretched ou t their arms in hope the hope born ,

even on that splendid dawn o f the 3 0 th of D ecember .

The coming of the A mericans brought the modern

world to their doors and the public schools the right
, ,

of voting and the beginning o f a le gislative life o f their

w
o n have led them onward and upward to this hour .
 M AR I A N O PO N C E

La aparici on de u n nuevo libro sobre nuestro pais

ha sido siempre mirada por nosotros con vivo interés ;
este interés adquiere mayor calor cuando como en el ,

caso presente el autor de la obra nueva es u n a ex tr an

,

gera ya conocida en nuestra rep ublica literaria como

m
,

uno de los que nos estudian con amor y j usticia y nos

j uzgan al través de u n temperamento de bondad é i
parcialidad : caso este de qué encontramos muy pocos
ej emplos

m
.

Miss M M N or ton lleva publicados ya varios

. .
,

v olu en e s unos en prosa y otros en verso sobre Fili

, ,

pinas A lma generosa y bondadosa ha tratado siempre

.
,

nues tras cosas con cari no y afecto dentro de n u criterio ,

j usto y razonable P or eso leemos siempre con placer

.

tanto s u s versos como sus prosas .

E n el presente libro trata esta eximia escritora de

presentar a los pueblos que hablan el inglés u n grupo
de nuestras personalidades representativas que han con

m
,

tr i b uid o y contribuyen de uno y de otro modo al desa

, ,

r r ollo de las ideas d e o cr a

ticas v de progreso en nuestro

pais.

E s muy satisfactorio decir que esas ideas no han

nacido hoy en la mente de los filipinos Se arrancan .

desde muy atr a s y han ido desenvolviendo paulatina

mente durante varias generaciones hasta llegar al es ,

tado de completo desarrollo como s on al presente

m
.

D e nada nos hubi eran servido las modernas ense

fi an z as d e ocr a cas si no hubi esen encontrado u n te
ti
rren o p reparado por el trabaj o de las generaciones pre
cedentes E sa pr e paracion no se improvisa y la semilla
.
,

se hubi era malogrado a no haber encontrado abierto el

surco

tom a
.

m
a os seguir por ej emplo la trayectoria que h a
P o d ri ,

do esas ideas desde los primeros afios de la centuria

n ,

decimo nona por no ir mas atr a

-
, s hasta nuestros d ias ,
18 B U ILD E R S or A NA T I O N
E n efecto ; cuando a principios del siglo mencionado ,

N apole on B onaparte i v ad io E spana los espanoles opu

n ,

si eron resistencia f ormidable y decidi da haci endo r e

‘

tr o ced er al coloso en s u carrera de triunfos por E uropa .

E spana nuestra antigua metr opoli se propuso enton

, ,

ces verter la u ltima gota de s u sangre para defender s u

independencia y libertad Filipinas se ha sentido con
.

movida ante esta actitud noble y her oica y se r es olv ic) ,

’

unirse a s u metr opoli para participar de s u suerte .

Fu e en esta época cuando apar ecit) u n folleto titu ’

lado Proclama historial que para animar a los vasallos

que el Se nor D on Fernando V II tiene en Filipinas a
que d efien d an a su R ey del furor de s u falso amigo ,

N apole on primer emperador de franceses escriu e de

, , ,

di ca é imprime a s u costa Luis R odriguez Varela

Sampaloc ,

El pi
fili n o R odriguez Valera por el hecho de enu
,

merar los privilegios que las leyes con ced ian a los nati
v o s y por s er fili pi no fu e tachado de laborante y fili

m
,

b u s ter o e n cu b i
er t o a pesar de mostrar ardiente en t u

m
,

si as o por E spa na en aquellas cr i ticas circunstancias

m
.

Valera era autor ad e a

,
s del E logio a las provincias
“
,

de los reinos de la E spa na europea ” “

E logio a las u,
” “ ”
j eres de E spana y Parnaso Filipino Pasando el .

hervor de las pasi ones en gran d ad as por l a lucha pode ,

mos hoy j uzgar los sucesos a la luz de la raz on fria y ,

n o encontr a mos motivos para dudar de la sinceridad

de R odriguez Valera al excitar a los filipin o s a que se
uni esen con E spana en aquellos momentos d ificiles .

E ra verdad qué huracan del separatismo que

el

empezaba a desfogar sobre la A er ica latina no dej aba

de enviar sobre nuestro ambiente alguna r a faga algu n
m
,

soplo ; pero ello no ha sido bastante a hacer encarnar

en las inteligencias de u n modo d ifin itiv o y claro el
,

ideal de la independencia cuyo d esarrollo y mad ur ez ,

m
ex i
gian tiempo a u n .

S e puede pués afir ar que de los entusiasmos

, ,

s tas de R odriguez Valera particip a

es pafi oli ba el pa ts .
20 B U I LD E R S or A NA T I O N
o n al,
tu ci
ti u n os cuantos filipin os dotados de esp iritu
p u blico decidieron organizar agrupaciones que in str u
y ér an al pueblo y 10 pusi eran a la altura de las cir
c u n stan ci
as .

No estas agrupaciones verdaderos partidos

ér an
politicos como los que hoy tenemos pero si grupos
, ,

de ciudadanos propagandistas E ntre estos pod emos .

“
citar a Luis R o d riguez Valera autor del Proclama his ,
” “ ”
tori al ,
antes mencionado y del Parnaso Filipino
R egino Mij ares el capitan B ayot el abogado Mendoza
, , ,

el factor de la C ompa ni a de Filipinas José O rtega ; José

Maria Jugo que éra u n eminente j u sris con s u lto y agente
fis calld ei loficivi l en la A udiencia de Manila ; el aca n da
lado com erciante de Manila D omingo R oxas y otros
’

muchos .

F or lo mismo que estos fili pin o s s os t e

avanzadas eran mal mirados por los elementos con

an ideas m
’

m
,

s e rv ad o r es y r etr og ad os que q u er i
an mantener al pa i s
en u estado de perpetua infancia .

La lucha qued o entablada entre a mbos elementos .

Los fili pi an que pasar por mil vicisitudes apurar

n os te n i ,

muchas amarguras y sufrir muchos dolores durante

, ,

l argo espacio de anos hasta v er triunfantes sus aspira,

ci on es
. T en ian que luchar contra las preocupaciones y
los prej uicios ; contra la trad i cién los int er eses eg oi s tas ,

secularmente establecidos de ciertas entidades é insti

tu ci on es ; contra la ignorancia y e l fanatismo de su pro

pio pueblo Tenian que ir sucedi endo las generaciones

.

para ir continuando la lucha eslab on a n d ola hasta con

,

d u ci r la a la V i ctoria .

Largo y escabroso er a el camino y los enemigos ,

s e encarg a ban de sembrarlo de mayores d ificu ltad es

cada v ez .

Pero los filipin os se di eron cuenta desde u n prin

ci pi o de que su causa e n trafi a la vida 6 la muerte para

e l pais , y decidi eron defenderla a toda costa con v en ,

e idos de s u j usticia porqué era la causa del progreso

,

y de la civ iliz acion .

Las car celes las deportaci ones l as per secu s i

,
on es ,

inicuas los mismos abusos del poder solo servian para

, ,
 SO BRE F ILI P INA S 21

afir mm m
ar as y

cidad del emperio

a s en el coraz on de los fili
‘

.
pi n os la tena

Para apreciar el efecto que prod u cia en la opini on

la campana de los patriotas que hemos mencionado ,

basta el citar el siguiente hecho :

Cuando el gobernador general Juan A ntonio Mar
tin e z vi no al pais para tomar posesi on de s u cargo el
3 0 de O ctubre de 1 8 2 2 hab i a traido consigo n u buen
,

n u mero de oficiales peninsulares para sustituir con ellos ,

a los muchos oficiales filipin os que servian ent onces en

los regimientos de Filipinas .

A Martinez le hici eron creer cuando se embarcaba ,

para Manila que los ofi ciales nativos eran desleales é

,

indignos de con fian z a in d ica n d o s ele la necesidad

,
de
que fu esen sustituidos por peninsulares y a esto obe ,

dec ia la venida de los mismos .

Como era de suponer los oficiale s filipin os no iban ,

a ver esto con buenos oj os Se les inferia la ofensa de .

dudar de su lealtad y s e les pos t erga b a en s u s ascensos .

Hubo reuni ones cambios de impresiones para v er

,

como iban a defender los inter eses de la clase a que

per ten e cian pués s e s en ti
an ya con personalidad pol i tic a

m
.
,

caci
Las s u s pi as y los recelos hici eron v er en esto
a las autoridades alguna tenebrosa con s pirac n contra
la integridad nacional y bast a ron las meras sospechas

m
,

para que fu esen deportados a E spana baj o partida de

registro el 1 8 de Febrero de 1 8 2 3 a una in fi d ad de ciu
'

d ad an os fili pi
n os entre los que figu ra
,
b an D omingo
R oxas José M Jugo R odriguez Varela el abogado
,
.
, ,

Mendoza R egino Mij ares José O rtega el capt B ayot

, , ,
.
,

Figueroa F R odriguez el sargento mayor D ieste y los

,
.
,

capitanes Cidr on y Gomez .

i N otese que los disgustos s e ci r cu n s cr i

bi an dentro
de los circulos militares y sin embargo muchos de los , ,

deportados por aquellos sucesos no tem an nada que v er ’

con la milicia E ra que s e emple a

. ba ya ent onces el
proce d imiento de eliminar a los no deseables aprove
ch an d ose de cualquier acontecimiento no importando ,

nada que estos hayan to rn ado o no parte en é l .

 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
m
22

Y se es tr e ar on tanto las medidas de rigor contra

determinados elementos como er a el caso de capitan ,

An d r es N ovales que acosado compelido se d eci

, ,
dio por , ,

fin a levantar bandera de rebeli on .

N o hemos llegado a v er claro s i N ovales tocO el

m
resorte del separatismo al ponerse frente a aquel mo
vi i en t o sedicioso ; lo que parece indubitable es que solo

s e c on s i o sofocarlo mediante gran esfuerzo ; pués

gu i ,

N ovales con sig u io ganar a s u causa a unos 80 0 soldados .

que se pos es ion a r o n del cuartel del R ey del Palacio R eal ,

y del Cabildo teni endo presos a muchos j efes Oficiales

, ,

y sargentos es pafi oles : toda la plaza era suya a ex cep ,

ci On de la Ciudadela de Santiago y del parque de arti

ll aria .

Por u ltimo el fusilamiento de N ovales y algunos

,

Ofici ales que le secund a ron d io fin a aquellos sangrientos

sucesos .

P or aquellos dias E spa na atraves a ba una s itu aclon

,

di
fici
l .

Lasexageraciones de los exaltados pol iticos libe

rales por u n lado y por otro la aversi on con que siempre
, ,

ha mirado Fernando V II el r egi en Constitucional

t eni an completamente comprometida la libertad cuya
m ,

conquista cost o grandes s acrifi cios

Contribuy o a hacer a s di l la s i
fi ci tu aCI On pol i
tica de E spa na la conducta de los diputados ameri ca
m .

nos que amparados p o r la inmunidad parlamentaria

, , ,

plantear on en las mismas Cortes espanolas la cuesti on

de la independencia de aquellas colonias E ra esta .

cosa tan delicada que el mero hecho de tocarla pr o d u ,

ci a conmoci ones

m
.

O bedecia esta conducta de los diputados ameri

canos a u n fin premeditado como se an ifies ta en las ,

siguientes palabras del diputado por Yucat a n en las

Cortes de 1 8 2 0 2 1 y ag en te después de la revolucion A me
-

“
ricana Lorenzo Zabala ; Lo s diputados americanos

m
,

—
dec ia ; testigos de los efectos prodigiosos que habian
hecho en A er ica los discursos de sus predecesores de
1 8 1 2 y 1 8 1 3 no cr ei
an poder coadyuvar a la causa de
,
 SO BRE F ILI P INA S 23

su pais de una manera a m

s e fi caz que promov 1 endo en

el seno de las Cortes cuesti ones de independencia

present asen a su s conciudadanos lecci ones y es ti u los

para hacerla “
l
que

n es d e
m
,

(E n.s ay o h is té r ico d e las r evo u cid

M éj ico d es d e 1 8 08 a 1 8 80 por Lorenzo Zabala : Paris
, ,

1 83 1 )
Los movimientos revolucionarios que en distintos

m
puntos de A mérica se inici a
r os a en te a que se adopt a
ron han contribuido pode
se en la metr opoli una pol i
tica regresiva con respecto a las colonias Han pro .
,

por ci on ad o motivos a Fernando V II él que no necesitaba ,

tenerlos ; para privarlas de las garant ias y pri v ilegios

constitucionales haci endo que sean gobernadas por
,

leyes especiales sin derecho a s er representadas en las

,
“

Cortes .

F u é u n gran paso h a cia atr a

s en lo qué respecta
a la conquista de derechos pol iticos ; pero u n avance en
lo relativo al progreso de las ideas que iban ganando en ,

experiencia ante los acontecimientos .

m m
Los mismos espanoles en s u afan de sofocar por
cualquier medio toda an ifes taciOn de la opini on por
lo mismo que con ocian la en o r id ad de su s pr opias
,

culpas y temian la censura de la conciencia p u blica ,

no h acian otra cosa que avivar el fuego y dar p a bulo

al descontento popular .

Para ilustrar este aserto hemos de llamar la aten ciOn

del lector h a cia u n suceso acaecido en 1 84 3 E n este .

afio tuvo lugar una s u b lev aciOn militar provocada por ,

l as torpezas del gobernador general Marcelino de Ora a

Lecumbe r ri .

Va mos a dej ar la palabra para el relato de este h e

cho h istOricO a u n agregado a la misi on francesa en
,

China que ha viaj ado por Filipinas a raiz de aquellos

sucesos M Jules I tier cuyos datos le hab ian sido pro
,
.
,

porci o n ad o s por uno que s e v i

o envuelto en los procesos
que s e form a ron por este motivo el Sr I nigo de Az aola
(Ass ao la escribe I tier ) que ha estado aco pafi an d o a
,

est e en varias excursi ones H é aqui sus palabras tra.

,
.

m
,
“
d u cid as del francés : He deseado vivamente conocer
24 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N

mlo que hab ia en la enigm a

i
tica s u b lev acron de los regi
en t os tagalos de Manila en 2 2 de E nero de 1 8 4 3

hé aprovechado la ocasi on para pedirle (a Azaola) acla

y ,

raci ones sobre el asunto .

La fiesta de S José me res pon d i c) éste hab ia ’

.
, ,
l

reunido en LitaO provincia de Tayabas una gran

, ,

afiu en ci a de ind i genas contra la voluntad expresa del

,

alcalde mayor y del cura que pretendi eron Oponerse a la

,

celeb r aci On de esta fiesta E l alcalde se puso a la ca

.

beza de s u s alguaciles y q u iz o conseguir por la fuerza

lo que sus palabras y requerimientos impotentes no han

mm
logrado La muchedumbre no opuso sin embargo
a
.

s que una resistencia pasiva ; pero e l alcalde de tem

,

,
,

per a en to violento no pudo contenerse y se arroj o sobre

,

los indios apaleando rudamente a todos los que tuvo

a su alcance F u e en esta co nf usi on cuando r ecib ic) u n
.
’

golpe gQu ien le d io? N adie lo sabia ; pero el golpe

m
.

fu e mortal A la noticia de esta desgracia debida a la

.
,

extremada imprudencia de la v icti a el gobernador

m
,

general Or a a ( I tier escr ibe Ox aa) en tr O en furor y no

queriendo v er en este hecho a
levantami ento contra la etr Opoli levantamiento quem
s que el comienzo de u n

j am as ser ia bastante castigado severamente orden o el

,

env io de 5 00 hombres de in fan teria contra los preten

didos sublevados de Litao E l pueblo fu e bloqueado .

durante la noche y s u poblaci on degollada : 1 4 0 0 perso

n as de todas edades y sexos pag a ron con s u sangre la
muerte accidental del alcalde .

soldados tagalos de la gu arn iciOn de Manila

Los
teuian muchos parientes y amigos entre las v icti as
y sinti eron u n odio violento co ntra el gobernador g e
m
neral que orden o aquella horrible carnicer ia Muchos .

actos de crueldad y tirania acrecent a ron este odio h a ,

cién d o nacer proyectos de venganza cuya ej e cu ci On ,

se d ifirio hasta el 2 2 de E nero de 1 8 4 3 E n este dia .

,

muy de ma nana los regimientos tagalos teni endo a s u

, ,

cabeza algunos Oficiales y sub oficiales del pa is tom a -

,

ron las armas y se apoder a ron de la Ciudad de Manila

sin resistencia E l grito de guerra éra: Muera Q raa!
.
 SO BRE F ILI P INA S 25

Pero sin plan de ataque y privados de una d ire c

c ion general estas tropas tuvi eron momentos de vacila
,

ci on es que han dado tiempo a la artilleri a espafi ola a

reun irse para contener s u s ataques Pasado el pri

m
.

mer impet u estos pobres soldados se dej aron desarmar

,

como ti id os corderos B uen n u mero de ellos fu eron

.

fusilados y el Orden se Ma s el gobernador

general Or a a en vez de v er en este acto de rebeli on

,

un a respuesta a la carnicer i a de Litao se es forz c) en hallar '

m
,

en él una conspiraci on que tenia por obj eto la in d epen

den oia de F ilipin as Por medio de esta co b in aciOn él
.

qu i z o por u n lado
,
ponerse a salvo de la censura de h a
,

ber excitado con sus violencias a las tropas tagalas y por ,

otro abrogarse el papel de salvador de una colonia que

,

habia intentado sacudir el yugo de la metr opoli E n su .

egoismo ciertamente él puso a u n lado el efecto moral

, ,

que no pod ia dej ar de producir semej ante hecho .

“
Proclamar que las tropas tagalas s e habian s u b le
vado a la v o z de independencia nacional er a darles la ,

idea de como d eb eria hacerlo para otra v e z ; era indicar

les u n fin noble y grande ; era decir a los enemigos de
E spa na lo que d eb eri an hacer cuando llegue la ocasi on
“
Y prosiguiendo su sistema pro ced io al arresto de ,

muchas personas importantes del pais ; uno de ellos M ,

.

R oxas rico comerciante indigena fu é acusado de haber

, ,

sobornado a las tropas y no faltO hombre que mediante

,

di n ero d e clar Os e falsamente haber sido encargado por

aquel para distribuir 2 00 pias tr as a las tropas .

E sta d eclaraci On r i
dicu la que s e rep ta po r s isola
u ,

no fu é admitida por la R eal A udiencia y esta orden o ,

la libertad de M R oxas Pero el Odio de Or aa ha es

. .

tado vigilando la puerta del calabozo que no s e abri o

m
, ,

apesar de la sentencia absolutoria ; solo la muerte pudo

arrancar a Oraa su v icti a: Mr R oxas muri o en la

m
.

prisi on ; su hij a ha i do a E spana a demandar j usticia

”
contra el asesino de s u padre (F r ag en t d u n Jou rn al
.
’

d e voy age au x I les P hilippin es par Jules I tier : Paris

, ,

I m primerie de B ourgogne et Martinet rue Jacob 3 0 , ,

26 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
NO necesitan comentarios estas l ineas del viaj ero
f rancés ; ellas solas se comentan
Lo que s i afi ad ire os es que co n pretexto de estos

sucesos fu eron detenidos y suj etos a proceso ad e a s

m .

m
, ,

del citado Sr D omingo R oxas los Se nores A ntonio de

.
,

A yala I nigo Gonzales Az aola Miguel E scamilla

, , ,

Mamerto Luis Leonardo Pérez D iego Teodoro José

, , ,

R afael y otros .

E stos en uni on de Mariano y José R oxas hij os ,

del difunto D omingo promovieron una exposici on de

m
,

quej a sobre los procedimientos se g uidos contra los mis

os y sobre todo contra el padre de los d o s u ltimamente
,

citados Con motivo de la s e d iciOn ocurrida el 2 1 de E n e

,

r o de 1 8 4 3 y hubo de tardar tr es afi os hasta que el

,

Ministerio de la Guerra dictase una real Orde n fechada 8

de E nero de 1 84 6 declar a
m
“
ndo qué atendido lo que
, ,

resulta de la misma causa s u for aciOn y la prisiOn ,

y padecimientos que han sufrido por consecuencia de

aquella no sirvan de nota u i perj uicio a la Opinion y
,

fama del difunto D D omingo R oxas sus hij os D .

, .

Mariano y D José n i a los demas recurrentes

.
,
”
.

Consignamos aqui la fecha 2 1 de E nero de 1 84 3 ,

como la del levantamiento porque es la que se lee en

la real Orden del Ministerio de la Guerra fechada E nero
8 1 84 6 y que no c oncuerda con la de I tier que pone la
, , ,

de 2 2.

D esde aquellas fechas remotas se oy o la frase las

”
Filipinas se perd ian pués u h folleto con este t itulo , ,
“ ”
O mej or dicho Las Filipinas se pierden de 1 2 pags , .

en ( Madrid I mp de A guado 1 84 2 se circul oentonces

, .

a profusi on .

Lo s senores que acabo de mencionar no han tenido

efectivamente la menor parte en la s u b lev aciOn militar
!
de 1 84 3 ; pero eran tild ad os de filib u s ter os porque eran ,

liberales en i deas partidarios de que sean respetados los

,

derechos de los filipin os y enemigos de la inicua ex plo

t aciOn y de los abusos de que era Obj eto el pais por parte
de los frailes y de otros elementos colonizadores y s e qu iz o ,

aprovechar de aquella se d iciOn militar para perderlos .

28 BUILDER S OF A NA T I O N
milia del desaparecido cuyo nombre ya no recordamos
, ,

recorr ia las casas de los que iban con éste en la tarde

an terior M oray ta y sus amigos no han podido decir
.

otra cosa que lo que acabamos de contar : que se levant o

sin sombrero para acu d ir al llamamiento de u n hombre
que le esperaba en la puerta del café y ya no se le v ol ,

vi o a v er hasta que éllos se marcharon d es pu es de

,

transcurrido mucho tiempo Y el sombrero segu ia .

colgado de la percha del establecimiento D i eron parte

m m
.

del hecho a las autoridades acudieron a las o fi cin as de

,

i n for acié n revolvieron todo Madrid envi a

,
ron e is a ,

rios a provincias y no hab ian encontrado el menor

rastro de nuestro hombre Hab ia transcurrido mas
.

de u n ano ; su familia ya la tenia p or muerto cuando ,

r eci bic) una carta del mismo dando notic ia de s u para

’

dero y de s u suerte E staba en Filipinas A quella

. .

tarde de autos en e l café al salir para v er a l a persona

,

que le queria hablar fu e llevado por unos agentes de

,

polic ia s in permitirle coger el sombrero ; estuvo ence

,

rrado en u n calabozo por varios dias d es pu es de los ,

cuales fu etransportado a Cadiz y embarcado en u n buque

que salia para Manila D urante todo este tiempo
.

estaba vigilado para impedir que pudiera comunicarse

con su familia y amigos D es pu es de varios meses de
.

viaj e por el cabo de B uena E speranza llegO aFilipinas .

Si esto se hacia en la misma capital de la metr opoli

! q u e n o har ian en Filipinas ?
Tal era el gobierno que derroc o la R ev olu cl on de
1 868 ; no s e paraba en los medios cuando se trataba de ,

desembarazarse de cualquier lib er alote que le estorbase

en s u politica de despotismo

m m
.

Pero esta conducta inicua ha si do en nuestro caso

u instrumento impulsor eficaz para el desarrollo de
las ideas d e o cr a ticas N uestra tierra fu e uno de los
.

puntos de destierro para estos lib eralotes los cuales ,

podian muy bien repetir lo que el vate espanol Zorrilla

dec ia hablando de sus deportaciones .

pero yo que de laurel semilla era,

”
eché frutos donde cai .
 SO BRE F ILI P INA S 29

m triunfo de los liberales en 1 868 que determin o

El
la i plan taciOn de una monarquia democr a
A madeo de Saboya y luego la de la R ep u blica por u n
tica baj o
, ,

lado y la apertura del canal de Su ez ( 1 7 N ov 1 8 69 ) por

,
.

otro prest a
,
ron mayor impulso aun al desarrollo de las
ideas entre nosotros .

U na lucha por fiad a s e entabl aba ent onces entre el

mm
clero secular formado en su mayoria por clérigos filipinos
y el regular que co po an los frailes eu ro peos de todas
’

las Ordenes religiosas sobre provisi on de parroquias Los

, .

frailes monopolizaban los curatos E n 1 8 4 9 de los 1 68 .

,

que te nia el arz ob is pad o de Manila solo una quinta

parte y de los mas pobres pert en ecia a los Clérigos

m
,

y cada dia s e r e d u cia esta propor ciOn por parte de esto s

li lti o s ; pues u n decreto de 1 0 de Sept
,
1 8 61 d i
O .

facultad alos r ecoletos para administrar los curatos

“

de la provincia de K abite u otros que h u b iére servidos ,

m
”
por el clero indigena al paso que vayan vacando
,
.

E l P Pedro Pelaez y el P José B urgos s os t e an

’

. .

polémica acalorada por este motivo contra los frailes .

E l primero era Vicario capitular de la D iOcesis de Ma

,

m
nila sede vacante por muerte del arzobispo A ranguren
y en esta capacidad e itic) razonados informes el ’

nombre del Cabildo m

Marzo 1 8 62 y redact o una ex posicié n a la reina en
len se demostrando la gran
an i ,

inj usticia y la tr an s g r es iOn de las leyes que se cometia

,

desposeyendo al clero filipin o de los curatos para entre

g arlos a los frailes que por su car a cter monacal no de
bian gozar del b en eficio secular curado E l P B urgos

m
. .

por s u parte estaba enzarzado en polémica periodistica

con e l r ecoleto Guillermo Agu id o en E l Cla or de Ma
d ri d y detr a
,
s de estos campeones estaban todos los
clérigos filipin os muchos de los cuales eran respeta
,

dos por propios y estrafi os por su s ab id u r ia y virtu

,

des.

E l clero ind i
gena tenia que sufrir muchas v icis i
tudes Los frailes gracias a s u s riquezas inmensas
.
, ,

e j ercian una verdadera soberania la soberania monacal , ,

como la llamaba del Pilar H acian osten tacién de ella

.
,
 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
persigu iendo cruelmente a sus enemigos a las familias ,

y hasta a los amigos de estos P or consecuencia .

,

muchos de los que estaban s efi alad os por el dedo de l a

fatalidad han teni do que emigrar al e x tran g er o A si

m
, .

muchos j ovenes apr ov ech a n d os e de las facilidades que

m
,

ya ofr ecia el viage fu eron a E uropa y alli e pren d ié

, ,

ron una ca pafi a denunciando abusos y proponiendo

,

reformas E n 1 8 7 1 publicaron u n q u in cen ario E l E co

.

“
F ilipin o que llevaba por lema : E spa na con Filipinas ;
,

Filipinas con E spa na y otro peri odico E l Correo de

“

U ltramar costeado con el producto de una s u s crip

”
,

ci On voluntaria entre varios elementos pudientes de

,

Manila y provincias La cuesti on del clero era la que

.

mas monopolizaba la aten ciOn general y constituy o la ,

materia principal de s u campana .

E sta activa campana de los fili pi n os liberales empe

m
zaban a producir favorable e f ecto cerca de los nuevos
poderes etr opoliticos traid os por la R evoluci on Para
con tr ar r es t ar la los elementos r etr Og ad os encabezados
.

por los frailes hici eron surgir de la nada la revoluci on

m m
de K abite de 1 87 2 D ecimos esto porque hasta ahora
.

los datos que t en é os a mano no nos dicen otra cosa

a s que aquello fu e una mera s e d i ciOn militar apro
,

v ech ad a con suma habilidad por los elementos retr o

gados para darle car acter pol itico con el fin de envolver ,

en ella a los filipin o s que por s u s prestigios y por s u s

luces estorbaban sus planes de ex plot aciOn y dominio .

E n efecto con motivo de aquellos sucesos los pr esb i

, ,

t er os B urgos Gomez y Zamora subi eron al cad alz o y

,

otros muchos entre abogados sacerdotes comerciantes , ,

y propietarios prestigiosos fueron a la d eportaciOn U nos .

han muerto durante ella otros s e establecieron en el ex

,

tr an g er o y otros pocos han podi do volver al pais des ,

pues de muchos anos de penalidades y miserias .

C on el golpe de K av i te crey eron los enemigos de

nuestro progreso haber dado muerte para siempre a
toda aspiraciOn en la mente de los filipin os U n pe .

ri odo de relativa calma de unos nueve O diez a nos , ,

parec ia dar apariencia de verdad a esta creencia .

 SO BRE F ILI P INA S
D ecimos relativa porque durante los afios que
,

sigui eron al suceso K ab itefi o el Joven Manuel R egidor

no ha cesado de hacer campana en pro del pais desde
las columnas de u n peri odico cuyo nombre no recordamos
ahora que fund o R afae l Maria de Labra para s er Organo
,

del ideal autonomista cubano cuyos dos principales ,

redactores eran el cubano Juan Gualberto Gomez y el

fili pi no Manuel R egidor La circunstancia de arder .

ent onces la guerra separatista de Cuba que termin o

provincialmente en la paz del Zanj on hacia que la cam ,

den eia en su ca pafi a m

pana del perIO d ico de Labra anduvi ese con mucha pru
.

E l D r Gregorio S an ci an g k o y Gozon u n abogado

m
.
,

de Manila ent onces residente en Madrid de cuyo cole

gio de abogados era miembro e pren d io campana fili ,

pi ni s ta hacia 1 88 0 desde las columnas de La D i

,
scu sion ,

un o de los mas importantes p er i cos de la Corte espa

Od i

m
fi ola. E n 1 88 1 public o la primera parte de u libro s
“
E 1
Progreso de Filipinas : E studios econ O icos administra ,
”
ti v os y po li ticos E n 1 88 2 los fili
.
pin o s residentes en

Madrid fundaron el c irculo Hispano Filipino centro -

mm
,

que ad qu irio mucha importancia hasta llegar a s er sub

v en ci on ad a eta lica en te por el Ministro de U ltramar ,

de que era casi u n cuerpo consultor E sta sociedad p u .

“
b licab a u n p eri Od i co La R evista del Circulo Hispano
”
Filipino que tom é segun Pardo de Tavera u n carac
, , ,

ter h ispan Ofob o .

n ali
E n 1 8 85 Paterno (116 a luz su Nin ay novela nacio
s ta .Por aquellos anos ta b ien Pedro G ov an tes
José R izal Graciano Lopez Jaena E duardo de Lete
m ,

, , ,

Manuel R egidor y algunos otros procuraban a traer la

aten ci On p 11 b lica hacia Filipinas valiéndose de la prensa
’

m
peri odica .

A si llegamos al ano 1 887 en que to c) mayor acti ’

vi

li
d ad y energi

zaci on tagala de
m
a la campa na en pro de reformas para
Filipinas E l N oli e tan gere de R izal La an tigu a civi
.

Paterno y el semanari o E s pana en

,

F ilipin as per ten eci

, an a este ano .
32 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Pero lo que verdaderamente podia llamarse el
principio del fin era la apari ci on de la S olid arid ad en
e l estadio de la prensa espa nola en 1 88 9 La lucha .

entre los reformistas y los retr Ogad os que como queda

m
,

dicho estaban encabezados por los frailes era cada v ez

, ,

a s en co n ad a; e l sentimiento de la dignidad y del honor

'

s e despertaba con mas viveza y en cen di a en los corazo

nes el amor al terr u fi o a medida que extremaban los
,

poderosos s u s abusos arbitrariedades y violencias en

,

s u afan de sofo car en gérmen las rebel di as y las protestas

que empezaban a asomarse en la s u per ficie del car ac
ter tranquilo de los hij os del pais .

Los elementos directores de nuestro pueblo pronto

vi o la necesidad de en cau s ar esos sentimientos y esas
i de as para dirigir las fuerzas que de unos y de otros
n aci an a n u fin comun y a este Obj eto fundaron La

m
, ,

S olid arid ad E ste peri odico re co gi

. O esas manifest a
ci o n es ps iqu icas que fiotab an vagas e indecisas en e l a

m
bi en t e

an i
,

m
y les d io forma d ifin id a y concreta ; puso de
fies t o el derecho que t enia os a la vi da y a la f eli
cidad ; s efi alo con el dedo el origen y la raiz de nuestros
males e indic o los medios legales que pod rian reme
di ar los Hiz o ver al pueblo su verdadera Situ aciOn y
.

aquella otra a que tenia derecho a aspirar ; y ad v irtiO

al gobierno metropol i tico las d es astr oz as consecuencias
que res u ltarian inevitablemente de aquella pol itica de
o pres i On sin dar s ati
, s facciOn a las aspiraciones populares .

Se respiraba u n ambiente de malestar general ;

pr o d u ci m
todos sen tian el peso de algo que Oprimia los pechos y
a inquietudes en los a n i os ; todos s e s en ti

amenazados de n u peligro misterioso tanto mas terri

an
,

fi co cuanto era desconocido ; pero nadie se atrevi a a

comunicar sus sensaci ones y sus pensamientos a otro :
tal eran las s u s picacias los recelos y las d es con fian z as
,

que infundia el terror de lo desconocido .

Se vio entonces que n o bastaba predicar las ide as

desde las columnas de u n peri odico como desde un a
ca m
tedra Hab ia necesidad ta b ien de llegar al seno
,

m
.

del mismo pueblo para educar las costumbres y los h a

bitos Y la as on eria s e es tab lecio para dar a nuestro
.
 SO BRE F ILI P INA S 33

pueblo una escuela que le proporcione normas de s o

ci ab ili
el seno de la
,

ason eri m
d ad y le acostumbre a la vida colectiva
a hemos aprendido a vivir vida
de as o ciaciOn ; en medio de aquella fraternidad nos h e
En .

mos comunicado mutuamente nuestras impresiones ,

nuestro pensamientos nuestras aspiraciones y nos ,

hemos puestos en condiciones de aunar nuestros deseos

y nuestro actos .

N o éramos ya aquellas almas que vagaban aisladas

y solas recelosas unas de otras
m
.
,

Pero mas tarde la as on eria con s u s principios gene

rales de fraternidad universal no s atisfacian y a las an '

sias de nuestro pueblo deseoso de concretar y de d efin ir

,

mej or la fin alid ad de s u destino y a este estado de nues ,

tro espiritu res pon d ic) la creaci on de la Liga Filipina

’

ideada por R izal La Liga era una especie de masone

m
.

ri a con fin concreto N o te nia por programa el separa

.

ti s o E r a algo asi como una sociedad de socorros

.

m u tuos qué se estab le cia con el fin de hacer m enos

amarga la suerte del hermano que caia en la lucha
y al propio tiempo animar a los luchadores y levantarles
el coraz on a la id ea de que no est a ban solos sino qué ,

hab ia hermanos que le guard a ban las espaldas . .

Los opresores los déspotas a la vista de la res i

, s ,

ten ci a cada vez mas tenaz que ofre ci a nuestro pueblo ,

s e e n fu re cian llegab an al paroxismo de s u c olera y

,

re d ob la b an s u s actos de violencia E ste hizo v er a los .

fili n os q u e no hab i
pi a r econ ciliacién posible con los e s
parioles
‘

La Liga ,
m
lo mismo que la campana pol itica legal
que se e pr en d ia en Madrid por medio de s u Organo
en la prensa La S olid arid ad con sus fines pacifistas no
, ,

an ya a las necesidades del momento y La Liga

r es po n d i
,

lo mismo que La Solidaridad d es apar ecian para dar

sitio al K ataastaas an at K ag alan g galang na K atipu -

nan con s u fi n alid ad eminentemente revolucionaria y

,

separatista

m
.

D esde principios del afio 1 889 en que se inici o la

ca pafi a de La S oli
d arid ad campa na que se si
gui
o co n ,
34 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
alg u n m y Orden porque la sostuvi eron entidades
étOd O
organizadas hasta el final de 1 8 9 5 en que se orden o
,

desde Manila el cese del peri odico vista la inutilidad ,

de s u s esfuerzos co n ciliatorios solo han mediado S iete

m
,

a nos Pero en es e corto lapso de tiempo se han operado

.

r ad i
cali s i os c ambios en las ideas iQu ién lo ib a a creer ! .

E l hecho es que ocho O nueve meses d es pu es en A gosto

w
,

de 1 896 s e lanzaba el grito rebelde en B alin gta ak .

Verdad es que el K atipunan ha estado funcion a ndo

desde 1 8 9 2 a raiz de la d eportaciOn de R izal a D apitan .

m
,

E sa docilidad del esp iritu popular en responder a

m
la v o z de la org an iz acié n en los II lti os S iete u ocho anos
’

no podr a atribuirse as qué a la larga p repar ac i On

de que acab amos de hacer una ligera revista .

José R izal Marcelo H del Pilar y Graciano Lopez

,

Jaena estuvi eron al frente de esa II Iti a etapa de l a

campana iLoor a ellos que han sabido poner a nuestro
.
.

m
pueblo en el camino de s u r ed en ciOn !
N o han acabado de con d u cirle h asta el seguro puer
to pués les hab ia faltado tiempo para ello ; pero acer
, ,

ta ron a poner a nuestro pueblo en condici ones de poder

navegar por si mismo abrazado al ideal ,
.

P or ese ideal lu ch O contra los espa noles ; por ese

m
ideal y en virtud de una mala inteligencia lu ch O con

m
,

tra A erica h a sta el agotamiento de sus fuerzas Se

,

m m
.

so e tio después siempre abrazado al ideal a la sobe

, , ,

ra nia de esta II lti a con la fi r e esperanza de qué

’

ser an reconocidos sus derechos por los cuales habia ,

estado luch ando durante casi una centuria

m
.

Los hechos vi en en demostr a ndo qué sus esperanzas

no s on vanas qué desc a ,
nsan sobre fir e fundamento ,

afian z ad o por el trabaj o y los s acri ficio s de una s u ces i

On
de generaci ones y qué no estar é l ej os el dia en ver l as
,

c onvertidas en realidad hermosa baj o 1a protectora

m
,

sombra de la bandera estrellada .

O h no puede s er as oportuna la aparici on del

,

libro de Miss M M N orton ! . . .

Viene a modo de alegato a nuestro favor en el mo

, ,

mento en que est aproximo a pronunciarse el fallo fina l

 OF P H I L IPPI NE S
M AR I ANO P ONCE

The appearance Of a n e book about ou r country w

has always been looked upon by us with keen interest .

This interest becomes all the more intense when as in ,

the present case the author is a foreigner already known

,
-

in ou r literary circles as o n e of those who s tudy us with

love and fairness and j udge us with a kin dly spirit and
an impartial mind of which there are very fe examples
,
w .

Miss M M N orton has already published several

. .

books some in prose others in verse about the Philip

, , ,

pines A generous and kind—hearted soul she has

.
,

always treated Of ou r affairs with a warm feeling and

in a j ust and reasonable measure .

This notable author intends in this book to present

S peaking world a group of our repr esen
to the E nglish —
tativ e men who have done and are doing much for the

development o f democratic and progressive ideas in

ou r country .

I t is pleasant to that such ideas were not con

s ay

ceiv e d only of late in the minds of the Filipinos They .

were born many many years ago and have gradually

, ,

grown strong through several generations and now they

have attained their full and vigorous maturit
y .

The present day teachings of democracy would

-

have been utterly useless to us had they not fallen on

a soil made fertile by the work of former generations .

Such proc ess does not go by leaps and bounds and but
.
,

for the open ready furrows the seeds would have died
, ,
.

We might therefore trace the paths of these ideas

, ,

from the beginning of the nineteenth century (although

we could go further back ) to the present time .

When at the dawn of said century N apoleon B ona

, ,

parte invaded Spanish territory the Spaniards made ,

a formidable and decided resistance compelling that ,

mi ty giant to halt in his triumphal march throughout

gh
 H I STO RI C AL ST UD Y O F PH ILI PP INE S 37

E urope Spain our mother country of yore made up

.
,
-
,

her mind to shed her last drop of blood in defense Of

her independence and liberty The Philippines was .

deeply moved at this noble and heroic stand and j oined

the mother country in her lot
-
.

I t was at this period when a pamphlet entitled ,

A NARRA T I V E P R OC LA M A T I O N W H I CH IN O RDER T o ,

EN CO URA G E TH E V A SS AL S O F F ERD INAND V II IN TH E

P H ILI PP INE S T o DE F END TH EIR K IN G F R OM TH E F UR Y
O F H I S F AL S E F RIEND N A PO LE O N F IR ST E MP ER O R O F
, ,

TH E F REN CH L UI S R O DRI G UE Z VARELA P UBLI SH ED IN

,
.

S A MP AL OC ,

R odriguezVarela a Filipino by enumerating the

w
, ,

rights and privileges granted by la to the natives ,

and because he was a Filip i no was accused of being an ,

agitator and rebel in disguise despite the proofs of his

,

ardent enthusiasm for Spain in those critical moments

w
.

Varela was like ise the author of the E logio a las pro
n ci
vi

las
as
m d e los R ey n os d e la E s pafia eu r opea, E logio a
uj er es d e los R ey n os d e la E s parza eu r opea and

P ar n as o F ilipin o . N ow that the last embers Of passion

fed by conflict and war are dead we can j udge th e ,

events in question in the light of cold reason and we ,

s ee no reason for doubting the sincerity of R odriguez

Valera when he tried to induce the Filipino s to help

Spain in those hard times .

I t is true that the storm of national independence

which was beginnin g to rage in Latin A merica sent over
some gusts and the storm center included us but ,

this was not sufficient to give a definite form to the

ideal of independence in the minds of the Filipinos .

This movement bided its ti me

ww
.

I t can thus be asserted that the country as ith

R odriguez Varela in his enthusiasm for Spain .

The new rulers in Spain did not fail to see this ,

“
s o the Supreme Consej o de R egencia de E s pafi a é
I ndia s in the name of K ing Ferdinand V II in a decree
'

, ,
“
of February 1 4 1 8 1 0 considering the grave and
, ,
 OF P HI LIPPI NE S
M AR I AN O P ON CE

The appearance of a new book about our country

has always been looked upon by us with keen interest .

This interest becomes all the more intense when as in ,

the present case the author is a for eig n er a lr ead y known

w
,

in our literary circles as one of those who study us ith

love and fairness and j udge us with a kin dly spirit and
an impartial mind of which there are very fe examples
,
w .

Miss M M N orton has already published severa l

. .

books some in prose others in verse about the Philip

, , ,

pines A generous and kind hearted soul she has

.
-
,

always treated of ou r a ffairs with a warm feeling and

in a j ust and reasonable measure .

This notable author intends in this book to present

to the E nglish speaking world a group of ou r repres en
-

tativ e men who have done and are doing much for the

development Of democratic and progressive ideas in

ou r country .

I t is pleasant to that such ideas were not con

s ay

cei v e d only of late in the minds of the Filipinos They .

were born many many years ago and have gradually

w
, ,

grown strong through several generations and n o they

m
have attained their full and vigorous maturity .

The present day teachings of democracy would

-

have been utterly useless to u s had they not fallen o n

a soil ade f ertile by the work of former generations .

Such proc ess doe s n ot go by leaps and bounds and but ,

f or the open ready furrows the seeds would have died

, ,
.

We might therefore trace the paths of these ideas

, ,

f rom the beginning of the nineteenth century (although

we could go further back ) to the present time .

When at the dawn of said century N apoleon B ona

, ,

parte invaded Spanish territory the Spaniards made

m
,

a formidable and decided resistance compelling that ,

1g h ty giant to halt in his triumphal march throughout

36
 H I STO RI C AL ST UD Y O F PH ILI PP INE S 37

E urope Spain our mother country of yore made up

.
,
-
,

her mind to shed her last drop of blood in defense of

her independence and liberty The Philippines was .

deeply moved at this noble and heroic stand and j oined

the mother country in her lot
- .

I t was at this period when a pamphlet entitled ,

A NARRA T I V E P R OC LA M A T I O N W H I CH IN O RDER T O ,

EN CO URA G E TH E V A SS AL S O F F ERD INAND V II IN TH E

P H ILI PP INE S T O DE F END TH EIR K IN G F R OM TH E F UR Y
O F H I S F AL S E F RIEND N A PO LE O N F IR ST E MP ER O R O F
, ,

TH E F REN CH L UI S R O DRI G UE Z VARELA P UBLI SH ED IN

,
.

S A MP AL OC ,

R odriguez
Varela a Filipino by enumerating the
w
, ,

rights and privileges granted by la to the natives ,

and because he was a Filip i no was accused of being an ,

agitator and rebel in disguise despite the proofs of his

,

ardent enthusiasm for Spain in those critical moments .

Varela was likewise the author of the E logio a las pr o

vi
n ci

las
os

m d e los R ey n os d e la E s pana eu r opea, E logio a

uj er es d e los R ey n os d e la E s pana eu r opea and

P ar n as o F ilipin o . N ow that the last embers of passion

fed by conflict and war are dead we can j udge the ,

events in question in the light of cold reason and we ,

s ee no reason for doubting the sincerity o f R odriguez

Valera when he tried to induce the Filipino s to help

Spain in those hard times .

I t is true that the stormnational independence of

which was beginning to rage in Latin A merica sent over

some gusts and the storm center included us but ,

this was not sufficient to give a definite form to the

ideal of independence in the minds of the Filipinos .

This movement bided its ti me .

I t can thus be asserted that the country was with

R odriguez Varela in his enthusiasm f or Spain .

The new rulers in Spain did not fail to s ee this ,

s o the
“
Supreme Consej o de R egencia de E spana é
I ndias in the name of K ing Ferdinand V II in a decree
, ,
“
Of February
.
14 1810 considering the grave and
, ,
38 BUILDER S OF A NA T I O N
to be held as soon as the military occurrences permit
being attended by delegates from Spanish dominions
in A merica and A sia who should d ig n ified ly represent
,

the will of the natives in said Congre ss upon which the

”
restoration and happiness of the Monarc hy depend ,

ordered the participation of representatives from the

Philippines together with those of the colonies Of Latin
,

A merica in the above mentioned Cortes

,
.

K ing Ferdinand himself in a manifesto printed about

,
“ ”
1 8 1 9 addressed
,
to the inhabitants beyond the seas ,

invited his oversea subj ects to choose their represent

“
atives in the Cortes in order that the fathers of the
country b eing assembled the State may be saved and
,
”
the destinies Of both hemispheres forever fixed .

A t that time several elections for delegates to the

Cor tes and provincial representatives were held pre ,

ceded by the indispensable campaigns and conflicts

in which ideas and Opinions fought for supremacy and
light appeared in many cases the Filipinos being thu s
,

initiated into political life The speech which Licen

.

tiate José de Vergara delegate elected by Manila to th e

,

ordinary Cor tes on September 1 9 1 8 1 3 should be read

, ,
.

O n A pril 1 7 of the same year 1 8 1 3 the Con stitu

tio n of the Spanish Monarchy promulgated at Cadiz ,

the preceding year 1 8 1 2 was proclaimed in Manila and

,

received with burning enthusiasm by the Filipinos

because it granted them many rights never theretofore
enj oyed by them Thanks to this event the Filipi
.
,

nos were installed in constitutional life .

I n order to prepare the country for this new con

dition of governme n t and to the end that the benefits
o f constitutional régime might be more efficient for the

furtherance Of ou r progress a fe Filipinos endowed w

w
,

ith public S pirit decided to organize associations for

the purpose o f teaching the people and to put them in
a position to meet the exigencies of the times‘
.

These associations were not political parties suc h ,

as those we know at the present time but only groups ,

urgent need (so the d ecree ran ) of the extraordinary Cortes

 H I STO RI C AL ST UD Y O F PH ILI PP INE S 39

of citizens devoted to propaganda A mong them we .

may mention Luis R odriguez Varela author of the ,

“
Proclama Historial already referred to and of the Par
naso Filipino ; R egino Mij ares ; Captain B ayot ; A ttorney
m
”

Mendoza ; José O rtega manager of the Co pafiia de

,

Filipinas ; José Maria Jugo who was an eminent j urist

,

and A gente Fiscal de 10 Civil of the Au d ien cia d e

“ ”

M an ila; D omingo R oxas a wealthy merchant and

, ,

many others .

O n account Of the fact that these Filipinos enter

tai n e d advanced ideas they were not well looked upon by
,

the conservative and reactionary elements that wished

to keep the country in a state of perpetual infancy
w
.

A struggl e betwee n the t o elements began The .

Filipinos had to undergo many d iflicu lties and su ffer

many hardships for many years until their aspirations
could triumph They had to struggle against prej u
.

dice ; against tradition and the selfish interests estab

li s h e d by certain entities and institutions ; and against

the ignora nce and fanaticism of their O n people w .

Generation afte r generation kept up the fight until

victory came .

Long and rugged was the path and the enemy

saw to it that the obstacles were greater and greate r
every day .

B ut the Filipinos were aware from the beginning

that their cause meant life or death to the country and
made up their mind to defend it at any cost convinced ,

of its j ustice for it was the cause of progress and o f

,

civilization .

I n order to have an idea of the eff ect whi ch the

patriots campaign produced on public opinion it will
’

w
,

be su fficient to cite the follo ing event :

When Governor General Juan A ntonio Martinez
-

came to the cou ntry on O ctober 3 0 1 8 2 2 in order to , ,

take possession of his Office he brought with him a

,

goodly number of Spanish military officers in order to

take t h e plac e of many Filipino officers who were then
s erving in the Philippine regiments .
40 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Marti nez was made to believe before sailing for
Manila that native oflicers were disloya l and not worthy
of confi dence and the need o f their being replaced by
w
,

Spaniards as pointed ou t to him This was the rea son .

for the arrival of the Spanish o fficers .

The Filipino Officers did not of course look at this

measure in a favorable light They were o ff ended .

because their loyalty was doubted and their promotion

thwarted .

There were meetings interchanges of ideas I n order to

,

find some way to defend the interests o f the class to which

they belonged for they already f elt the dignity of their
,

political rights .

D istrust and bias made the authorities see in this

attitu de some dark conspiracy against national integ
rity and mere suspicion was a su fficient cause for the
,

deportation to Spain by an order dated February 1 8

, ,

1 8 2 3 Of a great many Filipino citizens among whom

, ,

were D omingo R oxas José M Jugo R odriguez Varela

,
.
, ,

A ttorney Mendoza R egino Mij ares José O rtega Cap

, , ,

tain B ayot Figueroa F R odriguez Sergeant Mayor

, ,
.
,

B ieste and Captains Ci dron and Gomez .

I n those days Spain was going through a critica l

,

S ituation The extreme enthusiasm of liberals on one

.

hand and Opposition Of Ferdinand V II to constitutional

,

government on the other had j eopardized liberty which , ,

demanded great sacrifices .

The politi cal situation of Spain was all the more

difficult because O f the attitude o f the delegates from
w w
the N e World h o under the protection Of parliament
,

ary privileges brought up in the Cor tes the question

,

Of independence of the Spanish A merican co lonies -

.

This subj ect was s o delicate that even a passing re f er

e nce thereto stirred up men s minds
’
.

This conduct on the part o f the representatives

f rom Latin A merica was due to a preconceived plan ,

as shown by the f ollowing words o f the D elegate

from Y u k atan in the Cortes of 1 8 2 1 1 8 2 3 Lorenzo
w
-
,

Zabala h o later became an agent o f the revolution

,
42 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
instituted apropos Of the same and who had acco pa
nied I tier in his trips H ere are the French author s .
, m ’

words as translated :
,

“
I greatly desire d to know the truth about the
mysterious uprising of the Tagalog regiments of Manila
on Jan 2 2 1 8 4 3 and I seized the opportunity to ask
.
, ,

him (Az aola) to throw some light on the subj ect .

He said that the feast of Saint Joseph had gath

ered in Litao province of Tayabas a great concourse
, ,

Of natives contrary to the order of the Alcald e M ayor

w
,

and the curé h o were opposed to the celebration of the

annual holiday The alcalde led his policemen (alg u a
.

ciles) and wanted to carry ou t by force what his words

and powerless commands could not accomplish The .

people however did not actually resist but only showed

, , ,

a passive silent opposition but the hot headed alcalde

, ,
-

los t hi s self control and threw himself upon the natives

-
,

cruelly beating all who were within his reach D uring .

this brawl he received a blow Wh o had dealt it ? .

N obody kn ew but it was deadly U pon hearing the

,
.

news o f this misfortune which was due to the extreme

recklessness of the victim Governor General Oraa ,

(Ax aa ac cording to I tier ) became furious and did not

,

want to see in this event anything but the beginning Of

an uprising against the mother country which could -
,

not be too severely punished So h e sent 5 00 i nf antry .

men against the supposed rebels of Litao The town .

was blockaded during the night and its population

butcher ed : 1 4 00 persons of all ages and both sexes
atoned with their blood for the accidental death of the
alcald e .

The Tagalog soldiers of Manila had many rela

ti v es and friends among the victims and they felt an ,

intense hatred toward the Governor General who had

ordered this horrible massacre Many cruel and tyr an .

ni cal acts augmented this hatred giving rise to a plan ,

O f revenge the execution of which was postponed till

,

Jan 2 2 1 84 3 Very early in the morning Of this day

.
,
.
,

the Tagalog regiments headed by some native O ffi cers ,

 H I STO RI C AL ST UD Y O F PH ILI PP INE S 43

and sub Oflicers took up arms and captured the city

w w
-
,

o f Manila ithout any resistance whatever The ar

w
.

cry as : “
D eath to Q r aa! ”

B ut without any plan of attack and genera l lead

,

p these troops hesitated which gave the Spa nish

ers h i
, ,

artillery time to rally and hinder their attacks Their .

first impulse having passed way these poor soldiers let ,

themselves be disarmed like meek lambs Quite a num .

ber Of them were shot and order was restored Gov .

ern or General Or aa instead of seeing in this rebellion

,

the outgrowt h of the Litao massacre tried to find in it ,

a conspiracy which had for its Obj ect the independence

of the Philippines B y this contrivance he wanted to
.
,

forestall any criticism to the e ffect that he had through

his violent conduct caused the Tagalog troops uprising ’
,

and at the same time to assume the r Ole of savior Of a

colony which had attempted to throw down the yoke of
the mother country Surely in his egotism he laid
-
.
, ,

aside the moral e ffect which such happe ning could not
fail to produce .

To proclaim that the Tagalog troops had risen in

response to the call of national independence was to
w
give them an idea as to h o it should be done in the
future ; to point ou t to them a noble and great purpose ;
to tell the enemies Of Spain what should be done when
the time comes .

A nd following his policies he proceeded to arrest

,

many prominent men in the country ; one Of them Mr , .

R oxas a rich native merchant was accused of having

, ,

bribed the troops and there was n ot lacking a man who

,

through money falsely testified to having been

,

in trus ted by sai d R oxas to distribute 2 00 piastras

among the soldiers .

This ridiculous testimony which refutes itsel f was ,

not admitted by the Supreme Court (R eal Au dien cia)

whi ch ordered the release Of M R oxas B ut the bitter
. .

ness of Oraa closed the j ail doors despite the acquittal ;,

only death could take away from Oraa h is victim ; Mr .

R oxas died in j ail hi s daughter has gone to Spai n to

,
 BUILDER S OF A NA T I O N

(F r ag m
demand j ustice against the murderer O f her father

Ju les
en t d
’

I ti
un

P aris , I pr i eri e d e B ou rgogn e etmm

Jou r n al d e V oyage au x I les P hilippin es ,
.

par er :

M artin et, rue Jacob, 3 0 :

These lines written by the French s ourner n eed
, ,

no comment ; they are self explanatory -

.

We shall add however that these events were made , ,

an excuse for the arrest and prosecution of other persons ,

such as Messrs A ntonio de A yala I nigo Gonzales .

,

Azaola Miguel E scamilla Mamerto Luis Leonardo

, , ,

Perez D iego Teodoro and José R afael These

, ,
.
,

together with Mariano and José R oxas sons of the ,

deceased R oxas addressed a memorial complaining ,

against the proceedings taken against them especially ,

against the father of the last two as a result Of the ,

sedition of Jan 2 1 1 84 3 Three years had to elapse

.
,
.

b efore the Minister Of War issued a royal order dated

“
Jan 8 1 84 6 stating that Considering the evidence in
.
, ,

the case its institution the imprisonment and hardships

, ,

su ffered let these steps be not inj urious to the re puta

,

t ion of D on D omingo R oxas deceased his children D on , ,

Mariano and D on José and the other petitioners ”

,
.

We put down here Jan 2 1 1 84 3 as the date of the , ,

uprising because it is the one appearing in the royal

,

order of the Minister of War dated January 8 1 84 6; ,

and does n ot agree with the statement of I tier who has ,

Jan 2 2 n d
. .

A t such a remote period the phrase We are losing

”
the Philippines was already heard for a pamphlet ,

thus entitled o f 1 2 pages ( Madrid the A guado Press

w
, , , ,

was being idely circulated .

The men whom I have j ust mentioned did not really

have the least participation in the military uprising
of 1 8 4 3 but they were called rebels because they had
,

liberal ideas stood for the rights o f the Filipinos and

,

were the enemies o f the i niquitous exploitation and the

abuses committed on the country by the friars and other
elements and that movement was made use of in order
,

to destroy them .
 H I STO RI C AL ST UD Y O F PH ILI PP INE S 45

I n Spain there was a struggle between liberal and

,

refractory eleme n ts or progressives and conservatives

,
.

The conflict became more and more bitter The same .

question having tak en root in the Philippines between

those who advocated a more liberal régime and those
who wante d to keep the country in a state of chaos and
misgovernmen t between the country and its exploit
,

ers the succ ess Of one or the other party in Spain went
,

f ar to determine the trend of events in the islands .

The progressive and lib eral parties took turns in

power ; the former was displaced b y the U nion Liberal
in 1 8 56 and the same rotation took place between this
,

union and the conservative party Whenever the pro .

v es or the men of th e
g r ess i
“
U nion Liberal came to
”

power the people of the colony could breathe with some

,

freedom and on the contrary the presence of the con

, ,

s erv ati v es in the government of the mother country was -

marked by a renewal Of persecutions abuses and Oppres ,

sion .

A nd things went on thus unti l the month of Sep

tember 1 8 68 arrived when a triumphant revolution
, , ,

tore down the despotic throne Of E lisabeth II with all

its abuses and arbitrary policies .

I n order to have some idea of how those rulers to

the time of N arvaez behaved themselves we wish to ,

relate a fact of which the profound Spanish histori an ,

Miguel M or ay ta once told us : ,

Sr M oray ta was one day in a Madrid café with

.

some friends A man approached on e of the group

.

and told him that a gentleman desired to speak to him

and was waiting for him at the door ; so the man got up ,

leaving h is hat as he was only going to speak to someone

,

at the entrance of the same building Minutes passed .

,

and Sr M or ay ta and his friends at first did not notice

.

the failure of their friend to resume his seat but the delay ,

at last attracted their attention His hat was st ill ha ng .

ing on the rack They saw nobody at the d oor so they

.
,

left The next day some relatives o f the missing man

.
,

( whose name we do not remember ) inqu ire d at the houses

46 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Of the men with whom he was seen the preceding a fter
noon M oray ta and his friends could not tell them
.

anything but what we have j ust narrated : that he le f t

his hat in order to see a man who was waiting for him
at the door of the café but he was seen no longer so
, ,

they left after a long time had elapsed A nd the hat .

was still in its place His family informed the author

.

ities went to all sources Of information ransacked the

, ,

whole city Of Madrid and sent agents to the provinces ;

,

still they could not discover the least clue to his where
abouts More than a year passed ; his family had
.

already taken him for dead when they received a l etter ,

f rom him stating where he was and his lot He was in .

the Philippines ! O n the afternoon re f erred to on going ,

o u t to see the man who wanted to talk to him he was ,

taken by certain police agents W ithout allowing him ,

to fetch his hat ; he was locked up in a cell for several

days after which he was taken to Cadiz and placed on
,

board a vessel bound for Manila D uring all this time .

he was watched so that he might n ot send any message

to his family and friends after severa l months of ,

sailing he arrived in the islands by way Of Cape O f

, ,

Good H ope .

If this was being done in the very capital o f the

mother country what could not be done in the Philip
-
,

pines ?
w
Such as the k ind of government destroyed by
the R evo l ution of 1 8 68 N o scruple was entertained
.

as to the means when some Libera l who hampered

,

its despotism was to be eliminated .

B ut this wicked conduct was to us a power f u l

instrument for the development Of democratic ideas .

O ur land was on e Of the places to which Liberals were

banished who could well repeat the words O f the Spa n ish
,

poet Zorrilla about these deportations

, ,

pero yo que de laure l semilla era ,

”
ec hé frutos donde cai .

The victory of the Liberals in 1 8 68 which implanted ,

a democrati c monarchy under A madeo and the R epub l ic

 H I STO RI C AL ST UD Y O F PH ILI PP INE S 47

afterward , as well as the opening Of the Suez Canal

( N ov . 1 7 1 869
, ) gave a still greater momentum to the
progress of democratic ideas among us
w
.

A ruthless fight as then raging between the

s ecular clergy made up mostly of Filipino priests and ,

the regular clergy composed Of E uropean friars of all

,

the religious orders over parishes The friars mono .

p o liz e d the parishes I n 1 8 4.9 out of the 1 68 parishes,

which were under the A rchbishopri c Of Manila only ,

o n e fifth and the poorest ones at that belonged to the

-
, ,

Filipinos and day by day this number was being

,

reduced for the decree of Sept 1 0 1 861 gave power to

,
.
, ,

the R ecollects to administer the parishes Of Cavite

“

province and other parishes n o under the native clergy

”
w ,

as they are being vacated .

Father Pedro Pelaez and Father José B urgos had

many heated discussions with the f riars over the ques
tion The first was capitular vi car of the Manila D io
.

cese which became vacant by the death of A rchbishop

,

Ar anguren and as such he wrote some well reasoned

,

reports on March 1 s t 1 8 62 and drew up a memorial

, ,

to the Queen in the name of the Manila chapter show

, ,
:

ing the great inj ustice and the violation Of the laws
committed by depriving the Filipino clergy o f the
parishes to be turned over to friars who on account of ,

their monastic condition could not take charge o f such

m
,

mission Father B urgos was engaged in a discussion

.

with the R ecollect Guillermo A gudo in E l Cla or ”

w
, ,

of Madrid The t o champions Pelaez and B urgos

.
, ,

were supported by all the Filipino clergy many of whom ,

were respected by Filipinos and strangers for their ,

wisdom and virtues .

The native clergy had to su fl er many hardships .

The friars thanks to their immense riches exercised

, ,
“
real sovereignty which was called by del Pilar the
,
”
monastic sovereignty They boasted of the same cruelly
.
,

persecuting their enemies families and even their enemies

,
’

fri en d s l Consequently many of those indicated by the

,

finger Of misfortune had to go abroad Thus many .

48 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
young men availing themselves of the facilities of trans
,

portati on then already existing sailed f or E urope and ,

there started a campaign denouncing abuses and pro ,

posing re f orms I n 1 87 1 they published a magazine

.
,

which appeared twice a month called E l E co Filipino

“ ”
, ,
“
having for its motto : Spain with the Philippines ; the
Philippines with Spain and another periodical E l
, ,

Correo de U ltramar maintained by voluntary su b

”
,

s criptio n s from well to do elements in Manila and the

- -

provinces The clergy question was the one which

.

absorbed the public mind and was the principal sub ,

j ect of their campaign .

This active campaign by liberal Filipinos began

to have some favorable e ffect on the n e rulers in the w
mother country put in power by the R evolution In
-
.

order to thwart this campaign the refractory elements ,

led by the friars created ou t of nothing the Cavite

revolution of 1 8 7 2 We make this statement because
.

up to the present time the facts in our possession tell

us nothing but that it was simply a military sedition ,

made use of with supreme ability by reactionary ele

ments in order to give it a politi cal significance thus ,

involving in the same those Filipinos who by their ,

influence and education were hampering their plans f or

,

exploitation and control SO in view of those events .

, ,

Father B urgos Gomez and Zamora were sent to the

,

gallows and many others among whom were many

, ,

lawyers priests merchants and property holders of

, ,
-

good standing banished Some died in exile others

,
.
,

settled in foreign lands and f ew were able to return ,

to the islands after many years Of pains and su ff erings

,
.

The Cavite stroke was thought by the enemies

Of ou r progress to have sounded the death knell of our -

aspirations A period of about nine o r ten years of

.

. ,
I

r elative peace seeme d to sustain this belief .

We said relative because during the years follow

,

ing the Cavite event a young man Manuel R eg i

,
dor , ,

kept up the campaign f or the country in the colum n s

Of a newspaper the name of which we do not n o remem
,
w
50 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
of the Filipinos was strengthened and brightened the
flame Of patriotism in their hearts as the powerful ,

redoubled their abuses arbitrary conduct and acts o f

,

violence in their desire to stifle the first rumblings of

rebellion and protests which began to emerge from the
peaceful nature of the Filipinos .

The leaders of thought in our country soon realized

the need of guiding these feelings and ideas in order to
direct the energies bred by such feelings and ideas to
a common goal and for this reason they founded La
,

S olid arid ad
. This paper gathered these psychic mani
fes tati on s which floate d timidly and i n an indefinite
man n er in the atmosphere giving them a concrete and
,

tangible form ; demonstrated our right to life and hap

pi n es s ; pointed out the root Of our grievances and showed ,

the legal means whi ch could remedy them I t made .

the people see their real situation and the condition to

which they had a right to aspire ; it warned the mother
country o f the disastrous results which would inevitably
flo w from that Oppression which did not satisfy popu
,

lar aspirations .

The air was filled with general unrest ; we all felt

something which weighed down on our breasts and created
disquietude in ou r minds ; everyone had some fore
boding of an impending mysterious peril which was all
,

the more terrific because it was unknown ; but no one ,

dared convey his impressions and thoughts t o another ,

f or great were the suspicion distrust and lack of

w
,

confidence created by this threat of an un k no n

f ate
w
.

I t was then seen that it as not sufficient to preach

from the columns o f a newspaper as if one were explain
ing from a professor s chair I t was likewise necessary
’
.

to reach the very heart of the people in order to guide

their customs and habits A nd freemasonry was estab
.

lis h e d in order to give our people a school which

should teach o u r people standards of social conduct
and accustom them to public spirit I n freemasonry .

we learned the spirit Of association ; in the midst Of that

 H I STO RI C AL ST UD Y O F PH ILI PP INE S 51

brotherhood we told one another our impressions ou r ,

thoughts our aspirations and fitted ourselves for a

‘

, ,

united e ff ort .

We were no longer those souls that wander alone

and is olated distrustful of one another
,
.

B ut later on freemasonry with its principles of

,

universal brotherhood ceased to satisfy the longings Of

,

our people who were desirous Of determini n g in a more

definite way the desti ny Of the country T O this state

m
.

o f our spirit the creation of the Li

, ga Eflipi n a started ,

by R izal responded The league was a sort Of fre e a

,
.

s on ry with a specific purpose I t di d not want inde .

pen d en ce I t was something like an association for

.

mutual help for the purpose of making less burden

some the lot Of a brother who fell in the struggle an d o f ,

encouraging the fighters thus lifting up their hearts to

,

the idea that they were not alone but that there were
brothers who were ready to minister to them .

The Oppressors the despots in view of the growing

, ,

tenacity of the resistance o ffered by our people became ,

furious were in a paroxysm Of anger and made their

,

acts of violence more vigorous This awakened the .

Filipinos to the fact that there was no possible concilia

tion with the Spaniards .

Then the Liga and the campaign carried on in

Madrid through its organ in the press La S olid arid ad , ,

with their peaceful methods no longer answered the

needs of the times so they disappeared in order to make
,
“
room for the K ataastaas an at K ag alan gg alan g na
K atipunan which stood for revolution and inde
pen d en ce .

From the early part of 1 889 when the campaign

w
,

Of La S olid ar id ad was commenced which as kept up ,

with some metho d and system because it was main

tain e d by organizations to the end o f 1 8 9 6 when said
, ,

paper was stopped by an order from Manila only seven ,

years elapsed B ut in such a short period of time

.
,

great changes in the ideas o f the people took place .

Who would believ e it ! B ut the fact is that eight and

52 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
nine months later in A ugust 1 8 9 6 the first cry Of rebel
w
, ,

lion was uttered at B alin gta ak although the K ati ,

pu n an had been going on since 1 89 2 when i t was

organized by reason of R iz al s deportation to D apitan
’
.

This readiness Of the popular mind to answer the

call O f organization during the preceding seven or eight
years is due no other cause than the long preparation
whi ch I have tried briefly to trace .

José R i zal Marcelo H del Pilar and Graciano

,
.

Lopez Jaena were at the head Of the last stage Of the

w
campaign Let us praise them f or they knew h o to
.

place ou r country o n the path toward her re d e p

tion !
,

m
They have not been able to guide her to the last
haven for they lacked t ime but they put our country
,

in a condition to sail by herself embracing her ideal , .

For the sake Of this ideal our land fought against

,

the Spaniards ; she also fought against A merica on ,

account Of some misunderstanding until her strength

w
,

as exhausted S he subsequently submitted to A mer

w
.

i can sovereignty but always true to her ideal and

, ,

with the firm hope that her rig hts for ,

hich she
has been striving for almost a century will be ,

recognized .

I t is being shown that her hopes are not in vain ;

that they rest on a strong foundatio n supported by ,

the work an d self denial of many generations an d that

-
,

the day is not far when they are at last fulfilled under ,

the protecting shade o f the Stars and Stripes .

A h ! the appearance Of Miss M M N orton s book . .

’

could not be more timely !

I t comes out as a brief in ou r f avor at a time when
the final verdict in ou r cause is about to be given and Miss ,

N orton s views are Of great weight and importa n ce for

’

they are based on historical facts which bring home to

us the truth of these words put by R izal in the lips
,

o f one Of h i s characters

N o t all s l e p t d ur i
Tr ans lated f ro m
n g th e n i g h t o f o u r f o r e f at h er s

s h b y S enor B
th e S pan i
.

ocobo .
 N U E S T R A L I T E R AT U R A
A T R AVE S D E LOS SI GL OS
P or E PIF ANI O D E LOS S ANTO S CRI S TOB AL

D EAR M ADA M :
Me pide V d unas cuartillas sobre literatura asi
.
,

indigena como castellana de Filipinas antes de la con , ,

quista y su evoluci on baj o las i fl ia del pasado

m
-
,
n uen c s

y presente régimen D ebo ser b r ev isi o y en lineas

.

generales para poder llenar medianamente la tarea que

,

Vd equivocadamente
. puso en mis pecadoras manos .

A ntes de la conquista los literatura

, pi
fili n os t en i
an
escrita con caracteres propios Sus manifestaciones .

en verso consisten en sentencias (s abi) proverbios

w w
,

m
( s a ik ain ) cantos de mar ( s olir an i
n talin d a ) epita
w
, , ,

la i cos (d i on a ayayi a i t y otros congéneres que se

, , ,

diferencian solamente por la m usica ) y una especie ,

m
de farsas y sainetes donde se exponen y critican cos
tu b res locales ( d u plo k ar agatan donde los acert1 j os
, , ,

d itim
bu gton gs tienen gran papel y las narraciones épico
ra b i
,

cas llamadas d ali

m
ts ); cantos de guerra can
amorosas (ku in tan g k u n d i an ) etc etc ; m ,

ci on e s , ,
.
,
.

bastantes de ellas pueden todav ia recogerse de los artes

y vocabularios tagalos de los siglos XV II y XV III ,

y aiI n del X I X
'
.

prosa todav ia existen c odices de car a

En ,
cter
religioso y j u rid ico penal con marcada in fl u en ciamalayo
-

mahometana .

Como la conquista la llevaron castellanos del siglo

XV I el siglo de or o de su literatura impregnada del
, ,

R enacimiento tom o carta de naturaleza en Filipinas

, .

Circunstancias especiales determinaron que la in fl u en cia

castellana se refl ej ase primeramente en los dialectos
del pais que no en la misma lengua castellana que se ,

hizo de moda en los comienzos de la conquista .

 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
A l hecho de que los dialectos principalmente ,
el

tagalo ya tenia car acter literario antes de la conquista

, ,

fu e posible la pu b li On x i
caci lo gr afi ca de la D octr in a
cris tian a tagalo es panola atribuida a Plasencia -
1 593 , , ,

en donde la Ave M ar ia tagala Chirino helenista y , ,

llana Lo a
.
,

m
latinista pone por encima de la griega latina y caste
s notable en esta pieza literaria e S que

carece de in fl u en cia castellana en léxi co y co n ex iOn

.
,

gramatical que denota la colab or aciOn an onima del

,

m
s lefi
i o .

m D esde de B lancas de San José 1 60 6

el Me or ial
“

, ,

co en z o a parecer e l nombre de u n fili pi n o como autor :

D on Fernando B ag on gb an ta que v er s ificc) en romance ,

’

o ct os ilab o castellano y tagalo ,

E n 1 6 1 0 Tom a s Pinpin .
,

public o s u y Pinpin sobre conquistarse e l ,

titulo de principe de los tipOgrafOS y grabadores filipi

n os,
di ose a conocer como filOlog o y humanista en una
pieza creando ad e as el tipo del filipin o industrial
,

de car acter reproductivo F u é autor b ilin gi

m
ie S u prosa . .

como sus versos marcan er a .

B ag o n g b an ta romance de ocho s ilabas

Pinpin en una sola co p os iciOn combin o romance
,

llos de cinco se is y s 1 ete s i

ri labas La métrica de ambos
u sO

m
el

.
,
.

escritores es la que posteriormente priv o a lo largo

'

de toda la literatura ind igena .

En las comedias y composicio n es de caracter

her oico se usaron versos dobles de seis y dobles de
,

S iete ; y en algunos epigramas de caracter popular ,

d obles de cinco Los dobles de cinco ta n to pueden.

,

s e r de nueve como de diez s i labas Ser a n de nueve .

,

S ila novena s i laba con que termina el verso est aacen

tuada porque la s ilaba final acentuada S OIO por ex cep
,

ci On en tagalo vale p o r d o s
,
Si la s ilaba décima est a
,
.

acentuada ésta ser a de diez silabas para los filipin os

, ,

y de once para los espa noles E n la B ibliograf ia Fili .

pina v an muy marcadas las dos grandes divisiones

de la Poéti ca filipin a Lo s a it 0 sea poemas her oico . w ,

c ab aller es cos est an escritos en d o d ecas ilab os filipin os

, ,
 NUE ST RA LI T ERA T URA A T RA V E S DE LO S S I G L OS 55

0 s ea versos dobles de seis castellanos ; y los cor r id os ,

poemas legendario religiosos en o ctos ilab os filipin os

,
.

D igo filipin os porque en estos d o d e casilab os no

,

hacen sinalefa la vocal con que termina la sexta silaba

con la vocal con que comienza la séptima s ilaba La
'

m
.

cesura en la sexta tiene que ser invariablemente en la

sexta Sin que los primeros h e is tiq u ios como los de

m
,

los castellanos puedan ser de cinco o S iete sil abas ; y

,

as que cesura es una verdadera pausa E n dicha

, .

s ilaba sexta se completa e l sentido del verso y solo ,

por ex cep ciOn la palabra que trae la sexta por c on ex iOn ,

gramatical s e apoya en la siguiente La rima y sobre

m
.
,

e l ritmo son enteramente distintos d e lo s de doce s i la

bas castellanos ritmo que v a al un isono con el k u in
,

m
tan g aire musi cal genuinamente tagalo con que suele
,

aco pafi ar s e estos d o d e cas i

m mm
lab o s y cuyo movimiento
,

es de s ex as ilab o O parecido al r o an cerillo on Or ri o

m
,

de seis silabas A unque a los Oj os los d o d e c as ilab os

.
,

fili pi n os parezcan on Oto n os su lectura tagala por

, ,

la variedad del ritmo y de los sonidos articulados fin ales

m
,

no carecen de gracia y de dulz u ra a veces inefable ,

como los d u lcis i os A dagios de B eethoven y ciertos

trozos épicos de Wagner .

Con e l trascurso del tiempo los versos de cinco,

seis y S iete silabas se acan ton ar on en las adivinanzas

m
,

proverbios y cuentos populares por ej emplo en el , ,

cuento La tor tu ga y cl on o LOS de nueve diez y .

,

catorce s ilabas desaparecieron desde el siglo XV II .

Por ex ce p c iOn solo podr a hallarse en el siglo X I X

,

diferentes metros y combi n aciones de ellos creo yo , ,

en u n solo autor : en el del Libr o n an g M artir s a G olgota ,

Juan E vangelista Todo esto respecto a los

fili pi n os. R especto a los es pafioles y religiosos casi ,

todos us aron exclusivamente el o ctos ilab o y por ex cep ,

ci

u m
On e l d o d e cas i
lab o E n los fili
.
pi
nos apenas Ileg a a
o cho por ciento de los d o d ecasilab os la proporciOn
de los o ctosilab os .
,

A unque no tenemos una B ibliogr afia P oetica como ’

la de R itson que cataloga unos seiscientos poetas ingle

56 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
s es de los siglos XV y XV I en donde el noventa y nueve,

por ciento son meras sombras de nombres ; algunos

simplemente inicia l es se puede afir ar que Filipinas
,

tuvo bastantes poetas Los cronistas espanoles est an

.
m ,

m
de acuerdo que l os filipin os tan poetas nacen como
us icos ; y que l a poes ia es para ellos bocado de buen
gusto Y p ara no repetir cuanto tengo escrito sobre
.
.

la literatura de los dialectos especialmente la tagala , ,

tan to en prosa como en verso me limitaré aqu ia repro ,

d u cir una aprec i aciOn general acerca del car a cter y

tendencias de s u Poesia apli cable a la prosa y t a b ie n
,

a l a literatura castellana con muy peque nas diferencias

,
m
,

en cuanto al car a cter y tiempo de s u aplicaciOn .

La inagotable malicia la cortesania el ingenio , ,

parab olico la gracia y la primaveral frescura que d is

,

tin g u en e l estilo siempre pintoresco de los poetas anti

g u os informaron hasta cierto punto el estilo de los

,

eruditos y soberanos maestros de principios y mediados

del siglo X I X ; quienes al ensanchar los caracteris ticos
,

cuadros de género que hallaron afi ad ier on variedad ,

de matices y tonos a s u dialecto poéti co p actar on alianz a

m
,

con la civ iliz aciOn occidental haciendo carne de s u ,

carne las conquistas de que aquella a s puede en y a

m
n e cer s e y g lor i

a
ar s e y al propio tiempo que u n cuadro
,

m
s amplio de la vida y el co n fli

va h an el interés d ra a ti
ct o de voluntades ele

co de sus obras ya de poderosa ,

unidad org a nica la elevaci on moral la tolerancia reli

m
, ,

giosa y la noble in d ign aciOn patriOtica encontraban

por vez primera la a s perfecta e x pr e Si
On en ellas .

D esde y especialmente desde 1 8 8 2 a 1 896

1 87 2 , ,

p or imperativo imperio de las circunstancias los vates

m
,

bebieron en fuentes desconocidas de sus predecesores

m
,

y como a s que poetas eran sacerdotes y ap ostoles

de la buena nueva e pu fi aro n cl l a

,
tigo de la burla
y del sarcasmo y con él sacudieron las espaldas de los
,

tiranos ; sus robustas estrofas despertadoras de la con

ciencia nacional son todav ia fiel eco del estruendo de
,

la lucha y de los vigorosos us cu los de los luchadores m .

 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Chirino ( 1 60 4 ) dice que los filipin os en castellano , ,

escriben tan bien como nosotros y aiI n mej or porque ,

’

s o n tan h a biles que cualquiera cosa aprenden con suma

,

facilidad .
”
B lancas de San José ( 1 60 6) s e llen O de
’

estupor de ver que apenas hubo muj er en s u tiempo

que no supiera leer libros en castellano difi cu lto s o
de creer a quien no lo viere y esto no solo en los habi ,

tantes del llano sino aun en los serranos los negritos

, , .

U h negrito de S iete a nos de edad en 1 61 1 alab o en , ,

latin y castellano a San I gnacio de Loyola con la “

,

gracia que pudiera hacer u n elocuente orador .

Las disciplinas del saber entonces eran : I nstituto ,

Teologia Filosofia C anones Gram a

, , tica Leyes Civil , ,

y de I ndias ; y las carreras predominantes la E cles ias ,

tica y la Ab o gacia Por testimonio del D r Fra n cisco

. .

Lopez A dan se sabe que en las U niversidades

‘

de Santo Tom as y de los J es u itas los filipin os que ay er ,

apenas eran D is cipu los actuaron bien pronto de M aes

“
tr os y Cated r ati cos con una i doneidad propia no solo
de las Ca t e d r as de estas I slas ; pero aun de las primeras
en E uropa .

los puestos a m
As i no fu e e x tr afi o que los fili
s altos de la sociedad
pin o s se hicieran de

O bispos ; uno de ellos interin o de Gobernador General

Hubo muchos .

y Presidente de la R eal A udiencia P Pedro B ello . .

fu e electo Provincial de los Jesuitas Los j u r is c on .

s u lto s filipi n o s no quedaron a la zaga de los e cle s i a s ti c os .

Como entonces d es co n o cian s e las castas domi

nantes (que aparecieron en pleno siglo X I X ) y el gober ,

nalle de los pueblos no manej aban buenos hombres

ser entonces a
,

s ed im
de la tierra la in fl u en cia de las campanas no podia
fi can t e y democr a tica Por esto
las i deas y cuanto agita intriga y regocij a la vida u ni
.
,

v er s i a se re pr o d u ci
t ar i , a en los pueblos encontrando ,

eco en la cabana del labriego E n los domingos fiestas .

m
,

de guardar y sobre todo tutelares todos los habitantes

, , ,

de una r egiOn en r o er ia iban a Oir y pender de los

, ,

labios del orador sagrado de fama que a toda costa ,

y con monta nas de oro s e tra ia de Manila 0 de donde ,

 NUE ST RA LI T ERA T URA A T RA V E S DE Lo s S I G L OS 59

se le hallaba Los conceptos que vertia el orador no s e

.

limitaban a lo que suger ia la vida del Santo del d ia; a lo

.

mej or de lo teol ogico filo s Ofi cO O j u rid ico entraba a carga

, , ,

ple an d o u m
cerrada con las cuestiones palpitantes del momento em
lenguaj e oratorio donde retozan perlas de
,

m
eru d i ciOn . La poblaci on se convert i a muy luego en
una academia viviente Todos los términos del s er On .

m
0 la catilinaria s e comentaba dram a
s e g tI n los casos
’

, ,

tica en t e con apostillas de parte de los alumnos uni

,

v er s i
tar io s del pueblo de vacaciones entonces O de , ,

m
los alumnos graduados de los pueblos y provincias
li i tr ofe s .
,

D el casco de la poblaci on la disputa de la ,

lira emigraba a los b an tay an es y huertas ; de estas ,

de n u respingo sal ia disparada para la choza r usti ca

, ,

y de esta al par r ad o del pastor que sestea el ganado .

Y j claro l, en otros siglos por muy lenta que se ,

mm
difundiese la cultura latino castellana habr ade quedar -
,

fir e en te difundida germinando y produciendo frutos ,

de sabor y color conocidos para los hij os del A rchi

piélago de Legaspi Cultura no debida a los libros
.
,

a la Prensa a los clubs a las escuelas a las conferencias

, , , ,

sino a u n ambiente especial como el ambiente y cielo e s

pe ci ales de Holanda que acondicionaron a u n R embrandt
u n Potter en fin a la escuela denominada fl a en ca;
, ,

cultura que estimul o el natural ingenio la natural saga

m ,

cidad d el filipin o in d u stria n d o le en las rudas disciplinas

,

t eo lOg icas filos Ofi cas y j u r i

, dicas ; que crearon y fo r ti
fi car o n
la unidad de ideas y sentimientos del pueblo filipin o in ,

fu n d ién d ole ese esp iritu de cr itica que le distingue tal ,

vez estrecha antes de la R evoluci on pero estrecha y todo , ,

formidable para confundir al adversario con los propios

términos de s u razonamiento N O produj o escritore s .

a destaj o durante el tiempo en que las Circunstancias

,

pol iticas s e lo v e d ab an pero produj o sutiles improvi ,

s ad o r es, ingeniosos co n v ers acio n is tas y ese primor ,

suyo en el trato social que ilumina y regocij a la vi da ,

y de q u e s e hace lenguas el extranj ero que tiene la opor

tunidad de conocerle de cerca .
 BUILD ER S O F A NA T I O N

pi
Los fili n os , pues por u n consorcio dichoso de ,

circunstancias y cualidades tanto innatas como ad q u i ,

ridas vinieron a ser como el italiano y el frances del

,
“
M ediodia que describe Taine : Si sobres s i prompts ,

d esprit qui naturellement savent parler causer

’
, , , , ,

mimer leur pensée avoir d u go ut atteindre al élég an ce

, ,
’
,

e t sans e ffort comme les Provencaux d u X IIe si ecle

,

e t les Florentins d u X I V e se trouvent cultivés civi , ,

”
lis es achevés d u premier coup
,
.

A hora bien ; n u pueblo de estas condiciones échelo ,

V d en brazos de una r ev olu ci

. On como la francesa ,

para que al contacto con el rocio el s ol y la arena se ,

entregue f ebrilmente a la acci on y a la pro d u cciOn lite

a sin traba de n i
r ar i ,
n g un género ; por el contrario ,

en medio de una atm osfera v iv ifican te y protectora

m
,

donde los materiales y la corriente de i deas hacen de

mosto y alimento divino para agn ificar la facultad
creadora y ver aV d Si serian capaces de lanzarse a la
,
.

conquista de nuevas tierras .

Con efecto las preciadas j oyas de Cecilio A postol

, ,

Fernando M a Guerrero José Palma Clemente J

.
, , .

Zulueta Honorio Valenzuela y otros s on de este

, ,

momento hist é rico 1 8 95 1 900 sin igual en los anales de

,
-
,

Filipinas en frescura pasi on y espontaneidad cualida , ,

des esenciales en todo arte principalmente en la Poesia ,

.

Mucho antes que el ambiente favoreciera la in s pi

raci on individual ya estos poetas ten ian cierta pericia
,

técnica en s u arte cierta maestria en el h a bil uso de

,

cortes y pausas y en aquella manera peregrina de

ay u n t ar castiza unas veces artificial otras palabras

m
, , , . ,

frases y periodos poéticos E ran d u efi os de u n dia .

le cto poético as O menos rico y vates en una palabra

, , , ,

de medida y n u mero .

As i los Afectos a la Vir gen de Zulueta fl or tropi , ,

cal premiada con lirio de plata por la A cademia B iblio

g ra ficO Mariana de Lérida
m E spa na data de 1 8 95 ‘
-
, ,

E l K u n di an de J Palma sabrosa frutilla del solar

m
.
, ,

nativo abonado con mantillo del huerto de R ueda de

, ,

1 8 95 ; la in s pi s i a M i P atri
rad i a de Guerrero que v i o , ,
 NUE ST RA LI T ERA T URA A T R AV E S DE Lo s S I G L OS 61

la luz por v ez pr imera en La I n d epen d en cia en 1 898 ,

est a escrita en 1 8 9 7 Muchas composiciones por .

,

m
ej emplo de A postol anteriores a 1 8 98 nada per d erian
, ,

en la co paraciOn con otras suyas de fecha posterior

excepto con la dedicada A los M ar tires An o n i os d e la
P atria y con La S ies ta la cuales aunque recuerdan
’

m ,

E l N id o d c Con d ores del poeta argentino A ndrade y el

I d ilio de N u nez de A rce no so n solamente de lo a
, s sobre

saliente en el repertorio de A p ostol y que lu cirian en

m
cualquiera antologia sino que son todavia mej ores
,

que las citadas de aquellos excelsos vates por el arran qu e

m
,

l irico y el colorido del paisaj e tropical de que éstos care

cen Celebraban ad e a
. s per i
,
cas tertulias
Od i ,
modes ,

tas academias en donde todo se le ia discut ia y comen

, ,

taba desinteresadamente ; en ellas comenzaron a hacer

alarde de sus dotes criticas Jaime C de V ey ra Zulueta y .
,

Macario A dri a tico .

La era revolucionaria fu e para los filipin os lo que

e l siglo de I sabel para los ingleses La diferencia .
,

aparte las naturales y circunstanciales que s e sobre

entienden es que gran parte de lo sembrado cr iado y
, ,

cosechado durante la R evoluci on se ha quedado en los ,

campos de labor porque no hubo tiempo material

,

para recoger todo el grano M as como este grano .

no es de los que se pudren en las eras pero pueden malo ,

g r ar s e por esto desde 1 90 0 en adelante se ha ido reco

mm
, , ,

gi én d ole de prisa puliéndole para que gane en esti

, ,

aci On y precio También semillas de otro Orden

.
,

de i portaciOn americana se han echado en el surco ,

y han prendido Y se espera que los b oton cillos que

.

ya comienzan a son reir muy pronto s e con v irtir a n en

panoj as .

Mu cho se ha hecho ; mucho se ha adelantado Pero .

los espanoles los filipin os y los americanos deben tener

,

en mientes que la obra fu e y ser ad c todos A nadie .

le es l i
cito reclamar la exclusiva del privilegio Todos .

deben cooperar a la obra ya comenzada trabaj ando ,

sin c esar y con los Oj os hacia aquella Ciudad Celestial

62 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N

cosa para 10 mm
de que habl o Goethe : Que lo hecho es bien poq u is i
a est apor hacer
s i o que todav i
u ch i
m
a

D as wenige verschwindet leicht dem B licke

w
D er v or arts sieht wie viel noch u h rig bleibt
,

Y con los buenos deseos de s u devoto servidor y

colega en letras : ifi g atan po cayo fig D ios at n iG u in oon g
“

”
S anta Mar ia ,
que dir ia el pio Modesto de Castro .

Malolos 3 0 N oviembre 1 9 1 3
,
.
 LI T ER ATU R E

M ADA M
w
You ask me for a fe lines on native and Spanish
literature in the Philippine I slands prior to the conquest ,

and their evolution under the influ ence o f the past

and present régime I n order to acquit myself in
.
,

anything like a fair manner of the task which you have ,

committed the error of entrusting to me I must be very ,

brief and treat the subj ect matter along general lines-
.

B efore the conquest the Filipinos had a literature

written in characters of their o w I ts manifestations
w
n .

in verse consisted in maxi ms (s abi) proverb s (s a ik ain )

w
, ,

boat songs (s olir an in talin d a ) nuptial songs (d ion a

w
, , ,

ay ayi a it and others of the kind the only di ff erence

, , ,

being in the music ) and a kind of farces representing and

,

criticising local customs (d u p lo k ar agatan in which

m
, ,

riddles Or bu gton gs play a considerable role and epi c

m m
,

di cal tales called d ali

th y r a b i ts ) war songs love songs ,

(k u in tan g k u n di an ) etc etc A considerable num

, ,
.
,
.

ber of these can still be gathered from the Tagalog

grammars and vocabularies of the 1 7 th and 1 8 th cen
tu r i
es
, and even of the 1 9 th .

I n prose there are still codesa religious and of

criminological character in hich a marked malayo

,
'

w
mohammedan influence is noticeable .

The conquest being effected by Cas tillian s Of the

l 6th century the golden century of their literature
, ,

impregnated with the R enaissance was transplanted ,

to the Philippine I slands O wing to special circum.

stances the Cas tillian influence was reflected first in the

,

dialects of the country before it appeared in the Spanish

.

language whi ch became fashionable at the outset of

,

the conquest .

T hefact that the dialects principally the Tagalog , ,

already had a literary character before the conquest ,

63
64 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
rendered possible the xylographic publicatio n Of the
D octrin a cr is tian a tagalo es panola attributed to Pla -
,

a in 1 593 in which Chirino a Greek and Latin

s en ci , , .

scholar places the Tagalog Ave M aria above the Greek

, ,

Latin and Spanish

. The most noteworthy in this .

piece of literature is tha t it is devoid of all Spanish

influence in its v o cab u lary and grammar which denotes ,

m
anonymous collaboration on the part of the islander ,

B eginning with the Me or ial of B lancas de San

José 1 60 6 the name Of a Filipino author appears : this
, ,

i s D on Fernando B agongb an ta who v er s ified in octo ,

syllabi c romance in Spanish and Tagalog I n 1 61 0 .

,

Tomas Pinpin published his Libr on g and .

besides conquering for himself the title o f prince of the

Filipino typographers and engravers he made himself ,

a reputation as philologist and humanist and gave

origin to the type o f the Filipino industrial of a repro
v e natu re
d u cti He was an author in two languages
. .

His prose as well as h is verse mark an epoch .

ci
made use Of the romance Of eight
B agongb an ta
syllables Pinpin in one composition combined r o an
.

llos o f five six and seven syllables The meter o f

, ,

.
m
, ,

these two writers is the o n e which became at length

the accepted fashion in all native literature .

I n the comedies and compositions of a heroic

character double verses Of six and of seven were used
, ,

and in some epigrams of a popular character double ,

verses o f five These latter may have either nine or

.

ten syllables They have nine if the ninth syllable

.
,

with which the verse ends is accented because the , ,

final sy llable accented in Tagalog only in exceptional

,

cases counts for two I f the tenth syllable is accented

,
.
,

the verse has ten syllables for Filipinos and eleven for
Spaniards The t o great divisions of Filipino poetry
. w
are clearly marked in the Filipino bibliography The
w
.

a it or chivalric heroi c poems are written in Filipino

,
-
,

dodecasyllabi c verse or in Spanish double verses Of

six and the corrid os legendary and religious poems
, , ,
66 B UILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Though we have no B ibliogr aphia P oetica like R it
son s which catalogues some six hundred E nglish poets
’
,

o f the 1 5 th and 1 6th centuries ninety nine per cent ,

-
.

O f whom are mere S hadows Of names and some simply

i nitials it can be a ffi rmed that the Philippine I slands

,

have had a considerable number of poets The Spanish .

chroniclers are agreed that the Filipinos are born poets

as well as musicians and that poetry i s very pleasing
,

to them A nd I n order not to repeat what I have

.

already written w ith regard to the verna cular litera

ture especially the Tagalog both in prose and in verse
, , ,

I shall merely reproduce here a general Opinion on the

character and tendency of their poetry whi ch is also ,

applicable to the prose and to the Spanish literature

as we l l with slight differences as regards the character
,

and the time of their apogee .

The inexhaustible playfulness the gracious n ess , ,

the paraboli c acuteness the grace and primaeval ,

f reshness that distinguish the always picturesque style

O f the ancient poets had a certain influence on the style
o f the erudite and sovereign masters at the beginning

and middle Of the 1 9 th century who broadening the ,

scope of the characteristi c models they found added ,

vari ety Of S hades and tone to their poetical language ,

assimilating those conquests Of o ccidental civilizatio n

whi ch are its greatest pride and glory A broader .

field of life and the confli ct of ideas enhanced the drama

ti c interest o f their works which were already possessed
,

o f powerful organi c unity and moral e l evation re l i

, ,

gio n s tolerance and noble patrioti c indignation f ound

,

f or the first time expression in them .

B eginning with 1 8 7 2 and especially f rom 1 88 2 to

m
,

1 8 9 6 the poets due to the imperative f orce o f the cir

, ,

cu s tan ces derived their inspiration from sources

,

unknown to their predecessors Priests and disciples .

of the new gospel rather than poets they seized the ,

scourge of ridicule and sarcasm and with it plied th e

tyrants backs Their rugged stanzas which awake n ed
’
.
,

the national conscience still echo faithfully the d in o f

,
 SHO R T H I STO R Y OF T A G AL OG LI T ERA T URE 67

the battle and the vigorous onslaught Of the com

b atan ts
. I n them we find neither freshness of spring
nor ingenuous playfulness but the stri fe and fanaticism
,

of the struggle for liberty .

The historical period f rom 1 89 6 to 1 899 is the on e

in which lyrical enthusiasm reached its highest degree
Of effervescence The poets had then besi des the
.
,

n ational heroes B urgos Gomez and Zamora the nationa l

, , ,

hero by antonomasia the Great Filipino ( R izal ) the

, ,

Great Plebeian (A ndrés B onifacio ) and glorious national ,

dates : N oveleta the 1 3 th o f A ugust 1 898 the D ecla

, , ,

ration oi I ndependence and the inauguration of the

,

Filipino R epublic and they were able to sing to and

,

write for a publi c made up Of heroes capable of refreshing ,

the laurels won by their ancestors .

B eginning with 1 900 however the bellic fires died

, ,

down and the salvoes Of the batteries and strong places

thundered only to commemorate some patriotic date
or episode or to salute the triumph or advent of the arts
of peace Metrical innovations and a desire to enri ch
.

the vernacular tongues predominated but the poets , ,

instead of studying the Old models o r placing themse l ves

in direct contact with the people reflected what is ,

agitating modern society and invented or thought they ,

invented words turns of speech and phrases where

, , ,

with to express it They aspired to being hierophants

.

o f the people and in their hands the generous nad nob l e

w
,

patrioti c indignation as transformed into the less

noble and generous expression of factional and po l i
tical strife .

Then the Tagalog theatre went forth in quest Of new

worlds to conquer I ts plays n o were based on con
. w
temporaneous history and t his not being Of an established

mm
order they reflect the changes They showed also a
tendency towards s y b olicis and to a certain degree
towards the restoration of everything purely national
.

.
,

A s t o the literature in Spanish I have al ready ,

mentioned that B agongb an ta in 1 606 and Pinpi n , , ,

in 1 61 0
, wrote in two languages Tagalog and Spanish , ,
68 BUILDE R S O F A NA T I O N
the latter Of these authors with a command o f the Cas
tillian tongue of whi ch there are but f ew examples .

Chirino ( 1 60 4 ) says that in Spanish the Filipi n o s

write as well as we and even better because they are
, ,
”
so skilful that they learn everything with great ease .

B lancas de San José ( 1 60 6) was astonished to see that

at his time there was scarcely a woman who was n ot
ab l e to read books in Spanish which he considere d ,
“
hard to be l ieve f or anybody who had not seen it ,

and this not only among the inhabitants of the p l ai n s ,

but also among the hill dwellers the N egritos In ,

.

1 6 1 1 a N egrito seven years Of age lauded San I gn aci o

,

de Loyola in Latin and Spanish as grace f u l ly as an y

“

”
eloquent orator .

The science s then taught were institutes theolo gy , ,

philosophy canons grammar civil l aw an d l aws O f

, , , ,

the I ndies and the predominant careers the priesthood

,

and law Through D r Francisco Lopez A dan ( 1 7 3 7 )

. .

we know that at the U niversities o f Santo Tom a s an d

Of the Jesuits the Filipinos who but yesterday were
, ,
“
mere students acted v ery soon as teachers an d pro
,

f essors with a competency making them worthy n ot

” “

o nly of the professorial chairs Of these I slands but ,

even of the first Of E urope ”

.

Thus it was not strange that Filipinos occupied

the highest positions in society There were many .

Filipino bishops ; o n e acted as governor genera l an d -

president of the R eal A udienc ia Father Pedro B e ll o .

was elected Provincial of the Jesuits The Filipino .

j urists did not remain behind the pries ts .

A s the dominant castes ( which did not appear unti l

the middle of the 1 9 th century ) were then unknown and
the government of the pueblos as in the hands o f good w
sons of the soil the influence Of the country could n ot
,

have been more edifying and democrati c than it was

in those days The ideas and everything that agitates
.
,

worries an d cheers university li f e were reproduce d

,

i n the pueblos and found an echo in the b u t o f the hus

bandman O n Sundays and holidays and particu

.
,
 SHO R T H I STO R Y O F T A G AL OG LI T ERA T URE 69

lar ly on the patron saint s day all the inhabita n ts o f a

’
,

region would make a pilgrimage to hear and hang on

the lips o f the noted sacred orator who had been brought
f rom Manila or wherever else he was at the expense
, ,

of much trouble and gold The subj ects o n whi ch he .

spoke were not confined to those suggested by the li f e

of the saint Of the day : often leaving th e theo l ogica l , ,

philosophical or j uridical field he would enter fu lly

, ,

upon adiscussion of the current topics Of the moment ,

using language replete with p earls of erudition The .

town was then quickly converted into a live academy .

A ll the features of the sermon or philippic whichever ,

it was were discussed dramatically with commentaries

, ,

by the university students of the pueblo home on a

vacation or by the university graduates of the adj acent
,

pueblos and provinces From the town proper the .

lyri cal discussion migrated to th e outlying barrios ,

and thence by a bound it would translate itself to

, ,

the rusti c b u t and from it to the shelter of the herder

tending the cattle .

A nd of course during the three centuries that the

, ,

Latin — Spanish culture had for diffusing itself however ,

slowly the process took place that culture was bound ,

to become thoroughly diffused and to germinate and

bear rich fruit for the sons of the A rchipelago of Legaspi
w
.

Thi s culture as not due to books to the press to , ,

clubs to schools to lectures but to a special atmosphere

, , , ,

like the special atmosphere and sky of Holland which

m
,

shaped a R embrandt a Potter in short what is known

, , ,

as th eFle is h S chool I t stimulated the natural genius

.
,

the natural sagacity o f the Filipino helping him along ,

On the rough path of theological philosophical and , ,

j uri dical studies and created and fortified t h e unity

,

Of ideas and sentiments of the Filipino people infusing ,

it with the critical spirit that distinguishes it and whi ch ,

though perhaps confined within narrow bounds before

the R evolution was nevertheless sufficiently formidable
,

to co nfound the adversary with his own arguments .

I t did not produce wr iters in abundance during the time

70 BUILD ER S O F A NA T I O N
when politi cal conditions prevented it but it brought ,

forth subtle improvisators ingenious conversationalists

, ,

and tha t exquisiteness in social intercourse which bright

ens and cheers life and is s o highly spoken Of by the
f oreigner who has had an opportunity to become mor e
closely acquainted with it .

B y a happy combination circumstances and of

qualities innate as well as acquired the Filipino h as

, ,

become like the I talian and southern Frenchman whom ,

Taine describes as S i sobres si prompts d esprit qui

“
,
’
, ,

n aturellement savent parler causer mimer leur pensée

, , , ,

avoir d u go ut atteindre a l élég an ce et sans effort

,
’
, ,

comme les P r ov en gau x d u X II si ecle et les Florentin s

d u K IV s e trouvent cultivés civilisés achevés d u
e
, , ,

premier coup .

N ow j ust throw a people with these qualities into

,

the arms of a movement like the French R evolution

w
,

so that touched by the d e

,
sun and soil will enter ,

upon feverish activity and productivity without any ,

impediment whatever surrounded by a vivifying , ,

favorable atmosphere in which the materials and the

current Of ideas serve as stimulant and divine nourish
ment to the creative power and you will find them
w
,

capable of conquering n e worlds .

I ndeed the beautiful gems Of Cecilio A postol

, ,

Fernando M f G u err er eo José Palma Clemente J

r
, , .

Zulueta Honorio Valenzuela and others belong to

, , ,

that historical period Of 1 8 9 5 1 900 unequalled in t h e -

,

annals of the Philippine I slands in freshness passion , ,

and spontaneousness all essential qualities in every

,

art but principally in poetry

,
.

Long
before the atmosphere had begun to be
favorable to individual inspiration these poets had had ,

a certain technical skill i n their art a certain mastery ,

of the proper use of stops and shorts an d of that rare

manner o f j oining together words phrases and poeti cal , ,

periods sometimes i n a natural and at others i n an arti

,
 SHO R T H I STO R Y O F T A G AL OG LI T ER AT URE 71

al
fi ci way They were masters o f a more or less ri ch
.

poetical dialect in other words th ey were poets o f

—
,

measure and number .

Thus Z u lu eta s Afectos a la Vir gen a tr opI cal flower

’
,

that was awarded a silver lily by the A cademi a B iblio

“

m
”
gr afi co Mariana o f Lérida Spain dates of 1 8 9 5 ; E l
-
, ,

K u n di an by J Palma a savory fruit of the native

,
.
,

orchard fertilized with the soil of the garden of R ueda ,

”
Of 1 8 95 ; Guerrero s inspired Mi Patria which first’

w
,

sa the light in La I ndependencia in 1 898 was written

“ ”
,

in 1 8 9 7 Many compositions for instance Apostol s

.
,
’
,

written prior to 1 8 98 would lose nothing by a compari

m m
,

son with other poems Of his of a later date except with ,

that dedicated to Los ar tir es an o n i os d e la P atria

,
’

and La S ies ta ( 1 8 9 8 ) which though they remind one ,

of E l n id o d e co n d ores by the A rgentine poet A ndrade

’

, ,

and of N u fiez de A rce s I dilio are not only the best in ’

,

Apos t ol s repertoire and would grace any anthology

’
,

but are superior to the poems of the poets cited by u s ,

because of the lyrical impetuousness and the coloring

o f the tropi c al la n dscape whi ch these lack They held .
,

besides periodical ter tu lias modest academies where

, , ,

everything was read discussed and commented upon , ,

disinterestedly and in which Jaime C de Vey r a Zulueta

,
.
, ,

and Macario A driati co began to S how their criti cal

gifts
.

The revolutionary time was for the Filipinos what

the E liz ab ethian era was for the E nglish The differ .

ence aside from the natural and circumstantial differ

,

e n ces which need no explanation is that a large part

, ,

Of what was sown grown and harvested during the , ,

R evolution remained in the fields of labor as there was ,

a lack of time for gathering all the grain This grain .

,

however is not of the kind that will rot in the field

, ,

but it may become lost and for this reason it has since ,

1 900 been hurriedly gathered and polished in order

to enhance its value Seed Of another kind brought .
,

to us from A merica has also been cast into the furrow ,

72 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
and has taken root I t is hoped that the buds whi ch
.

are already beginning to show will soon ripen i n to

fruit.

Much has been done ; much headway has been made .

However Spaniards Filipinos and A mericans must

, , ,

bear in mind that the work was and will be everybody s ’

.

N obody is entitled to claim the exclusive privilege .

A ll must cooperate in the work already b egun and labor

w ithout cessation with the eyes turned towards that
,

celestial city Of which Goethe S peaks because what has ,

been done is very little compared with what sti l l remai n s

to be accomplished
D as wenige verschwindet lei cht dem B licke
w
D er v or arts sieht wie viel noch iib rig
,

bleibt
.

A nd with the good wishes of your devoted servant

and colleague in letters ifi g atan pO cayo na ng D ios
,
“

”
at n i G u in oong Santa Maria ,
as the pious Modesto
de Castro would have said .

Malolos N ovember
, 3 0, 1 9 1 3 .

( Translated from the Spanish by Mr . Leo . Fischer

o f the E xecutive B ureau ) .
74 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
We find the following in ou r historical record b y
B lair and R obertson Volume LI ,

“
Three times in their history have th e
Philippines had representation in the Spanish
national Cortes namely for the years 1 8 1 0 1 8 1 3
, ,
-
,

1 82 0 1 82 3
-
,
and 1 83 4
“
Several general measures enacted by th e
Cortes touch the Philippines inciden tally The .

first matter however specifically connected

, , .

with the Philippines was the receipt by the Cort e s

( March 1 6 1 8 1 1 ) of the report of the governor
,

Of the Philippines ( dated A ugust 8 1 809 ) in ,

regard to the French vessel M OSC A which

'

had been captured by the parish priest o f B atan

gas ( Fray Melchor Fernandez ) and the dis ,

patches carried on that vessel The reading .

on A pril 2 6 1 8 1 2 of the proposed decree pre

, ,

scribing the manner of holding elections in the

regular Cortes to be convened in 1 8 1 3 aroused ,

lengthy discussion O n M ay 6 R eyes moved

.
,

that a S pecial f orm of election be granted for

the Philippines because Of their distance and the
character of their inhabitants The islands had .

neither the funds n or the men to send by which

equality of representation would be j ustified ,

and he requested that it only be declared that

they must not send less than two A n amend .

ment O ffered by the committee on the Con stitu

tion proposed that to the instructions regarding
the elections in U ltramar be added a clause to
meet R eyes wishes but the matter was hotly
’
,

contested by the A merican representatives who

feared that such a clause might sometime l ead
to the cutting down of their o n representation w
m
,

and as a consequence the proposal o f the com

tte e was not voted on
i .

The age and enthusiasm Of R epresentative Ventura

de los R eyes are noteworthy .
 PH ILI PP INE A SS E M BL Y 75

I n the Malolos Constitution

“
A rt 3 3 The Legislative power shall be
. .
-

exercised by an A ssembly Of the representatives

of the nation .

l
>< s >I a
n

A rt . members of the A ssembly

3 4 —The
.

shall represent the entire nation and not ,

”
exclusively those who elect them .

From the draft of a constitution proposed by prom

in en t Filipinos as the Philippines N ational Consti
tu tion ,
we also read :
“
A rt XXX III — The senate and the cham
. .

ber of deputies shall exercise the legislative power

with equal powers except in cases determined
,

by this constitution and both colegislativ e bodies

,
”
in sessions shall form the national congress .

“
A rt XXX I V —The members Of both bodies
. .

represent the whole nation and not exclusively ,

those electors who may appoint them and can ,

”
receive no imperative command from any one .

A nd Paterno s scheme of June 1 9 1 8 9 8 f or Phil

’
, ,

ippin e A utonomy under the Spanish sovereignty speaks ,

Of the A ssembly as the R epresentation of the A rch

“

pelago
i
w
.

AS the Malolos Constitution as only the expression

of that ideal of that unfailing birthright dignified coun
, ,

tries ambition Oiour people to exercise by and for itsel f

’

w
its o n sovereignty which dates back still very much
,

earlier than the death of Magellan at Mactan we have ,

to conclude that the idea Of popular representation

is n ot a new on e in the I slands .

Speaking Of the A ssembly as a concession to ou r

people Secretary Of War Taft says
,

“
I can well remember when that section was
drafted in the private offi ce Of Mr R oot in his .

house in Washington O nly he and I were .

present I urged the wisdom Of the concessio n

.

and he yielded to my arguments and the sectio n

76 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
as then d ra fted di ff ered but little from the f orm
it has to day I t was embodied in a bill pre
-
.

sented to the House and passed by the House ,

was considered by the Senate was stric k en out ,

in the Senate and was only restored after a

,

conference the S enators in the conference consent

,

ing to its insertion with great reluctance I had .

urged its adoption upon both committees and as , ,

the then Governor Of the I slands had to assume ,

a responsibility as guarantor in respect to it which

I have never sought to disavow ”
.

I n f act every hope was rather lost in

, Congress
when a recourse was made to R iz al s works and li f e ’

as a last resort His M Y LA ST F ARE W ELL was recited

.

by Congressman Cooper himself with such an intense ,

feeling that it a ttracted the profoundest respect A .

change a turn was effected and hopes revived Si n ce

, ,
.

then the A ssembly became a fact .

After the recital Mr Cooper continued :

,
.

“
Pirates ! B arbarians ! S avages ! I ncapable
Of civilization ! H OW many of the civilized ,

Caucasian S landerers Of his race could ever be ,

capable Of thoughts like these whi ch on that ,

awful night as he s at alone ami dst silence u n

,

broken save by the rustling of the black plumes

o f the death angel at his side poured from the ,

soul of the martyr ed Filipino ? Search the long

and bloody roll of the world s martyred dead ’
,

and where o what soil under what s y di d

— n ,
k —

Tyranny ever claim a nobler victim ?

“
Sir the future is not W ithout h Ope for a
,

people which from the midst of such an environ

,

ment has furnished to the world a character so

,
”
lofty and so pure as that Of José R i zal .

Thus it is extremely pleasing to note that while ,

we should feel very fortun ate soulfully grateful to

, ,

have had the invaluable efforts and services of Messrs .

R oot and Taft yet it should be noted and foreigners

, ,
 PH ILI PP INE A SS E M BL Y 77

should even kindly concede it that

'

ithout the , , w
i nfluence of R izal from the Great B eyond the proposed ,

concession would have been simply a flat failure .

This teaches us once more that no matter whatever ,

help you may have from without reliance in one s ’

w
,

o n self is o f absolute necessity in any undertaking .

I t is basic The first help must come from Within

. .

I t is therefore most becoming to here quote that

m
, ,

portion of the speech of Speaker O smena at San Miguel

de M ay u o B ulacan May 7 1 9 1 0 on the Philippine
w
, , , ,

A ssembly as the work of ou r o n people

“
The impetus given by the revolution to
the work for national liberty was felt during
the war as well as after it D uring the war .
,

the revolution produced among other things

m
, ,

the pact of B iak na bat o which as a distinguished

- -
,

gentleman ( Mr B u en ca in o Sr ) h as said but

’

w
. .
,

fe moments ago opened the door to belli

,

g er en cy for us D uring peace the most precious

.
,

fruit of the Philippine revolution has been the

Philippine A ssembly The establishment of th e
.

Philippine A ssembly was not an isolated much ,

less casual fact I ts casual cause was the A ct

, .
'

o f Congress o f July 1 1 90 2 but i

ts true cause
, ,

is lost among the gloomy mists Of that past over

which we have cast a retrospective glance The

w
.

A ssembly as not the result of a fatality but ,

the work o f our men of those men who as , ,

a thinker has said having lost faith in j ustice

,

on this earth after exhausting all of the resources

,

Of their intelligence turned their eyes toward

,

heaven and commending their cause to God

, , ,

took up arms The bloody sacrifice in the u n

.

equal s truggle which terminated in disaster to

w
the Filipino arms as not in vain ; nor were the
national aspirations lost in the vacuum A s .

the revolution was not the work Of one man nor

Of any particular set Of men but of the entire
Filipino people the ideal which remained unim
,
 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
w
paired after the ar now requires the existenc e
not Of one man but of an institution which S ha ll
,

perpetuate its life through new dangers and d ifli

cu lti
es .

“
This institution has been the Philippine
A ssembly This A ssembly which was inan g a
.
,

rated on the 1 6th of O ctober 1 9 0 7 was born of, ,

the blood and tears that burst forth in abundance

in the past The Philippine A ssembly is noth
.

”
ing but the child of the Philippine revolution .

ITS B LE SS IN GS
I t brought o n complete peace in the I slan ds ,

reestablished order throughout .

Secretary of War Taft says :

“
The importance of the agency of the A rmy
of the U nited States in suppressing insurrection
I would not minimize in the least ; but all who '

remember clearly the succession of events from

1 9 0 1 to 1 9 03 will admit that the return to peace
and the acquiescence of the Filipino people in
A merican sovereignty were greatly influenced and
aided by the prospect held out to the Filipinos
of participation in the government of the I slands

and a gradual extension of popular self control -

.

Without this and the confidence of the Filipino

people in the good purposes o f the U nited States
and the patience with which they endured their
many burdens that fate seemed to increase the ,

progress which has been achieved would have been

”
impossible .

A nd Governor Wright o n February 1 1 9 04 : ,

I t seems to me f urthermore that when a

“
, ,

comparison is made between the situation as it

existed three years and a half ago and as it
exists now even the least observant or the most
,

censorious must be struck with the marvelous

change for the better Then there as a blaz e
. w
of insurrection extending from o n e end of the
 PH ILI PP INE A SS E M BL Y 79

A rchipelago to the other ; to day general peace

-

prevails Then life and property were only

w
.

secure in those to ns garrisoned by A merican

troops who occupied several hundred stations ;
to day the number of ou r troops has been reduced
-

by more than three fourths occupy only a few

-
,

strategic points and yet with the exception of

,

the occasional depredations committed here

and there by insignificant and fugitive bands
o f ladrones life and property are as secure in

these I slands as in other well ordered co

ni ti
es. I do not for a moment pretend that this
u -
m
m
gratifying change has resulted W holly from the
labors of the Commission U nquestionably in
.

the mere suppression of insurrection the chief

credit is due to the e fforts of ou r gallant A rmy
and N avy B ut I think I may say W ithout
.
,

the imputation of egotism or the desire to unduly

exalt the Commission that but for its e fforts
,

to establish in the minds Of the intelligent and

thoughtful Filipinos a conviction as to the rec
titu d e and benevolence of the intentions Of
the A merican people with reference to them ,

and thereby securing in a multitude of instances

m
, ,

their cordial and zealous cooperation in the estab

li
sh en t of peace and order these gratifying
w
,

conditions would not n o exist .

When in it was announced that

1 90 1
“
w
T o years after the completion and pub
lication of the census in case such con dition
,

of general and complete peace with recognition

o f the authority of the U nited States shall have
continued in the territory of said I slands not
inhabited by Moros or other non Christian t ribes -

and such facts shall have been certified to the

President by the Philippine Commission the ,

Pr esident upon being satisfied thereof shall

, ,

direct said Commission to call and the Com ,

mission shall call a general election f or the c hoic e

,
 BUILDE R S O F NA T I O N
'

80 A

of delegates to a popular assembly o f the people

of said Territory in the Philippine I slands whi ch ,

shall be known as the Philippine A ssembly .

guns from the hills were surrendered and the revered ,

flag that motherly covered the graves of countless sons i n

the fields o f battle that flag that made us feel as wholly
,

i mmune against deadly shells that united us together

w
,

as into on e single soul and body that dear flag as ,

lowered down to stand no more in the air but to o nly ,

be still closer to us in the minute temple Of ou r heart s

, ,

there to be still more deeply revered there t o wait the ,

resurrection day A nd at this cost and with faith

.
, ,

in God a n d in the words o f honor and greatness o f

A merica there was peace and peace as desired to mate

, ,

riali z e the inauguration Of the A ssembly .

Thus you see that the people itself made the inau
g u r ati o n of the A ssembly possible .

This shows national consciousness on the part of

the people .

ITS E X C LU S I VE R E P RE S EN T A T I O N :
D uring the second Legislature there took place in , ,

N ovember of a happy occurrence which in the

1 9 1 0, ,

lengthy discussions between the managers on the part

O f the Philippine Commission and the managers on the
part of the A ssembly as to the election of and r epre ,

s en tati on held by the Philippine R esident Commis

,

o n er s to the States gave occasion for the drawing

’

si ,

Of the following final conclusion :

“
That the A ssembly represents the Filipino
people and is under the present régime the
, , ,
”
only body representing it here .

I should quote the same l anguage used by our

managers in this matter at the conference :
“
What has been said about the House of .

Commons and the colonial houses of representa

tiv es has S ingular application to the Philippine

A ssembly E ngendered amidst the su ff ering o f

.

the people who were seeking the j ust redress of

82 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
While it is true on the one hand that the A ssembly
w
, ,
“
as given the right to initiate legislation to modify , ,

amend shape or defeat legislation proposed by the

,

Commission ”
and l egislative e qu ipoten cy was thus
,

established between the two Houses on the other the , ,

grant was not complete an d the power and duty Of ,

making rules and regulations for the government of the

I slands are still in Congress .

The plain letter and spirit of the Treaty of Paris

were even ignored .

There was therefore on the part Of those gentle

, ,

men a clear overestimation o f their personal worth

, ,

and an absolute lack of that self s acrificin g spirit s o -

necessary in the task of uplifting a nation .

They never realized or never were in c ondition to

,

realize the tremendous responsibility for the calamity

.

that would have befallen upon the country thru their

lack of public spirit .

Fortunately for the people the era o f this class of ,

leaders is drawing to a close and it is th e source of the ,

greatest national satisfaction to s ee that the masses are

be g inning to j udge them for themselves .

mB ut coming back to the A ssembly under the present

r egi e ,
,

were the House to only seat in t he Chamber

w
there to i nitiate no n e legislation but simply to defeat
,

w
,

whatever measures of doubtful isdom or u nclear publi c

purpose may come from the Commission its existence ,

an d continuance no matter at what cost no matter

, ,

at W hat sacrifice S hould appeal to eve ry true Filipino

,

as fully j ustified and every cent spent most wisely

, ,

S pent .

OR G ANI Z A T I O N
A bsolutely without precedents abso l utely without ,

even copies of parliamentary books or rules to help

them in organizing the D elegates to the First Philippine
,

A ssembly wholly unexperienced in parliamentary mat

w
,

ters relied upon their o n s elv es in the organization o f

,

the House .
 PH IL I PP INE A SS E M BL Y 83

I doubt if anywhere in the civilized world there

could be found any other House organized under the
same circumstances .

However looking only for the good Of the country

, ,

their public spirit led them to the best Of results and

w
,

in forty minutes the House as in complete working

order.

R ULE S

Preliminary meetings were held before the formal

Opening for t h e purpose of d eter inin g th e rules they
,

would have to adopt The discussions were most inter .

m '

esting and vivid particularly as to freedom in debates

, ,

and at once revealed the men s respective future places ’

in the C hamber .

They marked from the beginning t o di ff erent w ,

Opposing tendencies : on the o n e hand those who were ,

educated in E urope or imbued with E uropean ideas ,

in matters parli amentary advocated for absolute , ,

unrestrained freedom in discussions O n the other .

,

those with a clearer vision of the situation of the A ssem ,

bly itself as created by the A ct of Congress advocated ,

f or a procedure similar to that with which the creators

o f the A ssembly were familiar .

Paterno A goncillo D r G omez Velarde Guerrero

, ,
.
, ,

B arretto and others militated over on e side and

, , ,

Quezon A dri a
, tico Gabald on Clar in Sotto and others
, , , , ,

over the other .

w
The latter o n the case an d the R ules of the 59 th ,

Congress o f the U nited States of which they had copies ,

neither in E nglish nor in Spanish and with which they ,

were absolutely unf amiliar were adopted , .

This should not be construed however as meaning , ,

that said rules were the ones best suited to our needs
w
,

or the best e found of all rules in use I n fact we .

f ound none we had none at hand

, .

B ut the A ssembly being an extension by Congress of

,

o u r political grant to j udge of ou r qualifications to

,
84 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
assume a greater public responsibility by legislating for
w
ourselves it as extremely necessary for us to facilitate
w
,

their j udgment to S how them h o we conducted our legis

,

lative matters and one of the best wisest means that

, ,

could have been a fforded to them was the adoption of

w
their o n R ules in the conduct of their o n House w
, , w
matters s o that in this ay they could j udge us with ,

a greater ease than thru a procedure unknown to them ;

and S hould success crown our e ff orts it woul d be hard
, ,

for them to evade recognition of the successful trial .

U ntil after a few weeks we were not in condition ,

to make distribution o f the Spanish translation copies Of

the rules of the 5 9th Congress when everything was done ,

and smoothly running as though the House were not

sitting for the first time .

F O R M A L OP ENIN G :
’

The program read as follows :

Wednesday ,
O ct . 1 6,
a . In .

I NA U G U R A T I ON O F T H E ASS E M B L Y
’

M AN I L A G R AN D OPE R A H OU S E .

PR OG R A M .

E ntrance of the D elegates to the First Philippine

A ssembly .

E ntrance the Honorable Secretary of War and the

of ,

Members of the Philippine Commission .

Governor General Presiding

- .

Music z— Constabulary B and .

Prayer by B ishop B arlin .

Ad d res s z— H on or ab le William H Taft Secretary o f

w
.
,

War .

—
Ad d ress z Honorable James F S mith Governor Gen -
.
,

eral .

The Star Spangled B anner .

R eception o f the D elegates to the A ssembly by the

Secretary of War and the Governor General - .
 PH ILI PP INE A SS E M BL Y 85

The ceremonies at which the highest Official

representations Metropolitan Consular I nsular A rmy
, , , , .

N avy Church and Provincial were present were

, , , ,

most imposing most thrilling particularly for every

w
, ,

Filipino who realized that n ot ith stan d in g all ad v er

,

sities his country steadily i nevitably was advancing

, , , ,

towards its final l oftiest go al ,

.

The invocation to Go d A lmighty was pronounced

by the late B ishop B arlin the first Filipino B ishop in the
,

present situation as though the first one to be con

,

s ecr ate d expressly f or the first Philippine A ssembly .

The official descriptio n o f said ceremonies is as

f ollows :
Pursuant to the proclamation o f the Gov
e rn or General
- dated September 1 4 1 90 7 as , ,

amended by the proclamation of the Governor

General dated O ctober 1 1 1 907 made in accord ,

ance with the provisions of the A ct of Con gress

approved July 1 1 902 the members of the , ,

Philippine Commission and the members elect -

Of the Philippine A ssembly met in the Grand

O pera House Calle Cervantes city of Manila

, , ,

at o clock and 2 5 minutes of the forenoon

’
.

“
The D elegates—elect of the Philippine A ssem
bly entered the hall in a body at o clock ’

antemeridian and shortly after the hour of

,

9 Honorable William H
, Taft Secretary of .
,

War of the U nited States ; Honorable James

F Smith Governor General of the Philippine
.
,
-

I slands and Honorable D ean C Worcester

, .
,

Honorable T H Pardo de Tavera Honorable

. .
,

B enito Legarda Honorable José R de Luzu

, .

ri aga Honorable W Cameron Forbes and Hon

, .
,

o r ab le W Morgan Shuster members of the

.
,

Philippine Commission acc ompanied by Maj or ,

General Leonard Woo d commanding the Phil ,

i ppi ne D ivision of the U nited States A rmy ;

R ear A dmiral Hemphill commanding oflicer of
-
,

the U nited States A siatic Fleet at this station ;

86 BUILDER S OF A NA T I O N
B rigadier General Clarence R E dwards Chief
-
.
,

o f the B ureau of I nsular A ffairs and Honorable ,

A rthur W Fergusson E xecutive Secretary for

.
,

the Philippine I slands arrived and took the ,

seats provided for them on the stage .

There wer e present also the members of the

Supreme Court ; Monsignor A A mbrose A gius .
,

apostolic delegate and R ight R everend Jorge

,

B arlin ; the o ffi cial representatives of foreign

governments in the P h ilippine I slands and the ,

”
various provincial governors .

I am not going into the details of the opening . It

would require time and space much longer t han those we
have at our command n o I am going to remark w .
,

however that President R oosevelt in his due appr e

, ,

ci ation of the step taken sent Secretary of War Taft ,

and B rigadier General E dwards Chief of the B ureau of

-
,

I nsular A ffairs to personally convey his congratulations

w
,

to us to mark ith the representation they held and

, , ,

with their own pres ence that day o n which our people
, ,

thru their representatives began to assume their part ,

i n the a ffairs of the present government .

This would seem to give us reason to expect that ,

‘

when the final day has come for the r e enthroning of the
w
-

people into its o n full sovereignty the President o f

w
,

the Great R epublic would not trust the most pleasant ,

unequalled duty of inaugurating a n e young inde , ,

pendent republican nation of delivering the message

, ,

Of liberty to a people who for centuries and centuries

has been helplessly struggling for it but to himself , ,

s o that he may here personally receive in his own ha n ds ,

for himself and for his own people the most precious ,

love token of a nation its sincerest heartfelt ev erlas t

, , ,

ing united gratitude

,
.

M E M BER SH I P
O riginally 80 , including the Speaker as per A ct ,

NO . 1 58 2 .
 PH ILI PP INE A SS E M BL Y 87

I n creased to members by Act N o 1 9 5 2 which

81 .

created a delegateship for the B atanes I slands .

A PPO R T I O N M EN T :
I s made in the ratio of one A ssemblyman for every
of population and one for an additional maj o r
,

fraction thereof O ne at least for one province th e

.
,

total number not to exceed one hundred D elegates .

Q UALI F I C A T I O N S O F M E M B E R s:

They S hould be resi dents of the A ssembly district s

in whic h their candi dacies are O ffered duly qualified ,

electors of said A ss embly districts and eligible to hold ,

the o ffice for which they are candidates A nd .

E lectors are
“
E very male person twenty three years of -

age or over who has had a legal residence for a

period of six months immediately preceding the
election in the municipality in which he exercise s
the su ffrage and who is n ot a citi zen o r subj ect
,

of any foreign power and who is comprised with

'

w
,

on e of the follo ing three classes :

( a ) Those who prior to the thirteenth, of

A ugust eighteen hun d red and ninety eight hel d

,
-
,

the office of municipal captain g ob ern ad or cillo , ,

alcalde lieutenant cabeza de barangay or

, , ,

member of any ayuntamiento ;

( b ) Those who o n real property to the w
value of five hundred pesos or who annually ,

pay thirty pesos or more of the established taxes ;

( c ) Those who speak read and writ e , ,

E nglish or Spanish — shall be entitled to vote at

all elections ; P R OV I D E D That officers soldiers
, , ,

sailors o r marines of the A rmy or N avy of the

,

U nited States shall not be considered as having

acquired legal residence within the meaning o f
this section by reason of their having been sta
tio n e d in the municipalities for the required S i
x
”
months .
88 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
A s a man who has been in actual election campaign s ,

where I was first defeater and then defeated I would

, ,

s ay the les s er elector s , th e better

wconvenience s
.

B ut I must not speak from my o n

’

standpoint and S hould say that subsections ( b ) and ( c )

reduce u n j ustified ly the actual number of voters .

Y o u know how poorly our real estate properties

are declared and many are still undeclared
—
,
.

Y ou also know that we have splendid writers i

w
n

ou r o n languages who can f avorably compare with

,

an y other writers but who do not know either Spanis h

,

o r E nglish .

I n neither case I see the wisdom Of depriving them

o f the franchi se n o r should the reduced number of
,

electors be taken as an indi catio n of our lac k of intere s t

in pub l i c a ffairs .
90 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
in a series of articles setting forth the shortcomings of
the advanced instruction then available in Manila .

R izal too planned a school first for Paris and

, ,

later for Hongkong with a course of study quite like

,

o u r present high schools which S hould give a prepara

,

tion enabling young Filipinos to better avail them

selves Of foreign university training .

Then the government o f A guinaldo early in its ,

brief existence and in spite of the war con d ition s pr o ,

.

vi d e d for a Malolos university in recognition of the per

sistent and long deferred aspiration of the Filipinos
w
.

N ext D r D avid P B arrows n o dean of the grad

. .
,

uate School of the U ni v ersity of California a D irector ,

o f E ducation whose acquaintance with Philippine his

tory made him familiar with the foregoing facts and

whose studious bent put him in sympathy ith the pre w
vailing desire announced in his first bulletin that the
,

public school syste m would lead to an U niversity of

the Philippines to be established as soon as students under
w
the n e system were ready for it .

The realization of the long deferred hope came -

“
through the development of a Junior College carried
o n in connection with the Philippine N ormal School ,

under Superintendent Geo W B eattie O n June 3

. . .
,

1 9 1 0 this passed from the control of the B ureau of

,

E ducation and became the College of Liberal A rts of

the U niversity o f the Philippines founded under
“ ”
,

A ct 1 8 7 0 (June 1 8 1 9 0 8 ) of the Philippine Legisla

,

ture The colleges of Veterinary Science at Pandacan

.
, ,

and of E ngineering were opened simultaneously with

the College of Liberal A rts ; the School of Fine A rts ,

on Calle E chague began to receive students a year

,

earlier as had the college of A griculture at Los B afi os

w
,

and the College of La is half a year younger U nder .

the administrative control of the College o f Liberal

A rts is a course in Pharmacy and with the coming year
a course in education will be added .

The oldest of the colleges is that of Medicine which

was established as the Philippine Medical S chool by
 UNI V ER S I TY O F TH E PH ILI PP INE S 91

a special act of D ecember 1 905 opened to students on , ,

June 1 0 1 9 0 7 and was incorporated with the U niver

, ,

sity D ecember 8 1 9 1 0 The beautiful campus of the

,
.

U niversity conveniently situated in E rmita Manila

'

, , ,

where a magnificent U niversity Hall houses the prin

cipal Offices foreshadows a stately and extensive quad
,
,

rangle the y early in co e exceeds t o thirds of a mil

lion pesos ln the faculty are one hundred and s ixty
m w -

Filipinos A mericans and foreign members and the

, , ,

student body totals nearly two thousand .

The young institution promptly linked itself with

the Philippines past by honoring in its three commence
’

ments men from the old era who were pioneers for
w
the n e : the first among the j urists who presides over
the I nsular Supreme Court ; a Spaniard whose success
in studying the weather of his adopted land has made
him the world s authority on its peculiarities typhoons
’
,

and earthquakes ; and the most cultured of Filipinos ’

sons who entered politi cs for his country s sake and ’

then sacrificed his career to be true to his convictions .

The school of 1 9 1 0 h as this in common with its

forerunner of forty years before that j ust as the earlier ,

one s foundation was signalized by establishing a course

’

of Philippine D ialects in a Spanish U niversity so our ,

A merican U niversity Johns Hopkins began giving , ,

instruction in Tagalog and Visayan about the time the

later university was proposed
w
.

B ut there is a radical di fference between the t o

schools in Spain s seeking to limit the history of these
’

islands to the date when Spaniards first came to them ,

while A merica wants to revive the spirit of that earlier

Philippines which a thousand years ago was in contact
with the then most advanced civilization .

The opening of the U niversity permits changing the

Philippine public school course of study from the semi
A merican standard which had to prevail when students
were being prepared for colleges on the continent to a
type more practically Philippine A lso the localization .

of its subj ects a departure from E nglish education in

,
92 BUILDER S OF A NA T I O N
the O rient makes the Manila school a l eader amon g
,

the higher institutions of A sia its influence despite its

,

youth being already apparent .

Such is the story of a schoo l which boasts n o

ancient lineage nor recalls a founder of illustrious name,

yet notable because it is the fruition of the prayers o f

an oppressed people during half a century o f bondage
and i s embodying the hope o f democracy amo n g t o w
third s o f the world s population
’
.
 P A R D O D E TAV E R A
S t ate s m an , S h M mb f R y l A my M d id
c o lar . e er o o a c ad e of a r .
 That a nation is forming ar ou n d u s is w hat gives ‘

the p oignant zest to the lives of most A mericans in these

islands I t is preeminently interesting at this moment
.

In Filipino history when parties ar e forming when , ,

ideals which have been in the Malay race for centuries

are coming to bud and to promise of blossom to study ,

some of the figu res which most fully embody these ideas
and facts some o f them almost historic personalities
w
!

who ill doubtless soon have left but a memory behind

them A s you mingle with them as friends in busi
.
,

ness charity or socially certain large lines or traits conti

, , , ,
-

“ ”
n u all
y repeated come to be essentially Filipino such

m
, ,
,

as balance common sense quiet confidence patie nce

,
-
, , ,

di g nity ar k e d consistency o f action all in a word

,
i

, , ,

which is the antithesis of vulgar Filipinos are extremely

w
.

patriotic y et in their o n way ; they breathe an d think

w
, ‘

and pray cou n try ith the intensity of a moun tain and

m
.
,

Sea people t hat loves freedom as it feels it in the air about .

,

it and in the blue over its hea d and longs for it not so
w
,

uch as an ex pr ess IOn o f personal rights (fe of u s really

do that after all ) but as an expression of its inner life ,

m
expression whi ch has been denied it f or hund reds Of yea rs .

That aching desire for self revelation is as i po s -

sible to kill as it i s to thwart the sunlight Y ou can

w
.

deflect it but it will shine on How this n e state s hall

, .

be brought to birth is the constan t thought underlying

the everyday life of the men and women you elbow in
the streets and salute in th e market plac e in th e h os
'

pitab le home ; it underlies all the banter and th e s er i

‘
ou s

ness of life and reveals itself by a fl as h of the eye a

m
‘
'
, ,

grasp of the hand a word a j est That it has et , ,

. .

a S ignally practical nation on its path towar d s its own

national expression is one of those reasonab l e facts of
history which go to prove that a Master Statesman is
over the program of the complex thing we call life
9 3A ll
.
94 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
that is Of value or much o f it in this quality of the present
incumbent appeals to the Filipinos in the highest degree ,

and it is this practical side which is stirring them into

activity in commerce education and government in a
,

most felici tous manner .

Histori cally the present awakening began with a

,

group of men who went to E urope some quarter o f a

century ago and at the centers of national life in France ,

I taly and Spain at the hearth of their step mother

, ,
-
,

if o n e can s o speak of the Latin race in regard to the ,

Malays of these islands learned many lessons They

,
.

were spurred to this study by the noblest incentive ,

love o f fatherland and the contrasts between the

,

advancing leaping progress of the states about them

,

and their own land burned into their hearts until they
were fused to the point of martyrdom R izal alone .

paid this supreme price his companions lived to carry

m
,

o u t the no less often painful task o f constructing what

“ ”
he had seen in the heavenly vision So eo f those .

men matured by life are with us today and are looked

up to as fathers in I srael by their countrymen
“ ”
.

Such is the subj ect of this first chapter : Pardo de

Tavera who proved for years as on e o f the heads of
, ,

th e government that he could with moderation and

, ,

conspicuous ability administer the a ffairs of state as

, ,

well as dream of a U topia and so brought into relie f

this dual S ide Of his countrymen which has won hi m a ,

place second to none in their esteem

, , .

Leopardi , of the saddest hearts o f a sad human

on e

ity (what is it that always takes on e back to I taly ? )

m
has sung in the vernacular o f poets I talian :
w
m
“
Oh h opes , y h op es ! illu s i
on s fals e an d s eet,

Oh y fir s t y ou th , h o w
d o I s till r etu rn ever to thes e;

N ot so these valiant men who have survived their

,

first youth of years but kept that of the heart I s it .

because the Philippines are so young is it for deeper ,

reasons ? That is the question it will be left these

typical men and their gospel to reveal .
96 BUILD ER S O F A NA TI O N
dear to h is people : high mindedness chivalry intellectual
-
, ,

probity patriotism and hope fulness as well as untiring

, ,

industry .

“
First when I consider the E uropean coloni es — and
I have read much of all that has been written— I have
noted that they have accused the natives of n o t having
taken any interest in all which concerns their progress
and benefit Some have deducted as a consequenc e
.
,

o f this Observation that the races which are under

,

colonial government are incapable to direct their

,

proper a ff airs I have wished to know i f this accusation

.

was true and it has seemed to me that we must take

w
,

it as an expres sion of a fact N o I have set myself .

the task of seeking the cause of this e ff ect and I have

found it logical and natural that this is s o for the simple
reason that no coloni zing people h as placed its so y er
ei gn ty with the obj ect o f forming an independent n ation ,

but only to maintain people and races in submission to

their permanent control
w
.

No o n the contrary
,
the Philippines gives us ,

the new example of a people conquered whose most ,

intense preoccupation is to constitute itself in t h e quic k

est possible way an independent nation This menta l .

ity of the Filipinos i s very natural and was exerted

under the Spanish regime for causes too vast to go into
in this restricted space and I reserve their expression
,

for later contenting myself to note that the A merica n

,

domination has not been imposed for permanent domi

nation but for tutorship
,
hose principal obj ect is to
, w
educate and make capable the Filipino people for sel f
government N aturally this political program is des
.

tined to develop this fact and to right all the thought

and feeling of national independence From this it .

results that as much the A meri cans as the Filipinos are

working together toward a common end in order to ,

form the Filipino nationality and as a consequence of

these antecedents it seems to me that we should direct
,

all our energies to the constitution of our nationality .

O ften this attitude is called illogically ingratitude

“
,
 DR T H P ARD O DE T A V ERA
. . . 97

but on the contrary is not thi s awakening to a sense of

, ,

nationalism when we were ofi er e d the opportunity to

educate ourselves for self government most logical and
national as well as natural ?
“
Then we must expect that out of gratitude we
should renounce the nationality towards which we are
moving and which the A merican people desires us to
h av e I
N o one out of gratitude would desire to make him
self a slave to him who o ffered him his liberty for the ,

only reason that he had made the o ffer I personally .

do not think such a course could be called gratitude .

The real name of such a phenomenon I don t know ’

,

but it would not be gratitude .

“
I t would seem possible that this accusation has
come partly from the attitude of our youth who were
educated in A meri ca ; such youth coming back to the
Philippines with the national ideal emphasised have
demonstrated only that they have known h o to w
take advantage of the teaching which the thoughts
and acts and the example of the A merican people
have incul cated I say this as an introduction to my
.

political creed in or d er that the A mericans residing

in the Philippines should neither be astonished at
this attitude nor o ffended by it nor still less wish to
,

Oppose the development of this national feeling For .

the day that the A mericans recognize this legiti mate

love of country and struggle for a national life on our
part that hostility on the part of the Filipinos will
,

cease A sentiment be it said which has been created

.
, ,

and sustained by a lack of confidence Then in that .

happy hour we shall march united cooperating for the

moral intellectual and material welfare of the Phil
w
,

ippi n es O nly so shall e be faithful to the program of

.

the A merican people as well as to the sentiments o f

,

the entire Filipino people .

“
This alone is the basis of a fecund statesmanship
and of a harmonious accord and friendship between
t he teacher and the taught between the governor and ,
 m
98 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
the one who is learning self govern ent A nation is .

necessary here in these I slands That is the basis of .

my platform Questions such as epoch and capability

.

will resolve themselves in the logical sequence of the years .

“
The Spanish in the ultimate period of o u r relations
,

with them di d not treat us as colonies but liked to

, ,

have us treated as an integral part o f the homeland .

We were not a part of the Spanish colonies but a part ,

o f the Spanish nation N aturally that created in us a

.

senti ment of nationality

w
.

AS e considered ourselves as a rea l part o f The

“ ‘

Patria E spanola Personally I was led to the con

.
’

sideration of how I might become use ful to her and

w
,

during the Spanish epoch I became ac quainted ith

the errors of that administration and for the benefit o f ,

my country I wished to work together with the Span

,

i sh then in power in order to correct some o f the abuses

,

and modify the situation .

“
I was an intimate friend of R izal many times we ,

thought together and aspired and planned together over

the Philippines and her problems but never o f separa ,

tion from Spain nor to follow out our ideals by V iolence ,

but by reform and j ustice .

“
I did not take part in the revolution against Spain ,

nor di d I know the inside workings of the K atipunan ,

which was the force whi ch brought about the r ev olu

tion I worked with the A meri cans for the establish
w
.

ment of peace and for the n e organization for I had ,

confidence in the principles of j ustice of the A merican

people and the generosity whi ch characterizes their
history and each act of my politi cal and private life
,

has been guided for the thought of the benefit to my

people of their coming to these island s and for the har ,

mony and friendship between the A meri cans and Fili

pinos .

“
I have never lost hope nor changed my con v ic ,

tions in the difficulties we have met and which we will

meet with and I do not feel astonished at them nor
,

does my courage fail before them .

1 00 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
which the distinguished sculptor sent to the concours
f or the R izal monument A bout it is in the picturesque
.
,

co n fusion or on e might s ay in this case order the litter

, ,

o f the student s workshop

’
.

I n this spacious room you can wander about for

many a quiet moment I t is strange b u t where books
.
,

are it is always quiet ; there the reflections of the think

ers the songs of the poets the stories of the story
, ,

livers all seem to conduce to calm and audacious must

be the spirit which breaks it .

A bout y ou in this roo m or rooms in alcoves (was ,

there ever a proper library room without an alcove ? )

are wooden carvings figures which at first might discon
w
,

cert you if you did not s ee that even in their n o lowly

estate they were saintly and difficult as it is to be a saint
, ,

without a niche they seem to have done it Perhaps .

they are so saintly because they are s o old many dating ,

i nto past centuries O ne V irgin who is the pride of the

.
,

owner has the svelte form and delicate lines still after
.

the survival of a fire and the outrages of time Sh e is .

two centuries in age .

E very detail of this room bears the impress of that

nameless something we call culture o r refinement and , ,

which money cannot buy O ne angel alone is worth a

.

visit as he hangs with both limbs amp utated but wings

, ,

intact clasping a problemati c flower to his breast and

,

with serene physiognomy looks out on life s smiling ’

morning with all the hopefulness Of eternal youth .

Here in a case is a collection o f reliquaries from

R ome and Jerusalem and in another such choice bits
as a vase made in Japan in the 1 7 th century when the
Franciscan brothers had already a pharmacy in Manila
and had their porcelain imported from the N orth
' .

There are the arms of the order in indelible colors

today .

A tiny trunk bearing the arms of A ustria of ex q u i

w
site detail as Opened in glee and the contents displayed
—pearls and topazes — j ust arranged to remind the

owner o f one of the A rabian N ights tales So do book ’

.
 D R T H P ARD O DE T A V ERA
. . . 1 01

lovers love all that books tell about A nd what book .

was ever loved more that man has made than that ?
This library is rich in linguistic works The A rte .

de la Lengua Tagala by Father Totanes was published

, ,

in Manila in 1 7 4 5 This volume Senor Tavera called

.
,

attention to as having an added interest as having ,

been in two famous libraries i e the R amirez library ,

. .
, ,

and late r in the no less celebrated Comte de B enahavis

library in Paris from which it passed into his possession
,
.

A nother book from the same library is The Ch r onico“

del Cardinal D on Juan Pardo de Tavera printed in ”

,

Toledo in 1 503 called the Magnificent Cardinal Tavera

, ,

Protector o f the A rts The printing looks as if done

.

yesterday I n the bookplate are the arms of the Tavera

.

family and there is also a picture of the relative o f

this book lover the Cardinal himself an astute look
, ,

ing man — as he must have been to serve such a

master as Charles the Fifth in whose name he ,

ruled over Leon and Castile for a long regency during

the traveling o f that much traveled monarch who was ,

as restless as the pesen t ruler of Germany .

O ne other feature is a collection of autograph books

m
names such as R izal A R Meyer D r R K ern B lu
t B r an d s tater and others
en tr i ,
,
.

A on d erfu l collection
of Manila A lmanachs and almost best of all N ovenas
.

.
,

w
. .
,

, , ,

or religious books of devotion .

Se nor Tavera has written a very erudite arti cle in

“ ”
the Cultura Filipina on the Cartografia de F ilipin as ,

in some seventy three pages and there are noted his

w
-
,

o n maps about thirty of which have hundreds o f dollars

of commercial value ; to the vulgar that is more significant

than the other B ooks on e might name are A rte de
.
“

Lengua B isaya by Father E z g u err a Manila 1 7 4 7 a , , ,

most celebrated tome “

A rte y R eglas de la Lengua
.

Tagala of Father San Jose Manila 1 7 5 2 and A rte

” “
, , ,

de la Lengua B icol by Father San A ugustine date

”
, ,

1 7 95 .

A m ong the very rare books is a copy of the Franciscan

publication of Lipa bearing the date of 1 61 3 , one of the
1 02 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
only three known to exi st U nfortunately it was .

attacked by the destructive anay before D r Tavera .

acquired it and it is to be sent to the Library of Congress

for the necessary repairs the delicate work necessary
,

being beyond local talent .

D ictionaries grammars o f I banay Pangasinan

, , ,

Japanese and other dialects of the A siati c islands and

,

from I ndia are here ,

.

I n bandos the collection is also most remarkable

“ ”
.

I n a bibliography of A P C Gri ffin was inserted the

. . .

catalogue of this library ; it was published in Washington

in 1 90 3 under the auspices o f the Library of Congress .

For the same time as Goethe was writing his famous

poem D r Tavera has been collecting this library
w
.
,

thirty years N o the tomes handled studied loved

.
, , ,

associated with s o many years are passing out to enri ch

other minds so many untaught ones that could never
,

have known their value if this hospitable and well ,

stocked mind had not gathered these treasures from the

f our corners of the earth .

I t is only another case of the greater good and the

w
,

isdom which brought them together is providing for

their future when in the long years to come other minds
shall grow by perusal and be nourished by their use to , ,

finer j uster thinking So added to his years of states

,
.
,

manship Se nor Tavera the student is making his

, , ,

country a still greater debtor by the passing on of this

unique library .
1 04 B UILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Ne wChina lying at our doors thrilling the thought ,

even of the most indi fferent minds those least in touch ,

with the statesmanship of the time is only on e o f the ,

sympathies of Senor Ponce who has spent seven years ,

in Japan much time in I ndo China and Siam and from

,
-
,

1 89 7 until 1 908 devoted his every day energies not ,

to making money or to becoming renowned in his

,

profession of medicine but in the study of the poli ,

tical conditions of the O rient not alone in the masses

w
,

but in personal contact ith the great leaders exiled ,

princes o f K orea ministers Of Japan high Officials in

, ,

C hina the builders of states and the demolishers of

,

the past I t has been a wonderful training o f eleven

.

years .

Se nor Ponce has caught much of the urbanity

Of our polite neighbors over the way but in the depths ,

o f the student eyes there lies the suppressed fire of a

soul which can consecrate itself to a noble purpose and

watch the years fade out still waiting confident of the ,

end .

'

I n 1 8 8 7 Se nor Ponce left the Philippines for E urope

,

to study and carry on the Filipino political campaign

w
i n company ith a cousin His studies had been pur .

sued in San Juan de Letran where he received the ,

degree of bachelor o f arts in 1 8 8 5 and at Santo Tomas , ,

where he began the course in medicine which he later

completed in M adrid .

When he arrived in B arcelona he found that the

patriotic newspaper published in Madrid called E s
”
pa na en Filipinas had been discontinued o n account
o f a lack of funds He established relations with a
.

body of patriots who wished him to act as an agent

for them in this matter they standing behind the v en ,

ture financially and it was at first attempted to revive

,

the paper but it was found i mpractical and two years

, ,
“ ”
later the famous patriotic newspaper La Solidari da d
, , ,

was put out at Madrid O f this paper Senor Ponce .

became the managing editor the literary editor being

w
,

Graciano Lopez y Jaena during a fe months until ,

 M ARI A N O PO N C E P
1 00

O ctober when his post was filled by Marcelo del Pilar

,
.

A t the same time in the capital city was established

“ ”
the famous society or association called Ass OciaciOn
Hispano Filipina formed by some known to us today :
-
,

S efiores Miguel M or i ata Manuel de Lab ra Graciano

, ,

Lopez Jaena E duardo de Lete Julio Llorente E v a

, , ,

risto A guirre Pedro de G ov an tes y de Az carr ag a Fran

, ,

cisco y José Gonzales E squivel Ceferino de Leon and ,

B albino de U nquera .

Their politi cal program is interesting readin g even

no w
.

Se nor Ponce was for some time secretary of this

society which lasted until 1 896 when events in the
, ,

Philippines brought it to an end The newspaper .

La Solidaridad was the mouthpiece of this association

and it was printed until 1 89 5 covering a period o f ,

seven years I t was sold in political Spanish circles

.
,

on the street given to the members of the Cortes

, ,

and in this way the ideas of the radical Filipinos were

widely spread in the motherland as well as in the far
away islands for which they were working The plan .
,

s o Often tried before and since and which on the break ,

ing out of the revolution was abandoned was to obtain

, ,

the rights of the islands in a legal way The Opposing .

organ representing the government was a sheet called

”
La Pol i tica de E s pafi a en Filipinas S efior F e ced .

and Se nor R etana were the famous editors and they

were the spokesmen for the conservative party in
the islands in Church and Government .

I t is hardly necessary to state that a violent pole

mical discussion was carried o n between these t o w
organs I f you care to revive these burnt out passions
.
,

you can do so by consulting the files of both papers

in the Philippines Library
w
.

You ill find them quite warm reading in spit e

of the cooling process of lying twenty years among
the archives The conservative organ it is also needless
.
,

to say contrived to have the last word and to exult

,

over the demise of its revolutionary neighbor .

1 06 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Senor Ponce had the distinction of being arrested
on Spanish soil j ust as he was setting sail from B ar
,

celona He was kept a prisoner for only 4 8 hours

.
,

j ust to s ee what it would be like and what political ,

m
career i s of val u e without a little incarceration thrown
in ! His papers were searched and nothing in cri i
nating found s o not for any consideration for a peaceful
w
, ,

gentleman but for others quite different he was allo fed ,

to pursue his way to Hongkong unmolested , .

D el Pilar died shortly before the revolution broke

m
ou t in A ugust .

Without losing any ti e another association was

formed in Hongkong devoted to aiding and abetting ,

the revolutionists raising money and arms being the

,

chief aim but in the latter they were not markedly

,

successful however These gentlemen were in direct

,
.

communi cation with the men at the front and their

society was in existence until N ovember 1 8 9 7 when
w
, ,

at the peace of B iak na bato it as dissolved - -

.

General A guinaldo and other revolutionists being

sent to Hongkong expatriated — according to o n e of
—
,

the terms of the peace Se nor Ponce became the secre ,

tary of the exiled general until May 1 8 9 8 when A gui , ,

naldo returned to the Philippines I n July of that year .

,

Se nor Ponce went to Japan after the founding of the

government at Malolos being named diplomatic dele
'

gate to that country with the intention of seeking

'

sympathy and if possible aid Here as the turn of .

,

events proved he was to stay as a stude nt rather than

, ,

a political agitator as the A merican occupation of the

,

islands put an end to his mission Subsequently he .

traveled in Shanghai Canton Hangkow Hongkong , , , ,

I ndo China especially Cambodia and Siam His return

w
-
.

to h is o n country took place in 1 90 8 in the month ,

o f D ecember about twenty years from the time he had

,

left her in his first youth to look for her salvation in

w
, ,

the land of her conquerors N o he found the real .

1 08 B UILDER S O F NA T I O N
What superb lines from a man who could give a
lifetime to erecting that presidency !
This same eloquence is that of the life of this noted
Filipino who can occupy a quiet nook in a library ,

o r write books after a score o f years the best o f his

,

life devoted to his country traveling over thousands

, ,

o f miles and enduring many hardships for her .

 D octor A pacible is one of the most distinguished
figures of the Past who moves among his fellow country
,
“

men in the Philippines today He has the Websterian .

brow of a thinker and the fine facial lines Of one who has
lived deeply and wrought earnestly far beyond the
maj ority B orn in B alayan B atangas in June 1 864 his
.
, , , ,

mother was Se norita Castillo of a family of that prov

w
,

ince and his father an hacendero or as e S hould s ay

, , ,

a gentleman farmer The mother had been educated .

in the college of Sta Catalina where the Spanish nuns

.
,

are among the most famous of our islands for their

piety and refinement and the father stud ied at San
Juan de Letran His grandparents were large landed
.

proprietors owning the famous hacienda of N as u b u

, ,

one of the great haciendas of the Philippines .

The characteristics of his native province are highly

marked in the doctor and he bears the stamp of this
people of B atangas who might be designated as the
Saxons of the islands for their gentle breeding .

The first studies were taken in the private schools

of his native town and at eight years o f age he came , ,

up to Manila and entered the school of D on B enedicto

Luna .

From there he went to San Juan de Letran and Sto .

Tomas and then for his degree to Spain in 88 where he ’

lived with his cousin R izal in whose charge he had been

placed .

R izal gave to this youth the best of care and from

him young A pacible imbibed the ideals and proj ects
which were the daily inspiration of that wonderful life .

The doctor took his degree of B A in Tarragona and . .

that of M D in the U niversity of B arcelona

w
. . .

He practiced medicine in Madrid and also as an

externe in several of the hospitals of Paris returning ,

to Manila in 93 While in Spain he was as s ociate l as

’

ég
.

l
1 10 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
president with a political society called As ociacion
Filipina solidaridad en B arcelona He was also one .

“ ”
o f the founders o f what was known as the Solidaridad
with Se nores Ponce del Pilar and others He was never
,
.

given to sc ribbling nor to literary expansion but he

, ,

contributed some articles for this paper and also for many
S ince in the islands on his favorite studies in medicine .

He made many trips to France as a sort of recreation

from his work and p olitical propaganda and as there w
with R izal Tavera and Luna at the time of the E xpo
, ,

sitiou of 8 9 Many Filipino youths were in France at

’
.

this same epoch and they had many talks over the best
methods to benefit their country .

A t the reunions in B arcelona and Madrid many O f

the elder and more conservative compatriots did not care
to mix with them for fear of compromising themselves .

R izal was the leader fire and soul o f these gather

in gs in the calle Principe .

Here amid the dark shadows which came from ,

thoughts of their home and her problematical future

w
,

they awaited the dawn R izal as no flowery orator .

,

but the few words he sai d told more than all the rest
and many are living even today after a generation has
passed living what he taught
,
.

As D octor A pacible j ourneye d back to his native

land he found that his family was under the ban of the
,

government His brother a j udge of the court o f l s t

.
,

I nstance was exiled to B ontoc and R izal had been sent

,

to D apitan .

A t Hongkong therefore he stopped with the family

of R izal for three months when he returned to his
country .

O n arriving he found that he was being watc hed

both for his former political agitations or cogitations in
Spain and o n account of his being a Mason of the 3 0th
degree s o he retired to B alayan and there in semi
,

obscurity he lived with his mother A t the epoch o f .

the R evolution in 96 however the governor of the ’

, ,

province o n e Villamil a Spaniard called him to his side

, , ,
1 12 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
This mission was a very delicate one it is needless
to state and as many of its negotiations were of a pri
,

vate nature they are not confided to the pen o f con

,

temporaneous historians .

I t was a mission in part successful and in circles

of power today much of the work done then is still felt .

I t envolved much traveling and amount of writing also

very fatiguing and as the campaign of 1 900 as in
,
w
progress they had a sight of political life at near range
and learned much about men and events in A merica .

They traveled even to Canada and heard Lau rier

in the parliament at O ttawa and enj oyed that colossal
figure of the great north and admired his land .

O n returning to Hongkong as General A guinaldo

had surrendered to General Funston the committee ,

was dissolved and in 1 903 the doctor returned to Manila

, ,

to take up his work in the peaceful profession of a physi

ci an for a ti me until in 1 9 0 7 he was elected governor o f
B atangas and he occupied this high offi ce in his native
w
province until he as elected A ssemblyman in 1 9 0 9 and
reelected again in 1 9 1 2 When Secretary B ryan came
.

to the Philippines in 1 906 D r A pacible was chosen

,
.

by the guest himself and by the reception committee to

“ ”
ac company the great commoner on his tour and went
with him as far as B orneo .

O ne of the doctor s sincere admirations is for this

’

gifted citizen of the far away republic .

I n politics D octor A pacible has been a founder of

one of the parties of his land with others i e the N acio ,
. .
,

n alis ta and is actually its president

,
.

I n the legislature he has done some notable work

and has been chairman of various committees such as
“ ”
that of Metropolitan relations and is in the present
“ ”
legislature chairman of the committee on Public works .

He h as planned many laws and is particularly

interested in roads and bridges .

Married to his cousin a cultivated lady from ,

B atangas the home has been blessed by the birth of a

,

daughter .
 D O CTO R A P A C IBLE 113

His chief readi n g has been history critiques and , ,

of course scientific works on medicine but still he owns

, ,

for a fondness for novels as he loves best the study o f

humanity .

The language in which he prefers to read is Frenc h

and he delights in B alzac Hugo and the modern schoo l
,
.

“
He is a member of several clubs the Filipino club , ,
“
Club N acionalista etc ”

w
.
,

He is also o n e of the o ners of the leading daily th e ,

I deal and is one of the directors of the A ngat I ron Com

,
” “

pany and an hacendero as well of B atangas He is not

”
.

however a money maker and his patriotism has always

been of a not sordid type .

A lthough the committee at Hongkon g had to handle

some million pesos the doctor would unless his frien ds ,

had loaned him money have been obliged to make that

,

rival city his permanent home for want of enough to buy

his return ticket He has always desired the inde
.

p en d en ce of his land but at the same time his mind

, ,

which is the mind of a calm thinker and very level

headed statesman knows that its political welfare must
,

be in step with that real welfare the material .

He does not look at th e relation with foreign powers

as insurmountable questions but as events pass he has
,

faith that they will largely resolve themselves For every .

month the drama of the nations is sifting its scenes .

When the great life of R izal shall be written it wil l ,

have many chapters by this companion o f his youth

to whom he confided so much of his ideal .

A nd when this debt to history shall have been paid

w
,

e shall owe m o re perhaps to Sefior A pacible than even

w
, ,

e do now for his years of unselfish patriotism and bril

liant record as a legislator .

 Judge Llorente was born in Cebu o n May 2 2 1 863 ,
.

His father was a Spaniard from Castile la Viej a a mer ,

chant of the city of the Holy Child His first educa .

tion was received in a private school of his native city

from whence he went to Manila and entered the A teneo
Municipal A t 1 8 years he left for Spain where he
.

completed his studies at the U niversity of Madrid at

2 2 and took the degree of D octor o f Laws and was
admitted to the bar and practi ced in Madrid until 9 1 when ’

he returned to the Philippines and established himse l f

at Cebu and occupied various positions of trust during
the Spa nish period in the department of j usti ce and
w as made magistrate of the supreme criminal court o f
the province o f Cebu .

While in Madrid Llorente lived as o n e of four

i ncluding R izal the others being Leon and Lete I t
w
.
,

was during this epoch that R izal as writing his N oli “

me Tangere . These youths had relations with poli

”
ti cal organizations such as the Solidaridad They
w
.
,

also contributed to an e s pap er of same name A nother .

o f their associates was the painter Luna S ince S O famous

, .

D uring this epoch R izal went to Paris where Julio

Llorente followed him and the two young men visited
that first great world s exhibition of 1 889 Julio Llorente
’
.

returned to Madrid and then to the Philippines after

ten years of wanderlust and experience taking with him
his bride of but a short time the distinguished se nora
,

who has exercised in their charming homes such lavish

hospitality and who has followed her husband in the
dark and light days with that Old time devotion which
characteri zes her countrywomen .

When the insurrection took place against the

pa
S niards Judge Llorente who as a magistrate
, ,
w as ,
w
1 16 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
A mericans the follo ing day upon which they the
on w , ,

j udge and treasurer were condemned to death ,

.

Se nor Pablo Mej ia while waiting in the streets ,

one dark night to meet the j udge now under the ,

A merican rule provincial governor o f Cebu was set o n

w
m
,

by t o ru ffian s and killed Fate o r D ivine Providence .

had interposed to save Julio Llorente again Acco .

panying the Commission through the southern islands

Judge Llorente assisted in the work o f reconstruction
and was at this time governor whi ch position he ,

occupied for one year aiding the military authorities

as well as the civil in the pacification of the city and
province on the ac complishment of which arduous and
delicate task he received a telegram of thanks from the
th en Governor General Mr Taft and was named ,
.
,

j udge advocate o f the Supreme Court of the Philippines .

Later ,
after serving as governor of Cebu he also was ,

named governor o f Samar The position was o n e O ff er .

ing no little d iflicu lty to the man in power but be it said ,

it was to the satisfaction of all that this great trust

was given to this youn g man who was already in posses
sion o f s o much self control and dignity as well as -

j udgment .

In he was named j udge of first instance of the

1 9 03
1 2 th district this j u di c ial district including Leyte and
w w
,

Samar and within a fe months he as transferred to

,

the 4 th distri ct including Pampanga Tarlac and N ueva

.
, ,

E cij a which eminent position he h as fil led for ten years

,
!

Judge Llorente h as the vision o f a practical admin

is tr ato r of a ffairs H e believes in evolution not r ev o lu
.
,

tion and hopes for a national life when the moment of

intelligence shall come for the masses when the hour o f ,

destiny has struck prepared by hard work and wider,

k nowledge Having weighed questions of diplomacy and

.

state craft and what is still more serious put them to the
-
, ,

test o f daily life he is not a man of illusions Y o u realize

,
.

as you talk with him that a very unusual experience

has shaped a naturally upright character possessing ,
 J ULI O LLO REN T E 1 17

thought and feeling far beyond that o f most of his fellows

and that this has won for him in all the high servi ce
,

he has set himself to the respect of Spaniards A mericans

, ,

and Filipinos alike Judge Llorente has a suggestion

.

of the R oman about him perhaps more than any of his

countrymen nay not only a touch the efligy of that
, , ,

unmistakable coin pure metal

,
.
 O ne the coterie o f men who belo ng to the past
of ,

and are as well men of the hour is R afael del Pan , ,

o n e o f those intrusted with that most responsible

task the revision of the Codes which was entered upon
, ,

o n the passing of a law to that e ffect by the A ssembly

ratified by the Governor General in 1 9 1 1 A ssociated ,

.

with him was the distinguished j urists Judge Ar au llo as ,

V

chief now a member of th e Supreme Court and Judge

, ,

Goldsborough Sr O rtigas and Mr Street are actually

,
. .

associated with him w ith A driatico This work was to .

b
.

extend over a period of five years and means the moder

ni zin g and harmonizing of the civil penal procedure , ,

and general laws of the Philippines That this involves .

a degree o f acumen as it means the revamping o f

ancient customs and modernizing legislation until it is
up to date is evident , .

D uring the last four years Senor del Pan has V isited
A merica E ngland Holland Germany France Swit
, , , , ,

zer lan d I taly Japan Java A ustralia etc

, ,
and gathered
, , ,
.
,

a vast amount Of information and practical u p to date ,

- -

experience of men institutions treatment of criminals

, , ,

especially reformatory methods as well as many of the ,

most enlightened processes of the scientific uplifting of the

masses I n no department of that cumbrous machine
w
.

”
e call administration has there been such a change
in the past fifty years as in that of the treatment of
prisoners The fascination of his theme which touches
.
,

so vitally the race has allured Se nor del Pan into a

w
,

wide field and added to that S ide of his o n nature

most strongly marked as does life occasionally the , ,

p hilanthropi c .

The first time the writer had the pleasure of seeing

this figure who has been so active in the sociological and
historical past of his country was at a memorial meeting ,

held in the little sala of the Gota de Leche for Mr D oherty .

,

its f u n d er that knight errant of the unfortunate

g
-
, .

1l
 120 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Se nor del Pan w
as married S hortly after taking
’

his do ctor s degree and returned to the Philippines to

’

Se norita B lanca Garcia Fontela in Manila whither ,

the distinguished lady had come to become a bride ,

as has been often the case with the fair daughters o f

Spain and A merica Sra del Pan and her young daughter
. .

are among those who have most adorned the social

life of this city Seven children have been born to
.

this family five o f whom are living

,
.

A fter marriage nine years passed in the tranquil

p ursuits o f his chosen profession until j ust after th e
d eath of R izal in the month of A pril 1 8 9 7 I n the ,
.

s ad penumbra o f his illustrious friend Scfi or del Pan ,

returned to Spain to make it however only a pi ed

, , ,

aterre as he travelled ex ten siv elv through E ngland

-
, ,

France and I taly for two years

w
.
,

I n 1 898 as formed in Madrid the political society

, ,

composed of Filipino young men stud ents and others

to the number o f some 1 5 0 and Of this society Se nor
!

del Pan was made the first president to be followed ,

by Tomas A r ej ola the prominent assemblyman

,
.

From Madrid the incipient politician passed to

H ongkong and to A merica as representative of the
t emporary government at Washington although he ,

m
p ossibly realized then that this title was somewhat
ore tangible than the post He presented to the Senate
a petition signed by two thousand representative Fili
.
.

pinos which had been forwarded to him from Hongkong

w
.

This as lai d before his colleagues by Senator Teller

w
and as given most caref ul consideration by such men
as Senators Hoar Pettigrew and Towne Then followed
, ,
.

the remarkable and well remembered speeches Of these

men advising immediate independence to the islands
w
,

hich were undoubtedly in fluential in obtaining the

g enerous concessions made in the Philippine A ct passed
by Congress This act has become the Constitution
.

o f the Philippine I slands .

Senor del Pan at this time travelled through many

c ities of the U nited States meeting many notable ,
 RA FAEL DEL P A N 12 1

publi c men among others the present governor of

w
,

Ne York Sulzer Henry George Jr and Crosby o f

, , ,
.
,

the Single Tax and a host of literary men and j our

n ali
s ts w
This affinity ith literary men is one of the
w
.

Sides of this many sided citizen h o began in very

-

w
,

early years to write poems as the result of a prize hich

(as he claims ) an inj udicious j ury awarded him and
so filled his soul with B yroni c fervor that he thought
he had Pegasus saddled and bridled ; but at twenty one -
,

sterner facts of life and his soul whi ch outran his meters ,

in many directions most notably in that o f the n o

,

poeti c though dramatic studies of sociology tamed ,

his poetic flights .

He was drawn into this sociologi cal vein when as ,

a student in Madri d he was made a member of the

,

leading private literary and scientific society of that

city the A teneo of Madrid and he was made a secre
, ,

tary of on e of the sections that of social science A sso

w
, .

ciat e d with him as secretary as the Count of R oma

nones the present premier of Spain
,
.

Shortly after the passing of the Philippine A ct

Se nor del Pan returned to the Philippines from Spain ,

where he had gone to j oin his family and resided for a ,

year U nder the A merican admi n istration he passed

.

his examinations an d resumed his law practice asso

ciat ed with Se nor O rtigas and Mr Fisher The grow . .

ing spirit of philanthropy I have noted was now in

creased by the breadth of the life on which he entered
and the number and variety Of positions he has held .

He was founder o f the Chamber of Commerce and its

president also one of the founders of the B ar A sso
'
,

ciati o n and its president U nder the Spanish rule he had

.

been Solicitor General of the Philippines in 1 8 9 1 3 -

w
.

Hi s connection ith the A merican government began

by his appointment as S pecial attorney to examine
the titles of the Friar lands and to act as attorney for
the government after their purchase in registering
their titles .
1 22 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
Since his appointment on the Code Committee
Sefi or del Pan has traveled as has been said through , ,

some dozen countries studying at close range the treat

,

ment of the degenerates vagrants and criminal class

,
.

He visited E lmira R eformatory A uburn Penitentiary , ,

the E ast Penitentiary of Philadelphia the Penitentiary ,

of B altimore workhouses in many places and prisons

,

in E ngland France I taly A ustralia and Java The

w
, ,
.
,

E lmira R eformatory as one of the to him most , ,

excellent institutions .

Mr Scott o n e of the greatest adepts in the r efor

w
.
,

mation of boys of the century o n the enthusiastic

w
,

admiration of this traveler and from contact ith such

institutions Se nor del Pan returned to his o n country w
o n fire with the desire to see put to practical proof

some o f the theories gathered and seen in action .

I n considering this life it would be most difficult

to embrace it in all of its phases if the one thread of ,

altruism did not run through it from beginning to the

end making it o n e of the most consistent D evoted
,
.

to the wide philanthropi c ideals of his age Se nor del ,

Pan has been at the forefront as a worker from young

manhood in endeavoring to accomplish s o much per
s on ally and to assist others to do S O in this most ,

generous task the uplifting of humanity A true socialist

,
.

i n the highest and best sense he has devoted time , ,

pen one o f the most brilliant speech of the most elo , ,

quent to this noble pursuit of the good o f the many

,
.

B elonging himself to the privileged class he has been ,

one of those philanthropists born who are among the ,

most useful and necessary factors in human progress .

Speaking o f himself he may say : “

I don t like ’

stagnant water D uring the Spanish days I was o n e of

.

the most radical men of the islands and was abused

for asking for reforms for my country for measures ,

of self—government and I have never deviated from

,

this beginning looking and working for reform ; not

,

too fast but as fast as the laws o f nature and human

,

development will allow .

 As you enter the Marble Hall and pass up the steps
w here E lcano still 1 s at the helm and the lions I n repose
ful attitu de r epos efu l because full of a sense of power
fi

instinctive in lions whether they be B ritish or Cas ,

ti an y o u feel two waves or breaths pass over you ; and

lli 4

o n e is of t h e Past Wh o is this str a

nge figure unfamilia r
w
‘

m
.
,
.

to you ith his dashing sailor mien who confronts y o u ;

,
.

whos e the na
'

m es which you read about the walls quite

other th a n th ose you have found inscribed on the wall s
o f fame across the seas ? Y ou are
,
eeting another
race another history and if it awakens in your breast
, ,

w
no corresponding th rill of sentiment and feeling Such
'

w
j ,

as y o u on c e kn e it opens ou t n e vistas and leads yo u

w
'

to know new peoples and to be I n touch with n e sym

pathi c s .

There is a s ubdued quiet in the air and although ,

many feet step here o n many missions there I s a sense

m
,

of seriousness about it all ’ that sense or atmosphe re

w
, ,

which abi des always h er e en thi nk over deep things ,

an d act a fter meditation O ne Of the broad hall s

w
- .

lead s y o u to o n e of those high studded rooms which

'

-
,

is ado rned by t o large paintings pi ctures taken from ,

Filipi no hist ory and painted b y two Filipino artists :

“
.

O ne is t hat o f the first Spanish steamer at anchor in

Manila h ar b or and the other dead men lying on the
‘

m
,

b each in the slowly rising dawn after the battle of the ,

pirates led by Li ah o n g .

I n this room one of the most reposeful o f the series

m
,

which are or might be called the ante chambers of

, ,
-

the Marble Hall sits during any hours of many we eks

, ,

m
of the year a member o f the Philippine Commission
,

one of the quietest figures I n Filipi no public life .

The Com iss i o n!

This word rather singular as nomenclature is
, ,

the sign which covers the eight personalities decidedly ,

1 24
CO M M IS S IO N E R PA L M A
1 26 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
intensely routine and oftentimes arduous work There .

were chosen at first : Legarda Tavera and Luzurriaga these

,

three alone served up to the time of the first A ssembly .

D u ring the V isit of Mr Taft then secretary o f

w
.
,

ar in V iew o f the fact that the maj ority o f the A ssem

,

bly belonged to the N acionalista party it appeared to ,

this wise leader to appoint another who should represent

the feelings wishes and sentiments of this faction of
,

the legislative body and in order to bring this about

,

the members of the Commission were increased by on e ,

making nine the magi c number of the Muses A nother

,
.

reason and the on e most apparent was that as the com

, ,

missioners are frequently absent on trips ou t of Manila

it was necessary to increase the working staff in this
foremost branch of the government in order that there ,

should be a quorum .

So the illustrious gentleman whose name stands

here R afael Palma was chosen in 1 908 when he was
, , , ,

a member of the Philippine A ssembly from Cavite and

has served continuously up to date last year only ,

taking a short vaca tion to E urope of five months .

Se nor Palma is a s o n of Manila H e was born in the .

city in 1 8 7 4
, His father s name was Hermogenes
.
’

Palma and his mother was a Se nora Hilaria Velasquez ,

o f a noted family o f Tondo

w
.

This father as an accountant from whi ch modest ,

“ ”
post he became an o fi cial quinta de hacienda His .

residence was always in Manila in the ward o f Tondo .

From this union four children were born three boys ,

and on e girl and in this popular and democrati c and

,

industrial quarter a truly working quarter with its

, ,

crowd o f hurrying feet not of the pleasure seeker but

, ,

o f the serious men and women who hear the cry o f bread

and are out winning their fortunes and their sons in the
‘
stern marts of trade There he grew up ; in thi s some
.
’

what grey setting this serious minded boy learned to -

sympathize with the humble His first education was .

received in a publi c school among the people whom

later he was to guide from so exalted a post .
 RA F AEL P AL M A 1 27

From this school he went to the A teneo of Ma nila

for his secondary education and was graduated with
the title of B A in 1 89 1 after a seven years course
. .
,
’
.

From this extensively laid foundation he passed

to Sto Tomas to study la which superstructure
. w , ,

tower and pinnacle took the very long period of seve n

,

years and was not finished on accoun t of the war .

D espairing of ever reaching th e Observation tower of the

ripe j urist then he took to the j ournalisti c pen that
, ,

terre aterre instrument

- -
.

A nterior to this during Spanish days Senor Pa lma

,

was appointed to the unpoetic though lucrative task

of an officer of internal revenue so he was already ,

initiated into the mysterious paths of administration ,

often very deep ones as well as the study of economi c

,

questions all to serve later although this hack work

w
,

as as is often the case more instructive than congenial

, ,

to him by taste a literary man I n 9 8 he became a

,
.
’

member of the famous stafl of General Luna s paper ’

,

La I ndependencia
“ ”
When Luna died Se nor Palma
.

had demonstrated his j ournalistic talents to such a

purpose that he was chosen editor This was not as .

simple a post as it may seem .

Their O dyssey was if not Homeric in dimensions

, ,

quite as exciting as those titanic contests of the stately

measure for they had to fly before the advancing lines
o f A merican troops and their editorial room was often

the car o f a train and the periods were punctuate d by

j olting and bullets while the size of the paper decreased
, ,

in direct ratio to the advance of the A merican army ,

from the voluminous proportions o f four sheets to one

octavo
w
.

When it as found impossible to continue this paper

Se nor Palma was invited by Se nor O sme na to assist
in editing a j ournal in Cebu which was called E l N uevo
“
,

D ia ”
This was under the censorship of General Mc

w
-
.

I ntyre and on the appearance of the first number the ,

editors ere left in the very singular position of seeing

every prominent article blue penciled ! Se nor Palma
128 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
returned to Manila in 1 9 00 after the suppression of this
paper and as a federal party had been formed whose
w
, ,

chief tenet was the annexation of the islands it as ,

thought that in order to combat this growing sentiment ,

“
it was better to found a paper and accordingly the R ena
cimiento was started which was to voice the national
,

longings of a vast maj ority of their fellow countrymen

and the old sta ff of the I ndependencia worked on
”

this periodical which was at once most successful

w
.
,

A n e writer was added Senor Corpus aut hor of a

, ,

work on A meri ca Fuera d e Fi lipinas

“
,
”
.

There was no desire to keep anything more than a

moderate tone without arousing any sectional feel
,

ing as long as Se nor Palma was editor .

He strove to bring about a friendly feeling between

the two peoples General B ell who was the command
.
,

ing O fficer in B atangas at that time carrying out a ,

reconcentration plan was somewhat stirred at the

,

criti cism of the paper but on the mediation of Governor

,

Taft it was Seen that there was no 111 feeling and the
distinguished and most popular o fficer was convinced that
no unfair intention animated the arti cles and news
items .

Se nor Palma was admitted to the bar in 1 90 2 and

left j ournalism for law In this career he was one of
.

the leading figures in his profession I n 1 9 0 7 he moved

.

his residence to Cavite in order to run for the election

as assemblyman for that district He was elected by .

a big maj ority out of four candidates A s assembly

w
.

man he as a representative to the legislature of his

countrymen for the special extraordinary period o f
“ ”
1 9 0 7 and 1 9 0 8 He presented the irrigation bill
.

with Scfi or Hernandez the present governor of I loilo

, ,

also the resolution for a creation of a code committee

w
,

the original draft of the bill whi ch as approved later .

The Commission actually has sittings only during

the ninety days while the A ssembly is in session as an
, ,

u pper house but the members are at work on govern

,
130 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
O campo the daughter of the editor of the
, R en aci
”
miento Filipino They have four children living and
.
,

four have passed into immortal childhood Se nor Palma .

is a child lover and loves children as only a father can

-
.

Se nor Palma is a club ma n as well and is very fond of

“ ”
what has been called the aristocrati c game of tennis .

His character may be summed up as o n e possessing

with a quiet equipoise with a meditative and subj ective
,

mind weighing matters slowly ; deeply reflective and

,

hating show or sham in a word seeming or ostentation

, , , ,

such is this serene figure He is reserved in feeling and

w
.

balanced in conduct ; a man who makes fe intimates ,

but for those he loves has a lifelong fidelity a man of ,

quiet solid attainment attainments dispassionate and

,

S ensible and consistent like himself Wit may be .

numbered among his ac complishments o r endowments ; ,

a gentle wit and he appreciates immensely a good story

,

and is most social but n ot he claims a brilliant

, ,

S peaker .

D elicacy is the dominating note o f this character

and no on e could think of this generous courtly gentle ,

man without it being a pleasant thought U rbanity .

,

which is fast disappearing from public life and even from

private is s o characteristi c of this man that there seems
,

a perfect harmony in his every day bearing .

O ne of his compatriots being asked the Opinion ,

Of this man so well known in Manila and through

-

o u t the archipelago replied :

“
A ll Filipinos trust R afael
”
Palma .
 H on V I C T O R I NO M AP A
F m
.

Sup m S y
Ju i u u ll y
m
e c r e t ar of
Co rt an d ac t a
er st ce of re e

Ju i
or

s t ce an d F an c e .
132 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
had their special lawyers who were always Filipinos ,
.

From the mi ddle of the 1 9 th century began the reform ,

of the tribunals in the Philippines and from the date ,

of the opening of the Suez canal a large number of ,

Spanish lawyers came out and assumed the functions

before held by Filipinos .

The culture of the Filipino lawyer was never in co n

si d er ab le ,
fo r from the earliest date the Filipino
, ,

lawyer was not admitted to the practice of his pr ofes

sion after simply having read la with some firm but w ,

he was obliged first to obtai n a doctor s degree from ’

his academi c course N ot only this but he was obliged

.
,

to follow an eight years course in j urisprudence a ’

,

most rigorous program which contained not alon e ,

studies in colonial law but such as were required in ,

the leading universities of Spain and E urope These .

studies comprised legislative law and the universal

w
,

principles of la of civilized nations

,
.

We have names known the world over such as ,

Az carr ag a Vizmanos A rrieta Marcaida Timoteo Jo c

, , , ,

son G ervasio Sanchez Lorenzo Francisco

, ,
.

We have no need to mention those of modern times

who are too well known and have been preeminent
since the date of university reform in 1 87 7 ,
.

We have only to open the introduction of the penal

code of these islands to find there the record of h o
“
w
Filipino lawyers were ranked by Spai n The native
race has had a direct influence upon the social and
political aff airs of the country and from a uniformity o f
experience is open to distinction in every profession
and those requiring superior merit and of the highest
order .

I n an address delivered by former Justice Willard

before the South D akota B ar A ssociation in January ,

o f year before last we have an admirable resume of the

,

Camara de l Au d ien cia from the time o f the A merican

’
,

occupation and before .

The first j udges of the A udiencia arrived in Manila

in May 1 5 84 I t was suspended in 1 5 9 0 I t was
,
. .
 F ILI P IN O JURI STS O F TH E S U P RE M E CO UR T 1 33

r e- established on May 8 1 5 98 Since then its life ,

.

has been continuous This statement can I think .

, ,

be safely made for by section 3 9 of the A ct of the

,

A merican Commission above referred to it was declared

that the supreme court thereby established should
be substituted for the A udiencia A ll of the cases
w
.

then pending therein were transferred to the n e court

and decided by it A ll of the books papers and files
.
,

were turned over to the clerk of the new court and are
no w a part of its records The Oldest document now .

remaining in the present clerk s oflice is a j udgment ’

in a criminal case entered in 1 60 2 The ink with which .

this j udgment was enrolled shows as clearly and as

w
plainly n o as it did when it was placed upon the parch
ment three hundred and ten years ago .

The A udiencia until the 4 th of June 1 8 61 ex er , ,

ci s ed both legislative and j u d icial functions The .

Captain General the highest executive and military

,

o fficial in the I sland was its president o r chief j ustice

,
.

The j udge o f the court of first instance in each province

was the governor of the province until a comparatively
recent date .

The present j udicial establishment is similar to

the Spanish on e and to the organization of courts in
this date .

Generally speaking the j urisdiction of the supreme

court is appellate only I t may however issue writs .

of mandamus certiorari habeas corpus and p r oh ib i

, ,

tion O wing to the peculiar ecclesiastical situation

.

created by the A glipay schism in the R oman Catholic

, w
Church a law as passed o n July 24 1 905 giving to , ,

the supreme court original j urisdiction of controversies

between the R oman Catholic Church and the munic
ipali ties concerning the title to churches convents ,

and cemeteries U nder the operation of this law many

.

cases were brought in that court one from about every ,

province They were all decided in favor of the church

.
,

following a decision made by the same court in a suit

brought by a R oman Catholic bishop against a priest
1 34 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
whom he had placed over a church in his diocese but
who had seceded from the R oman Catholic Church
and had attempted to carry with him the church build
ings of which he was in possession
w
.

A subsequent la gave to the supreme court

o rigi n al j u ri
sdi on in controversies between the govern
cti

me nt and those railroads in the I slands the interest

o n whose bonds the government had guaranteed for
a term of years .

From the supreme court of the Philippines an

appeal lies to the supreme court at Washington in
cases where the amount in controversy exceeds
gold o r where the construction of an A ct of Congress
is in question .

The Philippine court consists of seven j ustices .

They are now and have been since July 1 1 9 0 2 ap , ,

pointed by the President and confirmed by th e Senate

w
.

The la does not say of what race they shall be B ut .

ever since the court was established in 1 90 1 four have ,

been A mericans and three Filipinos I t was probably

.

thought necessary to have the maj ority of the court

o f A merican birth for fear that some prej udi ce might

arise .

The president o f the A udiencia and consequently

,

the head of the j udicial establishment of the I slands

w w
,

as D on Cayetano A rellano then and n o

,
the most
learned lawyer and on e of the most distinguished Filipi
n o s in the I slands . Thoroughly familiar with the laws ,

customs and history of h is country he had rendered ,

the most valuable aid to General O tis in the organiza

tion of the courts in the preparation Of a marriage
w
,

la ,
a muni cipal code and a code o f criminal procedure
, .

He became the first chief j usti ce of the A meri can Supreme

w
Court and n o holds that o ffi ce I n 1 9 0 4 he came
.

to this country and received from the U niversity of

Yale the degree of D octor o f Laws .

D on Florentino Torres was appointed fiscal of the

A udiencia or as we would designate him attorney
,

general of the I slands He had held important j udicial

.
136 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
E xposition St Loui s D uring
of . . this same period
Justice A rellano was appointed as representative from
both the U nited States and the Philippines at the ,

Congress of Jurisprudence held in St Louis

. .

D uring the Filipino revolution Se nor Mapa was

president of the tribunal o f j ustice and counselor of
the Federal government o f the Visayas His wide .

learning and deep thinking along matters legal has

placed him as one of the three foremost lawyers of h is
land and his beauty of character and personal virtue
,

are s o illustrious as to be as well known as is his name

w
.

I n his o n province as well as in his adopted city his ,

presence is cherished as one of the rarest and finest

gifts to the Filipino people .

The chief j ustice asks the writer nay begs , ,

that no mention of himself should be made I t is .

an exhilarating experience and what punishment the

breaking of the half promise will be meted out S h e ,

trusts will be light as it is given by o n e who has studied

,

for a lifetime to be j ust pleading guilty and only giving

,

as an excuse that something which is stronger than our

w ill and which leads to crime I n this case it is the
,
.

veneration which the great man calls forth veneration ,

whi ch is called forth s o rarely .

The being who arouses this feeling must possess

all private virtues : boundless charity the courtesy ,

o f a prince and the humility of a beggar H e must

,
.

have more : the loftiest ideals lived so quietly that

,

you would image them all unknown so potently that ,

they move hundreds nay thousands of lives Yea

,
.

and do more decide the issue of same A ll these things

,
.

make o n e whom to meet is a benediction and to know ,

intimately must be an inspiration .

Senator Hoar said what might be paraphrased as :

A people who can produce R izal is worthy of the high
est destiny A ll glory to R izal yes but to live the
.
, ,

brilliant ideals for which he died in the humdrum of

routine life and create in one s work the inspiration
,
’
 F ILI P IN O JURI STS O F TH E S U P RE M E CO UR T 1 37

once which brought him to death that as ex—governo r , ,

Gilbert once said most eloquently is even more heroic !,

That a slight S hrinking figure bearing the heaviest

, ,

burdens is doing this in our midst every day is the

,

reason why the name Cayetano A rellano is written

here a name which stands spotless today before the
,

Filipino people as it has stood for years R ising from

,
.

humble boyhood by fidelity and integrity he has in ,

Sto Tomas where he received various degrees in his

.
, ,
“ ”
professorship there as s u plein te of the supreme court ,

as member of the state council under the Spanish régime ,

as administrator of Obr as P ias always answered to,

the illustrious ideals of scholar and gentleman that

adorn man y places in ou r E ast but nowhere more ,

luminously than in the chair occupied by the chief

j ustice of the Philippines which position he honors
w
,

no proving to his countrymen for all time that one

, , ,

o f their number — and if one then many

— may have

the beauty of character and loftiness of intellect which

'

is the gift of God to his chosen sons be they Malays , ,

or Chinese ; of E ngland or B ombay ; be they born where

the ardent s u n first lights the race or finishes its tired
cours e .
 of th e P hilippi A mb ly
ne sse

Man s supremacy over man is on e of the most

’

fascinating phenomena of life and its causes will furnish

material for study when the intri cacies of human nature
are reduced to a science and are not as today rele , ,

gated largely to the story teller .

The electric current Of responsibility has touched

men here in our islands as well and when on returning , , ,

Six years ago from a visit to the Japanese parliament ,

where it had been my privilege to be the guest of Mr .

O zaki then Mayor of Tokyo o n e of the first places

, ,

whi ch drew my tho u ght was the A ssembly then a brand

'

new legislative body and to contrast the two was by no

,

means uninteresting I t is a long way from that first

.

session to today and the ideas and aspirations proper

,

to a democracy have grown apace which a f ree govern

ment is trying to teach and teach it qui ckly and there ,

have been developed here notable personalities who ,

have risen to be leaders men o f a ffairs who are carving

,

out a modern Philippines on models which the gi ft

of selection i s taking from E ngland A meri ca France , , ,

and building it into the foundation lai d by the ancient

mother Spain ,
.

The native aristocracy —for the Philippines has its

aristocracy — is feeling the impulse towards work and
the conservative element is looking on and applauding
when not actually taking part in the struggle When .

the A mericans arrived they naturally chose men of

,

years for the most part o r those who had reached at

m
, ,

least the age of discretion for the posts of honor but as

, ,

time has demonstrated the Filipino talent for ad in is

tr ation the power has passed into younger and more
,

Vigorous hands and the makers o f the Philippines today

are men in their early manhood with all the flush of ,

the time o f creation upon them when to do is the j oy of ,

life and to aspire is as natural as to breathe A re c r d

g
n
.
,
lz
140 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
blood Of a racer the quick S pring of the S k illed f encer
,

and the unerring sense of the time the place and the
w
,

hour cool yet comprehending by the emotions ith

, ,

senses of the most acute matched by a brain whos e

w
forehead stands ith that unflinching mark o f t he
mathemati cian — s uch is in rapid strokes the man who
, , ,

today stands as the foremost statesman of his land a ,

position which he holds at the astounding age of thirty fiv e ! -

The culture o f Spain lies behind the manhood o f

each of the notable men of this land and the humanities
have raised them all into the higher atmosphere of edu
c at e d beings which does not only mean they read Latin
,
“
fluently but that they have inwardly digested the
,

Past from an extensive study if not from close scrutiny , ,

and from her theories and ideals patterned their own ; and
Se nor O s mena has that mobility of temperament which
the law makers of the Capitoline Hill had to disguise their
inflexibility Masterly have been many of hi s decisions
.

and consummate his ways of handling facts for his ,

powers of decision are so perfectly at his command

that you might compare him to some instrument which
a touch starts in motion .

His head is t h rown back o f ten with that seeming

e ffort to cast off all obstacles in that sense of the strength ,

which lies within and then brought gently back to bend

i n that submission which alas all souls at war with , ,

human conditions have to learn s o early facing the ,

facts without His smile is winning gracious merry

.
, ,

frequently and full of a very magnetic humor but

, ,

there sweeps across it as across the lips of many a large

m
,

nature and genius the sometimes sadness of a S hadow

, .

Th e gr eat u n d on e forever h au n tin g th e .

The face seems at first too delicate but as you ,

watch it there come o u t the strongest lines of intrinsi c

,

manhood and the stern lines of the mental fighter the

, ,

man who has a destiny knows it and set on a seat o f

w w
, , ,

power means to ield the scepter lightly yes but to d ra

, , , .

from out that substance or S hadow we call things all , , ,

that they can yield for the highest ends .

 S ER G I O OSM E NA 14 1

Seen at a distance the S light very slight figure ,

gives you a disappointment at first but as it is brought ,

into close range and the perfect balance of the face is

noticed and its masterly lines while the magneti c aura ,

lik e a flame envelops the whole the true strengt h of the ,

man dawns upon you and it is the highest kind of

strength i e the strength of a pure S pirit
, . . .

Se nor O smena is a father and much o f that sacred

dignity clings to him and gives him that understanding
o f weakness as nothing else could He has had to .

sacrifice to th e infinite regret o f the high bred woman

,
-

who shares his life the intimacy much of it of home

, , , ,

so dear to a Filipino for public life ,

.

Se nor O sme na was born in Cebu o n the 9 th of

September 1 8 7 8 and received his first education in the
College and Seminary of Cebu under the Paulist
fathers He took his degree of B A at San Juan de
. . .

Letran afterwards entering the university of Sto Tomas .

,

where he began his law course continued up to the time ,

m
of the revolution .

When very young Se nor Os erIa S tastes were for ‘ ’

the career of a physician but these tastes were set aside

w
,

for the ishes of his family and the career of a lawyer ,

was substituted His firs t reading was consequently

.

along the lines of science and fortunately for it meant ,

mathematics physics chemistry natural history etc

, , , ,
.

Later this mental bias with the stirring movement of

events became more or less changed to a literary and
sociological one B efore he was admitted to the bar his
.

“ “
first essays were put forth in E l Comercio and E l
D iario de Manila whi ch were then the most impor
tant papers Of the metropolis These given his extreme .
,

youth were naturally idealistic flights and this side

,

o f his character can be studied at leisure in the files of

these dailies and you can trace the change in his style ,

from the suavity of the university student the acad e ,

mician to the man of the forum who must think in

, ,

s tan tly and decide as quickly and go to the point wi th

rapid strokes without circumlocution The first men
,
.
142 B UILDER S O F A NA T I O N
who influenced his life have left as I s always the case ,

in deep natures their i mprint and among them he holds

,

first and always Judge Lo gar ta who from a neighbor , ,

in g town o f Cebu where he was an eminent lawyer ,

attorney and afterward j udge taught also a school in

Cebu for a time and as Se nor Os efi a s firs t year
Latin teacher
w
,

m ’
-

This friendship of pupil and teacher

.

ripened into an intimacy which lasted un til Judge Lo

“
g ar ta s death What impressed me Se nor
’

w
.

O smena little given to passionate attachments

,
“
as ,

his great character his wonderful will power and power

,

”
o f abiding This man o f rather an E nglish type fashion
.

ed his favorite pupil whom he loved as a son after his

w
, ,

o n heart and transmitted by his example something , ,

o f his masterful and lasting traits Many more men .

have come and gone in his life says Se nor O sme na but , ,

he is faithful to this dead teacher and he holds the first ,

place in his memory as in his friendship This whole .

souled devotion has exalted the publi c man and he de

clares that his sense o f publi c duty he took from the
same source and also that impulse towards untiring

m
devotion to the good of country .

O ne characteristi c of the young Os eria was his ‘

taking part very early in the important movements

o f his city Cebu was one o f the last cities to enter the
.

contest but became characteristically bitter His tastes .

were not military and although he was Off ered some

, ,

conspicuous places under that regime he refused prefer ,

ring the less militant one of j ournalism Lest he should .

incur however the accusation o f lack Of manliness at a

later period when called to pacify that region as gov
e rn o r and forced to put down a long continued brigand

age and much public disorder he took the field himsel f ,

and shouldering his gun marched into the mountain

, ,

region driving the outlaws by tact as well as with a

w
,

strong hand to lay down their arms This as a signal

,
.

triumph for the governor o f only twenty fiv e as the Con -

,

s tab u lary after a very valiant siege had been unsuccess

,
1 44 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
overcome the impression of j uvenileness and in ex
per i e n c e and to convince the hardheaded Cebu farmers
“ ”
and wealthy burghers that he was on to his j ob as
the vulgar would s ay but he did it in the best possible
,

manner not by promising something or talking about

m
, ,

what he was going to do but by taking off his coat and ,

—
going to work a very good rule for s tates en to follow ;
'
,

o n e however whi ch is not n o r ever has been much a

, ,

l a mode !
O n one trip of seven days duration — not In a com
fo r tab le coast guard steamer as now nor on a Pu l lman ,

—
sleeper but over mountain trails on horseback he ,
'

visited twenty seven villages and held two or three

-

meetings in each town personally l istening to any who ,

wi shed to enter complaints and investigating all the

j ails and publi c buildings N e plans and proj ects for . w
roads and bridges were made and for the recon s tr u c
tion of Cebu which plans that city is now carrying out
, ,

and which it will take at least years to complete .

The port of Cebu and the city proper which has

su ffered from four or fiv e devastating fires at a loss of
millions o f pesos has been made a modern city largely
,

from resources within itself This governor found it .

an antique burg with narrow streets without plan or

,

beauty and today in the business zone it boasts of

thoroughfares of twenty meters in width with concrete ,

sidewalks concrete buildings hospitals custom house

, , , ,

modern waterworks electric light system and conces

,

sion for street car .

So Se nor O sme na believing that building like charity

,

should begin at home S howed in his own home town ,

en peti t what he could do en gran d

, U nlike the per .

so n ag e of George E liot s novel his philanthropy does’

,
“ ”
not increase with the square of the distance but his
w
,

first experience of administration he gained in his o n

city .

I n 1 90 7 Governor Smith called together the gov

er n o rs of the provinces o f which there were about ,

thirty and they met for their deliberations in the very

,
 S ER G I O OSM E NA 145

room at the A yuntamiento which is the Speaker s offi c e ’

today where gazing about and up at its high studded

, ,

cornices little did the young man fresh from his guber
,

al triumphs dream that he was to hold for nine

n ato r i

years that office as the center of the action of the chie f

legislative body of his country !
AS this was an elective body it can be said to have
b een a small A ssembly and then special committees
were formed for the consideration of legislation for
provincial and municipal government wherein Sr ,
.

O smena began the study of practi cal rules of procedure

and of more importance still to measure his forces
w
, ,

not ith inferiors but with his equals and already stood
,

ou t
,
as o n e historian noted as a marked man of very ,

superior ability a presiding Officer and one who from

, ,

prompt decision good j udgment and level head cool

, , ,

unimpassioned thought would be capable of taking charge

,

of greater a ffairs later on .

Five or six men rose ou t from the thirty and at

once controlled the situation and in the electric choice ,

of men which runs over notable gatherings the focus

was O smena
w
.

This power of distinguishing publi c men is a n e

science in the Philippines but it is growing fast ,

and the O riental intuitions far more unerring than ,

the O ccidental will make them past masters later on

,

in the science which di fferentiates human beings mor e

infallibly than any other : i e that of insight Sr
O smena drafted a bill afterwards approved by the Co
,

mission extending the power of the provincial govern

. .
,
.

m .

ment and most important o f all the proj ects for a

w
, ,

la increasing the Filipino members of the p rovincial

boards by election to t o as against one formerly w .

A t this point began the real life of the statesman ,

or rather his publi c c areer for in the subj ects at that

,

time considered began his wider outlook and he was ,

j udged as one who could see far and grasp Opportunities ,

and quickly put into S hape the most pressing needs ;

and he begun the education of h is sympathies and by
146 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
more extensive reading of the world s afi airs and the ’

procedures in E ngland and A merica and France the

preparation was being made for a stronger larger man ,

hood and as always happens when the hour struck he

, ,

was ready .

For years he had formed himself o n the thoughts

o f the past ; histori cal and economic study had been

hi s delight and n o w w
he as to make history for his
country .

When the first A ssembly met though elected so , ,

loath was he to leave the work begun and carried out

s o well in Cebu that he lagged behind and arriving
, ,

only at the eleventh hour the last of an v of the delegates

to reach Manila he was unanimously chosen to the
,

Speaker s chair which he has held for six years and will
’
,

hold for three more .

He has been reelected twi ce and so established

his hold o n the A ssembly by his tact and j udgment
that to him they have turned in the critical moments
o f legislative strife and found the same sane cool dis , ,

passionate spirit striking at the root of things and plan

w
ning ith a forethought for the future that all men
have learned to respect .

To be the Speaker of a legislative assembly perhaps

brings into play as many intellectual and moral quali
ties and those of as high an order as any position in
which a man may be placed Firstly the man to hold
.
,

the position must have himsel f completely under con

trol be in absolute command of the forces within him
,

sel f and what i s equally d iflicu lt be able to control the

, ,

vastly varying personalities before him not negative ,

potentialities but often those strung to the highest

,

pitch of feeling and passion and know how to direct ,

those powers into channels fo r good and o u t of their

very intensity evolve not at h is leisure but in stan ta
, ,

n eou s ly often the most di fficult of times seemingly results

w
.
,

Se nor O sme na moreover came to a position n e not only

w
for himself but absolutely n e for the men he placed ; he
,

had to create his own position without even having

148 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
would mean bringing the legislative body of this people
w
associated with his o n destiny in a more co pr eh en
sive relation with the central government through pro
m
ce d u r es with which they were familiar .

O ne might quote the words of R einsch

in reference
to Mr R eed : .
“
I t is difficult to disassociate Mr R eed s .
’

”
rulings from the influence of h is powerful personality .

The organization of a legislative body is b y no

means its least important side but rather is its
,

maj or this consideration of parliamentary procedure

, ,

or governmental e tiquette .

The acceptance or non acceptance of rules of order

w as the first thing to be considered I t will be inter
w
.

esting to note h o they adopted here methods whi ch a

little later were so violently discussed revised in Co n,

gress an d which resulted in the loss of power of Mr .

Cannon and later of the R epublican party in Congress .

These rules have been accepted three times by the

action of the A ssembly during the various sessions The .

manner in whi ch Se nor O smena has used these rules

has shown the man .

Se nor O sme na has endeavored to use these rules

with the maximum degree of flexibility and it is j ust ,

in the way he has used them that the power of the

man lies When y ou consider that the same men are
.

by no means in the A ssembly today who were there at

the beginning it marks an unusual stability in follow
,

ing out the same course of procedure as at first .

The eff ort of the Speaker has been 1 s ely as he w ,

knows his country men not to use this power arbitra

,

rily but to allow each member the fullest individual

,

privilege compatible with the interests of the whole : a

discretion amounting to genius This discretion appears
.

to be an absolute sine qua non with O rientals who

take even less than O ccidentals to domineering acts ,

individualism being contrary to the inner spirit of the

E ast He has pushed this discretion so far as n ot to
.
 S ER G I O OSM E NA 149

be willing for this reas on to serve on the committee of

'

rules ( as is often done by the Speaker in the U nited

States ) even as a member .

He has given this prerogative to the members

themselves who in return appreciating this leniency
, , , ,

have returned a full measure of consideration .

A nother strong and consistent course the w

ith
Speaker has been that he has treated minorities always
with the maximum of consideration and they have
been frequently placed on committees sometimes as
chairmen which is rarely done elsewhere This certainly
,
.

goes far to demonstrate that the Filipinos do not mean

to rule as an oligarchy or even worse as a u n s cr u pu
, ,

lous democracy and the vindication of this latitude

and catholicity has come in the result of the working
efficiency of the A ssembly where there is a marked
,

degree of accord and harmony in action .

This has been a surprise to the general public ,

in V iew of the supposed localism of feeling in the di fferent

centers out o f whi ch these men have come and the often
,

violent struggles over the election .

A wonderful dispatch has come about by this unity

of feeling ; this can be shown when you realize that the
first organization and adopting of rules preparing o f ,

proper message and resolution for the other branches of

the government including the chief executive and the
war department was concluded in j ust forty minutes !
w
The first la approved by the A ssembly was passed
. w
“
in about ten minutes This la called the Gabaldon act
, ,

b ecau s ed introduced by the member of this name pro ,

vi d ed one million pes os f o r the country or barrio schools ,

and in the five years succeeding more substantial schools

were planted in these island sthan in the three centuries
before.

This marked an epoch in the history of this branch

o f the Malay race and they leaped by this one act to

step side by side with civilized modern states and at ,

1 50 BUILDE R S OF A NA T I O N
that moment demonstrated what enlightened action
they were capable of when allowed to control thei r
own a ff airs !
This act as well ratified at once what is best in the
fabri c o f the civilization of A merica which they had ,

given in the beginning of their rule here — the publi c

school — and contrary to even the thought of S O keen
,

a reader of men and events as Mr Taft and the Opin l on s .

of other statesmen the A ssembly instead of commencing

, ,

to tear down and attack the policy o f the U nited States ,

began the constructive work of attending preeminently

m
to the education o f the people .

O ne of the strongest sides of Senor Os e fi a s eti ’

q u ette as well has always been not to allow his name to

“

, ,

stand before the public as the originator of any bill ,

h it it can be certainly surmised that no important

bill from the first to the last has been proj ected without
his supervision and that when the first law which meant ,

so much for this race was being drafted he was n ot

,

f ar from the table .

The next serious thing to be considered was the codify

ing of that mass of more or less incoheren t laws which
had been handed down from early Spanish legislation
and augmented by those passed S ince the A meri can
occupation
w
.

I t as a tremendous task and at once the A ssembly

m
was confronted with the necessity o f appointing a com

m i
i
ttee for this purpose which was done and this com,

ttee composed of the leading j urists o f the country

,

, ,

have been at work from the time of the first A ssembly

up to to d ay on the giganti c task o f harmoni zing antique
laws to modern needs and modifying the penal system
to u p to date and more civilized methods than in use
- -

forme rly .

A s Senor O smena has been the presiding o fficer

of the A ssembly from the beginning uninterruptedly to
date he has had to consider laws of primary importance
, .

These may be classified as those relating to schools .

1 52 B U ILD E R S O F A NA T ION
A s j ournalist fiscal governor of a province Speaker
, , ,

of the A ssembly he has developed most consistently

, ,

not springing thus full armed lik e th e goddess but as

- l
,

a learner he has risen step by step .

Post after post has been given to this young man

and he has risen each time to its responsibilities with
conspicuous ability He stands now in the full flush of
.

his manhood ready for greater servi ce and a grander

,

future for his country .

Sincerity : untiring energy that is the supreme word

w
,

for the man a man notable in his o n country and i f

w
, ,

n othing intervenes on e d ay a
,
or ld figu r e .

No o n e who has met him casually can doubt this ,

much less those who work by his side and watch the
whole hearted devotion and deep seriousness with whi ch
-

he gives himself bo th to the drudgery and routine of

his o ffice as well as its public acts .

When the Philippines shall o n e day raise her Hall

of Fame one o f the figures alert with sweeping glance
, , ,

upright swift in thought and crowned with manhood s

,
’

crown of deeds well done will be that o f Sergio O smena

, .
 Se nor de Vey r a has had a career which has been
marked by a notable variety of very di ff ering avocations .

He is a Visayan a native of Leyte that province which

, ,

produced notable men and over which he was governor

from 1 906 to 1 9 08 when he left that position to figure
,

in the 1 s t A ssembly to which he Was elected and r e

‘
,

elected for the second term Since then he has passed .

l ong vacations in the A ssembly building on Calle Cabildo ,

where s o much real work goes o n of a less showy kind

and at last he has taken up a former and no less arduous
profession which requires the insight of the statesman
,

and the knowledge of men and deeds as astute as any

at the command of the public actor of the hour : i e . .
,

j ournalism .

Se nor de Vey ra has been president of the corpora

tion of E l I deal the organ of the N acionalista party
“ ”

w
, ,

and is n o consulted as tothe policy of the paper and

the exposition of its political tenets so valuable is his ,

opinion considered in such matters O n this paper he

m
.

has worked also in collaboration with Sr Ponce upon .

,
“
a series of articles historical and literary called E fe e ,
”
rides Filipinas and every day an original article has
appeared on some subj ect of vital importance nearest
“
the heart of the Filipino people subj ects such as Pri ,

mera Villa de E spanoles ” “

E l A rte del Padre San ,

A gustin ,
” “
La Constitucion de Malolos
” “
D es pu j o l ,

y la R eforma Municipal ” “
E l Principe de los Poetas
,
” “ ” “
Tagalos , Graciano Lopez Jaena La Tragedia de ,

Palanan etc etc These articles are now in press

,
.
,
.

and four volumes will soon be the result .

“
Se nor de V ey r a s o says the official directory o f
”

w
,

the A ssembly “
as born in Tanawan Leyte N ovembe r
w
, , ,

4. His father as a professor a man of excellent ,

education at the head of a private school and there

wh
, ,

under the most favorable early instruction it hi s ,

53
1 54 B U I LD E R S O F A N A T IO N
father as a teacher he began his life amid books and
,

thoughts He then had the wider if rougher experience

.

o f the publi c school of the town H is father s n ame ’

w
.

as Felix de V ey r a and his wife was S e norita I ld efon s a

D iaz He thus descended from Spanish Filipino stock
.
-
,
“ ”
an ancestry whi ch though not blue blooded so says -
,
“
this offshoot made up in brains what they lacked in
,
”
color inasmuch as they did and their descendants do
,

possess a goodly quantity of that useful commodity and

stand as one of th e most cultured families of the region
w
.

I t once happened that the parish priest of a to n o f the

province the president the treasurer secretary j ustice
, , , ,

o f the peace and a maj ority of the municipal council

were all de Veyras !

This peculiarity of monopolizing the best positions in
sight was not bounded alone by the circumference of this
pueblo but extended into other muni cipalities The
, .

R ev Pantaleon de V ey r a o f Tanawan
.
“
V icario of ,

the oriental coast of Leyte is considered as one of the ,

most able of the Filipino clergy and had it n ot been ,

for his somewhat masterful disposition would have ,

undoubtedly gone as far as a bishop s chair The f ather ’

.

o f the subj ect of this sketch Felix de Vey ra besides , ,

being a useful and distinguished pedagogue was the ,

first clerk of the court which Leyte produced Tanawan .

thus has the distinction of being the birthplace of the

first Filipino governor of Leyte the leading lawyer , ,

Simeon Spina and that the fair sex should not be ex

m
, ,

cluded the former wife of that most courtly and erudite

w
,

j udge Se nor R o u a
,
ld e z n o of Capiz When s h e
,
.

was at the Concordia as Maria Marquez of Tanawan

s h e received a prize whi ch is only very rarely and only

once given in many years that for the most exceptional

scholarship .

Se nor de Vey r a thus com ing from a family tree of

,

good fibre and goodly branches passed to Manila for ,

the ripening of highest education which was to bring

the blossoming and fruit time o f life He entered .

San Juan de Letran for his secondary education in

1 56 BUILDER S O F A NA T IO N
desired .These unruly members of society gave the gov
e rn or n o little trouble and the military authorities having ,

had some experience of his pen did not trust his rule ,
.

However Governor I de and his successor Governor

, ,

Smith gave him the benefit of the doubt and upheld

,

him until the publi c order was in a large exte nt restored .

I t was at this time that the A ssembly Of Provincial

“

Governors was held in Manila when for the first , ,

time was demonstrated the superior ability in guiding

,

a body of men of Speaker O sme na and this afterwards ,

drew attention to him in the first A ssembly when he ,

was elected speaker Governor Curry at this time

.
,

much en v u e asked Se nor de Vey ra then who this

, , ,

man was where educated and how it came about that

,

he could be s o capable a presi ding officer .

When this reunion closed Governor Smith appoint

ed a committee to compile the resolutions o f this body .

Three names were on the list : those of O sme na Quezon ,

and de V ey r a .

A s an assemblyman from the 4 th district his chief ,

work as a legislator was that on appropriations and

publi c works of which committee he was chairman and
,

had the responsibility of disbursing a large part of the

funds granted for this purpo se .

This fact was mentioned at the recent despedida

given at the N acionalista Club to Governor Forbes ,

when he spoke of the support received f rom Se nor de

V ey ra in many of the enterprises undertaken by him
in the islands .

Se nor de V ey r a also worked for appropriations for

“ ” “
the Gota de Leche o f the Society for the Protection
of I nfants “
He has the honor title of Protector of
.

”
Childhood in the former His chivalry was also dem.

o n s tr at e d by proj ecting a law afterwards passed ,

,

whi ch states that half of the members o f the boards o f

education in all pro v inces i n the islands shall be women .

A splendi d feather in the feminine cap in the O rient !

That Sefior de V ey ra should be gallant is not strange ,

given the fact that he had the rare good fortune to obtain
 AI M E C DE 1 57

wm
J . VEY RA

for his wife Se norita Sofia R eyes in June 1 90 7 a o an , , ,

as famous for her womanly attractiveness as for her

rare intellectual gifts Se norita R eyes (n o . Mrs w .

de V ey r a) was in her early womanhood d irector a o f a

government dormitory school in B acolod and later
assistant superintendent of the young ladies dormitory ’

in Ma nila a position which she adorned as much socially

,

as mentally drawing towards her a large following of the

,

leading women of the islands both A merican and Fili ,

pinas and bringing out the best feeling between the

two Perhaps no woman in the I slands has done more
.

to raise the prestige of Filipina womanhood than has

this most admired wife and mother n o a foremost ,
w
figure in philanthropic circles and a social power in ,

the city I n the leading clubs of which s h e is a member

.

and on the numerous boards on which she serves her ,

unselfish labor and good j udgment both given most

unostentatiously are highly valued by other women
,
.

Se nor de Ve y r a has had a large place in the literary

life of h is country both as a writer of numerous articles
,

for the press and as a student of history and philology .

He has been particularly interested in publi c libraries

ever since the Cebu days when he suggested to pro ,

vi al board to appeal to Carnegie and finding that

n ci

N apoleon of givers too severe in his requirements

w
,

donated his o n books to the founding of a library

for that city and begged others to do the same This .

i dea is still mastering him as he contemplates con s e

crating as a monument to his father the house he left
, ,

in Tacloban where will in time be gathered a publi c

, , ,

library .

A s a club man Senor de taken an active V ey r a has

part He was president of the R izal Club in Cebu
.
, ,

is honorary president of the Saghiran san B inisay a ”

and member of the Philippine committee of the geo

w
m
graphical names He as president also Oi the com
.

tt ee of organization of the celebration of printing

i
in 1 9 1 1 which was the tercentenary of the introduction
,

o f printing in the Philippines Se nor de Vey r a has .

1 58 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
written a pamphlet on philological subj ects entitled
“ ”
Tan d ay a O K andaya .

S e fior de V ey r a is now o n e of the Commissioners o r

M embers of the U pper House of the Philippine Legislature ,

o n e o f those recently appointed by President Wilson .

This literary career whi ch is after all his by prefer

ence as well as destiny began he says years ago when
, , , ,

as a student at Sto Tomas he entered a contest with

.
,

a young Spaniard discussing a poem o f Guerrero s

,
’

entitled B orj a ante el Cadaver de la E mperatriz D o na

I sabel in 95 The youth and passion of thought
,
’
.

carried him very far and this contest was then the talk
o f the ancient seat o f learni ng .

Today in public paths he still follows the gleam

and it leads him where it leads natures like his o n into w ,

deep paths and far lands of research and often o f hard

toil and patient endeavor where the light o f truth alone
,

illumines the way Simple direct without any b y ends

.
,
-
,

this man has won the esteem of those with whom he

works and his talent claims their admiration He has
,
.

been frank to express his opinions always but wi t hout ,

bitterness and all know it is at the wrong not the wrong

doer he aims at R ight for his people he desires and
.

j ustice and that he desires to grant to all as well A n .

admirable figure and above all a trustworthy on e as ,

such is known by friends and foes alike (if he has these

latter ) this brilliant and modest son of the Visayas .
1 60 BUILDER S O F A NA T IO N
A t the coming of the A meri cans he was called to the
position of presidente and asked to assist the military
forces in putting down the brigandage in the vi cinity

w
,

which role b e filled for many months The mother .

of Teodoro K alaw was on e of the real mothers h o

live a retired life devoted to her family .

This son began his education in a private school

under the direction of a Serior Virrey one of the most
‘

famous teachers under the Spanish régime albeit a ,

Filipino a sort of Thomas A rnol d of his time though

w
, ,

in an elementary way O ne of his pupils as Mabini

.
,

a distinguished man defined by Senator B everidge

,
“ ”
as the most representative man of the Malay race .

The next step in the pursuit of knowledge was taken

at the R izal I nstitute also in Lipa where he began
, ,

a sort of High S chool course This institution fiou r

.

i s h e d during the epoch of Filipino independenc Here

e .

he had as instructors such men as Jose Petronio Catibac ,

now o n e o f this city s valued servants From this

’
.

“
school he passed to the Li ceo of Manila to finish
his High S chool studies and spent there about t o years w .

There he met Fernando Guerrero whose personal ,

influence played then a n d afterwards in forming hi s ,

l iterary i deals a very vital part From this school

,
.

K alaw passed to the

“
E scuela de D erecho where
”

w w
,

he completed his course in la Here the man h o

.

gave most color and impetus to the young student s ’

thought towards serious studies and deep investigation

and acquisition was the late Professor Calderon one ,

o f the greatest teachers of law in the Philippines whose ,

memory is cherished by h is pupils to an unusual degree ’

for his qualities o f a noble heart This summary of .

education shows us that the subj ect o f this sketch was

stamped by his training as well as by heredity
,
ith ,
w
the intimate thoughts and i deals of his race He i s .

a pure Filipino as his name will tell you K alaw means

,
.

in local dialects B ird and in this distinctly oriental

“ ”
,

appelation we have the man rooted in the soil and breed

by her sons without scarcely any foreign influence
,
.
 T EOD ORO M . K A LA W 1 61

Having been admitted to the bar in Septembe r

1 9 07 he began immediately his la practice in Manila
,
w ,

in an office in I ntramuros in Calle A nda and associated

w
, ,

ith him as a law partner was Se nor Salas delegat e

w
,

to the Philippine A ssembly from I loilo This la firm .

was dissolved on the election of Mr K alaw to the second .

Philippine A ssembly in 1 9 1 0 I n the capacity of legis .

lator he served in this body one year and a half when

a severe illness during the last year of his term took
, ,

him to St Paul s Hospital This illness with its out

.
’
.
,

come which struck at the roots of life was one of those

, ,

catastrophes which men o f strong will and marked

personality come out from like tempered steel some ,

times with a t race of bitterness when a large portion ,

of littleness is mingled with their fiber but when of , ,

the right stu ff broader deeper and grander with the

w
, , ,

birth of n e sympathies and finer feelings Still a young .

man Sr K alaw took the latter course o r shall we say

w
.
, , , ,

ith his heredity and training by men of high spiritual

feeling he rose to meet the test and came out a man
, .

I n 1 9 1 0 the graceful and amiable Purita Villanueva

became his wife This young woman had been one
.

of the social ornaments Of I loilo and Manila and has

since developed into a womanly woman that modern ,

compound of an altruist and home keeper interested ,

i n publi c questions as she can hardly fail to be as the

,

wife of such a publi c man Mrs K alaw i s a member . .

“ ”
o f the Woman s Club of Manila and her sister
’

women have already intrusted to her matters requiring

j udgment and decision She was a delegate recently .

“ ”
to the Workers Congress held in Manila ’
.

The first family sorrow that met this gifted p air

was in the death of their little s on Sergio the go dson , ,

of Speaker O sme na So the two most refining influences

.

of life physical pain and the loss of one most deeply

,

loved have tou ched the ambitious man in the first

,

years of his career and taught him those relationships

,

which lie deeper and are more eternal than politi cal
parties and their ephemeral contests triumphs or defeats , ,
.
1 62 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
I n considering the talents and aspirations t h is of

life we find that along with a logi cal mind and very
concrete comprehension of men and things there is ,

allied the artisti c temperament whi ch led Mr K alaw ,

.

in his first years to choose as his favorite study litera

ture .
“
Two kinds of men have influenced me pure l y ,

”
literary writers and thinkers he says This shows
, .

at once in his style ; he thinks and also loves good writ

ing Clear at times ou t out in vivid strokes and touches
.
,

not u nlike G og u l with an abhorrence of the over

“ ”

drawn or the bombastic his style avoi ded eve n f rom

w
, ,

the first the errors of much Spani sh work No he .

h as a simplicity bordering o n nudity a nudity whi ch ,

is always chaste and warmed to life by strokes often

fresh as N ature herself .

His works are most translatable and for this reason

c an be pronounced good writing ; for all that is weak
i s weaker when put into another langua ge
,
.

Hi s j ournalistic career began in Lipa when as a

w
,

student he as editor of a j uvenile manuscript review .

“
This was most appropriately named The Voice
o f Youth
”
.A t the Liceo de Manila he wrote on La“

A lborada I n his first y ears course in the E scuela

“

w
.

de D erecho when Commissioner Palma as o n e o f his

,

professors he invited the young pupil to write o n E l

R enacimiento This was as far back as 1 9 03 and
.

he served first as reporter then as city editor and was

,

afterwards editor in chief He was on this paper for

.

four years and during this period steadily impro ved

his style as well as his mind by wide reading .

A s a youth his first models were French and Spanish

m
such as E nrique Gomez Carrillo R amon de l Vall e ,

I nclan and A ngel Ganivet .

His later models after the study o f E nglish masters

of modern prose have been A ericans and E ngli s hmen
of the hour who are living and making history — B ryce ,

Woodrow Wilson R oosevelt E lihu R oot many others

, , ,
1 64 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
work of the Lower House overseeing the clerks who ,

are taking notes for the records and assisting the

Speaker in keeping order .

O n assuming the position Mr K alaw realized that .

this was by no means all the role the secretary ought

to fill and at once began the creating o f a department
,

of legislation which he h as outlined in his recent work

entitled Como Puede Mej orarse N uestra Leg is laciOn
“
.

This department will be built up for the training and

deve lopment of the often untrained statesmen and ,

lawyers will be placed at the disposition of the members

whose time would be given to the gathering together
o f materials on foreign and home a ffairs as well as ,

arranging the same in practical literary shape .

D uring the vacation the secre tary sees to the pub

li n g o f the R ecord and Journal o f the last session
sh i

and collects material for the use of the coming A ssembly .

A t the present time a large amount o f matter upon

muni cipal governments is being collected as that is the ,

topic which is to occupy the forthcoming session i n

ernm
O ctober next The thought is to investigate the gov
.

e n ts o f cities o f E urope and A merica

that by commission in Galveston Texas and D es

such as ,

, ,

Moines I owa and s ee if they might be made efficient

, ,

here
w
.

A nother of Mr K ala s most important tasks at

.
’

present is the study and applications of parliamentary

questions inasmuch as the A ssembly j ust born has fe
,
w
if any precedents and the creation of these for the f uture
is the next step in the order of education of this august
body .

There are some 3 5 proj ects and laws o n record

originated by this present secretary when he sat in the
2 n d A ssembly s o he is no novice in the art he seeks
,

to teach .

The most famous speeches which drew out his

gifts as an orator and indi cate the forcefulness of his
personality were one o n the Filipino Constitution ,

o n e o n the contested seat of Se nor Gomez another , ,

 T EOD ORO M . K A LA W 1 65

perhaps the most brilliant on the f amous D ivorce

question and a fourth touching the bill o f A pacib l e
on
“
E l R eferendum ”
.

O f committees of the Lower House he has served

on the following : on R ules ( chairman ) Committee ,

of Three ( chairman ) on railroads and franc hises

w
,

( chairman ) relations
,
ith the sovereign government
( member ) elections ( member ) printing ( member )
, , ,

appropriations ( member )
w
.

His political creed may be told best in his o n

words : I believe that the most urgent need of the
hour is the popularizing of the ideas Of government
s o that they may become practi cable for the maj ority

of the people : in a word the principal mission of the

,

leader should be to prepare the people to receive

the benefits of a real democracy We are an ancient .

people it is true ou r civilization dates from long ago

w
.
, ,

B efore Spanish days we had our o n proper life in its

social political and economical expressions We are not
,
.

at the be ginning as a nation we are completely formed

,
.

That which we need is the practical exercise of our pre

r o gati v e s in the sense of a modern government of our own

w
.

“
We have n o t this experience because e have
not had the opportunity to acquire it .

We have among u s those who have received their

education abroad those who have had an education
,

in schools formed on the older systems and still others ,

who are self taught so the work of instruction of the

uncultivated masses can go on today and tomorrow .

“
O ur ideal like the ideal of other cultivated people
, ,

is that our government shall be the real result of the

spontaneous consent of the maj ority of the people
w
.

“
I t is true that as the Philippines have until n o
a larger proportion of the uncultured than Switzerland ,

E ngland o r A meri ca so there has been as noted some ,

times to our discredit formed a directing class but

, ,

thi s class is not so much a class as it is the leaders of ,

the actual intellectual and advanced political movement

of the country .
1 66 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
They have used this power for patriotic pu r poses
not for s elfis h on es and whoever should find himself
usurping this right for himself alone will soon find that
he is s et aside by h is fellows .

“
This has been proved and is a promise Of what
by tomorrow might be were we in possession of o u r
w
o n government

w
.

Mr K ala s statesmanship is by no means insular

.
’
.

More than most pub li c men of his country he reads

and makes himself conversant with the movements
of the entire world and especially of the E ast I n Se nor .

Ponce s recent l i
’
fe of Sun Yat Sen he has written an
introduction which ably demonstrates this fact The
w
.

parliament o f the n e Chinese republic has been one

o f his most recent subj ects of study .

He is at present member of the following prominent

societies : The A cademy of Political S cience of N ew
“ ”

York The A merican Political Science A ssociation o f

,
“

B altimore and The A merican Society of I nternational

“
,

Mr K alaw has been a regent of the E scuela de

.

D erecho of Manila and is actually a professor of

,

constitutional and administrative law .

He has inherited religiously straight orthodoxy .

“
His father is at present the president o f the Centro
”
Catoli co of Lipa His own creed is s et forth in h is
.

speech o n D ivorce He is an optimist believing

.
,

in the existence and goodness of God and i n the brighter

“ ”
future for his fellow men Life is an apostleship
w
.
,
“
to quote his o n words it must be used not for our
,

own benefit but f or the good of ou r country and h u

manity O nly we must work along facts not dreams
.
,
.

The first are the leaders o f the people the last mis ,

si es of the impossible
o n ar i So let us advance in the
.

”
line of facts as they are the real upbuilders
, .

“
We can hardly write the word statesman over
the name of any man at twenty nine ; but whatever the -

crises his country has to face whatever is reserved in the

,

destiny o f nations for the land he with keen intuitions

,
 E NCA R NA GIO N

Commissioner Singson although he lives in a stately

,

mansion on Calle A lix is a provincial man and h is

, ,

personality has much of the boyish freshness and vigor

and d irectness which such men unspoilt by conventions
have for the wi der spaces have s et their indelible mark
,

upon them .

A leading lawyer and assemblyman as well as the ,

p resident of the Progresista party at the time of his

appointment by the President of the U nited States
as commissioner his cheery voice and hearty manner
,

bespeak his youth and his wide experience and large

,

v iews are the direct result of birth and training in the

midst of sane conditions and a quasi country life When -
.

we speak of Vigan as the country however it I s al most , ,

as when a Londoner introduces his friend from Man

“ ”
c hester as my friend from the country .

Some two hundred miles by s ea to the north of

Manila where all the big ships pass to and fro along
,

o u r maj esti c coasts is the city of Vigan set in a prov

w
, ,

ince o f some t o hundred thousand inhabitants the ,

most populous for its area in the islands She is

, ,
.

o n e o f the queen cities o f the Philippines and her ,

c o mmercial relations are with all the towns her neighbors ,

o n o u r seas and beyond The center of the trade of

w
.

t hat part o f Luzon before she lost her suburbs n o ,

made into townships she numbered forty thousand

,

so uls .

E ven in the Spanish days this proud city had her

e piscopal resi dence her criminal supreme court and
w
, ,

as the military center of the north N ot only is this .

p opulous province thrifty within its borders but it

w
,

h as o v er fl o e d its boundaries and the I locanos have

g one into the provinces o f I sabela Cagayan and Pan , ,

g as in an and N ueva E cij a increasing their population

,
“
about half by this people called the Ya n kees of the
1 68
 V I C EN T E S I N S G ON EN C ARNA C I ON 1 69

Philippines Practically the entire trade

. of the prov
vince is in the hands of the natives .

The climate is cooler than Manila s and more ’

invigorating and the people are more active in temper

ament Vigan boasts also that she is the only city
.

in the islands where there are no nipa houses permitted

to be built within her resi dence and business limits
and all the homes are of cement or stone some of them
!

of very ambitious proportions There are even not .

a few examples of domestic and ecclesiastical ar chitec

ture of note in the place and the cathedral is quite
imposing in its restored state A college for boys and a
,
.

large girls school carried on by the French S isters are

also a pri de of the city and from Vigan came Father,

B urgos a famous writer and political reformer who

,

paid dearly in former days for hi s too great expression

of freedom From this province came the Lunas
.
,

the painter and his brother the general and today , ,

another son a man endowed with the sterling qualities

,

of industry and progressive activity Vicente Singson

w
,

y E ncarnaci on has given a n e prestige to the province

,

wh ich was his birthplace in 1 87 0 and which he devo ,

t ed ly loves O ne o f the p ious and industrious I locano

.

women was his mother and she was a person of for ,

those days unusual culture among her countrywomen

, .

Her studies included the higher branches and the most ,

refining and elevating of the humanities was her delight

w
,

i e philosophy which study as carried on in the

'

.
,
.

school of Vigan founded by the bishop of that province ,

now no more .

This philosophy stood the noble woman in good

stead when a widow with seven children she faced the
, , ,

problem of education for them with limited means ; ,

faced it and conqu ered it A nd to this mother the son .

today at that time but six years old pays the tribute
, ,

of fervent respect and she rises to the rank of so many

notable Filipinas women who have raised in the prov
,

in c es famous sons .
170 BUILDER S O F A N A T IO N
This mother was a great reader and her sturdy
and virile intellect passed as an inheritance to her chil
dren three only o f whom are living
,
.

The father whose early death left the family to

,

be largely molded by the mother was a merchant and

w
,

from him the man h o takes his recreation from the

law his profession in business doubtless inherited
, , ,

the passion fo r enterprise whi ch has meant in his case , ,

work and plenty o f it .

Vicente Sin g son s first initiation into the mysteries

’

o f scholarship was made in a local school o f a certain

Father E nriquez del R osari o up to the age of six when

, , ,

as was and is so much the custom in the provinces ,

he was sent to the capital and put under the care Of the
Jesuits in the famous school then called the A teneo
, ,

Municipal attaining there the degree of A B after

, . .
,

six years o f study in 1 894 A fterward he studied

, .

philosophy and law in the U niversity of Santo Tomas

o f the D ominican O rder and in the law school of the

Li ceo de Manila an d in A pril of 1 90 1 was authori zed

,

by the supreme court of the islands to practice law .

I n September of the same year he was appointed pro

vi n ci al fiscal of his province and later o n of I locos Sur
, ,

and A bra H e filled the position until 1 907 when he

.

tendered his resignation and came up to M anila as a

member of the A ssembly Commissioner Sin gs on s .
'
’

political life h as been a most strenuous on e and its

w
,

history has been bound up in that o f one of the t o

leading politi cal parties of the islands i e the Pro ,
. .

s t a party
g r es i .

This party the rival party of the N acionalista

, ,

was founded in 1 90 0 by the leading statesman o f the

Filipi nos and o n e of its most eminent scholars a member ,

o f th e A cademy o f M adrid too Pardo de Tavera ,

.

The role of the N acionalistas today is a foremost

on e and somewhat for the moment overshadows the

other party but we must not forget the past in making

,

up o u r j udgments of men nor o f parties ,

.
172 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
The di fference between these two parties is not
a radical o n e and consists in that the N acionalistas
wish to force an issue and the Progressistas want to
“
wait for a step by step policy to prepare the way ; but ,

both are agreed o n ultimate independence Strangely .

they have been a minority in the A ssembly from

the start but they have made up in force what th ey
lacked in numbers Such men as Governor Soriano
.

o f Surigao Fiscal A ngel R oco of N egros and Salvador

,

Laguda the leading lawyer of N egros and Carlos

, ,

Ledesma o n e o f the foremost in his profession in Manila

, ,

Lopez Vito and other j urists o f I loilo Governor Zan ,

dueta of U nion are all men of notable talent and attain

,

ments .

These men forming a strong minority do not

, ,

need to blush at the results of their legislation O ne .

must not imagine that these parties have been at war

in the A ssembly Whoever was present on the
w
.

notable occasion when the commissioners n o serving

took their oath and heard the Speaker s stirring appeal ’

for perfect harmony knew that the desire was a real

m
,

on e . The most manly despedida of the then A ssem

b ly an Singson the leader o f the minority left with
, ,

his hearers the feeling that it was but the noble echo
o f the same desire Country first foremost and always
.
, ,

with personality subordinate to the same has been the ,

watchword of both parties .

A s a legislator Commissio n er Singson has had the

r OIe o f reorganizer of the j udiciary system o f the Phil

ippi n e s and he hopes that this long labor will one day

become a la w
A s an assemblyman also he has con
.

s ecr at e d much work to the reorganization of the rights ,

powers and practi cal prerogatives of the j ustices o f the

peace throughout the islands and their distribution
through the di fferent distri cts as well This has been .

incorporated in law He has taken a part in the draw

.

ing up and in the pushing of the appropriation bills .

He was during his uninterrupted term o f five years ,

being o n e of only seven the Speaker among this magic

,
 V I C EN T E S IN G S ON EN C ARNA C ION 173

number to be returned three times to his seat on an v

, ,
m
committees such as the j udiciary ways and means
, , ,

revision of laws elections education archives and

, , ,

municipal and provincial a ffairs .

This continued service as a legislator for five years

has given Sr Singson a command of legislative matters
.

quite unusual O n the floor and in debate he is k nown

.
,

as direct logical clear and very earnest His con

, ,
.

vi cti o n s are deep and he se ts them forth with great

,

simplicity and his oratory is n ot flowery nor over ornate .

He commands his hearers by the right point of view

more than by style and wins by an exceeding friend
,

lin es s which is most genuine and a marked camaraderie

whi ch are amo n g his most attractive qualit ies He .

is cool and unimpassioned also and decidedly fair and

most markedly calm in his polemics He took the .

Opposition on the divorce bill for the present but he ,

also looks into the future as do all statesmanlike minds

, ,

when it may become practical for his countrymen and

women ! A s assemblyman he was one of seven members
who asked for a Filipino Senate from Congress of the
U nited States whi ch should bear to the Governor Gen
eral the same relation and power as the Senate at Wash
in g to n to the President I n 1 909 1 9 1 0 A ssemblyman
.
-

Singson presented a resolution to the representatives

of the Progresista party throughout the islands gathered
in Manila asking from Congress the definition of the
political status of the Philippines and the intention o f
the people of the U nited States towards the islands He
'

wrote also to each member of the House and Senate

and to the leading newspape rs and universities o f A mer
ica in regard to this all vital question D uring his
w
.

sitting in the A ssembly Senor Singson as the leader

of sixteen or seventeen members of the minority and
his j udgment dominated their councils very largely
and very often The A ssembly h as but eighty members
w
.
,

divided between the t o parties with about twenty fiv e

,
-

independents .
174 BUILDER S O F A NA T ION
w
His la career has not until n o been entirely ,
w ,

suspended Strongly built and of robust health his

.
,

recreation is business and he has been during late years , ,

the president of the Luzon Gold Mining Company ,

vice president of the I nsular Life A ssurance Company

-
,

one of the directors o f the Hemp Manufacturing Com

pany which represents a considerable capital invested
,

in his country s industries and an intimate interest

’

in the same whi ch is far more than theoretical and ,

second vice president of the Philippine B ar A ssociation

-
.

D uring his residence in I locos Sur before he was ,

made fiscal of the province and after his term he was ,

engaged in the sugar and maguey industry and other

practical industries as well as in agricultural pursuits
,

o f other kinds .

This side of his life as a tiller of soil brought him

into actual touch with the economic needs of his land
and developed both his knowledge as in no other way ,

possible and his manliness I t makes him an all round

,
.
-

legislator as nothing else could and an enthusiasti c ,

supporter of commercial ventures likely to benefit

the Philippines .

A s a member society Commissioner Singson

of

has singular qualities of charm He is sociab le pre .

,

eminently a club man as well a member of the Phil

, ,

ippi ne Columbian A ssociation Club Filipino A uto , ,

mobile Club ( he is passionately devoted to this latest

,

engoument of the well to do ) B illiards are his indoor

-
.

recreation and hunting hi s outdoor S e nor Singson has .

been a great reader along his chosen profession ; naturally ,

and yet not confined to it his intellectual pastime has ,

been like his mother s i e philosophy and dipping

’
. .
,

into its translucent pool which washes away much

of the misery and littleness o f life has lifted him into
still loftier regions than those o f politics !
He wisely also gave up bachelorhood two years
ago and Lucila D iaz Conde became Se nora Singson and
w
,

from thi s marriage he h as on his highest title which ,

176 BUILDER S OF A N A T ION
Spain and Germany returning by the Suez R ome
,
.

was naturally the city whi ch as a Catholic trained ,

in the Latin traditions would please him best and as a

,

lawyer have most in its past to command his respect ,

but for the regard for perso n al rights he most admired ,

E ngland and for its power to interest both the mind

,

and taste Paris , .

His idea for his country is this : To give her a

right to live her independent life like other nations for
w
her o n welfare and for that of the Malay race I .

do not consider that it is necessary that she be devel

oped first to this end economicall y but politically and , ,

s h e must then work o u t her education and industries

w
along the lines o f her o n character and traditions .

I have striven to educate the masses for years in these

political matters which shall make them competent
t o hold a rational opinion of their own and also as rapidly ,

as possible be able to vote intelligently I approve

,
.

most certainly of the introduction of foreign capital

fo r the establishment of banks and railroads and u p
t o date indu stries
-
The deepest wish o f my heart
.

i s for the national life of my country .

Commissioner Singson represents the statesman

of the hour most perfectly — practical optimistic pro , ,

g re ss i
ve,
and an untiring worker A man who does .

not waste words nor work so n ot opportunities His

m
.
,

creed like his nature is a simple one based on the best

, , ,

traditions o f life namely : to do one s best without

,
’

any blowing Of tru pets and as was said before h is

, , ,

greatest charm lies in a certain boyishness which is ,

the most delightful of all qualities in a serious man .

 Some years ago at the christening of the little child
,

of a Manila j urist I noted particularly the man who

m
,

took the responsible position of padrino There was

’
.

so much or e th an a perfunctory interest in his atti

tude ; it was that of a man of feeling a paternal man ,

and on coming out I heard the name pronounced :

“
Villamor.
”
Wa lking up the steps of the A yuntamiento ,

years later when the mother of R izal lay in state the ,

same man saluted me and in a few words showed that

he felt the dignity and pathos of that h o ur equally
and again made manifest that unmistakable friend
lin ess called brotherly .

There are men who as one has said make it

, ,
”
easy for their biographer and such is and must ever
be the subj ect o f this sketch E ndowed with an in
w
.

tellect of the first order with other qualities

,
hich
make for success (for intellect alone is not enough )
there is something in this character which is perhaps
a complete résumé of the qualities of the oriental of
modern days : the cultured matured man of affairs
,

who has risen from step to step bearing great burdens ,

in unobtrusive power and capacity and today assuming

still greater with an ease which is not in the least boast
ful nor self seeking but on e who can laugh at criticism
,

in healthy amusement enj oying the distrust of his

,

ability quite as much as the trust and s o proving him

self after all worthy of the latter A rounded out
, , .

personality shows in the slightest touch with the man ,

for he has been what educates more than any pr o

fess ion — a teacher .

I n a home in a back street in a practical district

of Quiapo among factories and sawmills those of some
, ,

of ou r most worthy knights of industry where the ,

smoke of tall chimneys floats across the sunshine and

their black bars cross the moonlight bringing the u eal
gg
178 BUILDER S O F A NA T ION
world down to the real ; in an Old fashioned home which ,

is a home cosy and comfortable and has the atmosphere

,

in j ust the right proportions of the outside world and

“ “ ”
the shut in where a senora encantadora receives
w
,

you with a gentle smile the master ith the warmth

, ,

o f a Filipino when he admits you into his intimacy ,

makes you forget all the chill of the outside or the far ,

awayness o f the foreigner You are at liberty to wander

.

about the house at will —truest hospitality — and some

way you feel that the center of the life lies in the library
w
.

There are t o of these ; in the one upstairs the distin

gui s h e d law maker can rest and read until twelve at

night as h as been his cus tom for years for when not
, ,

worki n g on his O fficial business he is preparing hi s

lectures (of which he gives not a few during the year ) ,

o r o n e of those volumes which have made an epoch

in the j udicial world of these islands and you can study

the titles of enormous envelopes where this methodical
worker puts away his material for years before begin
ning his erudite studies of his scholarly treatises on law
matters O ne bears the now rather hackneyed nomen
.

”
clatu r e Slavery in the Philippines another R eports

m
,

on Criminology in the I slands ” “

M abini ” “
B lu
, ,

e n tr itt
”
etc
, etc O thers of these ample covers
.
,
.

contain orations delivered before schools and others

w
,

the lectures given to n e graduates and aspiring j uve

niles who are as sympathetic an audience to this
grave man of many thoughts as would be his peers
o f the courts o f Manila

A ll these depths are the wells where he draws the

refreshing brightness and brilliancy of some o f his e ff orts
as author or speaker and as such you are curious to
,

study them O ut on the table by the window you

.

can look at books of letters from distinguished men

preserved with that care whi ch is S O characteristic of
men of letters to whom other men s tastes suggestions ’
, ,

o r appreciation when they are men of talent are so

precious .
1 80 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
in pamphlet form ) and his address before the U ni
versity of the Philippines in A pril o f this year .

O ne on Filipinos que Se Han Hecho por sus Pro

“

pios E sfuerzos was given before the Liceo o f Manila

”

and has been widely read and much noted .

O f societies Se nor Villamor is a member in A merica , ,

o f the A cademy o f Political and Social Science and ,

N ational Geographical Society in Madrid of the R eal

,

A cademia de Legis laciOn y Jurisprudencia I n the .

Philippines o f the Philippine Geographical Society ,

the B ar A ssoci ation of Manila and the B ar A ssocia

tion of I locos Sur .

Material for a future book is being gathered in one

of these receptac l es before mentioned and j udging
by its bulk will prove as s ch olarly as the others and ,

as do the y represent the work of years

, .

The study downstairs contains as says its owner

w
, ,
”
my wealth and he as not content to show the some
,

dozen huge book cases filled with treasures but must ,

forsooth have unlocked drawers and hidden shelves

to bring out now a Catholi c encyclopedia of some
,

forty volumes and again a work o f German scholarship

in many tomes with richly illumined plates sho ing w
the development of manners through the centuries
of all climes and races with the changes and variety

o f dress of thousands o f years .

A s your host turns over lovingly the pages and

points out armor escutcheons ceramics and bronzes
, , ,

you are suspicious at once that the j urist h a s lost the

world an artist So On ck en s Historia U niversal

— .
“ ’ ”
,

the work of indefatigable diggers has served you to ,

reveal the tastes conceal them as he may o f the man

w
.
, ,

Solemn looking volumes on la reverting to the

days of the D ons tell o f laws centuries old customs ,

—
and j urisprudence of dead ages or ages fortunately
dead as you choose to put it La law old and new
,
. w , ,

in hundreds o f volumes in antique leather and new and

,

odorous calf s k in with names which mean a life s work

,
’

to the man beside you and are as dull of meaning to

 I G NA C IO V ILLA M O R 181

you as a Sanscrit root These are my haciendas

.

and fin cas says the j urist and in the voice there is

,

the unmistakable caress of the book lover who takes

his recreation upstairs when that little sparkling eyed -

son you catch a glimpse of romping through the open

door is fast asleep .

The teacher habit can never be outlived and the

clearest j oy o f such men o r women is after all as the , ,
“ ”
o ld Latins said in a nook with a book To many
w
.

there may be deeper j oys but to them fe so satis fy

,

ing Here there are volumes a trifle less august such

.
,

as those on sociology and as a relief to the light reader

many rich looking inviting books on Spanish literature
, ,

or still better of Spanish literature a distinction with ,

a di fference .

U pstairs again you slide and glide about on the

highly polished floors and watch figures of serene age
and the gentle swirl of the robes of the femi n ine
inmates as they greet you from time with a nod and a
smile and the youthful mother denies by her elasticity
her grown up son ; and presently you find yourself
seated at the table where there blends into a peace ful
whole that delicate hospitality of the E ast that has
charmed you a hundred times and the publi c man
becomes the host with that ease for which he is most
w
,
“
kno n ; for his friends say first and last of him U n
”
hombre de mucho mundo and he never gives the lie
( as s o many do alas ) to hi s friends praises
’
.
,

Sitting later by o n e of the windows in the twilight , ,

all his life story unfolded from his y outh in I locos

,

Sur in B angued A bra in that same province of Singson

, ,

and Paredes where Florencio Villamor and Wenceslao

B orbon watched over their boy j ust starting on the
great race of existence The mother and two brother s
.

and a sister are still li v ing and since 1 88 2 three visits

have been made to the town over which his f ather
w
,

as presidente and in whi ch he was a merchant lum

berman The executive secretary passed from his
.

early education from A bra to Vigan at 1 4 years Here .

1 82 BUILDER S O F A NA T ION
he studied fiv e years in the Seminario o f that city ,

one of his fellow students being Is ab elo de los R eyes ,

and another Judge N epomuceno From this school .

he pass e d to San Juan de Letran Manila to complete

'

, ,

his secondary education and there he received his degree

“ ”
of Profesor de Segunda E n s efi an z a .

While studying law in the U niversity of Sto Tomas .

he opened a private school where many young Fili

pinos notable today were educated among them D iok n o ,

and D r Velarde He then practiced law two years

. .

and continued in his profession as professor until the

A merican occupation Shortly after the declaration
.

of peace he founded with Senor M endiola the well

, ,

k nown teacher head of the I nstituto de B urgos the

, ,

Liceo de Manila .

In he was appointed the prosecuting at torney

1 90 0
for Pangasinan Six months after when the corps of
.

j usti ces was organized June 1 9 0 1 he was appointed

, ,

j udge of 1 s t I n stance of the sixth district whi ch includes ,

the provinces of Cavite Laguna and Tayabas I n ,

.

June 1 9 0 8 he was appointed attorney general to suc

, ,

cee d Se nor Ar an e ta when the latter was made secre

,

tary of finance and j usti ce This position he has held

.

f or the past five years up to this year when he has been

made executive secretary As a lesson to the present
.

disappointed salary seekers it may be well to note that

the man who has been in publi c Office for 1 3 years has
only risen slowly from the first P 4 000 per year to the
present B 1 2 000 .

The office of executive secretary is one that is

peculiar to this country and may be compared to that
o f secretary of state in some others ; it is in i ntimate

relation with the chief executive as it executes his ,

orders and it has many specified powers A s one slight .

item of its work one may note that all the provincia l
treasurers are under this bureau and it is the final power
to which the rebellious taxpayer may appeal and the
secretary is appointed by the Governor G eneral con ,
1 84 BUILDER S O F A NA T IO N
an orator and author The master l y way in w hich
.

he can cite authorities and amass f acts can be found

“
i n a pamphlet in which he answered the question : Had
the Governor Genera l the power to order the expulsion

cum
o f said persons of Chinese nationality under such cir

s tan ce s as a f oresai d ?
”
Something of the thorough
ness of the former A ttorney General s work can be
-
’

s een in this same pamphlet ,

when you consi der the
number of the authorities consulted which are about,

hal f a hundred and from almost as many countries

as men !
Many of these statesman l ike documents have
-

been prepared only f or the eye of those in high places

and their value as monuments o f research can be seen
even a fter the occasions which gave rise to them have
passed away forever Thoroughness however has not
.
, ,

made this keen brained and sunny hearted reader of

- -

events either obscure or ponderou s H e has the true

.

lawyer s instinct to go to the point with clearness

’
,

obliterating the superfluous and the unnecessary His

m
.

quickness of app rehension has been an enormous asset

and one which must be doubly powerful in the present
Opportunity for treating a still wider and more co
prehensive class of subj ects .

A kindly approachableness which disarms criticism

an d a warmth o f manner which invites confidence have
won him a host of friends o f all ranks O ne of those
w
.

types o f men he has dra n to him ( and this is rarer

than people think ) are the newspaper men whose ,

opinion taken as a whole is most often a very j ust on e

and a most embracing o n e o f the complete character
o f men and women ,
as it comes to study them with
as few a priori feelings or j udgments as any class of
,

c ritics
.

Se nor Villamor likes men of the press and they

( naturally ) reciprocate He appreciates their appre
.

ci o n and s o they respond all the more cordially and

ati
w hatever they may say of him the man is liked He .

f rom the inside being a writer himsel f enj oys even

, ,
 I G NA C IO V ILLA M O R 1 85

their sweeping statements (which amuse hi ) and

bears them no malice even when they are f ar from j ust
m .
,

He is a fair man and like all such is exceedingly indulgent

of lack of knowledge in others He is a deep t h inker
w
.

and yet can put up with the superficial as very fe can ,

who are such for he is blessed with that saving quality

,

r —
in occidental o oriental a sense of humor .

A s a conversationalist he is admirable and while

perhaps not as profound as A rellano or as scholarly
as D e los Santos he has a vividness a tact a charm , ,

and a playful humor which make that lost art live again .

Y ou can imagine anything o f this delight f ul and ready

talker but one : ie that he S hould ever be a bore H e
. . .

comprehends the listener ; therein lies his marvelous

gift and is there any gift more desirable in modern life ?
The taste f or music is his supreme on e as in the ,

case of s o many of his countrymen and it has j ust the

restfu l quality that the meditative nat ure of Se nor
Villamor desires when not at work His social li f e
,
.
,

that most congenial to him is the life o f the families

,

of his numerous friends not large functions so although

, ,

a polished man he has kept his heart through all official

,

routine and humdrumness ; and the man who has kept

his heart h as kept his sin cerity .

What do we note as the one quality which mark s

people as above others— the sine qua non of superiority ?
I s is not this : the ease with which they meet every
re l ation of life and surmount di ffi culties ? That the
position of the executive secretary of the Philippines
is filled by such a man you cou ly never question no ,

not even if you had only met him for the first time .
 Macario A driatico is the leading orator in Spanish
of his country and has been made a member o f the

R oyal A cademy o f Madrid for his brilliant use o f the

Castilian tongue .

Senor A driatico was born in Calapan the capital ,

of Mindoro March 1 0 1 8 69
, ,
.

Mindoro is an island of large extension the fourth

w
,

in Siz e in the islands ; it has fe inhabitants some ,

and as is true in Switzerland it is divided into two parts

, ,

as to language o n e half speaking Tagalog the other

,
-
,

B isayan I n natural products after Mindanao it is

.
, ,

the richest of the islands in mines forests and agri ,

culture .

Calapan has abou t people and while its citi ,

zens cannot boast of the high degree Of culture of Manila ,

perhaps many of them sooner have become distinguished

i n scholarship and have made their mark in their nation s ’

life as has the subj ect o f this sketch

,
.

I n the oratorical contest of this year Juan Luna , ,

a son of Mindoro bore off the first prize

,
.

The presi dent and secretary of the Philippine

Junior A ssembly o f the N ormal school of Manila comes
also from Calapan O ne of the most brilliant young
.

ladies o f the girls dormitory of the same school is also

, ,

from Mindoro Se norita Laura Mariano

,
.

History tells us that at the time of the coming

to these islands of Legaspi and U rdaneta the largest ,

towns in the Philippines were in Mindoro but that ,

as they resisted in the fiercest manner the invaders

they were put down by destruction and the leveling
o f their fortifications

m
.

This was chiefly so o n the western coast and as a ,

consequence of this the Moros of Mindanao constantly

invaded these coasts and took many prisoners from
ti t o time these raids causing the settlers along the
g é
,
1 88 BUILDER S O F A N A T I O N
The f ourth and fifth year of his student life were
at San Juan de Letran afterwards his law training was,

taken at Sto Tomas . .

Se nor A driatico also had a preparatory course

in medicine and in philosophy and letters He showed .

no especial bent he c laims in those days for any study

, ,
“ ”
finding them all hard at first and easy at last but , ,

his dominant talent as is so often the case unconsciously

, ,

was leading him to his career so he made literat u re ,

the first of his studies .

I n Spanish times it permitted Filipinos w

as not
to form literary societies or found newspapers but , ,

o n this very ac count Se nor A driatico who liked to ,

carry out his i deas even when there was some opposi
tion formed a secret society o f more than f orty members
,

called The A cademy of Spanish language and litera

“

ture . A mo ng these men (on e can now lift their incog

nito ) were Commissioner I lustre E pifanio Santos y ,

Cristobal Judge Paredes Lorenzo F en oy D ionisio

, , ,

Mapa Fernando Guerrero Juan Medina and many

w
, ,

others h o will be spared publicity

,
A fter two years .

they were obliged to give up this society o n account

o f the fact that they were watched and denounced

m
.

They did the next best thing i e f ounded a ,

. .
,

manuscript paper which they passed from member to

,

me ber and in it they continued their literary wor k

,

until the R evolution When peace was signed these.

,

same men became editors an d many of them became ,

literary men o f the new era .

S enor A driati co was admitte d to the bar

In 1 90 1
at the same time as Palma Singson Ledesma Sumu , , ,

long and others .

He ha s been as well the editor of the following

papers E l D iario de Filipinas and the I ndependencia
,
” “ ”
,

and has been a constant contributor to reviews and

leading dailies for the past fifteen years and has
w
,

continued his practice of la as well as the career of

a public man .
 M A C A RI O AD RIA TI C O 1 89

His most conspicuous literary articles have been

in D omus aurea a critique on Moder nism in the
“ ”
,
”
,
“ ” “ ”
R enacimiento a polemic on the E ternal femi nine ,

“ ” “
i n Cultura Filipina historical studies on Pub li c
” “ ”
instruction besides articles on S cientific liberty
w
, ,
“ ”
The probable invasion of Japan and one on K ala s ’

“ ”
book : Teorias constitucionales These are among some
.

o f the more recent literary outputs from his pen .

“ ”
He is a member of the Veteran association for
w
,
“
he was a colonel in the ar ; a member of the university
”
of the Philippines extension movement and of the
“
N acionalista club but apart from this he does not
”
,

go into club life but takes his recreation in his home

,

with his delightful family of b eautiful children and wife .

To day he is president of the committee o n appro

pr iati on s ,and various other committees and has had ,

a part in the reorganization o f the various bureaus ,

m
as he has had for years in most of the bills of the
Asse b lv in which he has represented alone his vast
island since the first session of that body until n o w .

He has had a part in modernizing certai n financia l

customs and usages known as D ocumentos negocia
“

”
bles which is n o a la w w A nother Of his specialties
.

has been in remodeling the municipal laws of Manila

and the reforming of laws relating to his own island H e .

has made speeches whose eloquence has reached even to

Spain and won for him academic laurels there such as
“
that upon the Libel la w
” “
Compulsory I nstruction
,
”
,
“
D ivorce and Capital punishment
”
,
“ ”
Hi s funeral
orations delivered over a fallen companion in civi c
w
,

struggle have on him fame but perhaps his most

, ,

signal triumph was that at the time of the cigar strikers ,

when some ten thousand men were brought to terms by

his speech at the Grand O pera House
“ ”
I t as on e of
. w
the finest forensi c e fforts of the last decade in the islands
and the modest bearing of the man who refused to be
w
,

even thanked by the heads of the firm afterwards as

:

o n e o f the marks of his manliness and the reasons for his

hold upon the masses .

1 90 BUILDER S O F A NA T IO N
A s a thinker Senor A driatico is Optimistic and has
faith in human progress along scientific lines especially ,

and believes in an ideal whi ch is in unison with the

revelations o f science His chief delight in reading
.

is and has been chiefly in the philosophy Of history

, ,

and the economi c sciences F or h is country he hopes

.

the greatest things in the future through the enlighten

,

ment which follows on public instruction and the inter

course with intelligent men and nations all working
for mutual benefit
w
.

B rilliance and balance t o qualities not always found

,

united in o n e character may be said to characteriz e

,

this man who stands actually as perhaps the foremost

,

figure of the national legislature at least second to

,

none .
 BUILDER S O F A N A T ION
on e who has served his country in a publi c capacity
f or many years and who has as truly a sympatheti c
touch with those in power both A mericans and Fili ,

pinos— Moni co M ercado .

Se nor Mercado was born in Sexmoan Pampanga , ,

i n 1 8 7 5 His father was an agriculturist owning land

.
,

to the extent of some fiv e thousand acres Senor Mercado .

was very friendly in Spanish days with the authorities

and was g ob ern ad or cillo of his town O ne of his close .

friends was General R ios D uring the revolutionary

w
.

period he as elected presidente of the same town and

had as his friend and guest General A guinaldo who
visited him in the home where abounded the most lavish
hospitality I n this same home were from time to tim e
.
, ,

other guests Governor Smith in 1 9 08 and later Governor

, ,

Forbes and Vice Governor Gilbert The prestige of

-
.

being of one of the best known and most highly esteemed

f amilies in the provinces whose members are widely ,

f amous for their hospitality and charity has been of ,

no little help to this so kindly scion who has inherited ,

their intense fidelity and race traditions with their devo

tion to the chu rch His maternal grandfather how
.
,

ever was from Manila a del R osario s o Se nor M ercado

, , ,

has roots as well in the capital where he has spent more ,

than half his life .

E ducated first in private schools in San Fernando ,

Pampanga he passed to Manila where he entered San

,

Juan de Letran and from there to Sto Tomas receiving .

,

the degree of AB in 89 and that Of professor o f second

.

ary instruction in 9 1 and his law degree LL M in 9 6

’
,
. .
,
.

D uring the revolutionary period he returned to his native

”
town and in 9 9 was chosen delegado de j usticia of
,
’
,

the local government of Sexmoan whi ch position he ,

held at the time of the A merican oc cupation and

w
,

he also as attached to the headquarters of the rev olu

ti o n ary forces with G en Tomas M as car d o commanding
.
,

general o f the provi n ce A t the time of the r eorgan i

.

z ation of municipalities during the E mpire D ays

“ ”
,

he was appointed attorney at law for the same govern

 M ONI C O M ER C A DO 1 93

ment and during that time he contributed h is influence

,

towards helping the U nited States authorities in pacify

ing the southern part of his province I n 1 9 0 1 he was .

appointed clerk of the court of l s t I nstance of Pampanga ,

until D ecember of that year when he ran for governor

,

and was elected by a plurality but not a maj ority and

,

his election was not confirmed by Governor Genera l

. w
Wright He as then but twenty six years old ! He -

at once began a business career of a lumberman which

he car rie d on until 1 903 .

I n 1 9 00 Senor Mercado was married to Senorita

Tomasa Lorenzo from Mexico Pampanga a rarely
, , ,

lovely woman the belle of her town as well a member

, ,

of one of the best families of that region This able .

woman was of the greatest assistance to her husband

in all his publi c career and he says : I am one of those
“

men who attribute their success in life largely to their

”
wives. This mother of eight children died in 1 9 1 2 .

I n 1 903 Senor Mercado moved to Manila to become

w
a partner in the la firm of Palma Gerona and Mercado , ,

until 1 9 06 in which year he returned to Pampan ga

,

there engaging in the practice of la w .

,

I n 1 9 07 he was elected delegate of the First Phil

ippin e A ssembly and was reelected to the same body

in 1 90 9 These five years in the A ssembly were ones

.

in which he devoted the strength of his young manhood

to the service of his country They were years of work
.
,

as the records attest I n the First A ssembly h e was

.

chairman of the civil service committee member of the ,

committee o f ways and means committee of internal ,

government committee of land forests and mines

, , ,

committee on railroads and franchise and committee

of agriculture on which he so distinguished himself
that at the Second Assembly he was made its chairman
by Speaker O sme na .

D uring the First A ssembly he was made a member

also of —a committee created by Governor General Smith -

to report on the advisability of establishing a gover n

ment agricultural bank .
1 94 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
D uring the first legislature among several bills
which as a member Se nor Mercado introduced the most
w
m
, , ,

important as on e providing for the creation of a gov

en t agricultural bank and a bill providing for the

w
e rn

amendment o f the land registration la reducing the

w
fees paid by land o ners to the court of land registra
tion and providing for some other measures These .

were enacted as laws A nother bill he introduced was

.

one creating an agrarian council to promote the welfare

in the agricultural districts This bill was passed in the
.

lower house but did not receive due consideration from

,

the Commission He introduced also an item in a bill

.

for appropriation for publi c works provision for money ,

to be used in dredging rivers and constructing dykes

for the defence of towns and plantations against floods
and an item for drilling artesian well s .

I n the Second A ssembly Senor Mercado was a

member of the committee on ways and means railroads ,

and franchise internal government public instruction and

, ,

chairman for special committee for framing the irriga

tion la w
.Th is bill was also introduced by him as an
'

act providing for the use of public waters to irrigate

the land O n the first introduction of this bill s o much
.

Opposition was encountered because of failure to ,

understand its true import that it was n ot until the

,

second period of the Second A ssembly that it was passed .

This opposition existed in all parts of the A rchipelago

but on the closer investigation of the matter it as with w
drawn A mong secondary measures introduced by
.

Se nor Mercado with other members was on e for

w
, ,

household industries n o already in operation

,
.

B efore the close of the Second A ssembly was formed

w
the la firm of Mercado A driatico and T ir on a an d on
, ,

the close of the session Se nor Mercado resumed the

practice of law whi ch he h as carried on up to the present .

A t the expiration of his term as assemblyman ,

A cting Governor Gilbert o ff ered him a position as member

of the irrigation council and he accepted the position
on o n e condition : that inasmu ch as he had assisted in
1 96 BUILDER S O F A N A T ION
Se nor Mercado is not only be it said a practical
, ,

man but a very talented one intellectually speaking ,

E nglish and writing it fluently and is one of the gifted

,

poets o f his land Verses written under the influence

.

of the stirring emotions o f patriotic events o r personal

sorrows have come from his pen in the past and will
some day after his death be published They are of
, ,
.

a high order as art and show that sincerity of f eeling

and that glowing fervor for the good and the beautiful
which all who know the man admire Quiet and u n .

obtrusive in his intercourse with others yet highly ,

sympathetic he has won many o f the warmest friends

m
,

among men o f other nations and his genuine cosmo

p olitan is is all the more rare when you realize that
he has never traveled He is one of the cosmopoli
.

tans born A hero worshiper and an intense admirer of

.

what is great in all he has fortified his taste and strength

,

ened his intellect by reading and has sought the

friendship of the best and is one of those most esteemed
"

for his balanced j udgment and good heart among such

men .

Se nor Mercado has but lately prepared a memorial

and presented it to Governor General Harrison o n the
-

agricultural condition of the country of which he is ,

so qualified to speak He is also preparing a work

.

on the financial condition of his country which wil l

o n e day be published .
 E P IF A N IO D E LOS S A NT O S
Y CR IS T O B A L

O ut in the glorious dawn of the Philippines than ,

which none is more full of that breath Of something we

call Youth into the inspiriting guardianship of the hills
,

and plains you feel that prescience of the unusual for

, ,

N ature prepares you for any surprise and makes you

familiar with the heights .

N ot without cause has this prophetic feeling been

born for you are nearing Malolos that town which
, ,

means so much to the Filipino as there he rose to the ,

consciousness of his birthright and entered into that

universal struggle for place and power by which we recog
nize manhood I n a Gothic cathedral hardly but
.
, ,

rather one of those basilicas half submerged by war and

,
w
time you visit in R ome lo browed and massive before -

men dared to soar here is th e salle Of the j eu de paume

, ,

o r the Faneuil hall of this people where in 9 8 was ,

’

held the first congress of the R evolution the first ,

notable gathering of the Filipinos of that epoch to discuss

plans for a nation all their own .

This building bears the sanctity such places always

have a double sanctity for it is still used for worship and
, ,

besides history has touched it and written I

tality ”
.
“
or

A t a short distance stands the other now ruined

m
m
, ,

monuments of that time the convent where General ,

A guinaldo had his headquarters and the house once the

home of Mabini with the vast and peaceful square
,

adorned with a bust of Pilar .

B arasoain Malolos are names to conj ure with for

, ,

the historian and what elation to think that the man

,

who points these places out to y ou who reads the runic

w
,

stones of the Past ith the passion of a lover and the

intellect foremost in its line of the land he honors by
w
calling it his o n the incarnation o f the delicacy and
,

intuiti ve genius of his race is no other than D e los Santos

,

Cristobal the first of the sons of the P h ilippines to be

,

made a member of the R oyal A cademy of M ad ri in

lg d
1 98 BUILDER S O F A NA T ION
these days known in E urope as the ile ad in g ph ilolo gts
,

and writer on matters biographical and histori c of his

country .

R ead in choice Castilian the some thirty pages

dedicated to him and his work by Wenceslao E R etana .
,

the Spanish scholar and you will find in his resume of

mm
m
,

this master s works that he placed him both as historian

’

“ ”
and philologist s u a cum laude
,
in his land and ,

o f his people tod a y

He with that sensitive modesty whi ch is par excel
,

lence oriental disclaims all this exalting before him

, , ,
“ ”
self as filipin is ta other names but in point of view of ,

real scholarship after R i zal he will be obliged to accept

,

the place which the learned of his contemporaries have

given him in Germany and Spain the two countries ,

which are the most sympatheti c to him as their work is ,

most serious on the subj ects he loves best This pretty .

town of Malolos would make some charming vignettes

had one the brush or pen M ab in is house for example .
’
, ,

opposite the entrance to the transept of the grass covered -

church now even in ruins a noble wreck where the

, ,

devout people of this land still kneel under the vault of

heaven O ver this door is the statue of that other scholar
.

in his carved niche St A ugustine who seems to reassure

,
.
,

you that thought in the only commodity whic h resists

the tooth of Time This house of the first president of
.

the Philippines has a fine bit of stone work as a fou n d a

tion a door very richly sculptured with I onic pilasters
,

and two windows flanking each side which would not be

o u t o f place on the Grand Canal any more than this face ,

by your side would seem foreign at some turn of the

street in the town D ante loved with its sensitive fea ,

tures cut with the fine chisel the Creator uses when he
makes rare things and rare beings and that nose with ,

the slight ever so slight in his case tendency to sug

, , ,

gest the eagle which so many soaring personalities

,

possess and over all that aroma o f the quality we call

, ,

for want o f a better

“
thoroughbred B y the most subtle
w
.
,
”
trick of memory a friend s face los t a hile came ’
, .
,
2 00 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
The group of ladies who welcome you to this tem
po r ar y house (for the family mansion is at S I sidro .
,

where is kept his library ) might serve for models for

those delightful dames for whom Petrarch sang They .

welcomed us and stood in parting a graceful pi cture i n

this provincial house where the overflo ing Filipino
, w
hospitality and absence from any pose real oriental
—
,

grace— awaits you in this gentleman scholar the f ather -

,

Of many children and brother of a large family for he ,

laughingly says he fears not numbers as his philosophy ,

is that Of Spinoza and quoting Heine adds

, calming ,

P hilosophy for youth and a sustaini ng on e for Old age .

This country gentleman by choice was born in

M alabon in 1 8 7 1 o n the edge o f his country s capital
’
, , ,

j ust far enough away to hear its roar beating upon his
first consciousness but never then or since to engulf
,

him in its s u perficialities and crush him by its potential

ities into the commonplace mold of many a city bred man -
.

Ten years of the classics under the Jesuits those ,

makers of classical students where he entered at 9 years

,

o f age and seven years at Sto Tomas from whose eru

,
.

dition you must perforce come forth wise gave a basis ,

for a scholarship which is as brilliant as it is original ,

kept up amid the carping cares of Official position .

His f ather was Se nor E s colas t ico de los Santos .

The mother A ntonia Cristobal was a musician a

, , ,

fi ni shed player on that feminine instrume nt without

parallel the harp ; and she modeled the son on the lines of
,

harmony even as the father who was a passionate student

,

o f history guided him in his love of the universal drama

,

o f the race .

I n 1 893 when still a law student he began to

, ,

d irect his reading to the masterpieces of the Spanish

w riters and laid the foundation a markedly finished
s tyle . He became acquainted with E nglish and Germa n
an d French all in Spanish translations first and at the
,

e poch o f the R evolution started with Zulueta an , ,

“ ”
i ntimate friend who lived with him Libertad This
w w
.
,

famous paper as short lived as printed on the ,

 E P I F ANIO D E LO S S AN T O S Y C RI S T O B A L 201

machines of the A ugustinian friar at Malabon and was sup

pressed by the revolutionary party after one issue and
the machines transferred by the A guinaldo wing to
”
Cavite to use in publishing the Heraldo de la R evolucion
w
.
,

Then this would b e j ournalist as part e ditor under

- -
,

General Luna on a sheet which they wished to call

,
”
La Solidaridad but which was by discretion named
“
,

La I ndependencia I n A pril he was married and

”
.

moved to his father s native town of San I sidro where

’
, ,

in 1 9 00 he was made distri ct attorney and afterwards

provincial secretary He still resided in this place
.

when elected twi ce as governor of N ueva E cij a .

I n 1 904 he was on e of the honorary commission

sent to the St Lou is exhibition and from there he went
. .
,

with Pardo de Tavera to Paris and afterwards traveled , ,

alone through E nglan d Spain B elgium Holland ,Ger , , ,

many A ustria Switzerland and I taly He spent

, ,
.
,

during these travels most of his time in museums and

,

in great libraries hunting up in the latter works o n the

Philippines and began his collection of rare first e ditions
, ,
“ ”
which he quaintly names my sickness Many of these .

volumes he naturally procured in Spain where he formed ,

a delightful ac quaintanceship with Juan Valera the fore ,

most m a ster of Spanish style and leader in Spanish

culture as well as a profound student of modern literature
, .

O n his return Senor de los Santos was still governor

for about one year and in March 1 9 06 he moved to , ,

Malolos where he has been for seven years provincial

,

fiscal and has fortunately time in which to devote him

self to his chosen profession o f literature and is looking ,

forward to the moment when he can retir e to the country

and give all of h is attention to this work His country .

men wish him to be the historian of their land and

E uropean scholars desire him to devote himself entirely
to that investigation of the Tagalog language on whi ch ,

he has spent already some twenty years of arduous

toil His diction in Spanish is as limpid as a mountain
.

pool and as correct as a sentence in a school grammar ,

and best of all full of vitality

, , .
2 02 BUILDER S O F A N A T ION
I n an essay read before the de Manila Liceo ,

afterwards printed in book form as are most of his ,

entitled Sa ah an nang M an an agalog m

works by the R oyal A cademy printing press of Madrid
”
Senor Cris
tobal brings out as only he can the wonders and delica
,
,

cies of his mother tongue Tagalog noting its pecu , ,

liari ti es its r evolutionized orthography in which R izal

, ,

and Pardo de Tavera both had a share its strange ,

ficati
v er s i on its masters P Modesto de Castro in reli
, ,
.

gions prose with P Florentino R amirez and traces its

.
,

beauties to even anonymous sources noting the absence ,

o f mysticism and the presence of a tendency to purely

oriental modes of thought ith an occasional trace of

,
w
theosophy H e notices the several periods o f its
.

development : first the religious then the purely literary ,

represented by R izal and Pilar and lastly the actual ,

o r national when the birth o f ideals of liberty are mould

,

ing its pages This brilliant philologist can sum

w
.

marize in afe lines the work of years ; research carried

, ,

on often in the mountain choza of the outlaw ! He has

traced rare bits of v ers ification roots obsolete words , ,

which are the nuggets of gold to the scholar back among ,

the primitive people who transmit the language in its

early form .

The cost of these works who can estimate ? O ne ,

thousand rhymes alone many set to music by himself, ,

are the foundation by which he writes an article such ,

“ ”
as that for E l Mercantil o f this year when he told ,

o f the influence of the Spanish language in the islands ,

for he knows with absolute accuracy what is native ,

o r imported .

I n his essay on R etana and others we s ee his his ,

t ori cal acumen and these pages are mirrors of the great
“
Spaniard s work on the Philippines
’
Filipinos y Fili .

pi ni s t as is also a pamphlet of exhaustless knowledge

“ ”
o n the Tagalog speech and the essay on E milio J aci
n to ,

the organizer of the K atipunan shows the power of the ,

critic of whom he is first among his countrymen and

, ,

also of the ideals of that time I n Filipinos and Fili

“
.
2 04 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
and only when the spirit is stirred to the point of anguish
can it give the sweetest music .

Yet this man has s et h is soul to happiness that best ,

o f creeds for not until humanity has outlived the sin

,

and morbidness of the middle ages and learned the lesson

o f N ature which rej oices with a mighty voice every

day , will it rise to its birthright So he has chosen

m
.

wisely the motto Laetitia est hominis tr an s itis ad

maj or em p erfection e
O ne thing is needed and he possesses it the great ,

soul for that alone makes poets and poets Often write
,

in prose .

To be a worthy biographer o f Senor de los Santos

you would have to be his equal so that remains a thing
,

undone perhaps undoable but that admiration which

, ,

he feels fo r his countrymen — the best— others feel for

him and they have crowned him as a leader in the path
o f scholarship .

Fortunate indeed is any land who can boast of such

a literary leader profoundly devout highly cultivated and
, ,

endowed above his fellows with that gift the gods are
, ,

sparing o genius Such a figure is the subj ect Of this

f— .

sketch and as such he stands alone not in cold aloofness , ,

but in warm friendliness among Filipinos .

 FE R NA ND O M . GU E R R E R O

I n a recent number of E l Mercantil los ,

E pifanio de
Santos Cristobal who stands as a writer o f Castellano
,

in the Philippines with A driatico as a speaker o f the lan

guage of the gods gives a scholarly exposition of the
,

influence of Spanish poetry o n the writings of his native

land I t was on the occasion of the late festivals when
.

there are revived in Manila the j ousts of the Muse in

imitation of the Provencal poets and there comes to u s
,

a breath of the winged trouveres and troubadours those ,

most delightful of minstrels He shows that no influence

w
.

known to the mother country has been unkno n here :

influences which came to Spain sometimes by ay of w
France sometimes by way of I taly the Mother of
, ,

E urope and again from the land of the tawny N orse

,

man and his cousin the Saxon .

Music first last and always h as charmed the ear

, ,

of these singers of the South whose bright skies and

sunny plains welcome gaiety and gladness Trans .

planted to the E ast with her mysti c ch a

,
racter and her
occultism the plaintive strain has mingled with the
w
,

song but the deeper tragedy which e real nort herners

,

feel has hardly penetrated the rhythm A rt for art s .

’

sake is easily understood by these people and as the

w
years advance in the n e night of liberty we find a
growth in expression and in thought Perhaps th e .

best illustration of this is the poem of B ernabe whi ch ,

at once shows a decided advance in virility over the older

and more flowery models a stirring of a new manhood
,
.

“ ”
This poem won the prize of the Spanish J u e g os Florales
and is entitled Filipinas aE s pafia and is one of which
“ ”
,

the young poet and his countrymen may be proud .

The leading literary figure of his land today is the

subj ect of this sketch and his reputation does not alone
,

reach t h e hamlets of the land he loves and sings of but ,

has crossed to the A me ricas and Spain R ecently .

,

in Washington before an audie n ce o f the most (31I lti

,
2 ()s
2 06 B U ILDER S O F A N A T I ON
v at e drepresentatives o f Cuba Mexico and the Spanish ,

speaking residents o f the capital city at a reunion ,

known as The Spanish A merican A theneum Maximo

“
-
”
,

K alaw gave a lecture o n what he styled A N ational

“

”
Poet in which a great deal of thought in E nglish most
, ,

unusual for a foreigner is compressed He has traced

,
.

the poet in h is di ffering phases first as the young student , ,

fresh from his academic prizes singing his religious ,

poems Odes to the saints and verses to the Virigin Mary

, ,

an d on through the varying moods o f the man s develop

’

ment as with the extensive studies and fast moving

,

events of recent years he has seen larger horizons for his

land .

Senor Guerrero has what we may call a passionate

love of N ature and it is to her he most Often turns ,

rather than to human life for the inspiration How .

deeply he knows his land and her native beauty is seen

when you realize how often his lines are quoted and are
o n the lips of the young men and maidens for whom ,

he h as sung as well as graven in the memory o f their

,

elders He belongs let us be thankful to the rank o f

.
, ,

the artists who keep to the lofty and classical ideals

o f perfection in form perfection for which his rare
,

culture and rare delicacy o f temperament have inclined

him A s he towers above his countrymen in the depth
.

o f his feeling for beauty beauty and in his sense of life

,

its pathos and its ephemerality so in the form he uses , , ,

he is unapproached as yet .

Shelley would be most certainly his f avorite poet ,

were he born by the Thames and E dgar A llen Poe were , ,

he an A merican .

B audelaire has been called the Poet dandy and his -

same fineness of sense of life and that exquisite feeling ,

for the right form and the righ t thought in a word , ,

refinement is the distinguishing trait of Guerrero s art

,
’
,

along with a S pirit so genial that it seems to shed light

through even the most path etic of his lines .

Tha t the Philippines have such an artist at this

beginning of that larger life of the literature which is
2 08 BUILDER S O F A N A T I ON
I n the meantime history was being made faster
than education was acquired and when General A ntonio ,

La I ndependencia
” “
Luna founded his paper the young , ,

lawyer who was to be ever a j ournalist for so the Fates ,

had decreed was put on the sta ff of this first real Fili
,

pino paper in the islands This sta ff deserves to be .

mentioned for on it were such names as Commissioner

,

Palma s and his late poet brother s the famous poet

’ ’
,

Cecile A postol that of that master of prose de los Santos

, , ,

o f D o ctor Salvador Vivencio del R osario and of the dis ,

tin gu is h e d j udge Jose C A breu the editor in chief

,
.
,
- -

being General Luna .

A s this paper was transplanted to the provinces

w
during the ar it passed to Tarlac where the first Con ,

gress had its sitting to which the young writer was

,

named a member and also to Pampanga and to Panga

,

sinan . Se nor Guerrero thus began almost simul

t an e ou s ly his j ournalism and his public life He was .

na med at this time by General Luna auditor de “

guerra with the rank of captain He received another

, .

“
title also that of Secretary of the Higher o r Supreme
,
”
Court established by the temporary government
, .

O n Senor Guerrero s return to Manila in 1 900 ’

Pablo O campo called him to the staff o f a ewsheet

, ,

n
“
known as La Patria which was suppressed by the mili
,

tary authorities From this enforced vacation he passed

.

“ ”
to a paper known by the Frenchy title of Fraternidad ;
this to follow the rotati on of Henry the E ighth s ives
,
’
w ,

died a natural death and the next to which he succeeded

,

as city editor under Se nor Palma as editor in chie f

, ,
-

“
of E l R enacimiento which was in its turn suppressed
, ,

but not however while Se nor Guerrero was its editor in -

chief to which title he succeeded j ust before he was

,

elected to the first Filipino A ssembly a s representative

of the 3 r d district of Manila This paper had the largest .

circulation of any in the islands published in Spanish ,

reaching the respectable figures seven thousand Se nor .

Guerrero is today the editor in chief of a no less noted - -

daily La Vanguardia
,
.
 F ERNAND O M G UERRER O . 2 09

A s no literary career would be correct or complete

without teaching this poet is also a teacher and has had
,

the inspiring experience of imparting knowledge He .

has a class of private pupils who are studying under hi s

direction the rules and rhetoric of the Spanish language ;
and he is professor of forensi c oratory natural law and ,

literature in the Colegio de J u ris pru d en cia and has been ,

as well professor of the Greek language and general liter

,

“ ”
ature and Spanish rhetoric at the Liceo de Manila .

The literary life of Se nor Guerrero apart from the ,

j ournalistic and pedagogic forms a chapter and a very ,

extended one far beyond the limits of this sketch ; it

,

may be summed up in these meager details : From the

age of fifteen when he first began to write verses whi ch
, ,

were naturally from his training religious he h as gone

, ,

on until he has covered five forms or classes ; reli gious ,

love social political and descriptive verse

, , .

Hi
s first models were as is usual classical then , , ,

romantic such men as E spronceda and José Zanilla the

, ,

latter poet laureate of Spain ; afterwards he followed

Gaspar N in ez de A rce Then came the modern school .
,

with its nudities and often crudities but as a man of ,

keen insight and splendi d artistic talent he was not

“ ”
carried away but has chosen a sane idealism rather
, ,

than a debasing realism To quote his own words : .

“
I n N ature there are many defects and e rrors which
diminish the sum of beauty which is proper to artisti c
production and if one is realist purely and only repr e
,

sents what is seen by the human eye he becomes merely ,

a photographer and if he desires truth alone he must

m
, ,

paint the ugly often The duty of the artist to my mind

w
m
.

is to pu r ify N atu r e to r ap her in a gar en t of beau ty

w w
,

hich h is s ou l h as oven to cover h er d efor ities I deal .

ism must not on the contrary fall into chimerical absurd

, ,
‘
ities of fantasy for it too has its root and base in things
, , ,

as they are in life which is holy and sane ; so actually

'

,
’
,

realist and idealist are only di fferent in terms and

methods after all True and supreme art is that which
.
2 10 BUILDER S O F A NA T IO N
expresses the highest kind of beauty and is the most
”
perfect interpretation of aesthetic emotion .

A bout three volumes would be the output in the

press o f the numerous poems published by Fernando
G uerrero who like many great artists has been singu
, , ,

lar ly careless of his brain children leaving them to be ,

“
found often in the heart o f a friend ”
A mong one of .

“ ”
the sweetest is that entitled My Country pro duced ,

some fifteen years ago but still repeated o n many ,

o ccasions by his countrymen and women The o n e .

whi ch most paradoxically came with the most astounding

“
inspiration was entitled E l dolor de las cuartillas v ir
” “ ”
genes blank paper illust rating the pain of the poet
, ,

before the white page when with the mind full of music ,

and i deas the form has n ot come O n R izal this poet

,
.

has naturally written voluminously and more than

w
,

his o n fame he desires to a,

rouse the youth of his
land to the love o f their heroes and history and to the
imp ul se of creating a Filipino literature .

The first salary he earned was twenty pesos per

month as a tutor and when he had reached this dignity
, ,

his fat h er pr esented him with a watch Today his pen .

,

and word support him and the charming group of merry

c hildren who with their graceful mother gladden his
, ,

E rmita home .

His political ideas need no airing for the j ournalist ,

“
has spoken for his country for years : The Philippines
”
for the Filipinos first last and always ; but he is not a
, ,

politician merely a patriot and thinker passionately

,

loving his land feeling for her and singing f or her a

, ,

man of quiet tastes and retiring disposition bold i n ,

words but as delicate and unassuming in life as in

,

physique .

I t is a great deal to have read Fernando Guerrero ,

but to know him is better and to have won his friend ,

ship is o n e of the best things the Philippines can give

any foreigner for he combines so much that is best in
,

his race : its sensitive highbred feeling noble intuitions

, ,
 That we are a sea people however we may hug ,

the land is forced in on the consciou sness when ever the

,

yearly equinox buzzes about our ears o r whenever time ,

is allotted from the fierce fight of life o n land to wander

down among the shipping on the water front where a ,

life all its own whi ch involves thousands of lives and

‘

millio n s of capital is played I n the early morning the

,
.

ships as you go along by the wharfs seem to rise out

, ,
“ ”
of the rosy mist the white j ackies ready for war the
, ,

slim ocean greyhounds with pacific funnels the ships ,

of tonnage which carry the wealth of the earth and upon

whose coming and going are founded the nations of the

world and those argosies of wandering vessels whi ch
,

come at random and like the Flying D utchman seem , ,

to haunt the shores and magnetize the imagination .

There where life rises at full tide with the day

, ,

f ull of the vigor and boundless hope born only by the

“
sea and in youth ; there where men go down to the sea ,
”
in ships and do business in great waters are at this
w
,
“
moment t o gigantic weather beaten craft the Tong -
,

Yek and I sidoro Pons hauled up as a sailor would

” “ ”
'

say for the sewing of rents the fitting of plates or the

, , ,

scrapping of keels as the case may be until the rough

, ,

old fighters harried and lashed by the sea shall be trim

, ,

and j aunty enough for other voyages up in the strange

bays of stranger lands of the vast ocean which lies at ,

ou r doors and enwraps our home and life in its mighty

and eternal embrace A sea people yes and the men

.
, ,

o f whom this sketch is written are men who repair her

deeds which destroy and wear but after all rebuild

again and gives food and life and weal th as naught else
in N ature .

A sense of power compels you along the path

towards the old Chinese craft with its gaunt wounds you ,

think of the rent tarpauli n the strained cordage and ,

2 12
 TH E EARN S H A W BRO TH ER S 213

twisted irons as a part of the prowess of the sea and as

the rhythmic movement of the hammers and the o cca
si on al chaunt of the laborer reaches you of the sagas o f

o ld and the drama of the heroes and that something

primitive in ea ch breast is stirred to its depths and you

too chaunt .

“
B uild me straight worthy master staunch and stron g
, ,

a goodly vessel ,

That shall laugh at al l disaster and with wave an d

whirlwind wrestle .

I t takes men to man ships and men to sail them and ,

men you feel as you move along to the sound of the ham
,

mer to repair them O ver there at B arrow they build the

,
.

giant decks from which they sight the lands to capture

, ,

but h ere in the pacific islands of pacific waters we con

struct only commercial craft and the swift moving mes
s en g er s of commerce such as the Colu bia built by
this company for the A tlantic Gulf and Pacific Co
m ,

.
,

Here is the plant stretching over meters of

ground a tireless workshop of a manly industry Spread
,
.

about are buildings large and small in that regular con

, ,

fusion of all such places where the first thought is the

creation and the achievement of some useful or n e ces
sary article of the world of trade E verything is on a .

huge scale and the bigness has a kind of refreshing

strength even when it is clumsy
Here eight foremen and four hundred and fi fty
men grapple with iron bars and push steel plate cutting
, ,

with mammoth guillotines pipes as thic k as your finger

or bend plates as gracefully as you would fold paper .

I t is something you can s ee and handle and feel this ,

work no sham and the gigantic piston seems set to

,

that music of the stars the tune to which the world

turns as spins a top .

The captains of this industry and leaders of the

little army must be thorough mechanics who have
studied in the N avy Yard at Cavite or at Hong ,

kong at their docks

, Some go out in the bay
.

and tinker up the boats only slightly inj ured while ,

2 14 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
those in the slipway must be built from the bottom up .

A n engraved certificate given the firm by A dmiral

E n qu i
mw
s t notes the refitting o f the battle S hips Au r or a

Oleg and Le tphu g which floated ou t of the zone of

,

war and during t o months and a half were refitted

,

here to the entire satisfaction of this officer who wished

to return to R ussia without a mark of disgrace and he ,

sailed away as all remember thanks to the E arnshaw

, ,
“ ”
brothers as good as new in gala attire
,
.

D uring ou r war A merican transports were repaired

by them and launches and other vessels under bids made
by them in competition with other shops A t that time
w
.

Manuel E arnshaw n o resident commissioner at Wash

,

i n g ton was an active partner as he is the head o f the

, ,

firm today This firm stands first and oldest amon g

.

us in this solid work although other s are I n the lists

as John Wilson and the San N icolas I ron Works
w
.

B eg in ning ith the large cool o ffi ce we see hung

upon the walls 2 6 models in native woo ds of launches ,

o r tug boats which have been or can be built These

,
.

are the samples of to ton craft sho wn as you

would be shown a bit of lace or ribbon over a counter,
.

Some of the machinery out there in those noisy rooms

comes from Scotland and some from A merica and in ,

order to prepare for this work these brothers have had

to travel over the world to Hamburg and B remen and
,

B arrow and A merican shops The agents buy from

m
.

2 to 3 hundred thousand pesos of steel and iron plat e

and angle iron per year and adding to this the s u
,

of bolts and fittings this sum is raised to F 500 0 0 0

, ,

pesos for material alone

w
.

I n the quiet room s it the t o members o f the firm ,

in Manila Tomas and D aniel E arnshaw with their ,

secretary Se nor P rey s ler and some four draftsmen and

, , ,

stenographers and Se nor Gabriel Torres the estimator ,

of the big undertakings and clerks to make up the num

,

ber in all of fifteen .

A storeroom leads ou t of this Office where are in

reserve tons of bells bolts screws wheels propellers
, , , , ,
2 16 BUILDER S O F A NA T I O N
R ising by a flight of steps y ou reach the plane of
the cradle 4 60 feet long built of solid concrete consisting
w
,

of t o parts The engines or rather levers are two

.

large wheel serving as capstans o f enormous size over

-

m
which turn steel ropes 1 2 inches in diameter this for
id ab le wire drags the steamers from the water to a
height of 2 0 to 3 0 feet in as many minutes 1 0 minutes
,

only being needed to lower them into the water Cogs .

i n the form of small cars hold them in place while they

are being repaired The di ff erence between the dry
.

dock and a slipway is that in the dry dock the dock is

flushed with water and the ship is let in and then the
water is turned Off and the slipway has no water but is
a sort of wharf built as an inclined plane I n this slip .

way a high bridge is erected on o n e side whi ch admits

o f the workmen and crew reaching the steamer with

w
ease on a level ith the decks Here the vessels lie .

from two or three days to as many months depen ding

upon the work to be done They are at the very gate
.

of the waterways o f Manila in the inner basin marvel

,

ou s ly near the bay and the path to the outer ocean

w
.

This company has t o more slipways in Cavite fo r

lesser work These were founded in 1 9 0 2 while this
.
,

was opene d in 1 9 1 3 .

The restaurant a simple but well constructed mod

,

ern building stands at the entranc e to the compound

,

and here meals are furnished for the convenience of the

workmen and foremen and even for o flficer s of vessels .

Three di ff erent classes of meals are to be had the first ,

for 1 0 centavos of day laborers the second for 3 0 and

,

the foremen are served for 5 0 O fficers o f the ships

.

i n the slipway can have a mea l de luxe at 60 centavos .

There are some 3 0 0 or 3 5 0 who avai l themselves of

these repasts where the best of the market can be had
w
at so lo a price as to suit the finances o f all They .

are most prized by those who come from a distance

and would otherwise be obliged to eat cold lunches .

The power house is ornamented with stain glass windows

and is in its way well constructed and sightly placed ,
 TH E EARN S H A W BRO TH ER S 217

high up as it is above all A s you sit in the power

.

house you can overlook the restaurant building and

indeed the city beyond on the left while at your right
“
are the many sea craft which pass by to their haven
under the b ill ”
I t is a m ighty view and one as the
.

quiet gentle man who has helped to build it all suc

,

“ ”
cin ctly said might inspire you as indeed it did
, , .

O n the top of that p o er house is a good vantage

point for a retrospect to years when E arnshaw pér e was
an engineer in E ngland and then came ou t to these
islands to work for Spain who had to i mport her first
,

class engineers from other countries I n the N avy

w
.

Yard at Cavite this same father worked and as in

trusted with various useful offi ces for this same govern
“
ment with various titles such as director o f the naval
arsenal ”
Here in this same Cavite were born the t o w
w
.

eldest sons Manuel and Tomas the elder n o commis

, ,

on er at Washington in 1 8 62 and the second in 67 ’

si , , .

B oth brothers studied at the nautical sc hool at Cavite

and graduated from it and began their practi cal work
in th e shops of their father the first founded in the Phil
,

ippi n es in 1 87 0 Se nor Manuel the present co mmis

w
.
,

sio n er as made later in the eighties superintendent

w
m
, , ,

of port works and as also engineer of the mint both

, ,

appoint ents being of course given him by the Spanish

government His own business as enlarged under the
. w
title of Manuel E arnshaw Co Ltd in 1 909 and in 1 9 1 2
w
.
, , ,
.

“
was still more developed under the head of E arn s h a s
Slipways and E ngineering Co .

A ll three of the brothers Se nor D aniel coming out ,

from a thorough en gin er in g course in E ngland to j oin the

firm have been identified with the progressive movements
,

of modern Manila even outside of their large business .

While absolutely faithful to their daily discipline of toil

w
,

the t o younger brothers scarcely missing a day from

their Oflfice unless to go on a hunting excursion for r e
.

creation have found time from their obligations of an

,

exacting business involving over a million of capita l

2 18 BUILDER S O F A N A T ION
to enter very largely into the civi c life and into the club
life of the town The three brothers have had a passion
.

to excel in whatever they undertook and their record

w
in the club Tiro al B lanco ould show what they can do
as sportsmen where they have carried Off priz e after
prize Senor Tomas E arnshaw is a member of the Club
.

N acionalista Club Filipino Polo Club Club de los Mar

, , ,

tires Club Carambola They have each built up beau

,
.

tiful homes and Se nores Tomas and D anie l are ! blessed

with charming children .

Socially there are no more welcome figures than

they are among the di fferent groups which they freque n t ,

A merican Spanish and Filipino f or they are equally

, ,

at home in all made so not only for their cordial and

friendly tact but by their well known private charities
,
-
.

N ot on e of the brothers cares for publicity and their

wide travel and extensive intercourse with men of aff airs
of many lands has given them a v ery broadminded con
on o f life as well as has their business career which
c e pti , ,

has to do with big things They have been through .

E urope oft en and also A merica Japan and A ustralia

-
,

and R ussia Their chief pleasures outside of family

.

life or indeed included in it has been motoring and in

,

this they are experts as in any form of sport to which

they take a fancy .

When asked as to the probable future of their work

w
and its promise the question as met with a most assuring
Optimism that as long as the Pacific washe d the Phil
ippi n es there would be ships to sail her waters and some

one must build and repair them and as more ships are
sailing each month this way there is no need to fear f or
lack Of material for even the biggest brains to work upon .

The astonishin g every month development of agricu l

ture and of the natural resources of the islands is calling
f or home made machinery as well as imported and this
shop with others will have to meet the demand .
 GIL M ONTILLA

B orn on the first day Of September 1 8 7 6 in Hini , ,

garan O ccidental N egros Senor Montilla is a repre

, ,

s en tati
v e of that land of the sugar planter and sugar is
o n e of the principal products and largest sources o f
wealth of o u r islands .

This island of N egros belongs to the Visayan group ,

in the center of the Philippine archipelago I t is .

divided into two provinces called O ccidental and O riental

N egros O ne of its notable features is its volcani c
.

mountains chief of which is the maj esti c volcano Can

,

laon which rises far into the blue above s ea level

, .

Marvellous has been the development in the past

eighty years of the sugar plantations These haciendas .

have some o f them an area o f acres and this

represents a capital invested of some F 3 00 000 pesos , .

These plantations which resemble those of Cuba in

,

their size have modern machinery and most of the

,

modern appliances for preparing sugar for the market .

A bout pounds o f sugar are put out from

this island in on e year and there is a possibility of
duplicating this capacity This amounts in exports
.

to between ten to fifteen millions per year .

Se nor Montilla is a typical hacendero whose bearing

has not a little of the South A merican planter about
it that mingling of the ranchero and the gentleman
,

in the right proportion to form an unusually attractive

and forceful personality with a spice of the romantic
,

ou t of door life escapades and frequent encounters with

- - -

physical dangers which give men prompt decision ,

strong determination and bravery .

“ ”
He is to the manor born as his first hours were
,

spent in a hacienda of his father s in N egros called the

’
,
“
San A gustin hacienda ”
and at five months of age
w
,

he as taken to reside with his grandfather in B ago

ie hacienda Constantine and here he passed his
gg
on
z
 G IL M ON T ILLA 22 1

early years until 1 885 when he entered the Jesuit school

,

in Manila the A teneo Municipal for his first years

“
,
”
,

of training A fter the first year he returned to his

.

home and did not continue his studies for three years .

O n returning to school he continued his studies

uninterruptedly until he took his B A degree with

m
. .

brilliant marks in 1 896 at the same time with Senor ,

Corpus Luciano de la R osa Judge R o u ald ez and

, ,

Pedro Guevara O n finishing his course with the Jesuits

.

the young Montilla entered the U niversity of Sto Tomas .

to study law and after one year on account of the revo

, ,

lu tion
,
he returned to his province taking part as one ,

o f the chiefs of the movement commanding the forces

at that point and after one month o f fighting he surren

,

dered to th e Spanish troops Cazadores (light infantry ) ,

.

A bout one mo n th later General Smith took pos

session of the province in the name of the U nited States
and established soon after a Civil Government in which
prominent Filipinos took part such as Se nores Juan
"

Ar an eta An ecet o Lacson and Melario Severino

,
Local .

elections took place and Se nor Montilla was elected

as a representative in the municipal government of
B acolod in which position he continued for on e year
until the work in hand a new system of government
was inaugurated ; and during this time he also served
as teacher in the public school He was then chosen .

as chief of poli ce of B acolod a city of some the

w
,

capital of O ccidental N egros Succeeding this he as .

appointed deputy provincial treasurer after which ,

he became municipal treasurer of the town of I sabela :

in the same province and having finished the revision

,

of the finances of that town he was elected its president .

D uring his term of office he was successful in the cap

ture of one o f the most famous bandits of the entire
islands I n this capture he was assisted by an army
w
.

officer n o senior inspector of Samar Province and by

, ,

Senor R osado .

This f amous outlaw the head of a band of some ,

thirty fiv e more had held the country in a state of terror

-
,
 BUILDER S O F A N A T IO N
‘

222

for some twenty fiv e years and this masterly stroke

-

relieved the province at once of the greatest dread and

most serious menace to the agricultural progress O n .

o n e of their raids they bur n ed an entire town that of ,

K abankalan killing and torturing This Papa Y s io

w
.
,

an d hi s band are n o comfortably housed in B ilib id .

Se nor Montilla also devoted his time and energy

to the reorganization and introduct io n of improved
methods o f agriculture in the district .

A fter publi c service of four years he a gain retired

to his hacienda of San B onifacio which a s in part w
w
,

his little daughter s inheritance This child as by a

’
.

first marriage which took place in 1 904 and the mother ,

died soon after her birth .

As one o f the leaders o f the N acionalista Party

, w
he continued ho ever his interest in politics and entered
,

as a deputy the n ational legislature in 1 9 1 2 .

He has devoted his time to economi c and financial

questions which are now uppermost in this fast
,

advancing land .

He has been o n three special committees i e ; ,

. .

Public Works ” “
,
Metropolitan R elations and B anks
” “

and Corporations .

He is especially fond o f music and literature and is

also a hunter and horseback rider o n e of the most
enthusiastic and enj oys tennis as well With the pres
,
.

ent Se nora Montilla ( he was remarried i n 1 90 9 )

he lives in Ysabela that town of ,
inhabitants
whose president he has been O n his hacienda E n ri “
.

”
queta in the midst of a center of ri ch sugar planters he
finds most congenial society of men travelled and cul
t u r e d and here he passes his vacations from the arduous
legislative work of the three months of the year from
O ctober to February .

He is ardent by nature and throws his whole sou l

into the contest and believes in a glorious future for
his land — but wishes it under a protectorate of A mer
ica as o n e at least when Sh e is free for he is one o f
— —

those who most appreciate what A merica has done

for the Philippines .
2 24 BUILDER S O F A NA T ION
treasures collected by ripe scholars as elsewhere will be
gathered the Library o f the Philippines .

S cores of Filipino students are using the books ,

as well as A merican readers and it is said scarcely a , ,

day passes that a gift is not received from some one

of the religious orders or from some private source s o
, ,

vital a part of life has the library become .

A mong donations are that of Curtis o n the

N orth A merican I ndians given by Pierpont Morgan ”

and a Jewish encyclopedia donated by Mr Jacob

w
.
,

S chi ff of N ew York city N e so new it smells of the

,
.
,

press the latest fi ction is on the shelves and as eagerly

,

devoured here as elsewhere .

The purchase o f the R izal ms of N oli me tangere .

,

through the disinterested intervention o f Mr A ustin .

Craig of the bureau o f education was a r eal aubaine

“ ’

m
, , ,
”
and the R izal Library has with its touch of the hero s ,
’

ind upon it become a part of this structure of cul

,

ture to which in so many branches R izal gave his

, , ,

life H ere we see first many copies of the B ible in

.

Spanish twelve volumes in vellum of Cicero in Latin

, ,

Herder some twenty volumes in German D umas in his

, ,

long line in French and so on ; Tacitus Voltaire S hakes

, , ,

peare s prodigious progeny and rows o f scientifi c

’
,

books a little epitome of what the larger library will be

— .

The general history in outline of the A merican

Circulating Library is too well known by M an ilan s
w
to need to repeat I t as started in 1 900 by Mrs C R
. . . .

Greenleaf and ou t o f donations of money and books

from home and here the A merican Circulating Li
“

b r ar y o f Manila as born w
Mrs E gbert the first and . .
,

only librarian put the best energies of her life into it

,
.

I n 1 9 00 the A merican Circulating Library at first

, ,

a private association was transferred in trust first to the

,

military and later to the civil government .

I n 1 9 09 by virtue of A ct NO 1 9 3 5 the Philippine

, .
,

Library was created a term that was made to cover all

,

collections and books owned by the I nsular G overnment .

 TH E PH ILI PP INE LIBR A R Y 225

D r James A
. .editor of the B lain R obert
R obertson , c o- -

s o n series
“
The Philippine I slands was brought over ,

from the U nited States as the first librarian of the

new library I n the reorganization the A merican
.
,

Circulating Library became the nucleus of the Cir cu lat

ing D ivision created by the act under the name o f
Circulating D ivision (A merican Circulating Library ) .

Miss D wyer formerl y of the library of Congress was

, ,

appointed Chief of this division upon the resignation o f

Mrs E gbert Henc e the library is under the finest

m
. .

control that could be desired and the system and de

v elo p e n t has been corresponding to the culture of

those at its head Miss M cK ee who has been long

.
,

connected with the library is the chief cataloguer and , ,

as such occupies an extremely important position .

Mr Manuel A rtigas y Cuerva one of the best known

.
,

Of all Filipino j ournalists and the author Of many mono

graphs on Filipin omen and events is the chief of the Fili ,

pi nian a D ivision Mrs E O E lmer being connected

. . . .
,

with the A merican Circulating Library is in charge of the ,

Public D ocuments D ivision and Mr Salvador D onado ,

.
,

a bright young Filipino who has grown up in the library ,

is in charge o f the Periodical D ivision .

A mong the most striking treasures of the Circulating

D ivision (A merican Circulating Library) is the Missale
R omanum published at Madrid in 1 7 65
,
I ts binding .

has marvelously withstood the tooth of Time The fine .

red and black type is as clear today as the hour it came

from the press and the wood cut of angels adoring the
sacrament on the first page is as fine a work as that done
by any craftsman I n this volume are briefs and bulls of
.

popes followed by a calendar of saints general subj ect

, ,

matter Latin prayers and music ; Gregorian chants

, ,

written in ancient square notes A ll the initial letters .

are in red and important paragraph s in red also Thi s

w
.

book as the property of Mr James A Leroy former . .

,

private secretary to Commissioner Worcester and later

consul in D u r an ga Mexico The copper plates in t h i s
, .

book are exquisite .

226 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
A nother important work is an early edition of
“ ”
Humboldt s Cosmos ’
an early translation of the
,

scientist s work into E nglish

’
.

I t is the desire of the staff of the library to raise

the Filipiniana division until it contains the finest O rien !

talia in the O rient and to attract the best mentality of

the O rient to learn of the Past I t is a large i deal .
,

but who can doubt that it may be realiz ed ?

I n this division among the chief treasures is the
,

earliest important work the R elaci on de las I slas

“
,

Filipinas by the Jesuit father Pedro Chirino published

, ,

i n R ome in 1 604 This book gives an account of the

.

earliest mission work in the islands as well as much

other valuable history .

There is also here the famous Labor E vangelica

by the Jesuit fathers published in Madri d in 1 663
, .

I mportant books by the A ugustinians are The “

Conquistas de las I slas Filipinas by Father Gaspar de

”
,

San A gustin published at Madri d in 1 69 8 and the

, ,

Historia de Filipinas by Father Joaquin Martinez ,

de Zu niga published at the old barrio of Sampaloc

,

in 1 8 03 The title page of each o f the two volumes is

.

a marvel Of the bookmaker s art I n one a group Of ’

.

friars are stationed o n Opposite sides of a rude map ,

to which they are pointing while the rays of heaven ,

shine through the Sacred Heart held in the hand of ,

a mitred figure all symbolizing the conquest o f the

,

Philippines by church and state The print is ab so .

lu tely clear and the paper is not discolored The second .

volume that of Zu niga is one of the very best and

, ,

most impartial ever written o n these islands The great .

Franciscan history by Father Juan Francisco de San

A ntonio Ch ron icas de la A postolica provincia de
,
“

”
S Gregorio published at Sampaloc in the Franciscan
.
,

convent of N uestra Se nora de Loreto del Pueblo de

Sampaloc in the years 1 7 3 8 to 1 7 4 4 in three volumes , ,

while not in as absolutely perfect condition as the

other book has a wonderful freshness of appearance
,
.

The R ecoleto history written by Father Juan de l a

228 BUILDER S O F A N A T I ON
O ne exceptional treasure is the third volume o f

m
Siniba l do de Mas E stado de las I slas Filipinas en
“

published in 1 84 3 at Madrid The first t o . w

volu es of this work are common enough but onl y ,

fiv e Copies are known to be in existence o f the third

w
,

hich was published privately They were used only

w
.

by Spanish Officials and curiously enough e find a

recommendatio n to give the islan ds independence .

I n the A merican Circulating Library we have ,

pour la bonne bouche dainties indeed I ndiscreet

w
.
,
”
Letter s from Peki n g by Putnam Weale
,
hich h as ,

had the rare distinction o f some great books of havi n g

had pressure brought to bear to prevent the issua n ce
of a second edition I t tells in a stupendous and l urid
.

brillian cy a f ar more terrible tale on the threshold o f

the year 1 900 than the siege of Troy A wonder volume .

“ ”
Of H opkinson Smith s Venice of Today illustrated
’

w w
,

s o finely by his o n hand that o n e is dra n from the

text so fascinating are the illustrations and the n sent

, ,

bac k to the text s o enthralling is his fresh style

,
.

E gypt and its Monuments by Hichens il l us

”
, ,

trated by Guerin of superb workmanship is not f ar

, ,

behind and fi n er still is the work of the most warm

,

souled soaring of the moderns prince of poetry D ante

, , ,
”
Gabriel R ossetti with the poem The B lessed D amoze l
,
“

“
illuminated by plates The R oyalties of the World
.

in colors crowned heads in all their gala toggery wil l

w
, ,

be especially interesting j ust n o at the coronatio n

time These p l ates can be copied al so f or f ancy dress
.

i f the l overs of su ch things desire .

A mong books in series we have foremost the O rienta l

series : twelve illustrated volumes which ma k e alive
the riches of China and Japan ; R udyard K ipling in
the Scribner twelve volume edition making once ,

agai n to glow in beautiful type the stories of the wizard

of the E ast ; Shakespeare in the E versley edition Sloa n e s
’
,
“
N apoleon B onaparte and those handbooks of paint
”
,

ing published by George B ell gems which are l itt l e,

aesthetic delights .
 TH E PH ILI PP INE LIBR A R Y 229

A mong the old books which are dri f t wood of

literature and have each doubtless whole historie s o f

adventure behind them be f ore they are caught an d
catalogued in some library to the supreme annoy an ce
doubtless of their adventurous souls we have : O ld “
,

N ew York by D r Francis The Flush Time o f Al a

”
,
“
.
,
” “ ” “
bama ,
Pioneer Mothers of the West Life in the ,

Clearing versus the B ush A fter I cebergs with a

” “
,

Painter all in those sober quaker l ike bindings on e

”
, , ,

used to see on the shelves o f one s grandfather s book ’ ’

case and take down and return so promptly concluding

they were beyond on e but now on the contrary they
, , ,

are f ull of the spice of ye olden time The names of .

these old publishers have often passed out of the mar k et ,

so rapid is the rise and fall o f literary star s .

Most unique among these old timers is a P h oe c

ni xian a
”
commercially of value from its rarity an d
, ,

its sister by the same author whose title is a gem , ,

namely : The Sq u ib ob Papers sketches and burlesque ,

that open with a Fourth of July address which shou l d

make the author immortal as it is strangely enough , , ,

both witty and original This volume is dedicated.

to General M cClellan A nother tome dog cared and

.
,
-

decidedly the worse for wear looks as if it too had passed

,

through active service ; it bears the tit l e Life of Gen

“
.

”
Francis Marion and opens with the trenchant quota
“ ”
tion : 0 that mine enemy would write a book
w
, ,

rambling on in the quaintest of quaint prefaces H o .

times have changed from the grace and charm o f the

Old time Gentle R eader playfulness and f amiliarity
“

o f reader and author— commercialism and moder ni sm

have crushed that ou t long ago Here is a j our n a l .

of trave l of Lewis and Clarke to the Columbia R iver

in the year 1 804 with frontispieces of most imposing

,

looking gentlemen in astonishing waistcoats and high

stocks What romance o f real life is suggested by such
.

titles as D on B osco which gives the g limpse o f great

“ ”
,

personalities Cardinal Lavigerie and many saintly dead

,

all b ut p assed out o f mind Then there are tomes .

230 BUILDER S O F A NA T ION
of professor s essays in the correct leather bi n dings
’
,

those gentlemen always use to preserve their immorta l

works in ; and into this group of sedate dignitaries as ,

o f ten happens has obtruded the Famous Funny

“

w
,

Fellows by Clemens h ich h as a sketch of the Clemens

”

w
, ,

“
from which we extract this pearl Your o n ex pe ,

ri en ce may teach y o u but another man s can t I do ’ ’

.

not know anything for a person to do but j ust peg along

doing the thi n gs that o ffer and regretting them the
”
next day : it is my way and every body s which is ’
,
“
almost equal to Lincoln s Children do as w ell as you
’

can and you wi ll get along somehow I always have ”

,
.

Then of course the grey heads are here the dear ,

old fathers of literature : the classics and the world ,

books D on Quixote and B oileau !

,

Memoirs of the D uke de Sully another ob tru ,

”

sive libr ary author is here and a bit of ancient science

and courtesy Simpson s E uclid is delicious in its pom
,
’
,

pous dedication to the king Think of a first class .

scien tist today prefacing his world knowledge with

,

an obsequious dedication to a monarch !

The old magazines are mines of go l d worth hours
o f study and research human documents of priceless
“
,
”

value to the student of manners and of history : Godey s ’

Ladies B ook in which your grandmother got her sty l es

’

and much of her erudition ; and here marvel of marvels

w
, ,

e fin d the second number of Harper s Monthly ’

.

Whoever thought they could go far enough for that

into history ! A nd s o the delightful company gathers
from every corner of the wor l d some thirty thousand ,

of them an army o f dead shades and living spirits

,

for u s to know and they seem to court our attention

an d appreciation i f only for a moment
,
So we read .

the A utres temps autres moeurs and here in this

“ ”
,

delightful company the man and the book will meet

sometimes for pleasure an d some day f or destiny ,

for who can tell what part in the great deeds an d grea t
men books have played ?
 232 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
follo ing R etan as suggestion the com
In 1 895 , w ’
,

pany began the collection of manuscript docume n ts

o n the Philippines which were copied f rom origina l s ,

in the A rchivo de I ndias in Seville A fter 1 8 99 the .

,

choice o f the documents copied was left to R ev Pablo .

P as tells S J formerly rector of the A teneo i

, . n Manila .
,

a keen student in Philippine and South A merican mat

ters and who has spent considerable time in the Seville
,

archives I n all about. double folios were co l

le cted .

In the first large addition as made to the

1 900 , w
collection by the purchase of the R etana collection ,

then probably the best library of Filipiniana in exist

ence R etana had been an eager collector and both
.
,

in Spain and in the Philippines had had excellent op

po r tu n i
ties for co l lection He published a bibliography .

o f this in 1 8 9 8 which with the bibliographical work

, ,

o f Medina the Chilean scholar forms a valuable source

, ,

f or the study of the bibliography of the Philippine

I slands .

“
In published his well known cata
1 9 04 , Vi
n d ell -

logue of Filipiniana ( much of the work of which was

m
d one by R etana ) and the best pieces o f this were i
ediately bought b y the librarian of the company
,
m
,

S r José Sanchez for the Tabacalera collection

'

.
,
A bout .

this time the company decided to publish a catalogue

o f its library The compilation of this was given in
.

charge to Sr R etana who with ve ry great assistance

.
, ,

from the librarian Sr José Sanchez finished his wor k ,

.
,

and published in 1 90 6 a three volume catalogue under -

t h e title : A par ato bibliogra

fico d e la H istoria Gen er al
d e F ilipin as d ed u cid o d e la
m colecci B ar
’

on
qu e p osee en

c elon a la Co paf ua Gen er al d e Tabacos d e d i s las

chas i
’

This publication fo rms one of the best sources for the

’

s tudy o f the bibliography o f the Philippine I slands .

I t c ontains separate titles arranged chro n ologi cally ,

and has much valuable historical as well as bibliograph

.

i cal information .
 TH E PH ILI PP INE LIBRAR Y 233

The library was housed in the main o ffi ces of the

company one entire room being given over to this
,
.

A mong its books were various from such well known -

collections as those of So elesi R amirez D uke of A lba w , , ,

Fermin Caballero Marquis of Liedena Salva Heredi a , ,

-
,

E mperor Maximilian Sancho R ayon J F Medina , ,

. .
,

Cabezas de Herrera B arrantes General Terrero Tiscar , , , ,

Zapater and others The librarian had made a card

,
.

catalogue of the entire collection classifying roughly ,

by subj ects and using as symbols the letters A U

,
-
,

each letter representing one section of eight shelves ,

and being f ollowed by the number of the shelf and boo k .

The company with great generosity allowed free access

, ,

to its collection and many scholars have worked among,

its treasures E very book is bound many of them

.
,

sumptuously such well known binders as B oyer B ed

,
-
,

f ord Z ah n s d orf D urand Menard G in esta A rias

, , , , , ,

and H Miralles being represented

. .

“
Some few of the notable books of the collection
are the f ollowing : Tr an silv an u s Max imilianus : D e
M olu ccis I n s u lis Colo n i
ae 1 5 2 3 ; R a us i o G B :
D elle N avigation i et viaggi 3 vols Venetia 1 5 54 1 60 6
, ,

.
,

m ,
. .

, , , ,

1 565 ; Fernandez de O viedo G : H i s tor ia Gen er al d e ,

.

las I n dias Valladolid 1 5 5 7 ; A lvarez Francisco : H is

, , ,

toria d e las d e E thiopia, Carag o ca, 1 5 61 ; Capia

cos as

de d a d e S eu illa, B arcelona , 1 55 6 (the first

vn a car ta ven i

printed account of Legazpi s expedition and unique );

m
’

m
,

Gonzalez de Mendoza J : H is toria d e las cos as as ,

.

n otables , ritos cos tu br es d el gr an r ey n o d e la Ch in a,

y
R oma , 1 58 5 ( of this celebrated book over
di fferent ,
40
editions counting translations into Latin I talian
, , ,

French German D utch and E nglish have been

,

m
, , ,

printed 2 7 of which are contained in the collection );

,

A costa J H is toria n atu r al y or al d e las I n dias B ar

,

m
,

celona 1 59 1 ; Tello F : R elacion Sevilla 1 5 9 8 ; O rte

, , .
, ,

lius E pito e th eatri An tv erpiae 1 60 1 ; R ivadeneyra

, , , ,

M de : H is tor ia d e las is las d el y r ey n os d e la Gr an Chin a

.
, ,

etc B arcelona 1 60 1 ; R elation e br eve d el P D iego d e

.
, ,
.

Torr es R oma 1 60 3 ; Chirino Pedro : R elacion d e las

, , ,
2 34 BUILDER S O F A NA T IO N
I s las F ilipin as , R oma , 1 604 ; R elacion d el levan ta ien to
d e los S an gley es , Sevilla 1 60 6 ; Wy tfliet H is toire u n i
m
, ,

vers elle d es I n d es Occid en tales , D ovay 1 60 7 ; Leonardo

,

de A rgensola B : Con qu is ta d e las I s las M alu cas

,
.
,

Martin 1 60 9 ; Morga A ntonio : S u cesos d e las I s las

, ,

Filipin as Mexi co 1 609 (on e o f the rarest of Filipiniana );

m m
, ,

Fernandez A lonso : H is toria ecles ias tica d e n ves tros

,

ti
e pos Toledo 1 61 1 ; Ver d ad er a relaci
, on d e la
, ar a
villos a victoria qu e en la ci vd ad d e M an ila h an ten id o
los E s panoles con tr a la p od er os a ar ad a d e los Cos arios
Olan d eses , Sevilla , 1 61 1 ; R ios Coronel , H de los : M e o
m .
.

m
rial y r elacion , Madrid ,
1 62 1 Grij alva Juan de :
, Cr on ica,
Mexico 1 62 4 ; R elacion ver d ad er a, y br eve d e la pers e

m
,

cvcion . en Japon , Manila ,

1 62 5 ; Leon Pinelo A nto
,

nio de : E pito e d e la biblioteca orien tal i occid en tal

m
,

Madrid 1 62 9 ; Vocabu lario d e Japon M an ila 1 63 0 ;

m
, , ,

Staff ord I gnacio : H is toria d e la celes tial vocacion is

,

sion es apos tolicas y glorios a d el pad r e M arcelo u er te

F r an cis co M as trilli, Lisboa , 1 63 9 ; Ad u ar te , D iego :

H is toria d e la pr ovin ci o, Mani la ,
a d el S o n eto R os ar i
1 64 0 ( extremely rare ); Colin , Labor E van gelica, M adrid ,
1 663 ; San N icolas A ndres de H is tor ia gen er al d e los
, ,

r eligiosos D es calz os Madrid 1 664 ; Comb es Francisco, , , ,

H is tor ia d e las I s las d e M in d an ao, J olo, y s vs ad yacen tes ,

Madrid , 1 667 ; and many other little- known , unique ,
and rare titles embracing history ethnology lin g u is
, , ,

tics theology politi cs etc of which space permits

, , , ,
.
,

no mention .

“
With the exception of the Philippine Library
before the purchase as made this was the largest w
collection of Filipiniana in existence I ts acquisitio n .

gives the Philippine Library beyond any question , ,

the richest collection of Filipiniana in the world and ,

”
on e that can never be equaled .
2 36 BUILDER S OF A NA T I ON
w
as well as in his o n Manila He received his fir st
, .

art education in the school of A ugustin Saez ta k ing up ,

cast drawing life study and history of art from which

, ,

school he passed to the R eal A cademia de San Fernando ,

the B eaux A rts of the Peninsula which has its prizes

“ ”
,

corresponding to the Prix de R ome Here Sefi or E n ri .

quez studied fiv e years preparing to take up his pro

,

fessio n in Paris which o n finishing these academic stud

, ,

ies he b egan at once opening at the very c enter of

, ,

the world s art his studio His taste was for histori c
’
.

subj ects and he received various prizes f rom the Madrid

A cademy for his work He pre f erred the stir o f passed
.

events and the dignity of history and her struggles ,

which appealed to his imagination and upon large can

vases he gave this upleap of his mind and soul expressio n .

O f this first epoch his creation on e Of the best

of
“
creations was La Lealtad Filipina ”
This love o f the .

vast and spacious drew him into decorative studies and

he left on the walls of notable homes in E urope many
o f his finest designs as well as sent them to the residences

o f South A merican millionaires who became among h i s ,

largest patrons I n Paris he lived eleven years and in

.

its sumptuous hotels can be seen more than o n e canvas

o f the distinguished director of our art school A mong .

the most famou s of his portraits executed at this time

were those o f the Marques de R ivera one of the f oremost ,

o f that city s lords of finance ; that o f the banker Pru

’

d en cio Y b an es and hi s wife S c fi or Y b an e s being at that

,

time the banker o f Queen I sabela II ; another of the

Marques del Togo del Valle and still another on e of
the D uke de B anos the nobleman who had in charge
,

the a ffairs of the ex monarch D on Francisco de A ssisi ;

-

and in on e of the splendid rooms of this dethroned figure

in his place near Paris there hung also one o f Sefi or
E nriquez choicest canvases A nother work D iana
’
.
,

an d E ndymion
”
he executed on command f or the hotel
,

o f the Count de Sohns Leaving London he passed over

.

to London where he took an apartment in the South

w
,

K ensingto n district and soon as j oined by Sarge n t ,

 TH E F ILI P IN O S CH O OL O F F INE AR T S 237

who took the rooms below him They had met before .

in Paris and here in the fogs of the Thames

,
renewed ,

their acquaintanceship which continued as well as , ,

their devotion to work for years in this close relation

, ,

under on e roof .

A nother figure of the Fine A rts school is that of

the professor of anatomy Se nor Miguel Z arag o s s a who
, ,

was born in the same province as D e los Santos Cristo

bal in N ueva E cij a B ulacan He too received his
, ,
.

first instruction in this academy of Calle Cabildo under ,

Saez during five years when he was a pensionado of the

,
'
government with H iid algo the famous p ainter whose
, ,

body has j ust been brought back to rest in his native

soil after a life abroad in Spain an d Paris .

I n the year 1 8 7 9 they went together to Spain and

studied in the A cademia o f San Fernando and in this
school this leading artist master o f tech n ique took his
-

first prizes and for his merit he was again made a pen
sion ad o and sent to R ome where he passed with Luna ,

three years Hidalgo leaving them after a short time for

,

Paris where he afterwards made his permanent home

, .

I n the E xpositio n R egional of Madri d he took a

“ ”

second prize ; in the E xposicion U niversal of B arcelona ,

9 third pri ze in the E xposition o f St Louis a gold medal

.
,
. .

He was professor in the college of the Jesuits for e l eve n

years in this city and has left on the walls o f their
, ,

institutions some o f his best work in portraiture Se nor .

Z arag oss a is also a wr iter of distinguished talent and has

’

contributed very unusual material o n the art of his

country to the leading periodicals
,
.

Se nor Vicente Francisco the professor o f sculpture , ,

has had a no less creditable art career H e began h is .

art studies in Manila in the school o f Se nor Lorenzo

R ocha thus beginning his life work in the most di fficult
,

of the plastic arts in an atelier in the neighborhood o f

w
,

the school where he n o works I n the Spanish days .

he was made a prize winner at the centenary o f Sta .

Teresa de Jesus held in this city in 8 2 I n the year 8 5 ’

.

he was appointed sculptor of the naval department of

238 BUILDER S O F A NA T ION
the Philippines E s cu lptor de la Comandancia Genera l
,

de Marina I n 87 he left for Madri d to present some o f

”
.

his work at the capital and in recogniti on of the same he

was made a pensionado by the government first studying ,

for four years in the school of A rtes y Ofi cios and on

“ ”
, ,

Obtaining a diploma of honor for his rare work done

there he passed to the R eal A cademia of San Fernando
, ,

receiving in the modeling class in that school another

diploma I n the E xposition of B arcelona in 8 8 he was
.
,
’
,

awarded a bronze medal for sculpture and a diploma ,

in the E xposition at Madrid in 9 1 honorable mention ’

in the same subj ect and in consideration of a notable

w
,

creation of this epo ch as made a member of the famous

,

literary and scientific society of Madrid i e the A te “

,
. .
,

neo of Madrid ”
This work was a bust of D on N ines
.

de A rce a writer of E uropean reputation and incident

,

ally a minister (of foreign a ffairs ) of Spain O n his

w
.

return to Manila in 9 1 he as given the first prize in

’

the E xposi cion of San Juan de la Cruz and in the E x

“
,

position oi Manila ( international ) in 9 5 he received ,

’
,

a silver medal .

The work of Se nor Francisco s pupi l s whi ch con ’

,

si n g their opportunities or rather lack o f them o f

d er i
studying the masters in their work first hand is nothing ,

less than astounding and would alone establish him

as an artist of rare ability and superb ability as an
instructor .

Se nor de la R osa another of t h e principa l profes

w
,

sors as born in Paco this city in 1 869 This paint

, , ,
.

er who stands as one oithe foremost figures in the ar

,

ti c life of the islands

s ti received his first instruction,

from his aunt Se nora Mariano de la R osa a la dy artist

, ,

o f the Old school and then he was recei ved as a pupil

,

in that Calle Cabildo institution whi ch turned out not

only o n e but several budding geniuses He left this .

‘
institution in 9 6 and for many long months which
, , ,

lengthened into years studied life in its best school

, ,

in the country and on the city streets and took a l l his

models after nature exclusively ; this unacademic method
24 0 BUILDER S O F A N A T ION
ful exactness o f reproduction of N ature — h e catches
her at her best gives him a rank as an artist quite
!
—

apart from the vulgar Se nor de la R osa loves Life

.

and Life knowing the caress o f the true lover comes

, ,

at his bidding enriching his canvases with marvelou s

,

vitality He is a passionate discerner Of truth and

.

reality That game of old chivalry whi ch he plays so

.

well fenc ing for he studied in the school of Monsieur

,
—

Merignac ( a name surely after D umas heart ) as he

studied it in his own land — S hows h o many sided is w
his love of the tragedy comedy of existence -
.

The School of the Fine A rts of the Philippines is

equipped with men of the first rank in training and

,
m
ability and its pupils promise to follow in their steps
Young men like R eyes A or solo Cu llel Tolentino MO
rales Javie Thomas show the initial production for a
, , ,
.

, ,

distinguished artistic career and they are only a f ew of

man y who are bringing new honors to their il l ustrious
masters of whom the country is so j ustly proud .
 M I S S NORTO N S NE W B O OK OF TR AVE LS
’

“
O u tpo s ts of As ia
S O ON READ Y F OR DI S T RIBU T ION ; AU TH O R S BE S T ’
W OR K

Just from the press comes O utposts of A sia by ,

Morilla Maria N orton Manila s singer of lofty verse

,
’

and mistress of no less beautiful prose .

The book gives Miss N orton s impressions and ’

experiences during an extended tour through Japan ,

Manchuria and K orea together with an interesting

chapter on Manila and the islands .

N ot only places but distinguished people are pre

sented to the reader and one rises from a perusal o f
,

this charming volume with a sense of having seen the

best of ou r neighbors and their wonderful countries ,

for Miss N orton was granted interviews and oppor tu

nities a fforded but few travelers in the O rient .

The Magnet Press which has got out the volume

, ,

has made the book a pleasure to the eye both as to

binding and printing so it is doubly acceptable as a gift
w
,

book as well as to o n onesel f I t will be on sale within

.

a few days .

Miss N orton leaves immediately for a second trip

to the A siatic coast a trip which it is hoped will likewise
,

have its chronicle .

 M I SS M . M . N OR TO N

acaba de publicar cl retrato de esta sim

E x cels ior
pa ,

una verdadera poetis a an ilen a m

tica americana que es como di ce la misma revista
,

.
,

Ha publicado Miss N orton una serie de poesias ,

que son verdaderas fl or es del pais por lo mismo que ,

est an i nspiradas en el aroma y en los paisaj es nativos .

He aqui la tr ad u cciOn que hace el referido colega

de una de sus poesias escrita en u n retrato de la R eina
,

Madre y A lfonso X III de E spana en el consulado espa ,

fi ol de Manila :

H as ta qu e te a pa m
res

victori

r ey
os o,

.
a los pies d el S enor ,

”
F elipe, mi

I
E st aen la R eina viuda y el tono negro de s u
pie
traj e de luto es grave y severo .

E ntre sus brazos n u n i no se enlaza as u arrobada

w
,

maternidad j y la muj er s e alegra de que in no turbe

s u s sue nos la realeza !

II
En pecho los infantiles deseos de s u h ij o est an
su ,

alimentados por el amor que le d io el ser .

N o mira alos leones que se abaten asus pi es aun ,

que sean de o ro n iturba s u a

, nimo sereno que duerme ,

todavia el con fiad o sue no de la inocencia cl deseo de ,

dominar la tierra .

III !
El trono y el dosel no son para él mas que u n j u
guete ; sus entre abiertos oj os solo ven el brillo del raso
y de la p u rpura ; él s e rie de esas insignias de u n rey y
’

las escon oce que ellas no dan la felicidad

d
z z
,
.
 S O NG S OF TH E P A CI FI C

Songs of the Pacific by Miss M M N orton is

,
. .
,

unquestionably the best collection of the poems of that

well known writer yet placed on the market These .

latest poems are dedicated to the sailors of the A merican

“
navy on the big cruise .

I t is not an easy task even for one endowed with

,

the poetic spirit that sees in nature and all around it

something whereof to S ing to review and criticise the
,

p Oeti cal writings of others ; much less easy is it for one

o f prosaic temperament to truly estimate the poeti c

value of such verses as these of Miss N orton .

There has been a tendency in Miss N orton s f ormer ’

verses to the vague There as a something about

. w
them that made them heavy reading but in this last ,

collection that trait has completely disappeared She .

sing s the Songs of the Pacific in an easy flowing rythm .

Her subj ect matter is well chosen her language chaste ,

and simple She wrote for the sailor in a language an d

.

style that will surely appeal to him .

While M i ss N orton considers the best of her work

.

to be contained in the last pages of the collection the

writer sees the choice morsels in the early pages Con .

si d e rin g the purpose for which the verses were written ,

told by the authoress herself th ere is no question but

,

that the Song of the A merican Sailors the first poem

“ ”
,

in the book is o e of the best one that will appeal

,
n —
,

most to the sons of the rolling waves .

Mariners we Jac k Tars !

,

We ve sailed under all the stars

’
.

Mariners we Jack Tars !

,

A nd we defend the stars .

N ot the stars of the starry night

B ut the holy stars of the ribbon bright .

wAm
>I
<

Cablen e ia
s- er c n .
 I
B B L OG R I AFIA
S on g s of th e P ac ifi c

By M . M . Norton

Miss N orton la poetisa de Filipinas la ideal ame

, ,

ricana que vino as oriar anuestra tierra entre nuestras

‘

rosas y baj o nuestra luna cantando anuestros héroes ,

y nuestras epopeyas id en tificad a en arte unida en

, ,

gran lapso poético con el alma filipin a ahora al tornar , ,

de u n breve viaj e al pais de U tamaro da aluz u n nuevo ,

“ ”
antifonario de versos Songs of the Pacific
,
-
.

Yo os he hablado ya una v ez de esta Miss N orton

har au n ano har adiez meses a
,
s O menos ; yo os he

presentado ya a esta muj er amante de lo her oico de

m ,

lo noble sacerdotisa del valor y al suplicio de cuya

,

lira surgen cantando en ondas de or o las estrofas sonoras

como inmensas a guilas heridas .

Ma s ante su Ultimo libro estoy tristemente ofen

, ,

dido tristemente impresionado de Miss N orton Por

,
.

que Miss N orton aparece seca arrogante en s alz ad or a , ,

de roj as efemérides terr orifica en sus odas ala lucha ;

,

y es que yo anhelo en la muj er lo que es de la muj er ,

“ ”
ese odor d f emina que diria Sixto R oses ; por eso
’

desprecio y abomino atant a sufragista atanta meque ,

t r efe como por e l mundo s e empe na en arrogarse atri

b u ci on e s masculinas

Si D ios pren d io alas de poesia en los hombros

de una muj er que esa muj er cante la vida pero la vida
, ,

dulce dulce de amor y l agrimas vi da del alma

, ,
.

Por lo tanto Miss N orton me resulta una poetiza

que puede ponerse ala misma altura de muchos poetas ;
la poesia A Pean es inimitable encantadora toda
“ ”
, ,

llena de pasi on y cadencia para esta patria que la ofrend o

sus fl or es que abriga s u alma y ( laa cuerpo aterido
,

por las nieves de u n sufrir calor de nido calor de ,

hogar .
246 BUILDER S O F A NA T I ON
Songs of the Pacific consta de tres partes : Ma
nila Hawaii y JapOn hay versos muy bellos escritos

m
, ,

sobre impresiones intimas ; el tomo lleva la mej or reco

On en el nombre de su autora
en d aci .

E xquisitas musicales llenas de s en s aCIOn son estas

, ,

R imas tituladas :
“
Manila B ay “
Father of Moun .

tains ” “
A Filipino Love Song “
R izal
”
A di os ”

w
. . . .

T o I slands N ikko D ai B utsu

“ ” “ “ “
. Japan . .
,,

the great B udha “

K orea
. Y D ai N ippon B anzai !
“ ”

Y para terminar ; después de dar las gracias ami

queri da amiga por el ej emplar que tan carifi os a en te
me dedica vuelvo a insistir .
m
,

Miss N orton V que tiene u n alma de fl or u n alma

,
.
,

de lira cuando torne acantar cante V noches de plata .

m
, , ,

versos de amor idilios v es perales y esa V ida de valles

, ,

de besos tan d u lce en t e encantadora através de unas

,

suaves pupilas azules .

Will y ou do s o ? .

JE S U S B ALM OR I
V an gu ar d ia
.
 NE W B O OK OU T

m
Songs of Heroes and D ays a small volume in
,

whi ch is collected a n u b er o f Miss N orton s poems

which have appeared in the newspapers is j ust ou t
’

.
,

Markedly original is their style their themes

,

appealing always to the highest and holiest of human

e motions ; they are instinct with that elusive mystic ,

s omething ,
the soul of poetry .

The Opening lines of the Washington poem f or ,

instance : could characterization be more perfect ?

“
The lineaments of truth are bathed in serenity
and round their lips
A smile half sad half debonnaire that all grea t
, ,
”
lips must wear .

“ ”
Salve ! Salve ! Santiago ! runs to an exulting
strain of cannon and drums bugles wind and sea and
, ,

the voice o f a mighty throng : it is indeed a wel come

worthy o f the fleet that inspired it The humility of
.

“
a p rofoundly religious spirit speaks in the Prisoners
of B i libi
.d I t is a con fiteor : I too have done and
left undone Thus with each and all though not
.

'
,

in some poems as acceptab le to the ear through lack ,

rhythm the lines carry ever their message of uplift

,
.
 NE W B OO K B Y M I S S M . M . N O R TO N

An In te r e s ti
n g Vo l u me of D e s cri ti
on p
of Ar chite ctur e of O ld M an ia l
Studies in Philippine A rchitecture is the latest
publication from the prolific pen of Miss M M N orton . .
,

the well known A meri can poetess of the Philippines .

The work is in prose and divided into six sections

or chapters dealing with E arly Spanish Structures ;
Characteristics of Spanish I nteriors ; Spanish Patios
and A merican Verandahs ; The Work of R oxas ; Heras
— I ntroduction of Modern Catalina A rchitecture
; and
w
O ld and N e Manila Contrasted .

I n introducing her work to the public Miss N orton

‘
says : " If these notes taken of an ancient burg evolving
its future from the past through the industry of its
men and women becoming every day a more fitting
,

dwelling place of health and enlightenment shall con ,

tribute something of suggestion and inspiration their ,

purpose will have been served They . are

neither a history of Philippine A rchitecture which ,

is some day by another pen to be written nor an aesthetic ,

pastime They are bits of the Old walls and old streets
w
.

through which we pass from day to day in which e are ,

living our lives in the far away land of the O rient the ,
”
land we love and call home .

D aily B u lletin .
 The B altimore E vening Su n of A ugust 3 1 9 1 1 says , ,

I n a privately printed little volume from the pen of

la Maria N orton is given u nder the title of Char
“
M orri ,
”
ity in the Philippines a careful and detailed account
,

o f the work that is being done by the R oman Catholi c

Church in the islands for the betterment of social con

di tion s and the general uplift of the several communi

ties there It is d ed icate d ito the Sisters o f Charity and

.

the O rders of St Paul of Chartres and o f the Ass u p

.

tion and has been written in appreciation of their serv

m
,

i ces to that part of the wor ld in which their activiti es

are engaged There are descriptive chapters o f j ust
.

what is being done by these orders at San Juan de D i os ,

San José A sylum St Paul s Hospital the Women s

,
.
’
,
’

I nstitute Loob an O rphan A sylum Lolomboy Model

, ,

Settlement and A ssumption College .

This boo k was printed by Staples Howe printi ng

firm Manila Plaza G oiti publisher and printing firm
, , ,

first class workmanship .

CH AS . s . DE R H A M WM . A D E RHA M
.

DERHAM B ROS
LU M B E R D E ALE R S
O FFI CE S, ILL AND PLAN I NG M ILL
S AW M
6 Call D u q u d A l b a Ta d ay
e e e , n u

T E L E PH O N E 3 16 M AN I L A P I , . .

A No n - I
x iati g C p u d f F i t a d P u t
n to c n o m o n o nes n r es

H O PS M A LT
Ghua r an t ee d ai m B
M A L T I N A N vy w d E x p l y
P hi l ippi
A my a d fo r
al h l by w igh
n ot to co n t n or e re e re s s r n
t an co o e t a i
n th e n es .

B Y

SAN M I G U E L B R E WE R Y

EL ZE N I TH

E mporium of Jewels Silve r Ar t i c les and

,

F i ne S o u v e n i r s— R e p a i r i n g o f Wa t ches

t e S pan i
Oppo s i s h B idg r e E l ta
sco , M an ia l P I
, . .

B A Z A R F I L I P I NO
Household goods
Small Hardw ar e
Cu tlery a S pecial t y
113 E l ta
s co C o r n er of San Jacin t o

LA P U E R T A D E L S OL
DE P AR T M E N T S T O R E
T OYS
Fu i
tu

m
La p M u ial I
C k y G l a wa C u t l y
Kit h U t il P f u y S h
t u
s,
c

t
en
rn re ,
Wat P f
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P a a l B ill ia d Tabl
s c
s.

ns r mm
ro c
er
en s ,
er ,

er ,

r
ss re ,
oes ,
so s , r
er -
er ,

roo s ,

es , et c .

B r an c h H u i Pa i
o se J F R AM I R E Z
n r s . . E l ta s co 49
 E L I D E AL AG M I T H I —

A F T E RN OO N D A I L Y
P BL I ED E L I D E A L AG M I T H I C IN
U SH BY -
O .
, C .

O ffi i al O ga f h G a d N a i al i a P a y
c r n o t e r n c on st rt

G a i u l a i i M a i l a a d p vi
re tes t c rc t on n n n ro n c es

Sp ial ab l vi f m all pa f h W l d T h b m dium f

ec c e ser ce ro rt s o t e or . e es t e or dv i i g
a er t s n

Bu i ffi 5 8 8 Al ix
s n ess o ce : P 0 B 600 Ph . . ox o n es M a ila n

E L I D E AL AG M I T H I —
D I AR I O D E LA T AR DE
E di ad a la S t i d ad i p ad a d
por mb oc e n co r or e su no re

O G AN ROFI C I AL O G RAN PART I D NACI NAL I TA D EL O O S

G i la i
T l g ama di a i p d
M a i l a ya p avi i a l
p
d b d mu d
a r n c rc u c on en n ro nc s
d
l m j m di d d i fu d i l a u i e n t es rt e s

y Ad m
e e r s r os ro ce e o s e n o
e or e o e n r os n nc os

R ed acc i
én ii a i é 5 5 8 A l ix Ap a ad d
T l éf 563 9 7 5 M a i l a
n s tr c n: rt o e c o r reo s :
N e o n os os . 1 -
, n

V A Q U ER I A E S P ANOLA
D E AL B E R T O S I S I
R al M l a
e , a t e , 9 60 Tlf e e o no 3 64 0

S e rvic i
o aD o ml i
c ii
o

DE L EC H E A C AS A U ST R A LI A NA S
DE V
M A NA N A Y T A R D E

The lw
o es t w M I LL I NER Y N whi p m
pi r c es i
n to n v yw e s en ts e er ee k

Th a P a i L d a d Vi a Fa hi i M a i l a
e l tes t r s, on on n en n s o ns n n

T H E R OYAL M O D E
A h a mi g a m f
Lad i U d w a G i l D B y S ui H a d B ag
c r n s s or t en t o
’

S u had a d m y h a i l
’
es n er e r, r s res ses . o s ts , n s,
ns es n an ot er r t c es

L I N G ER I E
P m p al a i by a x p i d D mak
P la a C ii ud H l Fa
ro t ter t ons n e e r e n ce re ss er
1 29 z o t n er o te de r nce

R MARCO —J ‘
. I A ILOR

1 60— E l ta— 1 62
s co

u ps t ai
rs

w
'

T H E T AI LOR ho d resses— The B uilders of a N a t ion

 0 0
T o u r i st , Ste a sh i p an d Fo r m
A g e n ts , B an k e rs, e tc
wd i
.
ar ng

T I C K E T S issued by all S T E A M S H I P an d R AI LWAY

O
LIN E S t h r ou g h ou t t h e W R LD at t h e S AM E R AT ES
O
as c harged b y t h e C M P A N I E S TH E M SE LV E S
l

I T I N E R AR I E S M AP S an d om ple t e D E TAI LE D
c

I N F O R M AT I O N su pplied fo r any t ou r .

C OOK ’
S C I R C U LA R NO T E S C A SHED E V E R Y W HE R E

T H OS . C O O K 85 SO N
M A NI LA

f n th e M a
O fic e i n ial H l
o te P 0 B ox 7 86
dd C u l T l ph
. .

“
T e l a re s s
. o po n M an ia e e on e 97 3

m
Su c ce sso rs to

M e . V A L ET T E
F R E N CH D R E SSM A K E R

Go wad D
ns n res s es o f l ates t
P A R I S FA S H I ON S
L I N G ER I E : C h e is e s D r a e rs
L ace an d E b ro id er ies
m
m ,
w , e tc .

M I LL I N ER Y : H ats an d T r i
C o rs e ts to M eas u r e
m
m i
n gs

1 4 7 E s co l t a Te l . 1 3 08
 L e ad in g D aily fo r

ID E A L
SP A N I SH F I L I P I N O an d A M E R I C A N

Pu bl i c N e w s

All N e w s . L atest C ab l e g ra m s

B elo wNa i c o n ai l
s ta C lu b

M PO IZ A T C
m
.

Sh i p o w n e rs an d Ste a s h i p A g e n ts

I n su ran ce A g e n ts
Pu b l i c W are h o u se P r o p r i e t o rs
Ag en t s fo r th e

B U R E A U V E R IT A S
f th Ph il ippi I la d
or e ne s n s

Ag en t s fo r th e

C O M PA G N IE G E N E R A L E
R A D I O T E LE G R A P H I Q U E
(W irel e ss T l g aph a d T l ph
e e r n e e on e Co .
) of Pa i r s, fo r th e Ph il ippi I la d
ne s n s

T e l e grap hi c A d d r e ss : PO I Z A T
 M AN I L A I C E F A C T O R Y
Ice m ade from pure
dis t illed w at er

P pu l a
o r pri
ce Ph o ne 588

K ER K H O V E N CO .

I M PO R T EX POR T

9 0 R os ario ,
Manila P O . B ox 7 99

JUAN S OL ER

LE A D ING D R AP E R S

Fine Line of D ry Good s P opul ar Pri c es

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