The Story of the Philippines Part 20

"Trembling, I approached, and prostrated myself at His feet.'

"'Go to Earth,' said the voice, 'and tell those who call themselves your sons that I, having created millions of suns, around which, thousands of worlds, inhabited by millions of millions of beings, created by my infinite Mercy, gyrate, cannot be an instrument to the fulfilment of a few ungrateful creatures' pa.s.sions, simply handfuls of dust carried away by a gust of wind; insignificant particles of the inhabitants of one of my smallest worlds!'

"'Tell them that my Name must not be used to extend the misery or ignorance of their brothers, nor shall they restrain in my Name, intelligence and thought, which I created free. That they must not commit abuses in my Name, cause a tear, nor a single drop of blood to be shed. That they must not represent me as being cruel, revengeful, subject to their whims and executor of their will. Not to represent me, The Fountain of Goodness, as a tyrant, or an unkind Father, pretending that they are the only possessors of Light and Eternal Life. How? I, who have given to each being air, light, life and love, that he may be happy, could I deny to one of the most transcendental, true happiness, for the sake of others? Impious! Absurd! Tell them that I, who am All, and apart from whom nothing exists, nor could exist, I have not and cannot have enemies. Nothing equals me, and no one can oppose my will!

"'Tell them that their enemies are not my enemies; that I have never identified myself with them, and that their maxims are vain, insensible, blasphemous! Tell them that I pardon error, but punish iniquity; that I will forgive a sin against me, but will prosecute those who should torture an unfortunate. That being infinitely Powerful, all the sins of all the inhabitants of all the worlds, thousands of times centuplicated, can never dim an atom of my glory. But the least injury to the poor and oppressed I will punish, for I have not created man to make him unhappy nor the victim of his brothers. I am the Father of all existent; I know the destiny of every atom; let me love all men, whose miseries and needs I know. Let each one perform his duty, that I, The G.o.d of Mercy, know my own will.'

"Thus spoke the Almighty; and I came here to fulfill his command. Now, I say to you:

"That the miseries of the unhappy Indian whom you have impoverished and stupefied, have reached the Throne of the Highest. _There_ have arrived so many intelligences obscured and impaired by you! The cry of so many exiles, tortured, and killed at your instigation! The tears of so many mothers and the miseries of so many orphans, combined with the noise of your orgies! Know that there is a G.o.d, (perhaps you doubt His existence, and only use His name to advance your ends) who will some day call you to account for all your iniquities. Know that He needs not the money of the poor, nor is it necessary to wors.h.i.+p Him by burning candles and incense, saying ma.s.ses or believing blindly what others say, contrary to common sense.

"No! His luminary is greater than your own sun; His flowers more fragrant than those on earth. He suffices to Himself. He created intelligence for no subservient purpose; but that with its use, man could be happy in raising himself to Him. He needs no one. He created man, not for His sake, but for man's own. He is happy for all eternity!

"You obstinately uphold the existence of a Purgatory, using even the most ign.o.ble weapons and means to defend your belief. Why, instead of wasting your time in affirming the existence of that which you never saw, do you not preach and practice love and charity amongst yourselves? Why not preach words of comfort and hope, to somewhat soothe the miseries of life, instead of frightening your brothers by tales of future punishment? Why? Because Christ's True Doctrine would bring you no earthly wealth, and all that you look for is gold, and gold! And to satisfy your end and bleed the timid souls, of money, you have invented a Purgatory! Why afflict orphans and widows with dreadful tales of the next life, only to extort from them a few cents? Have you forgotten what the Apostle said? 'Nolo vos ignorare, fratres, de dormientibus, ut non contristenuni, sicut qui spem non habent,' which means, 'I do not wish you to ignore, brethren, that which concerns those who sleep, that you may not be saddened, like those who have lost all hope.' Also, that I, myself, have said? 'Hoec enim est Christianoe fidei summa: vitam veram expectare post mortem,'

that is 'Here is then the summary of the Christian faith: to hope for a true life after death.' But you, lacking in charity, and for a vile, greedy interest, live in opposition to Christ, and pretend to be able to mould Divine Judgment. All the strength of your philosophy seems to be derived from your own theory, which denies the existence of souls sufficiently sinners to be condemned, or pure enough to enter the Kingdom of G.o.d! By whose authority do you pretend to oppose the judgment of Him who weighs and considers the smallest thought? Who knows it is impossible to expect perfection from beings made of clay, subject to the miseries and oppressions of earthly life? Who told you that He will judge as you, with your narrow, limited intelligence, do? That the miseries of this life are not expiations of sins?

"Cease in your avaricious h.o.a.rding of wealth! You have now enough. Do not wrench from the poor his last mouthful of bread.

"Remember what Saint Fulgentius said: 'Et si mithetur in stagnum ignis et sulphuris qui nudum vestimento non tegit, quid pa.s.sures est qui vestimento crudelis expoliat? Et si rerum suarem avarus possessor requiem non habebit, quomodo aliaenarum rerum insatiabilis raptor?' Meaning, 'And if he who never clothed the naked is sent to the pond of fire and sulphur, where will he, who cruelly stripped them, go? And if the greedy possessor of his own wealth may never rest, how shall it be with the thief, insatiable in his greed for the wealth of others?'

"Preach then, the religion of Hope and Promises, as you, above all, are in need of pardon and forgiveness. Do not speak of rigor, nor condemn others, lest G.o.d should hear and judge you according to the laws by you formulated. Bear always in mind Christ's words, 'Vae vobis scribae et Pharisae hypocrite qui clauditis regnum coelorum ante homines; vos non intratis, nec introeunts sinitis intrare!' This means, 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, who close to men the Kingdom of G.o.d, and neither enter nor allow others to enter!'

"Now, to you personally, I will say: You are an unfortunate fool, who speak numberless absurdities, although I could not expect aught else from you, and would not punish you for them. But you have had the audacity of not only insulting others, by which you forgot truth and charity, but praised yourself and called attention to your own praise.

"Referring to yourself, you said. This Father, whom I well know (liar, you do not even know yourself), although he may appear a little hard headed (a little hard-headed? Ask my crosier if your head is not harder than stone), never speaks in vain (this is true; every word you say causes as much laughter on earth as in Heaven), nor uses words without first thinking (if such is true, your intelligence is very limited).

"For such foolish vanity I ought to punish you severely, so that you would stop forever your senseless writings, saving me the trouble of coming to reprimand you at every instance.

"Were I to judge you according to your own theory, you should at least go to your Purgatory. But, after all, you are not so bad, as many learned persons are made to laugh at your writings.

"It would be well for your pride if you allowed the Indians to pa.s.s by you without taking off their hats or kissing your hand. But then, they would be imprisoned or exiled, and it would not do to increase the wrong you do them.

"Shall I make you lame and dumb? No! Your brothers would claim it was a trial of your forbearance, to which G.o.d had submitted you. No; you won't catch me on that!

"What shall I do with you?"

The old Bishop meditated for a few moments, and then, he exclaimed:

"Ah! Now I know! Your own sin shall be your punishment!

"I condemn you to continue saying and writing nonsense for the rest of your life, so that the world may laugh at you, and also, that on the Day of Judgment you may be judged according to your deserts!"

"Amen!" replied Friar Rodriguez.

The vision then disappeared; the light of the lamp regained its yellowish flame, and the soft perfume dispersed.

On the following day Friar Rodriguez started writing greater nonsense, with renewed energy.

Amen!

_Jose Rizal._

Note.--The foregoing admirable translations from the writings of Dr. Rizal were made by Mr. F.M. de Rivas, of Chicago.

CHAPTER XV

Events of the Spanish-American War.

No Mystery About the Cause of the War--The Expected and the Inevitable Has Happened--The Tragedy of the Maine--Vigilant Wisdom of President McKinley--Dewey's Prompt Triumph--The Battles at Manila and Santiago Compared--General Shafter Tells of the Battle of Santiago--Report of Wainwright Board on Movements of Sampson's Fleet in the Destruction of Cervera's Squadron--Stars and Stripes Raised Over Porto Rico--American and Spanish Fleets at Manila Compared.--Text of Peace Protocol.

The war between Spain and the United States was a long time coming, and there is no more mystery about its cause than doubt as to its decisions. It was foretold in every chapter of the terrible stories of the conflicts between the Spaniards and their colonists, largely of their blood, in Central and South America. The causes of war in Cuba, and the conduct of warfare by Spain in that island were the same that resulted in revolutionary strife in Mexico and Peru, and, indeed, all the nations in the Americas that once were swayed by the sovereignty of Spain. The last of the islands of the Spanish possessions in the hemisphere introduced to the civilized world by Columbus were lost by the western peninsula of Europe, symbolized and personified in the Crown, as the first crumbling fragments of the colonial empires of Spain fell away from her. Only in the case of Cuba there was the direct intervention of the United States to establish "a stable government"

in the distracted island, desolated by war, pestilence and famine, that had evolved conditions, of terrible misery incurable from within, and of inhumane oppression that should be resented by all enlightened people. It had long been realized by the thoughtful men of Spain capable of estimating the currents of events, that the time must come, and was close at hand, when the arms of the United States would be directed to the conquest of Cuba. It was not only in the air that this was to be, it was written in the history of Spanish America, and more than that, there was not an Atlas that did not proclaim in the maps of the continents of the Western world, that Cuba would and in the largest sense of right should, become a part of the United States, and must do so in order to be redeemed from the disabilities deeply implanted, and released from having the intolerable burdens imposed by the rule of Spain. The consciousness of the Spaniards, that the shadow of the United States lowered over the misgovernment of Cuba, and that there was a thunder-cloud in the north that must burst--with more than the force of the hurricanes that spin on their dizzy way of destruction from the Caribbean Sea--aroused the fury of pa.s.sion, of jealous hatred and thirst for revenge, in antic.i.p.ation of the inevitable, that caused the catastrophe of the blowing up of the Maine, and kindled with the flame of the explosion, the conflagration of warfare in the Indies West and East, that has reddened the seas and the skies with the blood of Spain and the glow of America's victory both in the Antilles and the Philippines, wiping from the face of the earth the last vestiges of the colonial imperialism of Spain that gave her mediaeval riches and celebrity, for which--as the system always evil became hideous with malignant growth, so that each colony was a cancer on the mother country--there has been exacted punishment of modern poverty, and finally the humiliation of the haughty, with no consolation for defeat, but the fact that in desperate and forlorn circ.u.mstances there were seen glimpses of the ancient valor in Spanish soldiers, that was once their high distinction among the legions of embattled Europe.

The United States was not ready for war. Our regular army was a 16 to 120 Spanish troops in Cuba, our field guns 1 to 6 of Blanco's batteries, our siege train nowhere, and fortified cities to a.s.sail; and the ability and industry of the Spaniards as well as their skill and strength in surveying and fortifying military lines, and their food resources were dangerously undervalued. The war was rushed upon the country, contrary to the calm executive judgement of the President. The army and navy were admirable but faulty in hasty equipment, the navy a perfect machine in itself, but without docks and a.r.s.enals in the right place for the supply of a fleet in the old battle field of European navies, the West Indies. The energies of the Government were put forth as soon as the war was seriously threatened, and the mighty people arose and swiftly as the apt.i.tudes of Americans in emergencies could be applied, deficiencies were supplied. The first stroke of arms came as a dazzling flash from the far southwest, in the story of the smas.h.i.+ng victory of Dewey at Manila. That splendid officer, gentleman and hero did not signal his fleet as Nelson at Trafalgar, that every man was expected to do his duty, but he reported that every man did his duty; and the East Indian fleet of Spain vanished, smashed, burned and sunken by a thunderbolt! The theory of war countenanced by the impetuous and demanded by the presumptuous, was that our aggressive forces must attack Havana. In and around that city were an enormous garrison, abundant military stores, forty miles of trenches defended by sixty thousand men; and far more to be dreaded the deadly climate, the overwhelming rains, the deep rank soil soaked under the tropical sun and the dense vegetation, and still more the pestilence--the ghastly Yellow Fever, and scarcely less poisonous and fatal pernicious malarial fevers, and dysenteries that exhausted as fast as fever consumed. Fortunately, it was decided that the place to attack Havana was Santiago, and there the regular army, with the exception of the regiments sent to the Philippines, was ordered and in due time reinforced by volunteers, safely embarked and disembarked, to become the winners on b.l.o.o.d.y fields and receive the surrender of the Spanish garrisons of the city and province of Santiago. The vaunted fleet of Cervera, having attempted flight, perished--the wrecks of his fine s.h.i.+ps strewing the southern coast of Cuba, where they remain as memorials, like and unlike the distorted iron that was the Maine, in the harbor of Havana, and as the shattered and charred remnants of the fleet of Montejo, at Manila, still c.u.mber the waters of the bay off Cavite, telling the story of the glory of our victorious heroes there.

The responsibility of the Chief Magistrate of the United States in the late war was remarkable. Everything of moment was referred to him from the Cabinet officers of the Government, and he gave all the closest attention, making, after conscientious consideration, the decisions that determined the course of action taken. This was true in unusual measure of the Treasury, State, War and Navy Departments.

It is well the President resisted while he could the "rush line"

in Congress, that strove headlong for war, and strenuously urged in the time gained essential preparations, and that he pressed the war the day it was declared with a hurry message to Admiral Dewey, who won his immortal victory on the other side of the world within a week of his orders by cable to "destroy" the squadron of the enemy that might be found somewhere on the west coast of Luzon.

Nearer home there was a harder task. The Spanish army in Cuba was much more formidable on the defensive than in the offensive. There were greater numbers of soldiers of a better cla.s.s in the service of Spain on the island, than had been supposed, and they did not lack, in the degree believed, discipline, ammunition or provisions. The Spaniards had an effective field artillery, more than one hundred guns, and their Mauser rifles were excellent, far-reaching; and, in field ammunition, they were ahead of us in smokeless powder. Our regiments would have given way before the Spanish rifles, that told no tales except with bolts, that flew invisible, fatal arrows, from the jungles, if the American soldier had not been of stuff that was like pure steel, and marched unflinchingly through the deadly hail, regarding the bitter pelting as a summons to "come on" and carry the trenches and ambuscades by storm. The incapacity of the Spaniards to put down the Cuban Rebellion caused grave misapprehensions, both as to the Spanish and Cuban soldiery, for few Americans understand the conditions of the interminable guerilla warfare, the particular military accomplishment of the Spanish race, impotent in all save the destructive effect upon those not engaged in it. In Congress no impression could be made of the real feebleness of the Cubans, except in bushwhacking, and it is still a puzzle that the immense ma.s.ses of Spanish troops should be so helpless against the insurgents, and yet so troublesome in hara.s.sing invaders. The Cuban army was not a myth, certainly, but it has been a disappointment to those who were swift in shouting its praises, upon information given by the Cuban Key West Bureau of News novelettes. It was well that the attack on Spain in the West Indies was directed upon Santiago and Porto Rico. The former manifestly was a point that commanded the central waters of the West Indies; recently there have been expressions of surprise that the expedition to Porto Rico, finally and handsomely led by Major General Miles, commanding the army of the United States, was so delayed. Investigation from the inside will duly determine that no harm was done in that case by loss of time. Santiago was pointed out by many circ.u.mstances as the vital spot of Spanish power in America, where a mortal blow might be delivered. It was in the province where the insurgents had greater strength than in any other part of the island. It was so situated that our fleet in that locality was close to the Windward Pa.s.sage, east of Cuba, where Columbus was at once perplexed and triumphant, and to Hayti, Jamaica and Porto Rico; and there were several landings where it would be possible to disembark troops, protected by the fire of our s.h.i.+ps. More than that, Santiago is the old capital of Cuba, the place where the head of the Cuban church abides, and the scene of the Virginius Ma.s.sacre--altogether having a place in history almost equal to that of Havana. It was not doubted the sanitary situation of the east end of Cuba was better than that of the west end. Experience shows that this easy a.s.sumption was questionable. If we omit the great plague spot, the city of Havana, it will appear that Santiago is in a region as pestilential as can be found in the provinces of Havana and Pinar del Rio. More than all other a.s.sociations and conspicuities, the attention of the world was directed to Santiago because Cervera's elusive fleet, short of coal and provisions, and overmatched by the United States navy, took refuge in the deep harbor, hoping to clean his s.h.i.+ps, get supplies and escape with coal enough to open a new career. The Spaniards were too slow, and the only s.h.i.+ps of Spain that showed a sign of the spirit of enterprise and the capacity of adventure, were bottled up by a relentless blockade. Lieutenant Hobson became famous in a night in his most hazardous effort to use the Merrimac as a cork for the bottle, but fortunately left a gap through which the Spaniards made haste to their doom. When the second fleet of Spain was destroyed, all chance of disputing our supremacy at sea, or of doing anything to guard Spanish interests either in the East or West Indies, was extinguished.

There has been no marked features of contention as to the battles of Manila, except in the case of the gratuitous observations of critical persons, whose feelings have been disturbed, that the storming of the town was not b.l.o.o.d.y enough. The victory, however, was all the greater, for the casualty lists were not long, owing to the management of the Commanding General and the heroic Admiral, who won a battle famous as that at New Orleans, with less bloodshed, but as Jackson's victory was not belittled because he lost but half a dozen men killed, the victories at Manila should not be slighted. The Santiago battles, however, have stirred controversies, and there is a great ma.s.s of literature, official and other, subject to endless examination, and perhaps so voluminous as to confuse readers for some generations. The leading and indisputable facts are, that the Spaniards fought well on land, but were ineffectual afloat, in their attempts to inflict injuries, though they put to sea in das.h.i.+ng style, and did not flinch in efforts to evade a superior force, until the fire of the Americans crushed them. In the incidents of warfare on the hills around and the waves before Santiago, it is fair to say that the Spaniards redeemed themselves from imputation of timidity, and fought in a manner not unworthy of the countrymen of the Garrison of Morro Castle, Havana, whose gallantry in resisting the army and fleet of England, in 1762, commanded the respectful regard of their conquerors, and is a glorious chapter in the story of Spain. The Santiago events were most honorable to American arms, and it would lessen the splendor of the reputation of the American soldiers if one failed to do justice to the st.u.r.dy fighters they overcame. It is too early or too late for partic.i.p.ation in the debates whether civil or acrimonious, as to the merits or faults of those engaged at Santiago, further than to quote that golden sentence from the report of Commodore Schley, that there was "glory enough to go around." We, whatever is said, remember what was done on those hills that have an everlasting place in history. There forever is to be application of marvelous propriety, of the mournful and n.o.ble lines of Kentucky's poet, Theodore O'Hara:

"On Fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread, And Glory guards with solemn round The bivouac of the dead."

There was a speedy realization by the country, and all the intelligent peoples of the earth, when our troops were embarked for the Santiago campaign, that the crisis of the war was at hand. No American thought of failure. The only questions were as to the power of the defense of Cuba by Spain, and the cost to us in men and money to overcome the defenders. Those who knew the most about the conditions in Cuba had the least confidence in the efficiency of the Cuban Army. The only body of organized Cubans of importance was that under command of Garcia, and it was the province of which he was in partial occupation that we invaded in force. The public had been considerably interested and entertained by the rousing accounts of the various naval bombardments of Spanish sh.o.r.e fortresses. But the firing from our s.h.i.+ps had not materially shaken the Spanish defenses. The sea power had not shattered the sh.o.r.e lines, but found abundant occupation in guarding transports and protecting the troops when landing. It would have been an act of the most gross imprudence and incompetency to have put an army ash.o.r.e unless the supremacy of the navy on the sea was absolute. More than that, our own cities had to be a.s.sured that they were secure from attack. On the 31st of May orders were issued for the embarkation of the army of invasion as follows:

1. The Fifth Army Corps.

2. The Battalion of Engineers.

3. The detachment of the Signal Corps.

4. Five squadrons of cavalry, to be selected by the commanding general of the cavalry division, in accordance with instruction previously given.

5. Four batteries of light artillery, to be commanded by a major, to be selected by the commanding officer of the light artillery brigade.

6. Two batteries of heavy artillery, to be selected by the commanding officer of the siege artillery battalion, with eight (8) siege guns and eight (8) field mortars.

7. The Battalion of Engineers, the infantry, and cavalry, will be supplied, with 500 rounds of ammunition per man.

8. All troops will carry, in addition to the fourteen (14) days'

field rations now on hand, ten (10) days' travel rations.