prudence under these circumstances. Truly, one cannot qualify us
as hasty and imprudent, in that we now address ourselves to the
exalted authorities of the fatherland. We have borne patiently the
continual insults and vilifications for more than eighteen months
of masons and filibusters, open or hidden, in newspapers, clubs,
and public assemblies, who have attributed to us the blame for the
insurrection, and heaped dishonor on our persons and ministries by
the most unjustifiable attacks, cast in their majority in the mold
of demagogism and free thought. With Christian meekness have we
endured the return to the Peninsula of a multitude of persons who
have resided a greater or less period in the islands, who have shown
so little honor to our habit and profession; but if, instead of being
religious, we had been seculars, and if, instead of being a question
of ecclesiastical corporations, it had been one of civil or military
corporations, they would have refrained from speaking ill of us--and
we can be quite sure of that, and there are eloquent daily proofs
of this assertion--for the effective means that such corporations
generally practice would have tied their tongues, and would have
made them recognize their flippancy and their injustice by imposing a
vigorous corrective to their extensions. We religious have no sword;
we cannot pronounce judgment; we do not glitter with gilt braid; we
do not belong to a corporation, whose individual members take part
in the government of the fatherland, or in exalted considerations
of the same; we are neither military men nor functionaries of the
judicial or administrative profession; we do not have weight in any
political party; we do not intervene in elections; we do not form
(for conscience forbids us) great federations that become feared;
we do not incite the public, except to obedience and submission
to all constituted authority; we are unable in determined cases to
distribute appointments, or offer promotions or remunerations; we
are not accompanied by a fattened retinue of friends or flatterers,
who defend us for their own personal advantage, and who are the blind
paladins of the general, of the politician, of the exalted dignitary,
of the opulent banker; neither have we any influence over the press;
we do not possess a nucleus of attached partisans to shout for us and
overexcite so-called public opinion: in one word, we are without all
the methods that are used in modern public life to gain respect and
fear, to influence the nation, and cause all the shots of slander or
ignorance to strike ineffectually against us.
The religious of Filipinas, far remote from Europa, alone in their
ministries, scattered even throughout the farthest recesses of the
archipelago, without other associates and other witnesses of their
labors than their dear and simple parishioners, have no defense other
than their reason and right, which, although established on justice
and law, and secured by the protection of the divine Providence--which
mercifully has not failed us hitherto and which we hope will not
fail us in the future--do not have, nevertheless, in their favor
(nor ever, although we might have done so, would we avail ourselves
of them) those most powerful modern auxiliaries which are attaining
so much vogue and so great success in societies in which the great
Christian sentiments having grown cold, reason is not heard easily
unless supplied with the force of cannon or with the armor-plate of the
high bench, of vast political parties, or of fearful popular movements.
Alone with our reason and our right, although with our conscience
satisfied at always having fulfilled, yea always, our duties, of having
been as patriotic as the greatest, or more so, and of having fulfilled
the obligations of our sacred ministry, we have endured silently and
in all patience, in accordance with the advice of the apostle, the
insults and vilifications, even of persons to whom we have offered
in Christian sincerity our affection and civilities, even by persons
who call themselves very Catholic, but who, perchance, infected with
the contagion of the practical Jansenism of certain present-day
reformers, forget the remark of that great Christian emperor, who
said that if he should see a priest who had fallen into any frailty,
he would cover him with his cloak, rather than publish his weakness.
Alone, with our reason and our right, and confident that reason would
at last clear the pathway, and that light would at last illumine the
dense obscurity created by hatred of sect, by the separatist spirit,
and by flippancy, envy, and the false zeal of certain persons, we
have endured the insinuations, made in the Cortes [parlamento] [182]
of last year which showed scant respect to the orders; the assertions
made, not only in private, but also in centers of great publicity,
and by persons of considerable popularity in military circles
[politica militante], that the religious prestige of Filipinas was
so broken that it was necessary to substitute it with armed force;
the publishing of the recourse of an eminent politician, sacrificed
by anarchy, to the orders for information and advice in Philippine
matters, as a dishonorable censure; the grave accusations directed
against us, as well as against a most worthy prelate, in a memorial
presented to the senate, although veiled under certain appearances
of impartiality and gentle correction; the different-toned clamoring
from day to day, with more or less crudity, in order that the historic
peninsular period of 1834-40 might be reproduced in the islands, and
in order that measures might be adopted against us, so radical that
they are not taken (and the discussion of them is shameful) either
against the centers of public immorality, or against societies and
attempts that have no other end than to discatholicize the nation
and to sow in it the germs of thorough social upheaval.
Why the religious have been silent until now. We believed and thought
that our prudence and long silence, adorned with the qualities of
circumspection and magnanimity which religious institutions should
always possess, ought to be sufficient for discreet and fair-minded
people, so that they would immediately impugn those accusations and
form a judgment by which those repeated attacks would not make a
dent in our credit and prestige. We supposed that that campaign of
diatribes and reproaches would vanish at last as a summer cloud formed
by the effluvia cast off from the forges of masonry and filibusterism.
But instead of being dissipated the storm appears to be increasing
daily. The treaty of Biac-na-bató [183] has again placed in the
mouth of many the crafty assertion, made now by the rebel leaders
that the institutes of the regulars have been the only cause of the
insurrection. The secret society [184] of the Katipunan, which is
extending itself throughout the islands like a terrible plague, has
established by order of its Gran Oriente, [185] the extinction of
the religious as one of the first articles of their program of race
hatred. In the Peninsula and here, the masons, and all those who,
in one way or another, second them, have rejuvenated [recrudecido]
their war against us. Manifestos have been published in Madrid, in
which misusing the names of Filipinas, measures highly disrespectful
and vexatious to the clergy are demanded. Even in the ministry of the
colonies, although officiously, persons have managed to introduce
themselves, who, pursued by the tribunals of justice as unfaithful
do not hide their animadversion to the religious corporations. Now,
if we were to continue silent in view of all these circumstances,
our silence would be taken with reason as cowardice, or as an argument
of guilt; our patience would be qualified as weakness; and even firm
and sensible Catholics who recognize the injustice of the attacks
directed upon us, could with reason infer that we were stained, or
that we had come to such a prostrate condition that one could with
impunity insult and mock us, as if in downright truth we were old
and decayed entities whose decadence is the last symptom of death.
Prius mori, quam foedari, [186] said the ancients; and the most
loyal Maccabæans, "It is better to die in the battle than to
see the extermination of our nation and of the sanctuary." [187]
As long as the corporations exist, they will glory, as they ought,
in repeating with St. Paul: "Quamdiu sum Apostolus, ministerium meum
honorificabo." [188] We have always endeavored to honor our ministry,
and we shall always continue to honor it, now and in the future,
by the grace of God, which we trust will not fail us. Consequently,
we do not vacillate in addressing ourselves today to the exalted
authorities of the nation, taking shelter in our confidence, that,
though we are poor and helpless, and have no other protection than
our spotless history, our immaculate honor, and our secure rights, we
are talking to those in whom intelligence and good sense are brothers
to nobility of thought, who are always ready to listen, especially
to the poor and weak, and in whom their respect and love to Catholic
institutions and to the so eminently glorious and meritorious title
"Regular Clergy of Filipinas," shelter them from the suggestions of
sects and the prejudice of anticlerical and separatist parties.
They are persecuted because of their religious significance. What
reason have the religious corporations of Filipinas given that they
should be persecuted with so great passion? Ah! your Excellency, that
reason is no other than because they are very Catholic, because they
are very Spanish, because they are effective supporters of the good
and sane doctrine, and because they have never shown weakness toward
the enemies of God and of the fatherland. [189] If we religious had
not defended here with inviolable firmness the secular work which our
fathers bequeathed us: if we had shrunk our shoulders in fear before
the work of the lodges and before the propagation of politico-religious
errors that have come to us from Europa; if we had given the most
insignificant sign, not only if not of sympathy, yet even the least
sign of mute passivity, to the advocates of the false modern liberties
condemned by the Church; if the flame of patriotism had become lessened
to us; and innovators had not met in each religious in Filipinas an
unchangeable and terrible adversary to their plans, open or hidden:
never, your Excellency, would we religious corporations have been
the object of the cruel persecution now practiced on us; but on
the contrary, we regulars would have been exalted to the clouds,
and so much the more as our enemies are not unaware that, granting
the influence that we enjoy in the archipelago, our support, even if
passive and one of mere silence, would indisputably have given them
the victory.
But they know that our banner is none other than the Syllabus of
the great pontiff, Pius IX, [190] which has been so often confirmed
by Leo XIII, in which all rebellion against legitimate authorities
is so vigorously condemned. They know that, as lovers of the only
true liberty--Christian liberty--we would rather die than consent,
in whatever pertains to us, to the least lack of the purity of the
infallible Catholic teachings, of the holiness of Christian customs,
and of the most complete loyalty due the Spanish nation. Consequently,
they hate us; consequently, veiled under divers names and with
divers pretexts, they are making so cruel war upon us, that one
would believe that the masons and filibusters have no other enemies
in Filipinas than the religious corporations. In such wise does that
honor us that we can very well say with the prince of the apostles:
"If you be reproached for the name of Christ, you shall be blessed:
for that which is of the honor, glory, and power of God, and that
which is his spirit resteth upon you (1 Peter iv, 14)." [191]
And for their patriotic significance. Apart from their essentially
religious character, the regulars of the archipelago have another
significance that makes them odious to the separatists. They are the
only permanent and deeply-rooted Spanish institution in the islands,
with a suitable and rigorous organization, perfectly adapted to these
regions. While the other Peninsulars live here in the fulfilment
of their duty more or less time, as is convenient to their private
interests, and with no other bond that follows them to Filipinas
than their own convenience, being ignorant of the language of the
country and having no other relations with the natives than those of
a superficial intercourse, we religious come here to sacrifice our
whole life. We form as it were a net of soldiers of religion and of the
fatherland in the archipelago, scattered even to the remotest villages
of the islands. Here we have our history, our glories, the ancestral
house, so to speak, of our family. Bidding an eternal farewell to our
native soil, we condemn ourselves voluntarily, by virtue of our vows,
to live forever consecrated to the moral, religious, and political
education of these natives, for whose defense we have in all ages
waged campaigns, which, without the pious boastings [crudezas]
and exaggerations of Las Casas, [192] have constantly reproduced in
Filipinas the figure of the immortal defender of the American natives.
Craftiness of the insurgent leaders of filibusterism. In this point
it must be confessed that the insurgent leaders of filibusterism
are logical. "Do the regulars," they have asked themselves, "who
are the Spaniards most deeply-rooted and most influential in the
country, and the most beloved and respected by the people, agree
to, or will they ever agree to our projects? Then let us petition
their expulsion, and their disappearance in one way or another. If
we do not succeed in it, let us destroy them. Since there are many
peninsulars, who, influenced by modern errors or carried away by
ignorance or evil passion, lend ear to those who inveigh against
the religious, let us inveigh loudly. Let us form a powerful cry
against them. Let us conspire in lodges and political clubs. Let us
petition at any risk measures looking to the lowering and destruction
of the regular clergy. Those peninsulars will listen to us without
us having any fear that they will hold us as filibusters. It will be
said of us that we are liberals, that we are reformers, that we are
democrats, that we are even masons and free-thinkers: but that does not
matter. Many peninsulars are the same. They also inveigh against the
religious. They also petition freedom of thought, freedom of the press,
freedom of association, secularization of education, ecclesiastical
disamortization, suppression of the privileges of the clergy. They
also inveigh against the terrible theocracy, and do not cease to
defame the religious and to impute to them all sorts of crimes."
That, your Excellency, is the watchword that has been given to
all the filibusters, and to all who will procure the emancipation
of the country in one way or another, for their separatist ends,
and especially since the treaty of Biac-na-bató. "There is nothing
against España, nothing against the king, nothing against the army,
nothing against the Spanish administration: say if you have seized
arms that it has been exclusively because of the abuses of the clergy,
that you were not attempting separation from the mother-country;
that you wished only modern liberties and the disappearance of the
orders. And even though all the documents, judicial and extrajudicial,
in which appear the plans of the conspirators, and all the acts of
the canton of Cavite, during its ephemeral emancipation, demonstrates
the contrary, let us exert ourselves to say that that was not the
intention of the rebels, that that was an affair of some enthusiasts
or madmen, but that the great mass of the insurgents seized arms only
through coveting those liberties. The multitude of lay Spaniards of
every class and profession sacrificed; the countless natives killed or
harassed in innumerable ways, because of their unswerving loyalty to
the fatherland; the cries of 'Death to the Castilas!' and 'Long live
the Tagálogs!' the stamps of a Tagálog republic, a Filipino republic,
[193] an army of freedom; the speeches and circulars of the assembly
or supreme council; the fiery Katipunan constitution written in
characters of a mysterious key, and that written at Biac-na-bató;
and in their style, an infinite number of deeds and documents, many
of them very recent, which even to satiety evidently demonstrate the
anti-Spanish and separatist character of the insurrection: all that
we shall now conceal by crying 'Down with the friars!' 'Long live
democratic liberties!' 'Long live España!' and with those cries are
we certain of being heard, and in that way shall we be able to more
easily attain the final goal of our desires."
That is the logic and the tactics of the filibusters, and it must be
confessed that in it they show themselves to possess practical talent,
and to be thoroughly acquainted with the society that surrounds
them. Had they said that the insurrection had been provoked by the
excesses of the government employes, of the military, of the governors,
of the directors of the treasury; had they placed in relief the
multitude of abuses that have been committed against the native in
one form or another (although never by the nation, or by the majority
of its sons); had they attributed the armed insurrection to that:
they would now be opposed by all the peninsular element, and their
voice would have had not the slightest echo, as it would have been
stifled by the more powerful voice of others who would have cried
out in defense of the Spanish name, and who would have locked on them
the door to all the means of propaganda and agitation which they are
now exploiting. But when they declaimed against the clergy, when they
demanded the liberties that the clergy cannot in conscience approve,
they had at least assured their campaign, and in part, perhaps,
the success of the same.
Their real purposes. Does not this show, your Excellency, that,
in talking of the supposed or enormously exaggerated abuses of the
clergy, they are not moved by love of justice and morality, and much
less by love for España? What then, do they not recognize that for one
religious who has committed abuses, it is to be surmised, from their
employment, that there have been many more laymen in proportion (and
let it be clear that we accuse no one, and least of all the worthy
official corporations) who have converted their office, totally or
partially, into a means for illegal advancement? Have the insurgents
not cried out at other times, and during the preparatory period of
the insurrection, against the meritorious civil guard, against judges
and alcaldes, against the army, against the peninsular resident in
the island, against the administration in general, and even against
the superior authorities of the archipelago? Is not this proved
by the books of the unfortunate Rizal, by the Solidaridad, [194]
and other documents and pamphlets of the laborers, although one must
not forget that their favorite watchword was always to cruelly attack
the religious? Undoubtedly so, but it was not now advisable for them
to declare it. Now was come the opportunity to show themselves very
Spanish, very loyal to the king (they who were affiliating themselves
to the extent of their ability with the most radical parties), very
fond of the army, and to attack only the religious!
Accusations against the orders. They work deceitfully, we shall say
with the Psalmist (Psalm 35), [195] they talk of peace and of love
outwardly, but evil and hate are hid in their hearts; supervacue
exprobaverunt animam meam. Most vainly do they wrong us, we shall add,
in respect to the accusations that they direct against us. "Unjust
witnesses rising up have asked me things I knew not. They repaid me
evil for good: and have sworn my destruction. But thou, O Lord, wilt
destroy their plans, and wilt save my existence." (Psalm 35.) [196]
Yea, your Excellency, unjust witnesses, for where are those abuses,
those excesses, those vices, those outrages, of which their mouths
are so full, and which furnish them matter for their speeches of a
demagogical club of the rabble? What do the religious corporations
maintain, when viewed with a deep synthetical standard, which is
not in accordance with the canons of the Church and the rules of
their institute; which is not fitting to the holy ministry that they
profess; which is not greatly beneficial to the supreme interests
of the fatherland? We turn our eyes in all directions, and however
quick-sighted may be our eyes, unless one views the orders through
the pharisaical or separatist prism, they discover nothing that does
not merit the heartiest applause. "Laudet te alienus," says the sacred
book of Proverbs, "et non os tuum." [197] But it is not our intention
to praise ourselves here. It is our intention to vindicate ourselves;
to defend our honor unjustly impeached; to demonstrate our eminently
Spanish mission; and to maintain our good name, which is our treasure,
which is the great title of nobility that we can never abdicate
nor allow to be vilified. "By your good works stop the mouth of the
ignorance of foolish and senseless men," says St. Peter to us. (1
Peter ii, 15.) [198]
"We walk not in craftiness, nor by adulterating the word of God;
but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's
conscience, in the sight of God; that is our glory, the testimony of
our conscience," is also taught us by St. Paul. (2 Cor. iv, 2.) [199]
From our dishonor follows the dishonor of the holy and Spanish mission
that we exercise; and God has told us that we should be the salt of
the earth and the light of the world, and that we should shine in
such manner that men may see our good works, and glorify our father
who is in heaven. [200]
How they have fulfilled their duties. Our good works are in the gaze
of all men, and our good works, thanks to God, are the brightest
gem of the corporations. Not only do we preach the gospel here; not
only do we carry the Christian and civilized life to the barbarous
and fetish-encumbered inhabitants of these islands; not only did we
obtain the incorporation of the archipelago into the Spanish crown,
working in harmony with the other official entities, and preserved it,
as is well known, in a peaceful and happy condition for the space
of three centuries; but also, in all time, even now when we are
wronged so deeply by some ingrate Filipinos, whom we pity, have we
been the constant defenders of the Indians, enduring for that reason
innumerable loathings, and all kinds of persecution on the part of
many peninsulars, who did not understand the devotion and patriotism
of our conduct. In all time have we been zealous for the purity
of the faith and for the conservation of good morals; and illegal
exactions, bribery, extortions, outrages, ease, immoral gambling,
and a licentious or little restrained life, have always had in us a
severe judge and the most inexorable censor.