As General Saguanaldo and his men drew to shore, a small English
woman approached him from a clump of bamboos that grew near the shore,
hiding the new city from sight.
"What do you here, Madam Rizal?" asked Saguanaldo, bowing low. "You
always bear important news."
"I have a circular which Bishop Lonzello has been distributing
throughout Luzon. Did you win a promise from the admiral to aid us
in our struggle?"
"He told me to go ahead and do the best I could against the Spaniards."
"But no promise definitely to help us gain our independence?"
"N-o, I can't say that he did."
"Grant me permission, then, to lay this document before him. I am of
his own race, and believe I can induce him to aid our cause."
"Let me see the paper."
Mrs. Rizal handed the paper to the insurgent general, and as he read
stood gazing abstractedly over the water. She was yet a young woman,
but her face revealed both sorrow and determination. She was the
widow of the late insurgent, Dr. Rizal, who was the best educated and
probably the most manly of all who had opposed the exactions of the
friars in the interest of the native population. He had accomplished
but very little, and only a short time before had been shot by the
Spanish soldiery, at the instigation of Lonzello and others. The
widow, after that event, seemed to have no object in life but to
carry on the work her husband had begun, and became an invaluable aid
to Saguanaldo. She grasped situations he could not understand. She
advised with the good sense of a veteran. She went from place to place,
singing, talking and encouraging. She was always active in the cause
of Philippine independence, and no task, no privation, was so great
as to deter her. But perhaps the service that most appealed to the
Filipino leader came through her friendship with Ambrosia Lonzello. She
managed that the aling [7] might meet her lover, and at the same time
protected them from the friar, her father, so that he never suspected
that his enemy was the lover of his daughter.
"Go, and God bless you," said the insurgent, after he had finished
reading the friar's address.
Again the boat pushed from shore, this time bearing, not Saguanaldo,
but Mrs. Rizal. When they arrived at the American flagship the
woman introduced herself to Admiral Rainey and gave a history of
her husband's struggle and his fate. There was more feeling in her
recital than there had been in Saguanaldo's and the admiral was
clearly touched by it. When she had finished the story she said:
"And, Admiral, our enemies are your enemies. The men who are fighting
us are warring you also. I do not ask you to take my word for it,
but I bring you a circular which is being distributed over the island
by Friar Lonzello, which I ask permission to read to you."
The admiral gave his consent and the woman read, translating from
the Spanish as she proceeded:
There appeared at dawn, on a sad day for this country, my beloved
sons, mastering our beautiful bay, the North American squadron,
that in a few months, and in spite of the heroism of our sailors,
destroyed our ships and raised upon one of our plazas, blessed
soil of the nation, the flag of the enemy. Do not ignore who
it is and what he attempts, who with such haughty pride, would
trample right under foot and impose himself upon us. It is the
alien, who wishes to subject us to his hard yoke. It is the
heretic, who desires to snatch from us our religion. It is the
insatiable commercialist, who, with the ruins of Spain and her
possessions, wants to swell his fortune. Unhappy Spain, if the
invader achieves his purpose! Poor Filipinos, the day that the
North American establishes here a permanent government! Very
soon you will see an impassible barrier between you and your
proud masters. You would then have neither office, employment
nor participation in the government or administration of the
cities. You would soon form a separate class, reviled as pariahs,
exploited like miserable serfs, reduced to the condition of day
laborers, and even to that of a beast or a machine fed with a
pinch of rice or corn, that your master would throw in your face
as a daily ration, in order to not see himself deprived of the
product of your labor and sweat; he regaled with the treasures
and fruits of the country that is yours and not his. You would
soon see your temples in ruins. The cross would disappear from
your cemeteries, the crucifix from your schools.... Fortunately
the Filipinos recognize all the perils that threaten. Perhaps us
a unit for your defense, and as a single soul raise to heaven
your ardent supplications. To arms, to arms, and to prayer! To
arms, for Spanish people, when its patriotism is wounded and its
religion attacked, is capable of great achievement. To prayer,
because the victory is with God and against infidels.