THE INSURRECTION AT CAVITE.
In 1872 took place what is now known as the Cavite insurrection. This
uprising had in itself no real importance; it only gained importance
because of the attention which was paid to it. The cause of the revolt
was the desire of the people for native priests. There was a party among
the native clergy whose leaders were demanding that the friars should be
forbidden to act as parish priests, and should be made to give up
certain benefits to which they were not entitled.
The native party had some right on its side in these demands. A treaty
had been made at Trent, some years before, defining the positions and
rights of the clergy in the islands. Under this treaty the friars were
not entitled to act as parish priests. They asked this privilege from
the Pope, however, and it was granted them. As a result the Filipino
clergy could act only in inferior positions, as assistants and lay
readers. They enjoyed but few of the rights and dignities of their
calling.
The leader of the clergy who were demanding their rights was a priest
named José Burgos (hō sā´ bur´gōs). He was native born, and a man of
great strength and dignity of character. It is not believed that he, or
the priests who were among his followers, really incited the revolt at
Cavite. He had, however, many enemies, and these succeeded in making him
appear to be guilty.
But whatever the origin of the uprising, it went wrong through a mistake
about signals. A number of the native soldiery were concerned in the
affair, and were to have aided the plotters in Manila. It was agreed
that certain men in Manila should get everything ready, and send up a
rocket, by which signal those at Cavite would know that the time had
come to act. It happened, however, that one night in the latter part of
January a _fiesta_ was held in one of the suburbs of Manila. Fireworks
were set off, and these the soldiers at Cavite mistook for the signal of
attack. They therefore seized the arsenal at Cavite, and attacked the
Europeans living in and about the town.
When it was too late to undo their action, they discovered the mistake.
Their friends at Manila had no idea what was taking place. They did not
come to the aid of the revolters at Cavite, and when they learned the
news, there was no time to gather their forces. The loyal troops were
called out, and the trouble was put down in two days.
All might even yet have gone well with the country if this matter could
have been allowed to rest right there. The government, however, saw fit
to regard this uprising as of grave importance. All who were suspected
of a part in it were severely punished; many were shot, and three of the
native priests were garrotted. These priests were Dr. Burgos, Dr.
Mariano Gomez (mä rē ä´nō gō´meth), and Dr. Jacinto Zamora (hä sēn´tō
thä mō´rä). As to their guilt, there will always be a doubt, and to this
day the native clergy declare that these men were innocent of planning
the revolt.
These executions made the people desperate. The secret societies which
had been forming all over Luzon had up to this time been merely local
lodges of the great society of Freemasons. Now they were turned into
political societies, with a definite aim, and that aim was to win
greater liberty for the Filipinos. These societies afterwards played a
very important part in the history of the islands.
Shortly after the uprising at Cavite, another revolt occurred in
Zamboanga; but this was put down with the help of the Moros. After the
Cavite insurrection, the native regiment of artillery was disbanded, and
a regiment of artillery from the Peninsula was brought to the islands.
In spite of all these disturbances, considerable public work was done
during the next few years. The ports of Legaspi, Tacloban, and Leyte
were opened to foreign commerce in 1873–1874, and in 1875 the famous
Bridge of Spain across the Pasig River, in Manila, was built and thrown
open for public use. The opening of the Suez Canal was a helpful thing
to the commerce of the Philippines, and under wise and just government
there might have been a time of prosperity for the country.
[Illustration:
THE GROUNDS OF THE CAVITE ARSENAL.
]
In 1877 Don Domingo Moriones y Morillo (dō min´gō mō rē ō´nās ē mō
rēl´yō) became governor-general. When he arrived in Manila, the King’s
Regiment, the mainstay of the Spanish forces in the islands, was in
revolt. This revolt had been kept a secret by the retiring
governor-general, for fear of the result if the natives should learn the
truth. The new governor-general caused the regiment to be drawn up in
line and numbered. When this had been done, every tenth man was told off
to be shot next morning. Moriones was afterwards persuaded to spare many
of these men, but the ringleaders were all shot; some others were put
into prison for long terms, and about fifty of them were sent back to
Spain in disgrace.
The term of office upon which he entered with such vigor was marked by a
number of very good acts on the part of the governor-general. His name
should be remembered with gratitude in Manila, for it was he who caused
the public waterworks to be built. Over a hundred years before, a
patriotic governor-general, Don Fernando Carriedo (fer nän´dō cä rē
ā´dō), had left a fund to provide the city with a suitable water supply.
This money was to be kept at interest until the fund grew large enough
for the purpose, and it had increased so much that work should have been
begun a good many years before. But those having the money in charge
were not willing to give it up, and it was only after a bitter struggle
that Governor-General Moriones was able to get Carriedo’s wishes carried
out. This enterprise was a great blessing to the city of Manila, as the
value of a pure water supply cannot be over-estimated.
Moriones also did what he could to get appropriations from the treasury
to pay off the tobacco growers, whose condition was at this time pitiful
indeed. They had not been paid for some years, while at the same time
they were not allowed to grow any other crop by which they might
maintain themselves. In 1881 this tobacco monopoly, which had worked
such wrong to the people, was ended by royal decree of King Alfonso XII.
[Illustration:
PUMPING STATION, CARRIEDO WATERWORKS.
]
In 1880 there was a violent earthquake in Manila. The disturbances
lasted from the 14th of July to the 25th of the same month, and did a
great deal of damage in the city, causing loss of property and life. The
people were reduced to such a state of terror that they dared not live
in the better class of houses in Manila, but took to the nipa huts in
the suburbs. These houses were less dangerous because of their light
structure.
This same year cable communication was set up between Spain and Manila.
In 1881 Governor-General Primo de Rivera (prē´mō dā rē vā´rä) came to
office. One of the first things he did was to organize an expedition
against the Igorrotes of northern Luzon; but, like all other attempts to
subdue these people, this expedition was a failure. The Spanish soldiers
who took part in it left behind them among the Igorrotes such a record
for cruelty and violence that to this day most of these people hate the
sight of a white man.
There was trouble enough for the people during Rivera’s rule. In 1882 a
cholera epidemic broke out in Manila, and in less than three months
30,000 people died in the city and its suburbs and throughout the
province. There were also several typhoons of unusual violence, and a
terrifying eruption of Mayon volcano, which lasted for many months.
In 1883 Joaquin Jovellar y Soler (hō ä kēn´ hō vāl´här ē sō´lėr), who
had won a name for himself as the “peacemaker” in Cuba, became
governor-general of the Philippines. He was well received by the
Spanish, and made some attempt to bring about reforms in the country.
The old-time tribute, the cause of so many revolts among the people, was
replaced by the “cedula personal,” or paper of identity, which every
inhabitant above eighteen years of age was compelled to have. During his
time, there were small outbreaks among the people, and threats of a
general insurrection, which led to more troops being sent out from the
Peninsula. It became necessary now to have Spanish troops almost
altogether, as the native soldiers could not be depended upon to fire on
their own people.
By now there was coming to the front in the islands a considerable body
of thoughtful young men. These were beginning to demand greater liberty
for the Filipinos. In the Visayas, Graciano Lopez Jaena (grä seä´no
lō´peth hä ā nä) had become a teacher of the people. This man has been
called the “John the Baptist of the Visayas.”
The people in that part of the country were in a position even more
hopeless than were those in Luzon. They knew little or nothing of what
was going on in the northern islands. They had no leaders of their own,
but were dominated by different parties among their rulers. These
parties were constantly quarreling among themselves and with the
government at home. Between these factions the people lay like corn
between the millstones, crushed almost beyond hope of ever attaining the
smallest human rights.
Jaena was born in Jaro, near Iloilo, and was a student in the seminario
there. Like many young men of his time, he had the desire to go to Spain
and finish his studies. The friars had taken alarm at the number of
young Filipino men who were doing this, and they refused Jaena
permission to leave his studies at the seminario. They claimed that, as
he was one of their students, they had a right to dictate how he should
dispose of his life, and where he should pursue his studies. An action
so arbitrary and unjust as this was not to be borne by a young man of
any spirit. Jaena left the seminario without the permission of his
teachers, went to Manila, and from there to Spain.
In Madrid he made the acquaintance of a number of members of the Liberal
Party, who listened willingly to what the young man had to say, and made
great efforts to get him an audience with the Ministers of State. For a
time he was well received in Spain, but the Liberal Party fell into
discredit at court, and Jaena was unable to gain a hearing for any of
the reforms that were so dear to his heart. He lived in great poverty in
Madrid, forced to do menial work to maintain himself. He was never able
to get back to his own country, for which he suffered so much, but died
in Madrid while still a comparatively young man. He left a great many
writings which are well known throughout the Visayas. His name is as
much honored in that part of the country as is the name of Rizal
everywhere in the Philippines.
Dr. José Rizal y Mercado (rē thäl´ ē mer kä´dō) will never be forgotten
while there are patriotic Filipinos left to keep his memory alive. He
was a native of Calamba (kä läm´bä), in Laguna Province, and was born in
the early sixties. He was graduated from the Jesuit College in Manila,
and from there he went to Europe, where he studied medicine. He was
graduated from Madrid University as Doctor of Medicine and Philosophy.
Afterwards he went to Paris and to several German universities, from one
of which he took another degree. In Germany he became greatly interested
in the socialistic movement of the day. He mingled freely with the
German students, among whom he was very popular, and shared in their
ideas of human rights and political liberty. He was a true Catholic, but
he longed to see his country freed from the narrow rule which had made
civil government in the Philippines a farce.
[Illustration:
THE BRIDGE OF SPAIN.
]
The influence of the Orders in the islands had become known even in
Spain as a hurtful thing for the country. As far back as the year 1870
the Spanish Minister of State, in a formal report, had recommended that
the friars be removed from charge of the schools in the islands. Now the
demand was becoming general that their places should be taken by secular
priests who were natives of the country.
Rizal believed that it would be necessary to send the Orders out of the
Philippines before the country could ever be prosperous. While abroad he
wrote a novel entitled “Nolle me Tangere,” in which he showed plainly
the attitude of the friars and the people toward one another. This novel
was written in the Spanish language, but was published in Germany. While
Rizal was living as a student in France, he wrote another political
novel, “El Filibustero.”
Later he returned to the islands, and there did notable work in his
profession of medicine. He became actively interested in the condition
of the country, as well. In his own town he led a party which demanded
of the Dominican Order that it show title deeds to a large tract of
agricultural land of which it had possession. This brought down upon him
the opposition of the friars, and he found it wise to return to Europe.
In his absence his relatives and many of the chief families with whom he
had been friendly in his town were persecuted, and driven from the lands
which they had rented from the religious Orders. Their holdings were
given to Spaniards, and they received no compensation for their losses.
In 1893 Rizal went to Hong-Kong, meaning to settle there and practise
his profession. A little later he was given to understand that it would
be safe for him to come back to Manila, and he came. When he reached the
customs house at Manila, his baggage was rigidly searched, and it was
claimed that among his effects were found a number of disloyal
pamphlets. Among these were some proclamations which it was claimed he
had written for the purpose of starting a revolt among the natives.
It is not common sense to believe that Rizal had any of these things in
his trunk, and it is now generally understood that they were placed
there by those who did the searching. His enemies demanded that he
should be executed as a traitor, but the governor-general would not give
him up to them. Instead he was banished to northern Mindanao, where for
four years he lived very quietly. He practised medicine there among the
people, and many foreigners came from over the sea to consult him. He
performed several remarkable operations upon the eyes during these
years.
Then the Cuban troubles broke out, and, to prove his loyalty to Spain,
Dr. Rizal asked permission to go to Cuba as an army doctor in the
Spanish forces. This favor was granted him July 28, 1896. He went up to
Manila by way of Cebu, just at the time of the outbreak of 1896. He was
the idol of the people; everywhere his countrymen were talking about
him, and looking to him as a leader; his name brought them hope and
strengthened their courage. By them he was regarded as the future
liberator of the race, and to them he represented the promise of
liberty.
All this so alarmed his enemies that they declared it dangerous to have
him in Manila. He was at once put on board the Spanish cruiser
_Castilla_, and from there transferred to the mail steamer _Isla de
Panay_, bound for Barcelona. He carried letters of recommendation to the
Ministers of War and of the Colonies, which were sent to him by General
Blanco with a personal letter.
His enemies were determined to have his life, and he was cabled at
Barcelona to return at once to the islands. Certain accusations were
made against him, and he was thrown into prison at the Fortress of
Montjierat (mont-hē ā´rät) in Spain, until a steamer should return to
the islands. Then he was sent back to Manila, a state prisoner, isolated
from all but his jailers.
He was brought to trial for sedition and rebellion before a
court-martial of eight captains, with a lieutenant-colonel presiding;
but there was no testimony against him. How could there be? The facts
show that it was quite impossible for Rizal to have had anything to do
with the revolution of 1896. He had been a prisoner of state, in
seclusion, for years. He had had no communication with the people of
Luzon, and there was nothing to show that he had taken any part in the
revolt. But he had been condemned beforehand, and of all the cruel acts
of Governor-General Polavieja (pō lä vē ā´hä), the cruelest was his
decree for the execution of this man.
There were but a few days between Rizal’s sentence and his death. He was
engaged to marry Miss Josephine Taufer, the adopted daughter of an
American gentleman who had been a patient of Rizal’s in Hong-Kong, and
to her he was married on the day of his execution. He was shot at six
o’clock in the morning of December 30, 1896, and an immense crowd
gathered on the Luneta to witness that terrible sacrifice.
His widow joined the insurgents. She was present at the battle of Silang
(sē läng´), and fled with the rest before the Spanish, tramping through
twenty-three villages on her way to the northern provinces. She was at
last banished from the country by Governor-General Polavieja. During the
American occupation she returned for a time to the islands whose welfare
was so dear to her martyred husband. Later she went to Hong-Kong, where
she died, in March, 1902.
The name of José Rizal is now hailed with honor. The government has made
the anniversary of his birth a public holiday, and it is observed yearly
in the public schools of the archipelago. Thus is his memory kept alive.
His unselfish love for his native country should be remembered and
shared by the Filipino boys and girls now growing up to work for the
good of the land for which he hoped and dared so much.
_Summary._—The Cavite insurrection, which took place in 1872, while
not in itself of great importance, was the real beginning of the
rebellion of 1896. It failed through a mistake in regard to signals.
The Spanish authorities overrated the importance of this uprising, and
those whom they accused of being concerned in it were punished with
great severity. This course drove the people to desperation. Other
uprisings took place, and there was great disturbance in the country.
Many good public works went on, however. The Carriedo waterworks were
built and put in operation, and an effort was made to raise money to
pay off the tobacco growers. In 1881 the tobacco monopoly was done
away with by royal decree of Alfonso XII.
In 1882 came the great cholera epidemic in Manila. During the time it
raged, 30,000 people died in the city and province. During these
years, teachers of the people began to rise in the Visayas, as well as
in Luzon. Jaena, the Visayan patriot, was in Spain, trying to obtain
justice for his people. Later, Dr. José Rizal began writing of the
wrongs of his country. He came back to Manila, after an absence of
some years, but was banished to Mindanao. When the trouble in Cuba
began, he volunteered to go there as a surgeon in the Spanish army. He
sailed from Manila to Barcelona, expecting to go from there to Cuba.
At Barcelona, on the strength of despatches from Manila, he was thrown
into prison, and later was sent back to Manila. His enemies there
secured his trial on a false charge of sedition, and he was sentenced
to death and executed.
_Questions._—What was the main cause of the Cavite insurrection of
1872? Who was Don Fernando Carriedo? When were the Manila waterworks
completed? When was the tobacco monopoly ended? Who was Jaena? Give an
account of Dr. Rizal and his work.
[Illustration]