Читать книгу The Friar's Daughter - Charles Lincoln Phifer - Страница 5

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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 aling1 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.

Jose Lonzello, Bishop of Manila.2

Shortly afterward two boats put forth from the battleship for the shore bearing, not only Mrs. Rizal, but also a quantity of guns and ammunition, as well as other equipments for campaigning. They were met at the shore by Saguanaldo and his men with demonstrations of joy and Mrs. Rizal delivered her message from the admiral with the feeling of triumph:

“Tell General Saguanaldo,” the message went, “to take and hold the city of Manila. The American battleships will see that the Spanish forts do not interfere. But destroy as little property as possible, and maintain order and discipline.”

1 Aling—Miss. ↑

2 This circular is a correct translation of a portion of a circular, signed by a priest, that was distributed in Manila shortly after the battle that gave America possession of the bay. ↑