^^>< EDWIN WILDMAN ^^9^ So (1 QJarncU InioErHtty: Sihtary atljata. Nero ^nrk ^y', C. ScAu)-/Meu Date Due 7^^ 955 H^, VUU^<;;^2 m\ -D^^^J5^M-&- M^:^rMia_MJ! '9 JUL18 ^ Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023262888 Cornell University Library DS 676.8.A28W67 3 1924 023 262 888 Aguinaldo Aquinaldo . A NARRAriVE OF FILIPINO AMBITIONS » By EDWIN WILDMAN Former Vice and Deputy Consul'General at Hong Kong ; IVar Correspondent during the Filipino Revolt; Special Commissioner to China during the Boxer Rebellion • LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY BOSTON * 5 J>W - COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED . ENTERED AT STATIONERS- HALL Jl. S. Gushing St Co. — Berwick & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A. ,^,.e-r\ A NOTE TO THE READER As I think of the bullet-pierced bodies of our brave American boys prone on the wastes of Luzon's sun-beaten rice-fields, or sleeping their last sleep in the wilds of the jungle, it is dif- ficult to write impassionately of the enemy behind the gun. And yet, as I recall those fearful scenes across the trench, and see the ground strewn with silent brown forms, gaping with wounds, horrible in death, the victims of human cupid- ity and mistaken leadership, my heart softens with conflicting emotions. For I hear again the rattle of musketry, the rumble of cannon, the whir of bullets, and I remember that this is the final arbiter in the destinies of races, — the tie that binds us im- mutably to the barbaric past and points sig- nificantly to the unwritten future ; then sorrow displaces passion, despair tramples on sadness, S A NOTE ro THE READER 6 — sorrow for the victims of strife, despair of the signs of progress. The reaUties of war and its horrors are fresh within me. The vivid scenes of the battlefield are engraven forever upon my memory. So, to those who follow these lines I would say, my pen is earnest, and my purport sin'cere. It is but a narrative I tell ; not as an attorney gathers up the thread of evidence, not as a preacher espouses a cause, but only as a wit- ness and student of things and their meanings, full of sympathy for the vanquished, impartiality toward the victors, and unprejudiced by racial conditions, political considerations, or personal ambitions. If this spirit is manifest through the narra- tive, I have succeeded in my efforts ; if it is lacking, I have failed utterly. The reader must judge. EDWIN WILDMAN. New York, June 15, 1901. s ILLUSTRATIONS Reminders of Spanish Cruelty . ... 22 Jose Rixal and his Execution .... j^. Departure of Aguinaldo and Filipino Chieftains from Calumpit for Hong Kong . 48 Emilio Aguinaldo, General and President . p8 Filipe Agoncello, Ambassador . g8 Alejandro Paterno. President of Aguinaldo' s Cabinet g8 Aguinaldo' s Leading Generals, Antonio Luna, Ri- cardo, Garcia, and Paua .... 108 Aguinaldo reviewing the Revolutionary Forces . ij8 Bacolor Arch, designed hy Aguinaldo . lj8 The Anting- Anting, the Filipino' s Charm against Death 142 Triumphal Arch erected in Honor of Aguinaldo' Inauguration at Malolos .... 752 Arrival of Aguinaldo for his Inauguration . I§2 Proclamation of Aguinaldo as President of the Revo- lutionary Government at Malolos . lyS San Juan Bridge, Santa Mesa, where the First Shot was fired 1^6 7 ILLUSTRATIONS 8 Page Filipino Intrenchments, built by Spanish Prisoners The Capitol of the Philippine Republic at Malalos 23S A Group of Aguinaldo's Generals, Gregoria del Pilar, Maseardo, Torres, and Pio Del Pilar 252 Aguinaldo' s Headquarters at Biacnabato 278 Aguinaldo' s Headquarters at Cavite . 278 The Wife of Aguinaldo . 314 State Carriage of Aguinaldo at Malolos 314 Relics of the Insurrection 334 yiGUINALDO AGUINALDO I AGUINALDO has taken the oath of alle- giance. He has sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States. He is eligible to hold official position in the Philip- pine Islands. He may some day cast a vote for the electors of the President of the United States. It is time, therefore, that we cease to joke about his gold whistle and gilded collar and take him seriously. Aguinaldo has always taken himself seriously. It is a Malayan character- istic. The Malay is not much of a joker. He is not given to being funny. He never saw a comic paper until Spanish newspaper men cartooned him in a Manila publication. He saw nothing funny in being represented as a monkey. He did not laugh when the Americans took up the joke and an American officer said that the Filipinos were all right in their place, AGUINALDO 12 but that they had descended from the trees three hundred years too soon. Aguinaldo took himself and the ambitions of his people so seriously that he convinced him- self of the possibility of Filipino Independence. He even carried on for nearly three years the machinery of the Filipino RepubUc ; for over two years he refused to surrender, out- witting the combined military and naval forces of the United States in the Pacific, and though besieged in the mountain fastness of the Cara- ballo range, surrounded only by a few faithful followers, cut off from his compatriots in arms, he still maintained his " government," issued orders to his scattered guerillas, and eluded the army of the United States. He was an example of the most marvellous conceit in the world's his- tory. But conceited men are usually devoid of humor. They take themselves seriously. Aguinaldo is a Malay. His is the type of Filipino that will concern us permanently. Aguinaldo is ours — and "we are his'n." Let us make the most of each other. Let us under- stand each other. To know Aguinaldo we must know the Malay. To know the Malay we must live with him, employ him, trade with him, associate with him, — and be deceived by him. Aguinaldo commands the consideration of all ; HIS CHARACTER 13 who have taken the trouble to study his char- acter and watch the trend of events of which he is the central figure. There is something in this little Tagalog that inspires respect, — something that commands attention. There is quality out of the ordinary in a man, born in the wilds of an outlying island, uneducated, uncultured, untravelled, who possesses the power to inspire men to heroism and self-sacrifice; who mus- tered an army out of men who never fought but with the knife, bow, and arrow; who held in check the violent passions for revenge, plunder, and destruction in a race accustomed to cruelty and oppression from the white man. In the nineteenth century there has not been a more unique figure among the native races of the earth than this Tagalog patriot — or rebel ; call him what you will. Philosophers call silent men wise; superficial people call them igno- rant. Aguinaldo is wise among his people ignorant among Europeans. He is not a Napo- leon or a Washington ; neither is he a Tecumseh or a Sitting Bull. His name suggests no meta- phor. Yet the Aguinaldo known to fame is not the real Aguinaldo. The real Aguinaldo has a personality and character quite different and apart from that of popular conception. The ; AGUINALDO 14 Aguinaldo of fame is a name ; the Aguinaldo of reality is an ordinary appearing little Malay who has been quick to learn and clever to utilize the gifts God has given him. In the revolution against the United States Aguinaldo played a peculiar and difficult part. Accredited with the ability apparent in the manifestoes, letters, and proclamations that have borne his signature, he possessed the cleverness to assume their respon- sibility and maintain the dignity of such an ex- alted position. Aguinaldo is not ignorant neither is he the intellectual strategist his writ- ings would make him appear. He does not possess the genius the natives accredit him with, nor is he the nondescript ignoramus pic- tured by his detractors. He is shrewd enough to know his limitations, and has ability sufficient to promote his ambitions. These qualities alone are formidable ones, and it is well to realize them, for Aguinaldo will be a factor in Philip- pine affairs as long as he lives. Aguinaldo was born some thirty-two years ago (about 1869) in Cavite Viejo. His father was a native of the farmer class, whose principal em- ployment consisted in selling vegetables to the Spanish and native inhabitants of Cavite. Being a man of more than average ability, and possess- ing considerable force of character, he rose to EARLY LIFE 15 some little local prominence among his towns- men, and was thrice elected mayor of his native borough. Aguinaldo's mother was a Mestiza, her father being a Chinaman, of whom I have heard it said, he was a descendant of a Mandarin of considerable influence and power in China. From this celestial lineage Aguinaldo probably inherited his craft and stoical demeanor. His parents baptized him in the Catholic faith, call- ing him Christmas-box — or gift, the literal meaning of the Tagalog word "Aguinaldo." It might be presumed therefore that the future chieftain of the Tagalogs was born on Christ- mas, although some records give March 22 as his natal day. His early life was spent on the farm or running about the streets playing with the na- tive children of the neighborhood. He never learned Spanish sufficiently to converse flu- ently. When he became of suitable age he attended the Tagalog school at Cavite, where only the most meagre rudiments of education were taught.