which accompanied her flag upon the mainland and islands of the
New World is its imperishable glory, and the transformation of the
Filipino people from Orientals into mediaeval Europeans through the
colonizing genius of the early Castilians, remains a marvel unmatched
in colonial history and merits the lasting gratitude of the Filipino.

Doctor Rizal satirized the degenerate descendants and scored the
unworthy successors, but his writings may be searched in vain for
wholesale charges against the Spanish nation such as Spanish scribblers
were forever directing against all Filipinos, past, present and future,
with an alleged fault of a single one as a pretext. It will be found
that he invariably recognized that the faithful first administrators
and the devoted pioneer missionaries had a valid claim upon the
continuing gratitude of the people of Tupa's and Lakandola's land.

Rizal's insight discerned, and experience has demonstrated, that
Legaspi, Urdaneta and those who were like them, laid broad and firm
foundations for a modern social and political organization which
could be safely and speedily established by reforms from above. The
early Christianizing civilizers deserve no part of the blame for
the fact that Philippine ports were not earlier opened to progress,
but much credit is due them that there is succeeding here an orderly
democracy such as now would be impossible in any neighboring country.

The Philippine patriot would be the first to recognize the justice
of the selection of portraits which appear with that of Rizal upon
the present Philippine postage stamps, where they serve as daily
reminders of how free government came here.

The constancy and courage of a Portuguese sailor put these Islands into
touch with the New World with which their future progress was to be
identified. The tact and honesty of a civil official from Mexico made
possible the almost bloodless conquest which brought the Filipinos
under the then helpful rule of Spain. The bequest of a far-sighted
early philanthropist was the beginning of the water system of Manila,
which was a recognition of the importance of efforts toward improving
the public health and remains a reminder of how, even in the darkest
days of miseries and misgovernment, there have not been wanting
Spaniards whose ideal of Spanish patriotism was to devote heart,
brain and wealth to the welfare of the Filipinos. These were the
heroes of the period of preparation.

The life of the one whose story is told in these pages was devoted
and finally sacrificed to dignify their common country in the eyes
of his countrymen, and to unite them in a common patriotism; he
inculcated that self-respect which, by leading to self-restraint and
self-control, makes self-government possible; and sought to inspire
in all a love of ordered freedom, so that, whether under the flag
of Spain or any other, or by themselves, neither tyrants (caciques)
nor slaves (those led by caciques) would be possible among them.

And the change itself came through an American President who
believed, and practiced the belief, that nations owed obligations
to other nations just as men had duties toward their fellow-men. He
established here Liberty through Law, and provided for progress in
general education, which should be a safeguard to good government as
well, for an enlightened people cannot be an oppressed people. Then
he went to war against the Philippines rather than deceive them,
because the Filipinos, who repeatedly had been tricked by Spain with
unfulfilled promises, insisted on pledges which he had not the power to
give. They knew nothing of what was meant by the rule of the people,
and could not conceive of a government whose head was the servant
and not the master. Nor did they realize that even the voters might
not promise for the future, since republicanism requires that the
government of any period shall rule only during the period that it
is in the majority. In that war military glory and quick conquest
were sacrificed to consideration for the misled enemy, and every
effort was made to minimize the evils of warfare and to gain the
confidence of the people. Retaliation for violations of the usages of
civilized warfare, of which Filipinos at first were guilty through
their Spanish training, could not be entirely prevented, but this
retaliation contrasted strikingly with the Filipinos' unhappy past
experiences with Spanish soldiers. The few who had been educated out
of Spain and therefore understood the American position were daily
reenforced by those persons who became convinced from what they saw,
until a majority of the Philippine people sought peace. Then the
President of the United States outlined a policy, and the history
and constitution of his government was an assurance that this policy
would be followed; the American government then began to do what it
had not been able to promise.

The forerunner and the founder of the present regime in these Islands,
by a strange coincidence, were as alike in being cruelly misunderstood
in their lifetimes by those whom they sought to benefit as they were
in the tragedy of their deaths, and both were unjustly judged by many,
probably well-meaning, countrymen.

Magellan, Legaspi, Carriedo, Rizal and McKinley, heroes of the free
Philippines, belonged to different times and were of different types,
but their work combined to make possible the growing democracy of
to-day. The diversity of nationalities among these heroes is an added
advantage, for it recalls that mingling of blood which has developed
the Filipinos into a strong people.

England, the United States and the Philippines are each composed
of widely diverse elements. They have each been developed by
adversity. They have each honored their severest critics while yet
those critics lived. Their common literature, which tells the story
of human liberty in its own tongue, is the richest, most practical
and most accessible of all literature, and the popular education upon