Washington sentinel., 1899-02-11
Apu,naldo: A Character sketch
From the Rsvisas of RsVfsOs-

NL.
he belongs to a community wnlch loi
more than three hundred years mas
undergone a political, civil, and eccie.
siastical tyranny of the most pronounced
type, To understand Agulnaldo thor
oughly one must understand the PhIllp-
pine thoroughly. To do THIS WIN
existing information is eXceeuIhRy
difficult. It is therefore more olrncult
to make a correct and complete analysis
Of the man.
The intricate conditions are visible III
his appearance. His complexion
about half way between the redulsn
brown OF the Malay and the olive OF the
.ipaniard. There is a yelloWlsn tlnse
about it which, taken in connecuon WIN
his forehead, would lead one to iniet
that a modicum Of Chinese blood ho"eo
in his veins, and that in his Peolstee
was some individual Of Igorrote Shlnese
or oil Tagalo Chinese characteristic
Upon this point it will be dithcul'' II no'
impossible, ever to learn the exact truth'
So deep has been the moral mlre OF tne
Philippines under Spanish rule SO
universal the imm oralitY ofthe dominant
race, that neither the civil nor religious
authorities have ever cared to Keep any
record of the alliances and misaliances'
the births legitimate and illeatimate'
the wives, concubines. and misuesses'
slaves and abducted women who nave
filed the long years OF Spanish rule. IL
is only OF late years that the Iagals'
both pure and half bred, have Oeeh
permitted to use Castilian names, ana
then, as though the spirit Of grim Gothic
humor had permeated the official mind
at Manila. the brown men and theoro
white men were allowed to take the oest
names IN Spanish history and literature
No bureaucrat and no parish priest sa"
the sardonic irony of half breed calling
himself Aguinaldo. Cervantes, Calderou'
De Vega, ,Agramonte, Legespl, De Leon
and De Soto. For humor the practice
surpassed that which prevailed III our
own country before the war, when
every plantation saw in living bronze
Julius ce 5ar, PompeY, Sclpio Atricanus,
Cleopatra, and EPaminondas.
In his features, face, and skull Aguin
aldo looks more like European than
Malay. He is what would be called a
handsome man, and might be compared
with many young men in the province
of Andalusia. Spain. II there be truth
in phrenology ne is a man above the
common. The zone OF skull, which
indicates mentality, is well developed
for European-abnormally large for
Malay. The moral zone is Of medium
development, and the animal or cere-
bellar zone is comparatively small, with
the exception OF the reach over the ears,
indicating destructiveness and cruelty
The phrenologist would be borne out
by the consensus of those who know
him. Friends and enemies agree that
he is intelligent, ambitious, farsighted,
brave, self controlled, honest, moral,
VlndictiVe, and at times cruel He pos
sesses the quality which friends call
wisdom and enemies call craft. Accord
ing to those who like him he is cour
teous, thoughtful and digni6ed; accord
ing to those who dislike him he is vain,
insncere, pretentiOus and arrogant.
Both admit him to be genial, generous,
self sacrificing, popular, and capable in
the adminIstFat on OF affairs. If the
opinion OF his toes be accepted
he is one Of the greatest MalaYs on the
page of history. If the opinion OF his
friends be taken as the criterion he is
one Of the great men Of history irrespec'
tive OF race
Like all great men he has had very
chequered career. The facts which are
known to all residents Of the Philippines
are altogether out Of the usual run, and
IN addition to these myth and rumor
have already begun to weave strange
tissues about his figure. He claims 10
have been born in the province OF Cavite.
and at any rate it was in this province
that he was known as a little boy. His
friends say that he was the son OF
Spanish general: his enemies in Manila
that he was the offspring OF a dissolute
but learned Jesuit At the age OF four
he was a house boy in the home of a
Jesuit priest at Cavite. A houseboy in
the Philippines, as in CHINA. plays the
part OF house dog rather than that OF
a domestic servant. II the head Of the
house is cruel he Is kicked and cufied
by everybody and lives on short COM
mons; il his master is kind and aftec'
tionate he enjoys about the same atten-
ton as one Of the children of the family.
The only work which he does is to run
from one part Of the house to the other
or from the house to any part Of the
grounds within the compound or space
enclosed by the walls around the entire
establishment. He helps the table boy
to clean the silver, to scour the knives,
and to set and unset the table. Aguin-
aldo's master was very kind man and
took deep interest in the welfare of
his little protege. He dressed him well,
so much so as to excite the notice and
even the wrath OF some neighbors. More
important still, he gave the boy an edu
cation, which, though unequal to what
every child receives in the United States,
was a hundredfold better than is given
the little Tagals of Luzon.
The policy Of Spain for years, Il not
for the entire period at It's dominion in
the Philippines. has been to keep the
people in comparative ignorance and to
preserve the semi-savage, associated
tribal system which prevailed at the tiEie
Of the conquest by Legaspi. Not per
cent. OF the population can read or write
Books are almost as scarce as diamonds
- ,ha C.,,, chat ara found in a little