Lineage, Life and Labors of Jos Rizal, Philippine Patriot | Page 4

to do so. It rarely occurred to
former historians that the lamp of experience might prove a light for the
feet of future generations, and the mistakes of the past were usually
ignored or passed over, thus leaving the way open for repeating the old
errors. But profit, not pride, should be the object of the study of the past,
and our historians of today very largely concern themselves with
mistakes in policy and defects of system; fortunately for them such
critical investigation under our changed conditions does not involve the
discomfort and danger that attended it in the days of Doctor Rizal.
In the opinion of the martyred Doctor, criticism of the right sort--even
the very best things may be abused till they become intolerable
evils--serves much the same useful warning purpose for governments
that the symptoms of sickness do for persons. Thus government and
individual alike, when advised in time of something wrong with the
system, can seek out and correct the cause before serious consequences
ensue. But the nation that represses honest criticism with severity, like
the individual who deadens his symptoms with dangerous drugs, is
likely to be lulled into a false security that may prove fatal. Patriot
toward Spain and the Philippines alike, Rizal tried to impress this view
upon the government of his day, with fatal results to himself, and the
disastrous effects of not heeding him have since justified his position.
The very defenses of Old Manila illustrate how the Philippines have
suffered from lack of such devoted, honest and courageous critics as
José Rizal. The city wall was built some years later than the first

Spanish occupation to keep out Chinese pirates after Li Ma-hong
destroyed the city. The Spaniards sheltered themselves in the old
Tagalog fort till reënforcements could come from the country. No one
had ever dared to quote the proverb about locking the door after the
horse was stolen. The need for the moat, so recently filled in, was not
seen until after the bitter experience of the easy occupation of Manila
by the English, but if public opinion had been allowed free expression
this experience might have been avoided. And the free space about the
walls was cleared of buildings only after these same buildings had
helped to make the same occupation of the city easier, yet there were
many in Manila who foresaw the danger but feared to foretell it.
Had the people of Spain been free to criticise the Spaniards' way of
waiting to do things until it is too late, that nation, at one time the
largest and richest empire in the world, would probably have been
saved from its loss of territory and its present impoverished condition.
And had the early Filipinos, to whom splendid professions and
sweeping promises were made, dared to complain of the Peninsular
policy of procrastination--the "mañana" habit, as it has been
called--Spain might have been spared Doctor Rizal's terrible but true
indictment that she retarded Philippine progress, kept the Islands
miserably ruled for 333 years and in the last days of the nineteenth
century was still permitting mediaeval malpractices. Rizal did not
believe that his country was able to stand alone as a separate
government. He therefore desired to preserve the Spanish sovereignty
in the Philippines, but he desired also to bring about reforms and
conditions conducive to advancement. To this end he carefully pointed
out those colonial shortcomings that caused friction, kept up discontent,
and prevented safe progress, and that would have been perfectly easy to
correct. Directly as well as indirectly, the changes he proposed were
calculated to benefit the homeland quite as much as the Philippines, but
his well-meaning efforts brought him hatred and an undeserved death,
thus proving once more how thankless is the task of telling unpleasant
truths, no matter how necessary it may be to do so. Because Rizal
spoke out boldly, while realizing what would probably be his fate,
history holds him a hero and calls his death a martyrdom. He was not
one of those popularity-seeking, self-styled patriots who are ever

mouthing "My country, right or wrong;" his devotion was deeper and
more disinterested. When he found his country wrong he willingly
sacrificed himself to set her right. Such unselfish spirits are rare; in life
they are often misunderstood, but when time does them justice, they
come into a fame which endures.
Doctor Rizal knew that the real Spain had generous though sluggish
intentions, and noble though erratic impulses, but it awoke too late; too
late for Doctor Rizal and too late to save the Philippines for Spain;
tardy reforms after his death were useless and the loss of her overseas
possessions was the result. Doctor Rizal lost when he staked his life on
his trust in the innate sense of honor of