CHAPTER IX

IMPERSONAL ACCOUNTS

In its general sense narrative history includes all true-story forms, even incidents and eye-witness accounts. But annals and chronicles may be grouped by themselves on the basis of the non-personal and scientific attitude of the writer and the fact that the story is usually of the doings of a set of people living as a unit. Of course we find such type blendings as the "Annals" of Goethe, which are true but autobiographical, and the "Annals of the Parish" by John Galt, and the "Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family," which though collective are fictitious; yet for the most part these forms are thought of as embodying community and actual history, and we will take them up as such, remembering that fiction has drawn on all true-narrative forms for verisimilitude. History is often classified into narrative, scenic, and philosophical. Only with the first kind have we anything to do.

There are a number of histories that have extraordinary literary value, that are not mere recitals of past events with tame descriptions of by-gone scenes and more-or-less acute analysis of epochs and causes, but are intense human documents with the life-blood of nations throbbing and beating in their pages. Green gave his health and the best days of his living to write his "History of the English People," and we love it. It has something more than a scholar's accuracy in it. It has a broad and deep inspiration that brings a catch in the throat and a gleam of pride in the eye of any who are fortunate enough to belong to the magnificent race whose deeds it records. Enthusiasts fought for Macaulay's "History" at the door of the bindery, fulfilling the author's hope that it might be considered more interesting than a novel. Motley's "Rise of the Dutch Republic" is one of the most creditable things in American letters. Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella," "Conquest of Mexico" and of "Peru," and Parkman's "Montcalm and Wolfe" are along side for literary qualities. Carlyle's "French Revolution" is a unique and graphic set of pictures. Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" has long stood as a classic example of literary high-seriousness in an allied department. Grote's "History of Greece," Machiavel's "History of Florence," Sismondi's "Italian Republics," Hallam's "Middle Ages," Symond's "Italian Renaissance" and Schiller's "Thirty Years' War" are all worthy the name of literature and have excellent narrative in them. We can study at present, however, only those forms of history that are shorter and are merely narrative--annals, chronicles, and true relations.

I. Annals

[What annals are]

Annals are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year. The accounts of necessity are brief, since they are made and kept for reference. They contain any matter the recorders deemed worthy of notice, especially, of course, whatever affected the community as a whole. The report stands in relation to the community much as a diary stands in relation to a person. Intimate facts are to be expected. The ambitions, hopes, defeats, expenditures, future plans, of the city or state, are mentioned perhaps, as are also, maybe, its success and honor--in the carrying out of a town fiesta or county fair, or in being host to some distinguished visitor or to a session of some large political party. The essential element of this kind of narrative history is the yearly periods, though the term "annals" has been loosely used in modern literature to signify almost any temporal order. Indeed, except in studies like this such titles are never very strictly applied. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for instance, is in large part annals. However, we have a few clear cases, especially among the ancients.

[Famous old annals]

Tacitus wrote annals. Then later there are the _Annales Ecclesiastici_ of Baronius; the _Annales et Historia de Rebus Belgicis_ by Grotius, published at Amsterdam in 1557; Hailes's "Annals of Scotland from the Accession of Malcolm III to the Accession of the House of Stuart;" Chamber's "Domestic Annals of Scotland," and others. John Stow bears a very high reputation as "an accurate and impartial recorder of public events." He travelled on foot through a considerable part of England examining old manuscripts in cathedrals and other places of preservation. He wrote down impartially what he judged to be the truth, and, unswayed by "fear, favor, or malice," as he himself declared, he established trustworthy history in his native land. His "Survey of London" (1598) is the best known of his writings. A scholarly piece of work, it has served us the foundation of all subsequent histories of the metropolis.

American history, so badly treated in the past, is being written accurately for the first time, think our present day historians. They go about their work in the good old Stow fashion: they use authenticated local records. The friendly fable is current that the way a noted professor composes his many histories is this: he merely reaches about from left to right and up and down of his mammoth desk and pulls from the numerous cubby-holes bundles of closely written pages, sorts them a little, ties a string around them, and says, "Here's your book." But these closely written pages are carefully prepared, minutely accurate material--monographs on the local annals and traditions of various places, done by the professor's own students under the scrutinizing eye of their master. Whether the fable is based on truth or not, it is illustrative of the value of annals.

[Suggestions on material]

If you live in a small town, you can easily get at its records, and with the permission of a person in authority copy a few items. If you yourself very well know the events written of, you might edit the report, adding details of your own by way of notes. You should not change the statements, however, in the original; but, where there is evidence of error or omissions, you could supply a corrective amendment with the real facts in support. If you translate from one tongue into another be careful to give the idiomatic equivalent. The annals of a society or club might be easily enough compiled. All that you would need to do would be to arrange the narrative by years, culling your facts from the secretaries' reports.

=The State of England in Stephen's Reign=

1137. This year King Stephen went across the sea to Normandy. There he was well received because the people thought that he must be the same sort of man as his uncle; for he still had his treasure and he distributed it and squandered it foolishly. In large quantities had King Henry gathered gold and silver together. No good did any of it do his soul, however.

When King Stephen came to England he made his parliament at Oxenford. There he took Robert, bishop of Salisbury; Alix, bishop of Lincoln; also Chancellor Robert, his nephew; he put them all in prison until they gave up their castles. When the traitors understood that he was a mild man, soft and good, and did no justice, they did every kind of wrong. They had sworn homage to him, had made oaths, but they did not keep faith. All were foresworn and their word of truth was gone. For every rich man made him a castle, which they all held against the king. They filled the land full of castles. They oppressed very much the wretched men of the land with castle-building. When the castles were finished, they filled them with evil and devilish men. They captured and imprisoned there by night and by day all persons whom they thought had any possessions, both men and women. They put them in prison for the sake of gold and silver. They tortured them with indescribable tortures; never were martyrs tormented as were these people. They hanged up men by the feet and smoked them with foul smoke. Some were hanged up by the thumbs, others by the head, and burning things were hung on to their feet. They put knotted strings around men's heads and writhed them until they went into the brain. They put men into prison where adders and snakes and toads were crawling, and so they tormented them. Some they put into a chest short and narrow and not deep, that had sharp stones within, and forced men therein so that they broke all their limbs. In many of the castles were hateful and grim things called _tachenteges_, which two or three men had enough to do to carry. It was thus made: it was fastened to a beam and had a sharp iron to go around a man's neck and throat, so that he might noways sit, or lie, or sleep, but he bore all the iron. Many thousands they starved with hunger.

I cannot nor may I tell all the wickedness and all the torture which they did the poor wretches of this land. This condition lasted nineteen years while Stephen was king, and it grew ever worse and worse. They laid tribute on the enclosures (_tunes_) always, and called it _censerie_. When the miserable inhabitants had no more to give, then they were plundered. The nobles burned all the enclosures. So that you might easily go a whole day's journey and you would find no man sitting in his enclosure. No land was tilled. Corn was dear; also flesh, cheese, and butter, for there was none in the country. The wretched peasants died of hunger. Some who were once rich men went a begging; others fled the country.

Never was there before more destitution and suffering in the land; never did heathen men act worse than they did. For everywhere subsequently did they forbear neither church or churchyard; but they took all the property that was in them. And sometimes they burned the church and all together. Nor did they spare bishops' land, or abbots', or priests'. They spoiled monks and clerks. And every man (plundered) the other wherever he could. If two or three men came riding up to an enclosure, all the people of the farmstead fled because of them; for they thought that they were robbers. The bishops and the clergy always cursed them, but that was nothing to them; for they were all fore-cursed, fore-sworn, and lost.

Wheresoever the peasants cultivated, the earth produced no grain; for the land was all destroyed with such deeds. And they said openly that Christ and his saints slept. Such things and more than we can mention we suffered nineteen years because of our sins.

During all this evil time Abbot Martin held his abbacy twenty years, six months and eight days, with great toil. He provided his monks and his guests all that they needed; he practiced much charity in his house. Nevertheless he worked on the church, and appointed for its lands and rents. He endowed it richly, he caused it to be roofed, he brought them (the monks) into the new minister on St. Peter's day (June 29) with much honor. And he went to Rome; there he was well received by Pope Eugenius. He obtained privileges; one, of all the lands of the abbacy and another, of the lands which belong to the office of sacrist. And, if he might live longer, he meant to do the same with respect to the office of treasurer. And he gained property in lands that powerful men held by force or violence; from William Maldint, who held Rockingham, he obtained Cottingham and Easton, and from Hugo of Walteville he secured Irlingborough and Stanwick, and forty sols from Oldwinkle each year. And he created many monks and planted vineyards. And he performed many works. And he changed the town to a better state than it ever was before. He was a good monk and a good man; therefore God and other men loved him.

Now we will say a little about what befell in King Stephen's time. During his reign the Jew of Norwich bought a Christian boy before Easter and tortured him with all the torture that our Lord suffered. And on Good Friday they hanged him to a cross for the love of our Lord. Then they buried him. They thought it would be concealed, but our Lord showed that he was a holy martyr. The monks took him and buried him splendidly in the minster. And he performed through our Lord many wonderful miracles. They called him Saint William.

1138. This year King David of Scotland came to this land with an immense army. He wanted to obtain possession of the country by fighting. And there came against him William, Earl of Albermar, to whom the king had entrusted York and to other faithful men with a few followers, and fought with him. He put the king to flight at the battle of the Standard, and slew very many of his army.

1140. This year King Stephen wanted to take Robert, Earl of Gloucester, King Henry's son; but he could not, for he became aware of it.

Thereafter in the Lenten season the sun and the day grew dark, about the ninth hour of the day, while people were eating; so that they had to light candles to eat by. It was on the 20th of March that the inhabitants were so greatly astonished.

Later William, archbishop of Canterbury, died. And the king made Theobald archbishop, who was abbot in the abbey of Bec.

Then there waxed a very great war between the king and Randolf, earl of Chester, not for the reason that he (the king) did not give him (evidently the earl) all that he demanded of him, as he did to all the others. But always the more he gave them, the worse they were to him. The earl held Lincoln against the king and deprived him of all that he ought to have. Thither went the king and besieged the earl and his brother William of Romare in the castle. But the earl stole out and went after Robert, earl of Gloucester, and brought him thither with a large army. They fought hard on Candlemas day against their lord. They captured him because his men betrayed him and fled. They led him to Bristol and put him in prison. Then was all England stirred more than it ever was before. And all kinds of evil were in the land.

Later came King Henry's daughter that had been empress of Germany. Now she was the countess of Anjou. She came to London and the London folk wanted to seize her. And she fled and lost there very much.

Then Henry, bishop of Winchester, brother of King Stephen, spoke with Earl Robert and with the empress and swore them oaths that he would never again hold with the king his brother, and he cursed all those that were allied to him. And he told them that he would give up to them Winchester, and he caused them to come thither. When they were within the castle, the king's queen came with all her forces and besieged them. And a great famine occurred in the castle. When they could no longer endure it, they stole out and fled. But those without were aware, and followed them. And they took Robert, earl of Gloucester, and led him to the Rochester and put him in prison. The empress escaped into a minster. Then went wise men between the king's friends and the earl's friends. And they negotiated that the king should be let out of prison in exchange for the earl, and so they exchanged captives.

--Peterborough Chronicle.

=Annals of the Town of Mangaldan, 1879-1882=

I. July 2, 1879. An army of locusts swept over the town. Crops were destroyed; panic followed.

II. August 8, 1879. The _cura_ (priest) ordered the improvement of streets.

III. August 21, 1879. A cardinal from Rome visited the town. The priests waited on his table. Several persons arrested for violating a certain ordinance were pardoned through the grace of the holy visitor.

IV. February 29, 1880. The gold rosary of the image of Virgin Mary was stolen; consequently, the _cura_ forbade the procession on the evening of that day.

V. July 17. A terrible earthquake shook the town, destroying some houses.

VI. November 27. The Governor General visited Mangaldan. There was great rejoicing; all the houses around the _plaza_ were hung with damasks.

VII. December 1. A Moro was taken around the town. He carried a flag with a pig painted on it.

--Don Domingo Ydio,[11] 1879-1880.

I. January 1, 1881. Mariano Cendaña, after murdering all the members of his family, went around the town, killing all whom he met. He was at last captured.

II. October. A big comet appeared in the east. It was so low that the people said it was only as high up as the tallest cocoanut. The rays, spreading far and wide, struck superstitious persons with awe and admiration.

III. November. General epidemic, caused by some disease scattered by water (perhaps cholera), killed many people.

IV. June, 1882. Another murder, Adriano Torralba, killed three men in the barrio of Maasin.

--Kept by Don Mariano Cortes, 1881-1882.

(Obtained and translated by Bernabe B. Aquino.)

=Annals of Pagsanjan=

It has been said that about the middle of the seventeenth century some Chinese traders arrived at the junction of the Bumbungan and the Balanac rivers. They chose this place to establish a trading post, for the boats and barges could anchor close to the land. At that time the San Isidro Hill extended to the Balanac river, and there were rice and corn fields on the site of the present town. As time went on, the Chinese married Filipino women, and quite a settlement grew up. The Chinese built houses and stores, and formed a small village with other Filipino families. This village was under the control of Lumbang, its neighboring town. The inhabitants, of the village went to hear mass at Lumbang. The men, especially the Chinese and their sons, gradually grew rich. One of these rich mestizos supported the priest of Lumbang, who, accordingly, could not say the mass before they were all in the church.

One day, however, when the priest was hungry, he said the mass before their arrival. Then, the man who supported him became angry. He assembled all his fellowmen to talk concerning the separation of the village from Lumbang. They all agreed to build a church of their own and call a priest. They contributed money, and then asked some Chinese carpenters to build a church for them. It was completed, in 1690. At the completion of the church they agreed to build streets and enlarge their village in order that it might accommodate the increasing population. They dug up a part of the San Isidro Hill, and on that cleared space laid out the streets which are now called Maura, Rizal, and Moret. They also covered the fields with sand, and built other streets. They kept enlarging the village till it became a town. The people named this town Pinagsangajan, which means branching. They so called it Pinagsangajan, for it was located at the junction of the Balanac and the Bumbungan rivers. Now the people called it Pagsanjan, contraction of Pinagsangajan.

In 1763 the church was burned. It was rebuilt in 1764. It was not completed till 1882.

In 1880 a great earthquake occurred, and many buildings in Pagsanjan were destroyed. These ruined buildings were not repaired for seven years.

In 1890 a severe storm occurred, and the Balanac and the Bumbungan rivers overflowed their banks. The water flowed all over the town. Many buildings were carried away by the flood, and many people were drowned.

In 1893 a great fire happened, and more than one hundred and fifty buildings were burned. Before the big fire there were some large houses. Very few houses at that time were made of stone. So after the fire the people used stone materials in rebuilding their ruined houses.

They made their new houses larger than the old ones. It took them many years to finish beautifying the town.

On November 14, 1896, the _Katipunan_ arrived at Pagsanjan. The next day they went to Santa Cruz to storm the town, but they could not carry out their plan, for all the people who were faithful to their country fought against them. Then they returned to Pagsanjan. They went back again to Santa Cruz, but they accomplished nothing. On Tuesday afternoon nearly all the inhabitants of Pagsanjan fled from the town, because many soldiers were come to storm the place. But the shelling did not happen; instead they pardoned those who did not run away when they saw that the people in the town were few. The leader of these soldiers was General Aguirre.

In 1901 the Americans came to Pagsanjan. When they came the church plaza served as barracks for the soldiers. These soldiers erected their tents and staked their horses there. This plaza has had a checkered history. In 1892 when Don Pedro Paterno, a deputy of the first district of the province of Laguna, was spending his vacation in Pagsanjan, a meeting was held at his house, and he urged upon the people the advantage of erecting a monument in the center of the park, so as to commemorate the concession of municipal government in the Philippines. The people all agreed with him, so immediately they contributed money and within a week the proposed monument was completed. In the dedication of this monument many people joined. As the monument was erected to thank the government of Spain, the inscription engraven on the tablets was about the Queen of Spain, Don Angel Aviles, the director general of the civil administration, and others. In 1898 just after the insurrection of the Filipinos against the Spaniards, the four marble tablets with their inscriptions were taken from the faces of the monument and reversed; then on the blank surface were painted inscriptions of the revolutionary government in honor of Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini. In 1902 after the Philippines became subject to the American government, the councillors agreed to remove the inscriptions, replacing them with others--William McKinley, José Rizal, W. H. Taft and the honorable Civil Commission of the United States in the Philippines. But the people were not contented with the inscriptions, so after a short time an agreement was made that the tablets were to be turned as they were originally mounted, presenting the old inscriptions, so that the founders and the names of those in whose honor the monument was first erected and who granted the early liberties should not be forgotten.

--Dolores Zafra.

II. Chronicles

[Definition. Froissart]

When the order of time is most conspicuous, history is called chronicle. The work is usually divided into sections, each section covering a separate period. The periods may be long or short. The account of occurrences may be somewhat elaborate, but it is most often bare and simple. Froissart's chronicles (1326-1400), however, are a rich pageantry of feudal times. "The din of arms, the shouting of knights, and marshalling of troops are there. Visions Of fair women rise before us. Gorgeous feasts and spectacles in which this knight of France and England so much delighted are set forth in copious details, and though he is no philosopher, his shrewd observations, and richly minute descriptions have helped others to philosophize."[12] Froissart's Chronicles first appeared at Paris about the end of the fifteenth century under the title of _Chroniques de France, d'Angleterre, d'Escosse, d'Espagne, de Bretagne, de Gascogne, de Flanders et lieux d'aleutour_. In English there are two versions: one executed in 1523-25 by Lord Berners (reprinted in 1812); and the other 1803-5 by Thomas Johnes. The later is more correct. In the 13th and 14th centuries chroniclers sprung up all over Europe, and created the non-church history of the highways.

[Ayala]

Contemporaneous with Froissart was Ayala, who is first of the Spanish chroniclers to be entirely safe as an historical source. Ayala wrote calm, business-like prose, and was bent upon recording facts whether glorious or inglorious. In contrast with Froissart's simple-hearted enthusiasm Ayala's attitude is one of cool sagacity and experience. He looks quite through the deeds of men. He as dispassionately records the crimes of the lords of the earth as he does their pretentions to greatness. He lived in "four wild reigns"--those of Peter the Cruel, Henry the Second, John the First, and Henry the Third--and, as a minister of state in each, had every opportunity to become disillusioned, about chivalry. An event that both Ayala and Froissart record is the murder of Blanche of Bourbon by her husband the king, Don Pedro the Cruel.

The circumstantial minuteness of an account by a chronicler, who was an eight-years' eye-witness of the king's inhumanity to his young and beautiful queen, and who recorded step by step the series of murders by which the king came up to the final crime, seems more moving to a modern reader than would seem the wildest and most impassioned ballad on the subject. Indeed, Ayala's account has settled the character of Don Pedro forever, despite the occasional attempts by some personally interested countryman to defend him, and despite the sentimental-tragedy of the theater, and such metrical outbursts as that of Chaucer's in the "Monk's Tale." But Chaucer, as Ayala himself would have told us, was an "interested party," since he was attached to the Duke of Lancaster who was attached to Don Pedro.

[General chronicle of Spain]

Seventy-five or eighty years before Ayala, Alfonso the Wise had begun the general chronicle of Spain by collecting old ballads and redoing them into prose, and by adding thereto the history of his own day. Sixty years after him, Alfonso the Eleventh appointed a court chronicler; and so the habit in Spain of recording the chief events of the kingdom was kept up from 1320 with more or less regularity down to the establishment of the Academy of History in the eighteenth century. It is interesting to note that this chronicle, that first preserved the popular metrical tales by putting them into prose, in turn gave rise to popular metrical tales that have kept the traditions--such as those of the Cid and Bernardo del Carpio.

[Saxo Grammaticus]

Like this earlier part of the Spanish Chronicle, the still older legendary chronicles of the North promoted literature. That of the Britons by Geoffrey of Monmouth and that of the Danes by Saxo Grammaticus have served, perhaps, a better purpose than true accounts; for they have quickened the imagination of subsequent times and given us themes for many ballads and for some of the marvelous productions of Shakespeare.

[Holinshed]

Because of the industry of Shakespeare's commentators in assigning so much of the great dramatist's subject-matter to Holinshed, the Tudor chronicler will always live. Regardless of whatever he may be worth personally, the whole world owes him a debt for doing the hack work and thus leaving a great genius free to construct.

A chronicle is not hard to write. The only requirements are that you shall select a definite period of time, and, proceeding in order, draw in it simple and graphic pictures of the life lived and the deeds wrought. You might put together the events of your own neighborhood for the last three years.

[True relation]

Or you might write up some important happening as it reaches back into the past and culminates in the present. You would then be writing a true relation. A true relation does not differ much from a chronicle except in the fact that the author as one person takes full responsibility for all the statements. He must record nothing, therefore, that he does not himself actually know; of every thing, else he must give warning as hearsay or as oral or written tradition or as records of someone else. A true relation may even be a travel sketch or a partial biography. It differs from journal and diary in being a narrative of the doings of units of mankind or of events that are of scientific or general importance and that are not necessarily recorded daily and have no essentially personal bearing upon the author beyond, the relationship of vouched and voucher.

In 1589 Richard Hakluyt published a folio of various relations which he called "The Principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries Made by the English Nation." The events recorded, however, are not always authentic. Modern historians are impatient with Hakluyt, because he did not select more carefully and sacrifice bulk to trustworthiness. Well-known Spanish relations found in Blair and Robertson's "Philippine Islands" are those of Loarca, Chirino, Morga, Plascencia. They are considered reliable.

_CHRONICLE_

=Rivalry Between Two Towns=

During the time that the Earl of Flanders was in his greatest prosperity there was a citizen of Ghent, by name John Lyon, subtle and enterprising, and very much in favor of the earl. This man having been banished from Ghent on account of some murder in which he had been concerned, retired to Donay, where the earl, who is said to have been the promotion of the murder, supported him in the greatest affluence, after a while recovered for him his freedom, and made him deacon of the pilots, which office might be worth about 1,000 francs a year. At the same time there was a family in Ghent called the Matthews, consisting of seven brothers, who were the most considerable of all the pilots. One of these, by name Gilbert Matthew, from jealousy and other causes, bore in secret great hatred toward this John Lyon, and determined, without striking a blow, to do him the greatest injury in his power. With this view he got acquainted with one of the earl's chamberlains, and in the course of conversation with him took an opportunity of saying that if the Earl of Flanders pleased he might gain every year a handsome revenue from the pilots; that it might be collected on the foreign trade, provided John Lyon, the deacon, would acquit himself honestly. The hint was conveyed by the chamberlain to the earl, who (like other great lords, naturally eager of gain) ordered Gilbert Matthew to be sent for. Gilbert was introduced accordingly and made his scheme appear so reasonable that the earl agreed to adopt it. John Lyon was forthwith sent for, and in Gilbert's presence the earl proposed the scheme to him. Now John saw at once that this was not a reasonable demand, and consequently said, "What you require, as it seems at Gilbert's proposing, I cannot execute alone; it will be too heavy upon the mariners." However, the earl persisted, and John Lyon replied that he would do the best in his power.

When this conference was over, Gilbert Matthew, whose only object was to ruin John Lyon, went to his six brothers and said to them, "You must now give me every possible assistance, and we shall effect our purpose. A meeting is to be held about this tax; now, notwithstanding all I may say at the meeting, you must refuse to comply. I will dissemble and argue that if John Lyon did his duty, this ordinance would be obeyed. I know the earl well, and sooner than lose his point, John Lyon will be displaced; from his office, which will be given to me, and then, of course, you can comply. With regard to the other mariners, we are too powerful for them to oppose us."

The six brothers agreed to do exactly as Gilbert had directed them, and at the meeting everything turned out as he wished; for John was deposed and the office was given to Gilbert. Not contented with having effected the ruin of their unhappy victim, one of the brothers wanted to contrive to have him put to death, but to this the others would not agree, saying that he had done them no wrong and that no man ought to lose his life but by sentence of a judge. Things went quietly for some time, until the people of Bruges began to make a canal from the River Lys. The canal had often before been attempted; but as the inhabitants of Ghent considered it to be injurious to the interests of their town, it was always opposed by them. On the present occasion the Earl of Flanders had sanctioned the plan, and even sent pioneers with a body of men-at-arms to annoy them in the execution of their work.

As chance would have it, one day a woman on her return from a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Boulogne, being weary, sat down in the market-place of Ghent; when many people collected around her, asking whence she came. "From Boulogne," said the woman, "and I have seen on my road the greatest curse that ever befell the town of Ghent; for there are upward of five hundred men laboring night and day to open a canal for the Lys, and if they be not immediately prevented, the course of the river will soon be turned." This speech of the woman was echoed far and wide, and served to inflame men's minds in all directions. Many said that if John Lyon had been deacon no such attempt would ever have been made; and to him they resorted for advice. John thought this a favorable opportunity to redress the injury he had received; however, he did not wish to seem to thrust himself forward; but when prevailed upon to speak, after much entreaty said: "Gentlemen, if you wish to put an end to this business, you must renew an ancient custom which formerly existed in this town of Ghent. I mean you must first put on white hoods and choose a leader."

"We will have it so! We will have it so!" was heard on all sides. "We will put on white hoods."

White hoods were accordingly provided and given out to those who preferred war to peace; and John Lyon was elected chief. Most willingly did he accept the office, for he rejoiced at the opportunity of embroiling the towns of Ghent and Bruges with each other and with the earl, their lord. Gilbert Matthew, on the other hand, was by no means well pleased when he saw in what numbers the white hoods had collected. News was soon carried to the pioneers that a large force from Ghent was coming against them, upon which they immediately left their work and returned to Bruges, so that John Lyon and his party returned to the town without any encounter. During the same week in which these white hoods had placed themselves under the command of John Lyon, another cause of distrust originated at Ghent by some persons who were alarmed for its franchises; which circumstances also favored greatly John's desire of embroiling the town. The hope of success made him more active than ever. He spread secret rumors in different parts and took every opportunity of suggesting "That never could the privileges of any town be properly maintained when offices were put to sale," intending this in allusion to the manner in which Gilbert Matthew had become possessed of the deaconship. Moreover, he frequently harangued his people in public; on which occasions he spoke so well and with so much art that he always left them highly impressed in his favor. At length the men of Ghent determined to send to the Earl of Flanders requesting a redress of their grievances, and especially that he would put a stop to the canal. The earl, thinking to abolish the white hoods, immediately granted the request, but John Lyon, who was present when the earl's answer was received, thus addressed the meeting: "My good people, you see clearly at present the value of these white hoods. Do they not guard your privileges better than those of the red and black, or hoods of any other color? Be assured, then, by me, that as soon as they shall be laid aside I will not give three farthings for all your privileges."

This speech had the desired effect upon the people, and they determined to do as John Lyon had advised them. But Gilbert Matthew, who was very ill at ease, concerted a plan with the earl to arrest John and some of the principals of the white hoods, hoping thereby to disperse the rest. With this view the bailiff of Ghent came to the town with about 200 horsemen; galloped up the streets with the earl's banner in his hand, and posted himself in the market-place, where he was joined by Gilbert and several others. John Lyon, suspecting what was intended, immediately got together a large body of his men, for they were instructed to be always ready, and ordered them to advance. The moment Gilbert Matthew and his party saw the white hoods advancing they left the bailiff and ran off as fast as they could. John Lyon on entering the market-place, without saying a word, seized the bailiff and slew him. He then ordered the earl's banner to be dragged through the dirt and torn to pieces; and, upon seeing this, the men at arms took to flight and left the town, which the victorious party pillaged as they pleased.

After this event, several of the wisest and richest of the citizens in Ghent, tired of these constant contentions, called an assembly in which it was debated how they could best make up matters with the earl and promote the advantage of the town. John Lyon and other leaders of the white hoods were invited to attend; indeed, without them they would not have dared to assemble. Many proposals were made, and long debates ensued; at last, however, it was determined to elect twelve of the most respectable inhabitants, who should entreat the earl's pardon for the murder of the bailiff, and endeavor by this means to obtain peace; but in this peace every person was to be included, and nothing moved in the business hereafter.

The resolution was acted upon, and on an appointed day twelve citizens waited upon the earl, who pleaded their cause so well, and appeared so contrite that the earl was on the point of pardoning all the outrages that had been committed, when he received information that the castle of Andreghien had been burned to the ground. "Burned!" replied the earl to the messenger who brought the intelligence. "And by what means?"

"By an accidental fire, as they say," was the reply.

"Ah! ah!" answered the earl. "Now it is all over; there can never be peace in Flanders while John Lyon lives."

Then sending for the deputies from Ghent, he said to them, "Wretches, you supplicate my pardon with sword in hand. I had acceded to your wishes and your people have been base enough to burn down my favorite castle. Was it not sufficient to have murdered my bailiff and trampled on my banner? Quit my presence directly; and tell the men of Ghent they shall never have peace until they shall have given up to me to be beheaded those whom I shall point out."

The earl was right in his conjecture. It was, indeed, John Lyon and a refractory band of white hoods under him who, discontented with the proposal of the assembly, had actually destroyed the beautiful castle of Andreghien while the deputies were at Male in conference with the earl. Of course the poor deputies knew nothing of John Lyon's intention; and, like people perfectly innocent, endeavored to excuse themselves, but in vain. The earl was now so much enraged that he would not listen to them, and as soon as they had left he summoned all the knights of Flanders, and every gentleman dependent on him, to be advised by them how he could best revenge himself on the people of Ghent.

This was the very thing that John Lyon wanted; for the people of Ghent would now be obliged to make war, whether they liked it or not. He therefore seized the opportunity, and, having collected the white hoods, publicly harangued the people, and advised them without delay to get together all the support from neighboring towns they could, and make an attack upon Bruges. Such even now was his influence that in a short time he mustered a very large army, and placing himself at their head advanced to Bruges, which town was so taken by surprise that after a short parley at the wicket, the burgomaster and magistrates opened the gates and the men of Ghent entered. A formal alliance was then drawn up, which the men of Ghent and Bruges mutually swore to keep, and to remain forever as good friends and neighbors.

"Froissart's Chronicles," in World's Great Classics Series.

=A Short History of Ilagan=

The town of Ilagan derived its name from the inverted form of the Ibanag word _nagaly_, which means "transfer." Why the town was named Ilagan was the fact that in early times it was moved to its present location from a plain a few miles away, which is always overflowed by the annual inundation of the Cagayan river.

The early inhabitants were well-trained warriors, for they had to fight with the Igorrotes--a wild head-hunting tribe in the mountains. Their religion was somewhat similar to Brahmanism, for they worshiped the crocodile and practiced _anito_ widely. Even after the Spaniards came to the town, the people were barbarous, and it was only after the arrival of the Dominicans, about 1689, that civilization began to spread itself among the people; for these benevolent friars established schools, converted the pagan inhabitants into Christians, and taught them better modes of living.

Although the people seemed to be contented, still it was not very long until they began to feel the heavy grasp of the iron hand of Spanish oppression. In 1776 a revolt occurred, and the people in their frenzy burned the church and nearly all the Spanish residences. The causes of the revolt were the high rates of taxation and the compulsory public labor. But the uprising, which spread throughout central Luzon, was soon quelled, and peace was restored.

Then followed a period of advancement and progress. The inhabitants were for about one hundred and thirty years peaceful. During this long period a new church was finished, in 1787; the town became the capital of the province, and commerce progressed by leaps and bounds. But in 1897 when the news of Rizal's execution, which caused a tide of patriotism to sweep over the land, became known to the people, they again revolted, but without accomplishing much. In the Filipino-American war the inhabitants took no active part, although, owing to the presence of a handful of Tagalog soldiers from Palanan, then a barrio of Ilagan, where Aguinaldo was captured, some skirmishing was done in the barrio of San Antonio.

Ilagan is situated on a three-cornered star-shaped plateau at the junction of the Pinacanauan and Cagayan rivers, about ninety miles from Aparri. It is divided into four districts: Bagumbayan, which occupies the northern corner of the star; Baculod, the eastern corner; St. Vicente, the southwestern comer, and Central, the center. The residences of the rich, the municipal and provincial buildings, the church and the principal European and Chinese business houses are in the central district; while the farmers, artisans, shoemakers and other classes of people inhabit the other districts. In the district of St. Vicente are the ruins of the church burned in 1776. The lot where it is situated is now overgrown with large trees, and the crumbling brick wall which formed the background of the church, and is now covered with moss and vines, remains as a memento of the uprising.

The inhabitants, being near the Ilocanos, are industrious, and being far from the Tagalogs are peaceful. But what is to be admired more than any of their other characteristics is their political belief. The majority is--I hope it will be always--in favor of the indefinite retention of the islands by America, the spread of democratic education among the people, and the speedy development of agriculture. If the people do not depart from their present policies, the future history of the town will be one of happiness.

_A TRUE RELATION_

=Some Incidents of the Rebellion of 1898=

The Filipino rebellion against Spanish rule really began in the year 1896, in southern Luzon. The northwestern provinces rebelled much later, owing perhaps to the lack of communication or to some disagreement among the leaders of certain districts. I was about eight years old at the time the war broke out in western Pangasinan and northern Zambales, and I write from what I saw with my own eyes, and what was afterwards told me by my parents and older friends.

About the beginning of the year 1898 the northwestern provinces of Luzon became restless, seeing that their brothers in Cavite and other southern provinces were already in the field. The Spaniards grew more and more uneasy and so a detachment of from fifteen to twenty Spanish soldiers was placed in each town, in addition to the _guardia civil_, which was also stationed in the large towns. It must be borne in mind that in that war no quarter could be expected from either side and all the prisoners were invariably put to death. So that unusual cruelty should not be imputed to the common Filipino fighter in the massacres which he committed.

Just about the beginning of the year 1898, some time in the month of January, the people of my town, as well as the neighboring towns, agreed to massacre the detachment of soldiers in their respective municipalities. The agreement was kept a great secret, and in my town at least the Spanish soldiers had not the slightest idea of the fatal compact. The day decided upon was a certain Monday in February, 1898, the exact date of which I do not remember.

Outside the town, in the dead of night, you would find groups talking in whispers as to the final arrangements, for the chief men would go to the _barrios_ in the night and hold secret meetings in hidden and solitary places. In the afternoons you would find men grinding their long bolos or _talibongs_ in the solitude of their houses. At the same time you would see the women making trousers and hat-bands of red cloth for their husbands or brothers. In the meantime the Spaniards had a vague idea of how things were going on, and becoming rather uneasy, they ordered a barricade of bamboo to be built around their barracks. The guardia civil did the same, except that instead of bamboo, they used big logs, which they made each _principal_ (councilor) give. But unfortunately the very workmen themselves were rebels, and were the first ones to strike the blow. I also remember clearly how the lieutenant and the town friar forbade people to talk in groups of three or more. So men walked in the streets alone or with only one companion, not even daring to engage in earnest conversation. Men visited their friends, going to the back doors at night.

It must be stated here that in order to get all the able-bodied men to join the rebellion a form of ceremony was gone through in the case of every single convert. Certain men who were influential and eloquent were appointed to do the hard work of conversion. A leader of this kind had to coax and persuade men singly, at the same time taking care that the Spanish forces did not hear of his proceedings. After a man had expressed his willingness to join, he was made to take a solemn oath, the non-fulfilment of which would bring upon him temporal and spiritual condemnation. Besides, his arm was pricked with a sharp knife, and with his own blood he wrote, or else caused to be written, his name in a large book. This made the ceremony to the new recruit exceedingly impressive.

One thing that made men so bold at that time was the belief in the power of the _anting anting_ (talisman). There were two kinds of anting anting that were bullet proof. They were made of flour like sacred bread, except that they were as large in circumference only as a _peseta_. Some Latin words were printed on them. One kind was eaten, while the other was placed on the forehead. So after the town was in the hands of the revolutionists, everybody seemed to be having a headache, for they all had their foreheads bound around with handkerchiefs, or more often with red bands of cloth. I must add that the color of the revolution was red, the sign of blood. I remember that when we left the town to hide in the country I left my expensive felt hat, and used a cheap native sombrero with a red band around it. When the town was again retaken by the Spaniards we tore off all these red signs and buried them in the ground.

As I have said, the day agreed upon for the massacre was Monday. My uncle told me the Spanish soldiers in town heard of the people in the barrios assembling, but they entirely ignored the danger, feeling sure that the rebels with bolos would not by any means dare to cope with their powerful Mausers. My uncle further added that, had the Spanish been discreet, considering that they were twenty-two in number, including a lieutenant, besides the town friar, they would have fortified the convent and would have been able to hold out till reinforcements from eastern Pangasinan could come.

On the morning of that fatal day I was in the house of my grandmother, which was near the plaza where the soldiers had their quarters. I could not see the whole of the slaughter, for my grandmother when she saw us looking at the fight, sent us to the cellar, and made us lie there flat on our stomachs to protect us from spent bullets.

Early that morning about eight o'clock the guardia civil, hearing that there was a great crowd of armed men near the town cemetery about a mile away, went out there. The guardia civil soldiers, who were all Filipinos, were in league with the movement, but their sergeant was a Spaniard. When they saw the men near the cemetery and when the sergeant ordered them to fire, they did not aim at the rebels. But the rebels instead, thinking that the soldiers had changed their minds, fought in earnest and killed the guardia civil to a man.

In the meantime the Spanish soldiers in the town were being massacred. At the appointed time a workman who was working on the barricade, gave the guard a blow with his axe, and the guard fell without a groan. Then the rest of the workmen went up to the barracks with the pretense of asking for their pay. When the big drum began to beat they seized the guns and hacked and struck the unarmed soldiers.

The slaughter was indeed terrible to see. From all the streets of the town leading to the public square issued hundreds of men all at the same time. I think I still see those men with red-banded hats shouting at the top of their lungs, holding and wielding aloft their long sharp bolos, which as they caught the rays of the morning sun dazzled our eyes. These men advanced toward the barracks and there finished the massacre. Some of the Spaniards, deprived of their guns and hard pressed by the workmen who had gone up to the barracks, jumped down from the windows; but it was like jumping from the frying pan to the fire, for they were met by bristling swords and lances.

Of the twenty-one soldiers, four chanced to be out, two being in the market, and two being in my uncle's house. On hearing the tumult and seeing men issue from all the streets and alleys, they ran like mad to their quarters; but they were all killed before reaching the place. One of the soldiers had a bayonet slung to his belt, and drawing it he tried to ward off the blows rained upon him from all sides; but in a moment a shower of clubs and stones laid him low. Some of the soldiers fell on their knees and implored for mercy, but the blood of those men, many of whom had already experienced cruelty and torture under the Spanish servitude, was boiling with vengeance toward the Spaniards as a whole people.

The lieutenant was just going from the convent, where he had his quarters, to the barracks, and on seeing the hordes of men, he turned back, ran up in the church steeple, and from there with his revolver fired shot after shot at the multitude below. Strange to say he hit not even a man, probably through excitement. The men, seeing him, climbed up the tower. He surrendered, knelt down and threw away his revolver; but no quarter was given. He was cut all through and his body was thrown from the dizzy height of about a hundred and fifty feet to the ground. His blood, which trickled from the tower down the church wall may still be seen to this day.

In the afternoon two native carts full of corpses, their arms and legs dangling in the air, were all that was left of those twenty-two _cazadores_. I liked the Spanish soldiers, for they were such jolly, good fellows, fond of dancing _fandango_ and singing airs of old Spain. Many of them were mere boys seized and shipped over here from their unwilling parents. To them the only civilized and good country was Spain; and they often excited my boyish fancy with exaggerated descriptions of the wonders of Spain and extravagant tales about its people. So as the carts passed by our house and I saw the dead, I felt quite sad, wondering within my childish heart what fault they had committed to entitle them to such a sad end.

The town friar, the town tyrant and dictator, had now also come to the end of his reign. Men who formerly used to kneel to him denounced him and gave vent to all their accumulated hatred. The friar was sentenced to death and a few days afterwards was executed outside the town. The infuriated ignorant people sacked the convent, which at that time was like a palace. They were so enraged that even the library of the convent was burned and cut to pieces. A funny incident is connected with the convent. It was circulated about that on the outbreak of the disturbance the friar had dropped a large box of silver into one of the convent wells, of which there were several. A few years after the war some people began to inquire as to which of the wells the money had been dropped into; for the American soldiers, on occupying the convent, filled up some of the wells. Finally there was discovered on the trunk of a santol tree growing near one of the wells a cross carved in the wood. People said it was the sign made by the friar to mark the spot, and henceforth began to dig up the well. They worked for days and days expecting every moment to find the box, but in vain. As a result of their over-credulity they expended a good deal of hard labor.

--Marcelino Montemayor.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS=

A. B.--Ariel Booklets (G. P. Putnam's Sons).

Bohn.--Bohn's Libraries (Geo. Bell, London).

C. N. L.--Cassell's National Library (Cassell).

E. L.--Everyman's Library (Dent and Dutton).

N. U. L.--New Universal Library (E. P. Dutton).

P. W. C.--Putnam's World's Classics (G. P. Putnam's Sons).

T. C.--Temple Classics (J. M. Dent).

W. C.--World's Classics (Oxford University Press).

W. G. C.--World's Great Classics (Colonial Press).

=GENERAL REFERENCE WORKS ON THE HISTORY OF FICTION=

Dunlop, _History of Prose Fiction_, 2 vols. (Bohn, 1896).

Ticknor, _History of Spanish Fiction_, revised edition (Boston, 1866).

Raleigh, _The English Novel from its Origin to Sir Walter Scott_ (Scribner).

Cross, _The Development of the English Novel_ (Macmillan).

Simonds, _An Introduction to the Study of English Fiction_ (Heath).

Warren, _History of the Novel Previous to the Seventeenth Century_ (Holt).

Hamilton, Clayton, _The Materials and Methods of Fiction_, with introd. by Brander Matthews (The Baker and Taylor Co.)

Jusserand, _The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare_ (Putnam).

Forsyth, _Novels and Novelists of the Eighteenth Century_ (Appleton).

Matthews, _The Short-Story_ (American Book Co.)

Jessup and Canby, _The Book of the Short-Story_ (Appleton).

Canby, H. S., _The Short-Story in English_ (Holt).

Stoddard, _Evolution of the English Novel_ (Macmillan).

Tuckerman, _History of English Prose Fiction_ (Putnam).

In Lanier's _The English Novel_, Whitcomb's _The Study of a Novel_, and Barrett's _Short-Story Writing_ the criticism is analytical rather than historical.

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