An old man, he retired to his family estates, once broad but sadly shrunken through his years of liberality. There from Pozorubio he wrote his defence against the charge of being responsible for the uprising of Cavite. Contrast the brave words of the Governor-General upon his first coming to the Philippines, and his expressions after the conclusion of his office when he was upon the defensive. "As good, honored and loyal, you are recognized as our brothers. * * * I shall indicate to you the salient features that will characterize my administration, which I hope will be as my character dictates, foreign to all kinds of repression, because command is more pleasant when it is chosen by those who are under the necessity of being affected by it." And on the defensive: "I have governed, with justice and, honesty, conformably to the special laws of that country, without consenting or permitting the slightest alteration in them, and what is more, without permitting in the newspapers of Manila any discussion nor even any allusion as to whether or no it were desirable to alter or modify those laws." Yet that was the most liberal period of Philippine history under Spanish rule. Twenty odd years later another liberal Governor of the Philippines defended himself against the charge of too great humanity by telling of how many men he had ordered shot. Sorry indeed was Spain when a De La Torre had to save himself with his countrymen in the Peninsula by exaggerating his despotism and a Blanco found his only defense in magnifying his brutality. There's a contrast with the present régime which marks 1898 as the beginning of different days, and the men of the old era are entitled to the charitable consideration which belongs to those who come out of great tribulation. Biographical details and incidents of De La Torre's administration would detract from the one great lesson which paints the past in its true colors and reveals how the Filipino people found themselves without hope and came to resort to the weapon of despair, insurrection. The outcome of the events of 1869 was the origin of the events of 1896. THE REBELLION IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (A British magazine article of 1896, by John Foreman.) At this crisis, when the development of Japan is attracting public attention, the following paragraph in a recent issue of the St. James Gazette would be highly instructive were it based on real facts. That journal says:-- "This revolt, in fact, is really a consequence, to some extent, of the rising power of Japan in Far Eastern waters. Having acquired Formosa and become ambitious of a territorial and commercial empire, the eyes of the Japanese have lately been eagerly directed towards the next islands to the south; and the weakness of Spain is regarded as the opportunity of Japan. But it is quite another matter whether the European powers will take the same view."