"LIBERTY"  
 "Liberty is the attribute of man from the moment he is born; thanks to it, he thinks and does as he pleases, provided he do no harm to another.  Liberty comes from Heaven and no power on earth is entitled to appropriate it, nor have we a right to consent to its being done.  
 "Yet the majority of the peoples bear the heavy chains of servitude.  
 "The multitudes are subjugated by a few tyrants.  
"The seas of the people are generally despoiled of the fruit of their labor, which goes to increase the power and tyranny of the directors of the government, and these, intoxicated by the incense of selfish flatterers, forget that all their boasted power, greatness, and social pre-eminence, are derived from the governed whom they enslave and impoverish.  
" There are instances when Liberty is smothered by error, by the bkind worship of ancient bad practices and laws suggested by crafty hench men.  
"If there is right, it is because there is Liberty; Liberty is the column that sustains the edifice and the audacious one who tears it down in order to bring down the building must be annihilated.  

"ALL MEN ARE EQUAL"  
"All men are equal; the origin of all is the same.  Christ said; You are all equal; you are brothers.  
"When my eyes contemplate the pitiful spectacle of the life of the peoples, I can not prevent deep sadness from taking possession of my heart upon hating that this palpable truth is violated with the aid of muskets and prison chains, owing to the lack of union and cowardice of the peepless; sometimes, also, because falseness masquerades as honesty and servile satellites, with abundant beautiful arguments, succeed in covering up violations of right and equality and the people in their blindness accept these arguments and consider them as good.  
"Oh thou, who sittest enthroned in a high place like God, does thou not inderstand that the grief thou wondst feel of thou wert despoiled of thy wealth will be as that which the poor feel when thou despoilest them of the paltry pittance for their labor?  
"Ye, the great, who, confiding in the nobility of your blood and in the prestige of your class, have constituted yourselves lords and masters of your equals, turn for a moment your boastful intelligence to the examples we have given and you ill see that all men are equal.  
"but do not let any one believe that the equality proclaimed is contrary to the respect due all authority governing the people; no, this peeminence, which was created by the people, the people respect, but the representative of the authority, as a man, is a man just like the rest.  
"If homage is ppaid to the mirage of presumption and the humbug of welath, which much more reason should homage be paid to the tiller of the soil who, under the open skies , allows himself to be soaked to the skin and searched by the sun in order to make the soil produced by his labor.  

"LOVE"  
" Of all human sentiments, none is more sublime than love - Love for the fellowmen. Without it, the peoples would disappear from the earth and the communities, the associations, and life itself would resemble the day leaves of the tree swpt away by the wind.  For its sake, the greatest deeds are performed and one's own life and well being sacrificed.  But rascality and fraud reap their harvest under the guise of love, hiding their ferocious selfishness behind an infinitesimal quantity of charity.  
"The compassion for our fellow-beings who are the victims of misfortune, which impels us to share with them what little is ours; the solicitude and even boldness which we show in the defense of the rights of the oppressed, and true charity for our fellow-man, from what source do they spring but from love?  
"But love for the fellow creature does not always prevail in the peoples: Sometimes they are assailed by selfishness and depravation , and when this is the case, the fishers in the troubled waters profit by the occasion and sow discard, mutual rancer, and ratricidal static, because such internal divisions are necessary for their criminal egoism.  When the others have thus been morally and materially broken and exhausted the wicked find ample and sufficient gain for themselves.  

"THE PEOPLE AND THE GOVERNMENT"  
"Now, when the Aurora of liberty is beginning to appear and the path of true joy is the rule of the common effort until the desired goal is reached, the sense of the people must learn all those things which the subjection to Spain has prevented them from learning.  
"It is important that they should know them, because they are like the flowers tat ripens into a fruit, and are what the wind is o the sail of the caravels that marks and point out the course or the peoples and the governments in order to make them true and permanent.  
" When this is not the case, the right path is abandoned and the most beautiful project is bit a  histrionic exhibition and the most beautiful discourse traitorious suggestion.  
"Oh, son of the people! Remember the blood thou hast spilled and thy suffering and efforts in order that honor and right, which were downtrodden, might spring to new life.  Consider them well, and thou wilt be sorry to have that - right taken from thee again because of thy blindness and cowardice.  
"Always bear in mind that with anew life come new customs.  
"And, who can foretell? Perhaps ignornat and corrupt authorities may govern who will not desire thy welfare, but be lawless exploiters , who will dazzle thy eyes in the splendor of their power and with the attractive eloquence of their words. It is thy duty to be on guard, top sharpen thy intelligence, and to distinguish the ggod ruler from the bad, in order that thy efforts may not miscarry.  
"The people when I address is not the local community, but that formed by the inhabitants of the whole earth.  
"Nevertheless, in every community and society there is need of a head, of one who has poer over the rest for direction and good example, and for the maintenance of unity among members, and associates, and who will guide them to the desired goal, just as a vessel that is not guided by a skillful navigator runs the risk of losing its course and suffer dreful shipwreck in mid-ocean, without hope of ever reaching the shores of the happy land of promise for which it was bound.  
"This head is called the government, and he who is called upon to exercise its power, the governor.  
"The object of al government is the people, and the security and welfare of the people must be the aim of all its laws and acts.  
"For whatever may happen, the government is responsible.  And its duties are to guide and lead the people to happiness. If it turns out boldly and departs from the right path, it will be because it wanted to do so and because it was misled.  
"And if one who sins against another is punished, what will be the punishment of him who sins against a whole people, an infinite multitude of his similars?  And if the departure from the right path was due to the ignorance on the part of the guide and ruler, why did he not allow, or make, another act as guide who knew the right path?  Let us wipe out the habit of thinking that the rulers is the lord of the people and whatever he thinks and does is good.  Let us accustom ourselves to thinking and saying that the happiness of all is the only duty of the ruler, in order that he may near it in mind.  
"I believe, and believe firmly, that the prosperity of the people lies with the people itself.  A people that knows and esteems right and has as a rule of conduct mindness and dignity in all its acts, will not place and frauds, nor become the accomplice of the exalated and abominable prevaricator who rules on the heights of power.  
"And as I believe in this, I call it to the attention of the sons of the people, because thus only will that custom be relegated to oblivion and no longer will we have said of us what Baltazar says in the following verses: "While the perverse and traitors raise their arrogant heads, the good are ashamed and hang their heads.  

"We have already seen that we are all equal; that the power of the ruler was not given to him by nature, and that as a man he is on the same level as the rest.  Hence all power, in order to be reasonable and genuine, must be exercised for the benefit of the people from which it emanated.  
"Briefly, we must not recognize the superiority of the ruler as an attribute attached to him by nature.  The obedience and respect due him are derived from the power which is the integration of all the power of the people.  
"For this reason, he who obeys the power conferred by the people obeys the people and identifies himself with the will of all the citizens that compose the people, which - identification or accord is necessary for the very life of the people.  
"This alone will prevent abominable treason, now bankrupt, from again raising her hand or posing as the hero or champion of the people and of liberty.  
"Otherwise, the people will not travel on the right path, and the people and its liberty will be overcome by invocations of these three magical names which are always pleasing to the ear.  
"It is already an axiom that nobody can look out for a person as well as that person himself  
"And it is uncumbent upon the people, if they wish to prevent their being held in contempt and enslaved, to be firm and to unmask and repel the disguised traitor.  
"The tranquility and prosperity of a community or society demand the existence of an intermediary high power, elected by the community, whose purpose it is to insure unity among the associates, which is the source of strength and vitality,  
"From the highest official to the humblest citizen they must obey and comply with the laws that have emanated from this power created by the people and established by its representative, the Congress  
"But, alas! Often the must and proper is relegated to the background and the excessive ambition for power, allied with the boundless ambition for gain, struggle to open the way for iniquity.  
"The power of those who govern depends upon the - love and esteem of the governed, and these are obtained only by a just and prudent conduct,  
"Those make a great mistake who believe they can maintain their power by means of force and the gun; they are nearsighted and do not understand the lesson taught by terrible events recorded in History.  
"Nobody is as goodhearted as he who is sincere and honest by disposition, yet at the same time nobody abominated like him abuses and violence and abject meekness.  
"Those who govern consistently appeal to right and to the gratitude owing by the people. That is what they continually harp upon.  But he on whose side is the right is the people, because he who governs awes  duties to the people, namely, to work for its prosperity and execute its will.  But, how many understand or wish to understand this truth?  
"The welfare of the people, and nothing else, is the real reason and object, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, of all the duties of those who govern.  
"But this same welfare often disappear and suffers when heartless petulance rises to power; when protection and right surrender to bribery and to servility towards the mighty.  
"It is then that criminals reap their harvests and that presumptuous stupidity rises like the foam.  
"The time is come for the wicked to change their ways and spontaneously to make reparation for their great errors. They resemble the chameleon that takes the color of the tree to which it clings.  
"The most efficient lever against these evils is the education of the people and a change in their customs.  
"The laws must therefore be obeyed and respected, as the expression of the popular will, and not the will of those who govern, as they are merely charged with carrying out those same laws.  
"This ancient custom of considering the judge as above the law has serious consequences, because law and right are both undermined by it.  
"This custom must, therefore, be abandoned and it must be proclaimed that the laws are above all human consideration, because they are the expression of the will of the people, and that if the judges desire to retain their positions, they must necessarily comply with the dictates of justice; otherwise they must be moved.  
"The welfare of the people is the sole purpose of all the government on earth. The people is all: life and blood, wealth and strength, all is the people. The army raised for the defence of the lives of all is formed by the sons of the people; the great obedience of the seas of the people, and all that is useful to life, is the product of the industry of the sons of the people, who till the fields, bread and keep the cattle, and make the things and utensils necessary for life.  
"We have seen that the people, in order to exist and progress, need a head or government whom it is the duty of the people to grant, for its maintenance, subsidies or taxes which must be imposed and invested only with the manifest consent of the taxpayers.  

"FALSE BELIEFS"  
"By false belief we wish to say a blind belief in what another says.  If a person has his eyes open often loses his way, what will not happen to him who has them closed? This false belief is not only contrary to common sense, but alsi to the will of God who endowed man with intelligence wherewith to distinguish the true from the untrue, the reasonable and good from the bad.  Owing to this blind belief, intelligence is in a lethargic, state and is not used in accordance with will of God.  
"To this are due the calamities and misfortunes that are afflicting the islanders, and are the work of the so-called disciples of Christ. But on account of the perversity of these latter, the people have made a careful investigation and have unmasked the treachery and selfishness that masquerade as charity and the infamous serpent that lurks behind their meekness.  And they who do not practice any of the teachings of Christ, call themselves men of Christ!  
"Christ said: love one another; you are all equal.  And the love of these who call themselves Christians consists in defrauding and robbing their fellowmen, and equality and fraternity the practice by exploiting their similars and abscending with their wealth.  
"Christ said: the haughty you shall humble and the humble you shall exalt.  But they who call themselves Christinas exalted the haughty and humiliated the meek.  
"On a certain day Christ entered the temple and drove forth from it the merchants and the buyers: 'It is written,' he said, 'that my house shall be the dwelling of God and ye have converted it into a den of thieves. And, tell me, can the church where gold is being piled up to be called the house of God?  
"He who wishes to call himself a disciple and man of Christ must imitate him, his humility, kindness, and love or his fellowmen.  
"It is also asserted that whatever happens is the will of God, be it good or bad.  But God cannot desire the bad because he is kindness itself.  The bad are we, and whatever calamities, plagues, and misfortunes befall use are our own fault.  
"Speak to the sluggard of his poverty and he will answer: God wills it so.  And it is God's will that the sluggard shall live in poverty.  
"Speak to the people that bewails the tyranny and rapacity of those who govern it and they will answer: Such is the will of God.  And it is the will of God that suffering shall be the lot of the peoples who can not stand together and battle for the triumph of right, that precious gift of God.  
"If all happens by the will of God, no punishment - should be meted out to the robber or the murderer, because they are unable to prevail against the will of the Almighty who orders them to rob and murder.  And the criminals sin again and again and are becoming even greater criminals, because they attribute their deeds to the imperative will of God.  
"God is the father of humility, and what a father requires of his children is not constant protestations of respect, fear, and love for him, but the performance of his mandates of reason, hence the true respect and obedience to the dictates of reason, and to them we must adjust all our acts, words, and movement, because reason originates with God himself.  
"This is the rue belief and faith that impel us towards true liberty, equality, love and helpfulness to our fellowmen.  
"And from this love of true liberty and equality spring unity, and sourceful activity, strength, tranquility, and prosperity.  
"From love and helpfulness to our fellowmen spring sincerity and charity, that beautiful flower of the heart, that gentle and sweet balm of the unfortunate.  
"This belief and faith makes no distinction between baptized and unbaptized, nor of the race, color and tongue of the believer, because it is the true faith in God, and all men, being sons of God, can put it into practice.  

"WORK"  
"Work is a gift to humanity, because it awakens and gives vigor to the intellectual power, will and body, which are indispensable for progress in life.  The sacred writings from which the Christian religion originated, narrate that work is a punishment imposed by God upon Adam, the father of the human race, for having tasted of the forbidden fruit, and this punishment has been inherited by us, his sons.  But this legend is erroneous and contrary to the will of God, and from it springs the human error that work, being a punishment, is a corporal affliction looked upon like an unavoidable ailment.  
"For this reason many are ashamed to work, principally the wealth, the powerful, and the learned who make a vain show of that which they style the comforts of life or corporal well-being.  
"And they finish in the mind, leading a miserable and abject life that tends to bring about the destruction of the human race.  
"Whatever is useful, whatever tends to make life easier, that let us support because it is a result well worthy of our efforts.  
"He who toils keeps away from a life of disorderly and bad habits and boredom, finds diversion in labor and becomes strong, prosperous and cheerful.  
"Contemplating the so-called rich, great, and alleged wise men, we can see through their outward prosperity, social splendor, and happiness, and perceive wearisomeness, weakness, haughtiness, coupled with vicious habits that little by little destroy them.  
"How much truth us there in what our Baltazar has sung in his verses 'Those who grow up 'midst the revelries of wealth, are devoid of judgement and kindness and lacking in counsel.'  
'Ang laki sa layaw karaniwa'y hubad sa bait at muni'y sa hatol ay salat.'