Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

160 INDEPENDENCE CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS
subordinate your thoughts to other brains, and instead
of making yourselves free, you will make yourselves real
slaves! Nine out of ten of those who presume to be
learned are renegades of your fatherland. Those of you
who speak that language, neglect your own in such a way
that they neither write it nor speak it; and how many
have I seen who pretend not to know a word of it!
Fortunately you have an imbecile government. While
Russia to enslave Poland is imposing the Russian language,
while Germany prohibits the French language in her
conquered provinces, your government solicits your own
in order to conserve you; and you, on the other hand,
wonderful people, under an unbelievable government you
take pains in despoiling yourselves of your own nationality. Somehow or other you forget that, while a country
keeps its language, it keeps the token of its liberty as does
man his independence, while he keeps his way of thinking.
The language is the thought of the countries. Happily
your independence is assured: the human passions watch
for it. * * *!" /
and another which seems to complete the foregoing, said by
the great Spanish literator, Don Jose Selgas, in his speech when
accepting the membership of the Academy of the Spanish
Language:
"* * * You can see with perfect clarity pictured in
the mirror of the language the true physiognomy of the
society in which we live, because in no other place is
drawn more faithfully the moral image of a country as
in the language it speaks.
"A language is spoken as it is felt and thought: a manly
' language cannot belong to an effeminate country; the
language cannot be wise in an ignorant country, neither
can it be polished in a land of savages.
"You wish to know how one thinks? Well, hear
him speak."
Here in these two sentences which I have just quoted are
the most concise and explicit apologies which may be said of
the most precious token which the race possesses and which is

Wr~

common to all humanity.