Note 4 — Chapter XVI · “I CAME FROM MARTYRDOM UNTO THIS PEACE”

The other, in rime, excellently done by Mr. Derbyshire, will be found in the Appendix. The blank verse translation printed above was once heard in the American House of Representatives and gave rise to a memorable scene. A debate was on concerning Philippine independence. In a speech of great power and eloquence, Representative Cooper, of Wisconsin, supported the plea of the Filipinos. In the course of his argument he told how he had indifferently picked up at a book-stall a book containing the farewell poem of José Rizal, of whom he knew next to nothing; how he had read it and been so seized with its beauty that he had bought the book and committed the poem to memory. Then he recited it. After the first few lines a profound silence fell upon the chamber, unbroken to the end. As Mr. Cooper uttered the last great line in this wonderful composition, there was an exhibition of emotion unwonted in that place. One of the oldest and most famous representatives, little given to sentiment, afterward admitted that the poem and Mr. Cooper’s speech had converted him to the Philippine cause. He said that a race capable of producing a man of such character and attainments was a race entitled to and capable of its freedom. ↑