The Forbearance of the Natives.
And yet, notwithstanding this severe provocation, the rebels rarely attacked non-combatants, and seldom injured private property—an example of their self-restraint and their remarkable forbearance. This, too, is seen in their refraining from molesting the only railroad in the colony, whose traffic was, of course, an advantage to the Spaniards. This railroad is owned by an English company, and this fact alone saved it from destruction.
It is also said that when the insurgents had made their plans to attack Manila, a list of all the foreigners and non-combatants was carefully prepared by their leaders. This, as may be supposed, was done so that these might be guarded from the pillage and slaughter that was sure to follow a successful assault of the thousands of infuriated natives, thirsting for the blood of their Spanish oppressors. It would also be no exaggeration to say, that the great majority of all the foreigners in the islands—Germans, English, Dutch, and Americans—were secretly in sympathy with the cause of the insurgents. And this is no cause for wonder, when one thinks of the many and various impositions that the Spanish Government and its unscrupulous officials have at every shadow of an opportunity practised upon them. The rebellion began in the province of Cavité, and was made formidable by the thousands of refugees driven away from their rude bamboo huts and tiny rice-fields by the Spaniards, come to pacify the province.