And now it is not limited to asking assimilation to the Spanish Political Constitution, but it asks a definite separation from it; it struggles for its independence in the firm belief that the time has arrived in which it can and ought to govern itself.

There has been established a Revolutionary Government, under wise and just laws, suited to the abnormal circumstances through which it is passing, and which, in proper time, will prepare it for a true Republic.  Thus taking as a sole model for its acts, reason, for its sole end, justice, and, for its sole means, honorable labor, it calls all Filipinos its sons without distinction of class, and invites them to unite firmly with the object of forming a noble society, not based upon blood nor pompous titles, but upon the work and personal merit of each one; a free society, where exist neither egotism nor personal politics which annihilate and crush, neither envy nor favoritism which debase, neither fanfaronade nor charlatanism which are ridiculous.

And it could not be otherwise.  A people which has given proofs of suffering and valor in tribulation and in danger, and of hard work and study in peace, is not destined to slavery; this people is called to be great, to be one of the strongest arms of Providence in ruling the destinies of mankind; this people has resources and energy sufficient to liberate itself from the ruin and extinction into which the Spanish Government has plunged it, and to claim a modest but worthy place in the concert of free nations.

Given at Cavite the 23d of June, 1898.

Emilio Aguinaldo.

To Foreign Governments.

The Revolutionary Government of the Philippines, on its establishment, explained, through the message dated the 23d of June last, the true causes of the Philippine Revolution, showing, according to the evidence, that this popular movement is the result of the laws which regulate the life of a people which aspires to progress and to perfection by the sole road of liberty.

The said Revolution now rules in the Provinces of Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, Tayabas, Laguna, Morong, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Neuva-Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Union, Infanta, and Zambales, and it holds besieged the capital of Manila.

In these Provinces complete order and perfect tranquility reign, administered by the authorities elected by the Provinces in accordance with the organic decrees dated the 18th and 23d of June last.

The Revolution holds, moreover, about 9,000 prisoners of war, who are treated in accordance with the customs of war between civilized nations and humane sentiments, and at the end of the war it has more than 30,000 combatants organized in the form of a regular army.

In this situation the chiefs of the towns comprised in the above mentioned Provinces, interpreting the sentiments which animate those who have elected them, have proclaimed the Independence of the Philippines, petitioning the Revolutionary Government that will entreat and obtain from foreign Governments recognition of its belligerency and its independence, in the firm belief that the Philippine people have already arrived at that state in which they can and ought to govern themselves.