Francisco Ferrer; his life, work and martyrdom, with message written ...

y6 Francisco Ferrer,
"We are too individualistic ; we esteem one another
often criticize the work of friends, and so
too little ; we
our enemies murder us one by one.
"When one of us is killed we complain and we weep.
It is endless.
"We would have done better if we had defended the
living, if we had kept up with his activities from day to
day, had guessed in advance the danger that could
threaten him, and had surrounded him with the close
embrace of friendship and esteem."
Capri, Italy, August, 1910.
HAVELOCK ELLIS:
"I never met Ferrer or came in contact with his work,
and can, therefore, say little about him, but I am glad
to be allowed to associate myself with the Ferrer commemoration.
"We are told by distinguished Spaniards whose opinion
is entitled to respect that Ferrer was by no means a
man of great intellectual distinction. It is possible that
they are right and that we are scarcely entitled to class
him among those supreme teachers with whom he is
sometimes grouped.
"But the evidence of those who knew him best seems
to show conclusively that he was not only a man of
great character, but that he possessed a clear vision of
the special needs of his country at the present time. He
realized, I take it, that what Spain requires at present
is not a violent political revolution, but a sound educational
system on non-clerical lines, with, it seems, a
stress on the moral side of education.
"Against immense difficulties, Ferrer devoted himself
with persistency and success to the establishment of such
a system of education. His death was due to his devotion
to this cause.
"I think, therefore, that, whatever Ferrer's limitations
may have been, he deserves to rank not only among the
Spanish heroes who have always known how to die,
but also among those great men who by their inspiring
example have deserved well of humanity all over the
world. He is rightly revered as a martyr."
Carbis Bay, Cornwall, England, August, 1910.