his friendship for the United States.  He gave emphasis to the assertion that they were “suspicious” of him on that account.  It was my judgment at first that the General, in stopping short when a question was difficult and referring to the Council he had to consult, was showing a capacity for finesse, that he really had the power to do or to undo, though he has not a personal appearance of possible leadership.  Now this, even, has been modified.  His Council seems to be the real center of power.  When I was talking with Aguinaldo there were two American priests waiting to propose the deportation of his prisoners who were priests, and he had to refer that question.  The Council has decided to keep the priests in confinement, and it is remarked that the General desired to give up his prisoners and was false in saying he favored sending them to Spain.  There are misapprehensions in this association.  He has no doubt thought well of holding fast his most important hostages.  If he personally desired to release the priests, he probably would not venture to do it.  He is not so silly as to believe in his own inviolability by bullets, and digestion of poisons; and those who are such savages as to confide in these superstitions are not unlikely to try experiments just to strengthen their faith.  The potentiality of Aguinaldo as a personage is not so great as has been imagined, and if he attempts a rally against the American flag he will be found full of weakness.

The Archbishop, I was told, had much pleasure in meeting an American he was assured would attempt to be entirely just, and present him according to his own declarations to the people of the United States.  He knew very well, unquestionably, the stories circulated in the American camps, that his voice had been loudest and last in urging hopeless war, in telling impossible tales of visionary Spanish reinforcements, and denouncing the Americans as “niggers” and “pigs.”  It is a fact that Spaniards have cultivated the notion among the rural Filipinos, that Americans are black men, and pigs is their favorite epithet for an American.  The radical enemies of His Grace are, no doubt, responsible for unseemly stories about his animosities, for that he and those around him were sincere in their respect for, and gratitude toward the American army of occupation, for its admirable bearing and good conduct, was in itself too obviously true to be doubted.

CHAPTER VIII

Why We Hold the Philippines.

The Responsibility of Admiral Dewey—­We Owe It to Ourselves to Hold the Philippines—­Prosperity Assured by Our Permanent Possession—­The Aguinaldo Question—­Character Study of the Insurgent Leader—­How Affairs Would Adjust Themselves for Us—­Congress Must Be Trusted to Represent the People and Firmly Establish International Policy.