or his daughter in an envious way, that if he did not give them up he was lost."

Mr. H. I'helps Whitmarsh, who was sent to the Philippines as the correspondent of The Outlook, a journalist, and one who was afterward chosen as the first governor of the Hill province of Benguet, where he now resides, was asked by the Commission:

"Q. What grounds did they [the people of the provinces visited by Mr. W.] give for their hostility?

"A. Mainly tha: the priests held them under, oppressed them, robbed them, and that they used their women and daughters just as they pleased.

"Q. Did you hear of instances of deportation through the agency of the priest?

"A. Yes; I have heard that nobody was allowed in certain sections to go away from the town without the permit of the friars, and that the friar often sent him away, and that they were under the thumb of the friar.”

"Every abuse of the many which finally led to the two revolutions of 1896 and 1898 was charged by the people to the friars. Whether they were in fact to blame is perhaps aside from our purpose; but it can not admit of contradiction that the autocratic power which each curate exercised over the people and civil officials of his parish gave them a most plausible ground for belief that nothing of injustice, of cruelty, of oppression, of narrowing restraint of liberty, was imposed on them for which the friar was not entirely responsible. His sacerdotal functions were not, in their eyes, the important ones except as they enabled him to clinch and make more complete his civil and political control. The revolutions against Spain's Sovereignty began as movements against the friars. Such was the tenor of Rizal's chief work, 'Noli Me Tangere.' The treaty of Biacnabato, which ended the first revolution, is said to have contained the condition that the friars hould be expelled. In the second revolution, as already sand at least forty friars were killed, and over four hundid were imprisoned. Having in view these circum

stances, the statement of the bishop and friars that the mass of the people in these islands, except only a few of the leading men of each town and the native clergy, are friendly to them, can not be accepted as accurate. All the evidence derived from every srce. but the friars themselves, shows clearly that the feeling of hatred for the friars is well-nigh universal, and permeates all classes."*

Chapters could be filled with evidence of this character, and all of it is corroborated by the large facts of recent social and political upheavals which have taken place. But there is no need. There is undying hostility in the Philippines against the friar. The causes recited above are those which have chiefly contributed to create this hostility. Only in the degree to which leaders in the

*Report of the Civil Commission by Governor Taft to the President. Part II, p. 29.

Catholic Church frankly recognize the abuses which led to las bitterness, and address themselves to their removal, will they win the approval of thoughtful men.

With what perfect fitness the ancient reproof of Ezekiel comes to these men who have done good, who have pioneered civilization, and have cleansed heathenism out of the Islands, but who have lost their first love, and wandered from their first paths of humility and service:

"Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered." (Ezek. xxxiv, 2-5.)

CHAPTER VIII.

THE INSURRECTION OF 1896.

THE Insurrection of 1896 was only the culmination of a long series of efforts on the part of the Filipino people to throw off the hated yoke of mediæval despotism imposed upon them by the Spanish government, and made unendurable by the oppressive administration of friars. As far back as 1622 the tyranny of the Church and frightful cruelties inflicted upon the "Indios" by Spanish officials to compel them to perform labor without pay, drove the natives into a revolt that was only put down by the utmost efforts of the government. In 1660 the natives of the province of Pampanga revolted because they were compelled to perform service without remuneration in erecting churches, convents, and government arsenals. The greatest cruelties were committed upon them. If they refused to work they were tortured horribly. The whole population was reduced to a condition of serfdom, and they rose as one man, and wrung from the government some slight mitigation of their miseries.

In 1744 a Jesuit priest in the island of Bohol caused an uprising by his long-continued despotism and cruelties. He used force to herd the people to church to hear mass. If they were absent for any cause, he had the civil authorities put them under arrest, and they were fined, imprisoned, or publicly flogged. A man who had been particularly hard for the friar to manage in the matter of attendance at church died. The friar refused him

Catholic Church frankly recognize the abuses which led to his bitterness, and address themselves to their removal, will they win the approval of thoughtful men.

With what perfect fitness the ancient reproof of Ezekiel comes to these men who have done good, who have pioneered civilization, and have cleansed heathenism out of the Islands, but who have lost their first love, and wandered from their first paths of humility and service

Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds: W be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselve Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat t fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them t are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased h. ve not strengthened, neither have ye healed that wl. was sick, neither have ye bound up that which broken, neither have ve brought again that which driven away, neither have ye sought that which lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled t And they were scattered because there is no shep' and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, they were scattered." (Ezek. xxxiv, 2-5.)