AMERICAN AND FILIPINO CUSTOMS 269 can host in a provincial town as we were about to call upon the Filipino priest, "but unless you are strongly opposed to drinking wine or beer, I hope you will not refuse it. The priest will not understand your refusal; but if on principle you cannot take anything, it will not matter so much, as I will take a glass of everything that is offered." Not only did he keep his word, but his wife also took both beer and wine and gave each of the children a sip or two from her glasses, and later, at another home, took a cigarette when they were passed, not to smoke, as she admitted, but because she was afraid to offend her neighbors, whose customs meant so much to them. "You are no gentleman to leave my table as you are doing," said an English host to Mr. Moody, when the wine was flowing freely. "I don't want to be, if I have to get drunk in order to be one," was his characteristic reply. It seems pitiable that Americans sacrifice their sense of right in order to conform to customs which have largely grown up since the Americans went to the Philippines. When a Filipino calls upon another native the host never thinks of offering him beer or whiskey, but these are considered necessary when an American calls. CHAPTER XXVI THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Early Action Taken by the General Assembly-Comity THE HE month that Admiral Dewey entered Manila Bay the Presbyterian General Assembly, in session at Winona Lake, Indiana, enthusiastically endorsed the following suggestion made by the Rev. George F. Pentecost, D.D.: "In addition to fields already occupied, we cannot be deaf or blind to the startling providence of God which is just now opening up new and unexpected fields for foreign mission work. The peace-speaking guns of Admiral Dewey have opened the gates which henceforth make accessible not less than 8,000,000 of people who have for three hundred years been fettered. cannot ignore the fact that God has given into our hands, that is, into the hands of American Christians, the Philippine Islands, and thus opened a great door and effectual to their populations, and has, by the very guns of our battleships, summoned us to go up and possess the land." . . We Several missionaries in various lands wrote that they were willing to be transferred to the Philippine Islands, URGING ACTION IN THE ISLANDS 271 the veteran Dr. Kerr, of Canton, China, sending the following interesting note: "Forty years ago I spent several weeks in the Philippine Islands, and some years ago I wrote to Dr. Ellinwood urging him to take some steps to establish a mission there. Recent events at Manila indicate that the way is now, or soon will be, open to establish Protestant missions in those islands. What is there to hinder our Church from being the first to enter, as it did in Japan and Korea? It would be a difficult field, but the war will no doubt shake off some of the Catholic fetters which have bound the people, and some of them might welcome the preachers of salvation by grace, as they will welcome free government. I hope you will take this matter in hand, and see that the Board enters into it with enthusiasm and faith." The Presbyterian Board felt that the political and military relations into which the United States had been so strangely forced with reference to the Philippine Islands, Cuba and Porto Rico, involved certain moral and religious responsibilities-responsibilities which were perhaps quite independent of the precise character of the political relationship which may hereafter be formed with the islands-and that the Christian people of America should immediately consider the duty of entering the door which God in His providence was thus opening. A conference with the representatives of the leading American Mission Boards was suggested, with a view to a mutual understanding as to the new responsibilities of American Christians and an agreement as to the most effective distribution of the work among the several Boards. This conference was held in the summer of 1898, and, as a result of it, the Board decided in November of that year to transfer the Rev. James B. Rodgers, then a missionary in Brazil, to the Philippine Islands. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers arrived there on April 21, 1899, and a month later were joined by the Rev. and Mrs. David S. Hibbard. Before the close, of the year they reported an organized native church with nine members, regular semi-weekly services conducted in Spanish at four different points in the city, a service every Sunday in English for the English-speaking people, evangelistic work among the soldiers, visitation of hospitals, etc. In January, 1900, Dr. and Mrs. J. Andrew Hall arrived, and the next month the Rev. Leonard P. DavidThus the Presbyterian work was begun promptly and prosecuted vigorously. son. The Manila station, according to the action of the Evangelical Union, includes about half of the city of Manila, and all that portion of the Island of Luzon south and southeast of Manila, the Methodists taking the other half of Manila and the provinces to the north. Each denomination has about 1,300,000 population among which to work. Mr. Rodgers has under his care seven licensed natives, and five or six others on whom he can call for work in Manila. In each congregation in the country there are two men who direct the services in the absence of the missionary or of one of the licensed preachers. Five of the licensed men are paid by the Mission or by friends, and give all their time to the work; others follow regular trades and also help in the church work. In addition to the three Manila congregations there were in 1903 three in Cavite province, three in Laguna province, and one |