Interview with the Archbishop of Manila.
Insurgents' Deadly Hostility to Spanish Priests--The Position of
the Archbishop as He Defined It--His Expression of Gratitude to the
American Army--His Characterization of the Insurgents--A Work of
Philippine Art--The Sincerity of the Archbishop's Good Words.
The intense feeling by the Philippine insurgents against the Spanish
priests made it seem very desirable to see the Archbishop of Manila,
and he informed two American priests that he would have pleasure in
making an expression of his views to me to be placed before the people
of the United States. He had been charged with extreme vindictiveness
and the responsibility of demanding that the city should be defended to
the last extremity, when actually, in the consultation of dignitaries
that took place, and the surrender of the capital was demanded by
General Merritt and Admiral Dewey, he declared the situation hopeless
and that it was a plain duty to prevent the sacrifice of life. He was
overruled by the peculiar folly that has caused Spain in the course
of the war to inflict heavy and avoidable losses upon herself. Indeed,
the war originated in the Spanish state of mind that it was necessary
to open fire and shed blood for the honor of the arms of Spain. The
Spanish officers knew they could not save Manila from the hands of the
Americans while the command of the sea by our fleet was indisputable
and we had unlimited reserves to draw upon to strengthen the land
forces, irrespective of the swarms of insurgents pressing in the
rear and eager to take vengeance for centuries of mismanagement
and countless personal grievances. It was the acknowledgment of the
Spanish Captain-General, when he received the peremptory summons from
Merritt and Dewey to give up the city, that there was no place of
refuge for the women and children, the sick and the wounded; and yet
it was insisted that the honor of Spain required bloodshed--not much,
perhaps, but enough to prove that the army of Spain was warlike. When
the American army had been reinforced so as to have 8,000 men ready to
take the field, General Merritt and Admiral Dewey had a conference and
agreed to send the Spaniards in authority a formal notification that
in forty-eight hours they would bombard and assail the defenses of
the city of Manila if it were not surrendered. The Spanish reply was
that the Americans could commence operations at once, but there was
no place where the women and children, the wounded and the sick could
go to find a place of security. This was tantamount to a declaration
that the Spaniards were sliding into a surrender, but wanted to make
a claim to the contrary.
The residence of the Archbishop is within the walled city and a very
substantial edifice, the stone work confined to the lower story and
hardwood timber freely used in massive form instead of stone. His grace
was seated at a small table in a broad hall, with a lamp and writing
material before him. He is imposing as a man of importance and his
greeting was cordial to kindliness. He said his acknowledgments were
personally due the American people for the peace of mind he had enjoyed
during the occupation of the city by the army of the United States,
for its establishment of order and the justice in administration
that relieved good citizens from oppression and alarm. He was glad
to have Americans know his sensibility on this subject, and wanted
me to convey his sentiments to the President.
When asked what it was that caused the insurgents to be so ferocious
against the priests and resolved on their expulsion or destruction he
said the rebels were at once false, unjust and ungrateful. They had
been lifted from savagery by Catholic teachers, who had not only been
educators in the schools but teachers in the fields. The same Catholic
Orders that were singled out for special punishment had planted in
the islands the very industries that were sources of prosperity,
and the leaders of the insurgents had been largely educated by the
very men whom now they persecuted. Some of the persecutors had been in
Europe and became revolutionists in the sense of promoting disorder as
anarchists. It was the antagonism of the church to murderous anarchy
that aroused the insurgents of the Philippines to become the deadly
enemies of priests and church orders. It was true in Spain, as in the
Philippines, that the anarchists were particularly inflamed against
the church. His grace did not seem to have heard of the American
anarchist, but the European revolutionist has received a large share
of his attention.
He produced a box of cigars, also a bottle of sherry, and chatted
comfortably and humorously. There was one thing then that he had in
his heart--that his anxiety for peace and appreciation of order as
enjoyed under the American military government should be recorded and
responsibly reported to the people of the United States. The American
priests had informed him that I was a friend of long standing of
President McKinley, and he again enjoined that I should declare his
sentiments to the President. A beautiful work of wood carving was
shown on an easel, which had a frame of hard wood, the whole, easel and
frame, with elaborately wrought ornamentation, cut out of one tree. It
was at once strong and graceful, simple and decorative. The picture was
a gold medallion, raised on a plate of silver, an excellent likeness
of his grace. It was evident that the refinements of art were known to
"these barbarians of the Philippines," for their works testified.
His grace announced that he would return my call, and his convenience
being consulted, the time was fixed for him to appear at 11 o'clock
the next day, Sunday, and he came accordingly, accompanied by three
priests, the chaplain of the First California, Father Daugherty
who sailed with General Merritt to Manila, and Father Boyle, the
superintendent of the famous observatory founded by the Jesuits, who
was a typical Irishman of a strong and humorously hearty type. Father
Boyle had one of the most perfect methods of speaking English in the
Irish way that I have ever heard, and admitted that he had resided in
England long enough to be born there; and this was great fun. It is
not too much to say that the institution he represented is illustrious.
The cathedral of Manila is within the walled city and of immense
proportions. It was shattered by an earthquake, and in its
reconstruction wood rather than marble was used for the supporting
pillars within, but no one would find out that the stately clusters
of columns were not from the quarries rather than the forests, unless
personally conducted to the discovery. Here 2,000 Spanish soldiers,
held under the articles of capitulation, were quartered, consumed
their rations and slept, munching and dozing all around the altar and
pervading the whole edifice. The other great churches, five in number,
in the walled city, were occupied in the same way. The Archbishop
was anxious to have the soldiers otherwise provided with shelter,
and if not all of them could be restored to their ordinary uses it
was most desirable, in his opinion, the cathedral should be.
It is estimated that 2,000 of the American soldiers in the
expeditionary force are Catholics, and Father Daugherty was anxious to
preach to them in English. During the call upon me by the Archbishop
this subject was discussed, and the suggestion made that the Americans
had tents in great number that they did not occupy and that would
probably not be preserved by keeping them stored in that hot and trying
climate. They might be pitched on the Luneta, which is beside the sea,
and the town thus relieved of 13,000 men, who, herded in churches,
produced unsanitary conditions. This seemed reasonable, and the policy
of the change would have a tendency to develop an element of good-will
not to be despised and rejected. It might be that the cathedral alone
could be cleared without delay or prejudice with a pleasant effect,
and if so why not? His grace was certainly diplomatic and persuasive
in stating the case, and his attendants were animated with zeal that
the Americans should have the credit of re-opening the cathedral
for worship. It was true the Spanish garrison first occupied it,
but if the necessity that its ample roof should protect soldiers
from the torrential rains had existed perhaps it had ceased to be
imperative. The matter was duly presented to the military authorities,
and the objection found to immediate action that the Spanish prisoners
of war should not for the time be located outside the walled city. They
must be held where they could be handled.
Coincident with the call of the Archbishop came Captain Coudert,
of the distinguished family of that name in New York, and his grace
was deeply interested in that young man and warmly expressed his
gratification in meeting an American officer of his own faith. The
Archbishop is a man of a high order of capacity, and his influence
has been great. His position is a trying one, for it would be quite
impossible for him to remain in Manila if the insurgents should
become the masters of the situation. The claim of hostile natives
that the Spanish priests have an influence in matters of state that
make them a ruling class is one that they urge when expressing their
resolve that the Friars must go. The Spanish policy, especially in
the municipal governments, has been to magnify the office of the
priests in political functions. The proceedings of a meeting of the
people in order to receive attention or to have legal standing must
be certified by a priest. It is the Spanish priest that is wanted in
matters of moment, and the laws make his presence indispensable. The
Spanish priests are, therefore, identified in the public mind with
all the details of misgovernment. The civilized Filipinos profess
christianity and faith in the native priests, carefully asserting
the distinction. In his conversation with me, General Aguinaldo
repeatedly referred to the necessity of consulting his advisers,
and said he had to be careful not to offend many of his followers,
who thought he had gone very far in 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.