ch impede the circulation of the
sap, in order that the tree may again bring forth leaves and
flowers. (_Senor Penaranda interposed, shouting, "That is the
way to speak!" Frantic applause_.)

Thirty thousand pesos were subscribed at the Military Club for the
benefit of General Primo de Rivera. Admiral Patricio Montojo, who had
co-operated against the rebels by firing a few shots at them when they
occupied the coast towns of Cavite Province and transporting troops
to and from Manila, was the recipient of a sword of honour on March
17, 1898. It was presented to him, on behalf of the Military Club,
by Senor Comenge (who escaped from Manila as soon as the Americans
entered the port) as a "perpetual remembrance of the triumph of our
ships off the coast of Cavite," although no deed of glory on the
part of the fleet, during the period of the rebellion, had come to
the knowledge of the general public.

The reforms alluded to in the treaty made with the rebel chiefs were
a subject of daily conversation; but when the _Diario de Manila _
published an article on March 17, demanding autonomy for the Islands
and urging the immediate application of those reforms, General
Primo de Rivera suspended the publication of the newspaper. Some
were inquisitive enough to ask, Has a treaty been signed or a trick
been played upon the rebels? The treatment of the people was far from
being in harmony with the spirit of a treaty of peace.

The expatriated ex-rebels became alarmed by the non-receipt of the
indemnity instalment and the news from their homes. A committee of
Filipinos, styled _La Junta Patriotica,_ was formed in Hong-Kong. They
were in frequent communication with their friends in the Islands. The
seed of discontent was again germinating under the duplicity of the
Spanish lay and clerical authorities. Thousands were ready to take
the field again, but their chiefs were absent, their arms surrendered,
and the rebellion disorganized. Here and there roving parties appeared,
but having no recognized leaders, their existence did not invalidate
the treaty. The Spaniards, indeed, feigned to regard them only
as a remnant of the rebels who had joined the pre-existing brigand
bands. The volunteers were committing outrages which might have driven
the people again into open revolt, and General Primo de Rivera had,
at least, the sagacity to recognize the evil which was apparent to
everybody. The volunteers and guerilla battalions were