were anxious to have the contention
decided in a formal and definite manner, and the case was heard at the
Court of Guagua (Pampanga). The decision was against the sectarians,
on the ground that what had been once given for a specific purpose
could not be restored to the donor, or its application diverted from
the original channel, notwithstanding any subsequent change in the
views of the donor. It was probably in consequence of these disputes
that in January, 1905, the Secretary of War approved of a proposed
Act of the Insular Government conferring authority upon the Supreme
Court of these Islands to hear cases relating to Church property
claims and pronounce a final decision thereon.

Up to the middle of 1904 the particular doctrines of the Philippine
Independent Church were not yet defined, and the Aglipayans professed
to follow the Roman ritual. It was intended, however, to introduce
reforms of fundamental importance. For two days and a half I
travelled in company with the titular Aglipayan ecclesiastical
governor of the Visayas, from whom I learnt much concerning the
opinions of his sect. It appears that many are opposed to celibacy of
the clergy and auricular confession. My companion himself rejected
the biblical account of the Creation, the doctrine of original sin,
hereditary responsibility, the deity of Christ, and the need for the
Atonement. His conception of the relations between God and mankind
was a curious admixture of Darwinism and Rationalism; everything
beyond the scope of human reasoning had but a slender hold on his mind.

It is most probable that the majority of Aglipayans have given no
thought as to the possible application of the power of union in this
particular form, and that their adhesion to the movement is merely a
natural reaction following the suppression of sacerdotal tyranny--an
extravagant sense of untrammelled thought which time may modify by
sober reflection when it is generally seen that the clergy of the
Roman Catholic Church henceforth strictly limit themselves to the
exercise of their proper functions. With the hope of re-establishing
peace and conformity in the Church, His Holiness Pope Pius X. sent
to the Islands his new Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Ambrose Agius,
who reached Manila on February 6, 1905. [282]

It is doubtful whether the native parish priest, bereft of the
white man's control, would have sufficient firmness of character to
overcome his own frailties and lead hi