only honourable
course left open to him would have been to advise Washington of his
improper action and beg the Government to support him in it and thus
save the honour of the country.

Fortunately, Aguinaldo did not act upon the promise nor accept the
offer. On the contrary, he promptly and indignantly denied that he
was committed to anything, and sought to impose new conditions which
were not acceded to.

Meanwhile some one doubtless got hold of General Merritt and called
his attention to the fact that in making this offer he had grossly
exceeded his authority, for in his reply to Aguinaldo's protest
General Merritt says:--

"So far as any promises as to what should be done in the event
of a conclusion of a treaty between the United States and Spain
are concerned, it is utterly impossible for me as the military
representative only of the United States to make any promises such as
you request. As you have already been informed, you may depend upon
the good will of the Americans out here and the Government, of which
you already know the beneficence, to determine these matters in the
future." [179]

Coming, as this statement did, after the offer made in the memorandum
hereinbefore referred to, it must have aroused the suspicions of
Aguinaldo and his associates, and in my opinion Merritt's conduct in
making such a proposal in the first instance was inexcusable.

Before he could terminate the negotiations which followed he was called
away, and turned this matter, together with other unfinished business,
over to his successor, General E. S. Otis.

On August 31, 1898, the latter official wrote to Aguinaldo as
follows:--

"_General Aguinaldo, Bacoor_:

"Referring to promise made by General Merritt to reply to your
letter of August 27 within four days, I desire to state that he was
unexpectedly ordered away and had not opportunity to reply. Being
unacquainted with the situation, I must take time to inform myself
before answering, which I will do at the earliest opportunity.

"_Otis_."

On September 8 General Otis wrote Aguinaldo a long letter fully
discussing the whole situation in the light of the complete information
which he had meanwhile obtained. Since so much has been made of this
incident by Blount and others, I invite attention to the following
extracts from General Otis's letter, which embody a fair and judicial
statement of the conditions which existed:--

"You designate certain lines within the subu