You know that your wishes are mine also, and for this reason at the last interview I had with Mr.Aguinaldo, I repeated to him that he should observe the greatest humanity possible in the war, in order that our army, our soldiers, our nation and all the other nations may see that you are humane and not savages, as has erroneously been believed.' "After this there was enthusiastic applause for the Consul; he offered us all cigars, glasses of very fine sherry, and lemonade for the musicians and the majority.

The toasts were offered with the sherry by your humble servant, Sres.

Cannon, Enriquez, Celio, Reyes, the Consul, the editors of the _Free Press_, _Straits Times_ and Mr.Bray.We drank to America and her humanitarian work of redemption; to the Philippines with America; we gave thanks to the Consul, to Mr.Bray as an important defender; we drank to the _Free Press_ for taking such an interest in our affairs, and to the _Straits Times_ (sarcastically); but I was very careful not to propose a toast to our general, which was done at the proper time by 'Flaco' [23] when we gave three cheers; for the sake of courtesy we cheered for England, which had been so hospitable to us, and when everybody had become quiet, the Editor of the _Straits Times_ took his glass in his hand and cried in a loud voice, 'The Philippine Republic,' to which we all responded.

'Flaco' disappeared a moment, and when he returned he brought with him the American flag, and formally presented it to us in French, which I interpreted to all in Spanish, as follows: 'Gentlemen: The American Consul, with his deep affection for us, presents us this flag as the greatest and most expressive remembrance which he can give us.

The red stripes stand for the generous blood of her sons, shed to obtain her liberty; the white stripes stand for her virginity and purity as our country; the blue background indicates the sky and each star represents a free and independent State; this is America, and the Consul is desirous that we also should have so glorious a history as hers and that it may be as brilliant as could be wished, securing peace with respect, and may God be our help and guide in securing liberty.