the present war." [163]

Under the instructions of the President these demands could not be
acceded to. Nor could they have been acceded to had there been no
such instructions. In this connection the following extract from
General Jaudenes's cablegram for June 8th to his home government is
highly significant:--

"Population of suburbs have taken refuge in walled city from fear
of outrages of insurgents, preferring to run risks of bombardment,
which has not yet begun." [164]

It would seem that the population of the suburbs did not have a high
idea of Insurgent discipline.

That their apprehensions were not groundless is shown by a passage
in a letter sent the following day to Governor-General Augustin
by Buencamino:--

"Manila being surrounded by land and by sea, without hope of assistance
from anywhere, and Senor Aguinaldo being disposed to make use of
the fleet in order to bombard, if Your Excellency should prolong
the struggle with tenacity, I do not know, frankly, what else to
do other than to succumb dying, but Your Excellency knows that the
entrance of 100,000 Indians, [165] inflamed with battle, drunk with
triumph and with blood, will produce the hecatomb from which there
will not be allowed to escape either women, children, or Peninsular
friars,--especially the friars; and, I believe that the rights of
humanity, imperilled in such a serious way, should be well considered
by Your Excellency, for however dear glory and military duty may be,
although worth as much or more than existence itself there is no right
by which they should be won at the cost of the rights of humanity,
and the latter outweigh every consideration and all duty." [166]

Don Felipe knew his own people. He also knew, none better, what they
had in mind at this time.

As it was the Insurgent forces made the most of such opportunity as
they had, and their own records show it.

In the suburbs of Manila they sacked and committed outrages,
threatening people with their arms, and this was still going on a
week after the fall of Manila. [167]

General Pio del Pilar was believed to be responsible for much of this
misconduct, and Mabini proposed that as it was necessary for him to
leave the vicinity of Manila, and they could not remove him by force,
he be promoted. [168]

Some time during this month Sandico wrote Aguinaldo as follows:--

"The Americans have already heard of the frequent cases of kidnapping
(_dukut_) occurring in Tondo, San