The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

ADVENTURES IN COOPERATION AND UNITY 205

By the end of that period the principle of division had been
vindicated so conclusively that it has been continued, with
modifications, to the present day, and will continue as long
as denominational divisions continue in the Islands.
The first annual meeting of the Union was held at the
Zorilla Theater, in January, I902. A couple of months later
the Union held a series of revival meetings in a great tent,
put up for the purpose, on the Luneta. Rev. William Edgar
Geil, an evangelist from the United States, led the meetings so
effectively that two hundred people "hit the trail."
The Union has not yet fulfilled the expectation of its first
president, Major E. W. Halford, who looked forward to "a
glowing future for the work in the Philippines when all the
forces which make for the salvation of these Islands should be
really united"; but it has been of immense value, if one may
speak paradoxically, both in keeping missions apart and in
drawing them together. By making a territorial divison it has
helped to prevent causes of irritation; at the same time it has
provided, in its periodical meetings, for fellowship of the missionaries under the most pleasant circumstances. It has been
a clearing house for all sorts of delicate and difficult problems.
The social gatherings of the Union have been "glorious."
Members of the missions have eaten and laughed and prayed
together so much that it would be difficult for them to feel
anything save the finest good will. The impact of this Union
upon the community has been far more effective, especially in
its fight for morality, than the separate missions could ever
have been.
The Episcopal Church, under Bishop Brent, declined the
invitation of the other communions to join with the Union,
because as the Bishop puts it, "we cannot subscribe to some of
the principles implied or set forth explicitly." The principal
obstacle for the Bishop was the attempt of Protestants to proselytize Roman Catholics. He was temperamentally friendly to
both Protestants and Catholics, and has always cherished the
Episcopal dream of the ultimate reconciliation between these
two widely divided branches of Christendom. He assured
the Evangelical Union that his failure to join the Union would