The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-21
ELEMENTAL, THE PREACHER.
A Remarkable Story From the Philip


 estants, so called by themselves and
 by their neighbors, who have gathered
 around a Tagalo preached named Pie
 mentel. There are several hundred of
 these people who come regularly to his
 preaching and he has apparently in
 structed them faithfully in the gospel. The great message that he has empha-
 sized in all his preaching is the Al | sutiiciency of Christ" He is the open
 enemy of the Roman priests, and tells
 the people that all their teaching is
 false; that Christ alone stands between
 men and their God; that Christ alone
 forgives sin; that we should confess
 to Christ alone and that Christ alone 1 has all power and all right in the world.
 Piementel was born and reared near
 Manila, and says that all his people
 were Protestants, never going to the
 mass or to confession, and teaching their children that Christ was every
 thing and the friars were all false
 After several years of service in Minda-
 mao as a soldier, Piementel came to the town of Barotoc, Panay, and at the time of the last revolution against Spain, 1896, he was revolutionary cap- tain. He had long been outspoken in
 his denunciation of the friars, and al- ready had many enemies among priests, who were seeking to kill him.
 He was very successful as revolution
 ary officer, helping drive the Spaniards from this province.
 Later, when the Americans came and
 the revolutionary forces changed their names and became insurrectos against
 America, Piementel refused to retain his command, declaring that the Ameri-
 cans were Protestants, and so would be the salvation of the Filipinos. Though the other officers tried to force him to take the field against the Amer jeans, he refused to do so, thus incur ring their enmity They had previously been incensed against him because he had been a friend of the peasant class and had always stood up in behalf of the people. His superior officers were upper-class Filipinos with no sympathy whatever for the peasants. Two or three successive times Quintin Salas, the cruel Insurrecto general in this province, tried to kill Piementel. One time he came with aforce of men in the night, surrounded Piementel's house, set it on fire, and then attempted to shoot Piementel as he escaped. Anoth- CT time he fired five shoots from re- volver at Piementel in a room, almost at point blank, and not a ball touched him.
 Salas now became convinced that Piementel was an American spy and redoubled his attempts to kill him. He worked through the priest and the Presidente this time, informing the American officer that Piementel was an insurrecto spy, who was pretending to be a friend to the Americans. The American officer was led to believe this and Piementel was seized and hanged by the neck in a tree for several hours. until he was supposed to be dead At the body was taken down and left to be buried in the morning. Some time during the night Piementel regain ed consciousness and made his escape. l Some time after this Piementel was again seized by another party of Ameri- | cans, who decided to shoot him. He was | told to run across an open place, as is | done by soldiers here when | they have a prisoner whom they think | deserves death, and the whole band fir ed upon him. Again not bullet touch ed his body, and he hid himself | safely.
 After this he was seized by Filipino | officials and locked up in d dungeon and while he was asleep some Filipino policemen came into lis eel and clubbad him with the butts of their guns, frac- turing his skull and breaking in his cheek bones and crushing iii his fore head. They finally left him for dead, that he was finally out of he way. In the morning he was still and an American doctor took pity on him and took him to the hos oital and raised the sunken bones as ar as possible, and after two or three months poor Piementel was again able Q get back to his home. This time he lad a letter of indorsement from the and had only to fear the priests and their hired assassinators. Tor long time he lived in the utmost ,aution, One day he met the American 'fficer who had hanged him. and the of- icer was thunderstruck, supposing he lad long been dead. Piemente told him hat God had kept him alive or he ! would have been dead This is the man about whom the peo- yle gather at Barotoc. His face is ter ibly disfigured, and his head terribly roken, but look of divine joy shines n his countenance in spite of the scars. I Ie is little man, looking possibly ome as St. Paul looked At least I and l thers have thought of St. Paul as we ave seen and talked with Piementel
 He formerly owned considerable prop l rty. All was lost during the troublous c ines, except the real estate. He owns ome land and two large houses, and so s independent. One of his houses he : ses as preaching place and stopping lace for the poor people, very much I he same as the house in which Mani ! an lives is used. And the people crowd T round him continually He tells me | hat every time he breaches his eyes re filled with tears because Gods pres nee overawes him, and that all the I eople weep with him. He receives no | ay for his work except the joy of doing {. He says he prefers to be no ex- ense to us, for he is able to be inde- | endent. All that he has he divides with 1e peasants who come to him. Y The last time he was in Jaro I saw V i'm carrying a large bundle of copper V