CHAPTER 15 Rizal
second sojourn in Paris and the
universal exposition of 1889µ
Rizal went to Paris after his stay in London. Despite the social parties and the g
gli
littering
ttering lights o
off
the city, he continued his fruitful artistic, literary,
literary, and patriotic labours. He lived in a little room,
together with two other Filipinos- Capitan Justo Trinidad, former gobernadorcillo
gobernadorcillo of
o f Santa Ana,
Manila and a refugee from
fro m Spanish tyranny, and Jose Albert, a young student from Manila.
In Paris, Rizal continued to be busy in his pursuits. He checked up his historial annotations on
Morga's book. He wrote letters to his family in Calamba giving an interesting account o
off his life
in Paris. Like any ordinary
ord inary Filipin
Filipino
o ttourist
ourist in a foreign land, Rizal was fascinated by the
Universal Expostion of Paris which opened on
o n May 6, 1889. R
Rizal
izal and his friends attended the
opening ceremonies and saw the cutting of the ribbon by Pres. Sadi Cannot of the Third French
Republic.
On May 19, 1889, Rizal organized his paisanos (compatriots) into a society called Kidlat Club.
Among its members were, Antonio and Juan Luna,Gregorio Aguilera, Fernando Canon, Lauro
Dimayuga, Julie Llorente, Guillermo Puatu and Baldomero Roxas.
Kidlat Club was founded by Rizal
R izal to bring together the young Filipinos in the French capital so
that they could enjoy their sojourn
so journ in the city during the durat
duration
ion of the Universal Exposition.
Rizal and the members of
o f the Kidlat Club were amazed to see the Buffalo Bull show which
featured the American Indians. The red-skinned
red-sk inned Indians were proud riding their sturdy ponies,
elegantly dressed in their native attire and wearing
wear ing their war feathers and paints.
Rizal was enchanted by the dignified and proud bearing of the American Indians. They are
ashamed of their name. Let us be like them he said. Proud of the name Indio and make our
Spanish enemies revise their conception of
o f the term. Then he said, they shall be Ind
Indios
ios Bravos.
Thus was born a new society
so ciety of Filipino patriots in Paris. It replaced the ephemeral Kidlat Club.
Another society founded by Rizal
R izal in Paris during the Universal Exposition of 1889 was the
t he
mysterious Sociedad R.D.L.M. Society. The
T he letters R.D.L.M. are believed to be tthe
he initials of the
socity 's secret name Redencion de los Malayos (Redemption of the Malays).
Only a few of Rizal's trusted fri
friends
ends became members of the RDLM, namely, Gregorio del Pilar,
Mariano Ponce, Baldomero Roxas, and Father Jose Maria Changco (Filipino pr
pries
iest).
t). The aim
a im of
the secret society was the propagation
propag ation of all useful knowledge - scientific, artistic, literary in the
Philippines. And another aim was the redemption
rede mption of the Malay race.
Rizal's outstanding achievement in Paris was the publication in 1890 of his annotated edition of
Morga's Sucesos
Sucesos.. The prologue was written by Professor Blumentritt, who censured Rizal's
errors namely: 1) Rizal commits the error of many historians in appraising the events of the past
in the light of present standards and 2) Rizal 's attacks on the church were unfair and u
unjustified
njustified
because the abuses of
o f the friars should not be construed to mean that Catholicism is bad. Rizal's
annotated and published Morga's Sucesos was the best of the many histories of the Philippines
written by early Spanish writers, being accurate in the narration of events,unbiased in judgement,
and unmarred by childish fantasies.
Rizal dedicated his new edition of
o f Morga to the Filipino people so that they wou
would
ld know of their
glorious past.
In the fall of 1889 Rizal wrote
wrot e another satirical work entitled Por Telefono as a reply to another
slanderer, Fr. Salvador Font, who mastermind
mastermind the banning of his Noli. Por Telofono was
published in booklet form in Barcelona. This
T his satirical pamphlet under the authorship of "Dimas
Alang"( one of Rizal's pen-names) is a witty satire which ridicules Father Font. It describes in
comical vein a telephone conversation between Father Font who was in Madrid and the father
provincial of the San Agustin
Agust in Convent in Manila.
In December 25, 1889, Rizal and Jose Albert scraped enough money to celebrate Christmas.
Shortly after New Year, Rizal made a brief visit to London to check up his annotated edition of
Morga Sucesos with the original copy in the British Musem and to see Gertrude Beckett for the
last time.
By the middle of January 1890, he was back in Paris. He complained of a terrible headache but
was not stricken with flu.
Stay in London
Lived in London May 1888 to Mar. 1889
3 reasons why he stayed there:
1) To improve the his knowledge of the English Language
2) To study and annotate Morgas Sucesos de Las Islas Filipinas
3) London was a safe place for him to carry on his fight against Spanish Tyranny
> Filipiniana studies
> Completing annotating Morgas books
> Wrote many articles in La Solidaridad
Penned Young Women of Malolos
Had romance with Gertrude Beckett
Trip
-
Across the Atlantic
Made friends in his Atlantic voyage
Amazed some American and European passengers
Had a chat with
w ith newspaper men but became disappointed
Arrived on Liverpool May 24, 1888
Liverpool is a big and beautiful city and its celebrated port is worthy of its great fame. The
entrance is magnificent and the custom house is quite
quit e good.
Life in London
-
Went to
London May 25, 1888
Stayed as a guest at Dr. Regidors home
Became a boarder at the Becketts by the end of May
W
--
as called
Pearl
ofBoxing
Man by
Dr. Dr.
Reinhold
Played
Cricket
and
with
Rosts Rost
sons.
Good
and bad news from home
Bad News
-
Persecution of the Filipino patriots who signed the
t he Anti-friar Petition of 1888Persecution of
Calamba tenants
Furious attacks on Rizal by Senator Salamanca
Salamanca and Vida
V ida in the Spanish Cortes and by
Desengaños (Wenseslao E. Retana) and Quioquiap (Pablo Feced) in Spanish newspapers
newspapers
Rizals brother-in-law, Manuel
Manuel Hidalgo was exiled in Bohol
Laureano Viado, his friend was arrested and jailed because copies of Noli were found in his
house
Good
-
News
Rev. Vicente Garcias defended Noli against the attacks of the friars.
Content of the letter
We young Filipinos are trying to make o
over
ver a nation and must not halt in our
onward march, but from time to time turn our gaze upon our elders. We shall wish to read in their
contenances approval of our actions. We are anxious to learn of the Philippines past which we need
to understand in order to plan intelligently for the future. We want to know all that our ancestors
knew, and then add our own studies to theirs.
t heirs. Thus we shall progress the faster because we can go
on from where they left off.
Annotating Morga·s books
-
Spent many days in the reading room of the British Museum reading Morgas books and old
stories of the Philippines
Wrote a letter to Blumentritt on Sept. 17, 1888
-
Mariano Ponce urged him to edit a newspaper but refused
Short Visit to Paris and Spain
-
September 1888 he visited Paris for a week
Entertained in a gay French Metropolis by Juan Luna and his wife
He returned to London
Dec. 11, 1888 he went to Spain
Met Marcelo H. del Pilar and Mariano Ponce
Ponce
Christmas
in London
-
Rizal returned to London on Dec. 24, 1888 and spent his Christmas and new year s day with
the Becketts.
He sent a gift to Blumentritt and Dr. Carlos Czepelak
Received a gift from Mrs. Beckett
-
Rizal becomes leader of Filipinos in Europe
-
Chosen to be honorary president
Wrote a letter of thanks adressed to the members of Asociacion La Solidaridad on Jan. 28,
1889
Letter content
When defeated never surrender
Great deal of integrity and much good will
Rizal and the La Solidaridad
Solidaridad paper
-
Graciano Lopez founded La Solidaridad on Feb.15,1889 at Barcelona
Marcelo H. del Pilar about their
t heir newspaper
-
Rizal congratulated Lopez Jaena and the associates and wrote articles
First Article in La Solidaridad
-
Los Agricultores Filipinos (The Filipino Farmers)
Published Mar. 25, 1889
Depicted the deplorable conditions in the
Philippines which cause the backwardness of the country.
Writings
-
in London
La Vision del Fray Rodriguez (The vision of Fray Rodriguez)
Published at Barcelona
Letter to the Young Women of Malolos
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
M.H. del Pilar
Praise the young ladies of Malolos for their courage to establish a school where they could
learn spanish despite the opposition of Fr. Felipe Garcia, Spanish parish priest of Malolos.
A Filipino mother should teach her children
c hildren love of God, fatherland, and mankind
Filipino mother should be glad, like the
th e Spartan mother
Filipino woman should know how to preserve her dignity and honor
Filipino woman should educate herself, aside from retaining her good
g ood racial virtues;
Faith is not merely reciting long prayers and wearing religious pictures, but rather it is
living the real Christian way, with good morals and good manners.
6)
Specimens of Tagalog Folklore
7) Two Eastern Fables Requested by: Dr. Rost
Romance with Gertrude Beckett
Gertrude Beckett
- Buxom English girl with brown hair, blue eyes, and rosy cheeks
- Eldest of the three sisters
- Fell in love with Rizal
- helped him in his painting and sculpture
- Gettie
- Rizal finished 4 sculptures
- Promotheus Bound
- The Triumph of Death over Life
- The Triumph of Science over Death
- Composite carving of the heads of the Beckett sisters
Adios London
Rizals sculptural works
Prometheus Bound
The Triumph of Death over Life
The Triumph of Science over
Death
Carving of the heads of the 3 Beckett sisters
March 19, 1889 - he leaved London