CHAPTER 15: RIZAL’S SECOND SOJOURN IN PARIS AND THE UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION OF 1889
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III.
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V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
DIFFICULTY OF FINDING QUARTERS
a. The Universal Exposition of 1889 attracted thousands of tourists; thus, all hotel accommodations were taken
RIZAL AND PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1889
a. The greatest attraction of this exposition was the Eiffel Tower
b. International Art Competition in the Exposition
i. Felix Hidalgo = 2nd prize
ii. Juan Luna & Felix Pardo de Tavera = 3rd prize
iii. Rizal’s bust = no prize
KIDLAT CLUB
a. Purely a social society of a temporary nature
b. It was founded by Rizal to bring together young Filipinos in the French capital so that they could enjoy their sojourn in the city
during the duration of the Universal Exposition.
c. It will disappear like lightning
INDIOS BRAVOS
a. Rizal and the members of the Kidlat Club were amazed to see the Buffalo Bull show which featured the American Indians
b. These Red skinned Indians were proudly riding their sturdy ponies, elegantly dressed in their native attire and wearing their
war feathers and paints.
c. Rizal told his friends:
i. Let us be proud of the name Indio and make our Spanish enemies revise their conception of the term
ii. We shall be Indios Bravos
iii. The Indios Bravos (brave Indians) replaced the ephemeral Kidlat Club.
d. Members pledged to excel in intellectual and physical prowess in order to win the admiration of the foreigners, particularly
the Spaniards.
i. They practiced with great enthusiasm the use of the sword and the pistol.
ii. Rizal taught them judo, an Asian art of self-defense that he learned in Japan.
R.D.L.M. SOCIETY
a. The letters R.D.L.M. are believed to be the initials of the society’s secret name Redencion de los Malayos (Redemption of the
the Malays).
b. It was patterned after Freemasonry
c. The aim of the secret society, as stated by Rizal was the “propagation of all useful knowledge – scientific, artistic, literary, etc.
– in the Phil.”
d. Rizal was inspired by a famous book entitled Max Havelaar written by Multatuli
i. This book exposed the miserable conditions of the oppressed Malay inhabitants of the Netherlands East Indies under
Dutch Rules
e. Letter to Blumentritt:
i. Revealed his intentions to be a leader of freedom, if not in the Philippines, then in Borneo.
ii. If it is impossible for me to give freedom to my country, at least I should like to give it to these noble compatriots in
other lands.
ANNOTATED EDITION OF MORGA PUBLISHED
a. Blumentritt censured Rizal for two things which revealed Rizal’s errors, namely:
i. Rizal commits the error of many historians in appraising the events of the past in the light of present standards
ii. Rizal’s attack on the Church were unfair and unjustified because the abuses of the friars should not be construed to
mean the Catholicism is bad.
b. Rizal dedicated his new edition of Morga to the Filipino people so that they would know of their glorious past. His dedication is
as follows:
i. Born and reared in ignorance of our past like almost all of you: without voice nor authority to speak of what we have
not seen nor studied I deemed it necessary to invoke the testimony of an Illustrious Spaniard who controlled the
destinies of the Philippines at the beginning of its new era and personally witnessed the last days of our ancient
nationality.
c. Rizal proved that the Filipinos were already civilized before the advent of Spain
i. They had clothes, government, laws, writing, literature, religion, arts, sciences, and commerce with neighboring
Asian nations.
ii. Rizal blasted the historical heresies of the Spanish writers who claimed that the early Filipinos were savages and
were of low mentality.
THE PHILIPPINES WITHIN A CENTURY
a. In this article, Rizal predicted with amazing accuracy the tragic end of Spain’s sovereignty in Asia.
b. Colonies established to subserve the policy and commerce of the sovereign country, all eventually become independent
THE INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS
a. It is an able defense of the alleged indolence of the Filipinos.
b. Rizal made a critical study of the causes why his people did not work hard during the Spanish regime.
c. His main thesis: Filipinos are not by nature indolent
d. The Spanish conquest of the country brought about a decline in economic activities because the Filipinos had abandoned their
pre-Spanish industries and worked less than their ancestors
e. Such decline in economic life was due to certain causes:
i. Native revolts and other internal disorders which followed the establishment of Spanish rule
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ii.
iii.
The wars which the Filipinos fought for Spain’s enemies
The frightful raids on the coastal towns and village of Christian Philippines by the Muslim pirates of Mindanao and
Sulu
iv. The forced labor which compelled thousands of Filipino laborers to work in public works resulting in the
abandonment of their personal works
v. Lack of stimulus to work harder because the people could not enjoy the fruits of their labor
vi. Government neglect and indifference to agriculture, industry, and commerce
vii. The bad example shown by the Spaniards in despising manual labor
viii. The teaching of Spanish missionaries that it is easier for a poor man to enter heaven than for a rich man, hence the
Filipinos prefer not to work and be poor so that they could easily enter heaven after they die
ix. Encouragement and propagation of gambling by the Spanish authorities
x. System of Spanish education did not promote economic enterprise and activity
f. Filipinos are easy going and do not work so hard because they are wise enough to adjust themselves to their warm, tropical
climate.
i. They do not have to kill themselves working hard in order to live because nature gives them abundant harvests by
working less than those in temperate and arid countries.
IX. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FILIPINOLOGISTS
a. The aim of the association is to study the Philippines from the scientific and historical point of view
b. Their inaugural convention did not materialize because the French government discouraged the holding of conferences by
private organizations during the period of the international exposition.
X. PROJECT FOR FILIPINO COLLEGE IN HONGKONG
a. This College aims to “train and educate men of good family and financial means in accordance with the demands of modern
times and circumstances”
b. A rich Filipino resident in Paris, Mr. Mariano Cunanan, from Mexico, Pampanga, promised to help him raise P40,000 as initial
capital for the college.
c. This project of Rizal to establish a modern college in Hong Kong did not materialize
XI. POR TELEFONO
a. This satirical pamphlet under the authorship of “Dimas Alang” is a witty satire which ridicules Fr. Font.
i. It describes in comical vein a telephone conversation between Fr. Font who was in Madrid and the father provincial
of the San Agustin Convent in Manila.
b. Rizal predicted much ahead of his times that people could carry on overseas telephonic conversations --- 12 years after the
publication of Rizal’s “Por Telefono.”
CHAPTER 16: IN BELGIAN BRUSSELS
I. LIFE IN BRUSSELS
a. Two reasons impelled Rizal to leave Paris:
i. The cost of living in Paris was very high because of the Universal Exposition
ii. The gay social life of the city hampered his literary works
b. Rizal was busy writing his second novel and writing articles for La Solidaridad
II. NEW ORTOGRAPHY OF TAGALOG LANGUAGE
a. The tagalong letters k and w should be used instead of the Spanish c and o.
i. Salacot = salakot/ arao = araw
III. RIZAL CRITICIZES MADRID FILIPINOS FOR GAMBLING
a. Rizal’s letter to del Pilar:
i. Luna in Paris complains of the gambling of the Filipinos in Madrid
ii. We are serving the friars’ scheme
iii. Filipinos do not come to Europe to gamble and to amuse himself but to work for his liberty and for the dignity of his
race
iv. We in whom the poor people place their modest hopes.
b. The gambling Filipinos in Madrid were angry when they learned of Rizal’s moralizing
i. They derisively called him “Papa” (Pope) instead of “Pepe”
IV. BAD NEWS FROM HOME
a. The Calamba agrarian trouble was getting worse.
b. The management of the Dominican Hacienda continually raised the land rents until such time that Rizal’s father refused to pay
his rent.
i. The Dominican Order filed a suit in court to dispossess the Rizal family of their lands in Calamba.
ii. Tenants were persecuted
c. Jose’s letter to Soledad
i. I have caused much harm to our family, but at least there remains to us the consolation of knowing that the motive
is not disgraceful nor does it humiliate any body
ii. It raises us up and gives us more dignity in the eyes of our enemies themselves; to fall with the head high and the
brow serene is not to fall, it is to triumph
iii. The sad thing is to fall with the stain of dishonor
V. PRESENTIMENT OF DEATH
a. He feared that we would not live long
b. He was not afraid to die, but he wanted to finish his second novel before he went to his grave
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c.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
Letter to del Pilar:
i. In my childhood I had a strange belief that I would not reach 30 years of age.
ii. I am preparing myself for death and for any eventuality. Laong Laan (Ever Ready) is my true name.
PREPARATION TO GO HOME
a. In the face of the sufferings which afflicted his family, Rizal planned to go home.
b. He could not stay in Brussels writing a book while his family are persecuted
c. Letter to Ponce:
i. Graciano Lopez Jaena should not go to Cuba but to our country to allow himself to be killed in defense of his ideals
1. We have only once to die, and if we do not die well, we lose an opportunity which will not again be
presented to us.
ii. I want to go back to the Philippines
1. We are not making any progress by following prudence
DECISION TO GO TO MADRID
a. Rizal ignored the dire warning of his friends to return to the Philippines. No threat of danger could change his plan
b. Something happened that suddenly made him change his plan.
i. It was a letter from Paciano which related that they lost the case against the Dominicans in Manila, but they
appealed it to the Supreme Court in Spain
ii. A lawyer was needed to handle it in Madrid
c. Rizal wrote to del Pilar retaining the latter’s services as lawyer.
i. Jose informed del Pilar that he was going to Madrid to supervise the handling of the case
TO MY MUSE
a. A poem that represents Jose’s worries on the disasters experienced by his family
ROMANCE WITH PETITE JACOBY
a. Two things brought some measure of cheer to the despondent Rizal, as he was preparing for his trip to Madrid
i. FIRST: summertime festival in Belgium, which was celebrated in carnival style
ii. SECOND: romance with Petite Jacoby, niece of his landladies
CHAPTER 17: MISFORTUNES IN MADRID
I. FAILURE TO GET JUSTICE FOR FAMILY
a. Upon arrival in Madrid, Rizal sought the help of the Filipino colony, The Associacion Hispano-Filipina, and Liberal Spanish
Newspapers in securing justice for the oppressed Calamba tenants and his family
i. Together with del Pilar (his lawyer) and Dr. Dominador Gomez (secretary of the Asociacion Hispano-Filipina):
1. Jose called on the Minister of Colonies (Señor Fabie) in order to protest the injustices committed by Gov.Gen. Valeriano Weyler and the Dominicans against the Calamba Folks.
2. Nothing came out of Rizal’s interview with Minister Fabie
ii. El Resumen (Spanish Newspaper)
1. Sympathized with the Filipino cause
2. Said: “To cover the ears, open the purse, and fold the arms – this is the Spanish colonial policy.”
b. More terrible news:
i. Ejectment order by the Dominicans against Francisco Rizal and other Calamba tenants
1. Their parents had been forcibly ejected from their home
ii. Deportation of some of his family members, including Paciano to Mindoro
c. Rizal sought the aid of the liberal Spanish statesmen
i. Jose was disappointed – the statesmen merely gave him honeyed words of sympathy and nothing else
d. Blumentritt urged Jose to see Queen Regent Maria Cristina
i. But Jose doesn’t have powerful friends to bring him to her nor gold to grease the palms of influential courtiers
II. ABORTED DUEL WITH ANTONIO LUNA
a. Luna was drunk in one of the social reunions of Filipinos in Madrid.
b. Luna was bitter because of his frustrated romance with Nellie Boustead
i. He was blaming Rizal for his failure to win her
ii. Although Rizal had previously explained to him that he had nothing to do about it
iii. Because of jealousy and the effects of alcohol, Luna uttered certain unsavory remarks about Nellie
c. Rizal, with high sense of chivalry, could not tolerate any slur against the honor of any woman
i. Angered by the slanderous remarks, he challenged Luna to a duel.
ii. Rizal was a better pistol shot than Luna and Luna was a superior swordsman
1. Luna, as the challenged party, had the choice of weapons
2. Logically, he would have to choose the sword; in which case, Rizal’s life would be in jeopardy
iii. Filipinos tried to pacify them pointing out that such a duel would damage their cause in Spain
d. When Luna became sober
i. He realized that he had made a fool of himself and apologized for his bad remarks
ii. Rizal accepted the apology
III. RIZAL CHALLENGES RETANA TO DUEL
a. Wenceslao Retana:
i. A talented Spanish scholar, was then a press agent of the friars in Spain
ii. Used to attack the Filipinos, including Rizal in various newspapers in Madrid
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1.
b.
He wrote that the family and friends of Rizal had not paid their rents so that they were ejected from their
lands
Rizal
i.
ii.
Was insulted and challenged him to a duel
Retana apologized in the newspapers for he believed that discretion is better part of valor, and, more so, to save his
skin
1. He knew that he had no chance against Rizal on a field of honor
2. Because of the incident, Retana developed a deep admiration for Jose
a. Years afterward, Retana wrote Jose’s biography and martyrdom
IV. INFIDELITY OF LEONOR RIVERA
a. One night he and some friends attended a play at Teatro Apolo
i. Jose lost his gold watch chain with a locket containing the picture of Leonor Rivera
ii. The loss of the locket proved to be a bad omen
b. Rizal received a letter from Leonor, announcing her coming marriage to an Englishman (the choice of her mother) and asking
his forgiveness
V. RIZAL-DEL PILAR RIVALRY
a. Rizal tried to imbue his compatriots with his own idealism for
i. He believed that to gain prestige for the Propaganda Movement and to win the respect of the Spanish people they
must possess high standards of morality, dignity, and spirit of sacrifice
ii. Unfortunately, his idealism was not shared by others who loved wine, women, and cards
iii. Rizal’s leadership declined
1. They resented Jose’s interference in their private lives
2. They became supporters of del Pilar
b. To prevent the break-up between Rizal and M.H. del Pilar
i. Filipinos decided that a leader called “Responsable” be voted
1. to direct the affairs of the Filipino community and to determine the editorial policy of the La Solidaridad
2. To patch up their differences and to intensify the campaign for reform
ii. Del Pilar opposed the proposition
1. That the periodical be placed under the control of the Responsible on the ground that it was a private
enterprise
2. However, he was willing to publish articles that would express the aspirations and demands of the Filipino
people.
VI. RIZAL ABDICATES HIS LEADERSHIP
a. The Filipinos were divided into two hostile camps: the Rizalistas and the Pilaristas
i. Jose obtained the necessary 2/3 vote and became the Responsible
b. But Jose graciously declined the coveted position
i. He was a man of dignity and did not relish being a leader of a divided people
ii. He preferred to abdicate his leadership rather than be the cause of disunity and bitterness among his countrymen
VII. ADIOS, MADRID
a. First stay in Madrid: happy
b. Second stay in Madrid: unhappy/ last time he saw Madrid
CHAPTER 18: BIARRITZ VACATION AND ROMANCE WITH NELLY BOUSTEAD
I. ROMANCE WITH NELLIE BOUSTEAD
a. To seek solace for his disappointments in Madrid, Rizal took a vacation in the resort city of Biarritz on the fabulous French
Riviera
i. Jose was a guest of the rich Boustead Family at its winter Residence – Villa Eliada
ii. It was in Biarritz where he had a serious romance with Nellie and finished the last chapter of his 2nd novel, El
Filibusterismo
b. Jose proposed marriage to Nellie (rebound love from Leonor)
i. Del Pilar:
1. Teased him about changing the “o” in Noli to an “e” (Noli to Neli)
ii. Tomas Arejola
1. By marrying her, I fear that instead of happiness, you would only find bitterness and trouble
iii. Antonio Luna:
1. Who had previously loved and lost Nelly , encouraged Rizal to woo and marry Nellie
c. Rizal’s marriage proposal failed for two reasons:
i. He refused to give up his catholic faith and be converted to Protestantism, as Nelly demanded
ii. Nelly’s mother did not like Rizal as son-in-law
1. Nelly’s mother , like the mother of Leonor Rivera, had no wish to entrust her daughter’s happiness to a
man who was poor in material things,
2. a physician without a paying clientele,
3. a writer who earned nothing from his pen,
4. and a reformer who was persecuted by the friars and government officials in his own country
II. EL FILIBUSTERISMO FINISHED IN BIARRITZ
a. Frustrated in romance, Rizal found consolation in writing
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b. The eve of his departure from Biarritz to Paris, he finished the manuscript of El Filibusterismo
III. RETIREMENT FROM THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT
a. Owing to the intrigues of his jealous compatriots, Rizal retired from the Propaganda Movement, or reform crusade
b. He notified the Propaganda authorities in Manila to cancel his monthly allowance and devote the money to some better
cause, such as the education of a young Filipino student in Europe
IV. RIZAL STOPPED WRITING FOR LA SOLIDARIDAD
a. Simultaneous with his retirement from the Propaganda Movement, Rizal ceased writing articles for La Solidaridad
b. Del Pilar himself realized the need for Rizal’s collaboration in both the Propaganda Movement and in the La Solidaridad
newspaper
i. because the enthusiasm for the reform crusade in Spain was declining
ii. he wrote to Rizal begging forgiveness for any resentment and requesting him to resume writing for the La
Solidaridad
c. Jose’s reply to del Pilar:
i. Rizal denied any resentment
ii. Reasons of Rizal:
1. More time to work on his novel
2. He wanted other Filipinos to work also
3. He considered it very important to the party that there be unity in the work
4. It is better for del Pilar to leave him alone to direct the policy such as he understands it and Jose doesn’t
want to meddle with it (they have their own personal ideas)
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