Name: Roldan M.

Egay

[Collection of Letters of Dr. Jose Rizal]

Of the many letters of Dr. Jose Rizal, select 5 letters and cite the philosophical
concepts did Rizal would like to bring out in his letters.

1. July 31, 1886 - To Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt (First Letter)

 He wrote this letter as Rizal heard of Blumentritt’s interest of the Filipino languages. As
for this, he sent a copy of a book “Aritmetica” translated in Tagalog. As he mentions the
mediocrity of the Spanish version.

2. August 16, 1886 - To Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt (Second Letter)

 For the gift that Rizal sent (The Aritmetica copy), Blumentritt gave him 2 books in return.
Rizal gave his thanks and his review of satisfaction upon reading the books. Rizal then
offered his Help if Blumentritt ever needs assistance regarding of the Filipino languages.
With that in mind he thinks that the translation may not be the best but it’s better than
the Spanish friars/travelers. He even gave an example that the Spaniard’s Tagalog are at
the level of Jose Rizal’s German (Which is bad in his standard). For the travelers’ case, he
explained that they visit the Philippines for a short amount of time. And even with that
limited time, they only spend it with the Spaniards, not the locals. Despite being a
genius in the field of literary works, he does not dare make any as to avoid unnecessary
mistakes and misunderstandings in the language of Germans. He has dignity and self-
awareness of his limitations, unlike the Spanish friars/travelers. He wants to learn the
language first before taking a dive in.

3. August 22, 1886 - To Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt (Third Letter)

 He gave praise to Blumentritt’s work (Vocabulario Tagalo-Aleman, in translation
Tagalog-German Vocabulary). He gave his best wishes to the new work with great
success and hopes. As he compliments more to Blumentritt’s dedication on learning the
Filipino languages. He gives him assurance that mistakes will rise and he can’t be blamed
for it. He mentions his friend Dr. Trinidad H. Padro de Tavera who is talented in his
eyes/standards, makes mistakes once in a while. That was also a smooth way to
introduce Rizal’s friend there and he offered his works temporarily. By this time he
expresses his curiosity of the Professors and Universities that Blumetritt
introduced/mentioned.
He also gave away his location on where he is at that moment; Leipzig on vacation. Rizal
shared his thoughts on the interest of Dutch, for the reason as a neighbor and the
written works about the Philippines. Tomorrow at that time, he is going to the municipal
library to make a translated version of the works of Waitz-Gerland. He wants
Blumentritt to read and correct any mistakes made. He mentions on going to Dresden
on September to October (If he does not get ill/overloaded with work) to visit
Blumentritt. At the end of October, he plans to stay on Berlin for 2-3 months.
 Rizal enters the topic of religion. As Blumentritt warned Rizal for talking bad at the
Friars, Rizal gave his apology and claps back to him. Rizal spoke on the Friars are well
paid and used that wealth for buying the land of his ancestors. In terms of Christianity, it
violated the beliefs of the religion (Where you must not value physical things from earth
and embrace heaven above).
Rizal then continues it further by sharing the current state of the Philippines. Where the
words Blumentritt read on the books of the Friars/Spaniards were mixed with lies. Rizal
gave Blumentritt a glimpse of what the life of the Filipinos were. Suffering and the
difference of Catholicism. As Rizal compared the religion of the Philippines and Europe.
The latter had a softer and caring approach than the former. The people in the
Philippines didn’t knew the latter, as they have not experienced it unlike Rizal. He ends
with an apology for saying something that may have contradicted to what Blumentritt’s
image of the Philippines and Spaniards were.

4. October 2, 1886 - To Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt (Fourth Letter)

 He apologized for the late reply as he was busy. About the work on translating Schiller’s
works to Tagalog. Expresses his nervousness on tackling the task, because of its
complexity. But it was counteracted of the feeling of honor to work with such a great
person for the Filipinos. As seen here, it seems that Rizal was delayed to meet with
Blumentritt and wishes to meet with him soon (He hoped by the end of the October).
He expresses his interest of meeting with Dr. A.B. Meyer (He knew of him from
Blumentritt’s “Bibliotheca Philippina”). Because of the fact that it involved with his
country.
He expresses his wanting to stay longer in Germany to further improve his fluency of the
language (Geman). This was the time Rizal knew that Blumentritt was married and
wants to give his greetings despite being late. “Better late than never” so he said in
Spanish. He ends with an apology having poor German and shared his current state of
being busy and may not be able to reply immediately.

5. November 4, 1886 - To Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt (Fifth Letter)

 Rizal shared his experience of visiting at the Anthropological and Ethnographic Museum
of Dresden as he meets with Dr. A.B. Meyer. Enjoying Dr. A.B. Meyer’s company and his
request to return for a tour of the museum made Rizal respect him for his
thoughtfulness. He gave thanks to Blumentritt for the letter recommendation, because
it gave Rizal the chance to meet with him (Dr. A.B. Meyer). He gave his location; Berlin in
Jaegerstrasse 71, III. He then wished farewell and gave regards to his wife.