Rizal in London, Paris, Brussels and Madrid

Chapter 8

Rizal in London. Rizal left for London and lived three from May,
1888 to March, 1889, to copy, study and made the annotation of Dr.
Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the Philippines
Islands) a rare copy of which he heared to be available and kept in the
British Museum in order to make his people know the past history of their
country. He also believe that London was a safe and better place for him to
plan and carry on his determined effort to fight the injustice committed by
the Spaniards tyranny and misrule. While in London, he kept himself busy
exhausting all available means to conduct research on Filipiniana Studies.
He completed annotating Morga’s book, he wrote several articles for La
Solidaridad.

In this city, he stayed temporarily as a guest at the residence of Dr.

Antonio Ma. Regidor, an exile of 1872 who was a law practitioner.
Sometime in May, he moved to a boarding place No. 37 Chalcot Crescent,
Primerose Hill. He was a boarder in the house occupied by Mr. Beckett,
organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral, paying two pounds sterling a week.

Rizal also came to know Dr. Reinhold Rost, librarian of the India
Office and an authority on Malayan customs and languages. Dr Rost was
impressed with Rizal’s manners and called him una perla de Hombre (a
pearl of a man).

Rizal spent much of his time in British Museum looking for valuable
pieces of historical literature about the Philippines. Occasionally, he visited
the house of Dr. Rost and exchanged pleasant discussions about London
and the Philippines.

Good and Bad News. While in London, Rizal received some

disturbing news from his country. These were the exile of his brother-in-
law, who was denied a Christian burial; the arbitrary arrest and
imprisonment of Laureano Viado, a Sto. Tomas medical student, who was
found in possession of a copy of Noli Me Tangere; and the continued
Calamba Agrarian problem where the tenants, including the Rizal family
were being persecuted by the Spanish authorities.

One news, however, cheered him-that Father Vicente Garcia, an old

Filipino theologian and philosopher, wrote an able defense of his Noli
against the attacks of Fr. Rodriguez and other friars. The good news came
from Mariano Ponce.

From London, Rizal made brief visits to Paris and Madrid. Early in
September, he was in the French capital in other to search thoroughly the
Bibliotheque Nacionale for any old book on the Philippines. Before going
back to London. Juan Luna and his wife tendered him with a party in which
all the Filipinos in Paris were present. Then on December 11, Rizal made a
flying trip of twelve days to Madrid and Barcelona to survey the conditions
among his countrymen in Spain. There, he met for the first time Mariano
Ponce and Marcelo H. Del Pilar, pillars of LA Solidaridad and the
Propaganda Movement. He exchanged ideas about the Philippines and
these two Filipinos promised to cooperate in the struggle for reforms.

Christmas in London. Rizal spent his Christmas in London and

New Year’s Eve, for the first time in this city and was extremely delighted to
experience the holiday season. In his diary, he wrote; it is the holiday, “I
like best to celebrate. It reminds me of the many memorable days not only
my early childhood, but also of history.” On this day, a great Genius and
prophet was born to preach truth, love , beauty and goodness. He suffered
on His messianic zeal to save the world. “How it shocks me to see some
people misuse His name to commit many crimes.

Rizal spent his Christmas with the Beckett family in Primerose Hill.
Gertrude, one of the Beckett girls, was getting infatuated with him but the
gentlemen from Calamba were still faithful to Leonor Rivers. To make her
forget him, he hurriedly left London for Paris in the Middle of March, 1889.

Rizal’s Writing in London. In London is annotated Morga’s work.

He also wrote articles for La Solidaridad. He wrote La Vision de Fray
Rodriguez, where he demonstrated his profound knowledge of religion and
his style in satire. GFD 31. APRIL 19, 2022

The “Letter to the Young Women of Malolos” was written in London.

This was written through the request of Mrcelo H. del Pilar to praise the
young women of Malolos for their courage and determined effort to
establish a school where they could learn Spanish.

The important points were: 1) Filipinos mother should teach their

children love of God, country, and fellowmen; 2) Filipinos mother should
be glad and honored, like Spartan mothers, to offer their sons in the
defense of their country; 3) Filipinos women should know how to protect
their dignity and honor; 4) Filipinos women should educate themselves,
aside from retaining their good racial virtues; and 5) Faith is not merely
reciting prayers and wearing religious pictures, but rather it is living the
real Christian way with good morals and good conduct.

Dr. Rost who specialized on Asian Studies and Culture and editor of
Trubner’s Record, requested Rizal to contribute articles for publication
which he readily acceded. These were “Specimens of Tagal Folklore” and
“Two Eastern Fables.” And were both published. The “Speciment of Tagal
Folklore” dealt with Filipino proverb and puzzles while the “Two Eastern
Fables” dealt with a comparative study of Philippines and Japanese
folklore.

On January 12, 1889, Rizal with some Filipinos and their Spanish
friends in Madrid organized a society, Asociacion Hispano-Filipina
(Spanish-Filipino Association). The primary objective was to work for the
needed reforms which the Propaganda Movement had initiated and
continued to carry on Elected president and vice-president respectively
were Don Miguel Morayta, a Spanish prodessoe and General Felipe de las
Cone; while the secretary was Dr. Dominador Gomez.

The need for an organ of the Propaganda to neutralized the false,

malicious and defamatory articles designed to injure the reputation of the
Filipinos written by Spanish detractions and mercenaries was evidently felt
by the Filipinos in Spain that consequently led to the founding of La
Solidaridad Graciano Lopez Jeana became the editor of the periodical of
the Propaganda. To demonstrate his unwavering support of the Organ,
Rizal contributed articles regularly in the La Solidaridad using his pen
names-Dimasalang and Laong Laan.

Rizal Left London. Some inferred that one of the reasons why Rizal
left London hastily and moved to Paris, an that Gertrude Brackett may
forget him.

But before leaving London, he curved several fine and realistic

sculpture works governed by a great and detailed attention to anatomical
shapes and proportions. These were “Prometheus Bound”, The Triumph of
Death over Life”. The Triumph of Science over Death” and the composite
curving of the beautiful faces of the three Beckett sisters. The “Triumph of
Death over Life” and “The Triumph of Science over Death, were given to
Blumentritt as gift; while the composite curving of the Beckett sisters’ faces
were given to the Backett family as farewell gift.

As he left London, he could not help reminisced the beautiful and

memorable experiences he had as he crossed the English Channel enroute
to Paris. In his diary, he wrote; London, you’ve been a part of life….Good
bye.

In Paris. Rizal arrived in Paris about two months before the opening
of the international Exposition to commemorate French Independence.
Wanting to size this occasion to place his country on the map, he proposed
the formation of an international Association of Filipinologists under the
presidency of Blumentritt and with himself as secretary. His plan called fort
he holding of a Congress of Filipinologists as a future of the Exposition, but
the French government limited the number of international conferences;
hence Rizal’s project was postponed. However, he organized two societies
of Filipinos who were in Paris at that time; one was the Kidlat Club, the
other was the Indios Bravos. The Kidlat Club was founded simply to bring
together young Filipinos in the French capital in order that they could enjoy
their stay in the city during the international exposition. On the other hand
Indios Bravos taught its members to be proud of being Filipinos and with
intense desire pledged to their best to excel in intellectual and physical
capability to catch the attention of the Spaniards and win their
administration and respect.

Rizal spent most of his time in the reading room of the Biblio
Nationale, checking up with accuracy his historical annotations on Morga’s
book in order to make the Filipino people know the past of their country.
He spent his leisure hours visiting the Filipino friends, engaged in
sculpturing. Sketching or painting beautiful subjects and views and
attending scientific and cultural lectures, going to theatre, attending parties
and decent diversion. On one occasion, he attended a lecture on Oriental
culture in the University of Paris with Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera.

Rizal’s Annotated Morga’s Book Published. As a matter of

record, the published of Rizal’s annotated edition of Morga’s Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas which he painstakingly wrote in the British Musium was his
tangible and outstanding achievement in Paris . he dedicated his valuable
historical work to his countrymen. Blumentritt wrote the Prologue
commanding Rizal for his historical intellectual scholarship. However, he
could not hide his observation and constructive comment about some flows
that should be pointed out as a matter of record. For blumentritt, Rizal, like
some historians commit the flaw in comparing and appraising the events of
the past against the prevailing conditions which apparently are different;
and the virtual attacks on the church were fundamentally unfair and do not
conform to approved standards of ethics because the abuses of friars should
not be construed to mean that Catholicism is bad.

Rizal’s annotated Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinos was truly an

excellent and inspirational pieces of historiography because it can be
considered the best of the many histories of the Philippines written by the
early Spanish writers, being accurate in facts and events and unbiased
judgment.

Romance with Adelina. In Paris, Rizal became fond of Adelina, a

young talented quiet and unaffected lady with refined manners. The
Bousted couple has two daughters Nelly, the older and Adelina the younger.
 Rizal and Luna (Antonio) used yo visit the Bousted family in Paris. In
the course of their frequent visits at athe Bousted home, Nelly was
infatuated with Rizal because of his wit, talent and fine manners. But
because he loved Adelina, he did not even show any sign of affection for
Nelly. On the other hand, luna had strong feelings for Nelly, but she (Nelly)
did have any iota of love for him.

Luna became jealous of Rizal because Nelly was obviously in love with
the talented gentleman from Calamba, because she showed him attention.
Luna thought all the while that Rizal was deliberately alienating Nelly’s
affection for him. To maintain and keep their friendship alive he told Luna
that he had no feelings for Nelly. Luna challenged him to duel but
fortunately the matter was settled amicably by their friends.

The saddest episode of his life the news of the impending marriage of
Leonor Rivera, his sweetheart for eleven years to Mr. Kipping, an English
engineer employed in the construction of Manila-Dagupan railway.

To divert his thoughts from the sad news about the approaching
marriage of Leonor and feeling disconsolate and heart-broken, he visited
the Bousted family in Biarritz. Biarritz is a beach resort on the Bay of
Biscaya and an ideal and romantic place for two people who are in love to
express their steadfast devotion and mutual feelings to one another without
any inhibition. His purpose of visiting the Boustead family was the thought
of offering a marriage proposal to Adelina, but it did not materialize. There
is a moment in one’s life that one has to ponder and make a decisive
decision no matter how difficult, Fate played its role. Perhaps thay were not
really meant for each other. C’est la vie (se la ve) that’s life.

However, inspite of his unsuccessful material plan, Rizal remained a

good friend of the wealthy Boustead family.

Rizal in Brussels. Rizal left Paris and went to Brussels, capital of

Belgium because of the high cost of living. Besides, the city life of
merriment and fun, Rizal could not resist the temptation of joining his
friends that often times interferes with his time devoted for writing his
second novel, El Filibusterismo. Jose Alberto was his companion when he
moved to Brussels and lived in a modest boarding house. Being a surgeon,
he spent part of his time in the medical clinic to attend and treat some
patients. Because of the clinical fees he received from the patients, there
was no difficulty meeting the basic essentials he needed in Brussels.

Rizal and the Filipinos in Madrid. While in Brussels, Juan Luna

and Valentin Ventura informed Rizal of the Filipinos passion for gambling.
Gambling was the biggest preoccupation of many Filipinos as their favorite
past time. They urged Rizal to do something about this game of chance for
stakes because they did not go to Europe just to gamble, but to work for
their country’s freedom.

A part of Rizal’s letter to Marcelo H. del Pilar read; There is nothing

at home to remind them that the Filipino does not come to Europe to
gamble and amuse himself, but to work for his liberty and for the dignity of
his race. I fear much that we are fighting for a useless illusion and that we
instead of being worthy of liberty, we are worthy of salvary.

I appeal to the patriotism of all Filipinos to give the Spanish people

proof that we are superior tom our misfortune and that neither are we
capable of being brutalized, nor can our noble sentiments be deadened with
the corruption of customs.

Disturbing News at Home. Letters from Calamba which he

received in Brussels gave him some disturbing moment. The agrarian
problem in his hometown had not been resolved and even getting worse.
The hacienda management controlled by the Dominican Order continued
to arbitrary increased the annual payment of the tenant fanners for the land
they tilled painstakingly, Don Francisco, Rizal’s father refused to pay his
rent to the leased land; and consequently, other tenant farmers also refused
to pay their annual rents.

The non-payment of rent of Don Francisco and other tenant farmers

resulted in the filing of case in court by the Dominican friar to evict them
forcibly the land.

Meanwhile to aggrevate the bad news, Paciano and his two brother-
in-law, Antonio Lopez (husband of Narcisa) and Silvestre Ubaldo (husband
of Olympia) were deported to Mindoro. This unlawful deportation of his
brothers-in-law to a faraway place, made him feel uneasy and suffered from
these disturbing news, that depressed Rizal. He could hardly sleep, aware of
the sad and unfavorable condition of his parents and brothers-in-law back
home, so from Brussels, he sent a letter to his sister Soledad on June 6,
1890, a part of which read:

I have caused much harm to our family, but at last

there remains to us the consultation of knowing that
the motive is not disgraceful nor does it humiliate
anybody.

On the contrary, it rises up and gives us more

dignity in the eyes of our enemies. I hope that God
will be merciful enough with me to prevent me from
committing one of those faults which would involve
my family.

Rizal’s Premonition. Rizal in his moment of despair caused by

circumstances which seem too much to cope with, made him restless and
sleepless at night, because his family in Calamba was always in his mid.
Even if Rizal did not believed in superstation or irrational belief of the
ominous significance of what it unknown, he could not help entertain the
thought he feared that he would not live long. His only wish was to be able
to finish his second novel. The Fili, before he left this world.

This morbid state of mind he manifested indicative of an early death,

which he reveled to Marcelo H. del Pilar. In his letter to del Pilar from
Brussels in June, 1898 which he wrote the essence of which: “Sad
presentiments assaulted my whole being, even though I do not give them
credence. In my early childhood, I had an unusual feeling that I would not
reach thirty years of age. I do not know why this disturbing through, kept
on bothering my mind. I also dreamt that my brother, friends, and relatives
were dead. In succession, they were all dressed in white, with faces, silent
and surrounded by flashing ray of bright light. I do not believe in this vision
while asleep. For me, the reality of such dreams was very remote because
my mind and body are healthy. If at any time this misfortune may come, my
only whish with was to finish my El Flibusterismo, because I believe
nobody else could continue.

Rizal’s Prepares to go Home. Rizal, full of mental anguish and

anxiety decided to go home in the light of the misfortune, agony and pain
his family was suffering. He could not stay in a foreign land writing his
novel while his family, relatives, and friends in the Philippines were in the
state of hopelessness.

Upon hearing the news that Greciano Lopez Jeana had plans of going
to Cuba, he urged him that instead of going there and die in yellow fever, he
should go to the Philippines and die in defense of the ideas.

In a letter he sent to Ponce, he expressed his uncompromising

determination to go back to the Philippines although he knew that it would
be daring and imprudent,. But for Rizal, that does not matter.

His friends, including Blumentritt were aghast and horrified of his

decision. They could hardly believe, because they were aware of the
impending danger to his life that inevitably awaited him, so they warned
him.

His plan to go home did not push through because he received a letter
from Paciano informing him that they lost the case against the Dominicans
in Manila, however, an appeal was made to the Supreme Court in Spain.
Since Marcelo H. de Pilar was a lawyer, he requested him to handle the
case.

Rizal in Madrid, Madrid, the capital of Spain, is one of the pleasant

cities in the world because of its people and culture. Upon arrival to this
city, Rizal tried to exhaust all available legal means and remedies to seek
justice for his family and tenant farmers in Calamba, but justice on their
side seemed elusive. The various disappointments and frustrations that
befell on his family and the betrayal of a woman whom he loved so dearly
with steadfast devotion for a longtime seemed a heavy cross on his
shoulders that seemed unbearable to carry. Because of the compounded
problems he had to bear, he almost engaged into duels-one with Antonio
Luna and the other with Wenceslao Retana which could have been fatal.
 However, inspite of the tremendous disappointments, misfortunes,
disillusions and other unpleasant experiences in his life, Rizal looked
forward with optimism to continue his mission and lofty ideals with
determined effort, fortitude and tenacity of spirit to relentlessly continue to
fight for his oppressed people.

Denied Justice for Rizal’s Family. To secure justice for the

various incidents of oppression and injustice and utter lack of human
respect and dignity committed by the Spanish authorities on his family and
the tenant-farmers of Calamba, Rizal sought the help of the Filipino
community, the Asociccion Hispano-Filipina and various Spanish
newspapers who upheld truth and justice. Whin the help of his lawyer-
Marcelo H. del Pilar and the Secretary of the Association Hispano-Filipina,
they sought an audience with the Minister of the Colonies in order to
present the various injustice committed by the Governor-General and the
Dominicans against the poort and helpless tenant-farmers of Calamba.

Blumentritt who learned his predicament, urged him to seek an

audience with Queen Regent of Spain, but he had no friends who wield
political power to accompany him to Her Majesty.

All these attempts and concerted effort accorded by his friends to file
solution to the problems on hand at that time, just turned out to be an
exercise of futility.

Background of the Two Duels. The circumstances surrounding

the duel between Rizal and Luna stemmed from a social gathering of the
Filipinos in Madrid. The customary practice of serving wine to the guests
had always been a part of merriment and fun. After drinking so many
glasses of wine, Luna became intoxicated and as a consequence, his
rationality was quite impaired so he became loquacious. He accused Rizal
for his failure to win the heart of Nelly. At the height of jealously, he uttered
unsavory words about Nelly. Rizal’s respect for any woman’s honor is a
virtue that he valued, so he would not tolerate any disparaging remarks
against the lady. Rizal could not control his temper by the unchivalrous and
demeaning remarks Luna uttered, so he challenged him to a duel. The
Filipinos were shocked by this unfortunate episode. They tried to pacify the
two that such a duel would not do any good in effect, damage their cause in
Spain.

When Luna became sober, he realized that the incident should not
have happened, so he begged an apology for the remarks he made
unbecoming of a gentleman. Rizal readily accepted his apology, and the two
became friends again.

Rizal, a man of principle and virtue epitomized righteousness, and

prudence. He is by nature even-tempered and not easily disturbed.
However, when the honor of his family, women, friends and the Filipinos
were being assailed for malicious and unfounded accusations, he would
never hesitate to defend and fight, even at the expense of his own life.

Wenceslao Retana, a talented Spanish scholar and an accomplished

writer used to contribute articles in an anti Filipinos newspaper in Madrid.

One of his articles that came into print in La Epoca, a widely

circulated newspaper in Madrid at the time, asserted that the relatives and
friends of Rizal had not paid their annual rents fort he land they so they
were ejected by the Dominicans.

Rizal would not take an insult sitting down, sa he challenge Retana to

a duel. Retana did not accept the challenge. For Rizal, the only rational
thing doe Retana to do was to publish a retraction and an apology in the
same newspaper for the articles he wrote which he did.

The incident made Retana developed a great admiration for Rizal.

Years after, he wrote the first book-length biography of the greatest Filipino
hero whose talents he recognized and whose martyrdom he glorified.

DR. A.B. ADENA

Professor