CHAPTER 16

IN BELGIAN BRUSSELS (1890)

●January 28, 1890, Rizal left Paris for Brussels for two reasons:

1. The cost of living in Paris was very expensive

2. The gay social life of the city hampered his literary works, especially the writings of his second novelEl Filibusterismo

Life in Brussels

●He was accompanied by Jose Albert when he moved to Brussels

●They lived in a modest boarding house run by two Jacoby sisters, Suzanne and Marie.

●Albert left the city, replaced by Jose AlejandrinoHe was busy writing his second novel

●Wrote articles for La Solidaridad and letters to his family and friends

●He spent part of his time in the medical clinicHe had gymnastics, target practice and fencing

●Jose Alejandrino narrated, “in Brussels, we took our meals in a house and Rizal on one occasionsuggested that we eat pansit…”

1. New Orthography of the Tagalog Language

●He was the first to advocate the Filipinization of its orthography

●The tagalog letters k and w should be used instead of c and o

●Example. Salacot – salakot; arao – arawWhile in Brussels, his article was published in La Solidaridad entitled, Sobre la Nueva Ortografia de
laLengua Tagala (The New Orthography of the Tagalog Language).

●In this article, he laid down the rules of the new Tagalog orthography

●Rizal gave the credit for the adoption of his new orthography to Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera

2. Rizal Criticizes Madrid Filipinos for Gambling

●Rizal received news from Juan Luna and Valentin Ventura that the Filipinos in Spain were destroyinggood name of their nation by gambling
too much

●Rizal wrote to MH del Pilar to remind Filipinos in Madrid that they did not come to Europe to gamble,but to work for their fatherland’s
freedom

●The gambling Filipinos in Madrid were angry when they learned of Rizal’s moralizing

●They called him Papa (Pope) instead of Pepe

3. Bad News from Home

●The Calamba agrarian trouble was getting worse

●Don Francisco refused to pay higher rents imposed by the Dominican landlords

●Dominican Order filed cases to dispossess Rizal family of their land in Calamba

●Relatives were deported – Paciano, Antonio Lopez (husband of Narcisa), Silvestre Ubaldo (husband ofOlimpia), Manuel Hidalgo (husband of
Saturnina)

4. Presentiments of His Death

●He had bad dreams during the nights in Brussels

●He feared he would not live long

●He was not afraid to die, not until he finished his second novel
●In a letter to MH del Pilar, Rizal wrote “sad presentiments assaults me though I do not give them entirecredence. In my childhood, I had a
strange belief that I would not reach thirty years of age… I ampreparing myself for death. Laong Laan (Ever Ready) is my true name…”

Preparation to go Home

●“We have only once to die, and if we do not die well, we lose the opportunity which will not again bepresented to us.” – Rizal

Decision to Go to Madrid

●Paciano wrote to Rizal about their cases against the Dominicans

●Cases were appealed to the Supreme Court in Spain

●He wrote to Del Pilar, getting him as their counsel and notified that he will be going to Madrid tosupervise the handling of their cases

To my muse

●It was against the background of mental anguish in Brussels, during those sad days when he wasworried by family disasters, that he wrote his
pathetic poem, “A Mi”

Romance with Petite Susanne Jacoby

●Two things brought some measures of cheers to the despondent Rizal as he was preparing to leave.

1. Summer time Festival of Belgium which was celebrated in carnival style, with colorfulcostumes, fantastic floats, and many days
of merriment

2. Romance with Susanne Jacoby

●Rizal was so charming and dignified a gentleman that Petite Susanne was attracted to him

●He was lonely in a strange country and Leonor was so far away

●Like other women, Suzanne fell in love with Rizal

●She cried when he left toward the end of July, 1890 for Madrid