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diff --git a/old/7jsrz10.txt b/old/7jsrz10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..147e638 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7jsrz10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7361 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, +Philippine Patriot, by Austin Craig + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, Philippine Patriot + +Author: Austin Craig + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6867] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSE RIZAL *** + + + + +Text prepared by Jeroen Hellingman, +with help of the distributed proofreading website. + + + + + + + + + +LINEAGE LIFE AND LABORS +of +JOSE RIZAL +PHILIPPINE PATRIOT + +A Study of the Growth of Free Ideas in the Trans-Pacific American +Territory + +BY + +AUSTIN CRAIG +ASSISTANT PROFESSOR ORIENTAL HISTORY +UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES + +AUTHOR OF "THE STUDY OF JOSE RIZAL," +"EL LINEAJE DEL DOCTOR RIZAL," ETC. + +INTRODUCTION BY +JAMES ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, L.H.D. + + +MANILA +PHILIPPINE EDUCATION COMPANY +1913 + + + + + +DEDICATION + +To the Philippine Youth + +The subject of Doctor Rizal's first prize-winning poem was The +Philippine Youth, and its theme was "Growth." The study of the growth +of free ideas, as illustrated in this book of his lineage, life and +labors, may therefore fittingly be dedicated to the "fair hope of +the fatherland." + +Except in the case of some few men of great genius, those who are +accustomed to absolutism cannot comprehend democracy. Therefore our +nation is relying on its young men and young women; on the rising, +instructed generation, for the secure establishment of popular +self-government in the Philippines. This was Rizal's own idea, for +he said, through the old philosopher in "Noli me Tangere," that he +was not writing for his own generation but for a coming, instructed +generation that would understand his hidden meaning. + +Your public school education gives you the democratic view-point, +which the genius of Rizal gave him; in the fifty-five volumes of +the Blair-Robertson translation of Philippine historical material +there is available today more about your country's past than the +entire contents of the British Museum afforded him; and you have the +guidance in the new paths that Rizal struck out, of the life of a +hero who, farsightedly or providentially, as you may later decide, +was the forerunner of the present regime. + +But you will do as he would have done, neither accept anything because +it is written, nor reject it because it does not fall in with your +prejudices--study out the truth for yourselves. + + + +Introduction + +In writing a biography, the author, if he be discriminating, selects, +with great care, the salient features of the life story of the one whom +he deems worthy of being portrayed as a person possessed of preeminent +qualities that make for a character and greatness. Indeed to write +biography at all, one should have that nice sense of proportion that +makes him instinctively seize upon only those points that do advance +his theme. Boswell has given the world an example of biography that +is often wearisome in the extreme, although he wrote about a man +who occupied in his time a commanding position. Because Johnson was +Johnson the world accepts Boswell, and loves to talk of the minuteness +of Boswell's portrayal, yet how many read him, or if they do read him, +have the patience to read him to the end? + +In writing the life of the greatest of the Filipinos, Mr. Craig has +displayed judgment. Saturated as he is with endless details of Rizal's +life, he has had the good taste to select those incidents or those +phases of Rizal's life that exhibit his greatness of soul and that +show the factors that were the most potent in shaping his character +and in controlling his purposes and actions. + +A biography written with this chastening of wealth cannot fail to +be instructive and worthy of study. If one were to point out but +a single benefit that can accrue from a study of biography written +as Mr. Craig has done that of Rizal, he would mention, I believe, +that to the character of the student, for one cannot study seriously +about men of character without being affected by that study. As +leading to an understanding of the character of Rizal, Mr. Craig has +described his ancestry with considerable fulness and has shown how the +selective principle has worked through successive generations. But +he has also realized the value of the outside influences and shows +how the accidents of birth and nation affected by environment plus +mental vigor and will produced Jose Rizal. With a strikingly meager +setting of detail, Rizal has been portrayed from every side and the +reader must leave the biography with a knowledge of the elements +that entered into and made his life. As a study for the youth of the +Philippines, I believe this life of Rizal will be productive of good +results. Stimulation and purpose are presented (yet not didactically) +throughout its pages. One object of the author, I should say, has been +to show how both Philippine history and world history helped shape +Rizal's character. Accordingly, he has mentioned many historical +matters both of Philippine and world-wide interest. One cannot read +the book without a desire to know more of these matters. Thus the +book is not only a biography, it is a history as well. It must give +a larger outlook to the youth of the Philippines. The only drawback +that one might find in it, and it seems paradoxical to say it, is +the lack of more detail, for one leaves it wishing that he knew more +of the actual intimate happenings, and this, I take it, is the best +effect a biography can have on the reader outside of the instructive +and moral value of the biography. + +JAMES A. ROBERTSON. + +MANILA, P. I. + + + +CONTENTS + + + +Dedication. To the Philippine Youth +Introduction +I. America's Forerunner +II. Rizal's Chinese Ancestry +III. Liberalizing Hereditary Influences +IV. Rizal's Early Childhood +V. Jagor's Prophecy +VI. The Period of Preparation +VII. The Period of Propaganda +VIII. Despujol's Duplicity +IX. The Deportation to Dapitan +X. Consummatum Est +XI. The After Life In Memory + + + + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +Portrait of Rizal Frontispiece +Painted in oils by Felix Resurrection Hidalgo (in color). + +Philippine Money and Postage Stamps + +Portrait of Rizal +Painted in oils by Juan Luna in Paris. Facsimile (in color). + +Columbus at Barcelona +From a print in Rizal's scrapbook. + +Portrait Group +Rizal at thirteen. Rizal at eighteen. Rizal in London. The portrait +on the postage stamp. + +The Baptismal Record of Domingo Lam-co +Facsimile. + +Portrait Group +1. In Luna's home. 2. In 1890. 3. The portrait on the paper +money. 4. In 1891. 5. In 1892. + +Pacific Ocean Spheres of Influence +Made by Rizal during President Harrison's administration. + +Father of Rizal +Portrait. + +Mother of Rizal +Portrait. + +Rizal's Family-Tree +Made by Rizal when in Dapitan. + +Birthplace of Jose Rizal +From a photograph. + +Sketches by Rizal +A group made during his travels. + +Bust of Rizal's Father +Carved in wood by Rizal. + +The Church and Convento at Kalamba +From a photograph. + +Father Leoncio Lopez +From a photograph. + +The Lake District of Central Luzon +Sketch made by Rizal. + +Rizal's Uncle, Jose Alberto +From a photograph. + +Sir John Bowring, K.C.B. +From an old print. + +Jose Del Pan of Manila +From a photograph. + +Governor De La Torre +From an old print. + +Archbishop Martinez +From an old print. + +The Very Rev. James Burgos, D.D. +From a photograph. + +Gen. F. T. Ward +From a photograph. + +Monument to the "Ever-Victorious" Army, Shanghai +From a photograph. + +Mrs. Rizal and Her Two Daughters +From a photograph. + +Bilibid Prison +From an old print. + +Model of a Head of a Dapitan Girl +From a photograph. + +Memorial to Jose Alberto in the Church at Binan +From a photograph. + +Books from Rizal's Library +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Carving of the Sacred Heart +From a photograph. + +Bust of Father Guerrico, S. J. +From a photograph. + +Two Views of a Composite Statuette by Rizal +From photographs. + +Model in Clay of a Dapitan Woman +From a photograph. + +Sketch of Himself in the Training Class +Photograph from the original. + +Oil Painting of Rizal's Sister, Saturnina +Photograph from the painting. + +Rizal's Parting View of Manila +Pencil sketch by himself. + +Sketches: 1. Singapore Lighthouse. 2. Along the Suez Canal. +3. Castle of St. Elmo +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Studies of Passengers on the French Mail Steamer +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Aden, May 28, 1882 +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Don Pablo Ortigas y Reyes +From a photograph. + +First Lines of a Poem by Rizal to Miss Reyes +Facsimile. + +Rizal in Juan Luna's Studio in Paris +From a photograph. + +The Ruined Castle at Heidelberg +From a photograph. + +Dr. Rudolf Virchow +From a photograph. + +The House where Rizal Completed "Noli Me Tangere" +From a photograph. + +Manuscript of "Noli Me Tangere" +Facsimile. + +Portrait of Dr. F. Blumentritt +Pencil sketch by Rizal. + +The Victory of Death over Life and of Science over Death +Statuettes by Rizal from photographs. + +Jose T. De Andrade, Rizal's Bodyguard +From an old print. + +Jose Maria Basa of Hongkong +From a photograph. + +Imitations of Japanese Art +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Dr. Antonio Maria Regidor +From a photograph. + +A "Wheel of Fortune" Answer Book +Facsimile. + +Dr. Reinhold Rost +From a photograph. + +A Page from Andersen's Fairy Tales Translated by Rizal +Facsimile. + +Dedication of Rizal's Translation of Andersen's Fairy Tales +Facsimile. + +A Trilingual Letter by Rizal +Facsimile. + +Morga's History in the British Museum +From a photograph of the original. + +Application, Recommendation and Admission to the British Museum +From photographs of the originals. + +"La Solidaridad" +From photograph of the original. + +Staff of "La Solidaridad" +From a photograph. + +Rizal Fencing with Luna in Paris +From a photograph. + +General Weyler Known as "Butcher" Weyler +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Parents during the Land Troubles +From photographs. + +The Writ of Eviction against Rizal's Father +Facsimile of the original. + +Room in which "El Filibusterismo" was Begun +Pencil sketch by Rizal. + +First Page of the Manuscript of "El Filibusterismo" +Facsimile from the original. + +Cover of the Manuscript of "El Filibusterismo" +Facsimile of the original. + +Rizal's Professional Card when in Hongkong +Facsimile of the original. + +Statuette Modeled by Rizal +From a photograph. + +Don Eulogio Despujol +From an old print. + +Proposed Settlement in Borneo +Facsimile of original sketch. + +Rizal's Passport or "Safe Conduct" +Photograph of the original. + +Part of Despujol's Private Inquiry +Facsimile of the original. + +Case Secretly Filed against Rizal +Facsimile of the original. + +Luis De La Torre, Secretary to Despujol +From an old print. + +Regulations of La Liga Filipina +Facsimile in Rizal's handwriting. + +The Calle Ilaya Monument to Rizal and La Liga Filipina +From a photograph. + +Three New Species Discovered by Rizal and Named After Him +From an engraving. + +Specimens Collected by Rizal and Father Sanchez +From photographs. + +Statuette by Rizal, The Mother's Revenge +From a photograph. + +Father Sanchez, S. J. +From a photograph. + +Drawings of Fishes Caught at Dapitan +Twelve facsimiles of Rizal's originals. + +Plan of the Water Works for Dapitan +Facsimile of Rizal's sketch. + +Jewelry of Earliest Moro Converts +From a photograph. + +Hill and Excavations where the Jewelry was Found +Facsimile of a sketch by Rizal. + +List of Ethnographical Material +Facsimile. + +The Blind Mr. Taufer +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Father-in-Law +From a photograph. + +Carved Portrait of Josefina Bracken +From a photograph. + +Josefina Bracken's Baptismal Certificate +Facsimile of the original. + +Josefina Bracken, Afterwards Mrs. Jose Rizal +From a photograph. + +Leonora Rivera +Pencil sketch by Rizal. + +Leonora Rivera at the Age of Fifteen +From a photograph. + +Letter to His Nephew by Rizal +Facsimile. + +Ethnographical Material Collected by Rizal +From a print. + +Cell in which Rizal was Imprisoned +From a photograph. + +Cuartel De Espana +From a photograph. + +Luis T. De Andrade +From an old print. + +Interior of Cell +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Wedding Gift to His Wife +Facsimile of original. + +Rizal's Symbolic Name in Masonry +Facsimile of original. + +The Wife of Jose Rizal +From a photograph. + +Execution of Rizal +From a photograph. + +Burial Record of Rizal +Facsimile from the Paco register. + +Grave of Rizal in Paco Cemetery, Manila +From a photograph. + +The Alcohol Lamp in which the "Farewell" Poem was Hidden +From a photograph. + +The Opening Lines of Rizal's Last Verses +Facsimile of original. + +Rizal's Farewell to His Mother +Facsimile. + +Monument at the Corner of Rizal Avenue +From a photograph. + +Float in a Rizal Day Parade +From a photograph. + +W. J. Bryan as a Rizal Day Orator +From a photograph. + +Governor-General Forbes and Delegate Mariano Ponce +From a photograph. + +The Last Portrait of Jose Rizal's Mother +From a photograph. + +Accepted Model for the Rizal Monument +From a photograph. + +The Rizal Monument in Front of the New Capital +From a sketch. + +The Story of the Monkey and the Tortoise +Six facsimiles from Rizal's originals. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +America's Forerunner + +THE lineage of a hero who made the history of his country during its +most critical period, and whose labors constitute its hope for the +future, must be more than a simple list of an ascending line. The blood +which flowed in his veins must be traced generation by generation, +the better to understand the man, but at the same time the causes +leading to the conditions of his times must be noted, step by step, +in order to give a better understanding of the environment in which +he lived and labored. + +The study of the growth of free ideas is now in the days of our +democracy the most important feature of Philippine history; hitherto +this history has consisted of little more than lists of governors, +their term of office, and of the recital of such incidents as were +considered to redound to the glory of Spain, or could be so twisted +and misrepresented as to make them appear to do so. It rarely occurred +to former historians that the lamp of experience might prove a light +for the feet of future generations, and the mistakes of the past +were usually ignored or passed over, thus leaving the way open for +repeating the old errors. But profit, not pride, should be the object +of the study of the past, and our historians of today very largely +concern themselves with mistakes in policy and defects of system; +fortunately for them such critical investigation under our changed +conditions does not involve the discomfort and danger that attended +it in the days of Doctor Rizal. + +In the opinion of the martyred Doctor, criticism of the right +sort--even the very best things may be abused till they become +intolerable evils--serves much the same useful warning purpose +for governments that the symptoms of sickness do for persons. Thus +government and individual alike, when advised in time of something +wrong with the system, can seek out and correct the cause before +serious consequences ensue. But the nation that represses honest +criticism with severity, like the individual who deadens his symptoms +with dangerous drugs, is likely to be lulled into a false security +that may prove fatal. Patriot toward Spain and the Philippines alike, +Rizal tried to impress this view upon the government of his day, +with fatal results to himself, and the disastrous effects of not +heeding him have since justified his position. + +The very defenses of Old Manila illustrate how the Philippines have +suffered from lack of such devoted, honest and courageous critics as +Jose Rizal. The city wall was built some years later than the first +Spanish occupation to keep out Chinese pirates after Li Ma-hong +destroyed the city. The Spaniards sheltered themselves in the old +Tagalog fort till reenforcements could come from the country. No one +had ever dared to quote the proverb about locking the door after the +horse was stolen. The need for the moat, so recently filled in, was +not seen until after the bitter experience of the easy occupation of +Manila by the English, but if public opinion had been allowed free +expression this experience might have been avoided. And the free +space about the walls was cleared of buildings only after these same +buildings had helped to make the same occupation of the city easier, +yet there were many in Manila who foresaw the danger but feared to +foretell it. + +Had the people of Spain been free to criticise the Spaniards' way of +waiting to do things until it is too late, that nation, at one time the +largest and richest empire in the world, would probably have been saved +from its loss of territory and its present impoverished condition. And +had the early Filipinos, to whom splendid professions and sweeping +promises were made, dared to complain of the Peninsular policy of +procrastination--the "manana" habit, as it has been called--Spain +might have been spared Doctor Rizal's terrible but true indictment +that she retarded Philippine progress, kept the Islands miserably +ruled for 333 years and in the last days of the nineteenth century was +still permitting mediaeval malpractices. Rizal did not believe that +his country was able to stand alone as a separate government. He +therefore desired to preserve the Spanish sovereignty in the +Philippines, but he desired also to bring about reforms and conditions +conducive to advancement. To this end he carefully pointed out those +colonial shortcomings that caused friction, kept up discontent, and +prevented safe progress, and that would have been perfectly easy to +correct. Directly as well as indirectly, the changes he proposed were +calculated to benefit the homeland quite as much as the Philippines, +but his well-meaning efforts brought him hatred and an undeserved +death, thus proving once more how thankless is the task of telling +unpleasant truths, no matter how necessary it may be to do so. Because +Rizal spoke out boldly, while realizing what would probably be his +fate, history holds him a hero and calls his death a martyrdom. He +was not one of those popularity-seeking, self-styled patriots who are +ever mouthing "My country, right or wrong;" his devotion was deeper +and more disinterested. When he found his country wrong he willingly +sacrificed himself to set her right. Such unselfish spirits are rare; +in life they are often misunderstood, but when time does them justice, +they come into a fame which endures. + +Doctor Rizal knew that the real Spain had generous though sluggish +intentions, and noble though erratic impulses, but it awoke too late; +too late for Doctor Rizal and too late to save the Philippines for +Spain; tardy reforms after his death were useless and the loss of +her overseas possessions was the result. Doctor Rizal lost when he +staked his life on his trust in the innate sense of honor of Spain, +for that sense of honor became temporarily blinded by a sudden but +fatal gust of passion; and it took the shock of the separation to +rouse the dormant Spanish chivalry. + +Still in the main Rizal's judgment was correct, and he was the victim +of mistimed, rather than of misplaced, confidence, for as soon as +the knowledge of the real Rizal became known to the Spanish people, +belated justice began to be done his memory, and then, repentant and +remorseful, as is characteristically Castilian, there was little delay +and no half-heartedness. Another name may now be grouped with Columbus +and Cervantes among those to whom Spain has given imprisonment in +life and monuments after death--chains for the man and chaplets for +his memory. In 1896, during the few days before he could be returned +to Manila, Doctor Rizal occupied a dungeon in Montjuich Castle in +Barcelona; while on his way to assist the Spanish soldiers in Cuba +who were stricken with yellow fever, he was shipped and sent back to +a prejudged trial and an unjust execution. Fifteen years later the +Catalan city authorities commemorated the semi-centennial of this +prisoner's birth by changing, in his honor, the name of a street in +the shadow of the infamous prison of Montjuich Castle to "Calle del +Doctor Rizal." + +More instances of this nature are not cited since they are not +essential to the proper understanding of Rizal's story, but let it be +made clear once for all that whatever harshness may be found in the +following pages is directed solely to those who betrayed the trust +of the mother country and selfishly abused the ample and unrestrained +powers with which Spain invested them. + +And what may seem the exaltation of the Anglo-Saxons at the expense of +the Latins in these pages is intended only to point out the superiority +of their ordered system of government, with its checks and balances, +its individual rights and individual duties, under which men are +"free to live by no man's leave, underneath the Law." No human being +can be safely trusted with unlimited power, and no man, no matter +what his nationality, could have withstood the temptations offered by +the chaotic conditions in the Philippines in past times any better +than did the Spaniards. There is nothing written in this book that +should convey the opinion that in similar circumstances men of any +nationality would not have acted as the Spaniards did. The easiest +recognized characteristic of absolutism, and all the abuses and +corruption it brings in its train, is fear of criticism, and Spain +drew her own indictment in the Philippines when she executed Rizal. + +When any nation sets out to enroll all its scholarly critics among +the martyrs in the cause of Liberty, it makes an open confession of +guilt to all the world. For a quarter of a century Spain had been +ruling in the Philippines by terrorizing its subjects there, and +Rizal's execution, with utter disregard of the most elementary rules +of judicial procedure, was the culmination that drove the Filipinos +to desperation and arrested the attention of the whole civilized +world. It was evident that Rizal's fate might have been that of any +of his countrymen, and the thinking world saw that events had taken +such a course in the Philippines that it had become justifiable for +the Filipinos to attempt to dissolve the political bands which had +connected them with Spain for over three centuries. + +Such action by the Filipinos would not have been warranted by a +solitary instance of unjust execution under stress of political +excitement that did not indicate the existence of a settled +policy. Such instances are rather to be classed among the mistakes +to which governments as well as individuals are liable. Yet even such +a mistake may be avoided by certain precautions which experience has +suggested, and the nation that disregards these precautions is justly +open to criticism. + +Our present Philippine government guarantees to its citizens as +fundamental rights, that no person shall be held to answer for a +capital crime unless on an indictment, nor may he be compelled in any +criminal case to be a witness gainst himself, nor be deprived of life, +liberty or property without due process of law. The accused must have +a speedy, public and impartial trial, be informed of the nature and +cause of the accusation, be confronted with the witnesses against him, +have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and have +the assistance of counsel for his defense. Not one of these safeguards +protected Doctor Rizal except that he had an "open trial," if that name +may be given to a courtroom filled with his enemies openly clamoring +for his death without rebuke from the court. Even the presumption of +innocence till guilt was established was denied him. These precautions +have been considered necessary for every criminal trial, but the +framers of the American Constitution, fearful lest popular prejudice +some day might cause injustice to those advocating unpopular ideals, +prohibited the irremediable penalty of death upon a charge of treason +except where the testimony of two reliable witnesses established some +overt act, inference not being admissible as evidence. + +Such protection was not given the subjects of Spain, but still, with +all the laxity of the Spanish law, and even if all the charges had been +true, which they were far from being, no case was made out against +Doctor Rizal at his trial. According to the laws then in effect, he +was unfairly convicted and he should be considered innocent; for this +reason his life will be studied to see what kind of hero he was, and +no attempt need be made to plead good character and honest intentions +in extenuation of illegal acts. Rizal was ever the advocate of law, +and it will be found, too, that he was always consistently law-abiding. + +Though they are in the Orient, the Filipinos are not of it. Rizal once +said, upon hearing of plans for a Philippine exhibit at a European +World's Fair, that the people of Europe would have a chance to see +themselves as they were in the Middle Ages. With allowances for the +changes due to climate and for the character of the country, this +statement can hardly be called exaggerated. The Filipinos in the +last half of the nineteenth century were not Orientals but mediaeval +Europeans--to the credit of the early Castilians but to the discredit +of the later Spaniards. + +The Filipinos of the remoter Christian barrios, whom Rizal had in mind +particularly, were in customs, beliefs and advancement substantially +what the descendants of Legaspi's followers might have been had these +been shipwrecked on the sparsely inhabited islands of the Archipelago +and had their settlement remained shut off from the rest of the world. + +Except where foreign influence had accidentally crept in at the +ports, it could truthfully be said that scarcely perceptible advance +had been made in three hundred years. Succeeding Spaniards by their +misrule not only added little to the glorious achievement of their +ancestors, but seemed to have prevented the natural progress which +the land would have made. + +In one form or another, this contention was the basis of Rizal's +campaign. By careful search, it is true, isolated instances of +improvement could be found, but the showing at its very best was +so pitifully poor that the system stood discredited. And it was the +system to which Rizal was opposed. + +The Spaniards who engaged in public argument with Rizal were +continually discovering, too late to avoid tumbling into them, logical +pitfalls which had been carefully prepared to trap them. Rizal argued +much as he played chess, and was ever ready to sacrifice a pawn to +be enabled to say "check." Many an unwary opponent realized after +he had published what he had considered a clever answer that the +same reasoning which scored a point against Rizal incontrovertibly +established the Kalamban's major premise. + +Superficial antagonists, to the detriment of their own reputations, +have made much of what they chose to consider Rizal's historical +errors. But history is not merely chronology, and his representation +of its trend, disregarding details, was a masterly tracing of current +evils to their remote causes. He may have erred in some of his minor +statements; this will happen to anyone who writes much, but attempts to +discredit Rizal on the score of historical inaccuracy really reflect +upon the captious critics, just as a draftsman would expose himself +to ridicule were he to complain of some famous historical painting +that it had not been drawn to exact scale. Rizal's writings were +intended to bring out in relief the evils of the Spanish system of +the government of the Filipino people, just as a map of the world +may put the inhabited portions of the earth in greater prominence +than those portions that are not inhabited. Neither is exact in its +representation, but each serves its purpose the better because it +magnifies the important and minimizes the unimportant. + +In his disunited and abased countrymen, Rizal's writings aroused, as he +intended they should, the spirit of nationality, of a Fatherland which +was not Spain, and put their feet on the road to progress. What matters +it, then, if his historical references are not always exhaustive, and +if to make himself intelligible in the Philippines he had to write in +a style possibly not always sanctioned by the Spanish Academy? Spain +herself had denied to the Filipinos a system of education that +might have made a creditable Castilian the common language of the +Archipelago. A display of erudition alone does not make an historian, +nor is purity, propriety and precision in choosing words all there +is to literature. + +Rizal charged Spain unceasingly with unprogressiveness in the +Philippines, just as he labored and planned unwearyingly to bring +the Filipinos abreast of modern European civilization. But in his +appeals to the Spanish conscience and in his endeavors to educate his +countrymen he showed himself as practical as he was in his arguments, +ever ready to concede nonessentials in name and means if by doing so +progress could be made. + +Because of his unceasing efforts for a wiser, better governed and +more prosperous Philippines, and because of his frank admission that +he hoped thus in time there might come a freer Philippines, Rizal was +called traitor to Spain and ingrate. Now honest, open criticism is +not treason, and the sincerest gratitude to those who first brought +Christian civilization to the Philippines should not shut the eyes to +the wrongs which Filipinos suffered from their successors. But until +the latest moment of Spanish rule, the apologists of Spain seemed to +think that they ought to be able to turn away the wrath evoked by the +cruelty and incompetence that ran riot during centuries, by dwelling +upon the benefits of the early days of the Spanish dominion. + +Wearisome was the eternal harping on gratitude which at one time was +the only safe tone for pulpit, press and public speech; it irritating +because it ignored questions of current policy, and it was discouraging +to the Filipinos who were reminded by it of the hopeless future for +their country to which time had brought no progress. But with all the +faults and unworthiness of the later rulers, and the inane attempts +of their parasites to distract attention from these failings, there +remains undimmed the luster of Spain's early fame. The Christianizing +which accompanied her flag upon the mainland and islands of the +New World is its imperishable glory, and the transformation of the +Filipino people from Orientals into mediaeval Europeans through the +colonizing genius of the early Castilians, remains a marvel unmatched +in colonial history and merits the lasting gratitude of the Filipino. + +Doctor Rizal satirized the degenerate descendants and scored the +unworthy successors, but his writings may be searched in vain for +wholesale charges against the Spanish nation such as Spanish scribblers +were forever directing against all Filipinos, past, present and future, +with an alleged fault of a single one as a pretext. It will be found +that he invariably recognized that the faithful first administrators +and the devoted pioneer missionaries had a valid claim upon the +continuing gratitude of the people of Tupa's and Lakandola's land. + +Rizal's insight discerned, and experience has demonstrated, that +Legaspi, Urdaneta and those who were like them, laid broad and firm +foundations for a modern social and political organization which +could be safely and speedily established by reforms from above. The +early Christianizing civilizers deserve no part of the blame for +the fact that Philippine ports were not earlier opened to progress, +but much credit is due them that there is succeeding here an orderly +democracy such as now would be impossible in any neighboring country. + +The Philippine patriot would be the first to recognize the justice +of the selection of portraits which appear with that of Rizal upon +the present Philippine postage stamps, where they serve as daily +reminders of how free government came here. + +The constancy and courage of a Portuguese sailor put these Islands into +touch with the New World with which their future progress was to be +identified. The tact and honesty of a civil official from Mexico made +possible the almost bloodless conquest which brought the Filipinos +under the then helpful rule of Spain. The bequest of a far-sighted +early philanthropist was the beginning of the water system of Manila, +which was a recognition of the importance of efforts toward improving +the public health and remains a reminder of how, even in the darkest +days of miseries and misgovernment, there have not been wanting +Spaniards whose ideal of Spanish patriotism was to devote heart, +brain and wealth to the welfare of the Filipinos. These were the +heroes of the period of preparation. + +The life of the one whose story is told in these pages was devoted +and finally sacrificed to dignify their common country in the eyes +of his countrymen, and to unite them in a common patriotism; he +inculcated that self-respect which, by leading to self-restraint and +self-control, makes self-government possible; and sought to inspire +in all a love of ordered freedom, so that, whether under the flag +of Spain or any other, or by themselves, neither tyrants (caciques) +nor slaves (those led by caciques) would be possible among them. + +And the change itself came through an American President who +believed, and practiced the belief, that nations owed obligations +to other nations just as men had duties toward their fellow-men. He +established here Liberty through Law, and provided for progress in +general education, which should be a safeguard to good government as +well, for an enlightened people cannot be an oppressed people. Then +he went to war against the Philippines rather than deceive them, +because the Filipinos, who repeatedly had been tricked by Spain with +unfulfilled promises, insisted on pledges which he had not the power to +give. They knew nothing of what was meant by the rule of the people, +and could not conceive of a government whose head was the servant +and not the master. Nor did they realize that even the voters might +not promise for the future, since republicanism requires that the +government of any period shall rule only during the period that it +is in the majority. In that war military glory and quick conquest +were sacrificed to consideration for the misled enemy, and every +effort was made to minimize the evils of warfare and to gain the +confidence of the people. Retaliation for violations of the usages of +civilized warfare, of which Filipinos at first were guilty through +their Spanish training, could not be entirely prevented, but this +retaliation contrasted strikingly with the Filipinos' unhappy past +experiences with Spanish soldiers. The few who had been educated out +of Spain and therefore understood the American position were daily +reenforced by those persons who became convinced from what they saw, +until a majority of the Philippine people sought peace. Then the +President of the United States outlined a policy, and the history +and constitution of his government was an assurance that this policy +would be followed; the American government then began to do what it +had not been able to promise. + +The forerunner and the founder of the present regime in these Islands, +by a strange coincidence, were as alike in being cruelly misunderstood +in their lifetimes by those whom they sought to benefit as they were +in the tragedy of their deaths, and both were unjustly judged by many, +probably well-meaning, countrymen. + +Magellan, Legaspi, Carriedo, Rizal and McKinley, heroes of the free +Philippines, belonged to different times and were of different types, +but their work combined to make possible the growing democracy of +to-day. The diversity of nationalities among these heroes is an added +advantage, for it recalls that mingling of blood which has developed +the Filipinos into a strong people. + +England, the United States and the Philippines are each composed +of widely diverse elements. They have each been developed by +adversity. They have each honored their severest critics while yet +those critics lived. Their common literature, which tells the story +of human liberty in its own tongue, is the richest, most practical +and most accessible of all literature, and the popular education upon +which rests the freedom of all three is in the same democratic tongue, +which is the most widely known of civilized languages and the only +unsycophantic speech, for it stands alone in not distinguishing by +its use of pronouns in the second person the social grade of the +individual addressed. + +The future may well realize Rizal's dream that his country should +be to Asia what England has been to Europe and the United States +is in America, a hope the more likely to be fulfilled since the +events of 1898 restored only associations of the earlier and happier +days of the history of the Philippines. The very name now used is +nearer the spelling of the original Philipinas than the Filipinas +of nineteenth century Spanish usage. The first form was used until +nearly a century ago, when it was corrupted along with so many things +of greater importance. + +The Philippines at first were called "The Islands of the West," as +they are considered to be occidental and not oriental. They were made +known to Europe as a sequel to the discoveries of Columbus. Conquered +and colonized from Mexico, most of their pious and charitable +endowments, churches, hospitals, asylums and colleges, were endowed +by philanthropic Mexicans. Almost as long as Mexico remained Spanish +the commerce of the Philippines was confined to Mexico, and the +Philippines were a part of the postal system of Mexico and dependent +upon the government of Mexico exactly as long as Mexico remained +Spanish. They even kept the new world day, one day behind Europe, +for a third of a century longer. The Mexican dollars continued to be +their chief coins till supplanted, recently, by the present peso, +and the highbuttoned white coat, the "americana," by that name was +in general use long years ago. The name America is frequently to be +found in the old baptismal registers, for a century or more ago many +a Filipino child was so christened, and in the '70's Rizal's carving +instructor, because so many of the best-made articles he used were +of American manufacture, gave the name "Americano" to a godchild. As +Americans, Filipinos were joined with the Mexicans when King Ferdinand +VII thanked his subjects in both countries for their loyalty during +the Napoleonic wars. Filipino students abroad found, too, books about +the Philippines listed in libraries and in booksellers' catalogues +as a branch of "Americana." + +Nor was their acquaintance confined to Spanish Americans. The name +"English" was early known. Perhaps no other was more familiar in +the beginning, for it was constantly execrated by the Spaniards, +and in consequence secretly cherished by those who suffered wrongs +at their hands. + +Magellan had lost his life in his attempted circumnavigation of the +globe and Elcano completed the disastrous voyage in a shattered ship, +minus most of its crew. But Drake, an Englishman, undertook the same +voyage, passed the Straits in less time than Magellan, and was the +first commander in his own ship to put a belt around the earth. These +facts were known in the Philippines, and from them the Filipinos drew +comparisons unfavorable to the boastful Spaniards. + +When the rich Philippine galleon Santa Ana was captured off the +California coast by Thomas Candish, "three boys born in Manila" +were taken on board the English ships. Afterwards Candish sailed into +the straits south of "Lucon" and made friends with the people of the +country. There the Filipinos promised "both themselves, and all the +islands thereabouts, to aid him whensoever he should come again to +overcome the Spaniards." + +Dampier, another English sea captain, passed through the Archipelago +but little later, and one of his men, John Fitzgerald by name, remained +in the Islands, marrying here. He pretended to be a physician, and +practiced as a doctor in Manila. There was no doubt room for him, +because when Spain expelled the Moors she reduced medicine in her +country to a very low state, for the Moors had been her most skilled +physicians. Many of these Moors who were Christians, though not +orthodox according to the Spanish standard, settled in London, and +the English thus profited by the persecution, just as she profited +when the cutlery industry was in like manner transplanted from Toledo +to Sheffield. + +The great Armada against England in Queen Elizabeth's time was an +attempt to stop once for all the depredations of her subjects on +Spain's commerce in the Orient. As the early Spanish historian, Morga, +wrote of it: "Then only the English nation disturbed the Spanish +dominion in that Orient. Consequently King Philip desired not only +to forbid it with arms near at hand, but also to furnish an example, +by their punishment, to all the northern nations, so that they should +not undertake the invasions that we see. A beginning was made in this +work in the year one thousand five hundred and eighty-eight." + +This ingeniously worded statement omits to tell how ignominiously +the pretentious expedition ended, but the fact of failure remained +and did not help the prestige of Spain, especially among her subjects +in the Far East. After all the boastings of what was going to happen, +and all the claims of what had been accomplished, the enemies of Spain +not only were unchecked but appeared to be bolder than ever. Some of +the more thoughtful Filipinos then began to lose confidence in Spanish +claims. They were only a few, but their numbers were to increase as +the years went by. The Spanish Armada was one of the earliest of those +influences which, reenforced by later events, culminated in the life +work of Jose Rizal and the loss of the Philippines by Spain. + +At that time the commerce of Manila was restricted to the galleon +trade with Mexico, and the prosperity of the Filipino merchants--in +large measure the prosperity of the entire Archipelago--depended +upon the yearly ventures the hazard of which was not so much the +ordinary uncertainty of the sea as the risk of capture by English +freebooters. Everybody in the Philippines had heard of these daring +English mariners, who were emboldened by an almost unbroken series of +successes which had correspondingly discouraged the Spaniards. They +carried on unceasing war despite occasional proclamation of peace +between England and Spain, for the Spanish treasure ships were +tempting prizes, and though at times policy made their government +desire friendly relations with Spain, the English people regarded +all Spaniards as their natural enemies and all Spanish property as +their legitimate spoil. + +The Filipinos realized earlier than the Spaniards did that torturing to +death shipwrecked English sailors was bad policy. The result was always +to make other English sailors fight more desperately to avoid a similar +fate. Revenge made them more and more aggressive, and treaties made +with Spain were disregarded because, as they said, Spain's inhumanity +had forfeited her right to be considered a civilized country. + +It was less publicly discussed, but equally well known, that the +English freebooters, besides committing countless depredations +on commerce, were always ready to lend their assistance to any +discontented Spanish subjects whom they could encourage into open +rebellion. + +The English word Filibuster was changed into "Filibusteros" by the +Spanish, and in later years it came to be applied especially to those +charged with stirring up discontent and rebellion. For three centuries, +in its early application to the losses of commerce, and in its later +use as denoting political agitation, possibly no other word in the +Philippines, outside of the ordinary expressions of daily life, was +so widely known, and certainly none had such sinister signification. + +In contrast to this lawless association is a similarity of laws. The +followers of Cortez, it will be remembered, were welcomed in Mexico +as the long-expected "Fair Gods" because of their blond complexions +derived from a Gothic ancestry. Far back in history their forbears +had been neighbors of the Anglo-Saxons in the forests of Germany, +so that the customs of Anglo-Saxon England and of the Gothic +kingdom of Castile had much in common. The "Laws of the Indies," +the disregard of which was the ground of most Filipino complaints +up to the very last days of the rule of Spain, was a compilation +of such of these Anglo-Saxon-Castilian laws and customs as it was +thought could be extended to the Americas, originally called the New +Kingdom of Castile, which included the Philippine Archipelago. Thus +the New England township and the Mexican, and consequently the early +Philippine pueblo, as units of local government are nearly related. + +These American associations, English influences, and Anglo-Saxon ideals +also culminated in the life work of Jose Rizal, the heir of all the +past ages in Philippine history. But other causes operating in his +own day--the stories of his elders, the incidents of his childhood, +the books he read, the men he met, the travels he made--as later +pages will show--contributed further to make him the man he was. + +It was fortunate for the Philippines that after the war of +misunderstanding with the United States there existed a character that +commanded the admiration of both sides. Rizal's writings revealed to +the Americans aspirations that appealed to them and conditions that +called forth their sympathy, while the Filipinos felt confidence, +for that reason, in the otherwise incomprehensible new government +which honored their hero. + +Rizal was already, and had been for years, without rival as the idol +of his countrymen when there came, after deliberation and delay, his +official recognition in the Philippines. Necessarily there had to be +careful study of his life and scrutiny of his writings before the head +of our nation could indorse as the corner stone of the new government +which succeeded Spain's misrule, the very ideas which Spain had +considered a sufficient warrant for shooting their author as a traitor. + +Finally the President of the United States in a public address at +Fargo, North Dakota, on April 7, 1903--five years after American +scholars had begun to study Philippine affairs as they had never +been studied before--declared: "In the Philippine Islands the +American government has tried, and is trying, to carry out exactly +what the greatest genius and most revered patriot ever known in the +Philippines, Jose Rizal, steadfastly advocated," a formal, emphatic +and clear-cut expression of national policy upon a question then of +paramount interest. + +In the light of the facts of Philippine history already set forth +there is no cause for wonder at this sweeping indorsement, even +though the views so indorsed were those of a man who lived in +conditions widely different from those about to be introduced by +the new government. Rizal had not allowed bias to influence him in +studying the past history of the Philippines, he had been equally +honest with himself in judging the conditions of his own time, and +he knew and applied with the same fairness the teaching which holds +true in history as in every other branch of science that like causes +under like conditions must produce like results, He had been careful in +his reasoning, and it stood the test, first of President Roosevelt's +advisers, or otherwise that Fargo speech would never have been made, +and then of all the President's critics, or there would have been +heard more of the statement quoted above which passed unchallenged, +but not, one may be sure, uninvestigated. + +The American system is in reality not foreign to the Philippines, +but it is the highest development, perfected by experience, of the +original plan under which the Philippines had prospered and progressed +until its benefits were wrongfully withheld from them. Filipino +leaders had been vainly asking Spain for the restoration of their +rights and the return to the system of the Laws of the Indies. At the +time when America came to the Islands there was among them no Rizal, +with a knowledge of history that would enable him to recognize that +they were getting what they had been wanting, who could rise superior +to the unimportant detail of under what name or how the good came as +long as it arrived, and whose prestige would have led his countrymen to +accept his decision. Some leaders had one qualification, some another, +a few combined two, but none had the three, for a country is seldom +favored with more than one surpassingly great man at one time. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Rizal's Chinese Ancestry + +Clustered around the walls of Manila in the latter half of the +seventeenth century were little villages the names of which, in some +instances slightly changed, are the names of present districts. A +fashionable drive then was through the settlement of Filipinos in +Bagumbayan--the "new town" to which Lakandola's subjects had migrated +when Legaspi dispossessed them of their own "Maynila." With the +building of the moat this village disappeared, but the name remained, +and it is often used to denote the older Luneta, as well as the drive +leading to it. + +Within the walls lived the Spanish rulers and the few other persons +that the fear and jealousy of the Spaniard allowed to come in. Some +were Filipinos who ministered to the needs of the Spaniards, but the +greater number were Sangleyes, or Chinese, "the mechanics in all trades +and excellent workmen," as an old Spanish chronicle says, continuing: +"It is true that the city could not be maintained or preserved without +the Sangleyes." + +The Chinese conditions of these early days are worth recalling, for +influences strikingly similar to those which affected the life of Jose +Rizal in his native land were then at work. There were troubled times +in the ancient "Middle Kingdom," the earlier name of the corruption +of the Malay Tchina (China) by which we know it. The conquering +Manchus had placed their emperor on the throne so long occupied by +the native dynasty whose adherents had boastingly called themselves +"The Sons of Light." The former liberal and progressive government, +under which the people prospered, had grown corrupt and helpless, +and the country had yielded to the invaders and passed under the +terrible tyranny of the Tartars. + +Yet there were true patriots among the Chinese who were neither +discouraged by these conditions nor blind to the real cause of their +misfortunes. They realized that the easy conquest of their country +and the utter disregard by their people of the bad government which +had preceded it, showed that something was wrong with themselves. + +Too wise to exhaust their land by carrying on a hopeless war, +they sought rather to get a better government by deserving it, +and worked for the general enlightenment, believing that it would +offer the most effective opposition to oppression, for they knew well +that an intelligent people could not be kept enslaved. Furthermore, +they understood that, even if they were freed from foreign rule, the +change would be merely to another tyranny unless the darkness of the +whole people were dispelled. The few educated men among them would +inevitably tyrannize over the ignorant many sooner or later, and it +would be less easy to escape from the evils of such misrule, for the +opposition to it would be divided, while the strength of union would +oppose any foreign despotism. These true patriots were more concerned +about the welfare of their country than ambitious for themselves, +and they worked to prepare their countrymen for self-government by +teaching self-control and respect for the rights of others. + +No public effort toward popular education can be made under a bad +government. Those opposed to Manchu rule knew of a secret society +that had long existed in spite of the laws against it, and they used +it as their model in organizing a new society to carry out their +purposes. Some of them were members of this Ke-Ming-Tong or Chinese +Freemasonry as it is called, and it was difficult for outsiders to +find out the differences between it and the new Heaven-Earth-Man +Brotherhood. The three parts to their name led the new brotherhood +later to be called the Triad Society, and they used a triangle for +their seal. + +The initiates of the Triad were pledged to one another in a blood +compact to "depose the Tsing [Tartar] and restore the Ming [native +Chinese] dynasty." But really the society wanted only gradual reform +and was against any violent changes. It was at first evolutionary, but +later a section became dissatisfied and started another society. The +original brotherhood, however, kept on trying to educate its +members. It wanted them to realize that the dignity of manhood is +above that of rank or riches, and seeking to break down the barriers +of different languages and local prejudice, hoped to create an united +China efficient in its home government and respected in its foreign +relations. + + * * * * * + +It was the policy of Spain to rule by keeping the different elements +among her subjects embittered against one another. Consequently the +entire Chinese population of the Philippines had several times been +almost wiped out by the Spaniards assisted by the Filipinos and +resident Japanese. Although overcrowding was mainly the cause of +the Chinese immigration, the considerations already described seem +to have influenced the better class of emigrants who incorporated +themselves with the Filipinos from 1642 on through the eighteenth +century. Apparently these emigrants left their Chinese homes to avoid +the shaven crown and long braided queue that the Manchu conquerors +were imposing as a sign of submission--a practice recalled by +the recent wholesale cutting off of queues which marked the fall +of this same Manchu dynasty upon the establishment of the present +republic. The patriot Chinese in Manila retained the ancient style, +which somewhat resembled the way Koreans arrange their hair. Those who +became Christians cut the hair short and wore European hats, otherwise +using the clothing--blue cotton for the poor, silk for the richer--and +felt-soled shoes, still considered characteristically Chinese. + +The reasons for the brutal treatment of the unhappy exiles and the +causes of the frequent accusation against them that they were intending +rebellion may be found in the fear that had been inspired by the +Chinese pirates, and the apprehension that the Chinese traders and +workmen would take away from the Filipinos their means of gaining a +livelihood. At times unjust suspicions drove some of the less patient +to take up arms in self-defense. Then many entirely innocent persons +would be massacred, while those who had not bought protection from +some powerful Spaniard would have their property pillaged by mobs that +protested excessive devotion to Spain and found their patriotism so +profitable that they were always eager to stir up trouble. + +One of the last native Chinese emperors, not wishing that any of +his subjects should live outside his dominions, informed the Spanish +authorities that he considered the emigrants evil persons unworthy +of his interest. His Manchu successors had still more reason to be +careless of the fate of the Manila Chinese. They were consequently ill +treated with impunity, while the Japanese were "treated very cordially, +as they are a race that demand good treatment, and it is advisable +to do so for the friendly relations between the Islands and Japan," +to quote the ancient history once more. + +Pagan or Christian, a Chinaman's life in Manila then was not an +enviable one, though the Christians were slightly more secure. The +Chinese quarter was at first inside the city, but before long it became +a considerable district of several streets along Arroceros near the +present Botanical Garden. Thus the Chinese were under the guns of the +Bastion San Gabriel, which also commanded two other Chinese settlements +across the river in Tondo--Minondoc, or Binondo, and Baybay. They had +their own headmen, their own magistrates and their own prison, and no +outsiders were permitted among them. The Dominican Friars, who also +had a number of missionary stations in China, maintained a church and +a hospital for these Manila Chinese and established a settlement where +those who became Christians might live with their families. Writers +of that day suggest that sometimes conversions were prompted by the +desire to get married--which until 1898 could not be done outside the +Church--or to help the convert's business or to secure the protection +of an influential Spanish godfather, rather than by any changed belief. + +Certainly two of these reasons did not influence the conversion of +Doctor Rizal's paternal ancestor, Lam-co (that is, "Lam, Esq."), +for this Chinese had a Chinese godfather and was not married till +many years later. + +He was a native of the Chinchew district, where the Jesuits first, and +later the Dominicans, had had missions, and he perhaps knew something +of Christianity before leaving China. One of his church records +indicates his home more definitely, for it specifies Siongque, near +the great city, an agricultural community, and in China cultivation +of the soil is considered the most honorable employment. Curiously +enough, without conversion, the people of that region even to-day +consider themselves akin to the Christians. They believe in one god +and have characteristics distinguishing them from the Pagan Chinese, +possibly derived from some remote Mohammedan ancestors. + +Lam-co's prestige among his own people, as shown by his leadership of +those who later settled with him in Binan, as well as the fact that +even after his residence in the country he was called to Manila to +act as godfather, suggests that he was above the ordinary standing, +and certainly not of the coolie class. This is bogne out by his +marrying the daughter of an educated Chinese, an alliance that was +not likely to have been made unless he was a person of some education, +and education is the Chinese test of social degree. + +He was baptized in the Parian church of San Gabriel on a Sunday in June +of 1697. Lam-co's age was given in the record as thirty-five years, +and the names of his parents were given as Siang-co and Zun-nio. The +second syllables of these names are titles of a little more respect +than the ordinary "Mr." and "Mrs.," something like the Spanish Don +and Dona, but possibly the Dominican priest who kept the register +was not so careful in his use of Chinese words as a Chinese would +have been. Following the custom of the other converts on the same +occasion, Lam-co took the name Domingo, the Spanish for Sunday, in +honor of the day. The record of this baptism is still to be seen in +the records of the Parian church of San Gabriel, which are preserved +with the Binondo records, in Manila. + +Chinchew, the capital of the district from which he came, was a +literary center and a town famed in Chinese history for its loyalty; +it was probably the great port Zeitung which so strongly impressed +the Venetian traveler Marco Polo, the first European to see China. + +The city was said by later writers to be large and beautiful and to +contain half a million inhabitants, "candid, open and friendly people, +especially friendly and polite to foreigners." It was situated forty +miles from the sea, in the province of Fokien, the rocky coast of which +has been described as resembling Scotland, and its sturdy inhabitants +seem to have borne some resemblance to the Scotch in their love of +liberty. The district now is better known by its present port of Amoy. + +Altogether, in wealth, culture and comfort, Lam-co's home city far +surpassed the Manila of that day, which was, however, patterned after +it. The walls of Manila, its paved streets, stone bridges, and large +houses with spacious courts are admitted by Spanish writers to be due +to the industry and skill of Chinese workmen. They were but slightly +changed from their Chinese models, differing mainly in ornamentation, +so that to a Chinese the city by the Pasig, to which he gave the name +of "the city of horses," did not seem strange, but reminded him rather +of his own country. + +Famine in his native district, or the plague which followed it, +may have been the cause of Lam-co's leaving home, but it was more +probably political troubles which transferred to the Philippines +that intelligent and industrious stock whose descendants have proved +such loyal and creditable sons of their adopted country. Chinese had +come to the Islands centuries before the Spaniards arrived and they +are still coming, but no other period has brought such a remarkable +contribution to the strong race which the mixture of many peoples +has built up in the Philippines. Few are the Filipinos notable in +recent history who cannot trace descent from a Chinese baptized in +San Gabriel church during the century following 1642; until recently +many have felt ashamed of these really creditable ancestors. + +Soon after Lam-co came to Manila he made the acquaintance of two +well-known Dominicans and thus made friendships that changed his career +and materially affected the fortunes of his descendants. These powerful +friends were the learned Friar Francisco Marquez, author of a Chinese +grammar, and Friar Juan Caballero, a former missionary in China, +who, because of his own work and because his brother held high office +there, was influential in the business affairs of the Order. Through +them Lam-co settled in Binan, on the Dominican estate named after +"St. Isidore the Laborer." There, near where the Pasig river flows +out of the Laguna de Bay, Lam-co's descendants were to be tenants +until another government, not yet born, and a system unknown in his +day, should end a long series of inevitable and vexatious disputes by +buying the estate and selling it again, on terms practicable for them, +to those who worked the land. + +The Filipinos were at law over boundaries and were claiming the +property that had been early and cheaply acquired by the Order as +endowment for its university and other charities. The Friars of +the Parian quarter thought to take those of their parishioners in +whom they had most confidence out of harm's way, and by the same act +secure more satisfactory tenants, for prejudice was then threatening +another indiscriminate massacre. So they settled many industrious +Chinese converts upon these farms, and flattered themselves that +their tenant troubles were ended, for these foreigners could have no +possible claim to the land. The Chinese were equally pleased to have +safer homes and an occupation which in China placed them in a social +position superior to that of a tradesman. + +Domingo Lam-co was influential in building up Tubigan barrio, one +of the richest parts of the great estate. In name and appearance +it recalled the fertile plains that surrounded his native Chinchew, +"the city of springs." His neighbors were mainly Chinchew men, and +what is of more importance to this narrative, the wife whom he married +just before removing to the farm was of a good Chinchew family. She +was Inez de la Rosa and but half Domingo's age; they were married +in the Parian church by the same priest who over thirty years before +had baptized her husband. + +Her father was Agustin Chinco, also of Chinchew, a rice merchant, +who had been baptized five years earlier than Lam-co. His baptismal +record suggests that he was an educated man, as already indicated, +for the name of his town proved a puzzle till a present-day Dominican +missionary from Amoy explained that it appeared to be the combined +names for Chinchew in both the common and literary Chinese, in each +case with the syllable denoting the town left off. Apparently when +questioned from what town he came, Chinco was careful not to repeat +the word town, but gave its name only in the literary language, +and when that was not understood, he would repeat it in the local +dialect. The priest, not understanding the significance of either in +that form, wrote down the two together as a single word. Knowledge +of the literary Chinese, or Mandarin, as it is generally called, +marked the educated man, and, as we have already pointed out, +education in China meant social position. To such minute deductions +is it necessary to resort when records are scarce, and to be of value +the explanation must be in harmony with the conditions of the period; +subsequent research has verified the foregoing conclusions. + +Agustin Chinco had also a Chinese godfather and his parents were +Chin-co and Zun-nio. He was married to Jacinta Rafaela, a Chinese +mestiza of the Parian, as soon after his baptism as the banns could +be published. She apparently was the daughter of a Christian Chinese +and a Chinese mestiza; there were too many of the name Jacinta in that +day to identify which of the several Jacintas she was and so enable us +to determine the names of her parents. The Rafaela part of her name +was probably added after she was grown up, in honor of the patron of +the Parian settlement, San Rafael, just as Domingo, at his marriage, +added Antonio in honor of the Chinese. How difficult guides names +then were may be seen from this list of the six children of Agustin +Chinco and Jacinta Rafaela: Magdalena Vergara, Josepha, Cristoval de +la Trinidad, Juan Batista, Francisco Hong-Sun and Inez de la Rosa. + +The father-in-law and the son-in-law, Agustin and Domingo, seem to +have been old friends, and apparently of the same class. Lam-co must +have seen his future wife, the youngest in Chinco's numerous family, +grow up from babyhood, and probably was attracted by the idea that +she would make a good housekeeper like her thrifty mother, rather +than by any romantic feelings, for sentiment entered very little into +matrimony in those days when the parents made the matches. Possibly, +however, their married life was just as happy, for divorces then were +not even thought of, and as this couple prospered they apparently +worked well together in a financial way. + +The next recorded event in the life of Domingo Lam-co and his wife +occurred in 1741 when, after years of apparently happy existence in +Binan, came a great grief in the loss of their baby daughter, Josepha +Didnio, probably named for her aunt. She had lived only five days, +but payments to the priest for a funeral such as was not given to +many grown persons who died that year in Binan show how keenly the +parents felt the loss of their little girl. They had at the time but +one other child, a boy of ten, Francisco Mercado, whose Christian +name was given partly because he had an uncle of the same name, +and partly as a tribute of gratitude to the friendly Friar scholar +in Manila. His new surname suggests that the family possessed the +commendable trait of taking pride in its ancestry. + +Among the Chinese the significance of a name counts for much and it +is always safe to seek a reason for the choice of a name. The Lam-co +family were not given to the practice of taking the names of their +god-parents. Mercado recalls both an honest Spanish encomendero +of the region, also named Francisco, and a worthy mestizo Friar, +now remembered for his botanical studies, but it is not likely that +these influenced Domingo Lam-co in choosing this name for his son. He +gave his boy a name which in the careless Castilian of the country was +but a Spanish translation of the Chinese name by which his ancestors +had been called. Sangley, Mercado and Merchant mean much the same; +Francisco therefore set out in life with a surname that would free +him from the prejudice that followed those with Chinese names, +and yet would remind him of his Chinese ancestry. This was wisdom, +for seldom are men who are ashamed of their ancestry any credit to it. + +The family history has to be gleaned from partially preserved parochial +registers of births, marriages and deaths, incomplete court records, +the scanty papers of the estates, a few land transfers, and some stray +writings that accidentally have been preserved with the latter. The +next event in Domingo's life which is revealed by them is a visit +to Manila where in the old Parian church he acted as sponsor, +or godfather, at the baptism of a countryman, and a new convert, +Siong-co, whose granddaughter was, we shall see, to marry a grandson +of Lam-co's, the couple becoming Rizal's grandparents. + +Francisco was a grown man when his mother died and was buried with +the elaborate ceremonies which her husband's wealth permitted. There +was a coffin, a niche in which to put it, chanting of the service and +special prayers. All these involved extra cost, and the items noted in +the margin of her funeral record make a total which in those days was +a considerable sum. Domingo outlived Mrs. Lam-co by but a few years, +and he also had, for the time, an expensive funeral. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Liberalizing Hereditary Influences + +The hope of the Binan landlords that by changing from Filipino to +Chinese tenantry they could avoid further litigation seems to have +been disappointed. A family tradition of Francisco Mercado tells of +a tedious and costly lawsuit with the Order. Its details and merits +are no longer remembered, and they are not important. + +History has recorded enough agrarian trouble, in all ages and in all +countries, to prove the economic mistake of large holdings of land by +those who do not cultivate it. Human nature is alike the world over, +it does not change with the centuries, and just as the Filipinos +had done, the Chinese at last obiected to paying increased rent for +improvements which they made themselves. + +A Spanish iudge required the landlords to produce their deeds, and, +after measuring the land, he decided that they were then taking rent +for considerably more than they had originally bought or had been +given. But the tenants lost on the appeal, and, as they thought it +was because they were weak and their opponents powerful, a grievance +grew up which was still remembered in Rizal's day and was well known +and understood by him. + +Another cause of discontent, which was a liberalizing influence, +was making itself felt in the Philippines about the time of Domingo's +death. A number of Spaniards had been claiming for their own countrymen +such safeguards of personal liberty as were enjoyed by Englishmen, +for no other government in Europe then paid any attention to the rights +of the individual. Learned men had devoted much study to the laws and +rights of nations, but these Spanish Liberals insisted that it was the +guarantees given to the citizens, and not the political independence +of the State, that made a country really free. Unfortunately, just +as their proposals began to gain followers, Spain became involved in +war with England, because the Spanish King, then as now a Bourbon +and so related to a number of other reactionary rulers, had united +in the family compact by which the royal relatives were to stamp out +liberal ideas in their own dominions, and as allies to crush England, +the source of the dissatisfaction which threatened their thrones. + +Many progressive Spaniards had become Freemasons, when that ancient +society, after its revival in England, had been reintroduced into +Spain. Now they found themselves suspected of sympathy with England +and therefore of treason to Spain. While this could not be proved, +it led to enforcing a papal bull against them, by which Pope Clement +XII placed their institution under the ban of excommunication. + +At first it was intended to execute all the Spanish Freemasons, but +the Queen's favorite violinist secretly sympathized with them. He used +his influence with Her Majesty so well that through her intercession +the King commuted the sentences from death to banishment as minor +officials in the possessions overseas. + +Thus Cuba, Mexico, South and Central America, and the Philippines were +provided with the ablest Spanish advocates of modern ideas. In no other +way could liberalism have been spread so widely or more effectively. + +Besides these officeholders there had been from the earliest days +noblemen, temporarily out of favor at Court, in banishment in the +colonies. Cavite had some of these exiles, who were called "caja +abierta," or carte blanche, because their generous allowances, which +could be drawn whenever there were government funds, seemed without +limit to the Filipinos. The Spanish residents of the Philippines were +naturally glad to entertain, supply money to, and otherwise serve +these men of noble birth, who might at any time be restored to favor +and again be influential, and this gave them additional prestige in the +eyes of the Filipinos. One of these exiles, whose descendants yet live +in these Islands, passed from prisoner in Cavite to viceroy in Mexico. + +Francisco Mercado lived near enough to hear of the "cajas abiertas" +(exiles) and their ways, if he did not actually meet some of them +and personally experience the charm of their courtesy. They were as +different from the ruder class of Spaniards who then were coming to +the Islands as the few banished officials were unlike the general run +of officeholders. The contrast naturally suggested that the majority of +the Spaniards in the Philippines, both in official and in private life, +were not creditable representatives of their country. This charge, +insisted on with greater vehemence as subsequent events furnished +further reasons for doing so, embittered the controversies of the +last century of Spanish rule. The very persons who realized that the +accusation was true of themselves, were those who most resented it, +and the opinion of them which they knew the Filipinos held but dared +not voice, rankled in their breasts. They welcomed every disparagement +of the Philippines and its people, and thus made profitable a +senseless and abusive campaign which was carried on by unscrupulous, +irresponsible writers of such defective education that vilification +was their sole argument. Their charges were easily disproved, but they +had enough cunning to invent new charges continually, and prejudice +gave ready credence to them. + +Finally an unreasoning fury broke out and in blind passion innocent +persons were struck down; the taste for blood once aroused, +irresponsible writers like that Retana who has now become Rizal's +biographer, whetted the savage appetite for fresh victims. The +last fifty years of Spanish rule in the Philippines was a small +saturnalia of revenge with hardly a lucid interval for the governing +power to reflect or an opportunity for the reasonable element to +intervene. Somewhat similarly the Bourbons in France had hoped to +postpone the day of reckoning for their mistakes by misdeeds done +in fear to terrorize those who sought reforms. The aristocracy of +France paid back tenfold each drop of innocent blood that was shed, +but while the unreasoning world recalls the French Revolution with +horror, the student of history thinks more of the evils which made +it a natural result. Mirabeau in vain sought to restrain his aroused +countrymen, just as he had vainly pleaded with the aristocrats to end +their excesses. Rizal, who held Mirabeau for his hero among the men of +the French Revolution, knew the historical lesson and sought to sound +a warning, but he was unheeded by the Spaniards and misunderstood by +many of his countrymen. + +At about the time of the arrival of the Spanish political exiles +we find in Manila a proof of the normal mildness of Spain in +the Philippines. The Inquisition, of dread name elsewhere, in the +Philippines affected only Europeans, had before it two English-speaking +persons, an Irish doctor and a county merchant accused of being +Freemasons. The kind-hearted Friar inquisitor dismissed the culprits +with warnings, and excepting some Spanish political matters in which +it took part, this was the nearest that the institution ever came to +exercising its functions here. + +The sufferings of the Indians in the Spanish-American gold mines, too, +had no Philippine counterpart, for at the instance of the friars the +Church early forbade the enslaving of the people. Neither friars nor +government have any records in the Philippines which warrant belief +that they were responsible for the severe punishments of the period +from '72 to '98. Both were connected with opposition to reforms +which appeared likely to jeopardize their property or to threaten +their prerogatives, and in this they were only human, but here their +selfish interests and activities seem to cease. + +For religious reasons the friar orders combatted modern ideas which +they feared might include atheistical teachings such as had made +trouble in France, and the Government was against the introduction of +latter-day thought of democratic tendency, but in both instances the +opposition may well have been believed to be for the best interest +of the Philippine people. However mistaken, their action can only be +deplored not censured. The black side of this matter was the rousing +of popular passion, and it was done by sheets subsidized to argue; +their editors, however, resorted to abuse in order to conceal the fact +that they had not the ability to perform the services for which they +were hired. While some individual members of both the religious orders +and of the Government were influenced by these inflaming attacks, +the interests concerned, as organizations, seem to have had a policy +of self-defense, and not of revenge. + +The theory here advanced must wait for the judgment of the reader +till the later events have been submitted. However, Rizal himself +may be called in to prove that the record and policy is what has been +asserted, for otherwise he would hardly have disregarded, as he did, +the writings of Motley and Prescott, historians whom he could have +quoted with great advantage to support the attacks he would surely +have not failed to make had they seemed to him warranted, for he +never was wanting in knowledge, resourcefulness or courage where his +country was concerned. + +No definite information is available as to what part Francisco +Mercado took during the disturbed two years when the English held +Manila and Judge Anda carried on a guerilla warfare. The Dominicans +were active in enlisting their tenants to fight against the invaders, +and probably he did his share toward the Spanish defense either with +contributions or personal service. The attitude of the region in +which he lived strengthens this surmise, for only after long-continued +wrongs and repeatedly broken promises of redress did Filipino loyalty +fail. This was a century too early for the country around Manila, +which had been better protected and less abused than the provinces +to the north where the Ilokanos revolted. + +Binan, however, was within the sphere of English influence, for +Anda's campaign was not quite so formidable as the inscription on his +monument in Manila represents it to be, and he was far indeed from +being the great conqueror that the tablet on the Santa Cruz Church +describes him. Because of its nearness to Manila and Cavite and +its rich gardens, British soldiers and sailors often visited Binan, +but as the inhabitants never found occasion to abandon their homes, +they evidently suffered no serious inconvenience. + +Commerce, a powerful factor, destroying the hermit character of +the Islands, gained by the short experience of freer trade under +England's rule, since the Filipinos obtained a taste for articles +before unused, which led them to be discontented and insistent, till +the Manila market finally came to be better supplied. The contrast +of the British judicial system with the Spanish tribunals was also a +revelation, for the foulest blot upon the colonial administration of +Spain was her iniquitous courts of justice, and this was especially +true of the Philippines. + +Anda's triumphal entry into the capital was celebrated with a wholesale +hanging of Chinese, which must have made Francisco Mercado glad that +he was now so identified with the country as to escape the prejudice +against his race. + +A few years later came the expulsion of the Jesuit fathers and the +confiscation of their property. It certainly weakened the government; +personal acquaintance counted largely with the Filipinos; whole +parishes knew Spain and the Church only through their parish priest, +and the parish priest was usually a Jesuit whose courtesy equalled that +of the most aristocratic officeholder or of any exiled "caja abierta." + +Francisco Mercado did not live in a Jesuit parish but in the +neighboring hacienda of St. John the Baptist at Kalamba, where there +was a great dam and an extensive irrigation system which caused the +land to rival in fertility the rich soil of Binan. Everybody in his +neighborhood knew that the estate had been purchased with money left +in Mexico by pious Spaniards who wanted to see Christianity spread in +the Philippines, and it seemed to them sacrilege that the government +should take such property for its own secular uses. + +The priests in Binan were Filipinos and were usually leaders among +the secular clergy, for the parish was desirable beyond most in the +archdiocese because of its nearness to Manila, its excellent climate, +its well-to-do parishioners and the great variety of its useful and +ornamental plants and trees. Many of the fruits and vegetables of +Binan were little known elsewhere, for they were of American origin, +brought by Dominicans on the voyages from Spain by way of Mexico. They +were introduced first into the great gardens at the hacienda house, +which was a comfortable and spacious building adjoining the church, +and the favorite resting place for members of the Order in Manila. + +The attendance of the friars on Sundays and fete days gave to the +religious services on these occasions a dignity usually belonging to +city churches. Sometimes, too, some of the missionaries from China +and other Dominican notables would be seen in Binan. So the people +not only had more of the luxuries and the pomp of life than most +Filipinos, but they had a broader outlook upon it. Their opinion +of Spain was formed from acquaintance with many Spaniards and from +comparing them with people of other lands who often came to Manila and +investigated the region close to it, especially the show spots such +as Binan. Then they were on the road to the fashionable baths at Los +Banos, where the higher officials often resorted. Such opportunities +gave a sort of education, and Binan people were in this way more +cultured than the dwellers in remote places, whose only knowledge of +their sovereign state was derived from a single Spaniard, the friar +curate of their parish. + +Monastic training consists in withdrawing from the world and living +isolated under strict rule, and this would scarcely seem to be +the best preparation for such responsibility as was placed upon the +Friars. Troubles were bound to come, and the people of Binan, knowing +the ways of the world, would soon be likely to complain and demand the +changes which would avoid them; the residents of less worldly wise +communities would wait and suffer till too late, and then in blind +wrath would wreak bloody vengeance upon guilty and innocent alike. + +Kalamba, a near neighbor of Binan, had other reasons for being known +besides its confiscation by the government. It was the scene of an +early and especially cruel massacre of Chinese, and about Francisco's +time considerable talk had been occasioned because an archbishop had +established an uniform scale of charges for the various rites of the +Church. While these charges were often complained of, it was the poorer +people (some of whom were in receipt of charity) who suffered. The +rich were seeking more expensive ceremonies in order to outshine the +other well-to-do people of their neighborhood. The real grievance was, +however, not the cost, but the fact that political discriminations +were made so that those who were out of favor with the government +were likewise deprived of church privileges. The reform of Archbishop +Santo y Rufino has importance only because it gave the people of the +provinces what Manila had long possessed--a knowledge of the rivalry +between the secular and the regular clergy. + +The people had learned in Governor Bustamente's time that Church and +State did not always agree, and now they saw dissensions within the +Church. The Spanish Conquest and the possession of the Philippines +had been made easy by the doctrine of the indivisibility of Church +and State, by the teaching that the two were one and inseparable, +but events were continually demonstrating the falsity of this early +teaching. Hence the foundation of the sovereignty of Spain was +slowly weakening, and nowhere more surely than in the region near +Manila which numbered Jose Rizal's keen-witted and observing great +grandfather among its leading men. + +Francisco Mercado was a bachelor during the times of these exciting +events and therefore more free to visit Manila and Cavite, and he was +possibly the more likely to be interested in political matters. He +married on May 26, 1771, rather later in life than was customary in +Binan, though he was by no means as old as his father, Domingo, was +when he married. His bride, Bernarda Monicha, was a Chinese mestiza +of the neighboring hacienda of San Pedro Tunasan, who had been early +orphaned and from childhood had lived in Binan. As the coadjutor priest +of the parish bore the same name, one uncommon in the Binan records +of that period, it is possible that he was a relative. The frequent +occurrence of the name of Monicha among the last names of girls of +that vicinity later on must be ascribed to Bernarda's popularity +as godmother. + +Mr. and Mrs. Francisco Mercado had two children, both boys, Juan and +Clemente. During their youth the people of the Philippines were greatly +interested in the struggles going on between England, the old enemy +of Spain, and the rebellious English-American colonies. So bitter was +the Spanish hatred of the nation which had humiliated her repeatedly +on both land and sea, that the authorities forgot their customary +caution and encouraged the circulation of any story that told in favor +of the American colonies. Little did they realize the impression that +the statement of grievances--so trivial compared with the injustices +that were being inflicted upon the Spanish colonials--was making upon +their subjects overseas, who until then had been carefully guarded from +all modern ideas of government. American successes were hailed with +enthusiasm in the most remote towns, and from this time may be dated +a perceptible increase in Philippine discontent. Till then outbreaks +and uprisings had been more for revenge than with any well-considered +aim, but henceforth complaints became definite, demands were made +that to an increasing number of people appeared to be reasonable, +and those demands were denied or ignored, or promises were made in +answer to them which were never fulfilled. + +Francisco Mercado was well to do, if we may judge from the number of +carabaos he presented for registration, for his was among the largest +herds in the book of brands that has chanced to be preserved with the +Binan church records. In 1783 he was alcalde, or chief officer of the +town, and he lived till 1801. His name appears so often as godfather +in the registers of baptisms and weddings that he must have been a +good-natured, liberal and popular man. + +Mrs. Francisco Mercado survived her husband by a number of years, +and helped to nurse through his baby ailments a grandson also named +Francisco, the father of Doctor Rizal. + +Francisco Mercado's eldest son, Juan, built a fine house in the center +of Binan, where its pretentious stone foundations yet stand to attest +how the home deserved the pride which the family took in it. + +At twenty-two Juan married a girl of Tubigan, who was two years his +elder, Cirila Alejandra, daughter of Domingo Lam-co's Chinese godson, +Siong-co. Cirila's father's silken garments were preserved by the +family until within the memory of persons now living, and it is likely +that Jose Rizal, Siong-co's great-grandson, while in school at Binan, +saw these tangible proofs of the social standing in China of this +one of his ancestors. + +Juan Mercado was three times the chief officer of Binan--in 1808, 1813 +and 1823. His sympathies are evident from the fact that he gave the +second name, Fernando, to the son born when the French were trying +to get the Filipinos to declare for King Joseph, whom his brother +Napoleon had named sovereign of Spain. During the little while that the +Philippines profited by the first constitution of Spain, Mercado was +one of the two alcaldes. King Ferdinand VII then was relying on English +aid, and to please his allies as well as to secure the loyalty of his +subjects, Ferdinand pretended to be a very liberal monarch, swearing +to uphold the constitution which the representatives of the people +had framed at Cadiz in 1812. Under this constitution the Filipinos +were to be represented in the Spanish Cortes, and the grandfather of +Rizal was one of the electors to choose the Representative. + +During the next twenty-five years the history of the connection of the +Philippines with Spain is mainly a record of the breaking and renewing +of the King's oaths to the constitution, and of the Philippines +electing delegates who would find the Cortes dissolved by the time +they could get to Madrid, until in the final constitution that did +last Philippine representation was left out altogether. Had things +been different the sad story of this book might never have been told, +for though the misgovernment of the Philippines was originally owing +to the disregard for the Laws of the Indies and to giving unrestrained +power to officials, the effects of these mistakes were not apparent +until well into the nineteenth century. + +Another influence which educated the Filipino people was at work during +this period. They had heard the American Revolution extolled and its +course approved, because the Spaniards disliked England. Then came +the French Revolution, which appalled the civilized world. A people, +ignorant and oppressed, washed out in blood the wrongs which they had +suffered, but their liberty degenerated into license, their ideals +proved impracticable, and the anarchy of their radical republic was +succeeded by the military despotism of Napoleon. + +A book written in Tagalog by a friar pointed out the differences +between true liberty and false. It was the story of an old municipal +captain who had traveled and returned to enlighten his friends at +home. The story was well told, and the catechism form in which, by +his friends' questions and the answers to them, the author's opinions +were presented, was familiar to Filipinos, so that there were many +intelligent readers, but its results were quite different from what +its pious and patriotic author had intended they should be. + +The book told of the broadening influences of travel and of education; +it suggested that liberty was possible only for the intelligent, but +that schools, newspapers, libraries and the means of travel which the +American colonists were enjoying were not provided for the Filipinos. + +They were further told that the Spanish colonies in America were +repeating the unhappy experiences of the French republic, while +the "English North Americans," whose ships during the American +Revolution had found the Pacific a safe refuge from England, +had developed considerable commerce with the Philippines. A kindly +feeling toward the Americans had been aroused by the praise given to +Filipino mechanics who had been trained by an American naval officer +to repair his ship when the Spaniards at the government dockyards +proved incapable of doing the work. Even the first American Consul, +whose monument yet remains in the Plaza Cervantes, Manila, though, +because of his faith, he could not be buried in the consecrated ground +of the Catholic cemeteries, received what would appear to be a higher +honor, a grave in the principal business plaza of the city. + +The inferences were irresistible: the way of the French Revolution +was repugnant alike to God and government, that of the American +was approved by both. Filipinos of reflective turn of mind began to +study America; some even had gone there; for, from a little Filipino +settlement, St. Malo near New Orleans, sailors enlisted to fight +in the second war of the United States against England; one of them +was wounded and his name was long borne on the pension roll of the +United States. + +The danger of the dense ignorance in which their rulers kept the +Filipinos showed itself in 1819, when a French ship from India having +introduced Asiatic cholera into the Islands, the lowest classes of +Manila ascribed it to the collections of insects and reptiles which +a French naturalist, who was a passenger upon the ship, had brought +ashore. However the story started, the collection and the dwelling +of the naturalist fared badly, and afterwards the mob, excited by +its success, made war upon all foreigners. At length the excitement +subsided, but too much damage to foreign lives and property had been +done to be ignored, and the matter had an ugly look, especially as +no Spaniard had suffered by this outbreak. The Insular government +roused itself to punish some of the minor misdoers and made many +explanations and apologies, but the aggrieved nations insisted, and +obtained as compensation a greater security for foreigners and the +removal of many of the restraints upon commerce and travel. Thus the +riot proved a substantial step in Philippine progress. + +Following closely the excitement over the massacre of the foreigners +in Manila came the news that Spain had sold Florida to the United +States. The circumstances of the sale were hardly creditable to the +vendor, for it was under compulsion. Her lax government had permitted +its territory to become the refuge of criminals and lawless savages +who terrorized the border until in self-defense American soldiers under +General Jackson had to do the work that Spain could not do. Then with +order restored and the country held by American troops, an offer to +purchase was made to Spain who found the liberal purchase money a +very welcome addition to her bankrupt treasury. + +Immediately after this the Monroe Doctrine attracted widespread +attention in the Philippines. Its story is part of Spanish history. A +group of reactionary sovereigns of Europe, including King Ferdinand, +had united to crush out progressive ideas in their kingdoms and +to remove the dangerous examples of liberal states from their +neighborhoods. One of the effects of this unholy alliance was to +nullify all the reforms which Spain had introduced to secure English +assistance in her time of need, and the people of England were greatly +incensed. Great Britain had borne the brunt of the war against Napoleon +because her liberties were jeopardized, but naturally her people could +not be expected to undertake further warfare merely for the sake of +people of another land, however they might sympathize with them. + +George Canning, the English statesman to whom belonged much of the +credit for the Constitution of Cadiz, thought out a way to punish +the Spanish king for his perfidy. King Ferdinand was planning, with +the Island of Cuba as a base, to begin a campaign that should return +his rebellious American colonies to their allegiance, for they had +taken advantage of disturbances in the Peninsula to declare their +independence. England proposed to the United States that they, the two +Anglo-Saxon nations whose ideas of liberty had unsettled Europe and +whom the alliance would have attacked had it dared, should unite in +a protectorate over the New World. England was to guard the sea and +the United States were to furnish the soldiers for any land fighting +which might come on their side of the Atlantic. + +World politics had led the enemies of England to help her revolting +colonies, Napoleon's jealousy of Britain had endowed the new nation +with the vast Louisiana Territory, and European complications saved the +United States from the natural consequences of their disastrous war of +1812, which taught them that union was as necessary to preserve their +independence as it had been to win it. Canning's project in principle +appealed to the North Americans, but the study of it soon showed that +Great Britain was selfish in her suggestion. After a generation of +fighting, England found herself drained of soldiers and therefore she +diplomatically invited the cooeperation of her former colonies; but, +regardless of any formal arrangement, her navy could be relied on to +prevent those who had played her false from transporting large armies +across the ocean into the neighborhood of her otherwise defenseless +colonies. That was self-preservation. + +President Monroe's advisers were willing that their country should run +some risk on its own account, but they had the traditional American +aversion to entangling alliances. So the Cabinet counseled that the +young nation alone should make itself the protector of the South +American republics, and drafted the declaration warning the world +that aggression against any of the New World democracies would be +resented as unfriendliness to the United States. + +It was the firm attitude of President Monroe that compelled Spain to +forego the attempt to reconquer her former colonies, and therefore +Mexico and Central and South America owe their existence as republics +quite as much to the elder commonwealth as does Cuba. + +The American attitude revealed in the Monroe Doctrine was especially +obnoxious to the Spaniards in the Philippines but their intemperate +denunciations of the policy of America for the Americans served only +to spread a knowledge of that doctrine among the people of that little +territory which remained to them to misgovern. Secretly there began +to be, among the stouter-hearted Filipinos, some who cherished a +corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the Philippines for the Filipinos. + +Thoughts of separation from Spain by means of rebellion, by sale +and by the assistance of other nations, had been thus put into the +heads of the people. These were all changes coming from outside, +but it next to be demonstrated that Spain herself did not hold her +noncontiguous territories as sacred as she did her home dominions. + +The sale of Florida suggested that Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines +were also available assets, and an offer to sell them was made to +the King of France; but this sovereign overreached himself, for, +thinking to drive a better bargain, he claimed that the low prices +were too high. Thereupon the Spanish Ambassador, who was not in accord +with his unpatriotic instructions, at once withdrew the offer and +the negotiations terminated. But the Spanish people learned of the +proposed sale and their indignation was great. The news spread to the +Spaniards in the Philippines. Through their comments the Filipinos +realized that the much-talked-of sacred integrity of the Spanish +dominions was a meaningless phrase, and that the Philippines would +not always be Spanish if Spain could get her price. + +Gobernadorcillo Mercado, "Captain Juan," as he was called, made a +creditable figure in his office, and there used to be in Binan a +painting of him with his official sword, cocked hat and embroidered +blouse. The municipal executive in his time did not always wear the +ridiculous combination of European and old Tagalog costumes, namely, a +high hat and a short jacket over the floating tails of a pleated shirt, +which later undignified the position. He has a notable record for his +generosity, the absence of oppression and for the official honesty +which distinguished his public service from that of many who held +his same office. He did, however, change the tribute lists so that +his family were no longer "Chinese mestizos," but were enrolled as +"Indians," the wholesale Spanish term for the natives of all Spain's +possessions overseas. This, in a way, was compensation (it lowered +his family's tribute) for his having to pay the taxes of all who +died in Binan or moved away during his term of office. The municipal +captain then was held accountable whether the people could pay or not, +no deductions ever being made from the lists. Most gobernadorcillos +found ways to reimburse themselves, but not Mercado. His family, +however, were of the fourth generation in the Philippines and he +evidently thought that they were entitled to be called Filipinos. + +A leader in church work also, and several times "Hermano mayor" of +its charitable society, the Captain's name appears on a number of +lists that have come down from that time as a liberal contributor +to various public subscriptions. His wife was equally benevolent, +as the records show. + +Mr. and Mrs. Mercado did not neglect their family, which was rather +numerous. Their children were Gavino, Potenciana (who never married), +Leoncio, Fausto, Barcelisa (who became the wife of Hermenegildo +Austria), Gabriel, Julian, Gregorio Fernando, Casimiro, Petrona +(who married Gregorio Neri), Tomasa (later Mrs. F. de Guzman), and +Cornelia, the belle of the family, who later lived in Batangas. + +Young Francisco was only eight years old when his father died, but +his mother and sister Potenciana looked well after him. First he +attended a Binan Latin school, and later he seems to have studied +Latin and philosophy in the College of San Jose in Manila. + +A sister, Petrona, for some years had been a dressgoods merchant in +nearby Kalamba, on an estate that had recently come under the same +ownership as Binan. There she later married, and shortly after was +widowed. Possibly upon their mother's death, Potenciana and Francisco +removed to Kalamba; though Petrona died not long after, her brother +and sister continued to make their home there. + +Francisco, in spite of his youth, became a tenant of the estate as did +some others of his family, for their Binan holdings were not large +enough to give farms to all Captain Juan's many sons. The landlords +early recognized the agricultural skill of the Mercados by further +allotments, as they could bring more land under cultivation. Sometimes +Francisco was able to buy the holdings of others who proved less +successful in their management and became discouraged. + +The pioneer farming, clearing the miasmatic forests especially, was +dangerous work, and there were few families that did not buy their +land with the lives of some of its members. In 1847 the Mercados +had funerals, of brothers and nephews of Francisco, and, chief +among them, of that elder sister who had devoted her life to him, +Potenciana. She had always prompted and inspired the young man, and +Francisco's success in life was largely due to her wise counsels and +her devoted encouragement of his industry and ambition. Her thrifty +management of the home, too, was sadly missed. + +A year after his sister Potenciana's death, Francisco Mercado married +Teodora Alonzo, a native of Manila, who for several years had been +residing with her mother at Kalamba. The history of the family of +Mrs. Mercado is unfortunately not so easily traced as is that of her +husband, and what is known is of less simplicity and perhaps of more +interest since the mother's influence is greater than the father's, +and she was the mother of Jose Rizal. + +Her father, Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo (born 1790, died 1854), is said +to have been "very Chinese" in appearance. He had a brother who was +a priest, and a sister, Isabel, who was quite wealthy; he himself +was also well to do. Their mother, Maria Florentina (born 1771, died +1817), was, on her mother's side, of the famous Florentina family of +Chinese mestizos originating in Baliwag, Bulacan, and her father was +Captain Mariano Alejandro of Binan. + +Lorenzo Alberto was municipal captain of Binan in 1824, as had been his +father, Captain Cipriano Alonzo (died 18O5), in 1797. The grandfather, +Captain Gregorio Alonzo (died 1794), was a native of Quiotan barrio, +and twice, in 1763 and again in 1768, at the head of the mestizos' +organization of the Santa Cruz district in Manila. + +Captain Lorenzo was educated for a surveyor, and his engineering books, +some in English and others in French, were preserved in Binan till, +upon the death of his son, the family belongings were scattered. He +was wealthy, and had invested a considerable sum of money with the +American Manila shipping firms of Peele, Hubbell & Co., and Russell, +Sturgis & Co. + +The family story is that he became acquainted with Brigida de Quintos, +Mrs. Rizal's mother, while he was a student in Manila, and that she, +being unusually well educated for a girl of those days, helped him +with his mathematics. Their acquaintance apparently arose through +relationship, both being connected with the Reyes family. They had five +children: Narcisa (who married Santiago Muger), Teodora (Mrs. Francisco +Rizal Mercado), Gregorio, Manuel and Jose. All were born in Manila, +but lived in Kalamba, and they used the name Alonzo till that general +change of names in 1850 when, with their mother, they adopted the +name Realonda. This latter name has been said to be an allusion to +royal blood in the family, but other indications suggest that it +might have been a careless mistake made in writing by Rosa Realonda, +whose name sometimes appears written as Redonda. There is a family +Redondo (Redonda in its feminine form) Alonzo of Ilokano origin, the +same stock as their traditions give for Mrs. Rizal's father, some +of whose members were to be found in the neighborhood of Binan and +Pasay. One member of this family was akin in spirit to Jose Rizal, +for he was fined twenty-five thousand pesos by the Supreme Court of +the Philippine Islands for "contempt of religion." It appears that he +put some original comparisons into a petition which sought to obtain +justice from an inferior tribunal where, by the omission of the word +"not" in copying, the clerk had reversed the court's decision but +the judge refused to change the record. + +Brigida de Quintos's death record, in Kalamba (1856), speaks of her +as the daughter of Manuel de Quintos and Regina Ochoa. + +The most obscure part of Rizal's family tree is the Ochoa branch, the +family of the maternal grandmother, for all the archives,--church, +land and court,--disappeared during the late disturbed conditions +of which Cavite was the center. So one can only repeat what has been +told by elderly people who have been found reliable in other accounts +where the clews they gave could be compared with existing records. + +The first of the family is said to have been Policarpio Ochoa, an +employe of the Spanish customs house. Estanislao Manuel Ochoa was his +son, with the blood of old Castile mingling with Chinese and Tagalog +in his veins. He was part owner of the Hacienda of San Francisco de +Malabon. One story says that somewhere in this family was a Mariquita +Ochoa, of such beauty that she was known in Cavite, where was her home, +as the Sampaguita (jasmine) of the Parian, or Chinese, quarter. + +There was a Spanish nobleman also in Cavite in her time who had +been deported for political reasons--probably for holding liberal +opinions and for being thought to be favorable to English ideas. It +is said that this particular "caja abierta" was a Marquis de Canete, +and if so there is ground for the claim that he was of royal blood; +at least some of his far-off ancestors had been related to a former +ruling family of Spain. + +Mariquita's mother knew the exile, since, according to the custom +in Filipino families, she looked after the business interests of her +husband. Curious to see the belle of whom he had heard so much, the +Marquis made an excuse of doing business with the mother, and went to +her home on an occasion when he knew that the mother was away. No one +else was there to answer his knock and Mariquita, busied in making +candy, could not in her confusion find a coconut shell to dip water +for washing her hands from the large jar, and not to keep the visitor +waiting, she answered the door as she was. Not only did her appearance +realize the expectations of the Marquis, but the girl seemed equally +attractive for her self-possessed manners and lively mind. The nobleman +was charmed. On his way home he met a cart loaded with coconut dippers +and he bought the entire lot and sent it as his first present. + +After this the exile invented numerous excuses to call, till +Mariquita's mother finally agreed to his union with her daughter. His +political disability made him out of favor with the State church, +the only place in which people could be married then, but Mariquita +became what in English would be called a common-law wife. One of their +children, Jose, had a tobacco factory and a slipper factory in Meisic, +Manila, and was the especial protector of his younger sister, Regina, +who became the wife of attorney Manuel de Quintos. A sister of Regina +was Diega de Castro, who with another sister, Luseria, sold "chorizos" +(sausages) or "tiratira" (taffy candy), the first at a store and +the second in their own home, but both in Cavite, according to the +variations of one narrative. + +A different account varies the time and omits the noble ancestor by +saying that Regina was married unusually young to Manuel de Quintos to +escape the attentions of the Marquis. Another authority claims that +Regina was wedded to the lawyer in second marriage, being the widow +of Facundo de Layva, the captain of the ship Hernando Magallanes, +whose pilot, by the way, was Andrew Stewart, an Englishman. + +It is certain that Regina Ochoa was of Spanish, Chinese and Tagalog +ancestry, and it is recorded that she was the wife of Manuel de +Quintos. Here we stop depending on memories, for in the restored +burial register of Kalamba church in the entry of the funeral of +Brigida de Quintos she is called "the daughter of Manuel de Quintos +and Regina Ochoa." + +Manuel de Quintos was an attorney of Manila, graduated from Santo Tomas +University, whose family were Chinese mestizos of Pangasinan. The +lawyer's father, of the same name, had been municipal captain of +Lingayan, and an uncle was leader of the Chinese mestizos in a +protest they had made against the arbitrariness of their provincial +governor. This petition for redress of grievances is preserved in +the Supreme Court archives with "Joaquin de Quintos" well and boldly +written at the head of the complainants' names, evidence of a culture +and a courage that were equally uncommon in those days. Complaints +under Spanish rule, no matter how well founded, meant trouble for the +complainants; we must not forget that it was a vastly different thing +from signing petitions or adhering to resolutions nowadays. Then the +signers risked certainly great annoyance, sometimes imprisonment, +and not infrequently death. + +The home of Quintos had been in San Pedro Macati at the time of Captain +Novales's uprising, the so-called "American revolt" in protest against +the Peninsulars sent out to supersede the Mexican officers who had +remained loyal to Spain when the colony of their birth separated +itself from the mother country. As little San Pedro Macati is charged +with having originated the conspiracy, it is unlikely that it was +concealed from the liberal lawyer, for attorneys were scarcer and +held in higher esteem in those days. + +The conservative element then, as later, did not often let drop +any opportunity of purging the community of those who thought for +themselves, by condemning them for crime unheard and undefended, +whether they had been guilty of it or not. + +All the branches of Mrs. Rizal's family were much richer than the +relatives of her husband; there were numerous lawyers and priests +among them--the old-time proof of social standing--and they were +influential in the country. + +There are several names of these related families that belong among +the descendants of Lakandola, as traced by Mr. Luther Parker in +his study of the Pampangan migration, and color is thereby given, +so far as Rizal is concerned, to a proud boast that an old Pampangan +lady of this descent makes for her family. She, who is exceedingly +well posted upon her ancestry, ends the tracing of her lineage from +Lakandola's time by asserting that the blood of that chief flowed +in the veins of every Filipino who had the courage to stand forward +as the champion of his people from the earliest days to the close of +the Spanish regime. Lakandola, of course, belonged to the Mohammedan +Sumatrans who emigrated to the Philippines only a few generations +before Magellan's discovery. + +To recall relatives of Mrs. Rizal who were in the professions may +help to an understanding of the prominence of the family. Felix +Florentino, an uncle, was the first clerk of the Nueva Segovia +(Vigan) court. A cousin-german, Jose Florentino, was a Philippine +deputy in the Spanish Cortes, and a lawyer of note, as was also +his brother, Manuel. Another relative, less near, was Clerk Reyes, +of the Court of First Instance in Manila. The priest of Rosario, +Vicar of Batangas Province, Father Leyva, was a half-blood relation, +and another priestly relative was Mrs. Rizal's paternal uncle, +Father Alonzo. These were in the earlier days when professional +men were scarcer. Father Almeida, of Santa Cruz Church, Manila, +and Father Agustin Mendoz, his predecessor in the same church, and +one of the sufferers in the Cavite trouble of '72--a deporte--were +most distantly connected with the Rizal family. Another relative, +of the Reyes connection, was in the Internal Revenue Service and had +charge of Kalamba during the latter part of the eighteenth century. + +Mrs. Rizal was baptized in Santa Cruz Church, Manila, November 18, +1827, as Teodora Morales Alonzo, her godmother being a relative by +marriage, Dona Maria Cristina. She was given an exceptionally good +fundamental education by her gifted mother, and completed her training +in Santa Rosa College, Manila, which was in the charge of Filipino +sisters. Especially did the religious influence of her schooling +manifest itself in her after life. Unfortunately there are no records +in the institution, because it is said all the members of the Order +who could read and write were needed for instruction and there was +no one competent who had time for clerical work. + +Brigida de Quintos had removed to the property in Kalamba which Lorenzo +Alberto had transferred to her, and there as early as 1844 she is +first mentioned as Brigida de Quintos, then as Brigida de Alonzo, +and later as Brigida Realonda. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Rizal's Early Childhood + +JOSE PROTASIO RIZAL MERCADO Y ALONZO REALONDA, the seventh child of +Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and his wife, Teodora +Morales Alonzo Realonda y Quintos, was born in Kalamba, June 19, 1861. + +He was a typical Filipino, for few persons in this land of mixed +blood could boast a greater mixture than his. Practically all +the ethnic elements, perhaps even the Negrito in the far past, +combined in his blood. All his ancestors, except the doubtful +strain of the Negrito, had been immigrants to the Philippines, early +Malays, and later Sumatrans, Chinese of prehistoric times and the +refugees from the Tartar dominion, and Spaniards of old Castile and +Valencia--representatives of all the various peoples who have blended +to make the strength of the Philippine race. + +Shortly before Jose's birth his family had built a pretentious new home +in the center of Kalamba on a lot which Francisco Mercado had inherited +from his brother. The house was destroyed before its usefulness had +ceased, by the vindictiveness of those who hated the man-child that +was born there. And later on the gratitude of a free people held the +same spot sacred because there began that life consecrated to the +Philippines and finally given for it, after preparing the way for the +union of the various disunited Chinese mestizos, Spanish mestizos, +and half a hundred dialectically distinguished "Indians" into the +united people of the Philippines. + +Jose was christened in the nearby church when three days old, and as +two out-of-town bands happened to be in Kalamba for a local festival, +music was a feature of the event. His godfather was Father Pedro +Casanas, a Filipino priest of a Kalamba family, and the priest who +christened him was also a Filipino, Father Rufino Collantes. Following +is a translation of the record of Rizal's birth and baptism: "I, the +undersigned parish priest of the town of Calamba, certify that from +the investigation made with proper authority, for replacing the parish +books which were burned September 28, 1862, to be found in Docket No. 1 +of Baptisms, page 49, it appears by the sworn testimony of competent +witnesses that JOSE RIZAL MERCADO is the legitimate son, and of lawful +wedlock, of Don Francisco Rizal Mercado and Dona Teodora Realonda, +having been baptized in this parish on the 22d day of June in the year +1861, by the parish preiset, Rev. Rufino Collantes, Rev. Pedro Casanas +being his god-father."--Witness my signature. (Signed) LEONCIO LOPEZ. + +Jose Rizal's earliest training recalls the education of William +and Alexander von Humboldt, those two nineteenth century Germans +whose achievements for the prosperity of their fatherland and the +advancement of humanity have caused them to be spoken of as the most +remarkable pair of brothers that ever lived. He was not physically +a strong child, but the direction of his first studies was by an +unusually gifted mother, who succeeded, almost without the aid of +books, in laying a foundation upon which the man placed an amount +of well-mastered knowledge along many different lines that is truly +marvelous, and this was done in so short a time that its brevity +constitutes another wonder. + +At three he learned his letters, having insisted upon being +taught to read and being allowed to share the lessons of an elder +sister. Immediately thereafter he was discovered with her story book, +spelling out its words by the aid of the syllabary or "caton" which +he had propped up before him and was using as one does a dictionary +in a foreign language. + +The little boy spent also much of his time in the church, which was +conveniently near, but when the mother suggested that this might be +an indication of religious inclination, his prompt response was that +he liked to watch the people. + +To how good purpose the small eyes and ears were used, the true-to-life +types of the characters in "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" +testify. + +Three uncles, brothers of the mother, concerned themselves with +the intellectual, artistic and physical training of this promising +nephew. The youngest, Jose, a teacher, looked after the regular +lessons. The giant Manuel developed the physique of the youngster, +until he had a supple body of silk and steel and was no longer a +sickly lad, though he did not entirely lose his somewhat delicate +looks. The more scholarly Gregorio saw that the child earned his candy +money--trying to instill the idea into his mind that it was not the +world's way that anything worth having should come without effort; he +taught him also the value of rapidity in work, to think for himself, +and to observe carefully and to picture what he saw. + +Sometimes Jose would draw a bird flying without lifting pencil from the +paper till the picture was finished. At other times it would be a horse +running or a dog in chase, but it always must be something of which +he had thought himself and the idea must not be overworked; there was +no payment for what had been done often before. Thus he came to think +for himself, ideas were suggested to him indirectly, so he was never +a servile copyist, and he acquired the habit of speedy accomplishment. + +Clay at first, then wax, was his favorite play material. From these he +modeled birds and butterflies that came ever nearer to the originals +in nature as the wise praise of the uncles called his attention to +possibilities of improvement and encouraged him to further effort. This +was the beginning of his nature study. + +Jose had a pony and used to take long rides through all the surrounding +country, so rich in picturesque scenery. Besides these horseback +expeditions were excursions afoot; on the latter his companion was +his big black dog, Usman. His father pretended to be fearful of some +accident if dog and pony went together, so the boy had to choose +between these favorites, and alternated walking and riding, just as +Mr. Mercado had planned he should. The long pedestrian excursions +of his European life, though spoken of as German and English habits, +were merely continuations of this childhood custom. There were other +playmates besides the dog and the horse, especially doves that lived +in several houses about the Mercado home, and the lad was friend +and defender of all the animals, birds, and even insects in the +neighborhood. Had his childish sympathies been respected the family +would have been strictly vegetarian in their diet. + +At times Jose was permitted to spend the night in one of the curious +little straw huts which La Laguna farmers put up during the harvest +season, and the myths and legends of the region which he then heard +interested him and were later made good use of in his writings. + +Sleight-of-hand tricks were a favorite amusement, and he developed +a dexterity which mystified the simple folk of the country. This +diversion, and his proficiency in it, gave rise to that mysterious awe +with which he was regarded by the common people of his home region; +they ascribed to him supernatural powers, and refused to believe that +he was really dead even after the tragedy of Bagumbayan. + +Entertainment of the neighbors with magic-lantern exhibitions was +another frequent amusement, an ordinary lamp throwing its light on +a common sheet serving as a screen. Jose's supple fingers twisted +themselves into fantastic shapes, the enlarged shadows of which on +the curtain bore resemblance to animals, and paper accessories were +worked in to vary and enlarge the repertoire of action figures. The +youthful showman was quite successful in catering to the public taste, +and the knowledge he then gained proved valuable later in enabling +him to approach his countrymen with books that held their attention +and gave him the opportunity to tell them of shortcomings which it +was necessary that they should correct. + +Almost from babyhood he had a grown-up way about him, a sort of dignity +that seemed to make him realize and respect the rights of others and +unconsciously disposed his elders to reason with him, rather than scold +him for his slight offenses. This habit grew, as reprimands were needed +but once, and his grave promises of better behavior were faithfully +kept when the explanation of why his conduct was wrong was once made +clear to him. So the child came to be not an unwelcome companion even +for adults, for he respected their moods and was never troublesome. A +big influence in the formation of the child's character was his +association with the parish priest of Kalamba, Father Leoncio Lopez. + +The Kalamba church and convento, which were located across the way +from the Rizal home, were constructed after the great earthquake of +1863, which demolished so many edifices throughout the central part +of the Philippines. + +The curate of Kalamba had a strong personality and was notable +among the Filipino secular clergy of that day when responsibility +had developed many creditable figures. An English writer of long +residence in the Philippines, John Foreman, in his book on the +Philippine Islands, describes how his first meeting with this priest +impressed him, and tells us that subsequent acquaintance confirmed +the early favorable opinion of one whom he considered remarkable for +broad intelligence and sanity of view. Father Leoncio never deceived +himself and his judgment was sound and clear, even when against +the opinions and persons of whom he would have preferred to think +differently. Probably Jose, through the priest's fondness for children +and because he was well behaved and the son of friendly neighbors, +was at first tolerated about the convento, the Philippine name for +the priest's residence, but soon he became a welcome visitor for his +own sake. + +He never disturbed the priest's meditations when the old clergyman +was studying out some difficult question, but was a keen observer, +apparently none the less curious for his respectful reserve. Father +Leoncio may have forgotten the age of his listener, or possibly was +only thinking aloud, but he spoke of those matters which interested +all thinking Filipinos and found a sympathetic, eager audience in +the little boy, who at least gave close heed if he had at first no +valuable comments to offer. + +In time the child came to ask questions, and they were so sensible +that careful explanation was given, and questions were not dismissed +with the statement that these things were for grown-ups, a statement +which so often repels the childish zeal for knowledge. Not many +mature people in those days held so serious converse as the priest +and his child friend, for fear of being overheard and reported, +a danger which even then existed in the Philippines. + +That the old Filipino priest of Rizal's novels owed something to the +author's recollections of Father Leoncio is suggested by a chapter in +"Noli Me Tangere." Ibarra, viewing Manila by moonlight on the first +night after his return from Europe, recalls old memories and makes +mention of the neighborhood of the Botanical Garden, just beyond +which the friend and mentor of his youth had died. Father Leoncio +Lopez died in Calle Concepcion in that vicinity, which would seem to +identify him in connection with that scene in the book, rather than +numerous others whose names have been sometimes suggested. + +Two writings of Rizal recall thoughts of his youthful days. Orie tells +how he used to wander down along the lake shore and, looking across +the waters, wonder about the people on the other side. Did they, +too, he questioned, suffer injustice as the people of his home town +did? Was the whip there used as freely, carelessly and unmercifully by +the authorities? Had men and women also to be servile and hypocrites +to live in peace over there? But among these thoughts, never once +did it occur to him that at no distant day the conditions would be +changed and, under a government that safeguarded the personal rights +of the humblest of its citizens, the region that evoked his childhood +wondering was to become part of a province bearing his own name in +honor of his labors toward banishing servility and hypocrisy from +the character of his countrymen. + +The lake district of Central Luzon is one of the most historic regions +in the Islands, the May-i probably of the twelfth century Chinese +geographer. Here was the scene of the earliest Spanish missionary +activity. On the south shore is Kalamba, birthplace of Doctor Rizal, +with Binan, the residence of his father's ancestors, to the northwest, +and on the north shore the land to which reference is made above. Today +this same region at the north bears the name of Rizal Province in +his honor. + +The other recollection of Rizal's youth is of his first reading +lesson. He did not know Spanish and made bad work of the story of the +"Foolish Butterfly," which his mother had selected, stumbling over the +words and grouping them without regard to the sense. Finally Mrs. Rizal +took the book from her son and read it herself, translating the tale +into the familiar Tagalog used in their home. The moral is supposed +to be obedience, and the young butterfly was burned and died because +it disregarded the parental warning not to venture too close to the +alluring flame. The reading lesson was in the evening and by the +light of a coconut-oil lamp, and some moths were very appropriately +fluttering about its cheerful blaze. The little boy watched them as +his mother read and he missed the moral, for as the insects singed +their wings and fluttered to their death in the flame he forgot +their disobedience and found no warning in it for him. Rather he +envied their fate and considered that the light was so fine a thing +that it was worth dying for. Thus early did the notion that there +are things worth more than life enter his head, though he could not +foresee that he was to be himself a martyr and that the day of his +death would before long be commemorated in his country to recall to +his countrymen lessons as important to their national existence as +his mother's precept was for his childish welfare. + +When he was four the mystery of life's ending had been brought home to +him by the death of a favorite little sister, and he shed the first +tears of real sorrow, for until then he had only wept as children do +when disappointed in getting their own way. It was the first of many +griefs, but he quickly realized that life is a constant struggle and +he learned to meet disappointments and sorrows with the tears in the +heart and a smile on the lips, as he once advised a nephew to do. + +At seven Jose made his first real journey; the family went to Antipolo +with the host of pilgrims who in May visit the mountain shrine of Our +Lady of Peace and Safe Travel. In the early Spanish days in Mexico +she was the special patroness of voyages to America, especially while +the galleon trade lasted; the statue was brought to Antipolo in 1672. + +A print of the Virgin, a souvenir of this pilgrimage, was, according +to the custom of those times, pasted inside Jose's wooden chest when +he left home for school; later on it was preserved in an album and +went with him in all his travels. Afterwards it faced Bougereau's +splendid conception of the Christ-mother, as one who had herself +thus suffered, consoling another mother grieving over the loss of a +son. Many years afterwards Doctor Rizal was charged with having fallen +away from religion, but he seems really rather to have experienced a +deepening of the religious spirit which made the essentials of charity +and kindness more important in his eyes than forms and ceremonies. + +Yet Rizal practiced those forms prescribed for the individual even +when debarred from church privileges. The lad doubtless got his +idea of distinguishing between the sign and the substance from a +well-worn book of explanations of the church ritual and symbolism +"intended for the use of parish priests." It was found in his library, +with Mrs. Rizal's name on the flyleaf. Much did he owe his mother, +and his grateful recognition appears in his appreciative portrayal +of maternal affection in his novels. + +His parents were both religious, but in a different way. The father's +religion was manifested in his charities; he used to keep on hand +a fund, of which his wife had no account, for contributions to the +necessitous and loans to the irresponsible. Mrs. Rizal attended to +the business affairs and was more careful in her handling of money, +though quite as charitably disposed. Her early training in Santa +Rosa had taught her the habit of frequent prayer and she began early +in the morning and continued till late in the evening, with frequent +attendance in the church. Mr. Rizal did not forget his church duties, +but was far from being so assiduous in his practice of them, and the +discussions in the home frequently turned on the comparative value of +words and deeds, discussions that were often given a humorous twist +by the husband when he contrasted his wife's liberality in prayers +with her more careful dispensing of money aid. + +Not many homes in Kalamba were so well posted on events of the outside +world, and the children constantly heard discussions of questions +which other households either ignored or treated rather reservedly, for +espionage was rampant even then in the Islands. Mrs. Rizal's literary +training had given her an acquaintance with the better Spanish writers +which benefited her children; she told them the classic tales in style +adapted to their childish comprehension, so that when they grew older +they found that many noted authors were old acquaintances. The Bible, +too, played a large part in the home. Mrs. Rizal's copy was a Spanish +translation of the Latin Vulgate, the version authorized by her Church +but not common in the Islands then. Rizal's frequent references to +Biblical personages and incidents are not paralleled in the writings +of any contemporary Filipino author. + +The frequent visitors to their home, the church, civil and military +authorities, who found the spacious Rizal mansion a convenient resting +place on their way to the health resort at Los Banos, brought something +of the city, and a something not found by many residents even there, to +the people of this village household. Oftentimes the house was filled, +and the family would not turn away a guest of less rank for the sake of +one of higher distinction, though that unsocial practice was frequently +followed by persons who forgot their self-respect in toadying to rank. + +Little Jose did not know Spanish very well, so far as conversational +usage was concerned, but his mother tried to impress on him the beauty +of the Spanish poets and encouraged him in essays at rhyming which +finally grew into quite respectable poetical compositions. One of +these was a drama in Tagalog which so pleased a municipal captain of +the neighboring village of Paete, who happened to hear it while on +a visit to Kalamba, that the youthful author was paid two pesos for +the production. This was as much money as a field laborer in those +days would have earned in half a month; although the family did not +need the coin, the incident impressed them with the desirability of +cultivating the boy's talent. + +Jose was nine years old when he was sent to study in Binan. His master +there, Justiniano Aquino Cruz, was of the old school and Rizal has left +a record of some of his maxims, such as "Spare the rod and spoil the +child," "The letter enters with blood," and other similar indications +of his heroic treatment of the unfortunates under his care. However, +if he was a strict disciplinarian, Master Justiniano was also a +conscientious instructor, and the boy had been only a few months +under his care when the pupil was told that he knew as much as his +master, and had better go to Manila to school. Truthful Jose repeated +this conversation without the modification which modesty might have +suggested, and his father responded rather vigorously to the idea +and it was intimated that in the father's childhood pupils were not +accustomed to say that they knew as much as their teachers. However, +Master Justiniano corroborated the child's statement, so that +preparations for Jose's going to Manila began to be made. This was +in the Christmas vacation of 1871. + +Binan had been a valuable experience for young Rizal. There he had +met a host of relatives and from them heard much of the past of his +father's family. His maternal grandfather's great house was there, now +inhabited by his mother's half-brother, a most interesting personage. + +This uncle, Jose Alberto, had been educated in British India, spending +eleven years in a Calcutta missionary school. This was the result of +an acquaintance which his father had made with an English naval officer +who visited the Philippines about 1820, the author of "An Englishman's +Visit to the Philippines." Lorenzo Alberto, the grandfather, himself +spoke English and had English associations. He had also liberal ideas +and preferred the system under which the Philippines were represented +in the Cortes and were treated not as a colony but as part of the +homeland and its people were considered Spaniards. + +The great Binan bridge had been built under Lorenzo Alberto's +supervision, and for services to the Spanish nation during the +expedition to Cochin-China--probably liberal contributions of money--he +had been granted the title of Knight of the American Order of Isabel +the Catholic, but by the time this recognition reached him he had died, +and the patent was made out to his son. + +An episode well known in the village--its chief event, if one might +judge from the conversation of the inhabitants--was a visit which +a governor of Hongkong had made there when he was a guest in the +home of Alberto. Many were the tales told of this distinguished +Englishman, who was Sir John Bowring, the notable polyglot and +translator into English of poetry in practically every one of the +dialects of Europe. His achievements along this line had put him +second or third among the linguists of the century. He was also +interested in history, and mentioned in his Binan visit that the +Hakluyt Society, of which he was a Director, was then preparing to +publish an exceedingly interesting account of the early Philippines +that did more justice to its inhabitants than the regular Spanish +historians. Here Rizal first heard of Morga, the historian, whose +book he in after years made accessible to his countrymen. A desire +to know other languages than his own also possessed him and he was +eager to rival the achievements of Sir John Bowring. + +In his book entitled "A Visit to the Philippine Islands," which was +translated into Spanish by Mr. Jose del Pan, a liberal editor of +Manila, Sir John Bowring gives the following account of his visit to +Rizal's uncle: + +"We reached Binan before sunset .... First we passed between +files of youths, then of maidens; and through a triumphal +arch we reached the handsome dwelling of a rich mestizo, whom +we found decorated with a Spanish order, which had been granted +to his father before him. He spoke English, having been educated +at Calcutta, and his house--a very large one--gave abundant +evidence that he had not studied in vain the arts of domestic +civilization. The furniture, the beds, the table, the cookery, were +all in good taste, and the obvious sincerity of the kind reception +added to its agreeableness. Great crowds were gathered together +in the square which fronts the house of Don Jose Alberto." + + +The Philippines had just had a liberal governor, De la Torte, but even +during this period of apparent liberalness there existed a confidential +government order directing that all letters from Filipinos suspected +of progressive ideas were to be opened in the post. This violation +of the mails furnished the list of those who later suffered in the +convenient insurrection of '72. + +An agrarian trouble, the old disagreement between landlords and +tenants, had culminated in an active outbreak which the government +was unable to put down, and so it made terms by which, among other +things, the leader of the insurrection was established as chief +of a new civil guard for the purpose of keeping order. Here again +was another preparation for '72, for at that time the agreement +was forgotten and the officer suffered punishment, in spite of the +immunity he had been promised. + +Religious troubles, too, were rife. The Jesuits had returned from +exile shortly before, and were restricted to teaching work in those +parishes in the missionary district where collections were few and +danger was great. To make room for those whom they displaced the better +parishes in the more thickly settled regions were taken from Filipino +priests and turned over to members of the religious Orders. Naturally +there was discontent. A confidential communication from the secular +archbishop, Doctor Martinez, shows that he considered the Filipinos had +ground for complaint, for he states that if the Filipinos were under a +non-Catholic government like that of England they would receive fairer +treatment than they were getting from their Spanish co-religionaries, +and warns the home government that trouble will inevitably result if +the discrimination against the natives of the country is continued. + +The Jesuit method of education in their newly established "Ateneo +Municipal" was a change from that in the former schools. It treated the +Filipino as a Spaniard and made no distinctions between the races in +the school dormitory. In the older institutions of Manila the Spanish +students lived in the Spanish way and spoke their own language, but +Filipinos were required to talk Latin, sleep on floor mats and eat +with their hands from low tables. These Filipino customs obtained in +the hamlets, but did not appeal to city lads who had become used to +Spanish ways in their own homes and objected to departing from them in +school. The disaffection thus created was among the educated class, +who were best fitted to be leaders of their people in any dangerous +insurrection against the government. + +However, a change had to take place to meet the Jesuit competition, +and in the rearrangement Filipino professors were given a larger +share in the management of the schools. Notable among these was +Father Burgos. He had earned his doctor's degree in two separate +courses, was among the best educated in the capital and by far the +most public-spirited and valiant of the Filipino priests. + +He enlisted the interest of many of the older Filipino clergy and +through their contributions subsidized a paper, E1 Eco Filipino, +which spoke from the Filipino standpoint and answered the reflections +which were the stock in trade of the conservative organ, for the +reactionaries had an abusive journal just as they had had in 1821 +and were to have in the later days. + +Such were the conditions when Jose Rizal got ready to leave home for +school in Manila, a departure which was delayed by the misfortunes of +his mother. His only, and elder, brother, Paciano, had been a student +in San Jose College in Manila for some years, and had regularly failed +in passing his examinations because of his outspokenness against +the evils of the country. Paciano was a great favorite with Doctor +Burgos, in whose home he lived and for whom he acted as messenger +and go-between in the delicate negotiations of the propaganda which +the doctor was carrying on. + +In February of '72 all the dreams of a brighter and freer Philippines +were crushed out in that enormous injustice which made the mutiny of a +few soldiers and arsenal employes in Cavite the excuse for deporting, +imprisoning, and even shooting those whose correspondence, opened +during the previous year, had shown them to be discontented with the +backward conditions in the Philippines. + +Doctor Burgos, just as he had been nominated to a higher post in the +Church, was the chief victim. Father Gomez, an old man, noted for +charity, was another, and the third was Father Zamora. A reference +in a letter of his to "powder," which was his way of saying money, +was distorted into a dangerous significance, in spite of the fact +that the letter was merely an invitation to a gambling game. The +trial was a farce, the informer was garroted just when he was on +the point of complaining that he was not receiving the pardon and +payment which he had been promised for his services in convicting +the others. The whole affair had an ugly look, and the way it was +hushed up did not add to the confidence of the people in the justice +of the proceedings. The Islands were then placed under military law +and remained so for many years. + +Father Burgos's dying advice to Filipinos was for them to be educated +abroad, preferably outside of Spain, but if they could do no better, +at least go to the Peninsula. He urged that through education only +could progress be hoped for. In one of his speeches he had warned the +Spanish government that continued oppressive measures would drive the +Filipinos from their allegiance and make them wish to become subjects +of a freer power, suggesting England, whose possessions surrounded +the Islands. + +Doctor Burgos's idea of England as a hope for the Philippines was +borne out by the interest which the British newspapers of Hongkong +took in Philippine affairs. They gave accounts of the troubles and +picked flaws in the garbled reports which the officials sent abroad. + +Some zealous but unthinking reactionary at this time conceived the idea +of publishing a book somewhat similar to that which had been gotten +out against the Constitution of Cadiz. "Captain Juan" was its name; +it was in catechism form, and told of an old municipal captain who +deserved to be honored because he was so submissively subservient to +all constituted authority. He tries to distinguish between different +kinds of liberty, and the especial attention which he devotes to +America shows how live a topic the great republic was at that time in +the Islands. This interest is explained by the fact that an American +company had just then received a grant of the northern part of Borneo, +later British North Borneo, for a trading company. It was believed that +the United States had designs on the Archipelago because of treaties +which had been negotiated with the Sultan of Sulu and certain American +commercial interests in the Far East, which were then rather important. + +Americans, too, had become known in the Philippines through a soldier +of fortune who had helped out the Chinese government in suppressing +the rebellion in the neighborhood of Shanghai. "General" F. T. Ward, +from Massachusetts, organized an army of deserters from European ships, +but their lack of discipline made them undesirable soldiers, and so +he disbanded the force. He then gathered a regiment of Manila men, +as the Filipinos usually found as quartermasters on all ships sailing +in the East were then called. With the aid of some other Americans +these troops were disciplined and drilled into such efficiency that the +men came to have the title among the Chinese of the "Ever-Victorious" +army, because of the almost unbroken series of successes which they +had experienced. A partial explanation, possibly, of their fighting +so well is that they were paid only when they won. + +The high praise given the Filipinos at this time was in contrast to the +disparagement made of their efforts in Indo-China, where in reality +they had done the fighting rather than their Spanish officers. When +a Spaniard in the Philippines quoted of the Filipino their customary +saying, "Poor soldier, worse sacristan," the Filipinos dared make +no open reply, but they consoled themselves with remembering the +flattering comments of "General" Ward and the favorable opinion of +Archbishop Martinez. + +References to Filipino military capacity were banned by the censors and +the archbishop's communication had been confidential, but both became +known, for despotisms drive its victims to stealth and to methods +which would not be considered creditable under freer conditions. + + + +CHAPTER V + +Jagor's Prophecy + +RIZAL'S first home in Manila was in a nipa house with Manuel +Hidalgo, later to be his brother-in-law, in Calle Espeleta, a street +named for a former Filipino priest who had risen to be bishop and +governor-general. This spot is now marked with a tablet which gives +the date of his coming as the latter part of February, 1872. + +Rizal's own recollections speak of June as being the date of the +formal beginning of his studies in Manila. First he went to San Juan +de Letran and took an examination in the Catechism. Then he went back +to Kalamba and in July passed into the Ateneo, possibly because of +the more favorable conditions under which the pupils were admitted, +receiving credit for work in arithmetic, which in the other school, +it is said, he would have had to restudy. This perhaps accounts for +the credit shown in the scholastic year 1871-72. Until his fourth +year Rizal was an externe, as those residing outside of the school +dormitory were then called. The Ateneo was very popular and so great +was the eagerness to enter it that the waiting list was long and two +or three years' delay was not at all uncommon. + +There is a little uncertainty about this period; some writers have +gone so far as to give recollections of childhood incidents of which +Rizal was the hero while he lived in the house of Doctor Burgos, +but the family deny that he was ever in this home, and say that he +has been confused with his brother Paciano. + +The greatest influence upon Rizal during this period was the sense of +Spanish judicial injustice in the legal persecutions of his mother, +who, though innocent, for two years was treated as a criminal and +held in prison. + +Much of the story is not necessary for this narrative, but the mother's +troubles had their beginning in the attempted revenge of a lieutenant +of the Civil Guard, one of a body of Spaniards who were no credit +to the mother country and whom Rizal never lost opportunity in his +writings of painting in their true colors. This official had been in +the habit of having his horse fed at the Mercado home when he visited +their town from his station in Binan, but once there was a scarcity +of fodder and Mr. Mercado insisted that his own stock was entitled +to care before he could extend hospitality to strangers. This the +official bitterly resented. His opportunity for revenge soon came, and +was not overlooked. A disagreement between Jose Alberto, the mother's +brother in Binan, and his wife, also his cousin, to whom he had been +married when they were both quite young, led to sensational charges +which a discreet officer would have investigated and would assuredly +have then realized to be unfounded. Instead the lieutenant accepted +the most ridiculous statements, brought charges of attempted murder +against Alberto and his sister, Mrs. Rizal, and evidently figured +that he would be able to extort money from the rich man and gratify +his revenge at the same time. + +Now comes a disgruntled judge, who had not received the attention at +the Mercado home which he thought his dignity demanded. Out of revenge +he ordered Mrs. Rizal to be conducted at once to the provincial prison, +not in the usual way by boat, but, to cause her greater annoyance, +afoot around the lake. It was a long journey from Kalamba to Santa +Cruz, and the first evening the guard and his prisoner came to +a village where there was a festival in progress. Mrs. Rizal was +well known and was welcomed in the home of one of the prominent +families. The festivities were at their height when the judge, who +had been on horseback and so had reached the town earlier, heard that +the prisoner, instead of being in the village calaboose, was a guest +of honor and apparently not suffering the annoyance to which he had +intended to subject her. He strode to the house, and, not content to +knock, broke in the door, splintered his cane on the poor constable's +head, and then exhausted himself beating the owner of the house. + +These proceedings were revealed in a charge of prejudice which +Mrs. Rizal's lawyers urged against the judge who at the same time +was the one who decided the case and also the prosecutor. The Supreme +Court agreed that her contention was correct and directed that she be +discharged from custody. To this order the judge paid due respect and +ordered her release, but he said that the accusation of unfairness +against him was contempt of court, and gave her a longer sentence +under this charge than the previous one from which she had just been +absolved. After some delay the Supreme Court heard of this affair and +decided that the judge was right. But, because Mrs. Rizal had been +longer in prison awaiting trial than the sentence, they dated back +her imprisonment, and again ordered her release. Here the record +gets a little confused because it is concerned with a story that +her brother had sixteen thousand pesos concealed in his cell, and +everybody, from the Supreme Court down, seemed interested in trying +to locate the money. + +While the officials were looking for his sack of gold, Alberto +gave a power of attorney to an overintelligent lawyer who worded +his authority so that it gave him the right to do everything +which his principal himself could have done "personally, legally +and ecclesiastically." From some source outside, but not from the +brother, the attorney heard that Mrs. Rizal had had money belonging +to Alberto, for in the extensive sugar-purchasing business which she +carried on she handled large sums and frequently borrowed as much as +five thousand pesos from this brother. Anxious to get his hands on +money, he instituted a charge of theft against her, under his power of +attorney and acting in the name of his principal. Mrs. Rizal's attorney +demurred to such a charge being made without the man who had lent the +money being at all consulted, and held that a power of attorney did +not warrant such an action. In time the intelligent Supreme Court +heard this case and decided that it should go to trial; but later, +when the attorney, acting for his principal, wanted to testify for him +under the power of attorney, they seem to have reached their limit, +for they disapproved of that proposal. + +Anyone who cares to know just how ridiculous and inconsistent the +judicial system of the Philippines then was would do well to try to +unravel the mixed details of the half dozen charges, ranging from +cruelty through theft to murder, which were made against Mrs. Rizal +without a shadow of evidence. One case was trumped up as soon as +another was finished, and possibly the affair would have dragged on +till the end of the Spanish administration had not her little daughter +danced before the Governor-General once when he was traveling through +the country, won his approval, and when he asked what favor he could do +for her, presented a petition for her mother's release. In this way, +which recalls the customs of primitive nations, Mrs. Rizal finally +was enabled to return to her home. + +Doctor Rizal tells us that it was then that he first began to lose +confidence in mankind. A story of a school companion, that when +Rizal recalled this incident the red came into his eyes, probably +has about the same foundation as the frequent stories of his weeping +with emotion upon other people's shoulders when advised of momentous +changes in his life. Doctor Rizal did not have these Spanish ways, +and the narrators are merely speaking of what other Spaniards would +have done, for self-restraint and freedom from exhibitions of emotion +were among his most prominent characteristics. + +Some time during Rizal's early years of school came his first success +in painting. It was the occasion of a festival in Kalamba; just at +the last moment an important banner was accidentally damaged and there +was not time to send to Manila for another. A hasty consultation was +held among the village authorities, and one councilman suggested that +Jose Rizal had shown considerable skill with the brush and possibly he +could paint something that would pass. The gobernadorcillo proceeded to +the lad's home and explained the need. Rizal promptly went to work, +under the official's direction, and speedily produced a painting +which the delighted municipal executive declared was better than the +expensive banner bought in Manila. The achievement was explained to +all the participants in the festival and young Jose was the hero of +the occasion. + +During intervals of school work Rizal found time to continue his +modeling in clay which he procured from the brickyard of a cousin at +San Pedro Macati. + +Rizal's uncle, Jose Alberto, had played a considerable part in his +political education. He was influential with the Regency in Spain, +which succeeded Queen Isabel when that sovereign became too malodorous +to be longer tolerated, and he was the personal friend of the Regent, +General Prim, whose motto, "More liberal today than yesterday, more +liberal tomorrow than today," he was fond of quoting. He was present in +Madrid at the time of General Prim's assassination and often told of +how this wise patriot, recognizing the unpreparedness of the Spanish +people for a republic, opposed the efforts for what would, he knew, +result in as disastrous a failure as had been France's first effort, +and how he lost his life through his desire to follow the safer +course of proceeding gradually through the preparatory stage of a +constitutional monarchy. Alberto was made by him a Knight of the Order +of Carlos III, and, after Prim's death, was created by King Amadeo a +Knight Commander, the step higher in the Order of Isabel the Catholic. + +Events proved Prim's wisdom, as Alberto was careful to observe, for +King Amadeo was soon convinced of the unfitness of his people for even +a constitutional monarchy, told them so, resigned his throne, and bade +them farewell. Then came a republic marked by excesses such as even +the worst monarch had not committed; among them the dreadful massacre +of the members of the filibustering party on the steamer Virginius +in Cuba, which would have caused war with the United States had not +the Americans been deluded into the idea that they were dealing with +a sister republic. America and Switzerland had been the only nations +which had recognized Spain's new form of government. Prim sought an +alliance with America, for he claimed that Spain should be linked +with a country which would buy Spanish goods and to which Spain could +send her products. France, with whom the Bourbons wished to be allied, +was a competitor along Spain's own lines. + +During the earlier disturbances in Spain a party of Carlists were +sent to the Philippine Islands; they were welcomed by the reactionary +Spaniards, for devotion to King Carlos had been their characteristic +ever since the days when Queen Isabel had taken the throne that in +their opinion belonged to the heir in the male line. Rizal frequently +makes mention of this disloyalty to the ruler of Spain on the part +of those who claimed to be most devoted Spaniards. + +Along with the stories of these troubles which Rizal heard during his +school days in Manila were reports of how these exiles had established +themselves in foreign cities, Basa in Hongkong, Regidor in London, +and Tavera in Paris. At their homes in these cities they gave a warm +welcome to such Filipinos as traveled abroad and they were always ready +to act as guardians for Filipino students who wished to study in their +cities, Many availed themselves of these opportunities and it came to +be an ambition among those in the Islands to get an education which +they believed was better than that which Spain afforded. There was some +ground for such a belief, because many of the most prominent successful +men of Spanish and Philippine birth were men whose education had been +foreign. A well-known instance in Manila was the architect Roxas, +father of the present Alcalde of Manila, who learned his profession +in England and was almost the only notable builder in Manila during +his lifetime. + +Paciano Rizal, Jose's elder brother, had retired from Manila on the +death of Doctor Burgos and devoted himself to farming; in some ways, +perhaps, his career suggested the character of Tasio, the philosopher +of "Noli Me Tangere." He was careful to see that his younger brother +was familiar with the liberal literature with which he had become +acquainted through Doctor Burgos. + +The first foreign book read by Rizal, in a Spanish translation, +was Dumas's great novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo," and the story +of the wrongs suffered by the prisoner of the Chateau d'If recalled +the injustice done his mother. Then came the book which had greatest +influence upon the young man's career; this was a Spanish translation +of Jagor's "Travels in the Philippines," the observations of a German +naturalist who had visited the Islands some fifteen years before. This +latter book, among other comments, suggested that it was the fate of +the North American republic to develop and bring to their highest +prosperity the lands which Spain had conquered and Christianized +with sword and cross. Sooner or later, this German writer believed, +the Philippine Islands could no more escape this American influence +than had the countries on the mainland, and expressed the hope that +one day the Philippines would succumb to the same influence; he felt, +however, that it was desirable first for the Islanders to become better +able to meet the strong competition of the vigorous young people of the +New World, for under Spain the Philippines had dreamed away its past. + +The exact title of the book is "Travels | in the | Philippines. | +By F. Jagor. | With numerous illustrations and a Map | London: | +Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. | 1875." The title of the Spanish +translation reads, "Viajes | por | Filipinas | de F. Jagor | Traducidos +del Aleman | por S. Vidal y Soler | Ingeniero de Montes | Edicion +illustrada con numerosos grabados | Madrid: Imprenta, Estereopidea +y Galvanoplastia de Ariban y Ca. | (Sucesores de Rivadencyra) | +Impresores de Camara de S. M. | Calle del Duque de Osuna, num 3. 1875," +The following extract from the book will show how marvelously the +author anticipated events that have now become history: + +"With the altered condition of things, however, all this has +disappeared. The colony can no longer be kept secluded from the +world. Every facility afforded for commercial intercourse is a blow +to the old system, and a great step made in the direction of broad +and liberal reforms. The more foreign capital and foreign ideas and +customs are introduced, increasing the prosperity, enlightenment, +and self-esteem of the population, the more impatiently will the +existing evils be endured. + +England can and does open her possessions unconcernedly to the +world. The British colonies are united to the mother country by +the bond of mutual advantage, viz., the produce of raw material by +means of English capital, and the exchange of the same for English +manufactures. The wealth of England is so great, the organization of +her commerce with the world so complete, that nearly all the foreigners +even in the British possessions are for the most part agents for +English business houses, which would scarcely be affected, at least +to any marked extent, by a political dismemberment. It is entirely +different with Spain, which possesses the colony as an inherited +property, and without the power of turning it to any useful account. + +Government monopolies rigorously maintained, insolent disregard and +neglect of the half-castes and powerful creoles, and the example +of the United States, were the chief reasons of the downfall of the +American possessions. The same causes threaten ruin to the Philippines; +but of the monopolies I have said enough. + +Half-castes and creoles, it is true are not, as they formerly were +in America, excluded from all orificial appointments; but they feel +deeply hurt and injured through the crowds of place-hunters which +the frequent changes of Ministers send to Manilla. The influence, +also, of the American element is at least visible on the horizon, +and will be more noticeable when the relations increase between the +two countries. At present they are very slender. The trade in the +meantime follows in its old channels to England and to the Atlantic +ports of the United States. Nevertheless, whoever desires to form an +opinion upon the future history of the Philippines, must not consider +simply their relations to Spain, but must have regard to the prodigious +changes which a few decades produce on either side of our planet. + +For the first time in the history of the world the mighty powers +on both sides of the ocean have commenced to enter upon a direct +intercourse with one another--Russia, which alone is larger than +any two other parts of the earth; China, which contains within its +own boundaries a third of the population of the world; and America, +with ground under cultivation nearly sufficient to feed treble the +total population of the earth. Russia's further role in the Pacific +Ocean is not to be estimated at present. + +The trade between the two other great powers will therefore be +presumably all the heavier, as the rectification of the pressing need +of human labour on the one side, and of the corresponding overplus +on the other, will fall to them. + +"The world of the ancients was confined to the shores of the +Mediterranean; and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans sufficed at one +time for our traffic. When first the shores of the Pacific re-echoed +with the sounds of active commerce, the trade of the world and +the history of the world may be really said to have begun. A start +in that direction has been made; whereas not so very long ago the +immense ocean was one wide waste of waters, traversed from both points +only once a year. From 1603 to 1769 scarcely a ship had ever visited +California, that wonderful country which, twenty-five years ago, with +the exception of a few places on the coast, was an unknown wilderness, +but which is now covered with flourishing and prosperous towns and +cities, divided from sea to sea by a railway, and its capital already +ranking the third of the seaports of the Union; even at this early +stage of its existence a central point of the world's commerce, and +apparently destined, by the proposed junction of the great oceans, +to play a most important part in the future. + +In proportion as the navigation of the west coast of America +extends the influence of the American element over the South Sea, +the captivating, magic power which the great republic exercises over +the Spanish colonies[1] will not fail to make itself felt also in the +Philippines. The Americans are evidently destined to bring to a full +development the germs originated by the Spaniards. As conquerors of +modern times, they pursue their road to victory with the assistance +of the pioneer's axe and plough, representing an age of peace and +commercial prosperity in contrast to that bygone and chivalrous age +whose champions were upheld by the cross and protected by the sword. + +A considerable portion of Spanish America already belongs to the +United States, and has since attained an importance which could not +possibly have been anticipated either under the Spanish Government +or during the anarchy which followed. With regard to permanence, +the Spanish system cannot for a moment be compared with that of +America. While each of the colonies, in order to favour a privileged +class by immediate gains, exhausted still more the already enfeebled +population of the metropolis by the withdrawal of the best of its +ability, America, on the contrary, has attracted to itself from all +countries the most energetic element, which, once on its soil and, +freed from all fetters, restlessly progressing, has extended its power +and influence still further and further. The Philippines will escape +the action of the two great neighbouring powers all the less for the +fact that neither they nor their metropolis find their condition of +a stable and well-balanced nature. + +It seems to be desirable for the natives that the above-mentioned +views should not speedily become accomplished facts, because their +education and training hitherto have not been of a nature to prepare +them successfully to compete with either of the other two energetic, +creative, and progressive nations. They have, in truth, dreamed away +their best days." + +This prophecy of Jagor's made a deep impression upon Rizal and +seems to furnish the explanation of his life work. Henceforth it was +his ambition to arouse his countrymen to prepare themselves for a +freer state. He dedicated himself to the work which Doctor Jagor had +indicated as necessary. It seems beyond question that Doctor Rizal, +as early as 1876, believed that America would sometime come to the +Philippines, and wished to prepare his countrymen for the changed +conditions that would then have to be met. Many little incidents +in his later life confirm this view: his eagerness to buy expensive +books on the United States, such as his early purchase in Barcelona +of two different "Lives of the Presidents of the United States"; his +study of the country in his travel across it from San Francisco to +New York; the reference in "The Philippines in a Hundred Years"; and +the studies of the English Revolution and other Anglo-Saxon influences +which culminated in the foundation of the United States of America. + +Besides the interest he took in clay modeling, to which reference +has already been made, Rizal was expert in carving. When first +in the Ateneo he had carved an image of the Virgin of such grace +and beauty that one of the Fathers asked him to try an image of the +Sacred Heart. Rizal complied, and produced the carving that played so +important a part in his future life. The Jesuit Father had intended to +take the image with him to Spain, but in some way it was left behind +and the schoolboys put it up on the door of their dormitory. There it +remained for nearly twenty years, constantly reminding the many lads +who passed in and out of the one who teachers and pupils alike agreed +was the greatest of all their number, for Rizal during these years was +the schoolboy hero of the Ateneo, and from the Ateneo came the men who +were most largely concerned in making the New Philippines. The image +itself is of batikulin, an easily carved wood, and shows considerable +skill when one remembers that an ordinary pocketknife was the simple +instrument used in its manufacture. It was recalled to Rizal's memory +when he visited the Ateneo upon his first return from Spain and was +forbidden the house by the Jesuits because of his alleged apostasy, +and again in the chapel of Fort Santiago, where it played an important +part in what was called his conversion. + +The proficiency he attained in the art of clay modeling is evidenced by +many of the examples illustrated in this volume. They not only indicate +an astonishing versatility, but they reveal his very characteristic +method of working--a characteristic based on his constant desire +to adapt the best things he found abroad to the conditions of his +own country. The same characteristic appears also in most of his +literary work, and in it there is no servile imitation; it is careful +and studied selection, adaptation and combination. For example, the +composition of a steel engraving in a French art journal suggested +his model in clay of a Philippine wild boar; the head of the subject +in a painting in the Luxembourg Gallery and the rest of a figure in +an engraving in a newspaper are combined in a statuette he modeled +in Brussels and sent, in May, 1890, to Valentina Ventura in place +of a letter; a clipping from a newspaper cut is also adapted for +his model of "The Vengeance of the Harem"; and as evidence of his +facility of expressing himself in this medium, his clay modeling of +a Dapitan woman may be cited. One day while in exile he saw a native +woman clearing up the street in front of her home preparatory to +a festival; the movements and the attitudes of the figure were so +thoroughly typical and so impressed themselves on his mind that he +worked out this statuette from memory. + +In a literary way Rizal's first pretentious effort was a melodrama in +one act and in verse, entitled "Junta al Pasig" (Beside the Pasig), +a play in honor of the Virgin, which was given in the Ateneo to the +great edification of a considerable audience, who were enthusiastic +in their praise and hearty in their applause, but the young author +neither saw the play nor paid any attention to the manner of its +reception, for he was downstairs, intent on his own diversions and +heedless of what was going on above. + +Thursday was the school holiday in those days, and Rizal usually spent +the time at the Convent of La Concordia, where his youngest sister, +Soledad, was a boarder. He was a great friend of the little one +and a welcome visitor in the Convent; he used to draw pictures for +her edification, sometimes teasing her by making her own portrait, +to which he gave exaggerated ears to indicate her curiosity. Then he +wrote short satirical skits, such as the following, which in English +doggerel quite matches its Spanish original: + + + "The girls of Concordia College + Go dressed in the latest of styles-- + Bangs high on their foreheads for knowledge-- + But hungry their grins and their smiles!" + + +Some of these girls made an impression upon Jose, and one of his diary +entries of this time tells of his rude awakening when a girl, some +years his elder, who had laughingly accepted his boyish adoration, +informed him that she was to marry a relative of his, and he speaks +of the heart-pang with which he watched the carromata that carried +her from his sight to her wedding. + +Jose was a great reader, and the newspapers were giving much attention +to the World's Fair in Philadelphia which commemorated the first +centennial of American independence, and published numerous cuts +illustrating various interesting phases of American life. Possibly +as a reaction from the former disparagement of things American, the +sentiment in the Philippines was then very friendly. There was one +long account of the presentation of a Spanish banner to a Spanish +commission in Philadelphia, and the newspapers, in speaking of the +wonderful progress which the United States had made, recalled the +early Spanish alliance and referred to the fact that, had it not been +for the discoveries of the Spaniards, their new land would not have +been known to Europe. + +Rizal during his last two years in the Ateneo was a boarder. Throughout +his entire course he had been the winner of most of the prizes. Upon +receiving his Bachelor of Arts diploma he entered the University of +Santo Tomas; in the first year he studied the course in philosophy +and in the second year began to specialize in medicine. + +The Ateneo course of study was a good deal like that of our present +high school, though not so thorough nor so advanced. Still, the method +of instruction which has made Jesuit education notable in all parts +of the world carried on the good work which the mother's training +had begun. The system required the explanation of the morrow's +lesson, questioning on the lesson of the day and a review of the +previous day's work. This, with the attention given to the classics, +developed and quickened faculties which gave Rizal a remarkable power +of assimilating knowledge of all kinds for future use. + +The story is told that Rizal was undecided as to his career, and wrote +to the rector of the Ateneo for advice; but the Jesuit was then in +the interior of Mindanao, and by the time the answer, suggesting that +he should devote himself to agriculture, was received, he had already +made his choice. However, Rizal did continue the study of agriculture, +besides specializing in medicine, carrying on double work as he took +the course in the Ateneo which led to the degree of land surveyor and +agricultural expert. This work was completed before he had reached +the age fixed by law, so that he could not then receive his diploma, +which was not delivered to him until he had attained the age of +twenty-one years. + +In the "Life" of Rizal published in Barcelona after his death a +brilliant picture is painted of how Rizal might have followed the +advice of the rector of the Atenco, and have lived a long, useful +and honorable life as a farmer and gobernadorcillo of his home town, +respected by the Spaniards, looked up to by his countrymen and filling +an humble but safe lot in life. Today one can hardly feel that such +a career would have been suited to the man or regret that events took +the course they did. + +Poetry was highly esteemed in the Ateneo, and Rizal frequently made +essays in verse, often carrying his compositions to Kalamba for his +mother's criticisms and suggestions. The writings of the Spanish poet +Zorilla were making a deep impression upon him at this time, and while +his schoolmates seemed to have been more interested in their warlike +features, Jose appears to have gained from them an understanding of how +Zorilla sought to restore the Spanish people to their former dignity, +rousing their pride through recalling the heroic events in their past +history. Some of the passages in the melodrama, "Junta al Pasig," +already described, were evidently influenced by his study of Zorilla; +the fierce denunciation of Spain which is there put in the mouth of +Satan expresses, no doubt, the real sentiments of Rizal. + +In 1877 a society known as the Liceo Literario-Artistica (Lyceum of +Art and Literature) offered a prize for the best poem by a native. The +winner was Rizal with the following verses, "Al Juventud Filipino" +(To the Philippine Youth). The prize was a silver pen, feather-shaped +and with a gold ribbon running through it. + + + To the Philippine Youth + + Theme: "Growth" + + (Translation by Charles Derbyshire) + + Hold high the brow serene, + O youth, where now you stand; + Let the bright sheen + Of your grace be seen, + Fair hope of my fatherland! + + Come now, thou genius grand, + And bring down inspriation; + With thy mighty hand, + Swifter than the wind's volation, + Raise the eager mind to highter station. + + Come down with pleasing light + Of art and science to the fight, + O youth, and there untie + The chains that heavy lie, + Your spirit free to blight. + + See how in flaming zone + Amid the shadows thrown, + The Spaniard's holy hand + A crown's resplendent band + Proffers to this Indian land. + + Thou, who now wouldst rise + On wings of rich emprise, + Seeking from Olympian skies + Songs of sweetest strain, + Softer than ambrosial rain; + + Thou, whose voice divine + Rivals Philomel's refrain, + And with varied line + Through the night benign + Frees mortality from pain; + + Thou, who by sharp strife + Wakest thy mind to life; + And the memory bright + Of thy genius' light + Makest immortal in its strength; + + And thou, in accents clear + of Phoebus, to Apells dear; + Or by the brush's magic art + Takest from nature's store a part, + To fix it on the simple canvas' length; + + Go forth, and then the sacred fire + Of thy genius to the laurel may aspire; + To spread around the fame, + And in victory acclaim, + Through wider spheres the human name. + + Day, O happy day, + Fair Filipinas, for thy land! + So bless the Power today + That places in thy way + This favor and this fortune grand. + + +The next competition at the Licco was in honor of the fourth centennial +of the death of Cervantes; it was open to both Filipinos and Spaniards, +and there was a dispute as to the winner of the prize. It is hard +to figure out just what really happened; the newspapers speak of +Rizal as winning the first prize, but his certificate says second, +and there seems to have been some sort of compromise by which a +Spaniard who was second was put at the head. Newspapers, of course, +were then closely censored, but the liberal La Oceania contains a +number of veiled allusions to medical poets, suggesting that for the +good of humanity they should not be permitted to waste their time in +verse-making. One reference quotes the title of Rizal's first poem in +saying that it was giving a word of advice "To the Philippine Youth," +and there are other indications that for some considerable time the +outcome of this contest was a very live topic in the city of Manila. + +Rizal's poem was an allegory, "The Council of the Gods"--"El consejo de +los Dioses." It was an exceedingly artistic appreciation of the chief +figure in Spanish literature. The rector of the Ateneo had assisted +his former student by securing for him needed books, and though +Rizal was at that time a student in Santo Tomas, the rivalries were +such that he was still ranked with the pupils of the Jesuits and his +success was a corresponding source of elation to the Ateneo pupils and +alumni. Some people have stated that Father Evaristo Arias, a notably +brilliant writer of the Dominicans, was a competitor, a version I once +published, but investigation shows that this was a mistake. However, +sentiment in the University against Rizal grew, until matters became +so unpleasant that he felt it time to follow the advice of Father +Burgos and continue his education outside of the Islands. + +Just before this incident Rizal had been the victim of a brutal assault +in Kalamba; one night when he was passing the barracks of the Civil +Guard he noted in the darkness a large body, but did not recognize +who it was, and passed without any attention to it. It turned out +that the large body was a lieutenant of the Civil Guard, and, without +warning or word of any kind, he drew his sword and wounded Rizal in the +back. Rizal complained of this outrage to the authorities and tried +several times, without success, to see the Governor-General. Finally +he had to recognize that there was no redress for him. By May of 1882 +Rizal had made up his mind to set sail for Europe, and his brother, +Paciano, equipped him with seven hundred pesos for the journey, while +his sister, Saturnina, intrusted to him a valuable diamond ring which +might prove a resource in time of emergency. + +Jose had gone to Kalamba to attend a festival there, when Mr. Hidalgo, +from Manila, notified him that his boat was ready to sail. The +telegram, asking his immediate return to the city, was couched in +the form of advice of the condition of a patient, and the name of +the steamer, Salvadora, by a play on words, was used in the sense of +"May save her life." Rizal had previously requested of Mr. Ramirez, +of the Puerta del Sol store, letters of introduction to an Englishman, +formerly in the Philippines, who was then living in Paris. He said +nothing more of his intentions, but on his last night in the city, +with his younger sister as companion, he drove all through the walled +city and its suburbs, changing horses twice in the five hours of +his farewell. The next morning he embarked on the steamer, and there +yet remains the sketch which he made of his last view of the city, +showing its waterfront as it appeared from the departing steamer. To +leave town it was necessary to have a passport; his was in the name +of Jose Mercado, and had been secured by a distant relative of his +who lived in the Santa Cruz district. + +After five days' journey the little steamer reached the English colony +of Singapore. There Rizal saw a modern city for the first time. He was +intensely interested in the improvements. Especially did the assured +position of the natives, confident in their rights and not fearful of +the authorities, arouse his admiration. Great was the contrast between +the fear of their rulers shown by the Filipinos and the confidence +which the natives of Singapore seemed to have in their government. + +At Singapore, Rizal transferred to a French mail Steamer and seems to +have had an interesting time making himself understood on board. He +had studied some French in his Ateneo course, writing an ode which +gained honors, but when he attempted to speak the language he was +not successful in making Frenchmen understand him. So he resorted to +a mixed system of his own, sometimes using Latin words and making +the changes which regularly would have occurred, and when words +failed, making signs, and in extreme cases drawing pictures of what +he wanted. This versatility with the pencil, for many of his offhand +sketches had humorous touches that almost carried them into the cartoon +class, interested officers and passengers, so that the young student +had the freedom of the ship and a voyage far from tedious. + +The passage of the Suez Canal, a glimpse of Egypt, Aden, where East and +West meet, and the Italian city of Naples, with its historic castle, +were the features of the trip which most impressed him. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +The Period of Preparation + +Rizal disembarked at Marseilles, saw a little of that famous port, and +then went by rail to Barcelona, crossing the Pyrenees, the desolate +ruggedness of which contrasted with the picturesque luxuriance +of his tropical home, and remained a day at the frontier town of +Port-Bou. The customary Spanish disregard of tourists compared very +unfavorably with the courteous attention which he had remarked on his +arrival at Marseilles, for the custom house officers on the Spanish +frontier rather reminded him of the class of employes found in Manila. + +At Barcelona he met many who had been his schoolmates in the Ateneo +and others to whom he was known by name. It was the custom of the +Filipino students there to hold reunions every other Sunday at the +cafe, for their limited resources did not permit the daily visits +which were the Spanish custom. In honor of the new arrival a special +gathering occurred in a favorite cafe in Plaza de Catalonia. The +characteristics of the Spaniards and the features of Barcelona were +all described for Rizal's benefit, and he had to answer a host of +questions about the changes which had occurred in Manila. Most of his +answers were to the effect that old defects had not yet been remedied +nor incompetent officials supplanted, and he gave a rather hopeless +view of the future of their country. Somewhat in this gloomy mood, +he wrote home for a newly established Tagalog newspaper of Manila, +his views of "Love of country," an article not so optimistic as most +of his later writings. + +In Barcelona he remained but a short time, long enough, however, to +see the historic sights around that city, which was established by +Hannibal, had numbered many noted Romans among its residents, and in +later days was the scene of the return of Columbus from his voyages in +the New World, bringing with him samples of Redskins, birds and other +novel products of the unknown country. Then there were the magnificent +boulevards, the handsome dwellings, the interest which the citizens +took in adorning their city and the pride in the results, and above +all, the disgust at all things Spanish and the loyalty to Catalonia, +rather than to the "mother-fatherland." + +The Catalan was the most progressive type in Spain, but he had no +love for his compatriots, was ever complaining of their "manana" +habits and of the evils that were bound to exist in a country where +Church and State were so inextricably intermingled. Many Catalans were +avowedly republicans. Signs might be seen on the outside of buildings +telling of the location of republican clubs, unpopular officials +were hooted in the streets, the newspapers were intemperate in their +criticism of the government, and a campaign was carried on openly +which aimed at changing from a monarchy to a democracy, without any +apparent molestation from the authorities. All these things impressed +the lad who had seen in his own country the most respectfully worded +complaints of unquestionable abuses treated as treason, bringing not +merely punishment, but opprobrium as well. + +He, himself, in order to obtain a better education, had had to leave +his country stealthily like a fugitive from justice, and his family, to +save themselves from persecution, were compelled to profess ignorance +of his plans and movements. His name was entered in Santo Tomas at the +opening of the new term, with the fees paid, and Paciano had gone to +Manila pretending to be looking for this brother whom he had assisted +out of the country. + +Early in the fall Rizal removed to Madrid and entered the Central +University there. His short residence in Barcelona was possibly for +the purpose of correcting the irregularity in his passport, for in +that town it would be easier to obtain a cedula, and with this his +way in the national University would be made smoother. He enrolled in +two courses, medicine, and literature and philosophy; besides these +he studied sculpture, drawing and art in San Carlos, and took private +lessons in languages from Mr. Hughes, a well-known instructor of the +city. With all these labors it is not strange that he did not mingle +largely in social life, and lack of funds and want of clothes, which +have been suggested as reasons for this, seem hardly adequate. Jose had +left Manila with some seven hundred pesos and a diamond ring. Besides, +he received funds from his father monthly, which were sent through +his cousin, Antonio Rivera, of Manila, for fear that the landlords +might revenge themselves upon their tenant for the slight which his +son had cast upon their university in deserting it for a Peninsular +institution. It was no easy task in those days for a lad from the +provinces to get out of the Islands for study abroad. + +Rizal frequently attended the theater, choosing especially the higher +class dramas, occasionally went to a masked ball, played the lotteries +in small amounts but regularly, and for the rest devoted most of +his money to the purchase of books. The greater part of these were +second-hand, but he bought several standard works in good editions, +many with bindings de luxe. Among the books first purchased figure +a Spanish translation of the "Lives of the Presidents of the United +States," from Washington to Johnson, morocco bound, gilt-edged, +and illustrated with steel engravings--certainly an expensive book; +a "History of the English Revolution;" a comparison of the Romans +and the Teutons, and several other books which indicated interest in +the freer system of the Anglo-Saxons. Later, another "History of the +Presidents," to Cleveland, was added to his library. + +The following lines, said to be addressed to his mother, were written +about this time, evidently during an attack of homesickness: + + + "You Ask Me for Verses" + + (Translated by Charles Derbyshire) + + You bid me now to strike the lyre, + That mute and torn so long has lain; + And yet I cannot wake the strain, + Nor will the Muse one note inspire! + Coldly it shakes in accents dire, + As if my soul itself to wring, + And when its sound seems but to fling + A jest at its own low lament; + So in sad isolation pent, + My soul can neither feel nor sing. + + There was a time--ah, 'tis too true-- + But that time long ago has past-- + When upon me the Muse had cast + Indulgent smile and friendship's due; + But of that age now all too few + The thoughts that with me yet will stay; + As from the hours of festive play + There linger on mysterious notes, + And in our minds the memory floats + Of minstrelsy and music gay. + + A plant I am, that scarcely grown, + Was torn from out its Eastern bed, + Where all around perfume is shed, + And life but as a dream is known; + The land that I can call my own, + + By me forgotten ne'er to be, + Where trilling birds their song taught me, + And cascades with their ceaseless roar, + And all along the spreading shore + The murmurs of the sounding sea. + + While yet in childhood's happy day, + I learned upon its sun to smile, + And in my breast there seemed the while + Seething volcanic fires to play. + A bard I was, and my wish alway + To call upon the fleeting wind, + With all the force of verse and mind: + "Go forth, and spread around its fame, + From zone to zone with glad acclaim, + And earth to heaven together bind!" + + But it I left, and now no more-- + Like a tree that is broken and sere-- + My natal gods bring the echo clear + Of songs that in past times they bore; + Wide seas I cross'd to foreign shore, + With hope of change and other fate; + My folly was made clear too late, + For in the place of good I sought + The seas reveal'd unto me naught, + But made death's specter on me wait. + + All these fond fancies that were mine, + All love, all feeling, all emprise, + Were left beneath the sunny skies, + Which o'er that flowery region shine; + So press no more that plea of thine, + + For songs of love from out a heart + That coldly lies a thing apart; + Since now with tortur'd soul I haste + Unresting o'er the desert waste, + And lifeless gone is all my art. + + +In Madrid a number of young Filipinos were intense enthusiasts over +political agitation, and with the recklessness of youth, were careless +of what they said or how they said it, so long as it brought no danger +to them. A sort of Philippine social club had been organized by older +Filipinos and Spaniards interested in the Philippines, with the idea +of quietly assisting toward improved insular conditions, but it became +so radical under the influence of this younger majority, that its +conservative members were compelled to drop out and the club broke +up. The young men were constantly holding meetings to revive it, but +never arrived at any effective conclusions. Rizal was present at some +of these meetings and suggested that a good means of propaganda would +be a book telling the truth about Philippine conditions and illustrated +by Filipino artists. At first the project was severely criticised; +later a few conformed to the plan, and Rizal believed that his scheme +was in a fair way of accomplishment. At the meeting to discuss the +details, however, each member of the company wanted to write upon the +Filipino woman, and therest of the subjects scarcely interested any of +them. Rizal was disgusted with this trifling and dropped the affair, +nor did he ever again seem to take any very enthusiastic interest in +such popular movements. His more mature mind put him out of sympathy +with the younger men. Their admiration gave him great prestige, but +his popularity did not arise from comradeship, as he had but very +few intimates. + +Early in his stay in Madrid, Rizal had come across a second-hand +copy, in two volumes, of a French novel, which he bought to improve +his knowledge of that language. It was Eugene Sue's "The Wandering +Jew," that work which transformed the France of the nineteenth +century. However one may agree or disagree with its teachings and +concede or dispute its literary merits, it cannot be denied that it +was the most powerful book in its effects on the century, surpassing +even Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which is usually credited +with having hurried on the American Civil War and brought about +the termination of African slavery in the United States. The book, +he writes in his diary, affected him powerfully, not to tears, but +with a tremendous sympathy for the unfortunates that made him willing +to risk everything in their behalf. It seemed to him that such a +presentation of Philippine conditions would certainly arouse Spain, +but his modesty forbade his saying that he was going to write a book +like the French masterpiece. Still, from this time his recollections +of his youth and the stories which he could get from his companions +were written down and revised, till finally the half had been prepared +of what was finally the novel "Noli Me Tangere." + +Through Spaniards who still remembered Jose's uncle, he joined a +lodge of Masons called the "Acacia." At this time few Filipinos in +Spain had joined the institution, and those were mostly men much more +mature than himself. Thus he met leaders of Spanish national life who +were men of state affairs and much more sedate, men with broader views +and more settled opinions than the irresponsible class with whom his +school companions were accustomed to associate. A distinction must +be made between the Masonry of this time and the much more popular +institution in which Filipinos later figured so largely when Professor +Miguel Morayta became head of the Grand Lodge which for a time was +a rival of that to which the "Acacia" owed allegiance, and finally +triumphed over it. + +In 1884 Rizal had begun his studies in English; he had been studying +French during and since his voyage to Spain; Italian was acquired +apparently at a time when the exposition of Genoa had attracted Spanish +interest toward Italy, and largely through the reading of Italian +translations of works which he knew in other languages. German, too, +he had started to study, but had not advanced far with it. Thus Rizal +was preparing himself for the travels through Europe which he had +intended to make from the time when he first left his home, for he +well knew that it was only by knowing the language of a country that +it would be possible for him to study the people, see in what way +they differed from his own, and find out which of their customs and +what lessons from their history might be of advantage to the Filipinos. + +A feature in Rizal's social life was a weekly visit to the home of +Don Pablo Ortigas y Reyes, a liberal Spaniard who had been Civil +Governor of Manila in General de La Torre's time. Here Filipino +students gathered, and were entertained by the charming daughter of +the home, Consuelo, who was the person to whom were dedicated the +verses of Rizal usually entitled "a la Senorita C. O. y R." + +In Rizal's later days he found a regular relaxation in playing chess, +in which he was skilled, with the venerable ex-president of the +short-lived Spanish republic, Pi y Margal. This statesman was accused +of German tendencies because of his inclination toward Anglo-Saxon +safeguards for liberty, and was a champion of general education as +a preparation for a freer Spain. + +Rizal usually was present on public occasions in Fillpino circles +and took a leading part in them, as, for example, when he delivered +the principal address at the banquet given by the Madrid Filipino +colony in honor of their artist countrymen, after Luna and Hidalgo +had won prizes in the Madrid National exposition. He was also at the +New Year's banquet when the students gathered in the restaurant to +bid farewell to the old and usher in the new year, and his was the +chief speech, summarizing the remarks of the others. + +In 1885, having completed the second of his two courses, with his +credentials of licentiate in medicine and also in philosophy and +literature, Rizal made a trip through the country provinces to +study the Spanish peasant, for the rural people, he thought, being +agriculturists, would be most like the farmer folk of his native +land. Surely the Filipinos did not suffer in the comparison, for the +Spanish peasants had not greatly changed from the day when they were +so masterfully described by Cervantes. It seemed to Rizal almost like +being in Don Quixote's land, so many were the figures who might have +been the characters in the book. + +The fall of '85 found Rizal in Paris, studying art, visiting the +various museums and associating with the Lunas, the Taveras and +other Filipino residents of the French capital, for there had been +a considerable colony in that city ever since the troubles of 1872 +had driven the Tavera family into exile and they had made their home +in that city. In Paris a fourth of "Noli Me Tangere" was written, +and Rizal specialized in ophthalmology, devoting his attention to +those eye troubles that were most prevalent in the Philippines and +least understood. His mother's growing blindness made him covet the +skill which might enable him to restore her sight. So successfully +did he study that he became the favorite pupil of Doctor L. de +Weckert, the leading authority among the oculists of France, and +author of a three-volume standard work. Rizal next went to Germany, +having continued his studies in its language in the French capital, +and was present at Heidelberg on the five hundredth anniversary of +the foundation of the University. + +Because he had no passport he could only attend lectures, but could +not regularly matriculate. He lived in one of the student boarding +houses, with a number of law students, and when he was proposed for +membership in the Chess Club he was registered in the Club books as +being a student of law like the men who proposed him. These Chess +Club gatherings were quite a feature of the town, being held in the +large saloons with several hundred people present, and the contests +of skill were eagerly watched by shrewd and competent judges. Rizal +was a clever player, and left something of a record among the experts. + +The following lines were written by Rizal in a letter home while he +was a student in Germany: + + + To the Flowers of Heidelberg + + (translation by Charles Derbyshire) + + Go to my native land, go, foreign flowers, + Sown by the traveler on his way; + And there beneath its azure sky, + Where all of my affections lie; + There from the weary pilgrim say, + What faith is his in that land of ours! + + Go there and tell how when the dawn, + Her early light diffusing, + Your petals first flung open wide; + His steps beside chill Neckar drawn, + You see him silent by your side, + Upon its Spring perennial musing. + + Saw how when morning's light, + All your fragrance stealing, + Whispers to you as in mirth + Playful songs of love's delight, + He, too, murmurs his love's feeling + In the tongue he learned at birth. + + That when the sun on Koenigstuhl's height + Pours out its golden flood, + And with its slowly warming light + Gives life vale and grove and wood, + He greets that sun, here only upraising, + Which in his native land is at its zenith blazing. + + And tell there of that day he stood, + Near to a ruin'd castle gray, + By Neckar's banks, or shady wood, + And pluck'd you from beside the way; + Tell, too, the tale to you addressed, + And how with tender care, + Your bending leaves he press'd + 'Twixt pages of some volume rare. + + Bear then, O flowers, love's message bear; + My love to all the lov'd ones there, + Peace to my country--fruitful land-- + Faith whereon its sons may stand, + And virtue for its daughters' care; + All those beloved creatures greet, + That still around home's altar meet. + + And when you come unto its shore, + This kiss I now on you bestow, + Fling where the winged breezes blow; + That borne on them it may hover o'er + All that I love, esteem, and adore. + + But though, O flowers, you come unto that land, + And still perchance your colors hold; + So far from this heroic strand, + Whose soil first bade your life unfold, + Still here your fragrance will expand; + Your soul that never quits the earth + Whose light smiled on you at your birth. + + +From Heidelberg he went to Leipzig, then famous for the new studies +in psychology which were making the science of the mind almost as +exact as that of the body, and became interested in the comparison +of race characteristics as influenced by environment, history and +language. This probably accounts for the advanced views held by Rizal, +who was thoroughly abreast of the new psychology. These ideas were +since popularized in America largely through Professor Hugo Munsterberg +of Harvard University, who was a fellow-student of Rizal at Heidelberg +and also had been at Leipzig. + +A little later Rizal went to Berlin and there became acquainted with +a number of men who had studied the Philippines and knew it as none +whom he had ever met previously. Chief among these was Doctor Jagor, +the author of the book which ten years before had inspired in him his +life purpose of preparing his people for the time when America should +come to the Philippines. Then there was Doctor Rudolf Virchow, head of +the Anthropological Society and one of the greatest scientists in the +world. Virchow was of intensely democratic ideals, he was a statesman +as well as a scientist, and the interest of the young student in the +history of his country and in everything else which concerned it, +and his sincere earnestness, so intelligently directed toward helping +his country, made Rizal at once a prime favorite. Under Virchow's +sponsorship he became a member of the Berlin Anthropological Society. + +Rizal lived in the third floor of a corner lodging house not very +far from the University; in this room he spent much of his time, +putting the finishing touches to what he had previously written of +his novel, and there he wrote the latter half of "Noli Me Tangere" +The German influence, and absence from the Philippines for so long a +time, had modified his early radical views, and the book had now become +less an effort to arouse the Spanish sense of justice than a means of +education for Filipinos by pointing out their shortcomings. Perhaps a +Spanish school history which he had read in Madrid deserves a part of +the credit for this changed point of view, since in that the author, +treating of Spain's early misfortunes, brings out the fact that +misgovernment may be due quite as much to the hypocrisy, servility +and undeserving character of the people as it is to the corruption, +tyranny and cruelty of the rulers. + +The printer of "Noli Me Tangere" lived in a neighboring street, and, +like most printers in Germany, worked for a very moderate compensation, +so that the volume of over four hundred pages cost less than a fourth +of what it would have done in England, or one half of what it would +cost in economical Spain. Yet even at so modest a price, Rizal was +delayed in the publication until one fortunate morning he received a +visit from a countryman, Doctor Maximo Viola, who invited him to take a +pedestrian trip. Rizal responded that his interests kept him in Berlin +at that time as he was awaiting funds from home with which to publish +a book he had just completed, and showed him the manuscript. Doctor +Viola was much interested and offered to use the money he had put +aside for the trip to help pay the publisher. So the work went ahead, +and when the delayed remittance from his family arrived, Rizal repaid +the obligation. Then the two sallied forth on their trip. + +After a considerable tour of the historic spots and scenic places +in Germany, they arrived at Dresden, where Doctor Rizal was warmly +greeted by Doctor A. B. Meyer, the Director of the Royal Saxony +Ethnographical Institute. He was an authority upon Philippine matters, +for some years before he had visited the Islands to make a study of +the people. With a countryman resident in the Philippines, Doctor +Meyer made careful and thorough scientific investigations, and his +conclusions were more favorable to the Filipinos than the published +views of many of the unscientific Spanish observers. + +In the Museum of Art at Dresden, Rizal saw a painting of "Prometheus +Bound," which recalled to him a representation of the same idea +in a French gallery, and from memory he modeled this figure, which +especially appealed to him as being typical of his country. + +In Austrian territory he first visited Doctor Ferdinand Blumentritt, +whom Rizal had known by reputation for many years and with whom he had +long corresponded. The two friends stayed at the Hotel Roderkrebs, +but were guests at the table of the Austrian professor, whose wife +gave them appetizing demonstrations of the characteristic cookery +of Hungary. During Rizal's stay he was very much interested in a +gathering of tourists, arranged to make known the beauties of that +picturesque region, sometimes called the Austrian Switzerland, and +he delivered an address upon this occasion. It is noteworthy that +the present interest in attracting tourists to the Philippines, as +an economic benefit to the country, was anticipated by Doctor Rizal +and that he was always looking up methods used in foreign countries +for building up tourists' travel. + +One day, while the visitors were discussing Philippine matters with +their host, Doctor Rizal made an off hand sketch of Doctor Blumentritt, +on a scrap of paper which happened to be at hand, so characteristic +that it serves as an excellent portrait, and it has been preserved +among the Rizal relics which Doctor Blumentritt had treasured of the +friend for whom he had so much respect and affection. + +With a letter of introduction to a friend of Doctor Blumentritt in +Vienna, Nordenfels, the greatest of Austrian novelists, Doctor Viola +and Doctor Rizal went on to the capital, where they were entertained +by the Concordia Club. So favorable was the impression that Rizal +made upon Mr. Nordenfels that an answer was written to the note of +introduction, thanking the professor for having brought to his notice +a person whom he had found so companionable and whose genius he so +much admired. Nordenfels had been interested in Spanish subjects, +and was able to discuss intelligently the peculiar development of +Castilian civilization and the politics of the Spanish metropolis as +they affected the overseas possessions. + +After having seen Rome and a little more of Italy, they embarked for +the Philippines, again on the French mail, from Marseilles, coming +by way of Saigon, where a rice steamer was taken for Manila. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +The Period of Propaganda + +The city had not altered much during Rizal's seven years of +absence. The condition of the Binondo pavement, with the same holes +in the road which Rizal claimed he remembered as a schoolboy, was +unchanged, and this recalls the experience of Ybarra in "Noli Me +Tangere" on his homecoming after a like period of absence. + +Doctor Rizal at once went to his home in Kalamba. His first operation +in the Philippines relieved the blindness of his mother, by the removal +of a double cataract, and thus the object of his special study in +Paris was accomplished. This and other like successes gave the young +oculist a fame which brought patients from all parts of Luzon; and, +though his charges were moderate, during his seven months' stay +in the Islands Doctor Rizal accumulated over five thousand pesos, +besides a number of diamonds which he had bought as a secure way of +carrying funds, mindful of the help that the ring had been with which +he had first started from the Philippines. + +Shortly after his arrival, Governor-General Terrero summoned Rizal by +telegraph to Malacanan from Kalamba. The interview proved to be due +to the interest in the author of "Noli Me Tangere" and a curiosity +to read the novel, arising from the copious extracts with which the +Manila censors had submitted an unfavorable opinion when asking for +the prohibition of the book. The recommendation of the censor was +disregarded, and General Terrero, fearful that Rizal might be molested +by some of the many persons who would feel themselves aggrieved by his +plain picturing of undesirable classes in the Philippines, gave him for +a bodyguard a young Spanish lieutenant, Jose Taviel de Andrade. The +young men soon became fast friends, as they had artistic and other +tastes in common. Once they climbed Mr. Makiling, near Kalamba, +and placed there, after the European custom, a flag to show that +they had reached the summit. This act was at first misrepresented by +the enemies of Rizal as planting a German banner, for they started +a story that he had taken possession of the Islands in the name of +the country where he was educated, which was just then in unfriendly +relations with Spain over the question of the ill treatment of the +Protestant missionaries in the Caroline Islands. This same story was +repeated after the American occupation with the variation that Rizal, +as the supreme chief and originator of the ideas of the Katipunan +(which in fact he was not--he was even opposed to the society as it +existed in his time), had placed there a Filipino banner, in token +that the Islands intended to reassume the independent condition of +which the Spanish had dispossessed them. + +"Noli Me Tangere" circulated first among Doctor Rizal's relatives; +on one occasion a cousin made a special trip to Kalamba and took +the author to task for having caricatured her in the character of +Dona Victorina. Rizal made no denial, but merely suggested that the +book was a mirror of Philippine life, with types that unquestionably +existed in the country, and that if anybody recognized one of the +characters as picturing himself or herself, that person would do well +to correct the faults which therein appeared ridiculous. + +A somewhat liberal administration was now governing the Philippines, +and efforts were being made to correct the more glaring abuses in +the social conditions. One of these reforms proposed that the larger +estates should bear their share of the taxes, which it was believed +they were then escaping to a great extent. Requests were made of the +municipal government of Kalamba, among other towns, for a statement +of the relation that the big Dominican hacienda bore to the town, +what increase or decrease there might have been in the income of the +estate, and what taxes the proprietors were paying compared with the +revenue their place afforded. + +Rizal interested the people of the community to gather reliable +statistics, to go thoroughly into the actual conditions, and to leave +out the generalities which usually characterized Spanish documents. + +He asked the people to cooeperate, pointing out that when they +did not complain it was their own fault more than that of the +government if they suffered injustice. Further, he showed the folly +of exaggerated statements, and insisted upon a definite and moderate +showing of such abuses as were unquestionably within the power of +the authorities to relieve. Rizal himself prepared the report, which +is an excellent presentation of the grievances of the people of his +town. It brings forward as special points in favor of the community +their industriousness, their willingness to help themselves, their +interest in education, and concludes with expressing confidence +in the fairness of the government, pointing out the fact that they +were risking the displeasure of their landlords by furnishing the +information requested. The paper made a big stir, and its essential +statements, like everything else in Rizal's writings, were never +successfully challenged. + +Conditions in Manila were at that time disturbed owing to the +precedence which had been given in a local festival to the Chinese, +because they paid more money. The Filipinos claimed that, being in +their home country, they should have had prior consideration and were +entitled to it by law. The matter culminated in a protest, which was +doubtless submitted to Doctor Rizal on the eve of his departure from +the Islands; the protest in a general way met with his approval, but +the theatrical methods adopted in the presentation of it can hardly +have been according to his advice. + +He sailed for Hongkong in February of 1888, and made a short stay in +the British colony, becoming acquainted there with Jose Maria Basa, an +exile of '72, who had constituted himself the especial guardian of the +Filipino students in that city. The visitor was favorably impressed by +the methods of education in the British colony and with the spirit of +patriotism developed thereby. He also looked into the subject of the +large investments in Hongkong property by the corporation landlords +of the Philippines, their preparation for the day of trouble which +they foresaw. + +Rizal was interested in the Chinese theater, comparing the plays with +the somewhat similar productions which existed in the Philippines; +there, however, they had been given a religious twist, which at +first glance hid their debt to the Chinese drama. The Doctor notes +meeting, at nearby Macao, an exile of '72, whose condition and patient, +uncomplaining bearing of his many troubles aroused Rizal's sympathies +and commanded his admiration. + +With little delay, the journey was continued to Japan, where Doctor +Rizal was surprised by an invitation to make his home in the Spanish +consulate. There he was hospitably entertained, and a like courtesy +was shown him in the Spanish minister's home in Tokio. The latter +even offered him a position, as a sort of interpreter, probably, +should he care to remain in the country. This offer, however, was +declined. Rizal made considerable investigation into the condition +of the various Japanese classes and acquired such facility in the +use of the language that with it and his appearance, for he was "very +Japanese," the natives found it difficult to believe that he was not +one of themselves. The month or more passed here he considered one of +the happiest in his travels, and it was with regret that he sailed +from Yokohama for San Francisco. A Japanese newspaper man, who knew +no other language than his own, was a companion on the entire journey +to London, and Rizal acted as his interpreter. + +Not only did he enter into the spirit of the language but with +remarkable versatility he absorbed the spirit of the Japanese artists +and acquired much dexterity in expressing himself in their style, +as is shown by one of the illustrations in this book. The popular +idea that things occidental are reversed in the Orient was amusingly +caricatured in a sketch he made of a German face; by reversing its +lines he converted it into an old-time Japanese countenance. + +The diary of the voyage from Hongkong to Japan records an incident to +which he alludes as being similar to that of Aladdin in the Tagalog +tale of Florante. The Filipino wife of an Englishman, Mrs. Jackson, +who was a passenger on board, told Rizal a great deal about a +Filipino named Rachal, who was educated in Europe and had written a +much-talked-of novel, which she described and of which she spoke in +such flattering terms that Rizal declared his identity. The confusion +in names is explained by the fact that Rachal is a name well known +in the Philippines as that of a popular make of piano. + +At San Francisco the boat was held for some time in quarantine because +of sickness aboard, and Rizal was impressed by the fact that the +valuable cargo of silk was not delayed but was quickly transferred to +the shore. His diary is illustrated with a drawing of the Treasury +flag on the customs launch which acted as go-between for their boat +and the shore. Finally, the first-class passengers were allowed to +land, and he went to the Palace Hotel. + +With little delay, the overland journey was begun; the scenery through +the picturesque Rocky Mountains especially impressed him, and finally +Chicago was reached. The thing that struck him most forcibly in that +city was the large number of cigar stores with an Indian in front of +each--and apparently no two Indians alike. The unexpressed idea was +that in America the remembrance of the first inhabitants of the land +and their dress was retained and popularized, while in the Philippines +knowledge of the first inhabitants of the land was to be had only +from foreign museums. + +Niagara Falls is the next impression recorded in the diary, which has +been preserved and is now in the Newberry Library of Chicago. The +same strange, awe-inspiring mystery which others have found in the +big falls affected him, but characteristically he compared this +world-wonder with the cascades of his native La Laguna, claiming for +them greater delicacy and a daintier enchantment. + +From Albany, the train ran along the banks of the Hudson, and he was +reminded of the Pasig in his homeland, with its much greater commerce +and its constant activity. + +At New York, Rizal embarked on the City of Rome, then the finest +steamer in the world, and after a pleasant voyage, in which his spare +moments were occupied in rereading "Gulliver's Travels" in English, +Rizal reached England, and said good-by to the friends whom he had +met during their brief ocean trip together. + +Rizal's first letters home to his family speak of being in the free +air of England and once more amidst European activity. For a short +time he lived with Doctor Antonio Maria Regidor, an exile of '72, +who had come to secure what Spanish legal Business he could in the +British metropolis. Doctor Regidor was formerly an official in the +Philippines, and later proved his innocence of any complicity in the +troubles of '72. + +Doctor Rizal then boarded with a Mr. Beckett, organist of St. Paul's +Church, at 37 Charlecote Crescent, in the favorite North West residence +section. The zooelogical gardens were conveniently near and the British +Museum was within easy walking distance. The new member was a favorite +with all the family, which consisted of three daughters besides the +father and mother. + +Rizal's youthful interest in sleight-of-hand tricks was still +maintained. During his stay in the Philippines he had sometimes amused +his friends in this way, till one day he was horrified to find that +the simple country folk, who were also looking on, thought that he +was working miracles. In London he resumed his favorite diversion, and +a Christmas gift of Mrs. Beckett to him, "The Life and Adventures of +Valentine Vox the Ventriloquist," indicated the interest his friends +took in this amusement. One of his own purchases was "Modern Magic," +the frontispiece of which is the sphinx that figures in the story of +"El Filibusterismo." + +It was Rizal's custom to study the deceptions practiced upon the +peoples of other lands, comparing them with those of which his +own countrymen had been victims. Thus he could get an idea of the +relative credulity of different peoples and could also account +for many practices the origin of which was otherwise less easy to +understand. His investigations were both in books and by personal +research. In quest of these experiences he one day chanced to visit +a professional phrenologist; the bump-reader was a shrewd guesser, +for he dwelt especially upon Rizal's aptitude for learning languages +and advised him to take up the study of them. + +This interest in languages, shown in his childish ambition to be +like Sir John Bowring, made Rizal a congenial companion of a still +more distinguished linguist, Doctor Reinhold Rost, the librarian of +the India Office. The Raffles Library in Singapore now owns Doctor +Rost's library, and its collection of grammars in seventy languages +attests the wide range of the studies of this Sanscrit scholar. + +Doctor Rost was born and educated in Germany, though naturalized +as a British subject, and he was a man of great musical taste. His +family sometimes formed an orchestra, at other times a glee club, and +furnished all the necessary parts from its own members. Rizal was a +frequent visitor, usually spending his Sundays in athletic exercises +with the boys, for he quickly became proficient in the English sports +of boxing and cricket. While resting he would converse with the father, +or chat with the daughters of the home. All the children had literary +tastes, and one, Daisy, presented him with a copy of a novel which +she had just translated from the German, entitled "Ulli." + +Some idea of Doctor Rizal's own linguistic attainments may be gained +from the fact that instead of writing letters to his nephews and nieces +he made for them translations of some of Hans Christian Andersen's +fairy tales. They consist of some forty manuscript pages, profusely +illustrated, and the father is referred to in a "dedication," +as though it were a real book. The Hebrew Bible quotation is in +allusion to a jocose remark once made by the father that German was +like Hebrew to him, the verse being that in which the sons of Jacob, +not recognizing that their brother was the seller, were bargaining +for some of Pharaoh's surplus corn, "And he (Joseph) said, How is +the old man, your father?" Rizal always tried to relieve by a touch +of humor anything that seemed to him as savoring of affectation, +the phase of Spanish character that repelled him and the imitation +of which by his countrymen who knew nothing of the un-Spanish world +disgusted him with them. + +Another example of his versatility in language and of its usefulness +to him as well, is shown in a trilingual letter written by Rizal in +Dapitan when the censorship of his correspondence had become annoying +through ignorant exceptions to perfectly harmless matters. No Spaniard +available spoke more than one language besides his own and it was +necessary to send the letter to three different persons to find out +its contents. The critics took the hint and Rizal received better +treatment thereafter. + +Another one of Rizal's youthful aspirations was attained in London, +for there he began transcribing the early Spanish history by Morga of +which Sir John Bowring had told his uncle. A copy of this rare book +was in the British Museum and he gained admission as a reader there +through the recommendation of Doctor Rost. Only five hundred persons +can be accommodated in the big reading room, and as students are +coming from every continent for special researches, good reason has +to be shown why these studies cannot be made at some other institution. + +Besides the copying of the text of Morga's history, Rizal read +many other early writings on the Philippines, and the manifest +unfairness of some of these who thought that they could glorify Spain +only by disparaging the Filipinos aroused his wrath. Few Spanish +writers held up the good name of those who were under their flag, +and Rizal had to resort to foreign authorities to disprove their +libels. Morga was almost alone among Spanish historians, but his +assertions found corroboration in the contemporary chronicles of +other nationalities. Rizal spent his evenings in the home of Doctor +Regidor, and many a time the bitterness and impatience with which his +day's work in the Museum had inspired him, would be forgotten as the +older man counseled patience and urged that such prejudices were to be +expected of a little educated nation. Then Rizal's brow would clear as +he quoted his favorite proverb, "To understand all is to forgive all." + +Doctor Rost was editor of Truebner's Record, a journal devoted to the +literature of the East, founded by the famous Oriental Bookseller and +Publisher of London, Nicholas Truebner, and Doctor Rizal contributed +to it in May, 1889, some specimens of Tagal folklore, an extract from +which is appended, as it was then printed: + + +Specimens of Tagal Folklore + +By Doctor J. Rizal + + +Proverbial Sayings + +Malakas ang bulong sa sigaw, Low words are stronger than loud words. + +Ang laki sa layaw karaniwa 'y hubad, A petted child is generally naked +(i.e. poor). + +Hampasng magulang ay nakataba, Parents' punishment makes one fat. + +Ibang hari ibang ugail, New king, new fashion. + +Nagpuputol ang kapus, ang labis ay nagdurugtong, What is short cuts +off a piece from itself, what is long adds another on (the poor gets +poorer, the rich richer). + +Ang nagsasabing tapus ay siyang kinakapus, He who finishes his words +finds himself wanting. + +Nangangako habang napapako, Man promises while in need. + +Ang naglalakad ng marahan, matinik may mababaw, He who walks slowly, +though he may put his foot on a thorn, will not be hurt very much +(Tagals mostly go barefooted). + +Ang maniwala sa sabi 'y walang bait na sarili, He who believes in +tales has no own mind. + +Ang may isinuksok sa dingding, ay may titingalain, He who has put +something between the wall may afterwards look on (the saving man +may afterwards be cheerful).--The wall of a Tagal house is made of +palm-leaves and bamboo, so that it can be used as a cupboard. + +Walang mahirap gisingin na paris nang nagtutulogtulugan, The most +difficult to rouse from sleep is the man who pretends to be asleep. + +Labis sa salita, kapus sa gawa, Too many words, too little work. + +Hipong tulog ay nadadala ng anod, The sleeping shrimp is carried away +by the current. + +Sa bibig nahuhuli ang isda, The fish is caught through the mouth. + + +Puzzles + +Isang butil na palay sikip sa buony bahay, One rice-corn fills up +all the house.--The light. The rice-corn with the husk is yellowish. + +Matapang ako so dalawa, duag ako sa isa, I am brave against two, +coward against one.--The bamboo bridge. When the bridge is made of +one bamboo only, it is difficult to pass over; but when it is made +of two or more, it is very easy. + +Dala ako niya, dala ko siya, He carries me, I carry him.--The shoes. + +Isang balong malalim puna ng patalim, A deep well filled with steel +blades.--The mouth. + +The Filipino colony in Spain had established a fortnightly review, +published first in Barcelona and later in Madrid, to enlighten +Spaniards on their distant colony, and Rizal wrote for it from the +start. Its name, La Solidaridad, perhaps may be translated Equal +Rights, as it aimed at like laws and the same privileges for the +Peninsula and the possessions overseas. + +From the Philippines came news of a contemptible attempt to reach +Rizal through his family--one of many similar petty persecutions. His +sister Lucia's husband had died and the corpse was refused interment +in consecrated ground, upon the pretext that the dead man, who had been +exceptionally liberal to the church and was of unimpeachable character, +had been negligent in his religious duties. Another individual with +a notorious record of longer absence from confession died about +the same time, and his funeral took place from the church without +demur. The ugly feature about the refusal to bury Hervosa was that the +telegram from the friar parish-priest to the Archbishop at Manila in +asking instructions, was careful to mention that the deceased was a +brother-in-law of Rizal. Doctor Rizal wrote a scorching article for +La Solidaridad under the caption "An Outrage," and took the matter +up with the Spanish Colonial Minister, then Becerra, a professed +Liberal. But that weakling statesman, more liberal in words than in +actions, did nothing. + +That the union of Church and State can be as demoralizing to religion +as it is disastrous to good government seems sufficiently established +by Philippine incidents like this, in which politics was substituted +for piety as the test of a good Catholic, making marriage impossible +and denying decent burial to the families of those who differed +politically with the ministers of the national religion. + +Of all his writings, the article in which Rizal speaks of this +indignity to the dead comes nearest to exhibiting personal feeling and +rancor. Yet his main point is to indicate generally what monstrous +conditions the Philippine mixture of religion and politics made +possible. + +The following are part of a series of nineteen verses published in +La Solidaridad over Rizal's favorite pen name of Laong Laan: + + + To my Muse + + (translation by Charles Derbyshire) + + Invoked no longer is the Muse, + The lyre is out of date; + The poets it no longer use, + And youth its inspiration now imbues + With other form and state. + + If today our fancies aught + Of verse would still require, + Helicon's hill remains unsought; + And without heed we but inquire, + Why the coffee is not brought. + + In the place of thought sincere + That our hearts may feel, + We must seize a pen of steel, + And with verse and line severe + Fling abroad a jest and jeer. + + Muse, that in the past inspired me, + And with songs of love hast fired me; + Go thou now to dull repose, + For today in sordid prose + I must earn the gold that hired me. + + Now must I ponder deep, + Meditate, and struggle on; + E'en sometimes I must weep; + For he who love would keep + Great pain has undergone. + + Fled are the days of ease, + The days of Love's delight; + When flowers still would please + And give to suffering souls surcease + From pain and sorrow's blight. + + One by one they have passed on, + All I loved and moved among; + Dead or married--from me gone, + For all I place my heart upon + By fate adverse are stung. + + Go thou, too, O Muse, depart, + Other regions fairer find; + For my land but offers art + For the laurel, chains that bind, + For a temple, prisons blind. + + But before thou leavest me, speak: + Tell me with thy voice sublime, + Thou couldst ever from me seek + A song of sorrow for the weak, + Defiance to the tyrant's crime. + + +Rizal's congenial situation in the British capital was disturbed +by his discovering a growing interest in the youngest of the three +girls whom he daily met. He felt that his career did not permit him +to marry, nor was his youthful affection for his cousin in Manila an +entirely forgotten sentiment. Besides, though he never lapsed into +such disregard for his feminine friends as the low Spanish standard +had made too common among the Filipino students in Madrid, Rizal was +ever on his guard against himself. So he suggested to Doctor Regidor +that he considered it would be better for him to leave London. His +parting gift to the family with whom he had lived so happily was a +clay medallion bearing in relief the profiles of the three sisters. + +Other regretful good-bys were said to a number of young Filipinos +whom he had gathered around him and formed into a club for the study +of the history of their country and the discussion of its politics. + +Rizal now went to Paris, where he was glad to be again with his friend +Valentin Ventura, a wealthy Pampangan who had been trained for the +law. His tastes and ideals were very much those of Rizal, and he had +sound sense and a freedom from affectation which especially appealed +to Rizal. There Rizal's reprint of Morga's rare history was made, at +a greater cost but also in better form than his first novel. Copious +notes gave references to other authorities and compared present +with past conditions, and Doctor Blumentritt contributed a forceful +introduction. + +When Rizal returned to London to correct the proofsheets, the old +original book was in use and the copy could not be checked. This led to +a number of errors, misspelled and changed words, and even omissions +of sentences, which were afterwards discovered and carefully listed +and filed away to be corrected in another edition. + +Possibly it has been made clear already that, while Rizal did not +work for separation from Spain, he was no admirer of the Castilian +character, nor of the Latin type, for that matter. He remarked on +Blumentritt's comparison of the Spanish rulers in the Philippines +with the Czars of Russia, that it is flattering to the Castilians +but it is more than they merit, to put them in the same class as +Russia. Apparently he had in mind the somewhat similar comparison in +Burke's speech on the conciliation of America, in which he said that +Russia was more advanced and less cruel than Spain and so not to be +classed with it. + +During his stay in Paris, Rizal was a frequent visitor at the home +of the two Doctors Pardo de Tavera, sons of the exile of '72 who +had gone to France, the younger now a physician in South America, +the elder a former Philippine Commissioner. The interest of the +one in art, and of the other in philology, the ideas of progress +through education shared by both, and many other common tastes and +ideals, made the two young men fast friends of Rizal. Mrs. Tavera, +the mother, was an interesting conversationalist, and Rizal profited +by her reminiscences of Philippine official life, to the inner circle +of which her husband's position had given her the entree. + +On Sundays Rizal fenced at Juan Luna's house with his distinguished +artist-countryman, or, while the latter was engaged with Ventura, +watched their play. It was on one of these afternoons that the Tagalog +story of "The Monkey and the Tortoise"[2] was hastily sketched as a +joke to fill the remaining pages of Mrs. Luna's autograph album, in +which she had been insisting Rizal must write before all its space +was used up. A comparison of the Tagalog version with a Japanese +counterpart was published by Rizal in English, in Truebner's Magazine, +suggesting that the two people may have had a common origin. This +study received considerable attention from other ethnologists, and +was among the topics at an ethnological conference. + +At times his antagonist was Miss Nellie Baustead, who had great +skill with the foils. Her father, himself born in the Philippines, +the son of a wealthy merchant of Singapore, had married a member of +the Genato family of Manila. At their villa in Biarritz, and again +in their home in Belgium, Rizal was a guest later, for Mr. Baustead +had taken a great liking to him. + +The teaching instinct that led him to act as mentor to the Filipino +students in Spain and made him the insparation of a mutual improvement +club of his young countrymen in London, suggested the foundation of +a school in Paris. Later a Pampangan youth offered him $40,000 with +which to found a Filipino college in Hongkong, where many young men +from the Philippines had obtained an education better than their +own land could afford but not entirely adapted to their needs. The +scheme attracted Rizal, and a prospectus for such an institution +which was later found among his papers not only proves how deeply +he was interested, but reveals the fact that his ideas of education +were essentially like those carried out in the present public-school +course of instruction in the Philippines. + +Early in August of 1890 Rizal went to Madrid to seek redress for a +wrong done his family by the notorious General Weyler, the "Butcher" +of evil memory in Cuba, then Governor-General of the Philippines. Just +as the mother's loss of liberty, years before, was caused by revengeful +feelings on the part of an official because for one day she was obliged +to omit a customary gift of horse feed, so the father's loss of land +was caused by a revengeful official, and for quite as trivial a cause. + +Mr. Mercado was a great poultry fancier and especially prided himself +upon his fine stock of turkeys. He had been accustomed to respond to +the frequent requests of the estate agent for presents of birds. But +at one time disease had so reduced the number of turkeys that all that +remained were needed for breeding purposes and Mercado was obliged +to refuse him. In a rage the agent insisted, and when that proved +unavailing, threats followed. + +But Francisco Mercado was not a man to be moved by threats, and +when the next rent day came round he was notified that his rent had +been doubled. This was paid without protest, for the tenants were +entirely at the mercy of the landlords, no fixed rate appearing +either in contracts or receipts. Then the rent-raising was kept on +till Mercado was driven to seek the protection of the courts. Part +of his case led to exactly the same situation as that of the Binan +tenantry in his grandfather's time, when the landlords were compelled +to produce their title-deeds, and these proved that land of others +had been illegally included in the estate. Other tenants, emboldened +by Mercado's example also refused to pay the exorbitant rent increases. + +The justice of the peace of Kalamba, before whom the case first came, +was threatened by the provincial governor for taking time to hear the +testimony, and the case was turned over to the auxiliary justice, who +promptly decided in the manner desired by the authorities. Mercado at +once took an appeal, but the venal Weyler moved a force of artillery +to Kalamba and quartered it upon the town as if rebellion openly +existed there. Then the court representatives evicted the people +from their homes and directed them to remove all their buildings +from the estate lands within twenty-four hours. In answer to the +plea that they had appealed to the Supreme Court the tenants were +told their houses could be brought back again if they won their +appeal. Of course this was impossible and some 150,000 pesos' worth +of property was consequently destroyed by the court agents, who were +worthy estate employees. Twenty or more families were made homeless +and the other tenants were forbidden to shelter them under pain of +their own eviction. This is the proceeding in which Retana suggests +that the governor-general and the landlords were legally within their +rights. If so, Spanish law was a disgrace to the nation. Fortunately +the Rizal-Mercado family had another piece of property at Los Banos, +and there they made their home. + +Weyler's motives in this matter do not have to be surmised, for +among the (formerly) secret records of the government there exists +a letter which he wrote when he first denied the petition of the +Kalamba residents. It is marked "confidential" and is addressed to the +landlords, expressing the pleasure which this action gave him. Then +the official adds that it cannot have escaped their notice that the +times demand diplomacy in handling the situation but that, should +occasion arise, he will act with energy. Just as Weyler had favored +the landlords at first so he kept on and when he had a chance to do +something for them he did it. + +Finally, when Weyler left the Islands an investigation was ordered into +his administration, owing to rumors of extensive and systematic frauds +on the government, but nothing more came of the case than that Retana, +later Rizal's biographer, wrote a book in the General's defense, +"extensively documented," and also abusively anti-Filipino. It has been +urged (not by Retana, however) that the Weyler regime was unusually +efficient, because he would allow no one but himself to make profits +out of the public, and therefore, while his gains were greater than +those of his predecessors, the Islands really received more attention +from him. + +During the Kalamba discussion in Spain, Retana, until 1899 always +scurrilously anti-Filipino, made the mistake of his life, for he +charged Rizal's family with not paying their rent, which was not +true. While Rizal believed that duelling was murder, to judge from a +pair of pictures preserved in his album, he evidently considered that +homicide of one like Retana was justifiable. After the Spanish custom, +his seconds immediately called upon the author of the libel. Retana +notes in his "Vida del Dr. Rizal" that the incident closed in a way +honorable to both Rizal and himself--he, Retana, published an explicit +retraction and abject apology in the Madrid papers. Another time, +in Madrid, Rizal risked a duel when he challenged Antonio Luna, +later the General, because of a slighting allusion to a lady at a +public banquet. He had a nicer sense of honor in such matters than +prevailed in Madrid, and Luna promptly saw the matter from Rizal's +point of view and withdrew the offensive remark. This second incident +complements the first, for it shows that Rizal was as willing to risk a +duel with his superior in arms as with one not so skilled as he. Rizal +was an exceptional pistol shot and a fair swordsman, while Retana was +inferior with either sword or pistol, but Luna, who would have had the +choice of weapons, was immeasurably Rizal's superior with the sword. + +Owing to a schism a rival arose against the old Masonry and finally +the original organization succumbed to the offshoot. Doctor Miguel +Morayta, Professor of History in the Central University at Madrid, was +the head of the new institution and it had grown to be very popular +among students. Doctor Morayta was friendly to the Filipinos and a +lodge of the same name as their paper was organized among them. For +their outside work they had a society named the Hispano-Filipino +Association, of which Morayta was president, with convenient clubrooms +and a membership practically the same as the Lodge La Solidaridad. + +Just before Christmas of 1890, this Hispano-Filipino Association +gave a largely attended banquet at which there were many prominent +speakers. Rizal stayed away, not because of growing pessimism, +as Retana suggests, but because one of the speakers was the same +Becerra who had feared to act when the outrage against the body of +Rizal's brother-in-law had been reported to him. Now out of office, +the ex-minister was again bold in words, but Rizal for one was not +again to be deceived by them. + +The propaganda carried on by his countrymen in the Peninsula did not +seem to Rizal effective, and he found his suggestions were not well +received by those at its head. The story of Rizal's separation from +La Solidaridad, however, is really not material, but the following +quotation from a letter written to Carlos Oliver, speaking of the +opposition of the Madrid committee of Filipinos to himself, is +interesting as showing Rizal's attitude of mind: + +"I regret exceedingly that they war against me, attempting to discredit +me in the Philippines, but I shall be content provided only that my +successor keeps on with the work. I ask only of those who say that +I created discord among the Filipinos: Was there any effective union +before I entered political life? Was there any chief whose authority +I wanted to oppose? It is a pity that in our slavery we should have +rivalries over leadership." + +And in Rizal's letter from Hongkong, May 24, 1892, to Zulueta, +commenting on an article by Leyte in La Solidaridad, he says: + +"Again I repeat, I do not understand the reason of the attack, since +now I have dedicated myself to preparing for our countrymen a safe +refuge in case of persecution and to writing some books, championing +our cause, which shortly will appear. Besides, the article is impolitic +in the extreme and prejudicial to the Philippines. Why say that the +first thing we need is to have money? A wiser man would be silent +and not wash soiled linen in public." + +Early in '91 Rizal went to Paris, visiting Mr. Baustead's villa in +Biarritz en route, and he was again a guest of his hospitable friend +when, after the winter season was over, the family returned to their +home in Brussels. + +During most of the year Rizal's residence was in Ghent, where he had +gathered around him a number of Filipinos. Doctor Blumentritt suggested +that he should devote himself to the study of Malay-Polynesian +languages, and as it appeared that thus he could earn a living in +Holland he thought to make his permanent home there. But his parents +were old and reluctant to leave their native land to pass their last +years in a strange country, and that plan failed. + +He now occupied himself in finishing the sequel to "Noli Me Tangere," +the novel "E1 Filibusterismo," which he had begun in October of 1887 +while on his visit to the Philippines. The bolder painting of the +evil effects of the Spanish culture upon the Filipinos may well have +been inspired by his unfortunate experiences with his countrymen in +Madrid who had not seen anything of Europe outside of Spain. On the +other hand, the confidence of the author in those of his countrymen +who had not been contaminated by the so-called Spanish civilization, +is even more noticeable than in "Noli Me Tangere." + +Rizal had now done all that he could for his country; he had shown +them by Morga what they were when Spain found them; through "Noli Me +Tangere" he had painted their condition after three hundred years of +Spanish influence; and in "El Filibusterismo" he had pictured what +their future must be if better counsels did not prevail in the colony. + +These works were for the instruction of his countrymen, the fulfilment +of the task he set for himself when he first read Doctor Jagor's +criticism fifteen years before; time only was now needed for them to +accomplish their work and for education to bring forth its fruits. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Despujol's Duplicity + +As soon as he had set in motion what influence he possessed in Europe +for the relief of his relatives, Rizal hurried to Hongkong and from +there wrote to his parents asking their permission to join them. Some +time before, his brother-in-law, Manuel Hidalgo, had been deported +upon the recommendation of the governor of La Laguna, "to prove to +the Filipinos that they were mistaken in thinking that the new Civil +Code gave them any rights" in cases where the governor-general agreed +with his subordinate's reason for asking for the deportation as well +as in its desirability. The offense was having buried a child, who +had died of cholera, without church ceremonies. The law prescribed +and public health demanded it. But the law was a dead letter and the +public health was never considered when these cut into church revenues, +as Hidalgo ought to have known. + +Upon Rizal's arrival in Hongkong, in the fall of 1891, he received +notice that his brother Paciano had been returned from exile in +Mindoro, but that three of his sisters had been summoned, with the +probability of deportation. + +A trap to get Rizal into the hands of the government by playing +upon his affection for his mother was planned at this time, but it +failed. Mrs. Rizal and one of her daughters were arrested in Manila +for "falsification of cedula" because they no longer used the name +Realonda, which the mother had dropped fifteen years before. Then, +though there were frequently boats running to Kalamba, the two women +were ordered to be taken there for trial on foot. As when Mrs. Rizal +had been a prisoner before, the humane guards disobeyed their orders +and the elderly lady was carried in a hammock. The family understood +the plans of their persecutors, and Rizal was told by his parents +not to come to Manila. Then the persecution of the mother and the +sister dropped. + +In Hongkong, Rizal was already acquainted with most of the Filipino +colony, including Jose M. Basa, a '72 exile of great energy, for whom +he had the greatest respect. The old man was an unceasing enemy of all +the religious orders and was constantly getting out "proclamations," +as the handbills common in the old-time controversies were called. One +of these, against the Jesuits, figures in the case against Rizal +and bears some minor corrections in his handwriting. Nevertheless, +his participation in it was probably no more than this proofreading +for his friend, whose motives he could appreciate, but whose plan of +action was not in harmony with his own ideas. + +Letters of introduction from London friends secured for Rizal the +acquaintance of Mr. H. L. Dalrymple, a justice of the peace--which is +a position more coveted and honored in English lands than here--and +a member of the public library committee, as well as of the board +of medical examiners. He was a merchant, too, and agent for the +British North Borneo Company, which had recently secured a charter +as a semi-independent colony for the extensive cession which had +originally been made to the American Trading Company and later +transferred to them. + +Rizal spent much of his time in the library, reading especially the +files of the older newspapers, which contained frequent mention of +the Philippines. As an oldtime missionary had left his books to the +library, the collection was rich in writings of the fathers of the +early Church, as well as in philology and travel. He spent much time +also in long conversations with Editor Frazier-Smith of the Hongkong +Telegraph, the most enterprising of the daily newspapers. He was +the master of St. John's Masonic lodge (Scotch constitution), which +Rizal had visited upon his first arrival, intensely democratic and +a close student of world politics. The two became fast friends and +Rizal contributed to the Telegraph several articles on Philippine +matters. These were printed in Spanish, ostensibly for the benefit of +the Filipino colony in Hongkong, but large numbers of the paper were +mailed to the Philippines and thus at first escaped the vigilance +of the censors. Finally the scheme was discovered and the Telegraph +placed on the prohibited list, but, like most Spanish actions, this +was just too late to prevent the circulation of what Rizal had wished +to say to his countrymen. + +With the first of the year 1892 the free portion of Rizal's family came +to Hongkong. He had been licensed to practice medicine in the colony, +and opened an office, specializing as an oculist with notable success. + +Another congenial companion was a man of his own profession, Doctor +L. P. Marquez, a Portuguese who had received his medical education in +Dublin and was a naturalized British subject. He was a leading member +of the Portuguese club, Lusitania, which was of radically republican +proclivities and possessed an excellent library of books on modern +political conditions. An inspection of the colonial prison with him +inspired Rizal's article, "A Visit to Victoria Gaol," through which +runs a pathetic contrast of the English system of imprisonment for +reformation with the Spanish vindictive methods of punishment. A +souvenir of one of their many conferences was a dainty modeling in +clay made by Rizal with that astonishing quickness that resulted from +his Uncle Gabriel's training during his early childhood. + +In the spring, Rizal took a voyage to British North Borneo and with +Mr. Pryor, the agent, looked over vacant lands which had been offered +him by the Company for a Filipino colony. The officials were anxious +to grow abaca, cacao, sugar cane and coconuts, all products of the +Philippines, the soil of which resembled theirs. So they welcomed the +prospect of the immigration of laborers skilled in such cultivation, +the Kalambans and other persecuted people of the Luzon lake region, +whom Doctor Rizal hoped to transplant there to a freer home. + +A different kind of governor-general had succeeded Weyler in the +Philippines; the new man was Despujol, a friend of the Jesuits +and a man who at once gave the Filipinos hope of better days, +for his promises were quickly backed up by the beginnings of their +performance. Rizal witnessed this novel experience for his country +with gratification, though he had seen too many disappointments to +confide in the continuance of reform, and he remembered that the like +liberal term of De la Torre had ended in the Cavite reaction. + +He wrote early to the new chief executive, applauding Despujol's policy +and offering such cooeperation as he might be able to give toward +making it a complete success. No reply had been received, but after +Rizal's return from his Borneo trip the Spanish consul in Hongkong +assured him that he would not be molested should he go to Manila. + +Rizal therefore made up his mind to visit his home once more. He +still cherished the plan of transferring those of his relatives +and friends who were homeless through the land troubles, or +discontented with their future in the Philippines, to the district +offered to him by the British North Borneo Company. There, under the +protection of the British flag, but in their accustomed climate, with +familiar surroundings amid their own people, a New Kalamba would be +established. Filipinos would there have a chance to prove to the world +what they were capable of, and their free condition would inevitably +react on the neighboring Philippines and help to bring about better +government there. + +Rizal had no intention of renouncing his Philippine allegiance, for +he always regretted the naturalization of his countrymen abroad, +considering it a loss to the country which needed numbers to play +the influential part he hoped it would play in awakening Asia. All +his arguments were for British justice and "Equality before the Law," +for he considered that political power was only a means of securing +and assuring fair treatment for all, and in itself of no interest. + +With such ideas he sailed for home, bearing the Spanish consul's +passport. He left two letters in Hongkong with his friend Doctor +Marquez marked, "To be opened after my death," and their contents +indicate that he was not unmindful of how little regard Spain had +had in his country for her plighted honor. + +One was to his beloved parents, brother and sisters, and friends: + +"The affection that I have ever professed for you suggests this +step, and time alone can tell whether or not it is sensible. Their +outcome decides things by results, but whether that be favorable or +unfavorable, it may always be said that duty urged me, so if I die +in doing it, it will not matter. + +"I realize how much suffering I have caused you, still I do not +regret what I have done. Rather, if I had to begin over again, still +I should do just the same, for it has been only duty. Gladly do I go +to expose myself to peril, not as any expiation of misdeeds (for in +this matter I believe myself guiltless of any), but to complete my +work and myself offer the example of which I have always preached. + +"A man ought to die for duty and his principles. I hold fast to +every idea which I have advanced as to the condition and future of +our country, and shall willingly die for it, and even more willingly +to procure for you justice and peace. + +"With pleasure, then, I risk life to save so many innocent persons--so +many nieces and nephews, so many children of friends, and children, +too, of others who are not even friends--who are suffering on my +account. What am I? A single man, practically without family, and +sufficiently undeceived as to life. I have had many disappointments +and the future before me is gloomy, and will be gloomy if light does +not illuminate it, the dawn of a better day for my native land. On the +other hand, there are many individuals, filled with hope and ambition, +who perhaps all might be happy were I dead, and then I hope my enemies +would be satisfied and stop persecuting so many entirely innocent +people. To a certain extent their hatred is justifiable as to myself, +and my parents and relatives. + +"Should fate go against me, you will all understand that I shall die +happy in the thought that my death will end all your troubles. Return +to our country and may you be happy in it. + +"Till the last moment of my life I shall be thinking of you and +wishing you all good fortune and happiness." + + * * * * * + +The other letter was directed "To the Filipinos," and said: + +"The step which I am taking, or rather am about to take, is undoubtedly +risky, and it is unnecessary to say that I have considered it some +time. I understand that almost every one is opposed to it; but I know +also that hardly anybody else comprehends what is in my heart. I cannot +live on seeing so many suffer unjust persecutions on my account; I +cannot bear longer the sight of my sisters and their numerous families +treated like criminals. I prefer death and cheerfully shall relinquish +life to free so many innocent persons from such unjust persecution. + +"I appreciate that at present the future of our country gravitates +in some degree around me, that at my death many will feel triumphant, +and, in consequence, many are wishing for my fall. But what of it? I +hold duties of conscience above all else, I have obligations to the +families who suffer, to my aged parents whose sighs strike me to the +heart; I know that I alone, only with my death, can make them happy, +returning them to their native land and to a peaceful life at home. I +am all my parents have, but our country has many, many more sons who +can take my place and even do my work better. + +"Besides I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know +how to die for duty and principles. What matters death, if one dies +for what one loves, for native land and beings held dear? + +"If I thought that I were the only resource for the policy of progress +in the Philippines and were I convinced that my countrymen were +going to make use of my services, perhaps I should hesitate about +taking this step; but there are still others who can take my place, +who, too, can take my place with advantage. Furthermore, there are +perchance those who hold me unneeded and my services are not utilized, +resulting that I am reduced to inactivity. + +"Always have I loved our unhappy land, and I am sure that I shall +continue loving it till my latest moment, in case men prove unjust +to me. My career, my life, my happiness, all have I sacrificed for +love of it. Whatever my fate, I shall die blessing it and longing +for the dawn of its redemption." + +And then followed the note; "Make these letters public after my death." + +Suspicion of the Spanish authorities was justified. The consul's +cablegram notifying Governor-General Despujol. that Rizal had fallen +into their trap, sent the day of issuing the "safe-conduct" or special +passport, bears the same date as the secret case filed against him +in Manila, "for anti religious and anti patriotic agitation." On +that same day the deceitful Despujol was confidentially inquiring +of his executive secretary whether it was true that Rizal had been +naturalized as a German subject, and, if so, what effect would that +have on the governor-general's right to take executive action; that +is, could he deport one who had the protection of a strong nation with +the same disregard for the forms of justice that he could a Filipino? + +This inquiry is joined to an order to the local authorities in the +provinces near Manila instructing them to watch the comings and goings +of their prominent people during the following weeks. The scheme +resembled that which was concocted prior to '72, but Governor-General +de la Torte was honest in his reforms. Despujol may, or may not, +have been honest in other matters, but as concerns Rizal there is +no lack of proof of his perfidy. The confidential file relating to +this part of the case was forgotten in destroying and removing secret +papers when Manila passed into a democratic conqueror's hands, and +now whoever wishes may read, in the Bureau of Archives, documents +which the Conde de Caspe, to use a noble title for an ignoble man, +considered safely hidden. As with Weyler's contidential letter to the +friar landlords, these discoveries convict their writers of bad faith, +with no possibility of mistake. + +This point in the reformed Spanish writer's biography of Rizal is +made occasion for another of his treacherous attacks upon the good +name of his pretended hero. Just as in the land troubles Retana held +that legally Governor-General Weyler was justified in disregarding +an appeal pending in the courts, so in this connection he declares: +"(Despujol) unquestionably had been deceived by Rizal when, from +Hongkong, he offered to Despujol not to meddle in politics." That +Rizal meddled in politics rests solely upon Despujol's word, and +it will be seen later how little that is worth; but, politics or no +politics, Rizal's fate was settled before he ever came to Manila. + +Rizal was accompanied to Manila by his sister Lucia, widow of that +brother-in-law who had been denied Christian burial because of his +relationship to Rizal. In the Basa home, among other waste papers, +and for that use, she had gathered up five copies of a recent +"proclamation," entitled "Pobres Frailes" (Poor Friars), a small +sheet possibly two inches wide and five long. These, crumpled up, +were tucked into the case of the pillow which Mrs. Hervosa used on +board. Later, rolled up in her blankets and bed mat, or petate, they +went to the custom house along with the other baggage, and of course +were discovered in the rigorous examination which the officers always +made. How strict Philippine customs searches were, Henry Norman, an +English writer of travels, explains by remarking that Manila was the +only port where he had ever had his pockets picked officially. His +visit was made at about the time of which we are writing, and the +object, he says, was to keep out anti friar publications. + +Rizal and his sister landed without difficulty, and he at once went to +the Oriente Hotel, then the best in town, for Rizal always traveled +and lived as became a member of a well-to-do family. Next he waited +on the Governor-General, with whom he had a very brief interview, +for it happened to be on one of the numerous religious festivals, +during which he obtained favorable consideration for his deported +sisters. Several more interviews occurred in which the hopes first +given were realized, so that those of the family then awaiting exile +were pardoned and those already deported were to be returned at an +early date. + +One night Rizal was the guest of honor at a dinner given by the masters +and wardens of the Masonic lodges of Manila, and he was surprised and +delighted at the progress the institution had made in the Islands. Then +he had another task not so agreeable, for, while awaiting a delayed +appointment with the Governor-General, he with two others ran up on +the new railway to Tarlac. Ostensibly this was to see the country, +but it was not for a pleasure trip. They were investigating the sales +of Rizal's books and trying to find out what had become of the money +received from them, for while the author's desire had been to place +them at so low a price as to be within the reach of even the poor, it +was reported that the sales had been few and at high prices, so that +copies were only read by the wealthy whose desire to obtain the rare +and much-discussed novels led them to pay exorbitant figures for them. + +Rizal's party, consisting of the Secretary of one of the lodges of +Manila, and another Mason, a prominent school-teacher, were under +constant surveillance and a minute record of their every act is +preserved in the "reserved" files, now, of course, so only in name, +as they are no longer secret. Immediately after they left a house it +would be thoroughly searched and the occupants strictly questioned. In +spite of the precautions of the officials, Rizal soon learned of this, +and those whom they visited were warned of what to expect. In one home +so many forbidden papers were on hand that Rizal delayed his journey +till the family completed their task of carrying them upstairs and +hiding them in the roof. + +At another place he came across an instance of superstition such as +that which had caused him to cease his sleight-of-hand exhibitions +on his former return to the Islands. Their host was a man of little +education but great hospitality, and the party were most pleasantly +entertained. During the conversation he spoke of Rizal, but did not +seem to know that his hero had come back to the Philippines. His +remarks drifted into the wildest superstition, and, after asserting +that Rizal bore a charmed life, he startled his audience by saying +that if the author of "Noli Me Tangere" cared to do so, he could be +with them at that very instant. At first the three thought themselves +discovered by their host, but when Rizal made himself known, the +old man proved that he had had no suspicion of his guest's identity, +for he promptly became busy preparing his home for the search which +he realized would shortly follow. On another occasion their host +was a stranger whom Rizal treated for a temporary illness, leaving +a prescription to be filled at the drug store. The name signed to +the paper was a revelation, but the first result was activity in +cleaning house. + +No fact is more significant of the utter rottenness of the Spanish +rule than the unanimity of the people in their discontent. Only a +few persons at first were in open opposition, but books, pamphlets +and circulars were eagerly sought, read and preserved, with the +knowledge generally, of the whole family, despite the danger of +possessing them. At times, as in the case of Rizal's novels, an entire +neighborhood was in the secret; the book was buried in a garden and +dug up to be read from at a gathering of the older men, for which a +dance gave pretext. Informers were so rare that the possibility of +treachery among themselves was hardly reckoned in the risk. + +The authorities were constantly searching dwellings, often entire +neighborhoods, and with a thoroughness which entirely disregarded +the possibility of damaging an innocent person's property. These +"domiciliary registrations" were, of course, supposed to be unexpected, +but in the later Spanish days the intended victims usually had +warning from some employee in the office where it was planned, or +from some domestic of the official in charge; very often, however, the +warning was so short as to give only time for a hasty destruction of +incriminating documents and did not permit of their being transferred +to other hiding places. Thus large losses were incurred, and to these +must be added damages from dampness when a hole in the ground, the +inside of a post, or cementing up in the wall furnished the means of +concealment. Fires, too, were frequent, and such events attracted so +much attention that it was scarcely safe to attempt to save anything +of an incriminating nature. + +Six years of war conditions did their part toward destroying what +little had escaped, and from these explanations the reader may +understand how it comes that the tangled story of Spain's last half +century here presents an historical problem more puzzling than that +of much more remote times in more favored lands. + +It seems almost providential that the published statement of +the Governor-General can be checked not only by an account which +Rizal secretly sent to friends, but also by the candid memoranda +contained in the untruthful executive's own secret folios. While +some unessential details of Rizal's career are in doubt, not a point +vital to establishing his good name lacks proof that his character +was exemplary and that he is worthy of the hero-worship which has +come to him. + +After Rizal's return to Manila from his railway trip he had the +promised interview with the Governor-General. At their previous +meetings the discussions had been quite informal. Rizal, in +complimenting the General upon his inauguration of reforms, mentioned +that the Philippine system of having no restraint whatever upon +the chief executive had at least the advantage that a well-disposed +governor-general would find no red-tape hindrances to his plans for +the public benefit. But Despujol professed to believe that the best +of men make mistakes and that a wise government would establish +safeguards against this human fallibility. + +The final, and fatal, interview began with the Governor-General asking +Rizal if he still persisted in his plan for a Filipino colony in +British North Borneo; Despujol had before remarked that with so much +Philippine land lying idle for want of cultivation it did not seem to +him patriotic to take labor needed at home away for the development +of a foreign land. Rizal's former reply had dealt with the difficulty +the government was in respecting the land troubles, since the tenants +who had taken the old renters' places now also must be considered, +and he pointed out that there was, besides, a bitterness between the +parties which could not easily be forgotten by either side. So this +time he merely remarked that he had found no reason for changing his +original views. + +Hereupon the General took from his desk the five little sheets of +the "Poor Friars" handbill, which he said had been found in the roll +of bedding sent with Rizal's baggage to the custom house, and asked +whose they could be. Rizal answered that of course the General knew +that the bedding belonged to his sister Lucia, but she was no fool +and would not have secreted in a place where they were certain to be +found five little papers which, hidden within her camisa or placed +in her stocking, would have been absolutely sure to come in unnoticed. + +Rizal, neither then nor later, knew the real truth, which was that +these papers were gathered up at random and without any knowledge of +their contents. If it was a crime to have lived in a house where such +seditious printed matter was common, then Rizal, who had openly visited +Basa's home, was guilty before ever the handbills were found. But no +reasonable person would believe another rational being could be so +careless of consequences as to bring in openly such dangerous material. + +The very title was in sarcastic allusion to the inconsistency of a +religious order being an immensely wealthy organization, while its +individual members were vowed to poverty. News, published everywhere +except in the Philippines, of losses sustained in outside commercial +enterprises running into the millions, was made the text for showing +how money, professedly raised in the Philippines for charities, +was not so used and was invested abroad in fear of that day of +reckoning when tyranny would be overthrown in anarchy and property +would be insecure. The belief of the pious Filipinos, fostered +by their religious exploiters, that the Pope would suffer great +hardship if their share of "Peter's pence" was not prompt and full, +was contrasted with another newspaper story of a rich dowry given +to a favorite niece by a former Pope, but that in no way taught the +truth that the Head of the Church was not put to bodily discomfort +whenever a poor Filipino failed to come forward with his penny. + +Despujol managed to work himself into something like a passion over +this alleged disrespect to the Pope, and ordered Rizal to be taken +as a prisoner to Fort Santiago by the nephew who acted as his aide. + +Like most facts, this version runs a middle course between the extreme +stories which have been current. Like circulars may have been printed +at the "Asilo de Malabon," as has been asserted; these certainly came +from Hongkong and were not introduced by any archbishop's nephew on +duty at the custom house, as another tale suggests. On the other hand, +the circular was the merest pretext, and Despujol did not act in good +faith, as many claim that he did. + +It may be of interest to reprint the handbill from a facsimile of an +original copy: + + +Pobres Frailes! + +Acaba de suspender sus pages un Banco, acaba de quebrarse el New +Oriental. + +Grandes pedidas en la India, en la isla Mauricio al sur de Africa, +ciclones y tempestades acabaron con su podeiro, tragnadose mas de +36,000,000 de pesos. Estos treinta y seis millones representaban las +esperanzas, las economias, el bienestar y el porvenir de numerosos +individuos y familias. + +Entre los que mas han sufrido podemos contar a la Rvda. Corporacion +de los P. P. Dominicos, que pierden en esta quiebra muchos cientos +de miles. No se sabe la cuenta exacta porque tanto dinero se les +envia de aqui y tantos depositos hacen, que se necesitarlan muchos +contadores para calcular el immense caudal de que disponen. + +Pero, no se aflijan los amigos ni triunfen los enemigos de los santos +monjes que profesan vote de pobreza. + +A unos y otros les diremos que pueden estar tranquilos. La Corporacion +tiene aun muchos millones depositados en los Bancos de Hongkong, y +aunque todos quebrasen, y aunque se derrumbasen sus miles de casas de +alquiler, siempre quedarian sus curates y haciendas, les quedarian los +filipinos dispuestos siempre a ayunar para darles una limosna. ?Que son +cuatrocientos o quinientos mil? Que se tomen la molestia de recorrer +los pueblos y pedir limosna y se resarciran de esa perdida. Hace un +ano que, por la mala administracion de los cardenales, el Papa perdio +14,000,000 del dinero de San Pedro; el Papa, para cubrir el deficit, +acude a nosotros y nosotros recogemos de nuestros tampipis el ultimo +real, porque sabemos que el Papa tiene muchas atenciones; hace cosa +de cinco anos caso a una sobrina suya dotandola de un palacio y +300,000 francos ademas. Haced un esfuerzo pues, generosos filipinos, +y socorred a los dominicos igualmente! + +Ademas, esos centanares de miles perdidos no son de ellos, segun dicen: +?como los iban a tener si tienen voto de pobreza? Hay que creerlos +pues cuando, para cubrirse, dicen que son de los huerfanos y de las +viudas. Muy seguramente pertencerian algunos a las viudas y a los +huerfanos de Kalamba, y quien sabe si a los desterrados maridos! y +los manejan los virtuosos frailes solo a titulo de depositarios para +devolverlos despues religiosamente con todos sus intereses cuando +llegue el dia de rendir cuentas! Quien sabe? Quien mejor que ellos +podia encargarse de recoger los pocos haberes mientras las casas +ardian, huian las viudas y los huerfanos sin encontrar hospitalidad, +pues se habia prohibido darles albergue, mientras los hombres estaban +presos o perseguidos? ?Quien mejor que los dominicos para tener tanto +valor, tanta audacia y tanta humanidad? + +Pero, ahora el diablo se ha llevado el dinero de los huerfanos y de +las viudas, y es de temer que se lleve tambien el resto, pues cuando el +diablo la empieza la ha de acabar. Tendria ese dinero mala procedencia? + +Si asl sucediese, nosotros los recomendariamos a los dominicos que +dijesen con Job: Desnudo sali del vientre de mi madre (Espana), +y desnudo volvere alla; lo dio el diablo, el diablo se lo llevo; +bendito sea el nombre del Senor! + +Fr. Jacinto. + +Manila: Imprenta de los Amigos del Pais. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Deportation to Dapitan + +As soon as Rizal was lodged in his prison, a room in Fort Santiago, the +Governor-General began the composition of one of the most extraordinary +official documents ever issued in this land where the strangest +governmental acts have abounded. It is apology, argument, and attack +all in one and was published in the Official Gazette, where it occupied +most of an entire issue. The effect of the righteous anger it displays +suffers somewhat when one knows how all was planned from the day Rizal +was decoyed from Hongkong under the faithless safe-conduct. Another +enlightening feature is the copy of a later letter, preserved in that +invaluable secret file, wherein Despujol writes Rizal's custodian, as +jailer, to allow the exile in no circumstances to see this number of +the Gazette or to know its contents, and suggests several evasions to +assist the subordinate's power of invention. It is certainly a strange +indignation which fears that its object shall learn the reason for +wrath, nor is it a creditable spectacle when one beholds the chief +of a government giving private lessons in lying. + +A copy of the Gazette was sent to the Spanish Consul in Hongkong, also +a cablegram directing him to give it publicity that "Spain's good name +might not suffer" in that colony. By his blunder, not knowing that +the Lusitania Club was really a Portuguese Masonic lodge and full of +Rizal's friends, a copy was sent there and a strong reply was called +forth. The friendly editor of the Hongkong Telegraph devoted columns to +the outrage by which a man whose acquaintance in the scientific world +reflected honor upon his nation, was decoyed to what was intended +to be his death, exiled to "an unhealthful, savage spot," through +"a plot of which the very Borgias would have been ashamed." + +The British Consul in Manila, too, mentioned unofficially to +Governor-General Despujol that it seemed a strange way of showing +Spain's often professed friendship for Great Britain thus to disregard +the annoyance to the British colony of North Borneo caused by making +impossible an entirely unexceptionable plan. Likewise, in much the +same respectfully remonstrant tone which the Great Powers are wont +to use in recalling to semi-savage states their obligations to +civilization, he pointed out how Spain's prestige as an advanced +nation would suffer when the educated world, in which Rizal was +Spain's best-known representative, learned that the man whom they +honored had been trapped out of his security under the British flag +and sent into exile without the slightest form of trial. + +Almost the last act of Rizal while at liberty was the establishment +of the "Liga Filipina," a league or association seeking to unite all +Filipinos of good character for concerted action toward the economic +advancement of their country, for a higher standard of manhood, and +to assure opportunities for education and development to talented +Filipino youth. Resistance to oppression by lawful means was also +urged, for Rizal believed that no one could fairly complain of bad +government until he had exhausted and found unavailing all the legal +resources provided for his protection. This was another expression +of his constant teaching that slaves, those who toadied to power, +and men without self-respect made possible and fostered tyranny, +abuses and disregard of the rights of others. + +The character test was also a step forward, for the profession of +patriotism has often been made to cloak moral shortcomings in the +Philippines as well as elsewhere. Rizal urged that those who would +offer themselves on the altar of their fatherland must conform to +the standard of old, and, like the sacrificial lamb, be spotless +and without blemish. Therefore, no one who had justifiably been +prosecuted for any infamous crime was eligible to membership in the +new organization. + +The plan, suggested by a Spanish Masonic society called C. Kadosch +y Cia., originated with Jose Maria Basa, at whose instance Rizal +drafted the constitution and regulations. Possibly all the members +were Freemasons of the educated and better-to-do class, and most +of them adhered to the doctrine that peaceably obtained reforms and +progress by education are surest and best. + +Rizal's arrest discouraged those of this higher faith, for the +peaceable policy seemed hopeless, while the radical element, freed from +Rizal's restraining influence and deeming the time for action come, +formed a new and revolutionary society which preached force of arms +as the only argument left to them, and sought its membership among +the less-enlightened and poorer class. + +Their inspiration was Andres Bonifacio, a shipping clerk for a foreign +firm, who had read and re-read accounts of the French Revolution +till he had come to believe that blood alone could wipe out the +wrongs of a country. His organization, The Sons of the Country, +more commonly called the Katipunan, was, however, far from being as +bloodthirsty as most Spanish accounts, and those of many credulous +writers who have got their ideas from them, have asserted. To enlist +others in their defense, those who knew that they were the cause of +dissatisfaction spread the report that a race war was in progress +and that the Katipuneros were planning the massacre of all of the +white race. It was a sufficiently absurd statement, but it was made +even more ridiculous by its "proof," for this was the discovery of an +apron with a severed head, a hand holding it by the hair and another +grasping the dagger which had done the bloody work. This emblem, +handed down from ancient days as an object lesson of faithfulness +even to death, has been known in many lands besides the Philippines, +but only here has it ever been considered anything but an ancient +symbol. As reasonably might the paintings of martyrdoms in the +convents be taken as evidence of evil intentions upon the part of +their occupants, but prejudice looks for pretexts rather than reasons, +and this served as well as any other for the excesses of which the +government in its frenzy of fear was later guilty. + +In talking of the Katipunan one must distinguish the first society, +limited in its membership, from the organization of the days of the +Aguinaldo "republic," so called, when throughout the Tagalog provinces, +and in the chief towns of other provinces as well, adherence to the +revolutionary government entailed membership in the revolutionary +society. And neither of these two Katipunans bore any relation, except +in name and emblems, to the robber bands whose valor was displayed +after the war had ceased and whose patriotism consisted in wronging +and robbing their own defenseless countrymen and countrywomen, while +carefully avoiding encounters with any able to defend themselves. + +Rizal's arrest had put an end to all hope of progress under +Governor-General Despujol. It had left the political field in +possession of those countrymen who had not been in sympathy with +his campaign of education. It had caused the succession of the +revolutionary Katipunan to the economic Liga Filipina, with talk +of independence supplanting Rizal's ambition for the return of +the Philippines to their former status under the Constitution of +Cadiz. But the victim of the arrest was at peace as he had not been +in years. The sacrifice for country and for family had been made, +but it was not to cost him life, and he was human enough to wish to +live. A visitor's room in the Fort and books from the military library +made his detention comfortable, for he did not worry about the Spanish +sentries without his door who were placed there under orders to shoot +anyone who might attempt to signal to him from the plaza. + +One night the Governor-General's nephew-aide came again to the Fort +and Rizal embarked on the steamer which was to take him to his place +of exile, but closely as he was guarded he risked dropping a note +which a Filipino found and took, as it directed, to Mrs. Rizal's +cousin, Vicenta Leyba, who lived in Calle Jose, Trozo. Thus the +family were advised of his departure; this incident shows Rizal's +perfect confidence in his countrymen and the extent to which it was +justified; he could risk a chance finder to take so dangerous a letter +to its address. + +On the steamer he occupied an officer's cabin and also found a Filipino +quartermaster, of whom he requested a life preserver for his stateroom; +evidently he was not entirely confident that there were no hostile +designs against him. Accidents had rid the Philippines of troublesome +persons before his time, and he was determined that if he sacrificed +his life for his country, it should be openly. He realized that the +tree of Liberty is often watered with the blood of secret as well as +open martyrs. + +The same boat carried some soldier prisoners, one of whom was to be +executed in Mindanao, and their case was not particularly creditable +to Spanish ideas of justice. A Spanish officer had dishonorably +interfered with the domestic relations of a sergeant, also Spanish, +and the aggrieved party had inflicted punishment upon his superior, +with the help of some other soldiers. For allowing himself to be +punished, not for his own disgraceful act, the officer was dismissed +from the service, but the sergeant was to go to the scene of his +alleged "crime," there to suffer death, while his companions who had +assisted him in protecting their homes were to be witnesses of this +"justice" and then to be imprisoned. + +After an uneventful trip the steamer reached Dapitan, in the northeast +of the large island of Mindanao, on a dark and rainy evening. The +officer in charge of the expedition took Doctor Rizal ashore with +some papers relating to him and delivered all to the commandant, +Ricardo Carnicero. The receipt taken was briefed "One countryman and +two packages." At the same time learned men in Europe were beginning +to hear of this outrage worthy of the Dark Ages and were remarking +that Spain had stopped the work of the man who was practically her +only representative in modern science, for the Castilian language +has not been the medium through which any considerable additions have +been made to the world's store of scientific knowledge. + +Rizal was to reside either with the commandant or with the Jesuit +parish priest, if the latter would take him into the convento. But +while the exile had learned with pleasure that he was to meet priests +who were refined and learned, as well as associated with his happier +school days, he did not know that these priests were planning to +restore him to his childhood faith and had mapped out a plan of action +which should first make him feel his loneliness. So he was denied +residence with the priest unless he would declare himself genuinely +in sympathy with Spain. + +On his previous brief visit to the Islands he had been repelled from +the Ateneo with the statement that till he ceased to be anti-Catholic +and anti-Spanish he would not be welcome. Padre Faura, the famous +meteorologist, was his former instructor and Rizal was his favorite +pupil; he had tearfully predicted that the young man would come to +the scaffold at last unless he mended his ways. But Rizal, confident +in the clearness of his own conscience, went out cheerfully, and when +the porter tried to bring back the memory of his childhood piety by +reminding him of the image of the Sacred Heart which he had carved +years before, Rizal answered, "Other times, other customs, Brother. I +do not believe that way any more." + +So Rizal, a good Catholic, was compelled to board with the commandant +instead of with the priest because he was unwilling to make +hypocritical professions of admiration for Spain. The commandant and +Rizal soon became good friends, but in order to retain his position +Carnicero had to write to the Governor-General in a different strain. + +The correspondence tells the facts in the main, but of course +they are colored throughout to conform to Despujol's character. The +commandant is always represented as deceiving his prisoner and gaining +his confidence only to betray him, but Rizal seems never to have +experienced anything but straightforward dealing. + +Rizal's earliest letter from Dapitan speaks almost enthusiastically +of the place, describing the climate as exceptional for the tropics, +his situation as agreeable, and saying that he could be quite content +if his family and his books were there. + +Shortly after occurred the anniversary of Carnicero's arrival in the +town, and Rizal celebrated the event with a Spanish poem reciting +the improvements made since his coming, written in the style of the +Malay loa, and as though it were by the children of Dapitan. + +Next Rizal acquired a piece of property at Talisay, a little bay close +to Dapitan, and at once became interested in his farm. Soon he built +a house and moved into it, gathering a number of boy assistants about +him, and before long he had a school. A hospital also was put up for +his patients and these in time became a source of revenue, as people +from a distance came to the oculist for treatment and paid liberally. + +One five-hundred-peso fee from a rich Englishman was devoted by Rizal +to lighting the town, and the community benefited in this way by his +charity in addition to the free treatment given its poor. + +The little settlement at Talisay kept growing and those who lived +there were constantly improving it. When Father Obach, the Jesuit +priest, fell through the bamboo stairway in the principal house, Rizal +and his boys burned shells, made mortar, and soon built a fine stone +stairway. They also did another piece of masonry work in the shape of +a dam for storing water that was piped to the houses and poultry yard; +the overflow from the dam was made to fill a swimming tank. + +The school, including the house servants, numbered about twenty and +was taught without books by Rizal, who conducted his recitations +from a hammock. Considerable importance was given to mathematics, +and in languages English was taught as well as Spanish, the entire +waking period being devoted to the language allotted for the day, +and whoever so far forgot as to utter a word in any other tongue was +punished by having to wear a rattan handcuff. The use and meaning of +this modern police device had to be explained to the boys, for Spain +still tied her prisoners with rope. + +Nature study consisted in helping the Doctor gather specimens +of flowers, shells, insects and reptiles which were prepared and +shipped to German museums. Rizal was paid for these specimens by +scientific books and material. The director of the Royal Zooelogical +and Anthropological Museum in Dresden, Saxony, Doctor Karl von Heller, +was a great friend and admirer of Doctor Rizal. Doctor Heller's father +was tutor to the late King Alfonso XII and had many friends at the +Court of Spain. Evidently Doctor Heller and other of his European +friends did not consider Rizal a Spanish insurrectionary, but treated +him rather as a reformer seeking progress by peaceful means. + +Doctor Rizal remunerated his pupils' work with gifts of clothing, +books and other useful remembrances. Sometimes the rewards were +cartidges, and those who had accumulated enough were permitted to +accompany him in his hunting expeditions. The dignity of labor was +practically inculcated by requiring everyone to make himself useful, +and this was really the first school of the type, combining the use +of English, nature study and industrial instruction. + +On one occasion in the year 1894 some of his schoolboys secretly +went into the town in a banca; a puppy which tried to follow them +was eaten by a crocodile. Rizal tired to impress the evil effects of +disobedience upon the youngsters by pointing out to them the sorrow +which the mother-dog felt at the loss of her young one, and emphasized +the lesson by modeling a statuette called "The Mother's Revenge," +wherein she is represented, in revenge, as devouring the cayman. It +is said to be a good likeness of the animal which was Doctor Rizal's +favorite companion in his many pedestrian excursions around Dapitan. + +Father Francisco Sanchez, Rizal's instructor in rhetoric in the Ateneo, +made a long visit to Dapitan and brought with him some surveyor's +instruments, which his former pupil was delighted to assist him in +using. Together they ran the levels for a water system for the the +town, which was later, with the aid of the lay Jesuit, Brother Tildot, +carried to completion. This same water system is now being restored +and enlarged with artesian wells by the present insular, provincial +and municipal governments jointly, as part of the memorial to Rizal +in this place of his exile. + +A visit to a not distant mountain and some digging in a spot supposed +by the people of the region to be haunted brought to light curious +relics of the first Christian converts among the early Moros. + +The state of his mind at about this period of his career is indicated +by the verses written in his home in Talisay, entitled "My Retreat," +of which the following translation has been made by Mr. Charles +Derbyshire. The scene that inspired this poem has been converted by +the government into a public park to the memory of Rizal. + + + My Retreat + + By the spreading beach where the sands are soft and fine, + At the foot of the mount in its mantle of green, + I have built my hut in the pleasant grove's confine; + From the forest seeking peace and a calmness divine, + Rest for the weary brain and silence to my sorrow keen. + + Its roof the frail palm-leaf and its floor the cane, + Its beams and posts of the unhewn wood; + Little there is of value in this hut so plain, + And better by far in the lap of the mount to have lain, + By the song and the murmur of the high sea's flood. + + A purling brook from the woodland glade + Drops down o'er the stones and around it sweeps, + Whence a fresh stream is drawn by the rough cane's aid; + That in the still night its murmur has made, + And in the day's heat a crystal fountain leaps. + + When the sky is serene how gently it flows, + And its zither unseen ceaselessly plays; + But when the rains fall a torrent it goes + Boiling and foaming through the rocky close, + Roaring uncheck'd to the sea's wide ways. + + The howl of the dog and the song of the bird, + And only the kalao's hoarse call resound; + Nor is the voice of vain man to be heard, + My mind to harass or my steps to begird; + The woodlands alone and the sea wrap me round. + + The sea, ah, the sea! for me it is all, + As it massively sweeps from the worlds apart; + Its smile in the morn to my soul is a call, + And when in the even my fath seems to pall, + It breathes with its sadness an echo to my heart. + + By night an arcanum; when translucent it glows, + All spangled over with its millions of lights, + And the bright sky above resplendent shows; + While the waves with their sighs tell of their woes-- + Tales that are lost as they roll to the heights. + + They tell of the world when the first dawn broke, + And the sunlight over their surface played; + When thousands of beings from nothingness woke, + To people the depths and the heights to cloak, + Wherever its life-giving kiss was laid. + + But when in the night the wild winds awake, + And the waves in their fury begin to leap, + Through the air rush the cries that my mind shake; + Voices that pray, songs and moans that partake + Of laments from the souls sunk down in the deep. + + Then from their heights the mountains groan, + And the trees shiver tremulous from great unto least; + The groves rustle plaintive and the herds utter moan, + For they say that the ghosts of the folk that are gone + Are calling them down to their death's merry feast. + + In terror and confusion whispers the night, + While blue and green flames flit over the deep; + But calm reigns again with the morning's light, + And soon the bold fisherman comes into sight, + As his bark rushes on and the waves sink to sleep. + + So onward glide the days in my lonely abode; + Driven forth from the world where once I was known, + I muse o'er the fate upon me bestow'd; + A fragment forgotten that the moss will corrode, + To hide from mankind the world in me shown. + + I live in the thought of the lov'd ones left, + And oft their names to my mind are borne; + Some have forsaken me and some by death are reft; + But now 'tis all one, as through the past I drift, + That past which from me can never be torn. + + For it is the friend that is with me always, + That ever in sorrow keeps the faith in my soul; + While through the still night it watches and prays, + As here in my exile in my lone hut it stays, + To strengthen my faith when doubts o'er me roll. + + That faith I keep and I hope to see shine + The day when the Idea prevails over might; + When after the fray and death's slow decline, + Some other voice sounds, far happier than mine, + To raise the glad song of the triumph of right. + + I see the sky glow, refulgent and clear, + As when it forced on me my first dear illusion; + I feel the same wind kiss my forehead sere, + And the fire is the same that is burning here + To stir up youth's blood in boiling confusion. + + I breathe here the winds that perchance have pass'd + O'er the fields and the rivers of my own natal shore; + And mayhap they will bring on the returning blast + The sighs that lov'd being upon them has cast-- + Messages sweet from the love I first bore. + + To see the same moon, all silver'd as of yore, + I feel the sad thoughts within me arise; + The fond recollections of the troth we swore, + Of the field and the bower and the wide seashore, + The blushes of joy, with the silence and sighs. + + A butterfly seeking the flowers and the light, + Of other lands dreaming, of vaster extent; + Scarce a youth, from home and love I took flight, + To wander unheeding, free from doubt or affright-- + So in foreign lands were my brightest days spent. + + And when like a languishing bird I was fain + To the home of my fathers and my love to return, + Of a sudden the fierce tempest roar'd amain; + So I saw my wings shatter'd and no home remain, + My trust sold to others and wrecks round me burn. + + Hurl'd out into exile from the land I adore, + My future all dark and no refuge to seek; + My roseate dreams hover round me once more, + Sole treasures of all that life to me bore; + The faiths of youth that with sincerity speak. + + But not as of old, full of life and of grace, + Do you hold out hopes of undying reward; + Sadder I find you; on your lov'd face, + Though still sincere, the pale lines trace + The marks of the faith it is yours to guard. + + You offer now, dreams, my gloom to appease, + And the years of my youth again to disclose; + So I thank you, O storm, and heaven-born breeze, + That you knew of the hour my wild flight to ease, + To cast me back down to the soil whence I rose. + + By the spreading beach where the sands are soft and fine, + At the foot of the mount in its mantle of green; + I have found a home in the pleasant grove's confine, + In the shady woods, that peace and calmness divine, + Rest for the weary brain and silence to my sorrow keen. + + +The Church benefited by the presence of the exile, for he drew the +design for an elaborate curtain to adorn the sanctuary at Easter +time, and an artist Sister of Charity of the school there did the +oil painting under his direction. In this line he must have been +proficient, for once in Spain, where he traveled out of his way to +Saragossa to visit one of his former teachers of the Ateneo, who +he had heard was there, Rizal offered his assistance in making some +altar paintings, and the Jesuit says that his skill and taste were +much appreciated. + +The home of the Sisters had a private chapel, for which the teachers +were preparing an image of the Virgin. For the sake of economy the +head only was procured from abroad, the vestments concealing all +the rest of the figure except the feet, which rested upon a globe +encircled by a snake in whose mouth is an apple. The beauty of the +countenance, a real work of art, appealed to Rizal, and he modeled +the more prominent right foot, the apple and the serpent's head, while +the artist Sister assisted by doing the minor work. Both curtain and +image, twenty years after their making, are still in use. + +On Sundays, Father Sanchez and Rizal conducted a school for the people +after mass. As part of this education it was intended to make raised +maps in the plaza of the chief city of the eight principal islands of +the Philippines, but on account of Father Sanchez's being called away, +only one. Mindanao, was completed; it has been restored with a concrete +sidewalk and balustrade about it, while the plaza is a national park. + +Among Rizal's patients was a blind American named Taufer, fairly well +to do, who had been engineer of the pumping plant of the Hongkong Fire +Department. He was a man of bravery, for he held a diploma for helping +to rescue five Spaniards from a shipwreck in Hongkong harbor. And he +was not less kind-hearted, for he and his wife, a Portuguese, had +adopted and brought up as their own the infant daughter of a poor +Irish woman who had died in Hongkong, leaving a considerable family +to her husband, a corporal in the British Army on service there. + +The little girl had been educated in the Italian convent after the +first Mrs. Taufer died, and upon Mr. Taufer's remarriage, to another +Portuguese, the adopted daughter and Mr. Taufer's own child were +equally sharers of his home. + +This girl had known Rizal, "the Spanish doctor," as he was called +there, in Hongkong, and persuaded her adopted father that possibly +the Dapitan exile might restore his lost eyesight. So with the two +girls and his wife, Mr. Taufer set out for Mindanao. At Manila his +own daughter fell in love with a Filipino engineer, a Mr. Sunico, +now owner of a foundry in Manila, and, marrying, remained there. But +the party reached Dapitan with its original number, for they were +joined by a good-looking mestiza from the South who was unofficially +connected with one of the canons of the Manila cathedral. + +Josefina Bracken, the Irish girl, was lively, capable and of congenial +temperament, and as there no longer existed any reason against his +marriage, for Rizal considered his political days over, they agreed +to become husband and wife. + +The priest was asked to perform the ceremony, but said the Bishop +of Cebu must give his consent, and offered to write him. Rizal at +first feared that some political retraction would be asked, but +when assured that only his religious beliefs would be investigated, +promptly submitted a statement which Father Obach says covered about +the same ground as the earliest published of the retractions said to +have been made on the eve of Rizal's death. + +This document, inclosed with the priest's letter, was ready for the +mail when Rizal came hurrying in to reclaim it. The marriage was off, +for Mr. Taufer had taken his family and gone to Manila. + +The explanation of this sudden departure was that, after the blind +man had been told of the impossibility of anything being done for his +eyes, he was informed of the proposed marriage. The trip had already +cost him one daughter, he had found that his blindness was incurable, +and now his only remaining daughter, who had for seventeen years +been like his own child, was planning to leave him. He would have to +return to Hongkong hopeless and accompanied only by a wife he had +never seen, one who really was merely a servant. In his despair he +said he had nothing to live for, and, seizing his razor, would have +ended his life had not Rizal seized him just in time and held him, +with the firm grasp his athletic training had given him, till the +commandant came and calmed the excited blind man. + +It resulted in Josefina returning to Manila with him, but after a +while Mr Taufer listened to reason and she went back to Dapitan, +after a short stay in Manila with Rizal's family, to whom she had +carried his letter of introduction, taking considerable housekeeping +furniture with her. + +Further consideration changed Rizal's opinion as to marriage, possibly +because the second time the priest may not have been so liberal in his +requirements. The mother, too, seems to have suggested that as Spanish +law had established civil marriage in the Philippines, and as the local +government had not provided any way for people to avail themselves of +the right, because the governor-general had pigeon-holed the royal +decree, it would be less sinful for the two to consider themselves +civilly married than for Rizal to do violence to his conscience +by making any sort of political retraction. Any marriage so bought +would be just as little a sacrament as an absolutely civil marriage, +and the latter was free from hypocrisy. + +So as man and wife Rizal and Josefina lived together in Talisay. Father +Obach sought to prejudice public feeling in the town against the +exile for the "scandal," though other scandals happenings with less +reason were going on unrebuked. The pages of "Dapitan", which some +have considered to be the first chapter of an unfinished novel, may +reasonably be considered no more than Rizal's rejoinder to Father +Obach, written in sarcastic vein and primarily for Carnicero's +amusement, unless some date of writing earlier than this should +hereafter be found for them. + +Josefina was bright, vivacious, and a welcome addition to the little +colony at Talisay, but at times Rizal had misgivings as to how it came +that this foreigner should be permitted by a suspicious and absolute +government to join him, when Filipinos, over whom the authorities +could have exercised complete control, were kept away. Josefina's +frequent visits to the convento once brought this suspicion to an open +declaration of his misgivings by Rizal, but two days of weeping upon +her part caused him to avoid the subiect thereafter. Could the exile +have seen the confidential correspondence in the secret archives +the plan would have been plain to him, for there it is suggested +that his impressionable character could best be reached through the +sufferings of his family, and that only his mother and sisters should +be allowed to visit him. Steps in this plot were the gradual pardoning +and returning of the members of his family to their homes. + +Josefina must remain a mystery to us as she was to Rizal. While she +was in a delicate condition Rizal played a prank on her, harmless +in itself, which startled her so that she sprang forward and struck +against an iron stand. Though it was pure accident and Rizal was +scarcely at fault, he blamed himself for it, and his later devotion +seems largely to have been trying to make amends. + +The "burial of the son of Rizal," sometimes referred to as occurring at +Dapitan, has for its foundation the consequences of this accident. A +sketch hastily penciled in one of his medical books depicts an +unusual condition apparent in the infant which, had it regularly +made its appearance in the world some months later, would have been +cherished by both parents; this loss was a great and common grief +which banished thereafter all distrust upon his part and all occasion +for it upon hers. + +Rizal's mother and several of his sisters, the latter changing from +time to time, had been present during this critical period. Another +operation had been performed upon Mrs. Rizal's eyes, but she was +restive and disregarded the ordinary precautions, and the son was +in despair. A letter to his brother-in-law, Manuel Hidalgo, who was +inclined toward medical studies, says, "I now realize the reason why +physicians are directed not to practice in their own families." + +A story of his mother and Rizal, necessary to understand his +peculiar attitude toward her, may serve as the transition from +the hero's sad (later) married experience to the real romance of +his life. Mrs. Rizal's talents commanded her son's admiration, as +her care for him demanded his gratitude, but, despite the common +opinion, he never had that sense of companionship with her that he +enjoyed with his father. Mrs. Rizal was a strict disciplinarian and +a woman of unexceptionable character, but she arrogated to herself +an infallibility which at times was trying to those about her, and +she foretold bitter fates for those who dared dispute her. + +Just before Jose went abroad to study, while engaged to his cousin, +Leonora Rivera, Mrs. Rivera and her daughter visited their relatives in +Kalamba. Naturally the young man wished the guests to have the best of +everything; one day when they visited a bathing place near by he used +the family's newest carriage. Though this had not been forbidden, +his mother spoke rather sharply about it; Jose ventured to remind +her that guests were present and that it would be better to discuss +the matter in private. Angry because one of her children ventured to +dispute her, she replied: "You are an undutiful son. You will never +accomplish anything which you undertake. All your plans will result +in failure." These words could not be forgotten, as succeeding events +seemed to make their prophecy come true, and there is pathos in one of +Rizal's letters in which he reminds his mother that she had foretold +his fate. + +His thoughts of an early marriage were overruled because his unmarried +sisters did not desire to have a sister-in-law in their home who +would add to the household cares but was not trained to bear her +share of them, and even Paciano, who was in his favor, thought that +his younger brother would mar his career by marrying early. + +So, with fervent promises and high hopes, Rizal had sailed away to make +the fortune which should allow him to marry his cousin Leonora. She +was constantly in his thoughts and his long letters were mailed with +regular frequency during all his first years in Europe; but only a +few of the earliest ever reached her, and as few replies came into +his hands, though she was equally faithful as a correspondent. + +Leonora's mother had been told that it was for the good of her +daughter's soul and in the interest of her happiness that she should +not become the wife of a man like Rizal, who was obnoxious to the +Church and in disfavor with the government. So, by advice, Mrs. Rivera +gradually withheld more and more of the correspondence upon both sides, +until finally it ceased. And she constantly suggested to the unhappy +girl that her youthful lover had forgotten her amid the distractions +and gayeties of Europe. + +Then the same influence which had advised breaking off the +correspondence found a person whom the mother and others joined in +urging upon her as a husband, till at last, in the belief that she +owed obedience to her mother, she reluctantly consented. Strangely +like the proposed husband of the Maria Clara of "Noli Me Tangere," +in which book Rizal had prophetically pictured her, this husband was +"one whose children should rule "--an English engineer whose position +had been found for him to make the match more desirable. Their marriage +took place, and when Rizal returned to the Philippines she learned +how she had been deceived. Then she asked for the letters that had +been withheld, and when told that as a wife she might not keep love +letters from any but her husband, she pleaded that they be burned +and the ashes given her. This was done, and the silver box with the +blackened bits of paper upon her dresser seemed to be a consolation +during the few months of life which she knew would remain to her. + +Another great disappointment to Rizal was the action of Despujol +when he first arrived in Dapitan, for he still believed in the +Governor-General's good faith and thought in that fertile but sparsely +settled region he might plant his "New Kalamba" without the objection +that had been urged against the British North Borneo project. All +seemed to be going on favorably for the assembling of his relatives and +neighbors in what then would be no longer exile, when most insultingly, +the Governor-General refused the permission which Rizal had had reason +to rely upon his granting. The exile was reminded of his deportation +and taunted with trying to make himself a king. Though he did not know +it, this was part of the plan which was to break his spirit, so that +when he was touched with the sufferings of his family he would yield +to the influences of his youth and make complete political retraction; +thus would be removed the most reasonable, and therefore the most +formidable, opponent of the unnatural conditions Philippines and of +the selfish interests which were profiting by them. But the plotters +failed in their plan; they had mistaken their man. + +During all this time Rizal had repeated chances to escape, and persons +high in authority seem to have urged flight upon him. Running away, +however, seemed to him a confession of guilt; the opportunities +of doing so always unsettled him, for each time the battle of +self-sacrifice had to be fought over again; but he remained firm +in his purpose. To meet death bravely is one thing; to seek it is +another and harder thing; but to refuse life and choose death over +and over again during many years is the rarest kind of heroism. + +Rizal used to make long trips, sometimes cruising for a week in his +explorations of the Mindanao coast, and some of his friends proposed +to charter a steamer in Singapore and, passing near Dapitan, pick him +up on one of these trips. Another Philippine steamer going to Borneo +suggested taking him on board as a rescue at sea and then landing him +at their destination, where he would be free from Spanish power. Either +of these schemes would have been feasible, but he refused both. + +Plans, which materialized, to benefit the fishing industry by improved +nets imported from his Laguna home, and to find a market for the abaka +of Dapitan, were joined with the introduction of American machinery, +for which Rizal acted as agent, among planters of neighboring +islands. It was a busy, useful life, and in the economic advancement +of his country the exile believed he was as patriotic as when he was +working politically. + +Rizal personally had been fortunate, for in company with the commandant +and a Spaniard, originally deported for political reasons from the +Peninsula, he had gained one of the richer prizes in the government +lottery. These funds came most opportunely, for the land troubles +and succeeding litigation had almost stripped the family of all its +possessions. The account of the first news in Dapitan of the good +fortune of the three is interestingly told in an official report to the +Governor-General from the commandant. The official saw the infrequent +mail steamer arriving with flying bunting and at once imagined some +high authority was aboard; he hastened to the beach with a band of +music to assist in the welcome, but was agreeably disappointed with +the news of the luck which had befallen his prisoner and himself. + +Not all of Dapitan life was profitable and prosperous. Yet in spite +of this Rizal stayed in the town. This was pure self-sacrifice, +for he refused to make any effort for his own release by invoking +influences which could have brought pressure to bear upon the +Spanish home government. He feared to act lest obstacles might be +put in the way of the reforms that were apparently making headway +through Despujol's initiative, and was content to wait rather than +to jeopardize the prospects of others. + +A plan for his transfer to the North, in the Ilokano country, had been +deferred and had met with obstacles which Rizal believed were placed in +its way through some of his own countrymen in the Peninsula who feared +his influence upon the revenue with which politics was furnishing them. + +Another proposal was to appoint Rizal district health officer for +Dapitan, but this was merely a covert government bribe. While the +exile expressed his willingness to accept the position, he did not +make the "unequivocally Spanish" professions that were needed to +secure this appointment. + +Yet the government could have been satisfied of Rizal's innocence of +any treasonable designs against Spain's sovereignty in the Islands +had it known how the exile had declined an opportunity to head the +movement which had been initiated on the eve of his deportation. His +name had been used to gather the members together and his portrait +hung in each Katipunan lodge hall, but all this was without Rizal's +consent or even his knowledge. + +The members, who had been paying faithfully for four years, felt that +it was time that something besides collecting money was done. Their +restiveness and suspicions led Andres Bonifacio, its head, to resort +to Rizal, feeling that a word from the exile, who had religiously +held aloof from all politics since his deportation, would give the +Katipunan leaders more time to mature their plans. So he sent a +messenger to Dapitan, Pio Valenzuela, a doctor, who to conceal his +mission took with him a blind man. Thus the doctor and his patient +appeared as on a professional visit to the exiled oculist. But though +the interview was successfully secured in this way, its results were +far from satisfactory. + +Far from feeling grateful for the consideration for the possible +consequences to him which Valenzuela pretended had prompted the +visit, Rizal indignantly insisted that the country came first. He +cited the Spanish republics of South America, with their alternating +revolutions and despotisms, as a warning against embarking on a change +of government for which the people were not prepared. Education, he +declared, was first necessary, and in his opinion general enlightenment +was the only road to progress. Valenzuela cut short his trip, glad +to escape without anyone realizing that Rizal and he had quarreled. + +Bonifacio called Rizal a coward when he heard his emissary's report, +and enjoined Valenzuela to say nothing of his trip. But the truth +leaked out, and there was a falling away in Katipunan membership. + +Doctor Rizal's own statement respecting the rebellion and Valenzuela's +visit may fitly be quoted here: + +"I had no notice at all of what was being planned until the first or +second of July, in 1896, when Pio Valenzuela came to see me, saying +that an uprising was being arranged. I told him that it was absurd, +etc., etc., and he answered me that they could bear no more. I advised +him that they should have patience, etc., etc. He added then that +he had been sent because they had compassion on my life and that +probably it would compromise me. I replied that they should have +patience and that if anything happened to me I would then prove my +innocence. 'Besides,' said I, 'don't consider me, but our country, +which is the one that will suffer.' I went on to show how absurd was +the movement.--This, later, Pio Valenzuela testified.--He did not +tell me that my name was being used, neither did he suggest that I +was its chief, or anything of that sort. + +"Those who testify that I am the chief (which I do not know, nor do I +know of having ever treated with them), what proofs do they present of +my having accepted this chiefship or that I was in relations with them +or with their society? Either they have made use of my name for their +own purposes or they have been deceived by others who have. Where is +the chief who dictates no order and makes no arrangement, who is not +consulted in anything about so important an enterprise until the last +moment, and then when he decides against it is disobeyed? Since the +seventh of July of 1892 I have entirely ceased political activity. It +seems some have wished to avail themselves of my name for their +own ends." + +This was Rizal's second temptation to engage in politics, the first +having been a trap laid by his enemies. A man had come to see Rizal +in his earlier days in Dapitan, claiming to be a relative and seeking +letters to prominent Filipinos. The deceit was too plain and Rizal +denounced the envoy to the commandant, whose investigations speedily +disclosed the source of the plot. Further prosecution, of course, +ceased at once. + +The visit of some image vendors from Laguna who never before had +visited that region, and who seemed more intent on escaping notice +than interested in business, appeared suspicious, but upon report of +the Jesuits the matter was investigated and nothing really suspicious +was found. + +Rizal's charm of manner and attraction for every one he met is best +shown by his relations with the successive commandants at Dapitan, +all of whom, except Carnicero, were naturally predisposed against him, +but every one became his friend and champion. One even asked relief on +the ground of this growing favorable impression upon his part toward +his prisoner. + +At times there were rumors of Rizal's speedy pardon, and he would +think of going regularly into scientific work, collecting for those +European museums which had made him proposals that assured ample +livelihood and congenial work. + +Then Doctor Blumentritt wrote to him of the ravages of disease among +the Spanish soldiers in Cuba and the scarcity of surgeons to attend +them. Here was a labor "eminently humanitarian," to quote Rizal's words +of his own profession, and it made so strong an appeal to him that, +through the new governor-general, for Despujol had been replaced by +Blanco, he volunteered his services. The minister of war of that time, +General Azcarraga, was Philippine born. Blanco considered the time +favorable for granting Rizal's petition and thus lifting the decree of +deportation without the embarrassment of having the popular prisoner +remain in the Islands. + +The thought of resuming his travels evidently inspired the following +poem, which was written at about this time. The translation is by +Arthur P. Ferguson: + + + The Song of the Traveler + + Like to a leaf that is fallen and withered, + Tossed by the tempest from pole unto pole; + Thus roams the pilgrim abroad without purpose, + Roams without love, without country or soul. + + Following anxiously treacherous fortune, + Fortune which e'en as he grasps at it flees; + Vain though the hopes that his yearning is seeking, + Yet does the pilgrim embark on the seas! + + Ever impelled by invisible power, + Destined to roam from the East to the West; + Oft he remembers the faces of loved ones, + Dreams of the day when he, too, was at rest. + + Chance may assign him a tomb on the desert, + Grant him a final asylum of peace; + Soon by the world and his country forgotten, + God rest his soul when his wanderings cease! + + Often the sorrowful pilgrim is envied, + Circling the globe like a sea-gull above; + Little, ah, little they know what a void + Saddens his soul by the absence of love. + + Home may the pilgrim return in the future, + Back to his loved ones his footsteps he bends; + Naught will he find but the snow and the ruins, + Ashes of love and the tomb of his friends. + + Pilgrim, begone! Nor return more hereafter. + Stranger thou art in the land of thy birth; + Others may sing of their love while rejoicing, + Thou once again must roam o'er the earth. + + Pilgrim, begone! Nor return more hereafter, + Dry are the tears that a while for thee ran; + Pilgrim, begone! And forget thy affliction, + Loud laughs the world at the sorrows of man. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +"Consummatum Est" + +NOTICE of the granting of his request came to Rizal just when +repeated disappointments had caused him to prepare for staying +in Dapitan. Immediately he disposed of his salable possessions, +including a Japanese tea set and large mirror now among the Rizal +relics preserved by the government, and a piece of outlying land, +the deed for which is also among the Rizalana in the Philippines +library. Some half-finished busts were thrown into the pool behind +the dam. Despite the short notice all was ready for the trip in time, +and, attended by some of his schoolboys as well as by Josefina and +Rizal's niece, the daughter of his youngest sister, Soledad, whom +Josefina wished to adopt, the party set out for Manila. + +The journey was not an uneventful one; at Dumaguete Rizal was the +guest of a Spanish judge at dinner; in Cebu he operated successfully +upon the eyes of a foreign merchant; and in Iloilo the local newspaper +made much of his presence. + +The steamer from Dapitan reached Manila a little too late for the mail +boat for Spain, and Rizal obtained permission to await the next sailing +on board the cruiser Castilla, in the bay. Here he was treated like a +guest and more than once the Spanish captain invited members of Rizal's +family to be his guests at dinner--Josefina with little Maria Luisa, +the niece and the schoolboys, for whom positions had been obtained, +in Manila. + +The alleged uprising of the Katipunan occurred during this time. A +Tondo curate, with an eye to promotion, professed to have discovered +a gigantic conspiracy. Incited by him, the lower class of Spaniards +in Manila made demonstrations against Blanco and tried to force +that ordinarily sensible and humane executive into bloodthirsty +measures, which should terrorize the Filipinos. Blanco had known of +the Katipunan but realized that so long as interested parties were +using it as a source of revenue, its activities would not go much +beyond speechmaking. The rabble was not so far-seeing, and from high +authorities came advice that the country was in a fever and could +only be saved by blood-letting. + +Wholesale arrests filled every possible place for prisoners in +Manila. The guilt of one suspect consisted in having visited the +American consul to secure the address of a New York medical journal, +and other charges were just as frivolous. There was a reign of terror +in Luzon and, to save themselves, members of the Katipunan resorted to +that open warfare which, had Blanco's prudent counsels been regarded, +would probably have been avoided. + +While the excitement was at its height, with a number of executions +failing to satisfy the blood-hunger, Rizal sailed for Spain, +bearing letters of recommendation from Blanco. These vouched for his +exemplary conduct during his exile and stated that he had in no way +been implicated in the conspiracies then disturbing the Islands. + +The Spanish mail boat upon which Rizal finally sailed had among its +passengers a sick Jesuit, to whose care Rizal devoted himself, and +though most of the passengers were openly hostile to one whom they +supposed responsible for the existing outbreak, his professional +skill led several to avail themselves of his services. These were +given with a deference to the ship's doctor which made that official +an admirer and champion of his colleague. + +Three only of the passengers, however, were really friendly--one +Juan Utor y Fernandez, a prominent Mason and republican, another +ex-official in the Philippines who shared Utor's liberal views, +and a young man whose father was republican. + +But if Rizal's chief adversaries were content that he should go where +he would not molest them or longer jeopardize their interests, the +rabble that had been excited by the hired newspaper advocates was +not so easily calmed. Every one who felt that his picture had been +painted among the lower Spanish types portrayed in "Noli Me Tangere" +was loud for revenge. The clamor grew so great that it seemed possible +to take advantage of it to displace General Blanco, who was not a +convenient tool for the interests. + +So his promotion was bought, it is said, to get one Polavieja, +a willing tool, in his place. As soon as this scheme was arranged, +a cablegram ordering Rizal's arrest was sent; it overtook the steamer +at Suez. Thus as a prisoner he completed his journey. + +But this had not been entirely unforeseen, for when the steamer reached +Singapore, Rizal's companion on board, the Filipino millionaire Pedro +P. Roxas, had deserted the ship, urging the ex-exile to follow his +example. Rizal demurred, and said such flight would be considered +confession of guilt, but he was not fully satisfied in his mind that +he was safe. At each port of call his uncertainty as to what course +to pursue manifested itself, for though he considered his duty to his +country already done, and his life now his own, he would do nothing +that suggested an uneasy conscience despite his lack of confidence +in Spanish justice. + +At first, not knowing the course of events in Manila, he very naturally +blamed Governor-General Blanco for bad faith, and spoke rather harshly +of him in a letter to Doctor Blumentritt, an opinion which he changed +later when the truth was revealed to him in Manila. + +Upon the arrival of the steamer in Barcelona the prisoner was +transferred to Montjuich Castle, a political prison associated with +many cruelties, there to await the sailing that very day of the +Philippine mail boat. The Captain-General was the same Despujol +who had decoyed Rizal into the power of the Spaniards four years +before. An interesting interview of some hours' duration took place +between the governor and the prisoner, in which the clear conscience +of the latter seems to have stirred some sense of shame in the man +who had so dishonorably deceived him. + +He never heard of the effort of London friends to deliver him at +Singapore by means of habeas-corpus proceedings. Mr. Regidor furnished +the legal inspiration and Mr. Baustead the funds for getting an opinion +as to Rizal's status as a prisoner when in British waters, from Sir +Edward Clarke, ex-solicitor-general of Great Britain. Captain Camus, a +Filipino living in Singapore, was cabled to, money was made available +in the Chartered Bank of Singapore, as Mr. Baustead's father's +firm was in business in that city, and a lawyer, now Sir Hugh Fort, +K.C., of London, was retained. Secretly, in order that the attempt, +if unsuccessful, might not jeopardize the prisoner, a petition was +presented to the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements reciting the +facts that Doctor Jose Rizal, according to the Philippine practice of +punishing Freemasons without trial, was being deprived of his liberty +without warrant of law upon a ship then within the jurisdiction of +the court. + +According to Spanish law Rizal was being illegally held on the Spanish +mail steamer Colon, for the Constitution of Spain forbade detention +except on a judge's order, but like most Spanish laws the Constitution +was not much respected by Spanish officials. Rizal had never had a +hearing before any judge, nor had any charge yet been placed against +him. The writ of habeas corpus was justified, provided the Colon were +a merchant ship that would be subject to British law when in British +port, but the mail steamer that carried Rizal also had on board Spanish +soldiers and flew the royal flag as if it were a national transport. No +one was willing to deny that this condition made the ship floating +Spanish territory, and the judge declined to issue the writ. + +Rizal reached Manila on November 3 and was at once transferred to +Fort Santiago, at first being held in a dungeon "incomunicado" and +later occupying a small cell on the ground floor. Its furnishings +had to be supplied by himself and they consisted of a small rattan +table, a high-backed chair, a steamer chair of the same material, +and a cot of the kind used by Spanish officers--canvas top and +collapsible frame which closed up lengthwise. His meals were sent in +by his family, being carried by one of his former pupils at Dapitan, +and such cooking or heating as was necessary was done on an alcohol +lamp which had been presented to him in Paris by Mrs. Tavera. + +An unsuccessful effort had been made earlier to get evidence against +Rizal by torturing his brother Paciano. For hours the elder brother had +been seated at a table in the headquarters of the political police, +a thumbscrew on one hand and pen in the other, while before him +was a confession which would implicate Jose Rizal in the Katipunan +uprising. The paper remained unsigned, though Paciano was hung up by +the elbows till he was insensible, and then cut down that the fall +might revive him. Three days of this maltreatment made him so ill +that there was no possibility of his signing anything, and he was +carted home. + +It would not be strictly accurate to say that at the close of the +nineteenth century the Spaniards of Manila were using the same tortures +that had made their name abhorrent in Europe three centuries earlier, +for there was some progress; electricity was employed at times as +an improved method of causing anguish, and the thumbscrews were much +more neatly finished than those used by the Dons of the Dark Ages. + +Rizal did not approve of the rebellion and desired to issue a manifesto +to those of his countrymen who had been deceived into believing that +he was their leader. But the proclamation was not politic, for it +contained none of those fulsomely flattering phrases which passed +for patriotism in the feverish days of 1896. The address was not +allowed to be made public but it was passed on to the prosecutor to +form another count in the indictment of Jose Rizal for not esteeming +Spanish civilization. + +The following address to some Filipinos shows more clearly and +unmistakably than any words of mine exactly what was the state of +Rizal's mind in this matter. + + +COUNTRYMEN: + +On my return from Spain I learned that my name had been in use, +among some who were in arms, as a war-cry. The news came as a painful +surprise, but, believing it already closed, I kept silent over an +incident which I considered irremediable. Now I notice indications of +the disturbances continuing and if any still, in good or bad faith, are +availing themselves of my name, to stop this abuse and undeceive the +unwary I hasten to address you these lines that the truth may be known. + +From the very beginning, when I first had notice of what was being +planned, I opposed it, fought it, and demonstrated its absolute +impossibility. This is the fact, and witnesses to my words are now +living. I was convinced that the scheme was utterly absurd, and, +what was worse, would bring great suffering. + +I did even more. When later, against my advice, the movement +materialized, of my own accord I offered not alone my good offices, +but my very life, and even my name, to be used in whatever way +might seem best, toward stifling the rebellion; for, convinced of +the ills which it would bring, I considered myself fortunate if, at +any sacrifice, I could prevent such useless misfortunes. This equally +is of record. My countrymen, I have given proofs that I am one most +anxious for liberties for our country, and I am still desirous of +them. But I place as a prior condition the education of the people, +that by means of instruction and industry our country may have an +individuality of its own and make itself worthy of these liberties. I +have recommended in my writings the study of the civic virtues, +without which there is no redemption. I have written likewise (and I +repeat my words) that reforms, to be beneficial, must come from above, +that those which come from below are irregularly gained and uncertain. + +Holding these ideas, I cannot do less than condemn, and I do condemn +this uprising--as absurd, savage, and plotted behind my back--which +dishonors us Filipinos and discredits those who could plead our +cause. I abhor its criminal methods and disclaim all part in it, +pitying from the bottom of my heart the unwary who have been deceived. + +Return, then, to your homes, and may God pardon those who have worked +in bad faith! + +Jose Rizal. + +Fort Santiago, December 15, 1896. + + +Finally a court-martial was convened for Rizal's trial, in the +Cuartel de Espana. No trained counsel was allowed to defend him, +but a list of young army officers was presented from which he might +select a nominal defender. Among the names was one which was familiar, +Luis Taviel de Andrade, and he proved to be the brother of Rizal's +companion during his visit to the Philippines in 1887-88. The young +man did his best and risked unpopularity in order to be loyal to +his client. His defense reads pitiably weak in these days but it was +risky then to say even so much. + +The judge advocate in a ridiculously bombastic effusion gave an +alleged sketch of Rizal's life which showed ignorance of almost every +material event, and then formulated the first precise charge against +the prisoner, which was that he had founded an illegal society, +alleging that the Liga Filipina had for its sole object to commit +the crime of rebellion. + +The second charge was that Rizal was responsible for the existing +rebellion, having caused it, bringing it on by his unceasing labors. An +aggravating circumstance was found in the prisoner's being a native +of the Philippines. + +The penalty of death was asked of the court, and in the event of pardon +being granted by the crown, the prisoner should at least remain under +surveillance for the rest of his life and pay as damages 20,000 pesos. + +The arguments are so absurd, the bias of the court so palpable, that +it is not worth while to discuss them. The parallel proceedings in +the military trial and execution of Francisco Ferret in Barcelona in +1909 caused worldwide indignation, and the illegality of almost every +step, according to Spanish law, was shown in numerous articles in +the European and American press. Rizal's case was even more brazenly +unfair, but Manila was too remote and the news too carefully censored +for the facts to become known. + +The prisoner's arms were tied, corded from elbow to elbow behind +his back, and thus he sat through the weary trial while the public +jeered him and clamored for his condemnation as the bloodthirsty +crowds jeered and clamored in the French Reign of terror. + +Then came the verdict and the prisoner was invited to acknowledge +the regularity of the proceedings in the farcical trial by signing +the record. To this Rizal demurred, but after a vain protest, affixed +his signature. + +He was at once transferred to the Fort chapel, there to pass the last +twenty-four hours of his life in preparing for death. The military +chaplain offered his services, which were courteously declined, but +when the Jesuits came, those instructors of his youth were eagerly +welcomed. + +Rizal's trial had awakened great interest and accounts of everything +about the prisoner were cabled by eager correspondents to the Madrid +newspapers. One of the newspaper men who visited Rizal in his cell +mentions the courtesy of his reception, and relates how the prisoner +played the host and insisted on showing his visitor those attentions +which Spanish politeness considers due to a guest, saying that these +must be permitted, for he was in his own home. The interviewer found +the prisoner perfectly calm and natural, serious of course, but not +at all overwhelmed by the near prospect of death, and in discussing +his career Rizal displayed that dispassionate attitude toward his +own doings that was characteristic of him. Almost as though speaking +of a stranger he mentioned that if Archbishop Nozaleda's sane view +had been taken and "Noli Me Tangere" not preached against, he would +not have been in prison, and perhaps the rebellion would never have +occurred. It is easy for us to recognize that the author referred to +the misconception of his novel, which had arisen from the publication +of the censor's extracts, which consisted of whatever could be +construed into coming under one of the three headings of attacks on +religion, attacks on government, and reflections on Spanish character, +without the slightest regard to the context. + +But the interviewer, quite honestly, reported Rizal to be regretting +his novel instead of regretting its miscomprehension, and he seems +to have been equally in error in the way he mistook Rizal's meaning +about the republicans in Spain having led him astray. + +Rizal's exact words are not given in the newspaper account, but it is +not likely that a man would make admissions in a newspaper interview, +which if made formally, would have saved his life. Rizal's memory +has one safeguard against the misrepresentations which the absence +of any witnesses favorable to him make possible regarding his last +moments: a political retraction would have prevented his execution, +and since the execution did take place, it is reasonable to believe +that Rizal died holding the views for which he had expressed himself +willing to suffer martyrdom. + +Yet this view does not reflect upon the good faith of the reporter. It +is probable that the prisoner was calling attention to the illogical +result that, though he had disregarded the advice of the radical +Spaniards who urged him to violent measures, his peaceable agitation +had been misunderstood and brought him to the same situation as though +he had actually headed a rebellion by arms. His slighting opinion +of his great novel was the view he had always held, for like all +men who do really great things, he was the reverse of a braggart, +and in his remark that he had attempted to do great things without +the capacity for gaining success, one recognizes his remembrance of +his mother's angry prophecy foretelling failure in all he undertook. + +His family waited long outside the Governor-General's place to ask +a pardon, but in vain; General Polavieja had to pay the price of his +appointment and refused to see them. + +The mother and sisters, however, were permitted to say farewell to +Rizal in the chapel, under the eyes of the death-watch. The prisoner +had been given the unusual privilege of not being tied, but he was +not allowed to approach near his relatives, really for fear that +he might pass some writing to them--the pretext was made that Rizal +might thus obtain the means for committing suicide. + +To his sister Trinidad Rizal spoke of having nothing to give her +by way of remembrance except the alcohol cooking lamp which he had +been using, a gift, as he mentioned, from Mrs. Tavera. Then he added +quickly, in English, so that the listening guard would not understand, +"There is something inside." + +The other events of Rizal's last twenty-four hours, for he went in to +the chapel at seven in the morning of the day preceding his execution, +are perplexing. What purported to be a detailed account was promptly +published in Barcelona, on Jesuit authority, but one must not forget +that Spaniards are not of the phlegmatic disposition which makes for +accuracy in minute matters and even when writing history they are +dramatically ificlined. So while the truthfulness, that is the intent +to be fair, may not be questioned, it would not be strange if those who +wrote of what happened in the chapel in Fort Santiago during Rizal's +last hours did not escape entirely from the influence of the national +characteristics. In the main their narrative is to be accepted, +but the possibility of unconscious coloring should not be disregarded. + +In substance it is alleged that Rizal greeted his old instructors +and other past acquaintances in a friendly way. He asked for copies +of the Gospels and the writings of Thomas-a-Kempis, desired to be +formally married to Josefina, and asked to be allowed to confess. The +Jesuits responded that first it would be necessary to investigate +how far his beliefs conformed to the Roman Catholic teachings. Their +catechizing convinced them that he was not orthodox and a religious +debate ensued in which Rizal, after advancing all known arguments, +was completely vanquished. His marriage was made contingent upon his +signing a retraction of his published heresies. + +The Archbishop had prepared a form which the Jesuits believed +Rizal would be little likely to sign, and they secured permission +to substitute a shorter one of their own which included only the +absolute essentials for reconciliation with the Church, and avoided all +political references. They say that Rizal objected only to a disavowal +of Freemasonry, stating that in England, where he held his membership, +the Masonic institution was not hostile to the Church. After some +argument, he waived this point and wrote out, at a Jesuit's dictation, +the needed retraction, adding some words to strengthen it in parts, +indicating his Catholic education and that the act was of his own +free will and accord. + +The prisoner, the priests, and all the Spanish officials present knelt +at the altar, at Rizal's suggestion, while he read his retraction +aloud. Afterwards he put on a blue scapular, kissed the image of +the Sacred Heart he had carved years before, heard mass as when +a student in the Ateneo, took communion, and read his a-Kempis or +prayed in the intervals. He took breakfast with the Spanish officers, +who now regarded him very differently. At six Josefina entered and +was married to him by Father Balanguer. + +Now in this narrative there are some apparent discrepancies. Mention is +made of Rizal having in an access of devotion signed in a devotionary +all the acts of faith, and it is said that this book was given to one +of his sisters. His chapel gifts to his family have been examined, +but though there is a book of devotion, "The Anchor of Faith," it +contains no other signature than the presentation on a flyleaf. As +to the religious controversy: while in Dapitan Rizal carried on with +Father Pio Pi, the Jesuit superior, a lengthy discussion involving the +interchange of many letters, but he succeeded in fairly maintaining +his views, and these views would hardly have caused him to be called +Protestant in the Roman Catholic churches of America. Then the +theatrical reading aloud of his retraction before the altar does not +conform to Rizal's known character. As to the anti-Masonic arguments, +these appear to be from a work by Monsignor Dupanloup and therefore +were not new to Rizal; furthermore, the book was in his own library. + +Again, it seems strange that Rizal should have asserted that his +Masonic membership was in London when in visiting St. John's Lodge, +Scotch Constitution, in Hongkong in November of 1891, since which +date he had not been in London, he registered as from "Temple du +honneur de les amis francais," an old-established Paris lodge. + +Also the sister Lucia, who was said to have been a witness of the +marriage, is not positive that it occurred, having only seen the +priest at the altar in his vestments. The record of the marriage +has been stated to be in the Manila Cathedral, but it is not there, +and as the Jesuit in officiating would have been representing the +military chaplain, the entry should have been in the Fort register, +now in Madrid. Rizal's burial, too, does not indicate that he died +in the faith, yet it with the marriage has been used as an argument +for proving that the retraction must have been made. + +The retraction itself appears in two versions, with slight +differences. No one outside the Spanish faction has ever seen +the original, though the family nearly got into trouble by their +persistence in trying to get sight of it after its first publication. + +The foregoing might suggest some disbelief, but in fact they are only +proofs of the remarks already made about the Spanish carelessness in +details and liking for the dramatic. + +The writer believes Rizal made a retraction, was married canonically, +and was given what was intended to be Christian burial. + +The grounds for this belief rest upon the fact that he seems never +to have been estranged in faith from the Roman Catholic Church, +but he objected only to certain political and mercenary abuses. The +first retraction is written in his style and it certainly contains +nothing he could not have signed in Dapitan. In fact, Father Obach +says that when he wanted to marry Josefina on her first arrival there, +Rizal prepared a practically similar statement. Possibly the report of +that priest aided in outlining the draft which the Jesuits substituted +for the Archbishop's form. There is no mention of evasions or mental +reservations and Rizal's renunciation of Masonry might have been +qualified by the quibble that it was "the Masonry which was an enemy +of the Church" that he was renouncing. Then since his association +(not affiliation) had been with Masons not hostile to religion, +he was not abandoning these. + +The possibility of this line of thought having suggested itself to +him appears in his evasions on the witness-stand at his trial. Though +he answered with absolute frankhess whatever concerned himself and in +everyday life was almost quixotically truthful, when cross-examined +about others who would be jeopardized by admitting his acquaintance +with them, he used the subterfuge of the symbolic names of his Masonic +acquaintances. Thus he would say, "I know no one by that name," since +care was always taken to employ the symbolic names in introductions +and conversations. + +Rizal's own symbolic name was "Dimas Alang"--Tagalog for "Noli +Me Tangere"--and his nom de plume in some of his controversial +publications. The use of that name by one of his companions on the +railroad trip to Tarlac entirely mystified a station master, as appears +in the secret report of the espionage of that trip, which just preceded +his deportation to Dapitan. Another possible explanation is that, since +Freemasonry professes not to disturb the duties which its members owe +to God, their country or their families, he may have considered himself +as a good Mason under obligation to do whatever was demanded by these +superior interests, all three of which were at this time involved. + +The argument that it was his pride that restrained him suggested to +Rizal the possibility of his being unconsciously under an influence +which during his whole life he had been combating, and he may have +considered that his duty toward God required the sacrifice of this +pride. + +For his country his sacrifice would have been blemished were any +religious stigma to attach to it. He himself had always been careful +of his own good name, and as we have said elsewhere, he told his +companions that in their country's cause whatever they offered on the +altars of patriotism must be as spotless as the sacrificial lambs of +Levitical law. + +Furthermore, his work for a tranquil future for his family would be +unfulfilled were he to die outside the Church. Josefina's anomalous +status, justifiable when all the facts were known, would be sure +to bring criticism upon her unless corrected by the better defined +position of a wife by a church marriage. Then the aged parents and +the numerous children of his sisters would by his act be saved the +scandal that in a country so mediaevally pious as the Philippines +would come from having their relative die "an unrepentant heretic." + +Rizal had received from the Jesuits, while in prison, several religious +books and pictures, which he used as remembrances for members of his +family, writing brief dedications upon them. Then he said good-by to +Josefina, asking in a low voice some question to which she answered +in English, "Yes, yes," and aloud inquiring how she would be able to +gain a living, since all his property had been seized by the Spanish +government to satisfy the 20,000 pesetas costs which was included in +the sentence of death against him. Her reply was that she could earn +money giving lessons in English. + +The journey from the Fort to the place of execution, then Bagumbayan +Field, now called the Luneta, was on foot. His arms were tied tightly +behind his back, and he was surrounded by a heavy guard. The Jesuits +accompanied him and some of his Dapitan schoolboys were in the crowd, +while one friendly voice, that of a Scotch merchant still resident +in Manila, called out in English, "Good-by, Rizal." + +The route was along the Malecon Drive where as a college student he +had walked with his fiancee, Leonora. Above the city walls showed the +twin towers of the Ateneo, and when he asked about them, for they were +not there in his boyhood days, he spoke of the happy years that he +had spent in the old school. The beauty of the morning, too, appealed +to him, and may have recalled an experience of his '87 visit when he +said to a friend whom he met on the beach during an early morning walk: +"Do you know that I have a sort of foreboding that some such sunshiny +morning as this I shall be out here facing a firing squad?" + +Troops held back the crowds and left a large square for the tragedy, +while artillery behind them was ready for suppressing any attempt at +rescuing the prisoner. None came, however, for though Rizal's brother +Paciano had joined the insurrectionary forces in Cavite when the death +sentence showed there was no more hope for Jose, he had discouraged +the demonstration that had been planned as soon as he learned how +scantily the insurgents were armed, hardly a score of serviceable +firearms being in the possession of their entire "army." + +The firing squad was of Filipino soldiers, while behind them, better +armed, were Spaniards in case these tried to evade the fratricidal +part assigned them. Rizal's composure aroused the curiosity of a +Spanish military surgeon standing by and he asked, "Colleague, may +I feel your pulse?" Without other reply the prisoner twisted one of +his hands as far from his body as the cords which bound him allowed, +so that the other doctor could place his fingers on the wrist. The +beats were steady and showed neither excitement nor fear, was the +report made ater. + +His request to be allowed to face his executioners was denied as being +out of the power of the commanding officer to grant, though Rizal +declared that he did not deserve such a death, for he was no traitor +to Spain. It was promised, however, that his head should be respected, +and as unblindfolded and erect Rizal turned his back to receive their +bullets, he twisted a hand to indicate under the shoulder where the +soldiers should aim so as to reach his heart. Then as the volley came, +with a last supreme effort of will power, he turned and fell face +upwards, thus receiving the subsequent "shots of grace" which ended his +life, so that in form as well as fact he did not die a traitor's death. + +The Spanish national air was played, that march of Cadiz which should +have recalled a violated constitution, for by the laws of Spain itself +Rizal was illegally executed. + +Vivas, laughter and applause were heard, for it had been the social +event of the day, with breakfasting parties on the walls and on +the carriages, full of interested onlookers of both sexes, lined up +conveniently near for the sightseeing. + +The troops defiled past the dead body, as though reviewed by it, +for the most commanding figure of all was that which lay lifeless, +but the center of all eyes. An officer, realizing the decency due to +death, drew his handkerchief from the dead man's pocket and spread +the silk over the calm face. A crimson stain soon marked the whiteness +emblematic of the pure life that had just ended, and with the glorious +blue overhead, the tricolor of Liberty, which had just claimed another +martyr, was revealed in its richest beauty. + +Sir Hugh Clifford (now Governor of Ceylon), in Blackwood's Magazine, +"The Story of Jose Rizal, the Filipino; A Fragment of Recent Asiatic +History," comments as follows on the disgraceful doing of that day: + +"It was," he writes, "early morning, December 30, 1896, and the bright +sunshine of the tropics streamed down upon the open space, casting +hard fantastic shadows, and drenching with its splendor two crowds +of sightseers. The one was composed of Filipinos, cowed, melancholy, +sullen, gazing through hopeless eyes at the final scene in the life of +their great countryman--the man who had dared to champion their cause, +and to tell the world the story of their miseries; the other was blithe +of air, gay with the uniforms of officers and the bright dresses of +Spanish ladies, the men jesting and laughing, the women shamelessly +applauding with waving handkerchiefs and clapping palms, all alike +triumphing openly in the death of the hated 'Indian,' the 'brother +of the water-buffalo,' whose insolence had wounded their pride. + +* * * Turning away, sick at heart, from the contemplation of this +bitter tragedy, it is with a thrill of almost vindictive satisfaction +that one remembers that less than eighteen months later the Luneta +echoed once more to the sound of a mightier fusillade--the roar of +the great guns with which the battle of Manila Bay was fought and won. + +* * *And if in the moment of his last supreme agony the power to probe +the future had been vouchsafed to Jose Rizal, would he not have died +happy in the knowledge that the land he loved so dearly was very soon +to be transferred into such safekeeping?" + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The After-Life in Memory + +An hour or so after the shooting a dead-wagon from San Juan de Dios +Hospital took Rizal's body to Paco Cemetery. The civil governor of +Manila was in charge and there also were present the members of a +Church society whose duty it was to attend executions. + +Rizal had been wearing a black suit which he had obtained for his +European trip, and a derby hat, not only appropriate for a funeral +occasion because of their somber color, but also more desirable +than white both for the full day's wear, since they had to be put +on before the twenty-four hours in the chapel, and for the lying on +the ground which would follow the execution of the sentence. A plain +box inclosed the remains thus dressed, for even the hat was picked +up and encoffined. + +No visitors were admitted to the cemetery while the interment was +going on, and for several weeks after guards watched over the grave, +lest Filipinos might come by night to steal away the body and apportion +the clothing among themselves as relics of a martyr. Even the exact +spot of the interment was intended to be unknown, but friends of the +family were among the attendants at the burial and dropped into the +grave a marble slab which had been furnished them, bearing the initials +of the full baptismal name, Jose Protasio Rizal, in reversed order. + +The entry of the burial, like that of three of his followers of the +Liga Filipina who were among the dozen executed a fortnight later, +was on the back flyleaf of the cemetery register, with three or four +words of explanation later erased and now unknown. On the previous +page was the entry of a suicide's death, and following it is that of +the British Consul who died on the eve of Manila's surrender and whose +body, by the Archbishop's permission, was stored in a Paco niche till +it could be removed to the Protestant (foreigners') cemetery at San +Pedro Macati. + +The day of Rizal's execution, the day of his birth and the day of +his first leaving his native land was a Wednesday. All that night, +and the next day, the celebration continued the volunteers, who +were particularly responsible, like their fellows in Cuba, for the +atrocities which disgraced Spain's rule in the Philippines, being +especially in evidence. It was their clamor that had made the bringing +back of Rizal possible, their demands for his death had been most +prominent in his so-called trial, and now they were praising themselves +for their "patriotism." The landlords had objected to having their land +titles questioned and their taxes raised. The other friar orders, as +well as these, were opposed to a campaign which sought their transfer +from profitable parishes to self-sacrificing missionary labors. But +probably none of them as organizations desired Rizal's death. + +Rizal's old teachers wished for the restoration of their former +pupil to the faith of his childhood, from which they believed he had +departed. Through Despujol they seem to have worked for an opportunity +for influencing him, yet his death was certainly not in their plans. + +Some Filipinos, to save themselves, tried to complicate Rizal with the +Katipunan uprising by palpable falsehoods. But not every man is heroic +and these can hardly be blamed, for if all the alleged confessions +were not secured by actual torture, they were made through fear of +it, since in 1896 there was in Manila the legal practice of causing +bodily suffering by mediaeval methods supplemented by torments devised +by modern science. + +Among the Spaniards in Manila then, reenforced by those whom +the uprising had frightened out of the provinces, were a few who +realized that they belonged among the classes caricatured in Rizal's +novels--some incompetent, others dishonest, cruel ones, the illiterate, +wretched specimens that had married outside their race to get money +and find wives who would not know them for what they were, or drunken +husbands of viragoes. They came to the Philippines because they were +below the standard of their homeland. These talked the loudest and +thus dominated the undisciplined volunteers. With nothing divine about +them, since they had not forgotten, they did not forgive. So when the +Tondo "discoverer" of the Katipunan fancied he saw opportunity for +promotion in fanning their flame of wrath, they claimed their victims, +and neither the panic-stricken populace nor the weak-kneed government +could withstand them. + +Once more it must be repeated that Spain has no monopoly of bad +characters, nor suffers in the comparison of her honorable citizenship +with that of other nationalities, but her system in the Philippines +permitted abuses which good governments seek to avoid or, in the +rare occasions when this is impossible, aim to punish. Here was the +Spanish shortcoming, for these were the defects which made possible +so strange a story as this biography unfolds. "Jose Rizal," said a +recent Spanish writer, "was the living indictment of Spain's wretched +colonial system." + +Rizal's family were scattered among the homes of friends brave enough +to risk the popular resentment against everyone in any way identified +with the victim of their prejudice. + +As New Year's eve approached, the bands ceased playing and the marchers +stopped parading. Their enthusiasm had worn itself out in the two +continuous days of celebration, and there was a lessening of the +hospitality with which these "heroes" who had "saved the fatherland" +at first had been entertained. Their great day of the year became of +more interest than further remembrance of the bloody occurrence on +Bagumbayan Field. To those who mourned a son and a brother the change +must have come as a welcome relief, for even sorrow has its degrees, +and the exultation over the death embittered their grief. + +To the remote and humble home where Rizal's widow and the sister +to whom he had promised a parting gift were sheltered, the Dapitan +schoolboy who had attended his imprisoned teacher brought an alcohol +cooking-lamp. It was midnight before they dared seek the "something" +which Rizal had said was inside. The alcohol was emptied from the tank +and, with a convenient hairpin, a tightly folded and doubled piece of +paper was dislodged from where it had been wedged in, out of sight, +so that its rattling might not betray it. + +It was a single sheet of notepaper bearing verses in Rizal's well-known +handwriting and familiar style. Hastily the young boy copied them, +making some minor mistakes owing to his agitation and unfamiliarity +with the language, and the copy, without explanation, was mailed to +Mr. Basa in Hongkong. Then the original was taken by the two women with +their few possessions and they fled to join the insurgents in Cavite. + +The following translation of these verses was made by Charles +Derbyshire: + + + My Last Farewell + + Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caress'd, + Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost! + Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life's best, + And were it brighter, fresher, or more blest, + Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost. + + On the field of battle, 'mid the frenzy of fight, + Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed; + The place matters not--cypress or laurel or lily white, + Scaffold of open plain, combat or martyrdom's plight, + 'Tis ever the same, to serve our home and country's need. + + I die just when I see the dawn break, + Through the gloom of night, to herald the day; + And if color is lacking my blood thou shalt take, + Pour'd out at need for thy dear sake, + To dye with its crimson the waking ray. + + My dreams, when life first opened to me, + My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high, + Were to see thy lov'd face, O gem of the Orient sea, + From gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free; + No blush on thy brow, no tear in thine eye + + Dream of my life, my living and burning desire, + All hail! cries the soul that is now to take flight; + All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire; + To die for thy sake, that thou mayst aspire; + And sleep in thy bosom eternity's long night. + + If over my grave some day thou seest grow, + In the grassy sod, a humble flower, + Draw it to thy lips and kiss my soul so, + While I may feel on my brow in the cold tomb below + The touch of thy tenderness, thy breath's warm power. + + Let the moon beam over me soft and serene, + Let the dawn shed over me its radiant flashes, + Let the wind with sad lament over me keen; + And if on my cross a bird should be seen, + Let it trill there its hymn of peace to my ashes. + + Let the sun draw the vapors up to the sky, + And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest; + Let some kind soul o'er my untimely fate sigh, + And in the still evening a prayer be lifted on high + From thee, O my country, that in God I may rest. + + Pray for all those that hapless have died, + For all who have suffered the unmeasur'd pain; + For our mothers that bitterly their woes have cried, + For widows and orphans, for captives by torture tried; + And then for thyself that redemption thou mayst gain. + + And when the dark night wraps the graveyard around, + With only the dead in their vigil to see; + Break not my repose or the mystery profound, + And perchance thou mayst hear a sad hymn resound; + 'Tis I, O my country, raising a song unto thee. + + When even my grave is remembered no more, + Unmark'd by never a cross nor a stone; + Let the plow sweep through it, the spade turn it o'er, + That my ashes may carpet thy earthly floor, + Before into nothingness at last they are blown. + + Then will oblivion bring to me no care, + As over thy vales and plains I sweep; + Throbbing and cleansed in thy space and air, + With color and light, with song and lament I fare, + Ever repeating the faith that I keep. + + My Fatherland ador'd, that sadness to my sorrow lends, + Beloved Filipinas, hear now my last good-by! + I give thee all: parents and kindred and friends; + For I go where no slave before the oppressor bends, + Where faith can never kill, and God reigns e'er on high! + + Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away, + Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed! + Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day! + Farewell to thee, too, sweet friend that lightened my way; + Beloved creatures all, farewell! In death there is rest! + + + +For some time such belongings of Rizal as had been intrusted to +Josefina had been in the care of the American Consul in Manila +for as the adopted daughter of the American Taufer she had claimed +his protection. Stories are told of her as a second Joan of Arc, +but it is not likely that one of the few rifles which the insurgents +had would be turned over to a woman. After a short experience in the +field, much of it spent in nursing her sister-in-law through a fever, +Mrs. Rizal returned to Manila. Then came a brief interview with the +Governor-General. He had learned that his "administrative powers" +to exile without trial did not extend to foreigners, but by advice +of her consul she soon sailed for Hongkong. + +Mrs. Rizal at first lived in the Basa home and received +considerable attention from the Filipino colony. There was too +great a difference between the freedom accorded Englishwomen and the +restraints surrounding Spanish ladies however, to avoid difficulties +and misunderstandings, for very long. She returned to her adopted +father's house and after his death married Vicente Abad, a Cebuan, +son of a Spaniard who had been prominent in the Tabacalera Company +and had become an agent of theirs in Hongkong after he had completed +his studies there. + +Two weeks after Rizal's execution a dozen other members of his +"Liga Filipina" were executed on the Luneta. One was a millionaire, +Francisco Roxas, who had lost his mind, and believing that he was in +church, calmly spread his handkerchief on the ground and knelt upon +it as had been his custom in childhood. An old man, Moises Salvador, +had been crippled by torture so that he could not stand and had to +be laid upon the grass to be shot. The others met their death standing. + +That bravery and cruelty do not usually go together was amply +demonstrated in Polavieja's case and by the volunteers. The latter +once showed their patriotism, after a banquet, by going to the water's +edge on the Luneta and firing volleys at the insurgents across the +bay, miles away. The General was relieved of his command after he had +fortified a camp with siege guns against the bolo-armed insurgents, +who, however, by captures from the Spaniards were gradually becoming +better equipped. But he did not escape condemnation from his own +countrymen, and when he visited Giron, years after he had returned to +the Peninsula, circulars were distributed among the crowd, bearing +Rizal's last verses, his portrait, and the charge that to Polavieja +was due the loss of the Philippines to Spain. + +The Katipunan insurgents in time were bought off by General Primo de +Rivera, once more returned to the Islands for further plunder. The +money question does not concern Rizal's life, but his prediction of +suffering to the country came true, for while the leaders with the +first payment and hostages for their own safety sailed away to live +securely in Hongkong, the poorer people who remained suffered the +vengeance of a government which seems never to have kept a promise to +its people. Whether reforms were pledged is disputed, but if any were, +they never were put into effect. No more money was paid, and the first +instalment, preserved by the prudent leaders, equipped them when, +owing to Dewey's victory, they were enabled to return to their country. + +On the first anniversary of Rizal's execution some Spaniards desecrated +the grave, while on one of the niches, rented for the purpose, many +feet away, the family hung wreaths with Tagalog dedications but +no name. + +August 13, 1898, the Spanish flag came down from Fort Santiago in +evidence of the surrender of the city. At the first opportunity +Paco Cemetery was visited and Rizal's body raised for a more decent +interment. Vainly his shoes were searched for a last message which +he had said might be concealed there, for the dampness had made any +paper unrecognizable. Then a simple cross was erected, resting on a +marble block carved, as had been the smaller one which secretly had +first marked the spot, with the reversed initials "R. P. J." + +The first issue of a Filipino newspaper under the new government was +entirely dedicated to Rizal. The second anniversary of his execution +was observed with general unanimity, his countrymen demonstrating that +those who were seeing the dawn of the new day were not forgetful of +the greatest of those who had fallen in the night, to paraphrase his +own words. + +His widow returned and did live by giving lessons in English, at first +privately in Cebu, where one of her pupils was the present and first +Speaker of the Philippine Assembly, and afterwards as a government +employee in the public schools and in the "Liceo" of Manila. + +With the establishment of civil government a new province was formed +near Manila, including the land across the lake to which, as a lad +in Kalamba, Rizal had often wonderingly looked, and the name of Rizal +Province was given it. + +Later when public holidays were provided for by the new laws, the +anniversary of Rizal's execution was in the list, and it has become the +great day of the year, with the entire community uniting, for Spaniards +no longer consider him to have been a traitor to Spain and the American +authorities have founded a government in conformity with his teachings. + +On one of these occasions, December 30, 1905, William Jennings Bryan, +"The Great American Commoner," gave the Rizal Day address, in the +course of which he said: + +"If you will permit me to draw one lesson from the life of Rizal, +I will say that he presents an example of a great man consecrated +to his country's welfare. He, though dead, is a living rebuke to the +scholar who selfishly enjoys the privilege of an ample education and +does not impart the benefits of it to his fellows. His example is worth +much to the people of these Islands, to the child who reads of him, +to the young and old." + +The fiftieth anniversary of Rizal's birth was observed throughout the +Archipelago with exercises in every community by public schools now +organized along the lines he wished, to make self-dependent, capable +men and women, strong in body as in mind, knowing and claiming their +own rights, and recognizing and respecting those of others. + +His father died early in the year that the flags changed, but the +mother lived to see honor done her son and to prove herself as worthy, +for when the Philippine Legislature wanted to set aside a considerable +sum for her use, she declined it with the true and rightfully +proud assertion, that her family had never been patriotic for +money. Her funeral, in 1911, was an occasion of public mourning, the +Governor-General, Legislature and chief men of the Islands attending, +and all public business being suspended by proclamation for the day. + +A capitol for the representatives of the free people of the +Philippines, and worthy of the pioneer democratic government in the +Orient, is soon to be erected on the Luneta, facing the big Rizal +monument which will mark the place of execution of the man who gave +his life to prepare his countrymen for the changed conditions. + + + + + + +NOTES + +[1] -- I take the liberty, here, of citing an instance of this. In +1861, when I found myself on the West Coast of Mexico, a dozen +backwoods families determined upon settling in Sonora (forming an +oasis in the desert); a plan which was frustrated by the invasion +at that time of the European powers. Many native farmers awaited +the arrival of these immigrants in order to take them under their +protection. The value of land in consequence of the announcement of +the project rose very considerably. + +[2] -- See Appendix. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, +Philippine Patriot, by Austin Craig + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSE RIZAL *** + +This file should be named 7jsrz10.txt or 7jsrz10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7jsrz11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7jsrz10a.txt + +Text prepared by Jeroen Hellingman, +with help of the distributed proofreading website. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, Philippine Patriot + +Author: Austin Craig + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6867] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSE RIZAL *** + + + + +Text prepared by Jeroen Hellingman, +with help of the distributed proofreading website. + + + + + + + + + +LINEAGE LIFE AND LABORS +of +JOSÉ RIZAL +PHILIPPINE PATRIOT + +A Study of the Growth of Free Ideas in the Trans-Pacific American +Territory + +BY + +AUSTIN CRAIG +ASSISTANT PROFESSOR ORIENTAL HISTORY +UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES + +AUTHOR OF "THE STUDY OF JOSÉ RIZAL," +"EL LINEAJE DEL DOCTOR RIZAL," ETC. + +INTRODUCTION BY +JAMES ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, L.H.D. + + +MANILA +PHILIPPINE EDUCATION COMPANY +1913 + + + + + +DEDICATION + +To the Philippine Youth + +The subject of Doctor Rizal's first prize-winning poem was The +Philippine Youth, and its theme was "Growth." The study of the growth +of free ideas, as illustrated in this book of his lineage, life and +labors, may therefore fittingly be dedicated to the "fair hope of +the fatherland." + +Except in the case of some few men of great genius, those who are +accustomed to absolutism cannot comprehend democracy. Therefore our +nation is relying on its young men and young women; on the rising, +instructed generation, for the secure establishment of popular +self-government in the Philippines. This was Rizal's own idea, for +he said, through the old philosopher in "Noli me Tangere," that he +was not writing for his own generation but for a coming, instructed +generation that would understand his hidden meaning. + +Your public school education gives you the democratic view-point, +which the genius of Rizal gave him; in the fifty-five volumes of +the Blair-Robertson translation of Philippine historical material +there is available today more about your country's past than the +entire contents of the British Museum afforded him; and you have the +guidance in the new paths that Rizal struck out, of the life of a +hero who, farsightedly or providentially, as you may later decide, +was the forerunner of the present régime. + +But you will do as he would have done, neither accept anything because +it is written, nor reject it because it does not fall in with your +prejudices--study out the truth for yourselves. + + + +Introduction + +In writing a biography, the author, if he be discriminating, selects, +with great care, the salient features of the life story of the one whom +he deems worthy of being portrayed as a person possessed of preëminent +qualities that make for a character and greatness. Indeed to write +biography at all, one should have that nice sense of proportion that +makes him instinctively seize upon only those points that do advance +his theme. Boswell has given the world an example of biography that +is often wearisome in the extreme, although he wrote about a man +who occupied in his time a commanding position. Because Johnson was +Johnson the world accepts Boswell, and loves to talk of the minuteness +of Boswell's portrayal, yet how many read him, or if they do read him, +have the patience to read him to the end? + +In writing the life of the greatest of the Filipinos, Mr. Craig has +displayed judgment. Saturated as he is with endless details of Rizal's +life, he has had the good taste to select those incidents or those +phases of Rizal's life that exhibit his greatness of soul and that +show the factors that were the most potent in shaping his character +and in controlling his purposes and actions. + +A biography written with this chastening of wealth cannot fail to +be instructive and worthy of study. If one were to point out but +a single benefit that can accrue from a study of biography written +as Mr. Craig has done that of Rizal, he would mention, I believe, +that to the character of the student, for one cannot study seriously +about men of character without being affected by that study. As +leading to an understanding of the character of Rizal, Mr. Craig has +described his ancestry with considerable fulness and has shown how the +selective principle has worked through successive generations. But +he has also realized the value of the outside influences and shows +how the accidents of birth and nation affected by environment plus +mental vigor and will produced José Rizal. With a strikingly meager +setting of detail, Rizal has been portrayed from every side and the +reader must leave the biography with a knowledge of the elements +that entered into and made his life. As a study for the youth of the +Philippines, I believe this life of Rizal will be productive of good +results. Stimulation and purpose are presented (yet not didactically) +throughout its pages. One object of the author, I should say, has been +to show how both Philippine history and world history helped shape +Rizal's character. Accordingly, he has mentioned many historical +matters both of Philippine and world-wide interest. One cannot read +the book without a desire to know more of these matters. Thus the +book is not only a biography, it is a history as well. It must give +a larger outlook to the youth of the Philippines. The only drawback +that one might find in it, and it seems paradoxical to say it, is +the lack of more detail, for one leaves it wishing that he knew more +of the actual intimate happenings, and this, I take it, is the best +effect a biography can have on the reader outside of the instructive +and moral value of the biography. + +JAMES A. ROBERTSON. + +MANILA, P. I. + + + +CONTENTS + + + +Dedication. To the Philippine Youth +Introduction +I. America's Forerunner +II. Rizal's Chinese Ancestry +III. Liberalizing Hereditary Influences +IV. Rizal's Early Childhood +V. Jagor's Prophecy +VI. The Period of Preparation +VII. The Period of Propaganda +VIII. Despujol's Duplicity +IX. The Deportation to Dapitan +X. Consummatum Est +XI. The After Life In Memory + + + + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +Portrait of Rizal Frontispiece +Painted in oils by Felix Resurrection Hidalgo (in color). + +Philippine Money and Postage Stamps + +Portrait of Rizal +Painted in oils by Juan Luna in Paris. Facsimile (in color). + +Columbus at Barcelona +From a print in Rizal's scrapbook. + +Portrait Group +Rizal at thirteen. Rizal at eighteen. Rizal in London. The portrait +on the postage stamp. + +The Baptismal Record of Domingo Lam-co +Facsimile. + +Portrait Group +1. In Luna's home. 2. In 1890. 3. The portrait on the paper +money. 4. In 1891. 5. In 1892. + +Pacific Ocean Spheres of Influence +Made by Rizal during President Harrison's administration. + +Father of Rizal +Portrait. + +Mother of Rizal +Portrait. + +Rizal's Family-Tree +Made by Rizal when in Dapitan. + +Birthplace of José Rizal +From a photograph. + +Sketches by Rizal +A group made during his travels. + +Bust of Rizal's Father +Carved in wood by Rizal. + +The Church and Convento at Kalamba +From a photograph. + +Father Leoncio Lopez +From a photograph. + +The Lake District of Central Luzon +Sketch made by Rizal. + +Rizal's Uncle, José Alberto +From a photograph. + +Sir John Bowring, K.C.B. +From an old print. + +José Del Pan of Manila +From a photograph. + +Governor De La Torre +From an old print. + +Archbishop Martinez +From an old print. + +The Very Rev. James Burgos, D.D. +From a photograph. + +Gen. F. T. Ward +From a photograph. + +Monument to the "Ever-Victorious" Army, Shanghai +From a photograph. + +Mrs. Rizal and Her Two Daughters +From a photograph. + +Bilibid Prison +From an old print. + +Model of a Head of a Dapitan Girl +From a photograph. + +Memorial to José Alberto in the Church at Biñan +From a photograph. + +Books from Rizal's Library +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Carving of the Sacred Heart +From a photograph. + +Bust of Father Guerrico, S. J. +From a photograph. + +Two Views of a Composite Statuette by Rizal +From photographs. + +Model in Clay of a Dapitan Woman +From a photograph. + +Sketch of Himself in the Training Class +Photograph from the original. + +Oil Painting of Rizal's Sister, Saturnina +Photograph from the painting. + +Rizal's Parting View of Manila +Pencil sketch by himself. + +Sketches: 1. Singapore Lighthouse. 2. Along the Suez Canal. +3. Castle of St. Elmo +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Studies of Passengers on the French Mail Steamer +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Aden, May 28, 1882 +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Don Pablo Ortigas y Reyes +From a photograph. + +First Lines of a Poem by Rizal to Miss Reyes +Facsimile. + +Rizal in Juan Luna's Studio in Paris +From a photograph. + +The Ruined Castle at Heidelberg +From a photograph. + +Dr. Rudolf Virchow +From a photograph. + +The House where Rizal Completed "Noli Me Tangere" +From a photograph. + +Manuscript of "Noli Me Tangere" +Facsimile. + +Portrait of Dr. F. Blumentritt +Pencil sketch by Rizal. + +The Victory of Death over Life and of Science over Death +Statuettes by Rizal from photographs. + +José T. De Andrade, Rizal's Bodyguard +From an old print. + +José Maria Basa of Hongkong +From a photograph. + +Imitations of Japanese Art +From Rizal's sketch book. + +Dr. Antonio Maria Regidor +From a photograph. + +A "Wheel of Fortune" Answer Book +Facsimile. + +Dr. Reinhold Rost +From a photograph. + +A Page from Andersen's Fairy Tales Translated by Rizal +Facsimile. + +Dedication of Rizal's Translation of Andersen's Fairy Tales +Facsimile. + +A Trilingual Letter by Rizal +Facsimile. + +Morga's History in the British Museum +From a photograph of the original. + +Application, Recommendation and Admission to the British Museum +From photographs of the originals. + +"La Solidaridad" +From photograph of the original. + +Staff of "La Solidaridad" +From a photograph. + +Rizal Fencing with Luna in Paris +From a photograph. + +General Weyler Known as "Butcher" Weyler +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Parents during the Land Troubles +From photographs. + +The Writ of Eviction against Rizal's Father +Facsimile of the original. + +Room in which "El Filibusterismo" was Begun +Pencil sketch by Rizal. + +First Page of the Manuscript of "El Filibusterismo" +Facsimile from the original. + +Cover of the Manuscript of "El Filibusterismo" +Facsimile of the original. + +Rizal's Professional Card when in Hongkong +Facsimile of the original. + +Statuette Modeled by Rizal +From a photograph. + +Don Eulogio Despujol +From an old print. + +Proposed Settlement in Borneo +Facsimile of original sketch. + +Rizal's Passport or "Safe Conduct" +Photograph of the original. + +Part of Despujol's Private Inquiry +Facsimile of the original. + +Case Secretly Filed against Rizal +Facsimile of the original. + +Luis De La Torre, Secretary to Despujol +From an old print. + +Regulations of La Liga Filipina +Facsimile in Rizal's handwriting. + +The Calle Ilaya Monument to Rizal and La Liga Filipina +From a photograph. + +Three New Species Discovered by Rizal and Named After Him +From an engraving. + +Specimens Collected by Rizal and Father Sanchez +From photographs. + +Statuette by Rizal, The Mother's Revenge +From a photograph. + +Father Sanchez, S. J. +From a photograph. + +Drawings of Fishes Caught at Dapitan +Twelve facsimiles of Rizal's originals. + +Plan of the Water Works for Dapitan +Facsimile of Rizal's sketch. + +Jewelry of Earliest Moro Converts +From a photograph. + +Hill and Excavations where the Jewelry was Found +Facsimile of a sketch by Rizal. + +List of Ethnographical Material +Facsimile. + +The Blind Mr. Taufer +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Father-in-Law +From a photograph. + +Carved Portrait of Josefina Bracken +From a photograph. + +Josefina Bracken's Baptismal Certificate +Facsimile of the original. + +Josefina Bracken, Afterwards Mrs. José Rizal +From a photograph. + +Leonora Rivera +Pencil sketch by Rizal. + +Leonora Rivera at the Age of Fifteen +From a photograph. + +Letter to His Nephew by Rizal +Facsimile. + +Ethnographical Material Collected by Rizal +From a print. + +Cell in which Rizal was Imprisoned +From a photograph. + +Cuartel De España +From a photograph. + +Luis T. De Andrade +From an old print. + +Interior of Cell +From a photograph. + +Rizal's Wedding Gift to His Wife +Facsimile of original. + +Rizal's Symbolic Name in Masonry +Facsimile of original. + +The Wife of José Rizal +From a photograph. + +Execution of Rizal +From a photograph. + +Burial Record of Rizal +Facsimile from the Paco register. + +Grave of Rizal in Paco Cemetery, Manila +From a photograph. + +The Alcohol Lamp in which the "Farewell" Poem was Hidden +From a photograph. + +The Opening Lines of Rizal's Last Verses +Facsimile of original. + +Rizal's Farewell to His Mother +Facsimile. + +Monument at the Corner of Rizal Avenue +From a photograph. + +Float in a Rizal Day Parade +From a photograph. + +W. J. Bryan as a Rizal Day Orator +From a photograph. + +Governor-General Forbes and Delegate Mariano Ponce +From a photograph. + +The Last Portrait of José Rizal's Mother +From a photograph. + +Accepted Model for the Rizal Monument +From a photograph. + +The Rizal Monument in Front of the New Capital +From a sketch. + +The Story of the Monkey and the Tortoise +Six facsimiles from Rizal's originals. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +America's Forerunner + +THE lineage of a hero who made the history of his country during its +most critical period, and whose labors constitute its hope for the +future, must be more than a simple list of an ascending line. The blood +which flowed in his veins must be traced generation by generation, +the better to understand the man, but at the same time the causes +leading to the conditions of his times must be noted, step by step, +in order to give a better understanding of the environment in which +he lived and labored. + +The study of the growth of free ideas is now in the days of our +democracy the most important feature of Philippine history; hitherto +this history has consisted of little more than lists of governors, +their term of office, and of the recital of such incidents as were +considered to redound to the glory of Spain, or could be so twisted +and misrepresented as to make them appear to do so. It rarely occurred +to former historians that the lamp of experience might prove a light +for the feet of future generations, and the mistakes of the past +were usually ignored or passed over, thus leaving the way open for +repeating the old errors. But profit, not pride, should be the object +of the study of the past, and our historians of today very largely +concern themselves with mistakes in policy and defects of system; +fortunately for them such critical investigation under our changed +conditions does not involve the discomfort and danger that attended +it in the days of Doctor Rizal. + +In the opinion of the martyred Doctor, criticism of the right +sort--even the very best things may be abused till they become +intolerable evils--serves much the same useful warning purpose +for governments that the symptoms of sickness do for persons. Thus +government and individual alike, when advised in time of something +wrong with the system, can seek out and correct the cause before +serious consequences ensue. But the nation that represses honest +criticism with severity, like the individual who deadens his symptoms +with dangerous drugs, is likely to be lulled into a false security +that may prove fatal. Patriot toward Spain and the Philippines alike, +Rizal tried to impress this view upon the government of his day, +with fatal results to himself, and the disastrous effects of not +heeding him have since justified his position. + +The very defenses of Old Manila illustrate how the Philippines have +suffered from lack of such devoted, honest and courageous critics as +José Rizal. The city wall was built some years later than the first +Spanish occupation to keep out Chinese pirates after Li Ma-hong +destroyed the city. The Spaniards sheltered themselves in the old +Tagalog fort till reënforcements could come from the country. No one +had ever dared to quote the proverb about locking the door after the +horse was stolen. The need for the moat, so recently filled in, was +not seen until after the bitter experience of the easy occupation of +Manila by the English, but if public opinion had been allowed free +expression this experience might have been avoided. And the free +space about the walls was cleared of buildings only after these same +buildings had helped to make the same occupation of the city easier, +yet there were many in Manila who foresaw the danger but feared to +foretell it. + +Had the people of Spain been free to criticise the Spaniards' way of +waiting to do things until it is too late, that nation, at one time the +largest and richest empire in the world, would probably have been saved +from its loss of territory and its present impoverished condition. And +had the early Filipinos, to whom splendid professions and sweeping +promises were made, dared to complain of the Peninsular policy of +procrastination--the "mañana" habit, as it has been called--Spain +might have been spared Doctor Rizal's terrible but true indictment +that she retarded Philippine progress, kept the Islands miserably +ruled for 333 years and in the last days of the nineteenth century was +still permitting mediaeval malpractices. Rizal did not believe that +his country was able to stand alone as a separate government. He +therefore desired to preserve the Spanish sovereignty in the +Philippines, but he desired also to bring about reforms and conditions +conducive to advancement. To this end he carefully pointed out those +colonial shortcomings that caused friction, kept up discontent, and +prevented safe progress, and that would have been perfectly easy to +correct. Directly as well as indirectly, the changes he proposed were +calculated to benefit the homeland quite as much as the Philippines, +but his well-meaning efforts brought him hatred and an undeserved +death, thus proving once more how thankless is the task of telling +unpleasant truths, no matter how necessary it may be to do so. Because +Rizal spoke out boldly, while realizing what would probably be his +fate, history holds him a hero and calls his death a martyrdom. He +was not one of those popularity-seeking, self-styled patriots who are +ever mouthing "My country, right or wrong;" his devotion was deeper +and more disinterested. When he found his country wrong he willingly +sacrificed himself to set her right. Such unselfish spirits are rare; +in life they are often misunderstood, but when time does them justice, +they come into a fame which endures. + +Doctor Rizal knew that the real Spain had generous though sluggish +intentions, and noble though erratic impulses, but it awoke too late; +too late for Doctor Rizal and too late to save the Philippines for +Spain; tardy reforms after his death were useless and the loss of +her overseas possessions was the result. Doctor Rizal lost when he +staked his life on his trust in the innate sense of honor of Spain, +for that sense of honor became temporarily blinded by a sudden but +fatal gust of passion; and it took the shock of the separation to +rouse the dormant Spanish chivalry. + +Still in the main Rizal's judgment was correct, and he was the victim +of mistimed, rather than of misplaced, confidence, for as soon as +the knowledge of the real Rizal became known to the Spanish people, +belated justice began to be done his memory, and then, repentant and +remorseful, as is characteristically Castilian, there was little delay +and no half-heartedness. Another name may now be grouped with Columbus +and Cervantes among those to whom Spain has given imprisonment in +life and monuments after death--chains for the man and chaplets for +his memory. In 1896, during the few days before he could be returned +to Manila, Doctor Rizal occupied a dungeon in Montjuich Castle in +Barcelona; while on his way to assist the Spanish soldiers in Cuba +who were stricken with yellow fever, he was shipped and sent back to +a prejudged trial and an unjust execution. Fifteen years later the +Catalan city authorities commemorated the semi-centennial of this +prisoner's birth by changing, in his honor, the name of a street in +the shadow of the infamous prison of Montjuich Castle to "Calle del +Doctor Rizal." + +More instances of this nature are not cited since they are not +essential to the proper understanding of Rizal's story, but let it be +made clear once for all that whatever harshness may be found in the +following pages is directed solely to those who betrayed the trust +of the mother country and selfishly abused the ample and unrestrained +powers with which Spain invested them. + +And what may seem the exaltation of the Anglo-Saxons at the expense of +the Latins in these pages is intended only to point out the superiority +of their ordered system of government, with its checks and balances, +its individual rights and individual duties, under which men are +"free to live by no man's leave, underneath the Law." No human being +can be safely trusted with unlimited power, and no man, no matter +what his nationality, could have withstood the temptations offered by +the chaotic conditions in the Philippines in past times any better +than did the Spaniards. There is nothing written in this book that +should convey the opinion that in similar circumstances men of any +nationality would not have acted as the Spaniards did. The easiest +recognized characteristic of absolutism, and all the abuses and +corruption it brings in its train, is fear of criticism, and Spain +drew her own indictment in the Philippines when she executed Rizal. + +When any nation sets out to enroll all its scholarly critics among +the martyrs in the cause of Liberty, it makes an open confession of +guilt to all the world. For a quarter of a century Spain had been +ruling in the Philippines by terrorizing its subjects there, and +Rizal's execution, with utter disregard of the most elementary rules +of judicial procedure, was the culmination that drove the Filipinos +to desperation and arrested the attention of the whole civilized +world. It was evident that Rizal's fate might have been that of any +of his countrymen, and the thinking world saw that events had taken +such a course in the Philippines that it had become justifiable for +the Filipinos to attempt to dissolve the political bands which had +connected them with Spain for over three centuries. + +Such action by the Filipinos would not have been warranted by a +solitary instance of unjust execution under stress of political +excitement that did not indicate the existence of a settled +policy. Such instances are rather to be classed among the mistakes +to which governments as well as individuals are liable. Yet even such +a mistake may be avoided by certain precautions which experience has +suggested, and the nation that disregards these precautions is justly +open to criticism. + +Our present Philippine government guarantees to its citizens as +fundamental rights, that no person shall be held to answer for a +capital crime unless on an indictment, nor may he be compelled in any +criminal case to be a witness gainst himself, nor be deprived of life, +liberty or property without due process of law. The accused must have +a speedy, public and impartial trial, be informed of the nature and +cause of the accusation, be confronted with the witnesses against him, +have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and have +the assistance of counsel for his defense. Not one of these safeguards +protected Doctor Rizal except that he had an "open trial," if that name +may be given to a courtroom filled with his enemies openly clamoring +for his death without rebuke from the court. Even the presumption of +innocence till guilt was established was denied him. These precautions +have been considered necessary for every criminal trial, but the +framers of the American Constitution, fearful lest popular prejudice +some day might cause injustice to those advocating unpopular ideals, +prohibited the irremediable penalty of death upon a charge of treason +except where the testimony of two reliable witnesses established some +overt act, inference not being admissible as evidence. + +Such protection was not given the subjects of Spain, but still, with +all the laxity of the Spanish law, and even if all the charges had been +true, which they were far from being, no case was made out against +Doctor Rizal at his trial. According to the laws then in effect, he +was unfairly convicted and he should be considered innocent; for this +reason his life will be studied to see what kind of hero he was, and +no attempt need be made to plead good character and honest intentions +in extenuation of illegal acts. Rizal was ever the advocate of law, +and it will be found, too, that he was always consistently law-abiding. + +Though they are in the Orient, the Filipinos are not of it. Rizal once +said, upon hearing of plans for a Philippine exhibit at a European +World's Fair, that the people of Europe would have a chance to see +themselves as they were in the Middle Ages. With allowances for the +changes due to climate and for the character of the country, this +statement can hardly be called exaggerated. The Filipinos in the +last half of the nineteenth century were not Orientals but mediaeval +Europeans--to the credit of the early Castilians but to the discredit +of the later Spaniards. + +The Filipinos of the remoter Christian barrios, whom Rizal had in mind +particularly, were in customs, beliefs and advancement substantially +what the descendants of Legaspi's followers might have been had these +been shipwrecked on the sparsely inhabited islands of the Archipelago +and had their settlement remained shut off from the rest of the world. + +Except where foreign influence had accidentally crept in at the +ports, it could truthfully be said that scarcely perceptible advance +had been made in three hundred years. Succeeding Spaniards by their +misrule not only added little to the glorious achievement of their +ancestors, but seemed to have prevented the natural progress which +the land would have made. + +In one form or another, this contention was the basis of Rizal's +campaign. By careful search, it is true, isolated instances of +improvement could be found, but the showing at its very best was +so pitifully poor that the system stood discredited. And it was the +system to which Rizal was opposed. + +The Spaniards who engaged in public argument with Rizal were +continually discovering, too late to avoid tumbling into them, logical +pitfalls which had been carefully prepared to trap them. Rizal argued +much as he played chess, and was ever ready to sacrifice a pawn to +be enabled to say "check." Many an unwary opponent realized after +he had published what he had considered a clever answer that the +same reasoning which scored a point against Rizal incontrovertibly +established the Kalamban's major premise. + +Superficial antagonists, to the detriment of their own reputations, +have made much of what they chose to consider Rizal's historical +errors. But history is not merely chronology, and his representation +of its trend, disregarding details, was a masterly tracing of current +evils to their remote causes. He may have erred in some of his minor +statements; this will happen to anyone who writes much, but attempts to +discredit Rizal on the score of historical inaccuracy really reflect +upon the captious critics, just as a draftsman would expose himself +to ridicule were he to complain of some famous historical painting +that it had not been drawn to exact scale. Rizal's writings were +intended to bring out in relief the evils of the Spanish system of +the government of the Filipino people, just as a map of the world +may put the inhabited portions of the earth in greater prominence +than those portions that are not inhabited. Neither is exact in its +representation, but each serves its purpose the better because it +magnifies the important and minimizes the unimportant. + +In his disunited and abased countrymen, Rizal's writings aroused, as he +intended they should, the spirit of nationality, of a Fatherland which +was not Spain, and put their feet on the road to progress. What matters +it, then, if his historical references are not always exhaustive, and +if to make himself intelligible in the Philippines he had to write in +a style possibly not always sanctioned by the Spanish Academy? Spain +herself had denied to the Filipinos a system of education that +might have made a creditable Castilian the common language of the +Archipelago. A display of erudition alone does not make an historian, +nor is purity, propriety and precision in choosing words all there +is to literature. + +Rizal charged Spain unceasingly with unprogressiveness in the +Philippines, just as he labored and planned unwearyingly to bring +the Filipinos abreast of modern European civilization. But in his +appeals to the Spanish conscience and in his endeavors to educate his +countrymen he showed himself as practical as he was in his arguments, +ever ready to concede nonessentials in name and means if by doing so +progress could be made. + +Because of his unceasing efforts for a wiser, better governed and +more prosperous Philippines, and because of his frank admission that +he hoped thus in time there might come a freer Philippines, Rizal was +called traitor to Spain and ingrate. Now honest, open criticism is +not treason, and the sincerest gratitude to those who first brought +Christian civilization to the Philippines should not shut the eyes to +the wrongs which Filipinos suffered from their successors. But until +the latest moment of Spanish rule, the apologists of Spain seemed to +think that they ought to be able to turn away the wrath evoked by the +cruelty and incompetence that ran riot during centuries, by dwelling +upon the benefits of the early days of the Spanish dominion. + +Wearisome was the eternal harping on gratitude which at one time was +the only safe tone for pulpit, press and public speech; it irritating +because it ignored questions of current policy, and it was discouraging +to the Filipinos who were reminded by it of the hopeless future for +their country to which time had brought no progress. But with all the +faults and unworthiness of the later rulers, and the inane attempts +of their parasites to distract attention from these failings, there +remains undimmed the luster of Spain's early fame. The Christianizing +which accompanied her flag upon the mainland and islands of the +New World is its imperishable glory, and the transformation of the +Filipino people from Orientals into mediæval Europeans through the +colonizing genius of the early Castilians, remains a marvel unmatched +in colonial history and merits the lasting gratitude of the Filipino. + +Doctor Rizal satirized the degenerate descendants and scored the +unworthy successors, but his writings may be searched in vain for +wholesale charges against the Spanish nation such as Spanish scribblers +were forever directing against all Filipinos, past, present and future, +with an alleged fault of a single one as a pretext. It will be found +that he invariably recognized that the faithful first administrators +and the devoted pioneer missionaries had a valid claim upon the +continuing gratitude of the people of Tupa's and Lakandola's land. + +Rizal's insight discerned, and experience has demonstrated, that +Legaspi, Urdaneta and those who were like them, laid broad and firm +foundations for a modern social and political organization which +could be safely and speedily established by reforms from above. The +early Christianizing civilizers deserve no part of the blame for +the fact that Philippine ports were not earlier opened to progress, +but much credit is due them that there is succeeding here an orderly +democracy such as now would be impossible in any neighboring country. + +The Philippine patriot would be the first to recognize the justice +of the selection of portraits which appear with that of Rizal upon +the present Philippine postage stamps, where they serve as daily +reminders of how free government came here. + +The constancy and courage of a Portuguese sailor put these Islands into +touch with the New World with which their future progress was to be +identified. The tact and honesty of a civil official from Mexico made +possible the almost bloodless conquest which brought the Filipinos +under the then helpful rule of Spain. The bequest of a far-sighted +early philanthropist was the beginning of the water system of Manila, +which was a recognition of the importance of efforts toward improving +the public health and remains a reminder of how, even in the darkest +days of miseries and misgovernment, there have not been wanting +Spaniards whose ideal of Spanish patriotism was to devote heart, +brain and wealth to the welfare of the Filipinos. These were the +heroes of the period of preparation. + +The life of the one whose story is told in these pages was devoted +and finally sacrificed to dignify their common country in the eyes +of his countrymen, and to unite them in a common patriotism; he +inculcated that self-respect which, by leading to self-restraint and +self-control, makes self-government possible; and sought to inspire +in all a love of ordered freedom, so that, whether under the flag +of Spain or any other, or by themselves, neither tyrants (caciques) +nor slaves (those led by caciques) would be possible among them. + +And the change itself came through an American President who +believed, and practiced the belief, that nations owed obligations +to other nations just as men had duties toward their fellow-men. He +established here Liberty through Law, and provided for progress in +general education, which should be a safeguard to good government as +well, for an enlightened people cannot be an oppressed people. Then +he went to war against the Philippines rather than deceive them, +because the Filipinos, who repeatedly had been tricked by Spain with +unfulfilled promises, insisted on pledges which he had not the power to +give. They knew nothing of what was meant by the rule of the people, +and could not conceive of a government whose head was the servant +and not the master. Nor did they realize that even the voters might +not promise for the future, since republicanism requires that the +government of any period shall rule only during the period that it +is in the majority. In that war military glory and quick conquest +were sacrificed to consideration for the misled enemy, and every +effort was made to minimize the evils of warfare and to gain the +confidence of the people. Retaliation for violations of the usages of +civilized warfare, of which Filipinos at first were guilty through +their Spanish training, could not be entirely prevented, but this +retaliation contrasted strikingly with the Filipinos' unhappy past +experiences with Spanish soldiers. The few who had been educated out +of Spain and therefore understood the American position were daily +reënforced by those persons who became convinced from what they saw, +until a majority of the Philippine people sought peace. Then the +President of the United States outlined a policy, and the history +and constitution of his government was an assurance that this policy +would be followed; the American government then began to do what it +had not been able to promise. + +The forerunner and the founder of the present regime in these Islands, +by a strange coincidence, were as alike in being cruelly misunderstood +in their lifetimes by those whom they sought to benefit as they were +in the tragedy of their deaths, and both were unjustly judged by many, +probably well-meaning, countrymen. + +Magellan, Legaspi, Carriedo, Rizal and McKinley, heroes of the free +Philippines, belonged to different times and were of different types, +but their work combined to make possible the growing democracy of +to-day. The diversity of nationalities among these heroes is an added +advantage, for it recalls that mingling of blood which has developed +the Filipinos into a strong people. + +England, the United States and the Philippines are each composed +of widely diverse elements. They have each been developed by +adversity. They have each honored their severest critics while yet +those critics lived. Their common literature, which tells the story +of human liberty in its own tongue, is the richest, most practical +and most accessible of all literature, and the popular education upon +which rests the freedom of all three is in the same democratic tongue, +which is the most widely known of civilized languages and the only +unsycophantic speech, for it stands alone in not distinguishing by +its use of pronouns in the second person the social grade of the +individual addressed. + +The future may well realize Rizal's dream that his country should +be to Asia what England has been to Europe and the United States +is in America, a hope the more likely to be fulfilled since the +events of 1898 restored only associations of the earlier and happier +days of the history of the Philippines. The very name now used is +nearer the spelling of the original Philipinas than the Filipinas +of nineteenth century Spanish usage. The first form was used until +nearly a century ago, when it was corrupted along with so many things +of greater importance. + +The Philippines at first were called "The Islands of the West," as +they are considered to be occidental and not oriental. They were made +known to Europe as a sequel to the discoveries of Columbus. Conquered +and colonized from Mexico, most of their pious and charitable +endowments, churches, hospitals, asylums and colleges, were endowed +by philanthropic Mexicans. Almost as long as Mexico remained Spanish +the commerce of the Philippines was confined to Mexico, and the +Philippines were a part of the postal system of Mexico and dependent +upon the government of Mexico exactly as long as Mexico remained +Spanish. They even kept the new world day, one day behind Europe, +for a third of a century longer. The Mexican dollars continued to be +their chief coins till supplanted, recently, by the present peso, +and the highbuttoned white coat, the "americana," by that name was +in general use long years ago. The name America is frequently to be +found in the old baptismal registers, for a century or more ago many +a Filipino child was so christened, and in the '70's Rizal's carving +instructor, because so many of the best-made articles he used were +of American manufacture, gave the name "Americano" to a godchild. As +Americans, Filipinos were joined with the Mexicans when King Ferdinand +VII thanked his subjects in both countries for their loyalty during +the Napoleonic wars. Filipino students abroad found, too, books about +the Philippines listed in libraries and in booksellers' catalogues +as a branch of "Americana." + +Nor was their acquaintance confined to Spanish Americans. The name +"English" was early known. Perhaps no other was more familiar in +the beginning, for it was constantly execrated by the Spaniards, +and in consequence secretly cherished by those who suffered wrongs +at their hands. + +Magellan had lost his life in his attempted circumnavigation of the +globe and Elcano completed the disastrous voyage in a shattered ship, +minus most of its crew. But Drake, an Englishman, undertook the same +voyage, passed the Straits in less time than Magellan, and was the +first commander in his own ship to put a belt around the earth. These +facts were known in the Philippines, and from them the Filipinos drew +comparisons unfavorable to the boastful Spaniards. + +When the rich Philippine galleon Santa Ana was captured off the +California coast by Thomas Candish, "three boys born in Manila" +were taken on board the English ships. Afterwards Candish sailed into +the straits south of "Luçon" and made friends with the people of the +country. There the Filipinos promised "both themselves, and all the +islands thereabouts, to aid him whensoever he should come again to +overcome the Spaniards." + +Dampier, another English sea captain, passed through the Archipelago +but little later, and one of his men, John Fitzgerald by name, remained +in the Islands, marrying here. He pretended to be a physician, and +practiced as a doctor in Manila. There was no doubt room for him, +because when Spain expelled the Moors she reduced medicine in her +country to a very low state, for the Moors had been her most skilled +physicians. Many of these Moors who were Christians, though not +orthodox according to the Spanish standard, settled in London, and +the English thus profited by the persecution, just as she profited +when the cutlery industry was in like manner transplanted from Toledo +to Sheffield. + +The great Armada against England in Queen Elizabeth's time was an +attempt to stop once for all the depredations of her subjects on +Spain's commerce in the Orient. As the early Spanish historian, Morga, +wrote of it: "Then only the English nation disturbed the Spanish +dominion in that Orient. Consequently King Philip desired not only +to forbid it with arms near at hand, but also to furnish an example, +by their punishment, to all the northern nations, so that they should +not undertake the invasions that we see. A beginning was made in this +work in the year one thousand five hundred and eighty-eight." + +This ingeniously worded statement omits to tell how ignominiously +the pretentious expedition ended, but the fact of failure remained +and did not help the prestige of Spain, especially among her subjects +in the Far East. After all the boastings of what was going to happen, +and all the claims of what had been accomplished, the enemies of Spain +not only were unchecked but appeared to be bolder than ever. Some of +the more thoughtful Filipinos then began to lose confidence in Spanish +claims. They were only a few, but their numbers were to increase as +the years went by. The Spanish Armada was one of the earliest of those +influences which, reënforced by later events, culminated in the life +work of José Rizal and the loss of the Philippines by Spain. + +At that time the commerce of Manila was restricted to the galleon +trade with Mexico, and the prosperity of the Filipino merchants--in +large measure the prosperity of the entire Archipelago--depended +upon the yearly ventures the hazard of which was not so much the +ordinary uncertainty of the sea as the risk of capture by English +freebooters. Everybody in the Philippines had heard of these daring +English mariners, who were emboldened by an almost unbroken series of +successes which had correspondingly discouraged the Spaniards. They +carried on unceasing war despite occasional proclamation of peace +between England and Spain, for the Spanish treasure ships were +tempting prizes, and though at times policy made their government +desire friendly relations with Spain, the English people regarded +all Spaniards as their natural enemies and all Spanish property as +their legitimate spoil. + +The Filipinos realized earlier than the Spaniards did that torturing to +death shipwrecked English sailors was bad policy. The result was always +to make other English sailors fight more desperately to avoid a similar +fate. Revenge made them more and more aggressive, and treaties made +with Spain were disregarded because, as they said, Spain's inhumanity +had forfeited her right to be considered a civilized country. + +It was less publicly discussed, but equally well known, that the +English freebooters, besides committing countless depredations +on commerce, were always ready to lend their assistance to any +discontented Spanish subjects whom they could encourage into open +rebellion. + +The English word Filibuster was changed into "Filibusteros" by the +Spanish, and in later years it came to be applied especially to those +charged with stirring up discontent and rebellion. For three centuries, +in its early application to the losses of commerce, and in its later +use as denoting political agitation, possibly no other word in the +Philippines, outside of the ordinary expressions of daily life, was +so widely known, and certainly none had such sinister signification. + +In contrast to this lawless association is a similarity of laws. The +followers of Cortez, it will be remembered, were welcomed in Mexico +as the long-expected "Fair Gods" because of their blond complexions +derived from a Gothic ancestry. Far back in history their forbears +had been neighbors of the Anglo-Saxons in the forests of Germany, +so that the customs of Anglo-Saxon England and of the Gothic +kingdom of Castile had much in common. The "Laws of the Indies," +the disregard of which was the ground of most Filipino complaints +up to the very last days of the rule of Spain, was a compilation +of such of these Anglo-Saxon-Castilian laws and customs as it was +thought could be extended to the Americas, originally called the New +Kingdom of Castile, which included the Philippine Archipelago. Thus +the New England township and the Mexican, and consequently the early +Philippine pueblo, as units of local government are nearly related. + +These American associations, English influences, and Anglo-Saxon ideals +also culminated in the life work of José Rizal, the heir of all the +past ages in Philippine history. But other causes operating in his +own day--the stories of his elders, the incidents of his childhood, +the books he read, the men he met, the travels he made--as later +pages will show--contributed further to make him the man he was. + +It was fortunate for the Philippines that after the war of +misunderstanding with the United States there existed a character that +commanded the admiration of both sides. Rizal's writings revealed to +the Americans aspirations that appealed to them and conditions that +called forth their sympathy, while the Filipinos felt confidence, +for that reason, in the otherwise incomprehensible new government +which honored their hero. + +Rizal was already, and had been for years, without rival as the idol +of his countrymen when there came, after deliberation and delay, his +official recognition in the Philippines. Necessarily there had to be +careful study of his life and scrutiny of his writings before the head +of our nation could indorse as the corner stone of the new government +which succeeded Spain's misrule, the very ideas which Spain had +considered a sufficient warrant for shooting their author as a traitor. + +Finally the President of the United States in a public address at +Fargo, North Dakota, on April 7, 1903--five years after American +scholars had begun to study Philippine affairs as they had never +been studied before--declared: "In the Philippine Islands the +American government has tried, and is trying, to carry out exactly +what the greatest genius and most revered patriot ever known in the +Philippines, José Rizal, steadfastly advocated," a formal, emphatic +and clear-cut expression of national policy upon a question then of +paramount interest. + +In the light of the facts of Philippine history already set forth +there is no cause for wonder at this sweeping indorsement, even +though the views so indorsed were those of a man who lived in +conditions widely different from those about to be introduced by +the new government. Rizal had not allowed bias to influence him in +studying the past history of the Philippines, he had been equally +honest with himself in judging the conditions of his own time, and +he knew and applied with the same fairness the teaching which holds +true in history as in every other branch of science that like causes +under like conditions must produce like results, He had been careful in +his reasoning, and it stood the test, first of President Roosevelt's +advisers, or otherwise that Fargo speech would never have been made, +and then of all the President's critics, or there would have been +heard more of the statement quoted above which passed unchallenged, +but not, one may be sure, uninvestigated. + +The American system is in reality not foreign to the Philippines, +but it is the highest development, perfected by experience, of the +original plan under which the Philippines had prospered and progressed +until its benefits were wrongfully withheld from them. Filipino +leaders had been vainly asking Spain for the restoration of their +rights and the return to the system of the Laws of the Indies. At the +time when America came to the Islands there was among them no Rizal, +with a knowledge of history that would enable him to recognize that +they were getting what they had been wanting, who could rise superior +to the unimportant detail of under what name or how the good came as +long as it arrived, and whose prestige would have led his countrymen to +accept his decision. Some leaders had one qualification, some another, +a few combined two, but none had the three, for a country is seldom +favored with more than one surpassingly great man at one time. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Rizal's Chinese Ancestry + +Clustered around the walls of Manila in the latter half of the +seventeenth century were little villages the names of which, in some +instances slightly changed, are the names of present districts. A +fashionable drive then was through the settlement of Filipinos in +Bagumbayan--the "new town" to which Lakandola's subjects had migrated +when Legaspi dispossessed them of their own "Maynila." With the +building of the moat this village disappeared, but the name remained, +and it is often used to denote the older Luneta, as well as the drive +leading to it. + +Within the walls lived the Spanish rulers and the few other persons +that the fear and jealousy of the Spaniard allowed to come in. Some +were Filipinos who ministered to the needs of the Spaniards, but the +greater number were Sangleyes, or Chinese, "the mechanics in all trades +and excellent workmen," as an old Spanish chronicle says, continuing: +"It is true that the city could not be maintained or preserved without +the Sangleyes." + +The Chinese conditions of these early days are worth recalling, for +influences strikingly similar to those which affected the life of José +Rizal in his native land were then at work. There were troubled times +in the ancient "Middle Kingdom," the earlier name of the corruption +of the Malay Tchina (China) by which we know it. The conquering +Manchus had placed their emperor on the throne so long occupied by +the native dynasty whose adherents had boastingly called themselves +"The Sons of Light." The former liberal and progressive government, +under which the people prospered, had grown corrupt and helpless, +and the country had yielded to the invaders and passed under the +terrible tyranny of the Tartars. + +Yet there were true patriots among the Chinese who were neither +discouraged by these conditions nor blind to the real cause of their +misfortunes. They realized that the easy conquest of their country +and the utter disregard by their people of the bad government which +had preceded it, showed that something was wrong with themselves. + +Too wise to exhaust their land by carrying on a hopeless war, +they sought rather to get a better government by deserving it, +and worked for the general enlightenment, believing that it would +offer the most effective opposition to oppression, for they knew well +that an intelligent people could not be kept enslaved. Furthermore, +they understood that, even if they were freed from foreign rule, the +change would be merely to another tyranny unless the darkness of the +whole people were dispelled. The few educated men among them would +inevitably tyrannize over the ignorant many sooner or later, and it +would be less easy to escape from the evils of such misrule, for the +opposition to it would be divided, while the strength of union would +oppose any foreign despotism. These true patriots were more concerned +about the welfare of their country than ambitious for themselves, +and they worked to prepare their countrymen for self-government by +teaching self-control and respect for the rights of others. + +No public effort toward popular education can be made under a bad +government. Those opposed to Manchu rule knew of a secret society +that had long existed in spite of the laws against it, and they used +it as their model in organizing a new society to carry out their +purposes. Some of them were members of this Ke-Ming-Tong or Chinese +Freemasonry as it is called, and it was difficult for outsiders to +find out the differences between it and the new Heaven-Earth-Man +Brotherhood. The three parts to their name led the new brotherhood +later to be called the Triad Society, and they used a triangle for +their seal. + +The initiates of the Triad were pledged to one another in a blood +compact to "depose the Tsing [Tartar] and restore the Ming [native +Chinese] dynasty." But really the society wanted only gradual reform +and was against any violent changes. It was at first evolutionary, but +later a section became dissatisfied and started another society. The +original brotherhood, however, kept on trying to educate its +members. It wanted them to realize that the dignity of manhood is +above that of rank or riches, and seeking to break down the barriers +of different languages and local prejudice, hoped to create an united +China efficient in its home government and respected in its foreign +relations. + + * * * * * + +It was the policy of Spain to rule by keeping the different elements +among her subjects embittered against one another. Consequently the +entire Chinese population of the Philippines had several times been +almost wiped out by the Spaniards assisted by the Filipinos and +resident Japanese. Although overcrowding was mainly the cause of +the Chinese immigration, the considerations already described seem +to have influenced the better class of emigrants who incorporated +themselves with the Filipinos from 1642 on through the eighteenth +century. Apparently these emigrants left their Chinese homes to avoid +the shaven crown and long braided queue that the Manchu conquerors +were imposing as a sign of submission--a practice recalled by +the recent wholesale cutting off of queues which marked the fall +of this same Manchu dynasty upon the establishment of the present +republic. The patriot Chinese in Manila retained the ancient style, +which somewhat resembled the way Koreans arrange their hair. Those who +became Christians cut the hair short and wore European hats, otherwise +using the clothing--blue cotton for the poor, silk for the richer--and +felt-soled shoes, still considered characteristically Chinese. + +The reasons for the brutal treatment of the unhappy exiles and the +causes of the frequent accusation against them that they were intending +rebellion may be found in the fear that had been inspired by the +Chinese pirates, and the apprehension that the Chinese traders and +workmen would take away from the Filipinos their means of gaining a +livelihood. At times unjust suspicions drove some of the less patient +to take up arms in self-defense. Then many entirely innocent persons +would be massacred, while those who had not bought protection from +some powerful Spaniard would have their property pillaged by mobs that +protested excessive devotion to Spain and found their patriotism so +profitable that they were always eager to stir up trouble. + +One of the last native Chinese emperors, not wishing that any of +his subjects should live outside his dominions, informed the Spanish +authorities that he considered the emigrants evil persons unworthy +of his interest. His Manchu successors had still more reason to be +careless of the fate of the Manila Chinese. They were consequently ill +treated with impunity, while the Japanese were "treated very cordially, +as they are a race that demand good treatment, and it is advisable +to do so for the friendly relations between the Islands and Japan," +to quote the ancient history once more. + +Pagan or Christian, a Chinaman's life in Manila then was not an +enviable one, though the Christians were slightly more secure. The +Chinese quarter was at first inside the city, but before long it became +a considerable district of several streets along Arroceros near the +present Botanical Garden. Thus the Chinese were under the guns of the +Bastion San Gabriel, which also commanded two other Chinese settlements +across the river in Tondo--Minondoc, or Binondo, and Baybay. They had +their own headmen, their own magistrates and their own prison, and no +outsiders were permitted among them. The Dominican Friars, who also +had a number of missionary stations in China, maintained a church and +a hospital for these Manila Chinese and established a settlement where +those who became Christians might live with their families. Writers +of that day suggest that sometimes conversions were prompted by the +desire to get married--which until 1898 could not be done outside the +Church--or to help the convert's business or to secure the protection +of an influential Spanish godfather, rather than by any changed belief. + +Certainly two of these reasons did not influence the conversion of +Doctor Rizal's paternal ancestor, Lam-co (that is, "Lam, Esq."), +for this Chinese had a Chinese godfather and was not married till +many years later. + +He was a native of the Chinchew district, where the Jesuits first, and +later the Dominicans, had had missions, and he perhaps knew something +of Christianity before leaving China. One of his church records +indicates his home more definitely, for it specifies Siongque, near +the great city, an agricultural community, and in China cultivation +of the soil is considered the most honorable employment. Curiously +enough, without conversion, the people of that region even to-day +consider themselves akin to the Christians. They believe in one god +and have characteristics distinguishing them from the Pagan Chinese, +possibly derived from some remote Mohammedan ancestors. + +Lam-co's prestige among his own people, as shown by his leadership of +those who later settled with him in Biñan, as well as the fact that +even after his residence in the country he was called to Manila to +act as godfather, suggests that he was above the ordinary standing, +and certainly not of the coolie class. This is bogne out by his +marrying the daughter of an educated Chinese, an alliance that was +not likely to have been made unless he was a person of some education, +and education is the Chinese test of social degree. + +He was baptized in the Parian church of San Gabriel on a Sunday in June +of 1697. Lam-co's age was given in the record as thirty-five years, +and the names of his parents were given as Siang-co and Zun-nio. The +second syllables of these names are titles of a little more respect +than the ordinary "Mr." and "Mrs.," something like the Spanish Don +and Doña, but possibly the Dominican priest who kept the register +was not so careful in his use of Chinese words as a Chinese would +have been. Following the custom of the other converts on the same +occasion, Lam-co took the name Domingo, the Spanish for Sunday, in +honor of the day. The record of this baptism is still to be seen in +the records of the Parian church of San Gabriel, which are preserved +with the Binondo records, in Manila. + +Chinchew, the capital of the district from which he came, was a +literary center and a town famed in Chinese history for its loyalty; +it was probably the great port Zeitung which so strongly impressed +the Venetian traveler Marco Polo, the first European to see China. + +The city was said by later writers to be large and beautiful and to +contain half a million inhabitants, "candid, open and friendly people, +especially friendly and polite to foreigners." It was situated forty +miles from the sea, in the province of Fokien, the rocky coast of which +has been described as resembling Scotland, and its sturdy inhabitants +seem to have borne some resemblance to the Scotch in their love of +liberty. The district now is better known by its present port of Amoy. + +Altogether, in wealth, culture and comfort, Lam-co's home city far +surpassed the Manila of that day, which was, however, patterned after +it. The walls of Manila, its paved streets, stone bridges, and large +houses with spacious courts are admitted by Spanish writers to be due +to the industry and skill of Chinese workmen. They were but slightly +changed from their Chinese models, differing mainly in ornamentation, +so that to a Chinese the city by the Pasig, to which he gave the name +of "the city of horses," did not seem strange, but reminded him rather +of his own country. + +Famine in his native district, or the plague which followed it, +may have been the cause of Lam-co's leaving home, but it was more +probably political troubles which transferred to the Philippines +that intelligent and industrious stock whose descendants have proved +such loyal and creditable sons of their adopted country. Chinese had +come to the Islands centuries before the Spaniards arrived and they +are still coming, but no other period has brought such a remarkable +contribution to the strong race which the mixture of many peoples +has built up in the Philippines. Few are the Filipinos notable in +recent history who cannot trace descent from a Chinese baptized in +San Gabriel church during the century following 1642; until recently +many have felt ashamed of these really creditable ancestors. + +Soon after Lam-co came to Manila he made the acquaintance of two +well-known Dominicans and thus made friendships that changed his career +and materially affected the fortunes of his descendants. These powerful +friends were the learned Friar Francisco Marquez, author of a Chinese +grammar, and Friar Juan Caballero, a former missionary in China, +who, because of his own work and because his brother held high office +there, was influential in the business affairs of the Order. Through +them Lam-co settled in Biñan, on the Dominican estate named after +"St. Isidore the Laborer." There, near where the Pasig river flows +out of the Laguna de Bay, Lam-co's descendants were to be tenants +until another government, not yet born, and a system unknown in his +day, should end a long series of inevitable and vexatious disputes by +buying the estate and selling it again, on terms practicable for them, +to those who worked the land. + +The Filipinos were at law over boundaries and were claiming the +property that had been early and cheaply acquired by the Order as +endowment for its university and other charities. The Friars of +the Parian quarter thought to take those of their parishioners in +whom they had most confidence out of harm's way, and by the same act +secure more satisfactory tenants, for prejudice was then threatening +another indiscriminate massacre. So they settled many industrious +Chinese converts upon these farms, and flattered themselves that +their tenant troubles were ended, for these foreigners could have no +possible claim to the land. The Chinese were equally pleased to have +safer homes and an occupation which in China placed them in a social +position superior to that of a tradesman. + +Domingo Lam-co was influential in building up Tubigan barrio, one +of the richest parts of the great estate. In name and appearance +it recalled the fertile plains that surrounded his native Chinchew, +"the city of springs." His neighbors were mainly Chinchew men, and +what is of more importance to this narrative, the wife whom he married +just before removing to the farm was of a good Chinchew family. She +was Inez de la Rosa and but half Domingo's age; they were married +in the Parian church by the same priest who over thirty years before +had baptized her husband. + +Her father was Agustin Chinco, also of Chinchew, a rice merchant, +who had been baptized five years earlier than Lam-co. His baptismal +record suggests that he was an educated man, as already indicated, +for the name of his town proved a puzzle till a present-day Dominican +missionary from Amoy explained that it appeared to be the combined +names for Chinchew in both the common and literary Chinese, in each +case with the syllable denoting the town left off. Apparently when +questioned from what town he came, Chinco was careful not to repeat +the word town, but gave its name only in the literary language, +and when that was not understood, he would repeat it in the local +dialect. The priest, not understanding the significance of either in +that form, wrote down the two together as a single word. Knowledge +of the literary Chinese, or Mandarin, as it is generally called, +marked the educated man, and, as we have already pointed out, +education in China meant social position. To such minute deductions +is it necessary to resort when records are scarce, and to be of value +the explanation must be in harmony with the conditions of the period; +subsequent research has verified the foregoing conclusions. + +Agustin Chinco had also a Chinese godfather and his parents were +Chin-co and Zun-nio. He was married to Jacinta Rafaela, a Chinese +mestiza of the Parian, as soon after his baptism as the banns could +be published. She apparently was the daughter of a Christian Chinese +and a Chinese mestiza; there were too many of the name Jacinta in that +day to identify which of the several Jacintas she was and so enable us +to determine the names of her parents. The Rafaela part of her name +was probably added after she was grown up, in honor of the patron of +the Parian settlement, San Rafael, just as Domingo, at his marriage, +added Antonio in honor of the Chinese. How difficult guides names +then were may be seen from this list of the six children of Agustin +Chinco and Jacinta Rafaela: Magdalena Vergara, Josepha, Cristoval de +la Trinidad, Juan Batista, Francisco Hong-Sun and Inez de la Rosa. + +The father-in-law and the son-in-law, Agustin and Domingo, seem to +have been old friends, and apparently of the same class. Lam-co must +have seen his future wife, the youngest in Chinco's numerous family, +grow up from babyhood, and probably was attracted by the idea that +she would make a good housekeeper like her thrifty mother, rather +than by any romantic feelings, for sentiment entered very little into +matrimony in those days when the parents made the matches. Possibly, +however, their married life was just as happy, for divorces then were +not even thought of, and as this couple prospered they apparently +worked well together in a financial way. + +The next recorded event in the life of Domingo Lam-co and his wife +occurred in 1741 when, after years of apparently happy existence in +Biñan, came a great grief in the loss of their baby daughter, Josepha +Didnio, probably named for her aunt. She had lived only five days, +but payments to the priest for a funeral such as was not given to +many grown persons who died that year in Biñan show how keenly the +parents felt the loss of their little girl. They had at the time but +one other child, a boy of ten, Francisco Mercado, whose Christian +name was given partly because he had an uncle of the same name, +and partly as a tribute of gratitude to the friendly Friar scholar +in Manila. His new surname suggests that the family possessed the +commendable trait of taking pride in its ancestry. + +Among the Chinese the significance of a name counts for much and it +is always safe to seek a reason for the choice of a name. The Lam-co +family were not given to the practice of taking the names of their +god-parents. Mercado recalls both an honest Spanish encomendero +of the region, also named Francisco, and a worthy mestizo Friar, +now remembered for his botanical studies, but it is not likely that +these influenced Domingo Lam-co in choosing this name for his son. He +gave his boy a name which in the careless Castilian of the country was +but a Spanish translation of the Chinese name by which his ancestors +had been called. Sangley, Mercado and Merchant mean much the same; +Francisco therefore set out in life with a surname that would free +him from the prejudice that followed those with Chinese names, +and yet would remind him of his Chinese ancestry. This was wisdom, +for seldom are men who are ashamed of their ancestry any credit to it. + +The family history has to be gleaned from partially preserved parochial +registers of births, marriages and deaths, incomplete court records, +the scanty papers of the estates, a few land transfers, and some stray +writings that accidentally have been preserved with the latter. The +next event in Domingo's life which is revealed by them is a visit +to Manila where in the old Parian church he acted as sponsor, +or godfather, at the baptism of a countryman, and a new convert, +Siong-co, whose granddaughter was, we shall see, to marry a grandson +of Lam-co's, the couple becoming Rizal's grandparents. + +Francisco was a grown man when his mother died and was buried with +the elaborate ceremonies which her husband's wealth permitted. There +was a coffin, a niche in which to put it, chanting of the service and +special prayers. All these involved extra cost, and the items noted in +the margin of her funeral record make a total which in those days was +a considerable sum. Domingo outlived Mrs. Lam-co by but a few years, +and he also had, for the time, an expensive funeral. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Liberalizing Hereditary Influences + +The hope of the Biñan landlords that by changing from Filipino to +Chinese tenantry they could avoid further litigation seems to have +been disappointed. A family tradition of Francisco Mercado tells of +a tedious and costly lawsuit with the Order. Its details and merits +are no longer remembered, and they are not important. + +History has recorded enough agrarian trouble, in all ages and in all +countries, to prove the economic mistake of large holdings of land by +those who do not cultivate it. Human nature is alike the world over, +it does not change with the centuries, and just as the Filipinos +had done, the Chinese at last obiected to paying increased rent for +improvements which they made themselves. + +A Spanish iudge required the landlords to produce their deeds, and, +after measuring the land, he decided that they were then taking rent +for considerably more than they had originally bought or had been +given. But the tenants lost on the appeal, and, as they thought it +was because they were weak and their opponents powerful, a grievance +grew up which was still remembered in Rizal's day and was well known +and understood by him. + +Another cause of discontent, which was a liberalizing influence, +was making itself felt in the Philippines about the time of Domingo's +death. A number of Spaniards had been claiming for their own countrymen +such safeguards of personal liberty as were enjoyed by Englishmen, +for no other government in Europe then paid any attention to the rights +of the individual. Learned men had devoted much study to the laws and +rights of nations, but these Spanish Liberals insisted that it was the +guarantees given to the citizens, and not the political independence +of the State, that made a country really free. Unfortunately, just +as their proposals began to gain followers, Spain became involved in +war with England, because the Spanish King, then as now a Bourbon +and so related to a number of other reactionary rulers, had united +in the family compact by which the royal relatives were to stamp out +liberal ideas in their own dominions, and as allies to crush England, +the source of the dissatisfaction which threatened their thrones. + +Many progressive Spaniards had become Freemasons, when that ancient +society, after its revival in England, had been reintroduced into +Spain. Now they found themselves suspected of sympathy with England +and therefore of treason to Spain. While this could not be proved, +it led to enforcing a papal bull against them, by which Pope Clement +XII placed their institution under the ban of excommunication. + +At first it was intended to execute all the Spanish Freemasons, but +the Queen's favorite violinist secretly sympathized with them. He used +his influence with Her Majesty so well that through her intercession +the King commuted the sentences from death to banishment as minor +officials in the possessions overseas. + +Thus Cuba, Mexico, South and Central America, and the Philippines were +provided with the ablest Spanish advocates of modern ideas. In no other +way could liberalism have been spread so widely or more effectively. + +Besides these officeholders there had been from the earliest days +noblemen, temporarily out of favor at Court, in banishment in the +colonies. Cavite had some of these exiles, who were called "caja +abierta," or carte blanche, because their generous allowances, which +could be drawn whenever there were government funds, seemed without +limit to the Filipinos. The Spanish residents of the Philippines were +naturally glad to entertain, supply money to, and otherwise serve +these men of noble birth, who might at any time be restored to favor +and again be influential, and this gave them additional prestige in the +eyes of the Filipinos. One of these exiles, whose descendants yet live +in these Islands, passed from prisoner in Cavite to viceroy in Mexico. + +Francisco Mercado lived near enough to hear of the "cajas abiertas" +(exiles) and their ways, if he did not actually meet some of them +and personally experience the charm of their courtesy. They were as +different from the ruder class of Spaniards who then were coming to +the Islands as the few banished officials were unlike the general run +of officeholders. The contrast naturally suggested that the majority of +the Spaniards in the Philippines, both in official and in private life, +were not creditable representatives of their country. This charge, +insisted on with greater vehemence as subsequent events furnished +further reasons for doing so, embittered the controversies of the +last century of Spanish rule. The very persons who realized that the +accusation was true of themselves, were those who most resented it, +and the opinion of them which they knew the Filipinos held but dared +not voice, rankled in their breasts. They welcomed every disparagement +of the Philippines and its people, and thus made profitable a +senseless and abusive campaign which was carried on by unscrupulous, +irresponsible writers of such defective education that vilification +was their sole argument. Their charges were easily disproved, but they +had enough cunning to invent new charges continually, and prejudice +gave ready credence to them. + +Finally an unreasoning fury broke out and in blind passion innocent +persons were struck down; the taste for blood once aroused, +irresponsible writers like that Retana who has now become Rizal's +biographer, whetted the savage appetite for fresh victims. The +last fifty years of Spanish rule in the Philippines was a small +saturnalia of revenge with hardly a lucid interval for the governing +power to reflect or an opportunity for the reasonable element to +intervene. Somewhat similarly the Bourbons in France had hoped to +postpone the day of reckoning for their mistakes by misdeeds done +in fear to terrorize those who sought reforms. The aristocracy of +France paid back tenfold each drop of innocent blood that was shed, +but while the unreasoning world recalls the French Revolution with +horror, the student of history thinks more of the evils which made +it a natural result. Mirabeau in vain sought to restrain his aroused +countrymen, just as he had vainly pleaded with the aristocrats to end +their excesses. Rizal, who held Mirabeau for his hero among the men of +the French Revolution, knew the historical lesson and sought to sound +a warning, but he was unheeded by the Spaniards and misunderstood by +many of his countrymen. + +At about the time of the arrival of the Spanish political exiles +we find in Manila a proof of the normal mildness of Spain in +the Philippines. The Inquisition, of dread name elsewhere, in the +Philippines affected only Europeans, had before it two English-speaking +persons, an Irish doctor and a county merchant accused of being +Freemasons. The kind-hearted Friar inquisitor dismissed the culprits +with warnings, and excepting some Spanish political matters in which +it took part, this was the nearest that the institution ever came to +exercising its functions here. + +The sufferings of the Indians in the Spanish-American gold mines, too, +had no Philippine counterpart, for at the instance of the friars the +Church early forbade the enslaving of the people. Neither friars nor +government have any records in the Philippines which warrant belief +that they were responsible for the severe punishments of the period +from '72 to '98. Both were connected with opposition to reforms +which appeared likely to jeopardize their property or to threaten +their prerogatives, and in this they were only human, but here their +selfish interests and activities seem to cease. + +For religious reasons the friar orders combatted modern ideas which +they feared might include atheistical teachings such as had made +trouble in France, and the Government was against the introduction of +latter-day thought of democratic tendency, but in both instances the +opposition may well have been believed to be for the best interest +of the Philippine people. However mistaken, their action can only be +deplored not censured. The black side of this matter was the rousing +of popular passion, and it was done by sheets subsidized to argue; +their editors, however, resorted to abuse in order to conceal the fact +that they had not the ability to perform the services for which they +were hired. While some individual members of both the religious orders +and of the Government were influenced by these inflaming attacks, +the interests concerned, as organizations, seem to have had a policy +of self-defense, and not of revenge. + +The theory here advanced must wait for the judgment of the reader +till the later events have been submitted. However, Rizal himself +may be called in to prove that the record and policy is what has been +asserted, for otherwise he would hardly have disregarded, as he did, +the writings of Motley and Prescott, historians whom he could have +quoted with great advantage to support the attacks he would surely +have not failed to make had they seemed to him warranted, for he +never was wanting in knowledge, resourcefulness or courage where his +country was concerned. + +No definite information is available as to what part Francisco +Mercado took during the disturbed two years when the English held +Manila and Judge Anda carried on a guerilla warfare. The Dominicans +were active in enlisting their tenants to fight against the invaders, +and probably he did his share toward the Spanish defense either with +contributions or personal service. The attitude of the region in +which he lived strengthens this surmise, for only after long-continued +wrongs and repeatedly broken promises of redress did Filipino loyalty +fail. This was a century too early for the country around Manila, +which had been better protected and less abused than the provinces +to the north where the Ilokanos revolted. + +Biñan, however, was within the sphere of English influence, for +Anda's campaign was not quite so formidable as the inscription on his +monument in Manila represents it to be, and he was far indeed from +being the great conqueror that the tablet on the Santa Cruz Church +describes him. Because of its nearness to Manila and Cavite and +its rich gardens, British soldiers and sailors often visited Biñan, +but as the inhabitants never found occasion to abandon their homes, +they evidently suffered no serious inconvenience. + +Commerce, a powerful factor, destroying the hermit character of +the Islands, gained by the short experience of freer trade under +England's rule, since the Filipinos obtained a taste for articles +before unused, which led them to be discontented and insistent, till +the Manila market finally came to be better supplied. The contrast +of the British judicial system with the Spanish tribunals was also a +revelation, for the foulest blot upon the colonial administration of +Spain was her iniquitous courts of justice, and this was especially +true of the Philippines. + +Anda's triumphal entry into the capital was celebrated with a wholesale +hanging of Chinese, which must have made Francisco Mercado glad that +he was now so identified with the country as to escape the prejudice +against his race. + +A few years later came the expulsion of the Jesuit fathers and the +confiscation of their property. It certainly weakened the government; +personal acquaintance counted largely with the Filipinos; whole +parishes knew Spain and the Church only through their parish priest, +and the parish priest was usually a Jesuit whose courtesy equalled that +of the most aristocratic officeholder or of any exiled "caja abierta." + +Francisco Mercado did not live in a Jesuit parish but in the +neighboring hacienda of St. John the Baptist at Kalamba, where there +was a great dam and an extensive irrigation system which caused the +land to rival in fertility the rich soil of Biñan. Everybody in his +neighborhood knew that the estate had been purchased with money left +in Mexico by pious Spaniards who wanted to see Christianity spread in +the Philippines, and it seemed to them sacrilege that the government +should take such property for its own secular uses. + +The priests in Biñan were Filipinos and were usually leaders among +the secular clergy, for the parish was desirable beyond most in the +archdiocese because of its nearness to Manila, its excellent climate, +its well-to-do parishioners and the great variety of its useful and +ornamental plants and trees. Many of the fruits and vegetables of +Biñan were little known elsewhere, for they were of American origin, +brought by Dominicans on the voyages from Spain by way of Mexico. They +were introduced first into the great gardens at the hacienda house, +which was a comfortable and spacious building adjoining the church, +and the favorite resting place for members of the Order in Manila. + +The attendance of the friars on Sundays and fête days gave to the +religious services on these occasions a dignity usually belonging to +city churches. Sometimes, too, some of the missionaries from China +and other Dominican notables would be seen in Biñan. So the people +not only had more of the luxuries and the pomp of life than most +Filipinos, but they had a broader outlook upon it. Their opinion +of Spain was formed from acquaintance with many Spaniards and from +comparing them with people of other lands who often came to Manila and +investigated the region close to it, especially the show spots such +as Biñan. Then they were on the road to the fashionable baths at Los +Baños, where the higher officials often resorted. Such opportunities +gave a sort of education, and Biñan people were in this way more +cultured than the dwellers in remote places, whose only knowledge of +their sovereign state was derived from a single Spaniard, the friar +curate of their parish. + +Monastic training consists in withdrawing from the world and living +isolated under strict rule, and this would scarcely seem to be +the best preparation for such responsibility as was placed upon the +Friars. Troubles were bound to come, and the people of Biñan, knowing +the ways of the world, would soon be likely to complain and demand the +changes which would avoid them; the residents of less worldly wise +communities would wait and suffer till too late, and then in blind +wrath would wreak bloody vengeance upon guilty and innocent alike. + +Kalamba, a near neighbor of Biñan, had other reasons for being known +besides its confiscation by the government. It was the scene of an +early and especially cruel massacre of Chinese, and about Francisco's +time considerable talk had been occasioned because an archbishop had +established an uniform scale of charges for the various rites of the +Church. While these charges were often complained of, it was the poorer +people (some of whom were in receipt of charity) who suffered. The +rich were seeking more expensive ceremonies in order to outshine the +other well-to-do people of their neighborhood. The real grievance was, +however, not the cost, but the fact that political discriminations +were made so that those who were out of favor with the government +were likewise deprived of church privileges. The reform of Archbishop +Santo y Rufino has importance only because it gave the people of the +provinces what Manila had long possessed--a knowledge of the rivalry +between the secular and the regular clergy. + +The people had learned in Governor Bustamente's time that Church and +State did not always agree, and now they saw dissensions within the +Church. The Spanish Conquest and the possession of the Philippines +had been made easy by the doctrine of the indivisibility of Church +and State, by the teaching that the two were one and inseparable, +but events were continually demonstrating the falsity of this early +teaching. Hence the foundation of the sovereignty of Spain was +slowly weakening, and nowhere more surely than in the region near +Manila which numbered José Rizal's keen-witted and observing great +grandfather among its leading men. + +Francisco Mercado was a bachelor during the times of these exciting +events and therefore more free to visit Manila and Cavite, and he was +possibly the more likely to be interested in political matters. He +married on May 26, 1771, rather later in life than was customary in +Biñan, though he was by no means as old as his father, Domingo, was +when he married. His bride, Bernarda Monicha, was a Chinese mestiza +of the neighboring hacienda of San Pedro Tunasan, who had been early +orphaned and from childhood had lived in Biñan. As the coadjutor priest +of the parish bore the same name, one uncommon in the Biñan records +of that period, it is possible that he was a relative. The frequent +occurrence of the name of Monicha among the last names of girls of +that vicinity later on must be ascribed to Bernarda's popularity +as godmother. + +Mr. and Mrs. Francisco Mercado had two children, both boys, Juan and +Clemente. During their youth the people of the Philippines were greatly +interested in the struggles going on between England, the old enemy +of Spain, and the rebellious English-American colonies. So bitter was +the Spanish hatred of the nation which had humiliated her repeatedly +on both land and sea, that the authorities forgot their customary +caution and encouraged the circulation of any story that told in favor +of the American colonies. Little did they realize the impression that +the statement of grievances--so trivial compared with the injustices +that were being inflicted upon the Spanish colonials--was making upon +their subjects overseas, who until then had been carefully guarded from +all modern ideas of government. American successes were hailed with +enthusiasm in the most remote towns, and from this time may be dated +a perceptible increase in Philippine discontent. Till then outbreaks +and uprisings had been more for revenge than with any well-considered +aim, but henceforth complaints became definite, demands were made +that to an increasing number of people appeared to be reasonable, +and those demands were denied or ignored, or promises were made in +answer to them which were never fulfilled. + +Francisco Mercado was well to do, if we may judge from the number of +carabaos he presented for registration, for his was among the largest +herds in the book of brands that has chanced to be preserved with the +Biñan church records. In 1783 he was alcalde, or chief officer of the +town, and he lived till 1801. His name appears so often as godfather +in the registers of baptisms and weddings that he must have been a +good-natured, liberal and popular man. + +Mrs. Francisco Mercado survived her husband by a number of years, +and helped to nurse through his baby ailments a grandson also named +Francisco, the father of Doctor Rizal. + +Francisco Mercado's eldest son, Juan, built a fine house in the center +of Biñan, where its pretentious stone foundations yet stand to attest +how the home deserved the pride which the family took in it. + +At twenty-two Juan married a girl of Tubigan, who was two years his +elder, Cirila Alejandra, daughter of Domingo Lam-co's Chinese godson, +Siong-co. Cirila's father's silken garments were preserved by the +family until within the memory of persons now living, and it is likely +that José Rizal, Siong-co's great-grandson, while in school at Biñan, +saw these tangible proofs of the social standing in China of this +one of his ancestors. + +Juan Mercado was three times the chief officer of Biñan--in 1808, 1813 +and 1823. His sympathies are evident from the fact that he gave the +second name, Fernando, to the son born when the French were trying +to get the Filipinos to declare for King Joseph, whom his brother +Napoleon had named sovereign of Spain. During the little while that the +Philippines profited by the first constitution of Spain, Mercado was +one of the two alcaldes. King Ferdinand VII then was relying on English +aid, and to please his allies as well as to secure the loyalty of his +subjects, Ferdinand pretended to be a very liberal monarch, swearing +to uphold the constitution which the representatives of the people +had framed at Cadiz in 1812. Under this constitution the Filipinos +were to be represented in the Spanish Cortes, and the grandfather of +Rizal was one of the electors to choose the Representative. + +During the next twenty-five years the history of the connection of the +Philippines with Spain is mainly a record of the breaking and renewing +of the King's oaths to the constitution, and of the Philippines +electing delegates who would find the Cortes dissolved by the time +they could get to Madrid, until in the final constitution that did +last Philippine representation was left out altogether. Had things +been different the sad story of this book might never have been told, +for though the misgovernment of the Philippines was originally owing +to the disregard for the Laws of the Indies and to giving unrestrained +power to officials, the effects of these mistakes were not apparent +until well into the nineteenth century. + +Another influence which educated the Filipino people was at work during +this period. They had heard the American Revolution extolled and its +course approved, because the Spaniards disliked England. Then came +the French Revolution, which appalled the civilized world. A people, +ignorant and oppressed, washed out in blood the wrongs which they had +suffered, but their liberty degenerated into license, their ideals +proved impracticable, and the anarchy of their radical republic was +succeeded by the military despotism of Napoleon. + +A book written in Tagalog by a friar pointed out the differences +between true liberty and false. It was the story of an old municipal +captain who had traveled and returned to enlighten his friends at +home. The story was well told, and the catechism form in which, by +his friends' questions and the answers to them, the author's opinions +were presented, was familiar to Filipinos, so that there were many +intelligent readers, but its results were quite different from what +its pious and patriotic author had intended they should be. + +The book told of the broadening influences of travel and of education; +it suggested that liberty was possible only for the intelligent, but +that schools, newspapers, libraries and the means of travel which the +American colonists were enjoying were not provided for the Filipinos. + +They were further told that the Spanish colonies in America were +repeating the unhappy experiences of the French republic, while +the "English North Americans," whose ships during the American +Revolution had found the Pacific a safe refuge from England, +had developed considerable commerce with the Philippines. A kindly +feeling toward the Americans had been aroused by the praise given to +Filipino mechanics who had been trained by an American naval officer +to repair his ship when the Spaniards at the government dockyards +proved incapable of doing the work. Even the first American Consul, +whose monument yet remains in the Plaza Cervantes, Manila, though, +because of his faith, he could not be buried in the consecrated ground +of the Catholic cemeteries, received what would appear to be a higher +honor, a grave in the principal business plaza of the city. + +The inferences were irresistible: the way of the French Revolution +was repugnant alike to God and government, that of the American +was approved by both. Filipinos of reflective turn of mind began to +study America; some even had gone there; for, from a little Filipino +settlement, St. Malo near New Orleans, sailors enlisted to fight +in the second war of the United States against England; one of them +was wounded and his name was long borne on the pension roll of the +United States. + +The danger of the dense ignorance in which their rulers kept the +Filipinos showed itself in 1819, when a French ship from India having +introduced Asiatic cholera into the Islands, the lowest classes of +Manila ascribed it to the collections of insects and reptiles which +a French naturalist, who was a passenger upon the ship, had brought +ashore. However the story started, the collection and the dwelling +of the naturalist fared badly, and afterwards the mob, excited by +its success, made war upon all foreigners. At length the excitement +subsided, but too much damage to foreign lives and property had been +done to be ignored, and the matter had an ugly look, especially as +no Spaniard had suffered by this outbreak. The Insular government +roused itself to punish some of the minor misdoers and made many +explanations and apologies, but the aggrieved nations insisted, and +obtained as compensation a greater security for foreigners and the +removal of many of the restraints upon commerce and travel. Thus the +riot proved a substantial step in Philippine progress. + +Following closely the excitement over the massacre of the foreigners +in Manila came the news that Spain had sold Florida to the United +States. The circumstances of the sale were hardly creditable to the +vendor, for it was under compulsion. Her lax government had permitted +its territory to become the refuge of criminals and lawless savages +who terrorized the border until in self-defense American soldiers under +General Jackson had to do the work that Spain could not do. Then with +order restored and the country held by American troops, an offer to +purchase was made to Spain who found the liberal purchase money a +very welcome addition to her bankrupt treasury. + +Immediately after this the Monroe Doctrine attracted widespread +attention in the Philippines. Its story is part of Spanish history. A +group of reactionary sovereigns of Europe, including King Ferdinand, +had united to crush out progressive ideas in their kingdoms and +to remove the dangerous examples of liberal states from their +neighborhoods. One of the effects of this unholy alliance was to +nullify all the reforms which Spain had introduced to secure English +assistance in her time of need, and the people of England were greatly +incensed. Great Britain had borne the brunt of the war against Napoleon +because her liberties were jeopardized, but naturally her people could +not be expected to undertake further warfare merely for the sake of +people of another land, however they might sympathize with them. + +George Canning, the English statesman to whom belonged much of the +credit for the Constitution of Cadiz, thought out a way to punish +the Spanish king for his perfidy. King Ferdinand was planning, with +the Island of Cuba as a base, to begin a campaign that should return +his rebellious American colonies to their allegiance, for they had +taken advantage of disturbances in the Peninsula to declare their +independence. England proposed to the United States that they, the two +Anglo-Saxon nations whose ideas of liberty had unsettled Europe and +whom the alliance would have attacked had it dared, should unite in +a protectorate over the New World. England was to guard the sea and +the United States were to furnish the soldiers for any land fighting +which might come on their side of the Atlantic. + +World politics had led the enemies of England to help her revolting +colonies, Napoleon's jealousy of Britain had endowed the new nation +with the vast Louisiana Territory, and European complications saved the +United States from the natural consequences of their disastrous war of +1812, which taught them that union was as necessary to preserve their +independence as it had been to win it. Canning's project in principle +appealed to the North Americans, but the study of it soon showed that +Great Britain was selfish in her suggestion. After a generation of +fighting, England found herself drained of soldiers and therefore she +diplomatically invited the coöperation of her former colonies; but, +regardless of any formal arrangement, her navy could be relied on to +prevent those who had played her false from transporting large armies +across the ocean into the neighborhood of her otherwise defenseless +colonies. That was self-preservation. + +President Monroe's advisers were willing that their country should run +some risk on its own account, but they had the traditional American +aversion to entangling alliances. So the Cabinet counseled that the +young nation alone should make itself the protector of the South +American republics, and drafted the declaration warning the world +that aggression against any of the New World democracies would be +resented as unfriendliness to the United States. + +It was the firm attitude of President Monroe that compelled Spain to +forego the attempt to reconquer her former colonies, and therefore +Mexico and Central and South America owe their existence as republics +quite as much to the elder commonwealth as does Cuba. + +The American attitude revealed in the Monroe Doctrine was especially +obnoxious to the Spaniards in the Philippines but their intemperate +denunciations of the policy of America for the Americans served only +to spread a knowledge of that doctrine among the people of that little +territory which remained to them to misgovern. Secretly there began +to be, among the stouter-hearted Filipinos, some who cherished a +corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the Philippines for the Filipinos. + +Thoughts of separation from Spain by means of rebellion, by sale +and by the assistance of other nations, had been thus put into the +heads of the people. These were all changes coming from outside, +but it next to be demonstrated that Spain herself did not hold her +noncontiguous territories as sacred as she did her home dominions. + +The sale of Florida suggested that Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines +were also available assets, and an offer to sell them was made to +the King of France; but this sovereign overreached himself, for, +thinking to drive a better bargain, he claimed that the low prices +were too high. Thereupon the Spanish Ambassador, who was not in accord +with his unpatriotic instructions, at once withdrew the offer and +the negotiations terminated. But the Spanish people learned of the +proposed sale and their indignation was great. The news spread to the +Spaniards in the Philippines. Through their comments the Filipinos +realized that the much-talked-of sacred integrity of the Spanish +dominions was a meaningless phrase, and that the Philippines would +not always be Spanish if Spain could get her price. + +Gobernadorcillo Mercado, "Captain Juan," as he was called, made a +creditable figure in his office, and there used to be in Biñan a +painting of him with his official sword, cocked hat and embroidered +blouse. The municipal executive in his time did not always wear the +ridiculous combination of European and old Tagalog costumes, namely, a +high hat and a short jacket over the floating tails of a pleated shirt, +which later undignified the position. He has a notable record for his +generosity, the absence of oppression and for the official honesty +which distinguished his public service from that of many who held +his same office. He did, however, change the tribute lists so that +his family were no longer "Chinese mestizos," but were enrolled as +"Indians," the wholesale Spanish term for the natives of all Spain's +possessions overseas. This, in a way, was compensation (it lowered +his family's tribute) for his having to pay the taxes of all who +died in Biñan or moved away during his term of office. The municipal +captain then was held accountable whether the people could pay or not, +no deductions ever being made from the lists. Most gobernadorcillos +found ways to reimburse themselves, but not Mercado. His family, +however, were of the fourth generation in the Philippines and he +evidently thought that they were entitled to be called Filipinos. + +A leader in church work also, and several times "Hermano mayor" of +its charitable society, the Captain's name appears on a number of +lists that have come down from that time as a liberal contributor +to various public subscriptions. His wife was equally benevolent, +as the records show. + +Mr. and Mrs. Mercado did not neglect their family, which was rather +numerous. Their children were Gavino, Potenciana (who never married), +Leoncio, Fausto, Barcelisa (who became the wife of Hermenegildo +Austria), Gabriel, Julian, Gregorio Fernando, Casimiro, Petrona +(who married Gregorio Neri), Tomasa (later Mrs. F. de Guzman), and +Cornelia, the belle of the family, who later lived in Batangas. + +Young Francisco was only eight years old when his father died, but +his mother and sister Potenciana looked well after him. First he +attended a Biñan Latin school, and later he seems to have studied +Latin and philosophy in the College of San José in Manila. + +A sister, Petrona, for some years had been a dressgoods merchant in +nearby Kalamba, on an estate that had recently come under the same +ownership as Biñan. There she later married, and shortly after was +widowed. Possibly upon their mother's death, Potenciana and Francisco +removed to Kalamba; though Petrona died not long after, her brother +and sister continued to make their home there. + +Francisco, in spite of his youth, became a tenant of the estate as did +some others of his family, for their Biñan holdings were not large +enough to give farms to all Captain Juan's many sons. The landlords +early recognized the agricultural skill of the Mercados by further +allotments, as they could bring more land under cultivation. Sometimes +Francisco was able to buy the holdings of others who proved less +successful in their management and became discouraged. + +The pioneer farming, clearing the miasmatic forests especially, was +dangerous work, and there were few families that did not buy their +land with the lives of some of its members. In 1847 the Mercados +had funerals, of brothers and nephews of Francisco, and, chief +among them, of that elder sister who had devoted her life to him, +Potenciana. She had always prompted and inspired the young man, and +Francisco's success in life was largely due to her wise counsels and +her devoted encouragement of his industry and ambition. Her thrifty +management of the home, too, was sadly missed. + +A year after his sister Potenciana's death, Francisco Mercado married +Teodora Alonzo, a native of Manila, who for several years had been +residing with her mother at Kalamba. The history of the family of +Mrs. Mercado is unfortunately not so easily traced as is that of her +husband, and what is known is of less simplicity and perhaps of more +interest since the mother's influence is greater than the father's, +and she was the mother of José Rizal. + +Her father, Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo (born 1790, died 1854), is said +to have been "very Chinese" in appearance. He had a brother who was +a priest, and a sister, Isabel, who was quite wealthy; he himself +was also well to do. Their mother, Maria Florentina (born 1771, died +1817), was, on her mother's side, of the famous Florentina family of +Chinese mestizos originating in Baliwag, Bulacan, and her father was +Captain Mariano Alejandro of Biñan. + +Lorenzo Alberto was municipal captain of Biñan in 1824, as had been his +father, Captain Cipriano Alonzo (died 18O5), in 1797. The grandfather, +Captain Gregorio Alonzo (died 1794), was a native of Quiotan barrio, +and twice, in 1763 and again in 1768, at the head of the mestizos' +organization of the Santa Cruz district in Manila. + +Captain Lorenzo was educated for a surveyor, and his engineering books, +some in English and others in French, were preserved in Biñan till, +upon the death of his son, the family belongings were scattered. He +was wealthy, and had invested a considerable sum of money with the +American Manila shipping firms of Peele, Hubbell & Co., and Russell, +Sturgis & Co. + +The family story is that he became acquainted with Brigida de Quintos, +Mrs. Rizal's mother, while he was a student in Manila, and that she, +being unusually well educated for a girl of those days, helped him +with his mathematics. Their acquaintance apparently arose through +relationship, both being connected with the Reyes family. They had five +children: Narcisa (who married Santiago Muger), Teodora (Mrs. Francisco +Rizal Mercado), Gregorio, Manuel and José. All were born in Manila, +but lived in Kalamba, and they used the name Alonzo till that general +change of names in 1850 when, with their mother, they adopted the +name Realonda. This latter name has been said to be an allusion to +royal blood in the family, but other indications suggest that it +might have been a careless mistake made in writing by Rosa Realonda, +whose name sometimes appears written as Redonda. There is a family +Redondo (Redonda in its feminine form) Alonzo of Ilokano origin, the +same stock as their traditions give for Mrs. Rizal's father, some +of whose members were to be found in the neighborhood of Biñan and +Pasay. One member of this family was akin in spirit to José Rizal, +for he was fined twenty-five thousand pesos by the Supreme Court of +the Philippine Islands for "contempt of religion." It appears that he +put some original comparisons into a petition which sought to obtain +justice from an inferior tribunal where, by the omission of the word +"not" in copying, the clerk had reversed the court's decision but +the judge refused to change the record. + +Brigida de Quintos's death record, in Kalamba (1856), speaks of her +as the daughter of Manuel de Quintos and Regina Ochoa. + +The most obscure part of Rizal's family tree is the Ochoa branch, the +family of the maternal grandmother, for all the archives,--church, +land and court,--disappeared during the late disturbed conditions +of which Cavite was the center. So one can only repeat what has been +told by elderly people who have been found reliable in other accounts +where the clews they gave could be compared with existing records. + +The first of the family is said to have been Policarpio Ochoa, an +employé of the Spanish customs house. Estanislao Manuel Ochoa was his +son, with the blood of old Castile mingling with Chinese and Tagalog +in his veins. He was part owner of the Hacienda of San Francisco de +Malabon. One story says that somewhere in this family was a Mariquita +Ochoa, of such beauty that she was known in Cavite, where was her home, +as the Sampaguita (jasmine) of the Parian, or Chinese, quarter. + +There was a Spanish nobleman also in Cavite in her time who had +been deported for political reasons--probably for holding liberal +opinions and for being thought to be favorable to English ideas. It +is said that this particular "caja abierta" was a Marquis de Canete, +and if so there is ground for the claim that he was of royal blood; +at least some of his far-off ancestors had been related to a former +ruling family of Spain. + +Mariquita's mother knew the exile, since, according to the custom +in Filipino families, she looked after the business interests of her +husband. Curious to see the belle of whom he had heard so much, the +Marquis made an excuse of doing business with the mother, and went to +her home on an occasion when he knew that the mother was away. No one +else was there to answer his knock and Mariquita, busied in making +candy, could not in her confusion find a coconut shell to dip water +for washing her hands from the large jar, and not to keep the visitor +waiting, she answered the door as she was. Not only did her appearance +realize the expectations of the Marquis, but the girl seemed equally +attractive for her self-possessed manners and lively mind. The nobleman +was charmed. On his way home he met a cart loaded with coconut dippers +and he bought the entire lot and sent it as his first present. + +After this the exile invented numerous excuses to call, till +Mariquita's mother finally agreed to his union with her daughter. His +political disability made him out of favor with the State church, +the only place in which people could be married then, but Mariquita +became what in English would be called a common-law wife. One of their +children, José, had a tobacco factory and a slipper factory in Meisic, +Manila, and was the especial protector of his younger sister, Regina, +who became the wife of attorney Manuel de Quintos. A sister of Regina +was Diega de Castro, who with another sister, Luseria, sold "chorizos" +(sausages) or "tiratira" (taffy candy), the first at a store and +the second in their own home, but both in Cavite, according to the +variations of one narrative. + +A different account varies the time and omits the noble ancestor by +saying that Regina was married unusually young to Manuel de Quintos to +escape the attentions of the Marquis. Another authority claims that +Regina was wedded to the lawyer in second marriage, being the widow +of Facundo de Layva, the captain of the ship Hernando Magallanes, +whose pilot, by the way, was Andrew Stewart, an Englishman. + +It is certain that Regina Ochoa was of Spanish, Chinese and Tagalog +ancestry, and it is recorded that she was the wife of Manuel de +Quintos. Here we stop depending on memories, for in the restored +burial register of Kalamba church in the entry of the funeral of +Brigida de Quintos she is called "the daughter of Manuel de Quintos +and Regina Ochoa." + +Manuel de Quintos was an attorney of Manila, graduated from Santo Tomás +University, whose family were Chinese mestizos of Pangasinan. The +lawyer's father, of the same name, had been municipal captain of +Lingayan, and an uncle was leader of the Chinese mestizos in a +protest they had made against the arbitrariness of their provincial +governor. This petition for redress of grievances is preserved in +the Supreme Court archives with "Joaquin de Quintos" well and boldly +written at the head of the complainants' names, evidence of a culture +and a courage that were equally uncommon in those days. Complaints +under Spanish rule, no matter how well founded, meant trouble for the +complainants; we must not forget that it was a vastly different thing +from signing petitions or adhering to resolutions nowadays. Then the +signers risked certainly great annoyance, sometimes imprisonment, +and not infrequently death. + +The home of Quintos had been in San Pedro Macati at the time of Captain +Novales's uprising, the so-called "American revolt" in protest against +the Peninsulars sent out to supersede the Mexican officers who had +remained loyal to Spain when the colony of their birth separated +itself from the mother country. As little San Pedro Macati is charged +with having originated the conspiracy, it is unlikely that it was +concealed from the liberal lawyer, for attorneys were scarcer and +held in higher esteem in those days. + +The conservative element then, as later, did not often let drop +any opportunity of purging the community of those who thought for +themselves, by condemning them for crime unheard and undefended, +whether they had been guilty of it or not. + +All the branches of Mrs. Rizal's family were much richer than the +relatives of her husband; there were numerous lawyers and priests +among them--the old-time proof of social standing--and they were +influential in the country. + +There are several names of these related families that belong among +the descendants of Lakandola, as traced by Mr. Luther Parker in +his study of the Pampangan migration, and color is thereby given, +so far as Rizal is concerned, to a proud boast that an old Pampangan +lady of this descent makes for her family. She, who is exceedingly +well posted upon her ancestry, ends the tracing of her lineage from +Lakandola's time by asserting that the blood of that chief flowed +in the veins of every Filipino who had the courage to stand forward +as the champion of his people from the earliest days to the close of +the Spanish régime. Lakandola, of course, belonged to the Mohammedan +Sumatrans who emigrated to the Philippines only a few generations +before Magellan's discovery. + +To recall relatives of Mrs. Rizal who were in the professions may +help to an understanding of the prominence of the family. Felix +Florentino, an uncle, was the first clerk of the Nueva Segovia +(Vigan) court. A cousin-german, José Florentino, was a Philippine +deputy in the Spanish Cortes, and a lawyer of note, as was also +his brother, Manuel. Another relative, less near, was Clerk Reyes, +of the Court of First Instance in Manila. The priest of Rosario, +Vicar of Batangas Province, Father Leyva, was a half-blood relation, +and another priestly relative was Mrs. Rizal's paternal uncle, +Father Alonzo. These were in the earlier days when professional +men were scarcer. Father Almeida, of Santa Cruz Church, Manila, +and Father Agustin Mendoz, his predecessor in the same church, and +one of the sufferers in the Cavite trouble of '72--a deporté--were +most distantly connected with the Rizal family. Another relative, +of the Reyes connection, was in the Internal Revenue Service and had +charge of Kalamba during the latter part of the eighteenth century. + +Mrs. Rizal was baptized in Santa Cruz Church, Manila, November 18, +1827, as Teodora Morales Alonzo, her godmother being a relative by +marriage, Doña Maria Cristina. She was given an exceptionally good +fundamental education by her gifted mother, and completed her training +in Santa Rosa College, Manila, which was in the charge of Filipino +sisters. Especially did the religious influence of her schooling +manifest itself in her after life. Unfortunately there are no records +in the institution, because it is said all the members of the Order +who could read and write were needed for instruction and there was +no one competent who had time for clerical work. + +Brigida de Quintos had removed to the property in Kalamba which Lorenzo +Alberto had transferred to her, and there as early as 1844 she is +first mentioned as Brigida de Quintos, then as Brigida de Alonzo, +and later as Brigida Realonda. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Rizal's Early Childhood + +JOSÉ PROTASIO RIZAL MERCADO Y ALONZO REALONDA, the seventh child of +Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and his wife, Teodora +Morales Alonzo Realonda y Quintos, was born in Kalamba, June 19, 1861. + +He was a typical Filipino, for few persons in this land of mixed +blood could boast a greater mixture than his. Practically all +the ethnic elements, perhaps even the Negrito in the far past, +combined in his blood. All his ancestors, except the doubtful +strain of the Negrito, had been immigrants to the Philippines, early +Malays, and later Sumatrans, Chinese of prehistoric times and the +refugees from the Tartar dominion, and Spaniards of old Castile and +Valencia--representatives of all the various peoples who have blended +to make the strength of the Philippine race. + +Shortly before José's birth his family had built a pretentious new home +in the center of Kalamba on a lot which Francisco Mercado had inherited +from his brother. The house was destroyed before its usefulness had +ceased, by the vindictiveness of those who hated the man-child that +was born there. And later on the gratitude of a free people held the +same spot sacred because there began that life consecrated to the +Philippines and finally given for it, after preparing the way for the +union of the various disunited Chinese mestizos, Spanish mestizos, +and half a hundred dialectically distinguished "Indians" into the +united people of the Philippines. + +José was christened in the nearby church when three days old, and as +two out-of-town bands happened to be in Kalamba for a local festival, +music was a feature of the event. His godfather was Father Pedro +Casañas, a Filipino priest of a Kalamba family, and the priest who +christened him was also a Filipino, Father Rufino Collantes. Following +is a translation of the record of Rizal's birth and baptism: "I, the +undersigned parish priest of the town of Calamba, certify that from +the investigation made with proper authority, for replacing the parish +books which were burned September 28, 1862, to be found in Docket No. 1 +of Baptisms, page 49, it appears by the sworn testimony of competent +witnesses that JOSÉ RIZAL MERCADO is the legitimate son, and of lawful +wedlock, of Don Francisco Rizal Mercado and Doña Teodora Realonda, +having been baptized in this parish on the 22d day of June in the year +1861, by the parish preiset, Rev. Rufino Collantes, Rev. Pedro Casañas +being his god-father."--Witness my signature. (Signed) LEONCIO LOPEZ. + +José Rizal's earliest training recalls the education of William +and Alexander von Humboldt, those two nineteenth century Germans +whose achievements for the prosperity of their fatherland and the +advancement of humanity have caused them to be spoken of as the most +remarkable pair of brothers that ever lived. He was not physically +a strong child, but the direction of his first studies was by an +unusually gifted mother, who succeeded, almost without the aid of +books, in laying a foundation upon which the man placed an amount +of well-mastered knowledge along many different lines that is truly +marvelous, and this was done in so short a time that its brevity +constitutes another wonder. + +At three he learned his letters, having insisted upon being +taught to read and being allowed to share the lessons of an elder +sister. Immediately thereafter he was discovered with her story book, +spelling out its words by the aid of the syllabary or "caton" which +he had propped up before him and was using as one does a dictionary +in a foreign language. + +The little boy spent also much of his time in the church, which was +conveniently near, but when the mother suggested that this might be +an indication of religious inclination, his prompt response was that +he liked to watch the people. + +To how good purpose the small eyes and ears were used, the true-to-life +types of the characters in "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" +testify. + +Three uncles, brothers of the mother, concerned themselves with +the intellectual, artistic and physical training of this promising +nephew. The youngest, José, a teacher, looked after the regular +lessons. The giant Manuel developed the physique of the youngster, +until he had a supple body of silk and steel and was no longer a +sickly lad, though he did not entirely lose his somewhat delicate +looks. The more scholarly Gregorio saw that the child earned his candy +money--trying to instill the idea into his mind that it was not the +world's way that anything worth having should come without effort; he +taught him also the value of rapidity in work, to think for himself, +and to observe carefully and to picture what he saw. + +Sometimes José would draw a bird flying without lifting pencil from the +paper till the picture was finished. At other times it would be a horse +running or a dog in chase, but it always must be something of which +he had thought himself and the idea must not be overworked; there was +no payment for what had been done often before. Thus he came to think +for himself, ideas were suggested to him indirectly, so he was never +a servile copyist, and he acquired the habit of speedy accomplishment. + +Clay at first, then wax, was his favorite play material. From these he +modeled birds and butterflies that came ever nearer to the originals +in nature as the wise praise of the uncles called his attention to +possibilities of improvement and encouraged him to further effort. This +was the beginning of his nature study. + +José had a pony and used to take long rides through all the surrounding +country, so rich in picturesque scenery. Besides these horseback +expeditions were excursions afoot; on the latter his companion was +his big black dog, Usman. His father pretended to be fearful of some +accident if dog and pony went together, so the boy had to choose +between these favorites, and alternated walking and riding, just as +Mr. Mercado had planned he should. The long pedestrian excursions +of his European life, though spoken of as German and English habits, +were merely continuations of this childhood custom. There were other +playmates besides the dog and the horse, especially doves that lived +in several houses about the Mercado home, and the lad was friend +and defender of all the animals, birds, and even insects in the +neighborhood. Had his childish sympathies been respected the family +would have been strictly vegetarian in their diet. + +At times José was permitted to spend the night in one of the curious +little straw huts which La Laguna farmers put up during the harvest +season, and the myths and legends of the region which he then heard +interested him and were later made good use of in his writings. + +Sleight-of-hand tricks were a favorite amusement, and he developed +a dexterity which mystified the simple folk of the country. This +diversion, and his proficiency in it, gave rise to that mysterious awe +with which he was regarded by the common people of his home region; +they ascribed to him supernatural powers, and refused to believe that +he was really dead even after the tragedy of Bagumbayan. + +Entertainment of the neighbors with magic-lantern exhibitions was +another frequent amusement, an ordinary lamp throwing its light on +a common sheet serving as a screen. José's supple fingers twisted +themselves into fantastic shapes, the enlarged shadows of which on +the curtain bore resemblance to animals, and paper accessories were +worked in to vary and enlarge the repertoire of action figures. The +youthful showman was quite successful in catering to the public taste, +and the knowledge he then gained proved valuable later in enabling +him to approach his countrymen with books that held their attention +and gave him the opportunity to tell them of shortcomings which it +was necessary that they should correct. + +Almost from babyhood he had a grown-up way about him, a sort of dignity +that seemed to make him realize and respect the rights of others and +unconsciously disposed his elders to reason with him, rather than scold +him for his slight offenses. This habit grew, as reprimands were needed +but once, and his grave promises of better behavior were faithfully +kept when the explanation of why his conduct was wrong was once made +clear to him. So the child came to be not an unwelcome companion even +for adults, for he respected their moods and was never troublesome. A +big influence in the formation of the child's character was his +association with the parish priest of Kalamba, Father Leoncio Lopez. + +The Kalamba church and convento, which were located across the way +from the Rizal home, were constructed after the great earthquake of +1863, which demolished so many edifices throughout the central part +of the Philippines. + +The curate of Kalamba had a strong personality and was notable +among the Filipino secular clergy of that day when responsibility +had developed many creditable figures. An English writer of long +residence in the Philippines, John Foreman, in his book on the +Philippine Islands, describes how his first meeting with this priest +impressed him, and tells us that subsequent acquaintance confirmed +the early favorable opinion of one whom he considered remarkable for +broad intelligence and sanity of view. Father Leoncío never deceived +himself and his judgment was sound and clear, even when against +the opinions and persons of whom he would have preferred to think +differently. Probably José, through the priest's fondness for children +and because he was well behaved and the son of friendly neighbors, +was at first tolerated about the convento, the Philippine name for +the priest's residence, but soon he became a welcome visitor for his +own sake. + +He never disturbed the priest's meditations when the old clergyman +was studying out some difficult question, but was a keen observer, +apparently none the less curious for his respectful reserve. Father +Leoncío may have forgotten the age of his listener, or possibly was +only thinking aloud, but he spoke of those matters which interested +all thinking Filipinos and found a sympathetic, eager audience in +the little boy, who at least gave close heed if he had at first no +valuable comments to offer. + +In time the child came to ask questions, and they were so sensible +that careful explanation was given, and questions were not dismissed +with the statement that these things were for grown-ups, a statement +which so often repels the childish zeal for knowledge. Not many +mature people in those days held so serious converse as the priest +and his child friend, for fear of being overheard and reported, +a danger which even then existed in the Philippines. + +That the old Filipino priest of Rizal's novels owed something to the +author's recollections of Father Leoncío is suggested by a chapter in +"Noli Me Tangere." Ibarra, viewing Manila by moonlight on the first +night after his return from Europe, recalls old memories and makes +mention of the neighborhood of the Botanical Garden, just beyond +which the friend and mentor of his youth had died. Father Leoncio +Lopez died in Calle Concepción in that vicinity, which would seem to +identify him in connection with that scene in the book, rather than +numerous others whose names have been sometimes suggested. + +Two writings of Rizal recall thoughts of his youthful days. Orie tells +how he used to wander down along the lake shore and, looking across +the waters, wonder about the people on the other side. Did they, +too, he questioned, suffer injustice as the people of his home town +did? Was the whip there used as freely, carelessly and unmercifully by +the authorities? Had men and women also to be servile and hypocrites +to live in peace over there? But among these thoughts, never once +did it occur to him that at no distant day the conditions would be +changed and, under a government that safeguarded the personal rights +of the humblest of its citizens, the region that evoked his childhood +wondering was to become part of a province bearing his own name in +honor of his labors toward banishing servility and hypocrisy from +the character of his countrymen. + +The lake district of Central Luzon is one of the most historic regions +in the Islands, the May-i probably of the twelfth century Chinese +geographer. Here was the scene of the earliest Spanish missionary +activity. On the south shore is Kalamba, birthplace of Doctor Rizal, +with Biñan, the residence of his father's ancestors, to the northwest, +and on the north shore the land to which reference is made above. Today +this same region at the north bears the name of Rizal Province in +his honor. + +The other recollection of Rizal's youth is of his first reading +lesson. He did not know Spanish and made bad work of the story of the +"Foolish Butterfly," which his mother had selected, stumbling over the +words and grouping them without regard to the sense. Finally Mrs. Rizal +took the book from her son and read it herself, translating the tale +into the familiar Tagalog used in their home. The moral is supposed +to be obedience, and the young butterfly was burned and died because +it disregarded the parental warning not to venture too close to the +alluring flame. The reading lesson was in the evening and by the +light of a coconut-oil lamp, and some moths were very appropriately +fluttering about its cheerful blaze. The little boy watched them as +his mother read and he missed the moral, for as the insects singed +their wings and fluttered to their death in the flame he forgot +their disobedience and found no warning in it for him. Rather he +envied their fate and considered that the light was so fine a thing +that it was worth dying for. Thus early did the notion that there +are things worth more than life enter his head, though he could not +foresee that he was to be himself a martyr and that the day of his +death would before long be commemorated in his country to recall to +his countrymen lessons as important to their national existence as +his mother's precept was for his childish welfare. + +When he was four the mystery of life's ending had been brought home to +him by the death of a favorite little sister, and he shed the first +tears of real sorrow, for until then he had only wept as children do +when disappointed in getting their own way. It was the first of many +griefs, but he quickly realized that life is a constant struggle and +he learned to meet disappointments and sorrows with the tears in the +heart and a smile on the lips, as he once advised a nephew to do. + +At seven José made his first real journey; the family went to Antipolo +with the host of pilgrims who in May visit the mountain shrine of Our +Lady of Peace and Safe Travel. In the early Spanish days in Mexico +she was the special patroness of voyages to America, especially while +the galleon trade lasted; the statue was brought to Antipolo in 1672. + +A print of the Virgin, a souvenir of this pilgrimage, was, according +to the custom of those times, pasted inside José's wooden chest when +he left home for school; later on it was preserved in an album and +went with him in all his travels. Afterwards it faced Bougereau's +splendid conception of the Christ-mother, as one who had herself +thus suffered, consoling another mother grieving over the loss of a +son. Many years afterwards Doctor Rizal was charged with having fallen +away from religion, but he seems really rather to have experienced a +deepening of the religious spirit which made the essentials of charity +and kindness more important in his eyes than forms and ceremonies. + +Yet Rizal practiced those forms prescribed for the individual even +when debarred from church privileges. The lad doubtless got his +idea of distinguishing between the sign and the substance from a +well-worn book of explanations of the church ritual and symbolism +"intended for the use of parish priests." It was found in his library, +with Mrs. Rizal's name on the flyleaf. Much did he owe his mother, +and his grateful recognition appears in his appreciative portrayal +of maternal affection in his novels. + +His parents were both religious, but in a different way. The father's +religion was manifested in his charities; he used to keep on hand +a fund, of which his wife had no account, for contributions to the +necessitous and loans to the irresponsible. Mrs. Rizal attended to +the business affairs and was more careful in her handling of money, +though quite as charitably disposed. Her early training in Santa +Rosa had taught her the habit of frequent prayer and she began early +in the morning and continued till late in the evening, with frequent +attendance in the church. Mr. Rizal did not forget his church duties, +but was far from being so assiduous in his practice of them, and the +discussions in the home frequently turned on the comparative value of +words and deeds, discussions that were often given a humorous twist +by the husband when he contrasted his wife's liberality in prayers +with her more careful dispensing of money aid. + +Not many homes in Kalamba were so well posted on events of the outside +world, and the children constantly heard discussions of questions +which other households either ignored or treated rather reservedly, for +espionage was rampant even then in the Islands. Mrs. Rizal's literary +training had given her an acquaintance with the better Spanish writers +which benefited her children; she told them the classic tales in style +adapted to their childish comprehension, so that when they grew older +they found that many noted authors were old acquaintances. The Bible, +too, played a large part in the home. Mrs. Rizal's copy was a Spanish +translation of the Latin Vulgate, the version authorized by her Church +but not common in the Islands then. Rizal's frequent references to +Biblical personages and incidents are not paralleled in the writings +of any contemporary Filipino author. + +The frequent visitors to their home, the church, civil and military +authorities, who found the spacious Rizal mansion a convenient resting +place on their way to the health resort at Los Baños, brought something +of the city, and a something not found by many residents even there, to +the people of this village household. Oftentimes the house was filled, +and the family would not turn away a guest of less rank for the sake of +one of higher distinction, though that unsocial practice was frequently +followed by persons who forgot their self-respect in toadying to rank. + +Little José did not know Spanish very well, so far as conversational +usage was concerned, but his mother tried to impress on him the beauty +of the Spanish poets and encouraged him in essays at rhyming which +finally grew into quite respectable poetical compositions. One of +these was a drama in Tagalog which so pleased a municipal captain of +the neighboring village of Paete, who happened to hear it while on +a visit to Kalamba, that the youthful author was paid two pesos for +the production. This was as much money as a field laborer in those +days would have earned in half a month; although the family did not +need the coin, the incident impressed them with the desirability of +cultivating the boy's talent. + +José was nine years old when he was sent to study in Biñan. His master +there, Justiniano Aquino Cruz, was of the old school and Rizal has left +a record of some of his maxims, such as "Spare the rod and spoil the +child," "The letter enters with blood," and other similar indications +of his heroic treatment of the unfortunates under his care. However, +if he was a strict disciplinarian, Master Justiniano was also a +conscientious instructor, and the boy had been only a few months +under his care when the pupil was told that he knew as much as his +master, and had better go to Manila to school. Truthful José repeated +this conversation without the modification which modesty might have +suggested, and his father responded rather vigorously to the idea +and it was intimated that in the father's childhood pupils were not +accustomed to say that they knew as much as their teachers. However, +Master Justiniano corroborated the child's statement, so that +preparations for José's going to Manila began to be made. This was +in the Christmas vacation of 1871. + +Biñan had been a valuable experience for young Rizal. There he had +met a host of relatives and from them heard much of the past of his +father's family. His maternal grandfather's great house was there, now +inhabited by his mother's half-brother, a most interesting personage. + +This uncle, José Alberto, had been educated in British India, spending +eleven years in a Calcutta missionary school. This was the result of +an acquaintance which his father had made with an English naval officer +who visited the Philippines about 1820, the author of "An Englishman's +Visit to the Philippines." Lorenzo Alberto, the grandfather, himself +spoke English and had English associations. He had also liberal ideas +and preferred the system under which the Philippines were represented +in the Cortes and were treated not as a colony but as part of the +homeland and its people were considered Spaniards. + +The great Biñan bridge had been built under Lorenzo Alberto's +supervision, and for services to the Spanish nation during the +expedition to Cochin-China--probably liberal contributions of money--he +had been granted the title of Knight of the American Order of Isabel +the Catholic, but by the time this recognition reached him he had died, +and the patent was made out to his son. + +An episode well known in the village--its chief event, if one might +judge from the conversation of the inhabitants--was a visit which +a governor of Hongkong had made there when he was a guest in the +home of Alberto. Many were the tales told of this distinguished +Englishman, who was Sir John Bowring, the notable polyglot and +translator into English of poetry in practically every one of the +dialects of Europe. His achievements along this line had put him +second or third among the linguists of the century. He was also +interested in history, and mentioned in his Biñan visit that the +Hakluyt Society, of which he was a Director, was then preparing to +publish an exceedingly interesting account of the early Philippines +that did more justice to its inhabitants than the regular Spanish +historians. Here Rizal first heard of Morga, the historian, whose +book he in after years made accessible to his countrymen. A desire +to know other languages than his own also possessed him and he was +eager to rival the achievements of Sir John Bowring. + +In his book entitled "A Visit to the Philippine Islands," which was +translated into Spanish by Mr. José del Pan, a liberal editor of +Manila, Sir John Bowring gives the following account of his visit to +Rizal's uncle: + +"We reached Biñan before sunset .... First we passed between +files of youths, then of maidens; and through a triumphal +arch we reached the handsome dwelling of a rich mestizo, whom +we found decorated with a Spanish order, which had been granted +to his father before him. He spoke English, having been educated +at Calcutta, and his house--a very large one--gave abundant +evidence that he had not studied in vain the arts of domestic +civilization. The furniture, the beds, the table, the cookery, were +all in good taste, and the obvious sincerity of the kind reception +added to its agreeableness. Great crowds were gathered together +in the square which fronts the house of Don José Alberto." + + +The Philippines had just had a liberal governor, De la Torte, but even +during this period of apparent liberalness there existed a confidential +government order directing that all letters from Filipinos suspected +of progressive ideas were to be opened in the post. This violation +of the mails furnished the list of those who later suffered in the +convenient insurrection of '72. + +An agrarian trouble, the old disagreement between landlords and +tenants, had culminated in an active outbreak which the government +was unable to put down, and so it made terms by which, among other +things, the leader of the insurrection was established as chief +of a new civil guard for the purpose of keeping order. Here again +was another preparation for '72, for at that time the agreement +was forgotten and the officer suffered punishment, in spite of the +immunity he had been promised. + +Religious troubles, too, were rife. The Jesuits had returned from +exile shortly before, and were restricted to teaching work in those +parishes in the missionary district where collections were few and +danger was great. To make room for those whom they displaced the better +parishes in the more thickly settled regions were taken from Filipino +priests and turned over to members of the religious Orders. Naturally +there was discontent. A confidential communication from the secular +archbishop, Doctor Martinez, shows that he considered the Filipinos had +ground for complaint, for he states that if the Filipinos were under a +non-Catholic government like that of England they would receive fairer +treatment than they were getting from their Spanish co-religionaries, +and warns the home government that trouble will inevitably result if +the discrimination against the natives of the country is continued. + +The Jesuit method of education in their newly established "Ateneo +Municipal" was a change from that in the former schools. It treated the +Filipino as a Spaniard and made no distinctions between the races in +the school dormitory. In the older institutions of Manila the Spanish +students lived in the Spanish way and spoke their own language, but +Filipinos were required to talk Latin, sleep on floor mats and eat +with their hands from low tables. These Filipino customs obtained in +the hamlets, but did not appeal to city lads who had become used to +Spanish ways in their own homes and objected to departing from them in +school. The disaffection thus created was among the educated class, +who were best fitted to be leaders of their people in any dangerous +insurrection against the government. + +However, a change had to take place to meet the Jesuit competition, +and in the rearrangement Filipino professors were given a larger +share in the management of the schools. Notable among these was +Father Burgos. He had earned his doctor's degree in two separate +courses, was among the best educated in the capital and by far the +most public-spirited and valiant of the Filipino priests. + +He enlisted the interest of many of the older Filipino clergy and +through their contributions subsidized a paper, E1 Eco Filipino, +which spoke from the Filipino standpoint and answered the reflections +which were the stock in trade of the conservative organ, for the +reactionaries had an abusive journal just as they had had in 1821 +and were to have in the later days. + +Such were the conditions when José Rizal got ready to leave home for +school in Manila, a departure which was delayed by the misfortunes of +his mother. His only, and elder, brother, Paciano, had been a student +in San José College in Manila for some years, and had regularly failed +in passing his examinations because of his outspokenness against +the evils of the country. Paciano was a great favorite with Doctor +Burgos, in whose home he lived and for whom he acted as messenger +and go-between in the delicate negotiations of the propaganda which +the doctor was carrying on. + +In February of '72 all the dreams of a brighter and freer Philippines +were crushed out in that enormous injustice which made the mutiny of a +few soldiers and arsenal employés in Cavite the excuse for deporting, +imprisoning, and even shooting those whose correspondence, opened +during the previous year, had shown them to be discontented with the +backward conditions in the Philippines. + +Doctor Burgos, just as he had been nominated to a higher post in the +Church, was the chief victim. Father Gomez, an old man, noted for +charity, was another, and the third was Father Zamora. A reference +in a letter of his to "powder," which was his way of saying money, +was distorted into a dangerous significance, in spite of the fact +that the letter was merely an invitation to a gambling game. The +trial was a farce, the informer was garroted just when he was on +the point of complaining that he was not receiving the pardon and +payment which he had been promised for his services in convicting +the others. The whole affair had an ugly look, and the way it was +hushed up did not add to the confidence of the people in the justice +of the proceedings. The Islands were then placed under military law +and remained so for many years. + +Father Burgos's dying advice to Filipinos was for them to be educated +abroad, preferably outside of Spain, but if they could do no better, +at least go to the Peninsula. He urged that through education only +could progress be hoped for. In one of his speeches he had warned the +Spanish government that continued oppressive measures would drive the +Filipinos from their allegiance and make them wish to become subjects +of a freer power, suggesting England, whose possessions surrounded +the Islands. + +Doctor Burgos's idea of England as a hope for the Philippines was +borne out by the interest which the British newspapers of Hongkong +took in Philippine affairs. They gave accounts of the troubles and +picked flaws in the garbled reports which the officials sent abroad. + +Some zealous but unthinking reactionary at this time conceived the idea +of publishing a book somewhat similar to that which had been gotten +out against the Constitution of Cadiz. "Captain Juan" was its name; +it was in catechism form, and told of an old municipal captain who +deserved to be honored because he was so submissively subservient to +all constituted authority. He tries to distinguish between different +kinds of liberty, and the especial attention which he devotes to +America shows how live a topic the great republic was at that time in +the Islands. This interest is explained by the fact that an American +company had just then received a grant of the northern part of Borneo, +later British North Borneo, for a trading company. It was believed that +the United States had designs on the Archipelago because of treaties +which had been negotiated with the Sultan of Sulu and certain American +commercial interests in the Far East, which were then rather important. + +Americans, too, had become known in the Philippines through a soldier +of fortune who had helped out the Chinese government in suppressing +the rebellion in the neighborhood of Shanghai. "General" F. T. Ward, +from Massachusetts, organized an army of deserters from European ships, +but their lack of discipline made them undesirable soldiers, and so +he disbanded the force. He then gathered a regiment of Manila men, +as the Filipinos usually found as quartermasters on all ships sailing +in the East were then called. With the aid of some other Americans +these troops were disciplined and drilled into such efficiency that the +men came to have the title among the Chinese of the "Ever-Victorious" +army, because of the almost unbroken series of successes which they +had experienced. A partial explanation, possibly, of their fighting +so well is that they were paid only when they won. + +The high praise given the Filipinos at this time was in contrast to the +disparagement made of their efforts in Indo-China, where in reality +they had done the fighting rather than their Spanish officers. When +a Spaniard in the Philippines quoted of the Filipino their customary +saying, "Poor soldier, worse sacristan," the Filipinos dared make +no open reply, but they consoled themselves with remembering the +flattering comments of "General" Ward and the favorable opinion of +Archbishop Martinez. + +References to Filipino military capacity were banned by the censors and +the archbishop's communication had been confidential, but both became +known, for despotisms drive its victims to stealth and to methods +which would not be considered creditable under freer conditions. + + + +CHAPTER V + +Jagor's Prophecy + +RIZAL'S first home in Manila was in a nipa house with Manuel +Hidalgo, later to be his brother-in-law, in Calle Espeleta, a street +named for a former Filipino priest who had risen to be bishop and +governor-general. This spot is now marked with a tablet which gives +the date of his coming as the latter part of February, 1872. + +Rizal's own recollections speak of June as being the date of the +formal beginning of his studies in Manila. First he went to San Juan +de Letran and took an examination in the Catechism. Then he went back +to Kalamba and in July passed into the Ateneo, possibly because of +the more favorable conditions under which the pupils were admitted, +receiving credit for work in arithmetic, which in the other school, +it is said, he would have had to restudy. This perhaps accounts for +the credit shown in the scholastic year 1871-72. Until his fourth +year Rizal was an externe, as those residing outside of the school +dormitory were then called. The Ateneo was very popular and so great +was the eagerness to enter it that the waiting list was long and two +or three years' delay was not at all uncommon. + +There is a little uncertainty about this period; some writers have +gone so far as to give recollections of childhood incidents of which +Rizal was the hero while he lived in the house of Doctor Burgos, +but the family deny that he was ever in this home, and say that he +has been confused with his brother Paciano. + +The greatest influence upon Rizal during this period was the sense of +Spanish judicial injustice in the legal persecutions of his mother, +who, though innocent, for two years was treated as a criminal and +held in prison. + +Much of the story is not necessary for this narrative, but the mother's +troubles had their beginning in the attempted revenge of a lieutenant +of the Civil Guard, one of a body of Spaniards who were no credit +to the mother country and whom Rizal never lost opportunity in his +writings of painting in their true colors. This official had been in +the habit of having his horse fed at the Mercado home when he visited +their town from his station in Biñan, but once there was a scarcity +of fodder and Mr. Mercado insisted that his own stock was entitled +to care before he could extend hospitality to strangers. This the +official bitterly resented. His opportunity for revenge soon came, and +was not overlooked. A disagreement between José Alberto, the mother's +brother in Biñan, and his wife, also his cousin, to whom he had been +married when they were both quite young, led to sensational charges +which a discreet officer would have investigated and would assuredly +have then realized to be unfounded. Instead the lieutenant accepted +the most ridiculous statements, brought charges of attempted murder +against Alberto and his sister, Mrs. Rizal, and evidently figured +that he would be able to extort money from the rich man and gratify +his revenge at the same time. + +Now comes a disgruntled judge, who had not received the attention at +the Mercado home which he thought his dignity demanded. Out of revenge +he ordered Mrs. Rizal to be conducted at once to the provincial prison, +not in the usual way by boat, but, to cause her greater annoyance, +afoot around the lake. It was a long journey from Kalamba to Santa +Cruz, and the first evening the guard and his prisoner came to +a village where there was a festival in progress. Mrs. Rizal was +well known and was welcomed in the home of one of the prominent +families. The festivities were at their height when the judge, who +had been on horseback and so had reached the town earlier, heard that +the prisoner, instead of being in the village calaboose, was a guest +of honor and apparently not suffering the annoyance to which he had +intended to subject her. He strode to the house, and, not content to +knock, broke in the door, splintered his cane on the poor constable's +head, and then exhausted himself beating the owner of the house. + +These proceedings were revealed in a charge of prejudice which +Mrs. Rizal's lawyers urged against the judge who at the same time +was the one who decided the case and also the prosecutor. The Supreme +Court agreed that her contention was correct and directed that she be +discharged from custody. To this order the judge paid due respect and +ordered her release, but he said that the accusation of unfairness +against him was contempt of court, and gave her a longer sentence +under this charge than the previous one from which she had just been +absolved. After some delay the Supreme Court heard of this affair and +decided that the judge was right. But, because Mrs. Rizal had been +longer in prison awaiting trial than the sentence, they dated back +her imprisonment, and again ordered her release. Here the record +gets a little confused because it is concerned with a story that +her brother had sixteen thousand pesos concealed in his cell, and +everybody, from the Supreme Court down, seemed interested in trying +to locate the money. + +While the officials were looking for his sack of gold, Alberto +gave a power of attorney to an overintelligent lawyer who worded +his authority so that it gave him the right to do everything +which his principal himself could have done "personally, legally +and ecclesiastically." From some source outside, but not from the +brother, the attorney heard that Mrs. Rizal had had money belonging +to Alberto, for in the extensive sugar-purchasing business which she +carried on she handled large sums and frequently borrowed as much as +five thousand pesos from this brother. Anxious to get his hands on +money, he instituted a charge of theft against her, under his power of +attorney and acting in the name of his principal. Mrs. Rizal's attorney +demurred to such a charge being made without the man who had lent the +money being at all consulted, and held that a power of attorney did +not warrant such an action. In time the intelligent Supreme Court +heard this case and decided that it should go to trial; but later, +when the attorney, acting for his principal, wanted to testify for him +under the power of attorney, they seem to have reached their limit, +for they disapproved of that proposal. + +Anyone who cares to know just how ridiculous and inconsistent the +judicial system of the Philippines then was would do well to try to +unravel the mixed details of the half dozen charges, ranging from +cruelty through theft to murder, which were made against Mrs. Rizal +without a shadow of evidence. One case was trumped up as soon as +another was finished, and possibly the affair would have dragged on +till the end of the Spanish administration had not her little daughter +danced before the Governor-General once when he was traveling through +the country, won his approval, and when he asked what favor he could do +for her, presented a petition for her mother's release. In this way, +which recalls the customs of primitive nations, Mrs. Rizal finally +was enabled to return to her home. + +Doctor Rizal tells us that it was then that he first began to lose +confidence in mankind. A story of a school companion, that when +Rizal recalled this incident the red came into his eyes, probably +has about the same foundation as the frequent stories of his weeping +with emotion upon other people's shoulders when advised of momentous +changes in his life. Doctor Rizal did not have these Spanish ways, +and the narrators are merely speaking of what other Spaniards would +have done, for self-restraint and freedom from exhibitions of emotion +were among his most prominent characteristics. + +Some time during Rizal's early years of school came his first success +in painting. It was the occasion of a festival in Kalamba; just at +the last moment an important banner was accidentally damaged and there +was not time to send to Manila for another. A hasty consultation was +held among the village authorities, and one councilman suggested that +José Rizal had shown considerable skill with the brush and possibly he +could paint something that would pass. The gobernadorcillo proceeded to +the lad's home and explained the need. Rizal promptly went to work, +under the official's direction, and speedily produced a painting +which the delighted municipal executive declared was better than the +expensive banner bought in Manila. The achievement was explained to +all the participants in the festival and young José was the hero of +the occasion. + +During intervals of school work Rizal found time to continue his +modeling in clay which he procured from the brickyard of a cousin at +San Pedro Macati. + +Rizal's uncle, José Alberto, had played a considerable part in his +political education. He was influential with the Regency in Spain, +which succeeded Queen Isabel when that sovereign became too malodorous +to be longer tolerated, and he was the personal friend of the Regent, +General Prim, whose motto, "More liberal today than yesterday, more +liberal tomorrow than today," he was fond of quoting. He was present in +Madrid at the time of General Prim's assassination and often told of +how this wise patriot, recognizing the unpreparedness of the Spanish +people for a republic, opposed the efforts for what would, he knew, +result in as disastrous a failure as had been France's first effort, +and how he lost his life through his desire to follow the safer +course of proceeding gradually through the preparatory stage of a +constitutional monarchy. Alberto was made by him a Knight of the Order +of Carlos III, and, after Prim's death, was created by King Amadeo a +Knight Commander, the step higher in the Order of Isabel the Catholic. + +Events proved Prim's wisdom, as Alberto was careful to observe, for +King Amadeo was soon convinced of the unfitness of his people for even +a constitutional monarchy, told them so, resigned his throne, and bade +them farewell. Then came a republic marked by excesses such as even +the worst monarch had not committed; among them the dreadful massacre +of the members of the filibustering party on the steamer Virginius +in Cuba, which would have caused war with the United States had not +the Americans been deluded into the idea that they were dealing with +a sister republic. America and Switzerland had been the only nations +which had recognized Spain's new form of government. Prim sought an +alliance with America, for he claimed that Spain should be linked +with a country which would buy Spanish goods and to which Spain could +send her products. France, with whom the Bourbons wished to be allied, +was a competitor along Spain's own lines. + +During the earlier disturbances in Spain a party of Carlists were +sent to the Philippine Islands; they were welcomed by the reactionary +Spaniards, for devotion to King Carlos had been their characteristic +ever since the days when Queen Isabel had taken the throne that in +their opinion belonged to the heir in the male line. Rizal frequently +makes mention of this disloyalty to the ruler of Spain on the part +of those who claimed to be most devoted Spaniards. + +Along with the stories of these troubles which Rizal heard during his +school days in Manila were reports of how these exiles had established +themselves in foreign cities, Basa in Hongkong, Regidor in London, +and Tavera in Paris. At their homes in these cities they gave a warm +welcome to such Filipinos as traveled abroad and they were always ready +to act as guardians for Filipino students who wished to study in their +cities, Many availed themselves of these opportunities and it came to +be an ambition among those in the Islands to get an education which +they believed was better than that which Spain afforded. There was some +ground for such a belief, because many of the most prominent successful +men of Spanish and Philippine birth were men whose education had been +foreign. A well-known instance in Manila was the architect Roxas, +father of the present Alcalde of Manila, who learned his profession +in England and was almost the only notable builder in Manila during +his lifetime. + +Paciano Rizal, José's elder brother, had retired from Manila on the +death of Doctor Burgos and devoted himself to farming; in some ways, +perhaps, his career suggested the character of Tasio, the philosopher +of "Noli Me Tangere." He was careful to see that his younger brother +was familiar with the liberal literature with which he had become +acquainted through Doctor Burgos. + +The first foreign book read by Rizal, in a Spanish translation, +was Dumas's great novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo," and the story +of the wrongs suffered by the prisoner of the Château d'If recalled +the injustice done his mother. Then came the book which had greatest +influence upon the young man's career; this was a Spanish translation +of Jagor's "Travels in the Philippines," the observations of a German +naturalist who had visited the Islands some fifteen years before. This +latter book, among other comments, suggested that it was the fate of +the North American republic to develop and bring to their highest +prosperity the lands which Spain had conquered and Christianized +with sword and cross. Sooner or later, this German writer believed, +the Philippine Islands could no more escape this American influence +than had the countries on the mainland, and expressed the hope that +one day the Philippines would succumb to the same influence; he felt, +however, that it was desirable first for the Islanders to become better +able to meet the strong competition of the vigorous young people of the +New World, for under Spain the Philippines had dreamed away its past. + +The exact title of the book is "Travels | in the | Philippines. | +By F. Jagor. | With numerous illustrations and a Map | London: | +Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. | 1875." The title of the Spanish +translation reads, "Viajes | por | Filipinas | de F. Jagor | Traducidos +del Alemán | por S. Vidal y Soler | Ingeniero de Montes | Edición +illustrada con numerosos grabados | Madrid: Imprenta, Estereopidea +y Galvanoplastia de Ariban y Ca. | (Sucesores de Rivadencyra) | +Impresores de Camara de S. M. | Calle del Duque de Osuna, núm 3. 1875," +The following extract from the book will show how marvelously the +author anticipated events that have now become history: + +"With the altered condition of things, however, all this has +disappeared. The colony can no longer be kept secluded from the +world. Every facility afforded for commercial intercourse is a blow +to the old system, and a great step made in the direction of broad +and liberal reforms. The more foreign capital and foreign ideas and +customs are introduced, increasing the prosperity, enlightenment, +and self-esteem of the population, the more impatiently will the +existing evils be endured. + +England can and does open her possessions unconcernedly to the +world. The British colonies are united to the mother country by +the bond of mutual advantage, viz., the produce of raw material by +means of English capital, and the exchange of the same for English +manufactures. The wealth of England is so great, the organization of +her commerce with the world so complete, that nearly all the foreigners +even in the British possessions are for the most part agents for +English business houses, which would scarcely be affected, at least +to any marked extent, by a political dismemberment. It is entirely +different with Spain, which possesses the colony as an inherited +property, and without the power of turning it to any useful account. + +Government monopolies rigorously maintained, insolent disregard and +neglect of the half-castes and powerful creoles, and the example +of the United States, were the chief reasons of the downfall of the +American possessions. The same causes threaten ruin to the Philippines; +but of the monopolies I have said enough. + +Half-castes and creoles, it is true are not, as they formerly were +in America, excluded from all orificial appointments; but they feel +deeply hurt and injured through the crowds of place-hunters which +the frequent changes of Ministers send to Manilla. The influence, +also, of the American element is at least visible on the horizon, +and will be more noticeable when the relations increase between the +two countries. At present they are very slender. The trade in the +meantime follows in its old channels to England and to the Atlantic +ports of the United States. Nevertheless, whoever desires to form an +opinion upon the future history of the Philippines, must not consider +simply their relations to Spain, but must have regard to the prodigious +changes which a few decades produce on either side of our planet. + +For the first time in the history of the world the mighty powers +on both sides of the ocean have commenced to enter upon a direct +intercourse with one another--Russia, which alone is larger than +any two other parts of the earth; China, which contains within its +own boundaries a third of the population of the world; and America, +with ground under cultivation nearly sufficient to feed treble the +total population of the earth. Russia's further rôle in the Pacific +Ocean is not to be estimated at present. + +The trade between the two other great powers will therefore be +presumably all the heavier, as the rectification of the pressing need +of human labour on the one side, and of the corresponding overplus +on the other, will fall to them. + +"The world of the ancients was confined to the shores of the +Mediterranean; and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans sufficed at one +time for our traffic. When first the shores of the Pacific re-echoed +with the sounds of active commerce, the trade of the world and +the history of the world may be really said to have begun. A start +in that direction has been made; whereas not so very long ago the +immense ocean was one wide waste of waters, traversed from both points +only once a year. From 1603 to 1769 scarcely a ship had ever visited +California, that wonderful country which, twenty-five years ago, with +the exception of a few places on the coast, was an unknown wilderness, +but which is now covered with flourishing and prosperous towns and +cities, divided from sea to sea by a railway, and its capital already +ranking the third of the seaports of the Union; even at this early +stage of its existence a central point of the world's commerce, and +apparently destined, by the proposed junction of the great oceans, +to play a most important part in the future. + +In proportion as the navigation of the west coast of America +extends the influence of the American element over the South Sea, +the captivating, magic power which the great republic exercises over +the Spanish colonies[1] will not fail to make itself felt also in the +Philippines. The Americans are evidently destined to bring to a full +development the germs originated by the Spaniards. As conquerors of +modern times, they pursue their road to victory with the assistance +of the pioneer's axe and plough, representing an age of peace and +commercial prosperity in contrast to that bygone and chivalrous age +whose champions were upheld by the cross and protected by the sword. + +A considerable portion of Spanish America already belongs to the +United States, and has since attained an importance which could not +possibly have been anticipated either under the Spanish Government +or during the anarchy which followed. With regard to permanence, +the Spanish system cannot for a moment be compared with that of +America. While each of the colonies, in order to favour a privileged +class by immediate gains, exhausted still more the already enfeebled +population of the metropolis by the withdrawal of the best of its +ability, America, on the contrary, has attracted to itself from all +countries the most energetic element, which, once on its soil and, +freed from all fetters, restlessly progressing, has extended its power +and influence still further and further. The Philippines will escape +the action of the two great neighbouring powers all the less for the +fact that neither they nor their metropolis find their condition of +a stable and well-balanced nature. + +It seems to be desirable for the natives that the above-mentioned +views should not speedily become accomplished facts, because their +education and training hitherto have not been of a nature to prepare +them successfully to compete with either of the other two energetic, +creative, and progressive nations. They have, in truth, dreamed away +their best days." + +This prophecy of Jagor's made a deep impression upon Rizal and +seems to furnish the explanation of his life work. Henceforth it was +his ambition to arouse his countrymen to prepare themselves for a +freer state. He dedicated himself to the work which Doctor Jagor had +indicated as necessary. It seems beyond question that Doctor Rizal, +as early as 1876, believed that America would sometime come to the +Philippines, and wished to prepare his countrymen for the changed +conditions that would then have to be met. Many little incidents +in his later life confirm this view: his eagerness to buy expensive +books on the United States, such as his early purchase in Barcelona +of two different "Lives of the Presidents of the United States"; his +study of the country in his travel across it from San Francisco to +New York; the reference in "The Philippines in a Hundred Years"; and +the studies of the English Revolution and other Anglo-Saxon influences +which culminated in the foundation of the United States of America. + +Besides the interest he took in clay modeling, to which reference +has already been made, Rizal was expert in carving. When first +in the Ateneo he had carved an image of the Virgin of such grace +and beauty that one of the Fathers asked him to try an image of the +Sacred Heart. Rizal complied, and produced the carving that played so +important a part in his future life. The Jesuit Father had intended to +take the image with him to Spain, but in some way it was left behind +and the schoolboys put it up on the door of their dormitory. There it +remained for nearly twenty years, constantly reminding the many lads +who passed in and out of the one who teachers and pupils alike agreed +was the greatest of all their number, for Rizal during these years was +the schoolboy hero of the Ateneo, and from the Ateneo came the men who +were most largely concerned in making the New Philippines. The image +itself is of batikulin, an easily carved wood, and shows considerable +skill when one remembers that an ordinary pocketknife was the simple +instrument used in its manufacture. It was recalled to Rizal's memory +when he visited the Ateneo upon his first return from Spain and was +forbidden the house by the Jesuits because of his alleged apostasy, +and again in the chapel of Fort Santiago, where it played an important +part in what was called his conversion. + +The proficiency he attained in the art of clay modeling is evidenced by +many of the examples illustrated in this volume. They not only indicate +an astonishing versatility, but they reveal his very characteristic +method of working--a characteristic based on his constant desire +to adapt the best things he found abroad to the conditions of his +own country. The same characteristic appears also in most of his +literary work, and in it there is no servile imitation; it is careful +and studied selection, adaptation and combination. For example, the +composition of a steel engraving in a French art journal suggested +his model in clay of a Philippine wild boar; the head of the subject +in a painting in the Luxembourg Gallery and the rest of a figure in +an engraving in a newspaper are combined in a statuette he modeled +in Brussels and sent, in May, 1890, to Valentina Ventura in place +of a letter; a clipping from a newspaper cut is also adapted for +his model of "The Vengeance of the Harem"; and as evidence of his +facility of expressing himself in this medium, his clay modeling of +a Dapitan woman may be cited. One day while in exile he saw a native +woman clearing up the street in front of her home preparatory to +a festival; the movements and the attitudes of the figure were so +thoroughly typical and so impressed themselves on his mind that he +worked out this statuette from memory. + +In a literary way Rizal's first pretentious effort was a melodrama in +one act and in verse, entitled "Junta al Pasig" (Beside the Pasig), +a play in honor of the Virgin, which was given in the Ateneo to the +great edification of a considerable audience, who were enthusiastic +in their praise and hearty in their applause, but the young author +neither saw the play nor paid any attention to the manner of its +reception, for he was downstairs, intent on his own diversions and +heedless of what was going on above. + +Thursday was the school holiday in those days, and Rizal usually spent +the time at the Convent of La Concordia, where his youngest sister, +Soledad, was a boarder. He was a great friend of the little one +and a welcome visitor in the Convent; he used to draw pictures for +her edification, sometimes teasing her by making her own portrait, +to which he gave exaggerated ears to indicate her curiosity. Then he +wrote short satirical skits, such as the following, which in English +doggerel quite matches its Spanish original: + + + "The girls of Concordia College + Go dressed in the latest of styles-- + Bangs high on their foreheads for knowledge-- + But hungry their grins and their smiles!" + + +Some of these girls made an impression upon José, and one of his diary +entries of this time tells of his rude awakening when a girl, some +years his elder, who had laughingly accepted his boyish adoration, +informed him that she was to marry a relative of his, and he speaks +of the heart-pang with which he watched the carromata that carried +her from his sight to her wedding. + +José was a great reader, and the newspapers were giving much attention +to the World's Fair in Philadelphia which commemorated the first +centennial of American independence, and published numerous cuts +illustrating various interesting phases of American life. Possibly +as a reaction from the former disparagement of things American, the +sentiment in the Philippines was then very friendly. There was one +long account of the presentation of a Spanish banner to a Spanish +commission in Philadelphia, and the newspapers, in speaking of the +wonderful progress which the United States had made, recalled the +early Spanish alliance and referred to the fact that, had it not been +for the discoveries of the Spaniards, their new land would not have +been known to Europe. + +Rizal during his last two years in the Ateneo was a boarder. Throughout +his entire course he had been the winner of most of the prizes. Upon +receiving his Bachelor of Arts diploma he entered the University of +Santo Tomás; in the first year he studied the course in philosophy +and in the second year began to specialize in medicine. + +The Ateneo course of study was a good deal like that of our present +high school, though not so thorough nor so advanced. Still, the method +of instruction which has made Jesuit education notable in all parts +of the world carried on the good work which the mother's training +had begun. The system required the explanation of the morrow's +lesson, questioning on the lesson of the day and a review of the +previous day's work. This, with the attention given to the classics, +developed and quickened faculties which gave Rizal a remarkable power +of assimilating knowledge of all kinds for future use. + +The story is told that Rizal was undecided as to his career, and wrote +to the rector of the Ateneo for advice; but the Jesuit was then in +the interior of Mindanao, and by the time the answer, suggesting that +he should devote himself to agriculture, was received, he had already +made his choice. However, Rizal did continue the study of agriculture, +besides specializing in medicine, carrying on double work as he took +the course in the Ateneo which led to the degree of land surveyor and +agricultural expert. This work was completed before he had reached +the age fixed by law, so that he could not then receive his diploma, +which was not delivered to him until he had attained the age of +twenty-one years. + +In the "Life" of Rizal published in Barcelona after his death a +brilliant picture is painted of how Rizal might have followed the +advice of the rector of the Atenco, and have lived a long, useful +and honorable life as a farmer and gobernadorcillo of his home town, +respected by the Spaniards, looked up to by his countrymen and filling +an humble but safe lot in life. Today one can hardly feel that such +a career would have been suited to the man or regret that events took +the course they did. + +Poetry was highly esteemed in the Ateneo, and Rizal frequently made +essays in verse, often carrying his compositions to Kalamba for his +mother's criticisms and suggestions. The writings of the Spanish poet +Zorilla were making a deep impression upon him at this time, and while +his schoolmates seemed to have been more interested in their warlike +features, José appears to have gained from them an understanding of how +Zorilla sought to restore the Spanish people to their former dignity, +rousing their pride through recalling the heroic events in their past +history. Some of the passages in the melodrama, "Junta al Pasig," +already described, were evidently influenced by his study of Zorilla; +the fierce denunciation of Spain which is there put in the mouth of +Satan expresses, no doubt, the real sentiments of Rizal. + +In 1877 a society known as the Liceo Literario-Artistica (Lyceum of +Art and Literature) offered a prize for the best poem by a native. The +winner was Rizal with the following verses, "Al Juventud Filipino" +(To the Philippine Youth). The prize was a silver pen, feather-shaped +and with a gold ribbon running through it. + + + To the Philippine Youth + + Theme: "Growth" + + (Translation by Charles Derbyshire) + + Hold high the brow serene, + O youth, where now you stand; + Let the bright sheen + Of your grace be seen, + Fair hope of my fatherland! + + Come now, thou genius grand, + And bring down inspriation; + With thy mighty hand, + Swifter than the wind's volation, + Raise the eager mind to highter station. + + Come down with pleasing light + Of art and science to the fight, + O youth, and there untie + The chains that heavy lie, + Your spirit free to blight. + + See how in flaming zone + Amid the shadows thrown, + The Spaniard's holy hand + A crown's resplendent band + Proffers to this Indian land. + + Thou, who now wouldst rise + On wings of rich emprise, + Seeking from Olympian skies + Songs of sweetest strain, + Softer than ambrosial rain; + + Thou, whose voice divine + Rivals Philomel's refrain, + And with varied line + Through the night benign + Frees mortality from pain; + + Thou, who by sharp strife + Wakest thy mind to life; + And the memory bright + Of thy genius' light + Makest immortal in its strength; + + And thou, in accents clear + of Phoebus, to Apells dear; + Or by the brush's magic art + Takest from nature's store a part, + To fix it on the simple canvas' length; + + Go forth, and then the sacred fire + Of thy genius to the laurel may aspire; + To spread around the fame, + And in victory acclaim, + Through wider spheres the human name. + + Day, O happy day, + Fair Filipinas, for thy land! + So bless the Power today + That places in thy way + This favor and this fortune grand. + + +The next competition at the Licco was in honor of the fourth centennial +of the death of Cervantes; it was open to both Filipinos and Spaniards, +and there was a dispute as to the winner of the prize. It is hard +to figure out just what really happened; the newspapers speak of +Rizal as winning the first prize, but his certificate says second, +and there seems to have been some sort of compromise by which a +Spaniard who was second was put at the head. Newspapers, of course, +were then closely censored, but the liberal La Oceania contains a +number of veiled allusions to medical poets, suggesting that for the +good of humanity they should not be permitted to waste their time in +verse-making. One reference quotes the title of Rizal's first poem in +saying that it was giving a word of advice "To the Philippine Youth," +and there are other indications that for some considerable time the +outcome of this contest was a very live topic in the city of Manila. + +Rizal's poem was an allegory, "The Council of the Gods"--"El consejo de +los Dioses." It was an exceedingly artistic appreciation of the chief +figure in Spanish literature. The rector of the Ateneo had assisted +his former student by securing for him needed books, and though +Rizal was at that time a student in Santo Tomás, the rivalries were +such that he was still ranked with the pupils of the Jesuits and his +success was a corresponding source of elation to the Ateneo pupils and +alumni. Some people have stated that Father Evaristo Arias, a notably +brilliant writer of the Dominicans, was a competitor, a version I once +published, but investigation shows that this was a mistake. However, +sentiment in the University against Rizal grew, until matters became +so unpleasant that he felt it time to follow the advice of Father +Burgos and continue his education outside of the Islands. + +Just before this incident Rizal had been the victim of a brutal assault +in Kalamba; one night when he was passing the barracks of the Civil +Guard he noted in the darkness a large body, but did not recognize +who it was, and passed without any attention to it. It turned out +that the large body was a lieutenant of the Civil Guard, and, without +warning or word of any kind, he drew his sword and wounded Rizal in the +back. Rizal complained of this outrage to the authorities and tried +several times, without success, to see the Governor-General. Finally +he had to recognize that there was no redress for him. By May of 1882 +Rizal had made up his mind to set sail for Europe, and his brother, +Paciano, equipped him with seven hundred pesos for the journey, while +his sister, Saturnina, intrusted to him a valuable diamond ring which +might prove a resource in time of emergency. + +José had gone to Kalamba to attend a festival there, when Mr. Hidalgo, +from Manila, notified him that his boat was ready to sail. The +telegram, asking his immediate return to the city, was couched in +the form of advice of the condition of a patient, and the name of +the steamer, Salvadora, by a play on words, was used in the sense of +"May save her life." Rizal had previously requested of Mr. Ramirez, +of the Puerta del Sol store, letters of introduction to an Englishman, +formerly in the Philippines, who was then living in Paris. He said +nothing more of his intentions, but on his last night in the city, +with his younger sister as companion, he drove all through the walled +city and its suburbs, changing horses twice in the five hours of +his farewell. The next morning he embarked on the steamer, and there +yet remains the sketch which he made of his last view of the city, +showing its waterfront as it appeared from the departing steamer. To +leave town it was necessary to have a passport; his was in the name +of José Mercado, and had been secured by a distant relative of his +who lived in the Santa Cruz district. + +After five days' journey the little steamer reached the English colony +of Singapore. There Rizal saw a modern city for the first time. He was +intensely interested in the improvements. Especially did the assured +position of the natives, confident in their rights and not fearful of +the authorities, arouse his admiration. Great was the contrast between +the fear of their rulers shown by the Filipinos and the confidence +which the natives of Singapore seemed to have in their government. + +At Singapore, Rizal transferred to a French mail Steamer and seems to +have had an interesting time making himself understood on board. He +had studied some French in his Ateneo course, writing an ode which +gained honors, but when he attempted to speak the language he was +not successful in making Frenchmen understand him. So he resorted to +a mixed system of his own, sometimes using Latin words and making +the changes which regularly would have occurred, and when words +failed, making signs, and in extreme cases drawing pictures of what +he wanted. This versatility with the pencil, for many of his offhand +sketches had humorous touches that almost carried them into the cartoon +class, interested officers and passengers, so that the young student +had the freedom of the ship and a voyage far from tedious. + +The passage of the Suez Canal, a glimpse of Egypt, Aden, where East and +West meet, and the Italian city of Naples, with its historic castle, +were the features of the trip which most impressed him. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +The Period of Preparation + +Rizal disembarked at Marseilles, saw a little of that famous port, and +then went by rail to Barcelona, crossing the Pyrenees, the desolate +ruggedness of which contrasted with the picturesque luxuriance +of his tropical home, and remained a day at the frontier town of +Port-Bou. The customary Spanish disregard of tourists compared very +unfavorably with the courteous attention which he had remarked on his +arrival at Marseilles, for the custom house officers on the Spanish +frontier rather reminded him of the class of employes found in Manila. + +At Barcelona he met many who had been his schoolmates in the Ateneo +and others to whom he was known by name. It was the custom of the +Filipino students there to hold reunions every other Sunday at the +café, for their limited resources did not permit the daily visits +which were the Spanish custom. In honor of the new arrival a special +gathering occurred in a favorite café in Plaza de Catalonia. The +characteristics of the Spaniards and the features of Barcelona were +all described for Rizal's benefit, and he had to answer a host of +questions about the changes which had occurred in Manila. Most of his +answers were to the effect that old defects had not yet been remedied +nor incompetent officials supplanted, and he gave a rather hopeless +view of the future of their country. Somewhat in this gloomy mood, +he wrote home for a newly established Tagalog newspaper of Manila, +his views of "Love of country," an article not so optimistic as most +of his later writings. + +In Barcelona he remained but a short time, long enough, however, to +see the historic sights around that city, which was established by +Hannibal, had numbered many noted Romans among its residents, and in +later days was the scene of the return of Columbus from his voyages in +the New World, bringing with him samples of Redskins, birds and other +novel products of the unknown country. Then there were the magnificent +boulevards, the handsome dwellings, the interest which the citizens +took in adorning their city and the pride in the results, and above +all, the disgust at all things Spanish and the loyalty to Catalonia, +rather than to the "mother-fatherland." + +The Catalan was the most progressive type in Spain, but he had no +love for his compatriots, was ever complaining of their "mañana" +habits and of the evils that were bound to exist in a country where +Church and State were so inextricably intermingled. Many Catalans were +avowedly republicans. Signs might be seen on the outside of buildings +telling of the location of republican clubs, unpopular officials +were hooted in the streets, the newspapers were intemperate in their +criticism of the government, and a campaign was carried on openly +which aimed at changing from a monarchy to a democracy, without any +apparent molestation from the authorities. All these things impressed +the lad who had seen in his own country the most respectfully worded +complaints of unquestionable abuses treated as treason, bringing not +merely punishment, but opprobrium as well. + +He, himself, in order to obtain a better education, had had to leave +his country stealthily like a fugitive from justice, and his family, to +save themselves from persecution, were compelled to profess ignorance +of his plans and movements. His name was entered in Santo Tomás at the +opening of the new term, with the fees paid, and Paciano had gone to +Manila pretending to be looking for this brother whom he had assisted +out of the country. + +Early in the fall Rizal removed to Madrid and entered the Central +University there. His short residence in Barcelona was possibly for +the purpose of correcting the irregularity in his passport, for in +that town it would be easier to obtain a cedula, and with this his +way in the national University would be made smoother. He enrolled in +two courses, medicine, and literature and philosophy; besides these +he studied sculpture, drawing and art in San Carlos, and took private +lessons in languages from Mr. Hughes, a well-known instructor of the +city. With all these labors it is not strange that he did not mingle +largely in social life, and lack of funds and want of clothes, which +have been suggested as reasons for this, seem hardly adequate. José had +left Manila with some seven hundred pesos and a diamond ring. Besides, +he received funds from his father monthly, which were sent through +his cousin, Antonio Rivera, of Manila, for fear that the landlords +might revenge themselves upon their tenant for the slight which his +son had cast upon their university in deserting it for a Peninsular +institution. It was no easy task in those days for a lad from the +provinces to get out of the Islands for study abroad. + +Rizal frequently attended the theater, choosing especially the higher +class dramas, occasionally went to a masked ball, played the lotteries +in small amounts but regularly, and for the rest devoted most of +his money to the purchase of books. The greater part of these were +second-hand, but he bought several standard works in good editions, +many with bindings de luxe. Among the books first purchased figure +a Spanish translation of the "Lives of the Presidents of the United +States," from Washington to Johnson, morocco bound, gilt-edged, +and illustrated with steel engravings--certainly an expensive book; +a "History of the English Revolution;" a comparison of the Romans +and the Teutons, and several other books which indicated interest in +the freer system of the Anglo-Saxons. Later, another "History of the +Presidents," to Cleveland, was added to his library. + +The following lines, said to be addressed to his mother, were written +about this time, evidently during an attack of homesickness: + + + "You Ask Me for Verses" + + (Translated by Charles Derbyshire) + + You bid me now to strike the lyre, + That mute and torn so long has lain; + And yet I cannot wake the strain, + Nor will the Muse one note inspire! + Coldly it shakes in accents dire, + As if my soul itself to wring, + And when its sound seems but to fling + A jest at its own low lament; + So in sad isolation pent, + My soul can neither feel nor sing. + + There was a time--ah, 'tis too true-- + But that time long ago has past-- + When upon me the Muse had cast + Indulgent smile and friendship's due; + But of that age now all too few + The thoughts that with me yet will stay; + As from the hours of festive play + There linger on mysterious notes, + And in our minds the memory floats + Of minstrelsy and music gay. + + A plant I am, that scarcely grown, + Was torn from out its Eastern bed, + Where all around perfume is shed, + And life but as a dream is known; + The land that I can call my own, + + By me forgotten ne'er to be, + Where trilling birds their song taught me, + And cascades with their ceaseless roar, + And all along the spreading shore + The murmurs of the sounding sea. + + While yet in childhood's happy day, + I learned upon its sun to smile, + And in my breast there seemed the while + Seething volcanic fires to play. + A bard I was, and my wish alway + To call upon the fleeting wind, + With all the force of verse and mind: + "Go forth, and spread around its fame, + From zone to zone with glad acclaim, + And earth to heaven together bind!" + + But it I left, and now no more-- + Like a tree that is broken and sere-- + My natal gods bring the echo clear + Of songs that in past times they bore; + Wide seas I cross'd to foreign shore, + With hope of change and other fate; + My folly was made clear too late, + For in the place of good I sought + The seas reveal'd unto me naught, + But made death's specter on me wait. + + All these fond fancies that were mine, + All love, all feeling, all emprise, + Were left beneath the sunny skies, + Which o'er that flowery region shine; + So press no more that plea of thine, + + For songs of love from out a heart + That coldly lies a thing apart; + Since now with tortur'd soul I haste + Unresting o'er the desert waste, + And lifeless gone is all my art. + + +In Madrid a number of young Filipinos were intense enthusiasts over +political agitation, and with the recklessness of youth, were careless +of what they said or how they said it, so long as it brought no danger +to them. A sort of Philippine social club had been organized by older +Filipinos and Spaniards interested in the Philippines, with the idea +of quietly assisting toward improved insular conditions, but it became +so radical under the influence of this younger majority, that its +conservative members were compelled to drop out and the club broke +up. The young men were constantly holding meetings to revive it, but +never arrived at any effective conclusions. Rizal was present at some +of these meetings and suggested that a good means of propaganda would +be a book telling the truth about Philippine conditions and illustrated +by Filipino artists. At first the project was severely criticised; +later a few conformed to the plan, and Rizal believed that his scheme +was in a fair way of accomplishment. At the meeting to discuss the +details, however, each member of the company wanted to write upon the +Filipino woman, and therest of the subjects scarcely interested any of +them. Rizal was disgusted with this trifling and dropped the affair, +nor did he ever again seem to take any very enthusiastic interest in +such popular movements. His more mature mind put him out of sympathy +with the younger men. Their admiration gave him great prestige, but +his popularity did not arise from comradeship, as he had but very +few intimates. + +Early in his stay in Madrid, Rizal had come across a second-hand +copy, in two volumes, of a French novel, which he bought to improve +his knowledge of that language. It was Eugene Sue's "The Wandering +Jew," that work which transformed the France of the nineteenth +century. However one may agree or disagree with its teachings and +concede or dispute its literary merits, it cannot be denied that it +was the most powerful book in its effects on the century, surpassing +even Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which is usually credited +with having hurried on the American Civil War and brought about +the termination of African slavery in the United States. The book, +he writes in his diary, affected him powerfully, not to tears, but +with a tremendous sympathy for the unfortunates that made him willing +to risk everything in their behalf. It seemed to him that such a +presentation of Philippine conditions would certainly arouse Spain, +but his modesty forbade his saying that he was going to write a book +like the French masterpiece. Still, from this time his recollections +of his youth and the stories which he could get from his companions +were written down and revised, till finally the half had been prepared +of what was finally the novel "Noli Me Tangere." + +Through Spaniards who still remembered José's uncle, he joined a +lodge of Masons called the "Acacia." At this time few Filipinos in +Spain had joined the institution, and those were mostly men much more +mature than himself. Thus he met leaders of Spanish national life who +were men of state affairs and much more sedate, men with broader views +and more settled opinions than the irresponsible class with whom his +school companions were accustomed to associate. A distinction must +be made between the Masonry of this time and the much more popular +institution in which Filipinos later figured so largely when Professor +Miguel Morayta became head of the Grand Lodge which for a time was +a rival of that to which the "Acacia" owed allegiance, and finally +triumphed over it. + +In 1884 Rizal had begun his studies in English; he had been studying +French during and since his voyage to Spain; Italian was acquired +apparently at a time when the exposition of Genoa had attracted Spanish +interest toward Italy, and largely through the reading of Italian +translations of works which he knew in other languages. German, too, +he had started to study, but had not advanced far with it. Thus Rizal +was preparing himself for the travels through Europe which he had +intended to make from the time when he first left his home, for he +well knew that it was only by knowing the language of a country that +it would be possible for him to study the people, see in what way +they differed from his own, and find out which of their customs and +what lessons from their history might be of advantage to the Filipinos. + +A feature in Rizal's social life was a weekly visit to the home of +Don Pablo Ortigas y Reyes, a liberal Spaniard who had been Civil +Governor of Manila in General de La Torre's time. Here Filipino +students gathered, and were entertained by the charming daughter of +the home, Consuelo, who was the person to whom were dedicated the +verses of Rizal usually entitled "á la Senorita C. O. y R." + +In Rizal's later days he found a regular relaxation in playing chess, +in which he was skilled, with the venerable ex-president of the +short-lived Spanish republic, Pi y Margal. This statesman was accused +of German tendencies because of his inclination toward Anglo-Saxon +safeguards for liberty, and was a champion of general education as +a preparation for a freer Spain. + +Rizal usually was present on public occasions in Fillpino circles +and took a leading part in them, as, for example, when he delivered +the principal address at the banquet given by the Madrid Filipino +colony in honor of their artist countrymen, after Luna and Hidalgo +had won prizes in the Madrid National exposition. He was also at the +New Year's banquet when the students gathered in the restaurant to +bid farewell to the old and usher in the new year, and his was the +chief speech, summarizing the remarks of the others. + +In 1885, having completed the second of his two courses, with his +credentials of licentiate in medicine and also in philosophy and +literature, Rizal made a trip through the country provinces to +study the Spanish peasant, for the rural people, he thought, being +agriculturists, would be most like the farmer folk of his native +land. Surely the Filipinos did not suffer in the comparison, for the +Spanish peasants had not greatly changed from the day when they were +so masterfully described by Cervantes. It seemed to Rizal almost like +being in Don Quixote's land, so many were the figures who might have +been the characters in the book. + +The fall of '85 found Rizal in Paris, studying art, visiting the +various museums and associating with the Lunas, the Taveras and +other Filipino residents of the French capital, for there had been +a considerable colony in that city ever since the troubles of 1872 +had driven the Tavera family into exile and they had made their home +in that city. In Paris a fourth of "Noli Me Tangere" was written, +and Rizal specialized in ophthalmology, devoting his attention to +those eye troubles that were most prevalent in the Philippines and +least understood. His mother's growing blindness made him covet the +skill which might enable him to restore her sight. So successfully +did he study that he became the favorite pupil of Doctor L. de +Weckert, the leading authority among the oculists of France, and +author of a three-volume standard work. Rizal next went to Germany, +having continued his studies in its language in the French capital, +and was present at Heidelberg on the five hundredth anniversary of +the foundation of the University. + +Because he had no passport he could only attend lectures, but could +not regularly matriculate. He lived in one of the student boarding +houses, with a number of law students, and when he was proposed for +membership in the Chess Club he was registered in the Club books as +being a student of law like the men who proposed him. These Chess +Club gatherings were quite a feature of the town, being held in the +large saloons with several hundred people present, and the contests +of skill were eagerly watched by shrewd and competent judges. Rizal +was a clever player, and left something of a record among the experts. + +The following lines were written by Rizal in a letter home while he +was a student in Germany: + + + To the Flowers of Heidelberg + + (translation by Charles Derbyshire) + + Go to my native land, go, foreign flowers, + Sown by the traveler on his way; + And there beneath its azure sky, + Where all of my affections lie; + There from the weary pilgrim say, + What faith is his in that land of ours! + + Go there and tell how when the dawn, + Her early light diffusing, + Your petals first flung open wide; + His steps beside chill Neckar drawn, + You see him silent by your side, + Upon its Spring perennial musing. + + Saw how when morning's light, + All your fragrance stealing, + Whispers to you as in mirth + Playful songs of love's delight, + He, too, murmurs his love's feeling + In the tongue he learned at birth. + + That when the sun on Koenigstuhl's height + Pours out its golden flood, + And with its slowly warming light + Gives life vale and grove and wood, + He greets that sun, here only upraising, + Which in his native land is at its zenith blazing. + + And tell there of that day he stood, + Near to a ruin'd castle gray, + By Neckar's banks, or shady wood, + And pluck'd you from beside the way; + Tell, too, the tale to you addressed, + And how with tender care, + Your bending leaves he press'd + 'Twixt pages of some volume rare. + + Bear then, O flowers, love's message bear; + My love to all the lov'd ones there, + Peace to my country--fruitful land-- + Faith whereon its sons may stand, + And virtue for its daughters' care; + All those belovéd creatures greet, + That still around home's altar meet. + + And when you come unto its shore, + This kiss I now on you bestow, + Fling where the winged breezes blow; + That borne on them it may hover o'er + All that I love, esteem, and adore. + + But though, O flowers, you come unto that land, + And still perchance your colors hold; + So far from this heroic strand, + Whose soil first bade your life unfold, + Still here your fragrance will expand; + Your soul that never quits the earth + Whose light smiled on you at your birth. + + +From Heidelberg he went to Leipzig, then famous for the new studies +in psychology which were making the science of the mind almost as +exact as that of the body, and became interested in the comparison +of race characteristics as influenced by environment, history and +language. This probably accounts for the advanced views held by Rizal, +who was thoroughly abreast of the new psychology. These ideas were +since popularized in America largely through Professor Hugo Munsterberg +of Harvard University, who was a fellow-student of Rizal at Heidelberg +and also had been at Leipzig. + +A little later Rizal went to Berlin and there became acquainted with +a number of men who had studied the Philippines and knew it as none +whom he had ever met previously. Chief among these was Doctor Jagor, +the author of the book which ten years before had inspired in him his +life purpose of preparing his people for the time when America should +come to the Philippines. Then there was Doctor Rudolf Virchow, head of +the Anthropological Society and one of the greatest scientists in the +world. Virchow was of intensely democratic ideals, he was a statesman +as well as a scientist, and the interest of the young student in the +history of his country and in everything else which concerned it, +and his sincere earnestness, so intelligently directed toward helping +his country, made Rizal at once a prime favorite. Under Virchow's +sponsorship he became a member of the Berlin Anthropological Society. + +Rizal lived in the third floor of a corner lodging house not very +far from the University; in this room he spent much of his time, +putting the finishing touches to what he had previously written of +his novel, and there he wrote the latter half of "Noli Me Tangere" +The German influence, and absence from the Philippines for so long a +time, had modified his early radical views, and the book had now become +less an effort to arouse the Spanish sense of justice than a means of +education for Filipinos by pointing out their shortcomings. Perhaps a +Spanish school history which he had read in Madrid deserves a part of +the credit for this changed point of view, since in that the author, +treating of Spain's early misfortunes, brings out the fact that +misgovernment may be due quite as much to the hypocrisy, servility +and undeserving character of the people as it is to the corruption, +tyranny and cruelty of the rulers. + +The printer of "Noli Me Tangere" lived in a neighboring street, and, +like most printers in Germany, worked for a very moderate compensation, +so that the volume of over four hundred pages cost less than a fourth +of what it would have done in England, or one half of what it would +cost in economical Spain. Yet even at so modest a price, Rizal was +delayed in the publication until one fortunate morning he received a +visit from a countryman, Doctor Maximo Viola, who invited him to take a +pedestrian trip. Rizal responded that his interests kept him in Berlin +at that time as he was awaiting funds from home with which to publish +a book he had just completed, and showed him the manuscript. Doctor +Viola was much interested and offered to use the money he had put +aside for the trip to help pay the publisher. So the work went ahead, +and when the delayed remittance from his family arrived, Rizal repaid +the obligation. Then the two sallied forth on their trip. + +After a considerable tour of the historic spots and scenic places +in Germany, they arrived at Dresden, where Doctor Rizal was warmly +greeted by Doctor A. B. Meyer, the Director of the Royal Saxony +Ethnographical Institute. He was an authority upon Philippine matters, +for some years before he had visited the Islands to make a study of +the people. With a countryman resident in the Philippines, Doctor +Meyer made careful and thorough scientific investigations, and his +conclusions were more favorable to the Filipinos than the published +views of many of the unscientific Spanish observers. + +In the Museum of Art at Dresden, Rizal saw a painting of "Prometheus +Bound," which recalled to him a representation of the same idea +in a French gallery, and from memory he modeled this figure, which +especially appealed to him as being typical of his country. + +In Austrian territory he first visited Doctor Ferdinand Blumentritt, +whom Rizal had known by reputation for many years and with whom he had +long corresponded. The two friends stayed at the Hotel Roderkrebs, +but were guests at the table of the Austrian professor, whose wife +gave them appetizing demonstrations of the characteristic cookery +of Hungary. During Rizal's stay he was very much interested in a +gathering of tourists, arranged to make known the beauties of that +picturesque region, sometimes called the Austrian Switzerland, and +he delivered an address upon this occasion. It is noteworthy that +the present interest in attracting tourists to the Philippines, as +an economic benefit to the country, was anticipated by Doctor Rizal +and that he was always looking up methods used in foreign countries +for building up tourists' travel. + +One day, while the visitors were discussing Philippine matters with +their host, Doctor Rizal made an off hand sketch of Doctor Blumentritt, +on a scrap of paper which happened to be at hand, so characteristic +that it serves as an excellent portrait, and it has been preserved +among the Rizal relics which Doctor Blumentritt had treasured of the +friend for whom he had so much respect and affection. + +With a letter of introduction to a friend of Doctor Blumentritt in +Vienna, Nordenfels, the greatest of Austrian novelists, Doctor Viola +and Doctor Rizal went on to the capital, where they were entertained +by the Concordia Club. So favorable was the impression that Rizal +made upon Mr. Nordenfels that an answer was written to the note of +introduction, thanking the professor for having brought to his notice +a person whom he had found so companionable and whose genius he so +much admired. Nordenfels had been interested in Spanish subjects, +and was able to discuss intelligently the peculiar development of +Castilian civilization and the politics of the Spanish metropolis as +they affected the overseas possessions. + +After having seen Rome and a little more of Italy, they embarked for +the Philippines, again on the French mail, from Marseilles, coming +by way of Saigon, where a rice steamer was taken for Manila. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +The Period of Propaganda + +The city had not altered much during Rizal's seven years of +absence. The condition of the Binondo pavement, with the same holes +in the road which Rizal claimed he remembered as a schoolboy, was +unchanged, and this recalls the experience of Ybarra in "Noli Me +Tangere" on his homecoming after a like period of absence. + +Doctor Rizal at once went to his home in Kalamba. His first operation +in the Philippines relieved the blindness of his mother, by the removal +of a double cataract, and thus the object of his special study in +Paris was accomplished. This and other like successes gave the young +oculist a fame which brought patients from all parts of Luzon; and, +though his charges were moderate, during his seven months' stay +in the Islands Doctor Rizal accumulated over five thousand pesos, +besides a number of diamonds which he had bought as a secure way of +carrying funds, mindful of the help that the ring had been with which +he had first started from the Philippines. + +Shortly after his arrival, Governor-General Terrero summoned Rizal by +telegraph to Malacañan from Kalamba. The interview proved to be due +to the interest in the author of "Noli Me Tangere" and a curiosity +to read the novel, arising from the copious extracts with which the +Manila censors had submitted an unfavorable opinion when asking for +the prohibition of the book. The recommendation of the censor was +disregarded, and General Terrero, fearful that Rizal might be molested +by some of the many persons who would feel themselves aggrieved by his +plain picturing of undesirable classes in the Philippines, gave him for +a bodyguard a young Spanish lieutenant, José Taviel de Andrade. The +young men soon became fast friends, as they had artistic and other +tastes in common. Once they climbed Mr. Makiling, near Kalamba, +and placed there, after the European custom, a flag to show that +they had reached the summit. This act was at first misrepresented by +the enemies of Rizal as planting a German banner, for they started +a story that he had taken possession of the Islands in the name of +the country where he was educated, which was just then in unfriendly +relations with Spain over the question of the ill treatment of the +Protestant missionaries in the Caroline Islands. This same story was +repeated after the American occupation with the variation that Rizal, +as the supreme chief and originator of the ideas of the Katipunan +(which in fact he was not--he was even opposed to the society as it +existed in his time), had placed there a Filipino banner, in token +that the Islands intended to reassume the independent condition of +which the Spanish had dispossessed them. + +"Noli Me Tangere" circulated first among Doctor Rizal's relatives; +on one occasion a cousin made a special trip to Kalamba and took +the author to task for having caricatured her in the character of +Doña Victorina. Rizal made no denial, but merely suggested that the +book was a mirror of Philippine life, with types that unquestionably +existed in the country, and that if anybody recognized one of the +characters as picturing himself or herself, that person would do well +to correct the faults which therein appeared ridiculous. + +A somewhat liberal administration was now governing the Philippines, +and efforts were being made to correct the more glaring abuses in +the social conditions. One of these reforms proposed that the larger +estates should bear their share of the taxes, which it was believed +they were then escaping to a great extent. Requests were made of the +municipal government of Kalamba, among other towns, for a statement +of the relation that the big Dominican hacienda bore to the town, +what increase or decrease there might have been in the income of the +estate, and what taxes the proprietors were paying compared with the +revenue their place afforded. + +Rizal interested the people of the community to gather reliable +statistics, to go thoroughly into the actual conditions, and to leave +out the generalities which usually characterized Spanish documents. + +He asked the people to coöperate, pointing out that when they +did not complain it was their own fault more than that of the +government if they suffered injustice. Further, he showed the folly +of exaggerated statements, and insisted upon a definite and moderate +showing of such abuses as were unquestionably within the power of +the authorities to relieve. Rizal himself prepared the report, which +is an excellent presentation of the grievances of the people of his +town. It brings forward as special points in favor of the community +their industriousness, their willingness to help themselves, their +interest in education, and concludes with expressing confidence +in the fairness of the government, pointing out the fact that they +were risking the displeasure of their landlords by furnishing the +information requested. The paper made a big stir, and its essential +statements, like everything else in Rizal's writings, were never +successfully challenged. + +Conditions in Manila were at that time disturbed owing to the +precedence which had been given in a local festival to the Chinese, +because they paid more money. The Filipinos claimed that, being in +their home country, they should have had prior consideration and were +entitled to it by law. The matter culminated in a protest, which was +doubtless submitted to Doctor Rizal on the eve of his departure from +the Islands; the protest in a general way met with his approval, but +the theatrical methods adopted in the presentation of it can hardly +have been according to his advice. + +He sailed for Hongkong in February of 1888, and made a short stay in +the British colony, becoming acquainted there with Jose Maria Basa, an +exile of '72, who had constituted himself the especial guardian of the +Filipino students in that city. The visitor was favorably impressed by +the methods of education in the British colony and with the spirit of +patriotism developed thereby. He also looked into the subject of the +large investments in Hongkong property by the corporation landlords +of the Philippines, their preparation for the day of trouble which +they foresaw. + +Rizal was interested in the Chinese theater, comparing the plays with +the somewhat similar productions which existed in the Philippines; +there, however, they had been given a religious twist, which at +first glance hid their debt to the Chinese drama. The Doctor notes +meeting, at nearby Macao, an exile of '72, whose condition and patient, +uncomplaining bearing of his many troubles aroused Rizal's sympathies +and commanded his admiration. + +With little delay, the journey was continued to Japan, where Doctor +Rizal was surprised by an invitation to make his home in the Spanish +consulate. There he was hospitably entertained, and a like courtesy +was shown him in the Spanish minister's home in Tokio. The latter +even offered him a position, as a sort of interpreter, probably, +should he care to remain in the country. This offer, however, was +declined. Rizal made considerable investigation into the condition +of the various Japanese classes and acquired such facility in the +use of the language that with it and his appearance, for he was "very +Japanese," the natives found it difficult to believe that he was not +one of themselves. The month or more passed here he considered one of +the happiest in his travels, and it was with regret that he sailed +from Yokohama for San Francisco. A Japanese newspaper man, who knew +no other language than his own, was a companion on the entire journey +to London, and Rizal acted as his interpreter. + +Not only did he enter into the spirit of the language but with +remarkable versatility he absorbed the spirit of the Japanese artists +and acquired much dexterity in expressing himself in their style, +as is shown by one of the illustrations in this book. The popular +idea that things occidental are reversed in the Orient was amusingly +caricatured in a sketch he made of a German face; by reversing its +lines he converted it into an old-time Japanese countenance. + +The diary of the voyage from Hongkong to Japan records an incident to +which he alludes as being similar to that of Aladdin in the Tagalog +tale of Florante. The Filipino wife of an Englishman, Mrs. Jackson, +who was a passenger on board, told Rizal a great deal about a +Filipino named Rachal, who was educated in Europe and had written a +much-talked-of novel, which she described and of which she spoke in +such flattering terms that Rizal declared his identity. The confusion +in names is explained by the fact that Rachal is a name well known +in the Philippines as that of a popular make of piano. + +At San Francisco the boat was held for some time in quarantine because +of sickness aboard, and Rizal was impressed by the fact that the +valuable cargo of silk was not delayed but was quickly transferred to +the shore. His diary is illustrated with a drawing of the Treasury +flag on the customs launch which acted as go-between for their boat +and the shore. Finally, the first-class passengers were allowed to +land, and he went to the Palace Hotel. + +With little delay, the overland journey was begun; the scenery through +the picturesque Rocky Mountains especially impressed him, and finally +Chicago was reached. The thing that struck him most forcibly in that +city was the large number of cigar stores with an Indian in front of +each--and apparently no two Indians alike. The unexpressed idea was +that in America the remembrance of the first inhabitants of the land +and their dress was retained and popularized, while in the Philippines +knowledge of the first inhabitants of the land was to be had only +from foreign museums. + +Niagara Falls is the next impression recorded in the diary, which has +been preserved and is now in the Newberry Library of Chicago. The +same strange, awe-inspiring mystery which others have found in the +big falls affected him, but characteristically he compared this +world-wonder with the cascades of his native La Laguna, claiming for +them greater delicacy and a daintier enchantment. + +From Albany, the train ran along the banks of the Hudson, and he was +reminded of the Pasig in his homeland, with its much greater commerce +and its constant activity. + +At New York, Rizal embarked on the City of Rome, then the finest +steamer in the world, and after a pleasant voyage, in which his spare +moments were occupied in rereading "Gulliver's Travels" in English, +Rizal reached England, and said good-by to the friends whom he had +met during their brief ocean trip together. + +Rizal's first letters home to his family speak of being in the free +air of England and once more amidst European activity. For a short +time he lived with Doctor Antonio Maria Regidor, an exile of '72, +who had come to secure what Spanish legal Business he could in the +British metropolis. Doctor Regidor was formerly an official in the +Philippines, and later proved his innocence of any complicity in the +troubles of '72. + +Doctor Rizal then boarded with a Mr. Beckett, organist of St. Paul's +Church, at 37 Charlecote Crescent, in the favorite North West residence +section. The zoölogical gardens were conveniently near and the British +Museum was within easy walking distance. The new member was a favorite +with all the family, which consisted of three daughters besides the +father and mother. + +Rizal's youthful interest in sleight-of-hand tricks was still +maintained. During his stay in the Philippines he had sometimes amused +his friends in this way, till one day he was horrified to find that +the simple country folk, who were also looking on, thought that he +was working miracles. In London he resumed his favorite diversion, and +a Christmas gift of Mrs. Beckett to him, "The Life and Adventures of +Valentine Vox the Ventriloquist," indicated the interest his friends +took in this amusement. One of his own purchases was "Modern Magic," +the frontispiece of which is the sphinx that figures in the story of +"El Filibusterismo." + +It was Rizal's custom to study the deceptions practiced upon the +peoples of other lands, comparing them with those of which his +own countrymen had been victims. Thus he could get an idea of the +relative credulity of different peoples and could also account +for many practices the origin of which was otherwise less easy to +understand. His investigations were both in books and by personal +research. In quest of these experiences he one day chanced to visit +a professional phrenologist; the bump-reader was a shrewd guesser, +for he dwelt especially upon Rizal's aptitude for learning languages +and advised him to take up the study of them. + +This interest in languages, shown in his childish ambition to be +like Sir John Bowring, made Rizal a congenial companion of a still +more distinguished linguist, Doctor Reinhold Rost, the librarian of +the India Office. The Raffles Library in Singapore now owns Doctor +Rost's library, and its collection of grammars in seventy languages +attests the wide range of the studies of this Sanscrit scholar. + +Doctor Rost was born and educated in Germany, though naturalized +as a British subject, and he was a man of great musical taste. His +family sometimes formed an orchestra, at other times a glee club, and +furnished all the necessary parts from its own members. Rizal was a +frequent visitor, usually spending his Sundays in athletic exercises +with the boys, for he quickly became proficient in the English sports +of boxing and cricket. While resting he would converse with the father, +or chat with the daughters of the home. All the children had literary +tastes, and one, Daisy, presented him with a copy of a novel which +she had just translated from the German, entitled "Ulli." + +Some idea of Doctor Rizal's own linguistic attainments may be gained +from the fact that instead of writing letters to his nephews and nieces +he made for them translations of some of Hans Christian Andersen's +fairy tales. They consist of some forty manuscript pages, profusely +illustrated, and the father is referred to in a "dedication," +as though it were a real book. The Hebrew Bible quotation is in +allusion to a jocose remark once made by the father that German was +like Hebrew to him, the verse being that in which the sons of Jacob, +not recognizing that their brother was the seller, were bargaining +for some of Pharaoh's surplus corn, "And he (Joseph) said, How is +the old man, your father?" Rizal always tried to relieve by a touch +of humor anything that seemed to him as savoring of affectation, +the phase of Spanish character that repelled him and the imitation +of which by his countrymen who knew nothing of the un-Spanish world +disgusted him with them. + +Another example of his versatility in language and of its usefulness +to him as well, is shown in a trilingual letter written by Rizal in +Dapitan when the censorship of his correspondence had become annoying +through ignorant exceptions to perfectly harmless matters. No Spaniard +available spoke more than one language besides his own and it was +necessary to send the letter to three different persons to find out +its contents. The critics took the hint and Rizal received better +treatment thereafter. + +Another one of Rizal's youthful aspirations was attained in London, +for there he began transcribing the early Spanish history by Morga of +which Sir John Bowring had told his uncle. A copy of this rare book +was in the British Museum and he gained admission as a reader there +through the recommendation of Doctor Rost. Only five hundred persons +can be accommodated in the big reading room, and as students are +coming from every continent for special researches, good reason has +to be shown why these studies cannot be made at some other institution. + +Besides the copying of the text of Morga's history, Rizal read +many other early writings on the Philippines, and the manifest +unfairness of some of these who thought that they could glorify Spain +only by disparaging the Filipinos aroused his wrath. Few Spanish +writers held up the good name of those who were under their flag, +and Rizal had to resort to foreign authorities to disprove their +libels. Morga was almost alone among Spanish historians, but his +assertions found corroboration in the contemporary chronicles of +other nationalities. Rizal spent his evenings in the home of Doctor +Regidor, and many a time the bitterness and impatience with which his +day's work in the Museum had inspired him, would be forgotten as the +older man counseled patience and urged that such prejudices were to be +expected of a little educated nation. Then Rizal's brow would clear as +he quoted his favorite proverb, "To understand all is to forgive all." + +Doctor Rost was editor of Trübner's Record, a journal devoted to the +literature of the East, founded by the famous Oriental Bookseller and +Publisher of London, Nicholas Trübner, and Doctor Rizal contributed +to it in May, 1889, some specimens of Tagal folklore, an extract from +which is appended, as it was then printed: + + +Specimens of Tagal Folklore + +By Doctor J. Rizal + + +Proverbial Sayings + +Malakas ang bulong sa sigaw, Low words are stronger than loud words. + +Ang lakí sa layaw karaniwa 'y hubad, A petted child is generally naked +(i.e. poor). + +Hampasng magulang ay nakatabã, Parents' punishment makes one fat. + +Ibang hari ibang ugail, New king, new fashion. + +Nagpupútol ang kapus, ang labis ay nagdurugtong, What is short cuts +off a piece from itself, what is long adds another on (the poor gets +poorer, the rich richer). + +Ang nagsasabing tapus ay siyang kinakapus, He who finishes his words +finds himself wanting. + +Nangangakõ habang napapakõ, Man promises while in need. + +Ang naglalakad ng maráhan, matinik may mababaw, He who walks slowly, +though he may put his foot on a thorn, will not be hurt very much +(Tagals mostly go barefooted). + +Ang maniwalã sa sabi 'y walang bait na sarili, He who believes in +tales has no own mind. + +Ang may isinuksok sa dingding, ay may titingalain, He who has put +something between the wall may afterwards look on (the saving man +may afterwards be cheerful).--The wall of a Tagal house is made of +palm-leaves and bamboo, so that it can be used as a cupboard. + +Walang mahirap gisingin na paris nang nagtutulogtulugan, The most +difficult to rouse from sleep is the man who pretends to be asleep. + +Labis sa salitã, kapus sa gawã, Too many words, too little work. + +Hipong tulog ay nadadalá ng ánod, The sleeping shrimp is carried away +by the current. + +Sa bibig nahuhuli ang isda, The fish is caught through the mouth. + + +Puzzles + +Isang butil na palay sikip sa buony bahay, One rice-corn fills up +all the house.--The light. The rice-corn with the husk is yellowish. + +Matapang akó so dalawá, duag akó sa isá, I am brave against two, +coward against one.--The bamboo bridge. When the bridge is made of +one bamboo only, it is difficult to pass over; but when it is made +of two or more, it is very easy. + +Dalá akó niya, dalá ko siya, He carries me, I carry him.--The shoes. + +Isang balong malalim puna ng patalím, A deep well filled with steel +blades.--The mouth. + +The Filipino colony in Spain had established a fortnightly review, +published first in Barcelona and later in Madrid, to enlighten +Spaniards on their distant colony, and Rizal wrote for it from the +start. Its name, La Solidaridad, perhaps may be translated Equal +Rights, as it aimed at like laws and the same privileges for the +Peninsula and the possessions overseas. + +From the Philippines came news of a contemptible attempt to reach +Rizal through his family--one of many similar petty persecutions. His +sister Lucia's husband had died and the corpse was refused interment +in consecrated ground, upon the pretext that the dead man, who had been +exceptionally liberal to the church and was of unimpeachable character, +had been negligent in his religious duties. Another individual with +a notorious record of longer absence from confession died about +the same time, and his funeral took place from the church without +demur. The ugly feature about the refusal to bury Hervosa was that the +telegram from the friar parish-priest to the Archbishop at Manila in +asking instructions, was careful to mention that the deceased was a +brother-in-law of Rizal. Doctor Rizal wrote a scorching article for +La Solidaridad under the caption "An Outrage," and took the matter +up with the Spanish Colonial Minister, then Becerra, a professed +Liberal. But that weakling statesman, more liberal in words than in +actions, did nothing. + +That the union of Church and State can be as demoralizing to religion +as it is disastrous to good government seems sufficiently established +by Philippine incidents like this, in which politics was substituted +for piety as the test of a good Catholic, making marriage impossible +and denying decent burial to the families of those who differed +politically with the ministers of the national religion. + +Of all his writings, the article in which Rizal speaks of this +indignity to the dead comes nearest to exhibiting personal feeling and +rancor. Yet his main point is to indicate generally what monstrous +conditions the Philippine mixture of religion and politics made +possible. + +The following are part of a series of nineteen verses published in +La Solidaridad over Rizal's favorite pen name of Laong Laan: + + + To my Muse + + (translation by Charles Derbyshire) + + Invoked no longer is the Muse, + The lyre is out of date; + The poets it no longer use, + And youth its inspiration now imbues + With other form and state. + + If today our fancies aught + Of verse would still require, + Helicon's hill remains unsought; + And without heed we but inquire, + Why the coffee is not brought. + + In the place of thought sincere + That our hearts may feel, + We must seize a pen of steel, + And with verse and line severe + Fling abroad a jest and jeer. + + Muse, that in the past inspired me, + And with songs of love hast fired me; + Go thou now to dull repose, + For today in sordid prose + I must earn the gold that hired me. + + Now must I ponder deep, + Meditate, and struggle on; + E'en sometimes I must weep; + For he who love would keep + Great pain has undergone. + + Fled are the days of ease, + The days of Love's delight; + When flowers still would please + And give to suffering souls surcease + From pain and sorrow's blight. + + One by one they have passed on, + All I loved and moved among; + Dead or married--from me gone, + For all I place my heart upon + By fate adverse are stung. + + Go thou, too, O Muse, depart, + Other regions fairer find; + For my land but offers art + For the laurel, chains that bind, + For a temple, prisons blind. + + But before thou leavest me, speak: + Tell me with thy voice sublime, + Thou couldst ever from me seek + A song of sorrow for the weak, + Defiance to the tyrant's crime. + + +Rizal's congenial situation in the British capital was disturbed +by his discovering a growing interest in the youngest of the three +girls whom he daily met. He felt that his career did not permit him +to marry, nor was his youthful affection for his cousin in Manila an +entirely forgotten sentiment. Besides, though he never lapsed into +such disregard for his feminine friends as the low Spanish standard +had made too common among the Filipino students in Madrid, Rizal was +ever on his guard against himself. So he suggested to Doctor Regidor +that he considered it would be better for him to leave London. His +parting gift to the family with whom he had lived so happily was a +clay medallion bearing in relief the profiles of the three sisters. + +Other regretful good-bys were said to a number of young Filipinos +whom he had gathered around him and formed into a club for the study +of the history of their country and the discussion of its politics. + +Rizal now went to Paris, where he was glad to be again with his friend +Valentin Ventura, a wealthy Pampangan who had been trained for the +law. His tastes and ideals were very much those of Rizal, and he had +sound sense and a freedom from affectation which especially appealed +to Rizal. There Rizal's reprint of Morga's rare history was made, at +a greater cost but also in better form than his first novel. Copious +notes gave references to other authorities and compared present +with past conditions, and Doctor Blumentritt contributed a forceful +introduction. + +When Rizal returned to London to correct the proofsheets, the old +original book was in use and the copy could not be checked. This led to +a number of errors, misspelled and changed words, and even omissions +of sentences, which were afterwards discovered and carefully listed +and filed away to be corrected in another edition. + +Possibly it has been made clear already that, while Rizal did not +work for separation from Spain, he was no admirer of the Castilian +character, nor of the Latin type, for that matter. He remarked on +Blumentritt's comparison of the Spanish rulers in the Philippines +with the Czars of Russia, that it is flattering to the Castilians +but it is more than they merit, to put them in the same class as +Russia. Apparently he had in mind the somewhat similar comparison in +Burke's speech on the conciliation of America, in which he said that +Russia was more advanced and less cruel than Spain and so not to be +classed with it. + +During his stay in Paris, Rizal was a frequent visitor at the home +of the two Doctors Pardo de Tavera, sons of the exile of '72 who +had gone to France, the younger now a physician in South America, +the elder a former Philippine Commissioner. The interest of the +one in art, and of the other in philology, the ideas of progress +through education shared by both, and many other common tastes and +ideals, made the two young men fast friends of Rizal. Mrs. Tavera, +the mother, was an interesting conversationalist, and Rizal profited +by her reminiscences of Philippine official life, to the inner circle +of which her husband's position had given her the entrée. + +On Sundays Rizal fenced at Juan Luna's house with his distinguished +artist-countryman, or, while the latter was engaged with Ventura, +watched their play. It was on one of these afternoons that the Tagalog +story of "The Monkey and the Tortoise"[2] was hastily sketched as a +joke to fill the remaining pages of Mrs. Luna's autograph album, in +which she had been insisting Rizal must write before all its space +was used up. A comparison of the Tagalog version with a Japanese +counterpart was published by Rizal in English, in Trübner's Magazine, +suggesting that the two people may have had a common origin. This +study received considerable attention from other ethnologists, and +was among the topics at an ethnological conference. + +At times his antagonist was Miss Nellie Baustead, who had great +skill with the foils. Her father, himself born in the Philippines, +the son of a wealthy merchant of Singapore, had married a member of +the Genato family of Manila. At their villa in Biarritz, and again +in their home in Belgium, Rizal was a guest later, for Mr. Baustead +had taken a great liking to him. + +The teaching instinct that led him to act as mentor to the Filipino +students in Spain and made him the insparation of a mutual improvement +club of his young countrymen in London, suggested the foundation of +a school in Paris. Later a Pampangan youth offered him $40,000 with +which to found a Filipino college in Hongkong, where many young men +from the Philippines had obtained an education better than their +own land could afford but not entirely adapted to their needs. The +scheme attracted Rizal, and a prospectus for such an institution +which was later found among his papers not only proves how deeply +he was interested, but reveals the fact that his ideas of education +were essentially like those carried out in the present public-school +course of instruction in the Philippines. + +Early in August of 1890 Rizal went to Madrid to seek redress for a +wrong done his family by the notorious General Weyler, the "Butcher" +of evil memory in Cuba, then Governor-General of the Philippines. Just +as the mother's loss of liberty, years before, was caused by revengeful +feelings on the part of an official because for one day she was obliged +to omit a customary gift of horse feed, so the father's loss of land +was caused by a revengeful official, and for quite as trivial a cause. + +Mr. Mercado was a great poultry fancier and especially prided himself +upon his fine stock of turkeys. He had been accustomed to respond to +the frequent requests of the estate agent for presents of birds. But +at one time disease had so reduced the number of turkeys that all that +remained were needed for breeding purposes and Mercado was obliged +to refuse him. In a rage the agent insisted, and when that proved +unavailing, threats followed. + +But Francisco Mercado was not a man to be moved by threats, and +when the next rent day came round he was notified that his rent had +been doubled. This was paid without protest, for the tenants were +entirely at the mercy of the landlords, no fixed rate appearing +either in contracts or receipts. Then the rent-raising was kept on +till Mercado was driven to seek the protection of the courts. Part +of his case led to exactly the same situation as that of the Biñan +tenantry in his grandfather's time, when the landlords were compelled +to produce their title-deeds, and these proved that land of others +had been illegally included in the estate. Other tenants, emboldened +by Mercado's example also refused to pay the exorbitant rent increases. + +The justice of the peace of Kalamba, before whom the case first came, +was threatened by the provincial governor for taking time to hear the +testimony, and the case was turned over to the auxiliary justice, who +promptly decided in the manner desired by the authorities. Mercado at +once took an appeal, but the venal Weyler moved a force of artillery +to Kalamba and quartered it upon the town as if rebellion openly +existed there. Then the court representatives evicted the people +from their homes and directed them to remove all their buildings +from the estate lands within twenty-four hours. In answer to the +plea that they had appealed to the Supreme Court the tenants were +told their houses could be brought back again if they won their +appeal. Of course this was impossible and some 150,000 pesos' worth +of property was consequently destroyed by the court agents, who were +worthy estate employees. Twenty or more families were made homeless +and the other tenants were forbidden to shelter them under pain of +their own eviction. This is the proceeding in which Retana suggests +that the governor-general and the landlords were legally within their +rights. If so, Spanish law was a disgrace to the nation. Fortunately +the Rizal-Mercado family had another piece of property at Los Baños, +and there they made their home. + +Weyler's motives in this matter do not have to be surmised, for +among the (formerly) secret records of the government there exists +a letter which he wrote when he first denied the petition of the +Kalamba residents. It is marked "confidential" and is addressed to the +landlords, expressing the pleasure which this action gave him. Then +the official adds that it cannot have escaped their notice that the +times demand diplomacy in handling the situation but that, should +occasion arise, he will act with energy. Just as Weyler had favored +the landlords at first so he kept on and when he had a chance to do +something for them he did it. + +Finally, when Weyler left the Islands an investigation was ordered into +his administration, owing to rumors of extensive and systematic frauds +on the government, but nothing more came of the case than that Retana, +later Rizal's biographer, wrote a book in the General's defense, +"extensively documented," and also abusively anti-Filipino. It has been +urged (not by Retana, however) that the Weyler régime was unusually +efficient, because he would allow no one but himself to make profits +out of the public, and therefore, while his gains were greater than +those of his predecessors, the Islands really received more attention +from him. + +During the Kalamba discussion in Spain, Retana, until 1899 always +scurrilously anti-Filipino, made the mistake of his life, for he +charged Rizal's family with not paying their rent, which was not +true. While Rizal believed that duelling was murder, to judge from a +pair of pictures preserved in his album, he evidently considered that +homicide of one like Retana was justifiable. After the Spanish custom, +his seconds immediately called upon the author of the libel. Retana +notes in his "Vida del Dr. Rizal" that the incident closed in a way +honorable to both Rizal and himself--he, Retana, published an explicit +retraction and abject apology in the Madrid papers. Another time, +in Madrid, Rizal risked a duel when he challenged Antonio Luna, +later the General, because of a slighting allusion to a lady at a +public banquet. He had a nicer sense of honor in such matters than +prevailed in Madrid, and Luna promptly saw the matter from Rizal's +point of view and withdrew the offensive remark. This second incident +complements the first, for it shows that Rizal was as willing to risk a +duel with his superior in arms as with one not so skilled as he. Rizal +was an exceptional pistol shot and a fair swordsman, while Retana was +inferior with either sword or pistol, but Luna, who would have had the +choice of weapons, was immeasurably Rizal's superior with the sword. + +Owing to a schism a rival arose against the old Masonry and finally +the original organization succumbed to the offshoot. Doctor Miguel +Morayta, Professor of History in the Central University at Madrid, was +the head of the new institution and it had grown to be very popular +among students. Doctor Morayta was friendly to the Filipinos and a +lodge of the same name as their paper was organized among them. For +their outside work they had a society named the Hispano-Filipino +Association, of which Morayta was president, with convenient clubrooms +and a membership practically the same as the Lodge La Solidaridad. + +Just before Christmas of 1890, this Hispano-Filipino Association +gave a largely attended banquet at which there were many prominent +speakers. Rizal stayed away, not because of growing pessimism, +as Retana suggests, but because one of the speakers was the same +Becerra who had feared to act when the outrage against the body of +Rizal's brother-in-law had been reported to him. Now out of office, +the ex-minister was again bold in words, but Rizal for one was not +again to be deceived by them. + +The propaganda carried on by his countrymen in the Peninsula did not +seem to Rizal effective, and he found his suggestions were not well +received by those at its head. The story of Rizal's separation from +La Solidaridad, however, is really not material, but the following +quotation from a letter written to Carlos Oliver, speaking of the +opposition of the Madrid committee of Filipinos to himself, is +interesting as showing Rizal's attitude of mind: + +"I regret exceedingly that they war against me, attempting to discredit +me in the Philippines, but I shall be content provided only that my +successor keeps on with the work. I ask only of those who say that +I created discord among the Filipinos: Was there any effective union +before I entered political life? Was there any chief whose authority +I wanted to oppose? It is a pity that in our slavery we should have +rivalries over leadership." + +And in Rizal's letter from Hongkong, May 24, 1892, to Zulueta, +commenting on an article by Leyte in La Solidaridad, he says: + +"Again I repeat, I do not understand the reason of the attack, since +now I have dedicated myself to preparing for our countrymen a safe +refuge in case of persecution and to writing some books, championing +our cause, which shortly will appear. Besides, the article is impolitic +in the extreme and prejudicial to the Philippines. Why say that the +first thing we need is to have money? A wiser man would be silent +and not wash soiled linen in public." + +Early in '91 Rizal went to Paris, visiting Mr. Baustead's villa in +Biarritz en route, and he was again a guest of his hospitable friend +when, after the winter season was over, the family returned to their +home in Brussels. + +During most of the year Rizal's residence was in Ghent, where he had +gathered around him a number of Filipinos. Doctor Blumentritt suggested +that he should devote himself to the study of Malay-Polynesian +languages, and as it appeared that thus he could earn a living in +Holland he thought to make his permanent home there. But his parents +were old and reluctant to leave their native land to pass their last +years in a strange country, and that plan failed. + +He now occupied himself in finishing the sequel to "Noli Me Tangere," +the novel "E1 Filibusterismo," which he had begun in October of 1887 +while on his visit to the Philippines. The bolder painting of the +evil effects of the Spanish culture upon the Filipinos may well have +been inspired by his unfortunate experiences with his countrymen in +Madrid who had not seen anything of Europe outside of Spain. On the +other hand, the confidence of the author in those of his countrymen +who had not been contaminated by the so-called Spanish civilization, +is even more noticeable than in "Noli Me Tangere." + +Rizal had now done all that he could for his country; he had shown +them by Morga what they were when Spain found them; through "Noli Me +Tangere" he had painted their condition after three hundred years of +Spanish influence; and in "El Filibusterismo" he had pictured what +their future must be if better counsels did not prevail in the colony. + +These works were for the instruction of his countrymen, the fulfilment +of the task he set for himself when he first read Doctor Jagor's +criticism fifteen years before; time only was now needed for them to +accomplish their work and for education to bring forth its fruits. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Despujol's Duplicity + +As soon as he had set in motion what influence he possessed in Europe +for the relief of his relatives, Rizal hurried to Hongkong and from +there wrote to his parents asking their permission to join them. Some +time before, his brother-in-law, Manuel Hidalgo, had been deported +upon the recommendation of the governor of La Laguna, "to prove to +the Filipinos that they were mistaken in thinking that the new Civil +Code gave them any rights" in cases where the governor-general agreed +with his subordinate's reason for asking for the deportation as well +as in its desirability. The offense was having buried a child, who +had died of cholera, without church ceremonies. The law prescribed +and public health demanded it. But the law was a dead letter and the +public health was never considered when these cut into church revenues, +as Hidalgo ought to have known. + +Upon Rizal's arrival in Hongkong, in the fall of 1891, he received +notice that his brother Paciano had been returned from exile in +Mindoro, but that three of his sisters had been summoned, with the +probability of deportation. + +A trap to get Rizal into the hands of the government by playing +upon his affection for his mother was planned at this time, but it +failed. Mrs. Rizal and one of her daughters were arrested in Manila +for "falsification of cedula" because they no longer used the name +Realonda, which the mother had dropped fifteen years before. Then, +though there were frequently boats running to Kalamba, the two women +were ordered to be taken there for trial on foot. As when Mrs. Rizal +had been a prisoner before, the humane guards disobeyed their orders +and the elderly lady was carried in a hammock. The family understood +the plans of their persecutors, and Rizal was told by his parents +not to come to Manila. Then the persecution of the mother and the +sister dropped. + +In Hongkong, Rizal was already acquainted with most of the Filipino +colony, including Jose M. Basa, a '72 exile of great energy, for whom +he had the greatest respect. The old man was an unceasing enemy of all +the religious orders and was constantly getting out "proclamations," +as the handbills common in the old-time controversies were called. One +of these, against the Jesuits, figures in the case against Rizal +and bears some minor corrections in his handwriting. Nevertheless, +his participation in it was probably no more than this proofreading +for his friend, whose motives he could appreciate, but whose plan of +action was not in harmony with his own ideas. + +Letters of introduction from London friends secured for Rizal the +acquaintance of Mr. H. L. Dalrymple, a justice of the peace--which is +a position more coveted and honored in English lands than here--and +a member of the public library committee, as well as of the board +of medical examiners. He was a merchant, too, and agent for the +British North Borneo Company, which had recently secured a charter +as a semi-independent colony for the extensive cession which had +originally been made to the American Trading Company and later +transferred to them. + +Rizal spent much of his time in the library, reading especially the +files of the older newspapers, which contained frequent mention of +the Philippines. As an oldtime missionary had left his books to the +library, the collection was rich in writings of the fathers of the +early Church, as well as in philology and travel. He spent much time +also in long conversations with Editor Frazier-Smith of the Hongkong +Telegraph, the most enterprising of the daily newspapers. He was +the master of St. John's Masonic lodge (Scotch constitution), which +Rizal had visited upon his first arrival, intensely democratic and +a close student of world politics. The two became fast friends and +Rizal contributed to the Telegraph several articles on Philippine +matters. These were printed in Spanish, ostensibly for the benefit of +the Filipino colony in Hongkong, but large numbers of the paper were +mailed to the Philippines and thus at first escaped the vigilance +of the censors. Finally the scheme was discovered and the Telegraph +placed on the prohibited list, but, like most Spanish actions, this +was just too late to prevent the circulation of what Rizal had wished +to say to his countrymen. + +With the first of the year 1892 the free portion of Rizal's family came +to Hongkong. He had been licensed to practice medicine in the colony, +and opened an office, specializing as an oculist with notable success. + +Another congenial companion was a man of his own profession, Doctor +L. P. Marquez, a Portuguese who had received his medical education in +Dublin and was a naturalized British subject. He was a leading member +of the Portuguese club, Lusitania, which was of radically republican +proclivities and possessed an excellent library of books on modern +political conditions. An inspection of the colonial prison with him +inspired Rizal's article, "A Visit to Victoria Gaol," through which +runs a pathetic contrast of the English system of imprisonment for +reformation with the Spanish vindictive methods of punishment. A +souvenir of one of their many conferences was a dainty modeling in +clay made by Rizal with that astonishing quickness that resulted from +his Uncle Gabriel's training during his early childhood. + +In the spring, Rizal took a voyage to British North Borneo and with +Mr. Pryor, the agent, looked over vacant lands which had been offered +him by the Company for a Filipino colony. The officials were anxious +to grow abaca, cacao, sugar cane and coconuts, all products of the +Philippines, the soil of which resembled theirs. So they welcomed the +prospect of the immigration of laborers skilled in such cultivation, +the Kalambans and other persecuted people of the Luzon lake region, +whom Doctor Rizal hoped to transplant there to a freer home. + +A different kind of governor-general had succeeded Weyler in the +Philippines; the new man was Despujol, a friend of the Jesuits +and a man who at once gave the Filipinos hope of better days, +for his promises were quickly backed up by the beginnings of their +performance. Rizal witnessed this novel experience for his country +with gratification, though he had seen too many disappointments to +confide in the continuance of reform, and he remembered that the like +liberal term of De la Torre had ended in the Cavite reaction. + +He wrote early to the new chief executive, applauding Despujol's policy +and offering such coöperation as he might be able to give toward +making it a complete success. No reply had been received, but after +Rizal's return from his Borneo trip the Spanish consul in Hongkong +assured him that he would not be molested should he go to Manila. + +Rizal therefore made up his mind to visit his home once more. He +still cherished the plan of transferring those of his relatives +and friends who were homeless through the land troubles, or +discontented with their future in the Philippines, to the district +offered to him by the British North Borneo Company. There, under the +protection of the British flag, but in their accustomed climate, with +familiar surroundings amid their own people, a New Kalamba would be +established. Filipinos would there have a chance to prove to the world +what they were capable of, and their free condition would inevitably +react on the neighboring Philippines and help to bring about better +government there. + +Rizal had no intention of renouncing his Philippine allegiance, for +he always regretted the naturalization of his countrymen abroad, +considering it a loss to the country which needed numbers to play +the influential part he hoped it would play in awakening Asia. All +his arguments were for British justice and "Equality before the Law," +for he considered that political power was only a means of securing +and assuring fair treatment for all, and in itself of no interest. + +With such ideas he sailed for home, bearing the Spanish consul's +passport. He left two letters in Hongkong with his friend Doctor +Marquez marked, "To be opened after my death," and their contents +indicate that he was not unmindful of how little regard Spain had +had in his country for her plighted honor. + +One was to his beloved parents, brother and sisters, and friends: + +"The affection that I have ever professed for you suggests this +step, and time alone can tell whether or not it is sensible. Their +outcome decides things by results, but whether that be favorable or +unfavorable, it may always be said that duty urged me, so if I die +in doing it, it will not matter. + +"I realize how much suffering I have caused you, still I do not +regret what I have done. Rather, if I had to begin over again, still +I should do just the same, for it has been only duty. Gladly do I go +to expose myself to peril, not as any expiation of misdeeds (for in +this matter I believe myself guiltless of any), but to complete my +work and myself offer the example of which I have always preached. + +"A man ought to die for duty and his principles. I hold fast to +every idea which I have advanced as to the condition and future of +our country, and shall willingly die for it, and even more willingly +to procure for you justice and peace. + +"With pleasure, then, I risk life to save so many innocent persons--so +many nieces and nephews, so many children of friends, and children, +too, of others who are not even friends--who are suffering on my +account. What am I? A single man, practically without family, and +sufficiently undeceived as to life. I have had many disappointments +and the future before me is gloomy, and will be gloomy if light does +not illuminate it, the dawn of a better day for my native land. On the +other hand, there are many individuals, filled with hope and ambition, +who perhaps all might be happy were I dead, and then I hope my enemies +would be satisfied and stop persecuting so many entirely innocent +people. To a certain extent their hatred is justifiable as to myself, +and my parents and relatives. + +"Should fate go against me, you will all understand that I shall die +happy in the thought that my death will end all your troubles. Return +to our country and may you be happy in it. + +"Till the last moment of my life I shall be thinking of you and +wishing you all good fortune and happiness." + + * * * * * + +The other letter was directed "To the Filipinos," and said: + +"The step which I am taking, or rather am about to take, is undoubtedly +risky, and it is unnecessary to say that I have considered it some +time. I understand that almost every one is opposed to it; but I know +also that hardly anybody else comprehends what is in my heart. I cannot +live on seeing so many suffer unjust persecutions on my account; I +cannot bear longer the sight of my sisters and their numerous families +treated like criminals. I prefer death and cheerfully shall relinquish +life to free so many innocent persons from such unjust persecution. + +"I appreciate that at present the future of our country gravitates +in some degree around me, that at my death many will feel triumphant, +and, in consequence, many are wishing for my fall. But what of it? I +hold duties of conscience above all else, I have obligations to the +families who suffer, to my aged parents whose sighs strike me to the +heart; I know that I alone, only with my death, can make them happy, +returning them to their native land and to a peaceful life at home. I +am all my parents have, but our country has many, many more sons who +can take my place and even do my work better. + +"Besides I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know +how to die for duty and principles. What matters death, if one dies +for what one loves, for native land and beings held dear? + +"If I thought that I were the only resource for the policy of progress +in the Philippines and were I convinced that my countrymen were +going to make use of my services, perhaps I should hesitate about +taking this step; but there are still others who can take my place, +who, too, can take my place with advantage. Furthermore, there are +perchance those who hold me unneeded and my services are not utilized, +resulting that I am reduced to inactivity. + +"Always have I loved our unhappy land, and I am sure that I shall +continue loving it till my latest moment, in case men prove unjust +to me. My career, my life, my happiness, all have I sacrificed for +love of it. Whatever my fate, I shall die blessing it and longing +for the dawn of its redemption." + +And then followed the note; "Make these letters public after my death." + +Suspicion of the Spanish authorities was justified. The consul's +cablegram notifying Governor-General Despujol. that Rizal had fallen +into their trap, sent the day of issuing the "safe-conduct" or special +passport, bears the same date as the secret case filed against him +in Manila, "for anti religious and anti patriotic agitation." On +that same day the deceitful Despujol was confidentially inquiring +of his executive secretary whether it was true that Rizal had been +naturalized as a German subject, and, if so, what effect would that +have on the governor-general's right to take executive action; that +is, could he deport one who had the protection of a strong nation with +the same disregard for the forms of justice that he could a Filipino? + +This inquiry is joined to an order to the local authorities in the +provinces near Manila instructing them to watch the comings and goings +of their prominent people during the following weeks. The scheme +resembled that which was concocted prior to '72, but Governor-General +de la Torte was honest in his reforms. Despujol may, or may not, +have been honest in other matters, but as concerns Rizal there is +no lack of proof of his perfidy. The confidential file relating to +this part of the case was forgotten in destroying and removing secret +papers when Manila passed into a democratic conqueror's hands, and +now whoever wishes may read, in the Bureau of Archives, documents +which the Conde de Caspe, to use a noble title for an ignoble man, +considered safely hidden. As with Weyler's contidential letter to the +friar landlords, these discoveries convict their writers of bad faith, +with no possibility of mistake. + +This point in the reformed Spanish writer's biography of Rizal is +made occasion for another of his treacherous attacks upon the good +name of his pretended hero. Just as in the land troubles Retana held +that legally Governor-General Weyler was justified in disregarding +an appeal pending in the courts, so in this connection he declares: +"(Despujol) unquestionably had been deceived by Rizal when, from +Hongkong, he offered to Despujol not to meddle in politics." That +Rizal meddled in politics rests solely upon Despujol's word, and +it will be seen later how little that is worth; but, politics or no +politics, Rizal's fate was settled before he ever came to Manila. + +Rizal was accompanied to Manila by his sister Lucia, widow of that +brother-in-law who had been denied Christian burial because of his +relationship to Rizal. In the Basa home, among other waste papers, +and for that use, she had gathered up five copies of a recent +"proclamation," entitled "Pobres Frailes" (Poor Friars), a small +sheet possibly two inches wide and five long. These, crumpled up, +were tucked into the case of the pillow which Mrs. Hervosa used on +board. Later, rolled up in her blankets and bed mat, or petate, they +went to the custom house along with the other baggage, and of course +were discovered in the rigorous examination which the officers always +made. How strict Philippine customs searches were, Henry Norman, an +English writer of travels, explains by remarking that Manila was the +only port where he had ever had his pockets picked officially. His +visit was made at about the time of which we are writing, and the +object, he says, was to keep out anti friar publications. + +Rizal and his sister landed without difficulty, and he at once went to +the Oriente Hotel, then the best in town, for Rizal always traveled +and lived as became a member of a well-to-do family. Next he waited +on the Governor-General, with whom he had a very brief interview, +for it happened to be on one of the numerous religious festivals, +during which he obtained favorable consideration for his deported +sisters. Several more interviews occurred in which the hopes first +given were realized, so that those of the family then awaiting exile +were pardoned and those already deported were to be returned at an +early date. + +One night Rizal was the guest of honor at a dinner given by the masters +and wardens of the Masonic lodges of Manila, and he was surprised and +delighted at the progress the institution had made in the Islands. Then +he had another task not so agreeable, for, while awaiting a delayed +appointment with the Governor-General, he with two others ran up on +the new railway to Tarlac. Ostensibly this was to see the country, +but it was not for a pleasure trip. They were investigating the sales +of Rizal's books and trying to find out what had become of the money +received from them, for while the author's desire had been to place +them at so low a price as to be within the reach of even the poor, it +was reported that the sales had been few and at high prices, so that +copies were only read by the wealthy whose desire to obtain the rare +and much-discussed novels led them to pay exorbitant figures for them. + +Rizal's party, consisting of the Secretary of one of the lodges of +Manila, and another Mason, a prominent school-teacher, were under +constant surveillance and a minute record of their every act is +preserved in the "reserved" files, now, of course, so only in name, +as they are no longer secret. Immediately after they left a house it +would be thoroughly searched and the occupants strictly questioned. In +spite of the precautions of the officials, Rizal soon learned of this, +and those whom they visited were warned of what to expect. In one home +so many forbidden papers were on hand that Rizal delayed his journey +till the family completed their task of carrying them upstairs and +hiding them in the roof. + +At another place he came across an instance of superstition such as +that which had caused him to cease his sleight-of-hand exhibitions +on his former return to the Islands. Their host was a man of little +education but great hospitality, and the party were most pleasantly +entertained. During the conversation he spoke of Rizal, but did not +seem to know that his hero had come back to the Philippines. His +remarks drifted into the wildest superstition, and, after asserting +that Rizal bore a charmed life, he startled his audience by saying +that if the author of "Noli Me Tangere" cared to do so, he could be +with them at that very instant. At first the three thought themselves +discovered by their host, but when Rizal made himself known, the +old man proved that he had had no suspicion of his guest's identity, +for he promptly became busy preparing his home for the search which +he realized would shortly follow. On another occasion their host +was a stranger whom Rizal treated for a temporary illness, leaving +a prescription to be filled at the drug store. The name signed to +the paper was a revelation, but the first result was activity in +cleaning house. + +No fact is more significant of the utter rottenness of the Spanish +rule than the unanimity of the people in their discontent. Only a +few persons at first were in open opposition, but books, pamphlets +and circulars were eagerly sought, read and preserved, with the +knowledge generally, of the whole family, despite the danger of +possessing them. At times, as in the case of Rizal's novels, an entire +neighborhood was in the secret; the book was buried in a garden and +dug up to be read from at a gathering of the older men, for which a +dance gave pretext. Informers were so rare that the possibility of +treachery among themselves was hardly reckoned in the risk. + +The authorities were constantly searching dwellings, often entire +neighborhoods, and with a thoroughness which entirely disregarded +the possibility of damaging an innocent person's property. These +"domiciliary registrations" were, of course, supposed to be unexpected, +but in the later Spanish days the intended victims usually had +warning from some employee in the office where it was planned, or +from some domestic of the official in charge; very often, however, the +warning was so short as to give only time for a hasty destruction of +incriminating documents and did not permit of their being transferred +to other hiding places. Thus large losses were incurred, and to these +must be added damages from dampness when a hole in the ground, the +inside of a post, or cementing up in the wall furnished the means of +concealment. Fires, too, were frequent, and such events attracted so +much attention that it was scarcely safe to attempt to save anything +of an incriminating nature. + +Six years of war conditions did their part toward destroying what +little had escaped, and from these explanations the reader may +understand how it comes that the tangled story of Spain's last half +century here presents an historical problem more puzzling than that +of much more remote times in more favored lands. + +It seems almost providential that the published statement of +the Governor-General can be checked not only by an account which +Rizal secretly sent to friends, but also by the candid memoranda +contained in the untruthful executive's own secret folios. While +some unessential details of Rizal's career are in doubt, not a point +vital to establishing his good name lacks proof that his character +was exemplary and that he is worthy of the hero-worship which has +come to him. + +After Rizal's return to Manila from his railway trip he had the +promised interview with the Governor-General. At their previous +meetings the discussions had been quite informal. Rizal, in +complimenting the General upon his inauguration of reforms, mentioned +that the Philippine system of having no restraint whatever upon +the chief executive had at least the advantage that a well-disposed +governor-general would find no red-tape hindrances to his plans for +the public benefit. But Despujol professed to believe that the best +of men make mistakes and that a wise government would establish +safeguards against this human fallibility. + +The final, and fatal, interview began with the Governor-General asking +Rizal if he still persisted in his plan for a Filipino colony in +British North Borneo; Despujol had before remarked that with so much +Philippine land lying idle for want of cultivation it did not seem to +him patriotic to take labor needed at home away for the development +of a foreign land. Rizal's former reply had dealt with the difficulty +the government was in respecting the land troubles, since the tenants +who had taken the old renters' places now also must be considered, +and he pointed out that there was, besides, a bitterness between the +parties which could not easily be forgotten by either side. So this +time he merely remarked that he had found no reason for changing his +original views. + +Hereupon the General took from his desk the five little sheets of +the "Poor Friars" handbill, which he said had been found in the roll +of bedding sent with Rizal's baggage to the custom house, and asked +whose they could be. Rizal answered that of course the General knew +that the bedding belonged to his sister Lucia, but she was no fool +and would not have secreted in a place where they were certain to be +found five little papers which, hidden within her camisa or placed +in her stocking, would have been absolutely sure to come in unnoticed. + +Rizal, neither then nor later, knew the real truth, which was that +these papers were gathered up at random and without any knowledge of +their contents. If it was a crime to have lived in a house where such +seditious printed matter was common, then Rizal, who had openly visited +Basa's home, was guilty before ever the handbills were found. But no +reasonable person would believe another rational being could be so +careless of consequences as to bring in openly such dangerous material. + +The very title was in sarcastic allusion to the inconsistency of a +religious order being an immensely wealthy organization, while its +individual members were vowed to poverty. News, published everywhere +except in the Philippines, of losses sustained in outside commercial +enterprises running into the millions, was made the text for showing +how money, professedly raised in the Philippines for charities, +was not so used and was invested abroad in fear of that day of +reckoning when tyranny would be overthrown in anarchy and property +would be insecure. The belief of the pious Filipinos, fostered +by their religious exploiters, that the Pope would suffer great +hardship if their share of "Peter's pence" was not prompt and full, +was contrasted with another newspaper story of a rich dowry given +to a favorite niece by a former Pope, but that in no way taught the +truth that the Head of the Church was not put to bodily discomfort +whenever a poor Filipino failed to come forward with his penny. + +Despujol managed to work himself into something like a passion over +this alleged disrespect to the Pope, and ordered Rizal to be taken +as a prisoner to Fort Santiago by the nephew who acted as his aide. + +Like most facts, this version runs a middle course between the extreme +stories which have been current. Like circulars may have been printed +at the "Asilo de Malabon," as has been asserted; these certainly came +from Hongkong and were not introduced by any archbishop's nephew on +duty at the custom house, as another tale suggests. On the other hand, +the circular was the merest pretext, and Despujol did not act in good +faith, as many claim that he did. + +It may be of interest to reprint the handbill from a facsimile of an +original copy: + + +Pobres Frailes! + +Acaba de suspender sus pages un Banco, acaba de quebrarse el New +Oriental. + +Grandes pédidas en la India, en la isla Mauricio al sur de Africa, +ciclónes y tempestades acabaron con su podeíro, tragnádose más de +36,000,000 de pesos. Estos treinta y seis millones representaban las +esperanzas, las economías, el bienestar y el porvenir de numerosos +individuos y familias. + +Entre los que más han sufrido podemos contar á la Rvda. Corporacion +de los P. P. Dominicos, que pierden en esta quiebra muchos cientos +de miles. No se sabe la cuenta exacta porque tanto dinero se les +envía de aquí y tantos depósitos hacen, que se neçesitarlan muchos +contadores para calcular el immense caudal de que disponen. + +Pero, no se aflijan los amigos ni triunfen los enemigos de los santos +monjes que profesan vote de pobreza. + +A unos y otros les diremos que pueden estar tranquilos. La Corporacion +tiene aun muchos millones depositados en los Bancos de Hongkong, y +aunque todos quebrasen, y aunque se derrumbasen sus miles de casas de +alquiler, siempre quedarian sus curates y haciendas, les quedarían los +filipinos dispuestos siempre á ayunar para darles una limosna. ¿Qué son +cuatrocientos ó quinientos mil? Que se tomen la molestia de recorrer +los pueblos y pedir limosna y se resarcirán de esa pérdida. Hace un +año que, por la mala administracion de los cardenales, el Papa perdió +14,000,000 del dinero de San Pedro; el Papa, para cubrir el déficit, +acude á nosotros y nosotros recogemos de nuestros tampipis el último +real, porque sabemos que el Papa tiene muchas atenciones; hace cosa +de cinco años casó á una sobrina suya dotándola de un palacio y +300,000 francos ademas. Haced un esfuerzo pues, generosos filipinos, +y socorred á los dominicos igualmente! + +Además, esos centanares de miles perdidos no son de ellos, segun dicen: +¿cómo los iban à tener si tienen voto de pobreza? Hay que creerlos +pues cuando, para cubrirse, dicen que son de los huérfanos y de las +viudas. Muy seguramente pertencerían algunos á las viudas y á los +huérfanos de Kalamba, y quién sabe si á los desterrados maridos! y +los manejan los virtuosos frailes sólo á título de depositarios para +devolverlos despues religiosamente con todos sus intereses cuando +llegue el día de rendir cuentas! Quién sabe? Quién mejor que ellos +podía encargarse de recoger los pocos haberes mientras las casas +ardían, huían las viudas y los huérfanos sin encontrar hospitalidad, +pues se habia prohibido darles albergue, mientras los hombres estaban +presos ó perseguidos? ¿Quién mejor que los dominicos para tener tanto +valor, tanta audacia y tanta humanidad? + +Pero, ahora el diablo se ha llevado el dinero de los huérfanos y de +las viudas, y es de temer que se lleve tambien el resto, pues cuando el +diablo la empieza la ha de acabar. Tendría ese dinero mala procedencia? + +Si asl sucediese, nosotros los recomendaríamos á los dominicos que +dijesen con Job: Desnudo salí del vientre de mi madre (España), +y desnudo volveré allá; lo dió el diablo, el diablo se lo llevó; +bendito sea el nombre del Señor! + +Fr. Jacinto. + +Manila: Imprenta de los Amigos del Pais. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Deportation to Dapitan + +As soon as Rizal was lodged in his prison, a room in Fort Santiago, the +Governor-General began the composition of one of the most extraordinary +official documents ever issued in this land where the strangest +governmental acts have abounded. It is apology, argument, and attack +all in one and was published in the Official Gazette, where it occupied +most of an entire issue. The effect of the righteous anger it displays +suffers somewhat when one knows how all was planned from the day Rizal +was decoyed from Hongkong under the faithless safe-conduct. Another +enlightening feature is the copy of a later letter, preserved in that +invaluable secret file, wherein Despujol writes Rizal's custodian, as +jailer, to allow the exile in no circumstances to see this number of +the Gazette or to know its contents, and suggests several evasions to +assist the subordinate's power of invention. It is certainly a strange +indignation which fears that its object shall learn the reason for +wrath, nor is it a creditable spectacle when one beholds the chief +of a government giving private lessons in lying. + +A copy of the Gazette was sent to the Spanish Consul in Hongkong, also +a cablegram directing him to give it publicity that "Spain's good name +might not suffer" in that colony. By his blunder, not knowing that +the Lusitania Club was really a Portuguese Masonic lodge and full of +Rizal's friends, a copy was sent there and a strong reply was called +forth. The friendly editor of the Hongkong Telegraph devoted columns to +the outrage by which a man whose acquaintance in the scientific world +reflected honor upon his nation, was decoyed to what was intended +to be his death, exiled to "an unhealthful, savage spot," through +"a plot of which the very Borgias would have been ashamed." + +The British Consul in Manila, too, mentioned unofficially to +Governor-General Despujol that it seemed a strange way of showing +Spain's often professed friendship for Great Britain thus to disregard +the annoyance to the British colony of North Borneo caused by making +impossible an entirely unexceptionable plan. Likewise, in much the +same respectfully remonstrant tone which the Great Powers are wont +to use in recalling to semi-savage states their obligations to +civilization, he pointed out how Spain's prestige as an advanced +nation would suffer when the educated world, in which Rizal was +Spain's best-known representative, learned that the man whom they +honored had been trapped out of his security under the British flag +and sent into exile without the slightest form of trial. + +Almost the last act of Rizal while at liberty was the establishment +of the "Liga Filipina," a league or association seeking to unite all +Filipinos of good character for concerted action toward the economic +advancement of their country, for a higher standard of manhood, and +to assure opportunities for education and development to talented +Filipino youth. Resistance to oppression by lawful means was also +urged, for Rizal believed that no one could fairly complain of bad +government until he had exhausted and found unavailing all the legal +resources provided for his protection. This was another expression +of his constant teaching that slaves, those who toadied to power, +and men without self-respect made possible and fostered tyranny, +abuses and disregard of the rights of others. + +The character test was also a step forward, for the profession of +patriotism has often been made to cloak moral shortcomings in the +Philippines as well as elsewhere. Rizal urged that those who would +offer themselves on the altar of their fatherland must conform to +the standard of old, and, like the sacrificial lamb, be spotless +and without blemish. Therefore, no one who had justifiably been +prosecuted for any infamous crime was eligible to membership in the +new organization. + +The plan, suggested by a Spanish Masonic society called C. Kadosch +y Cia., originated with José Maria Basa, at whose instance Rizal +drafted the constitution and regulations. Possibly all the members +were Freemasons of the educated and better-to-do class, and most +of them adhered to the doctrine that peaceably obtained reforms and +progress by education are surest and best. + +Rizal's arrest discouraged those of this higher faith, for the +peaceable policy seemed hopeless, while the radical element, freed from +Rizal's restraining influence and deeming the time for action come, +formed a new and revolutionary society which preached force of arms +as the only argument left to them, and sought its membership among +the less-enlightened and poorer class. + +Their inspiration was Andrés Bonifacio, a shipping clerk for a foreign +firm, who had read and re-read accounts of the French Revolution +till he had come to believe that blood alone could wipe out the +wrongs of a country. His organization, The Sons of the Country, +more commonly called the Katipunan, was, however, far from being as +bloodthirsty as most Spanish accounts, and those of many credulous +writers who have got their ideas from them, have asserted. To enlist +others in their defense, those who knew that they were the cause of +dissatisfaction spread the report that a race war was in progress +and that the Katipuneros were planning the massacre of all of the +white race. It was a sufficiently absurd statement, but it was made +even more ridiculous by its "proof," for this was the discovery of an +apron with a severed head, a hand holding it by the hair and another +grasping the dagger which had done the bloody work. This emblem, +handed down from ancient days as an object lesson of faithfulness +even to death, has been known in many lands besides the Philippines, +but only here has it ever been considered anything but an ancient +symbol. As reasonably might the paintings of martyrdoms in the +convents be taken as evidence of evil intentions upon the part of +their occupants, but prejudice looks for pretexts rather than reasons, +and this served as well as any other for the excesses of which the +government in its frenzy of fear was later guilty. + +In talking of the Katipunan one must distinguish the first society, +limited in its membership, from the organization of the days of the +Aguinaldo "republic," so called, when throughout the Tagalog provinces, +and in the chief towns of other provinces as well, adherence to the +revolutionary government entailed membership in the revolutionary +society. And neither of these two Katipunans bore any relation, except +in name and emblems, to the robber bands whose valor was displayed +after the war had ceased and whose patriotism consisted in wronging +and robbing their own defenseless countrymen and countrywomen, while +carefully avoiding encounters with any able to defend themselves. + +Rizal's arrest had put an end to all hope of progress under +Governor-General Despujol. It had left the political field in +possession of those countrymen who had not been in sympathy with +his campaign of education. It had caused the succession of the +revolutionary Katipunan to the economic Liga Filipina, with talk +of independence supplanting Rizal's ambition for the return of +the Philippines to their former status under the Constitution of +Cadiz. But the victim of the arrest was at peace as he had not been +in years. The sacrifice for country and for family had been made, +but it was not to cost him life, and he was human enough to wish to +live. A visitor's room in the Fort and books from the military library +made his detention comfortable, for he did not worry about the Spanish +sentries without his door who were placed there under orders to shoot +anyone who might attempt to signal to him from the plaza. + +One night the Governor-General's nephew-aide came again to the Fort +and Rizal embarked on the steamer which was to take him to his place +of exile, but closely as he was guarded he risked dropping a note +which a Filipino found and took, as it directed, to Mrs. Rizal's +cousin, Vicenta Leyba, who lived in Calle José, Trozo. Thus the +family were advised of his departure; this incident shows Rizal's +perfect confidence in his countrymen and the extent to which it was +justified; he could risk a chance finder to take so dangerous a letter +to its address. + +On the steamer he occupied an officer's cabin and also found a Filipino +quartermaster, of whom he requested a life preserver for his stateroom; +evidently he was not entirely confident that there were no hostile +designs against him. Accidents had rid the Philippines of troublesome +persons before his time, and he was determined that if he sacrificed +his life for his country, it should be openly. He realized that the +tree of Liberty is often watered with the blood of secret as well as +open martyrs. + +The same boat carried some soldier prisoners, one of whom was to be +executed in Mindanao, and their case was not particularly creditable +to Spanish ideas of justice. A Spanish officer had dishonorably +interfered with the domestic relations of a sergeant, also Spanish, +and the aggrieved party had inflicted punishment upon his superior, +with the help of some other soldiers. For allowing himself to be +punished, not for his own disgraceful act, the officer was dismissed +from the service, but the sergeant was to go to the scene of his +alleged "crime," there to suffer death, while his companions who had +assisted him in protecting their homes were to be witnesses of this +"justice" and then to be imprisoned. + +After an uneventful trip the steamer reached Dapitan, in the northeast +of the large island of Mindanao, on a dark and rainy evening. The +officer in charge of the expedition took Doctor Rizal ashore with +some papers relating to him and delivered all to the commandant, +Ricardo Carnicero. The receipt taken was briefed "One countryman and +two packages." At the same time learned men in Europe were beginning +to hear of this outrage worthy of the Dark Ages and were remarking +that Spain had stopped the work of the man who was practically her +only representative in modern science, for the Castilian language +has not been the medium through which any considerable additions have +been made to the world's store of scientific knowledge. + +Rizal was to reside either with the commandant or with the Jesuit +parish priest, if the latter would take him into the convento. But +while the exile had learned with pleasure that he was to meet priests +who were refined and learned, as well as associated with his happier +school days, he did not know that these priests were planning to +restore him to his childhood faith and had mapped out a plan of action +which should first make him feel his loneliness. So he was denied +residence with the priest unless he would declare himself genuinely +in sympathy with Spain. + +On his previous brief visit to the Islands he had been repelled from +the Ateneo with the statement that till he ceased to be anti-Catholic +and anti-Spanish he would not be welcome. Padre Faura, the famous +meteorologist, was his former instructor and Rizal was his favorite +pupil; he had tearfully predicted that the young man would come to +the scaffold at last unless he mended his ways. But Rizal, confident +in the clearness of his own conscience, went out cheerfully, and when +the porter tried to bring back the memory of his childhood piety by +reminding him of the image of the Sacred Heart which he had carved +years before, Rizal answered, "Other times, other customs, Brother. I +do not believe that way any more." + +So Rizal, a good Catholic, was compelled to board with the commandant +instead of with the priest because he was unwilling to make +hypocritical professions of admiration for Spain. The commandant and +Rizal soon became good friends, but in order to retain his position +Carnicero had to write to the Governor-General in a different strain. + +The correspondence tells the facts in the main, but of course +they are colored throughout to conform to Despujol's character. The +commandant is always represented as deceiving his prisoner and gaining +his confidence only to betray him, but Rizal seems never to have +experienced anything but straightforward dealing. + +Rizal's earliest letter from Dapitan speaks almost enthusiastically +of the place, describing the climate as exceptional for the tropics, +his situation as agreeable, and saying that he could be quite content +if his family and his books were there. + +Shortly after occurred the anniversary of Carnicero's arrival in the +town, and Rizal celebrated the event with a Spanish poem reciting +the improvements made since his coming, written in the style of the +Malay loa, and as though it were by the children of Dapitan. + +Next Rizal acquired a piece of property at Talisay, a little bay close +to Dapitan, and at once became interested in his farm. Soon he built +a house and moved into it, gathering a number of boy assistants about +him, and before long he had a school. A hospital also was put up for +his patients and these in time became a source of revenue, as people +from a distance came to the oculist for treatment and paid liberally. + +One five-hundred-peso fee from a rich Englishman was devoted by Rizal +to lighting the town, and the community benefited in this way by his +charity in addition to the free treatment given its poor. + +The little settlement at Talisay kept growing and those who lived +there were constantly improving it. When Father Obach, the Jesuit +priest, fell through the bamboo stairway in the principal house, Rizal +and his boys burned shells, made mortar, and soon built a fine stone +stairway. They also did another piece of masonry work in the shape of +a dam for storing water that was piped to the houses and poultry yard; +the overflow from the dam was made to fill a swimming tank. + +The school, including the house servants, numbered about twenty and +was taught without books by Rizal, who conducted his recitations +from a hammock. Considerable importance was given to mathematics, +and in languages English was taught as well as Spanish, the entire +waking period being devoted to the language allotted for the day, +and whoever so far forgot as to utter a word in any other tongue was +punished by having to wear a rattan handcuff. The use and meaning of +this modern police device had to be explained to the boys, for Spain +still tied her prisoners with rope. + +Nature study consisted in helping the Doctor gather specimens +of flowers, shells, insects and reptiles which were prepared and +shipped to German museums. Rizal was paid for these specimens by +scientific books and material. The director of the Royal Zoölogical +and Anthropological Museum in Dresden, Saxony, Doctor Karl von Heller, +was a great friend and admirer of Doctor Rizal. Doctor Heller's father +was tutor to the late King Alfonso XII and had many friends at the +Court of Spain. Evidently Doctor Heller and other of his European +friends did not consider Rizal a Spanish insurrectionary, but treated +him rather as a reformer seeking progress by peaceful means. + +Doctor Rizal remunerated his pupils' work with gifts of clothing, +books and other useful remembrances. Sometimes the rewards were +cartidges, and those who had accumulated enough were permitted to +accompany him in his hunting expeditions. The dignity of labor was +practically inculcated by requiring everyone to make himself useful, +and this was really the first school of the type, combining the use +of English, nature study and industrial instruction. + +On one occasion in the year 1894 some of his schoolboys secretly +went into the town in a banca; a puppy which tried to follow them +was eaten by a crocodile. Rizal tired to impress the evil effects of +disobedience upon the youngsters by pointing out to them the sorrow +which the mother-dog felt at the loss of her young one, and emphasized +the lesson by modeling a statuette called "The Mother's Revenge," +wherein she is represented, in revenge, as devouring the cayman. It +is said to be a good likeness of the animal which was Doctor Rizal's +favorite companion in his many pedestrian excursions around Dapitan. + +Father Francisco Sanchez, Rizal's instructor in rhetoric in the Ateneo, +made a long visit to Dapitan and brought with him some surveyor's +instruments, which his former pupil was delighted to assist him in +using. Together they ran the levels for a water system for the the +town, which was later, with the aid of the lay Jesuit, Brother Tildot, +carried to completion. This same water system is now being restored +and enlarged with artesian wells by the present insular, provincial +and municipal governments jointly, as part of the memorial to Rizal +in this place of his exile. + +A visit to a not distant mountain and some digging in a spot supposed +by the people of the region to be haunted brought to light curious +relics of the first Christian converts among the early Moros. + +The state of his mind at about this period of his career is indicated +by the verses written in his home in Talisay, entitled "My Retreat," +of which the following translation has been made by Mr. Charles +Derbyshire. The scene that inspired this poem has been converted by +the government into a public park to the memory of Rizal. + + + My Retreat + + By the spreading beach where the sands are soft and fine, + At the foot of the mount in its mantle of green, + I have built my hut in the pleasant grove's confine; + From the forest seeking peace and a calmness divine, + Rest for the weary brain and silence to my sorrow keen. + + Its roof the frail palm-leaf and its floor the cane, + Its beams and posts of the unhewn wood; + Little there is of value in this hut so plain, + And better by far in the lap of the mount to have lain, + By the song and the murmur of the high sea's flood. + + A purling brook from the woodland glade + Drops down o'er the stones and around it sweeps, + Whence a fresh stream is drawn by the rough cane's aid; + That in the still night its murmur has made, + And in the day's heat a crystal fountain leaps. + + When the sky is serene how gently it flows, + And its zither unseen ceaselessly plays; + But when the rains fall a torrent it goes + Boiling and foaming through the rocky close, + Roaring uncheck'd to the sea's wide ways. + + The howl of the dog and the song of the bird, + And only the kalao's hoarse call resound; + Nor is the voice of vain man to be heard, + My mind to harass or my steps to begird; + The woodlands alone and the sea wrap me round. + + The sea, ah, the sea! for me it is all, + As it massively sweeps from the worlds apart; + Its smile in the morn to my soul is a call, + And when in the even my fath seems to pall, + It breathes with its sadness an echo to my heart. + + By night an arcanum; when translucent it glows, + All spangled over with its millions of lights, + And the bright sky above resplendent shows; + While the waves with their sighs tell of their woes-- + Tales that are lost as they roll to the heights. + + They tell of the world when the first dawn broke, + And the sunlight over their surface played; + When thousands of beings from nothingness woke, + To people the depths and the heights to cloak, + Wherever its life-giving kiss was laid. + + But when in the night the wild winds awake, + And the waves in their fury begin to leap, + Through the air rush the cries that my mind shake; + Voices that pray, songs and moans that partake + Of laments from the souls sunk down in the deep. + + Then from their heights the mountains groan, + And the trees shiver tremulous from great unto least; + The groves rustle plaintive and the herds utter moan, + For they say that the ghosts of the folk that are gone + Are calling them down to their death's merry feast. + + In terror and confusion whispers the night, + While blue and green flames flit over the deep; + But calm reigns again with the morning's light, + And soon the bold fisherman comes into sight, + As his bark rushes on and the waves sink to sleep. + + So onward glide the days in my lonely abode; + Driven forth from the world where once I was known, + I muse o'er the fate upon me bestow'd; + A fragment forgotten that the moss will corrode, + To hide from mankind the world in me shown. + + I live in the thought of the lov'd ones left, + And oft their names to my mind are borne; + Some have forsaken me and some by death are reft; + But now 'tis all one, as through the past I drift, + That past which from me can never be torn. + + For it is the friend that is with me always, + That ever in sorrow keeps the faith in my soul; + While through the still night it watches and prays, + As here in my exile in my lone hut it stays, + To strengthen my faith when doubts o'er me roll. + + That faith I keep and I hope to see shine + The day when the Idea prevails over might; + When after the fray and death's slow decline, + Some other voice sounds, far happier than mine, + To raise the glad song of the triumph of right. + + I see the sky glow, refulgent and clear, + As when it forced on me my first dear illusion; + I feel the same wind kiss my forehead sere, + And the fire is the same that is burning here + To stir up youth's blood in boiling confusion. + + I breathe here the winds that perchance have pass'd + O'er the fields and the rivers of my own natal shore; + And mayhap they will bring on the returning blast + The sighs that lov'd being upon them has cast-- + Messages sweet from the love I first bore. + + To see the same moon, all silver'd as of yore, + I feel the sad thoughts within me arise; + The fond recollections of the troth we swore, + Of the field and the bower and the wide seashore, + The blushes of joy, with the silence and sighs. + + A butterfly seeking the flowers and the light, + Of other lands dreaming, of vaster extent; + Scarce a youth, from home and love I took flight, + To wander unheeding, free from doubt or affright-- + So in foreign lands were my brightest days spent. + + And when like a languishing bird I was fain + To the home of my fathers and my love to return, + Of a sudden the fierce tempest roar'd amain; + So I saw my wings shatter'd and no home remain, + My trust sold to others and wrecks round me burn. + + Hurl'd out into exile from the land I adore, + My future all dark and no refuge to seek; + My roseate dreams hover round me once more, + Sole treasures of all that life to me bore; + The faiths of youth that with sincerity speak. + + But not as of old, full of life and of grace, + Do you hold out hopes of undying reward; + Sadder I find you; on your lov'd face, + Though still sincere, the pale lines trace + The marks of the faith it is yours to guard. + + You offer now, dreams, my gloom to appease, + And the years of my youth again to disclose; + So I thank you, O storm, and heaven-born breeze, + That you knew of the hour my wild flight to ease, + To cast me back down to the soil whence I rose. + + By the spreading beach where the sands are soft and fine, + At the foot of the mount in its mantle of green; + I have found a home in the pleasant grove's confine, + In the shady woods, that peace and calmness divine, + Rest for the weary brain and silence to my sorrow keen. + + +The Church benefited by the presence of the exile, for he drew the +design for an elaborate curtain to adorn the sanctuary at Easter +time, and an artist Sister of Charity of the school there did the +oil painting under his direction. In this line he must have been +proficient, for once in Spain, where he traveled out of his way to +Saragossa to visit one of his former teachers of the Ateneo, who +he had heard was there, Rizal offered his assistance in making some +altar paintings, and the Jesuit says that his skill and taste were +much appreciated. + +The home of the Sisters had a private chapel, for which the teachers +were preparing an image of the Virgin. For the sake of economy the +head only was procured from abroad, the vestments concealing all +the rest of the figure except the feet, which rested upon a globe +encircled by a snake in whose mouth is an apple. The beauty of the +countenance, a real work of art, appealed to Rizal, and he modeled +the more prominent right foot, the apple and the serpent's head, while +the artist Sister assisted by doing the minor work. Both curtain and +image, twenty years after their making, are still in use. + +On Sundays, Father Sanchez and Rizal conducted a school for the people +after mass. As part of this education it was intended to make raised +maps in the plaza of the chief city of the eight principal islands of +the Philippines, but on account of Father Sanchez's being called away, +only one. Mindanao, was completed; it has been restored with a concrete +sidewalk and balustrade about it, while the plaza is a national park. + +Among Rizal's patients was a blind American named Taufer, fairly well +to do, who had been engineer of the pumping plant of the Hongkong Fire +Department. He was a man of bravery, for he held a diploma for helping +to rescue five Spaniards from a shipwreck in Hongkong harbor. And he +was not less kind-hearted, for he and his wife, a Portuguese, had +adopted and brought up as their own the infant daughter of a poor +Irish woman who had died in Hongkong, leaving a considerable family +to her husband, a corporal in the British Army on service there. + +The little girl had been educated in the Italian convent after the +first Mrs. Taufer died, and upon Mr. Taufer's remarriage, to another +Portuguese, the adopted daughter and Mr. Taufer's own child were +equally sharers of his home. + +This girl had known Rizal, "the Spanish doctor," as he was called +there, in Hongkong, and persuaded her adopted father that possibly +the Dapitan exile might restore his lost eyesight. So with the two +girls and his wife, Mr. Taufer set out for Mindanao. At Manila his +own daughter fell in love with a Filipino engineer, a Mr. Sunico, +now owner of a foundry in Manila, and, marrying, remained there. But +the party reached Dapitan with its original number, for they were +joined by a good-looking mestiza from the South who was unofficially +connected with one of the canons of the Manila cathedral. + +Josefina Bracken, the Irish girl, was lively, capable and of congenial +temperament, and as there no longer existed any reason against his +marriage, for Rizal considered his political days over, they agreed +to become husband and wife. + +The priest was asked to perform the ceremony, but said the Bishop +of Cebu must give his consent, and offered to write him. Rizal at +first feared that some political retraction would be asked, but +when assured that only his religious beliefs would be investigated, +promptly submitted a statement which Father Obach says covered about +the same ground as the earliest published of the retractions said to +have been made on the eve of Rizal's death. + +This document, inclosed with the priest's letter, was ready for the +mail when Rizal came hurrying in to reclaim it. The marriage was off, +for Mr. Taufer had taken his family and gone to Manila. + +The explanation of this sudden departure was that, after the blind +man had been told of the impossibility of anything being done for his +eyes, he was informed of the proposed marriage. The trip had already +cost him one daughter, he had found that his blindness was incurable, +and now his only remaining daughter, who had for seventeen years +been like his own child, was planning to leave him. He would have to +return to Hongkong hopeless and accompanied only by a wife he had +never seen, one who really was merely a servant. In his despair he +said he had nothing to live for, and, seizing his razor, would have +ended his life had not Rizal seized him just in time and held him, +with the firm grasp his athletic training had given him, till the +commandant came and calmed the excited blind man. + +It resulted in Josefina returning to Manila with him, but after a +while Mr Taufer listened to reason and she went back to Dapitan, +after a short stay in Manila with Rizal's family, to whom she had +carried his letter of introduction, taking considerable housekeeping +furniture with her. + +Further consideration changed Rizal's opinion as to marriage, possibly +because the second time the priest may not have been so liberal in his +requirements. The mother, too, seems to have suggested that as Spanish +law had established civil marriage in the Philippines, and as the local +government had not provided any way for people to avail themselves of +the right, because the governor-general had pigeon-holed the royal +decree, it would be less sinful for the two to consider themselves +civilly married than for Rizal to do violence to his conscience +by making any sort of political retraction. Any marriage so bought +would be just as little a sacrament as an absolutely civil marriage, +and the latter was free from hypocrisy. + +So as man and wife Rizal and Josefina lived together in Talisay. Father +Obach sought to prejudice public feeling in the town against the +exile for the "scandal," though other scandals happenings with less +reason were going on unrebuked. The pages of "Dapitan", which some +have considered to be the first chapter of an unfinished novel, may +reasonably be considered no more than Rizal's rejoinder to Father +Obach, written in sarcastic vein and primarily for Carnicero's +amusement, unless some date of writing earlier than this should +hereafter be found for them. + +Josefina was bright, vivacious, and a welcome addition to the little +colony at Talisay, but at times Rizal had misgivings as to how it came +that this foreigner should be permitted by a suspicious and absolute +government to join him, when Filipinos, over whom the authorities +could have exercised complete control, were kept away. Josefina's +frequent visits to the convento once brought this suspicion to an open +declaration of his misgivings by Rizal, but two days of weeping upon +her part caused him to avoid the subiect thereafter. Could the exile +have seen the confidential correspondence in the secret archives +the plan would have been plain to him, for there it is suggested +that his impressionable character could best be reached through the +sufferings of his family, and that only his mother and sisters should +be allowed to visit him. Steps in this plot were the gradual pardoning +and returning of the members of his family to their homes. + +Josefina must remain a mystery to us as she was to Rizal. While she +was in a delicate condition Rizal played a prank on her, harmless +in itself, which startled her so that she sprang forward and struck +against an iron stand. Though it was pure accident and Rizal was +scarcely at fault, he blamed himself for it, and his later devotion +seems largely to have been trying to make amends. + +The "burial of the son of Rizal," sometimes referred to as occurring at +Dapitan, has for its foundation the consequences of this accident. A +sketch hastily penciled in one of his medical books depicts an +unusual condition apparent in the infant which, had it regularly +made its appearance in the world some months later, would have been +cherished by both parents; this loss was a great and common grief +which banished thereafter all distrust upon his part and all occasion +for it upon hers. + +Rizal's mother and several of his sisters, the latter changing from +time to time, had been present during this critical period. Another +operation had been performed upon Mrs. Rizal's eyes, but she was +restive and disregarded the ordinary precautions, and the son was +in despair. A letter to his brother-in-law, Manuel Hidalgo, who was +inclined toward medical studies, says, "I now realize the reason why +physicians are directed not to practice in their own families." + +A story of his mother and Rizal, necessary to understand his +peculiar attitude toward her, may serve as the transition from +the hero's sad (later) married experience to the real romance of +his life. Mrs. Rizal's talents commanded her son's admiration, as +her care for him demanded his gratitude, but, despite the common +opinion, he never had that sense of companionship with her that he +enjoyed with his father. Mrs. Rizal was a strict disciplinarian and +a woman of unexceptionable character, but she arrogated to herself +an infallibility which at times was trying to those about her, and +she foretold bitter fates for those who dared dispute her. + +Just before José went abroad to study, while engaged to his cousin, +Leonora Rivera, Mrs. Rivera and her daughter visited their relatives in +Kalamba. Naturally the young man wished the guests to have the best of +everything; one day when they visited a bathing place near by he used +the family's newest carriage. Though this had not been forbidden, +his mother spoke rather sharply about it; José ventured to remind +her that guests were present and that it would be better to discuss +the matter in private. Angry because one of her children ventured to +dispute her, she replied: "You are an undutiful son. You will never +accomplish anything which you undertake. All your plans will result +in failure." These words could not be forgotten, as succeeding events +seemed to make their prophecy come true, and there is pathos in one of +Rizal's letters in which he reminds his mother that she had foretold +his fate. + +His thoughts of an early marriage were overruled because his unmarried +sisters did not desire to have a sister-in-law in their home who +would add to the household cares but was not trained to bear her +share of them, and even Paciano, who was in his favor, thought that +his younger brother would mar his career by marrying early. + +So, with fervent promises and high hopes, Rizal had sailed away to make +the fortune which should allow him to marry his cousin Leonora. She +was constantly in his thoughts and his long letters were mailed with +regular frequency during all his first years in Europe; but only a +few of the earliest ever reached her, and as few replies came into +his hands, though she was equally faithful as a correspondent. + +Leonora's mother had been told that it was for the good of her +daughter's soul and in the interest of her happiness that she should +not become the wife of a man like Rizal, who was obnoxious to the +Church and in disfavor with the government. So, by advice, Mrs. Rivera +gradually withheld more and more of the correspondence upon both sides, +until finally it ceased. And she constantly suggested to the unhappy +girl that her youthful lover had forgotten her amid the distractions +and gayeties of Europe. + +Then the same influence which had advised breaking off the +correspondence found a person whom the mother and others joined in +urging upon her as a husband, till at last, in the belief that she +owed obedience to her mother, she reluctantly consented. Strangely +like the proposed husband of the Maria Clara of "Noli Me Tangere," +in which book Rizal had prophetically pictured her, this husband was +"one whose children should rule "--an English engineer whose position +had been found for him to make the match more desirable. Their marriage +took place, and when Rizal returned to the Philippines she learned +how she had been deceived. Then she asked for the letters that had +been withheld, and when told that as a wife she might not keep love +letters from any but her husband, she pleaded that they be burned +and the ashes given her. This was done, and the silver box with the +blackened bits of paper upon her dresser seemed to be a consolation +during the few months of life which she knew would remain to her. + +Another great disappointment to Rizal was the action of Despujol +when he first arrived in Dapitan, for he still believed in the +Governor-General's good faith and thought in that fertile but sparsely +settled region he might plant his "New Kalamba" without the objection +that had been urged against the British North Borneo project. All +seemed to be going on favorably for the assembling of his relatives and +neighbors in what then would be no longer exile, when most insultingly, +the Governor-General refused the permission which Rizal had had reason +to rely upon his granting. The exile was reminded of his deportation +and taunted with trying to make himself a king. Though he did not know +it, this was part of the plan which was to break his spirit, so that +when he was touched with the sufferings of his family he would yield +to the influences of his youth and make complete political retraction; +thus would be removed the most reasonable, and therefore the most +formidable, opponent of the unnatural conditions Philippines and of +the selfish interests which were profiting by them. But the plotters +failed in their plan; they had mistaken their man. + +During all this time Rizal had repeated chances to escape, and persons +high in authority seem to have urged flight upon him. Running away, +however, seemed to him a confession of guilt; the opportunities +of doing so always unsettled him, for each time the battle of +self-sacrifice had to be fought over again; but he remained firm +in his purpose. To meet death bravely is one thing; to seek it is +another and harder thing; but to refuse life and choose death over +and over again during many years is the rarest kind of heroism. + +Rizal used to make long trips, sometimes cruising for a week in his +explorations of the Mindanao coast, and some of his friends proposed +to charter a steamer in Singapore and, passing near Dapitan, pick him +up on one of these trips. Another Philippine steamer going to Borneo +suggested taking him on board as a rescue at sea and then landing him +at their destination, where he would be free from Spanish power. Either +of these schemes would have been feasible, but he refused both. + +Plans, which materialized, to benefit the fishing industry by improved +nets imported from his Laguna home, and to find a market for the abaka +of Dapitan, were joined with the introduction of American machinery, +for which Rizal acted as agent, among planters of neighboring +islands. It was a busy, useful life, and in the economic advancement +of his country the exile believed he was as patriotic as when he was +working politically. + +Rizal personally had been fortunate, for in company with the commandant +and a Spaniard, originally deported for political reasons from the +Peninsula, he had gained one of the richer prizes in the government +lottery. These funds came most opportunely, for the land troubles +and succeeding litigation had almost stripped the family of all its +possessions. The account of the first news in Dapitan of the good +fortune of the three is interestingly told in an official report to the +Governor-General from the commandant. The official saw the infrequent +mail steamer arriving with flying bunting and at once imagined some +high authority was aboard; he hastened to the beach with a band of +music to assist in the welcome, but was agreeably disappointed with +the news of the luck which had befallen his prisoner and himself. + +Not all of Dapitan life was profitable and prosperous. Yet in spite +of this Rizal stayed in the town. This was pure self-sacrifice, +for he refused to make any effort for his own release by invoking +influences which could have brought pressure to bear upon the +Spanish home government. He feared to act lest obstacles might be +put in the way of the reforms that were apparently making headway +through Despujol's initiative, and was content to wait rather than +to jeopardize the prospects of others. + +A plan for his transfer to the North, in the Ilokano country, had been +deferred and had met with obstacles which Rizal believed were placed in +its way through some of his own countrymen in the Peninsula who feared +his influence upon the revenue with which politics was furnishing them. + +Another proposal was to appoint Rizal district health officer for +Dapitan, but this was merely a covert government bribe. While the +exile expressed his willingness to accept the position, he did not +make the "unequivocally Spanish" professions that were needed to +secure this appointment. + +Yet the government could have been satisfied of Rizal's innocence of +any treasonable designs against Spain's sovereignty in the Islands +had it known how the exile had declined an opportunity to head the +movement which had been initiated on the eve of his deportation. His +name had been used to gather the members together and his portrait +hung in each Katipunan lodge hall, but all this was without Rizal's +consent or even his knowledge. + +The members, who had been paying faithfully for four years, felt that +it was time that something besides collecting money was done. Their +restiveness and suspicions led Andrés Bonifacio, its head, to resort +to Rizal, feeling that a word from the exile, who had religiously +held aloof from all politics since his deportation, would give the +Katipunan leaders more time to mature their plans. So he sent a +messenger to Dapitan, Pio Valenzuela, a doctor, who to conceal his +mission took with him a blind man. Thus the doctor and his patient +appeared as on a professional visit to the exiled oculist. But though +the interview was successfully secured in this way, its results were +far from satisfactory. + +Far from feeling grateful for the consideration for the possible +consequences to him which Valenzuela pretended had prompted the +visit, Rizal indignantly insisted that the country came first. He +cited the Spanish republics of South America, with their alternating +revolutions and despotisms, as a warning against embarking on a change +of government for which the people were not prepared. Education, he +declared, was first necessary, and in his opinion general enlightenment +was the only road to progress. Valenzuela cut short his trip, glad +to escape without anyone realizing that Rizal and he had quarreled. + +Bonifacio called Rizal a coward when he heard his emissary's report, +and enjoined Valenzuela to say nothing of his trip. But the truth +leaked out, and there was a falling away in Katipunan membership. + +Doctor Rizal's own statement respecting the rebellion and Valenzuela's +visit may fitly be quoted here: + +"I had no notice at all of what was being planned until the first or +second of July, in 1896, when Pio Valenzuela came to see me, saying +that an uprising was being arranged. I told him that it was absurd, +etc., etc., and he answered me that they could bear no more. I advised +him that they should have patience, etc., etc. He added then that +he had been sent because they had compassion on my life and that +probably it would compromise me. I replied that they should have +patience and that if anything happened to me I would then prove my +innocence. 'Besides,' said I, 'don't consider me, but our country, +which is the one that will suffer.' I went on to show how absurd was +the movement.--This, later, Pio Valenzuela testified.--He did not +tell me that my name was being used, neither did he suggest that I +was its chief, or anything of that sort. + +"Those who testify that I am the chief (which I do not know, nor do I +know of having ever treated with them), what proofs do they present of +my having accepted this chiefship or that I was in relations with them +or with their society? Either they have made use of my name for their +own purposes or they have been deceived by others who have. Where is +the chief who dictates no order and makes no arrangement, who is not +consulted in anything about so important an enterprise until the last +moment, and then when he decides against it is disobeyed? Since the +seventh of July of 1892 I have entirely ceased political activity. It +seems some have wished to avail themselves of my name for their +own ends." + +This was Rizal's second temptation to engage in politics, the first +having been a trap laid by his enemies. A man had come to see Rizal +in his earlier days in Dapitan, claiming to be a relative and seeking +letters to prominent Filipinos. The deceit was too plain and Rizal +denounced the envoy to the commandant, whose investigations speedily +disclosed the source of the plot. Further prosecution, of course, +ceased at once. + +The visit of some image vendors from Laguna who never before had +visited that region, and who seemed more intent on escaping notice +than interested in business, appeared suspicious, but upon report of +the Jesuits the matter was investigated and nothing really suspicious +was found. + +Rizal's charm of manner and attraction for every one he met is best +shown by his relations with the successive commandants at Dapitan, +all of whom, except Carnicero, were naturally predisposed against him, +but every one became his friend and champion. One even asked relief on +the ground of this growing favorable impression upon his part toward +his prisoner. + +At times there were rumors of Rizal's speedy pardon, and he would +think of going regularly into scientific work, collecting for those +European museums which had made him proposals that assured ample +livelihood and congenial work. + +Then Doctor Blumentritt wrote to him of the ravages of disease among +the Spanish soldiers in Cuba and the scarcity of surgeons to attend +them. Here was a labor "eminently humanitarian," to quote Rizal's words +of his own profession, and it made so strong an appeal to him that, +through the new governor-general, for Despujol had been replaced by +Blanco, he volunteered his services. The minister of war of that time, +General Azcarraga, was Philippine born. Blanco considered the time +favorable for granting Rizal's petition and thus lifting the decree of +deportation without the embarrassment of having the popular prisoner +remain in the Islands. + +The thought of resuming his travels evidently inspired the following +poem, which was written at about this time. The translation is by +Arthur P. Ferguson: + + + The Song of the Traveler + + Like to a leaf that is fallen and withered, + Tossed by the tempest from pole unto pole; + Thus roams the pilgrim abroad without purpose, + Roams without love, without country or soul. + + Following anxiously treacherous fortune, + Fortune which e'en as he grasps at it flees; + Vain though the hopes that his yearning is seeking, + Yet does the pilgrim embark on the seas! + + Ever impelled by invisible power, + Destined to roam from the East to the West; + Oft he remembers the faces of loved ones, + Dreams of the day when he, too, was at rest. + + Chance may assign him a tomb on the desert, + Grant him a final asylum of peace; + Soon by the world and his country forgotten, + God rest his soul when his wanderings cease! + + Often the sorrowful pilgrim is envied, + Circling the globe like a sea-gull above; + Little, ah, little they know what a void + Saddens his soul by the absence of love. + + Home may the pilgrim return in the future, + Back to his loved ones his footsteps he bends; + Naught will he find but the snow and the ruins, + Ashes of love and the tomb of his friends. + + Pilgrim, begone! Nor return more hereafter. + Stranger thou art in the land of thy birth; + Others may sing of their love while rejoicing, + Thou once again must roam o'er the earth. + + Pilgrim, begone! Nor return more hereafter, + Dry are the tears that a while for thee ran; + Pilgrim, begone! And forget thy affliction, + Loud laughs the world at the sorrows of man. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +"Consummatum Est" + +NOTICE of the granting of his request came to Rizal just when +repeated disappointments had caused him to prepare for staying +in Dapitan. Immediately he disposed of his salable possessions, +including a Japanese tea set and large mirror now among the Rizal +relics preserved by the government, and a piece of outlying land, +the deed for which is also among the Rizalana in the Philippines +library. Some half-finished busts were thrown into the pool behind +the dam. Despite the short notice all was ready for the trip in time, +and, attended by some of his schoolboys as well as by Josefina and +Rizal's niece, the daughter of his youngest sister, Soledad, whom +Josefina wished to adopt, the party set out for Manila. + +The journey was not an uneventful one; at Dumaguete Rizal was the +guest of a Spanish judge at dinner; in Cebu he operated successfully +upon the eyes of a foreign merchant; and in Iloilo the local newspaper +made much of his presence. + +The steamer from Dapitan reached Manila a little too late for the mail +boat for Spain, and Rizal obtained permission to await the next sailing +on board the cruiser Castilla, in the bay. Here he was treated like a +guest and more than once the Spanish captain invited members of Rizal's +family to be his guests at dinner--Josefina with little Maria Luisa, +the niece and the schoolboys, for whom positions had been obtained, +in Manila. + +The alleged uprising of the Katipunan occurred during this time. A +Tondo curate, with an eye to promotion, professed to have discovered +a gigantic conspiracy. Incited by him, the lower class of Spaniards +in Manila made demonstrations against Blanco and tried to force +that ordinarily sensible and humane executive into bloodthirsty +measures, which should terrorize the Filipinos. Blanco had known of +the Katipunan but realized that so long as interested parties were +using it as a source of revenue, its activities would not go much +beyond speechmaking. The rabble was not so far-seeing, and from high +authorities came advice that the country was in a fever and could +only be saved by blood-letting. + +Wholesale arrests filled every possible place for prisoners in +Manila. The guilt of one suspect consisted in having visited the +American consul to secure the address of a New York medical journal, +and other charges were just as frivolous. There was a reign of terror +in Luzon and, to save themselves, members of the Katipunan resorted to +that open warfare which, had Blanco's prudent counsels been regarded, +would probably have been avoided. + +While the excitement was at its height, with a number of executions +failing to satisfy the blood-hunger, Rizal sailed for Spain, +bearing letters of recommendation from Blanco. These vouched for his +exemplary conduct during his exile and stated that he had in no way +been implicated in the conspiracies then disturbing the Islands. + +The Spanish mail boat upon which Rizal finally sailed had among its +passengers a sick Jesuit, to whose care Rizal devoted himself, and +though most of the passengers were openly hostile to one whom they +supposed responsible for the existing outbreak, his professional +skill led several to avail themselves of his services. These were +given with a deference to the ship's doctor which made that official +an admirer and champion of his colleague. + +Three only of the passengers, however, were really friendly--one +Juan Utor y Fernandez, a prominent Mason and republican, another +ex-official in the Philippines who shared Utor's liberal views, +and a young man whose father was republican. + +But if Rizal's chief adversaries were content that he should go where +he would not molest them or longer jeopardize their interests, the +rabble that had been excited by the hired newspaper advocates was +not so easily calmed. Every one who felt that his picture had been +painted among the lower Spanish types portrayed in "Noli Me Tangere" +was loud for revenge. The clamor grew so great that it seemed possible +to take advantage of it to displace General Blanco, who was not a +convenient tool for the interests. + +So his promotion was bought, it is said, to get one Polavieja, +a willing tool, in his place. As soon as this scheme was arranged, +a cablegram ordering Rizal's arrest was sent; it overtook the steamer +at Suez. Thus as a prisoner he completed his journey. + +But this had not been entirely unforeseen, for when the steamer reached +Singapore, Rizal's companion on board, the Filipino millionaire Pedro +P. Roxas, had deserted the ship, urging the ex-exile to follow his +example. Rizal demurred, and said such flight would be considered +confession of guilt, but he was not fully satisfied in his mind that +he was safe. At each port of call his uncertainty as to what course +to pursue manifested itself, for though he considered his duty to his +country already done, and his life now his own, he would do nothing +that suggested an uneasy conscience despite his lack of confidence +in Spanish justice. + +At first, not knowing the course of events in Manila, he very naturally +blamed Governor-General Blanco for bad faith, and spoke rather harshly +of him in a letter to Doctor Blumentritt, an opinion which he changed +later when the truth was revealed to him in Manila. + +Upon the arrival of the steamer in Barcelona the prisoner was +transferred to Montjuich Castle, a political prison associated with +many cruelties, there to await the sailing that very day of the +Philippine mail boat. The Captain-General was the same Despujol +who had decoyed Rizal into the power of the Spaniards four years +before. An interesting interview of some hours' duration took place +between the governor and the prisoner, in which the clear conscience +of the latter seems to have stirred some sense of shame in the man +who had so dishonorably deceived him. + +He never heard of the effort of London friends to deliver him at +Singapore by means of habeas-corpus proceedings. Mr. Regidor furnished +the legal inspiration and Mr. Baustead the funds for getting an opinion +as to Rizal's status as a prisoner when in British waters, from Sir +Edward Clarke, ex-solicitor-general of Great Britain. Captain Camus, a +Filipino living in Singapore, was cabled to, money was made available +in the Chartered Bank of Singapore, as Mr. Baustead's father's +firm was in business in that city, and a lawyer, now Sir Hugh Fort, +K.C., of London, was retained. Secretly, in order that the attempt, +if unsuccessful, might not jeopardize the prisoner, a petition was +presented to the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements reciting the +facts that Doctor José Rizal, according to the Philippine practice of +punishing Freemasons without trial, was being deprived of his liberty +without warrant of law upon a ship then within the jurisdiction of +the court. + +According to Spanish law Rizal was being illegally held on the Spanish +mail steamer Colon, for the Constitution of Spain forbade detention +except on a judge's order, but like most Spanish laws the Constitution +was not much respected by Spanish officials. Rizal had never had a +hearing before any judge, nor had any charge yet been placed against +him. The writ of habeas corpus was justified, provided the Colon were +a merchant ship that would be subject to British law when in British +port, but the mail steamer that carried Rizal also had on board Spanish +soldiers and flew the royal flag as if it were a national transport. No +one was willing to deny that this condition made the ship floating +Spanish territory, and the judge declined to issue the writ. + +Rizal reached Manila on November 3 and was at once transferred to +Fort Santiago, at first being held in a dungeon "incomunicado" and +later occupying a small cell on the ground floor. Its furnishings +had to be supplied by himself and they consisted of a small rattan +table, a high-backed chair, a steamer chair of the same material, +and a cot of the kind used by Spanish officers--canvas top and +collapsible frame which closed up lengthwise. His meals were sent in +by his family, being carried by one of his former pupils at Dapitan, +and such cooking or heating as was necessary was done on an alcohol +lamp which had been presented to him in Paris by Mrs. Tavera. + +An unsuccessful effort had been made earlier to get evidence against +Rizal by torturing his brother Paciano. For hours the elder brother had +been seated at a table in the headquarters of the political police, +a thumbscrew on one hand and pen in the other, while before him +was a confession which would implicate José Rizal in the Katipunan +uprising. The paper remained unsigned, though Paciano was hung up by +the elbows till he was insensible, and then cut down that the fall +might revive him. Three days of this maltreatment made him so ill +that there was no possibility of his signing anything, and he was +carted home. + +It would not be strictly accurate to say that at the close of the +nineteenth century the Spaniards of Manila were using the same tortures +that had made their name abhorrent in Europe three centuries earlier, +for there was some progress; electricity was employed at times as +an improved method of causing anguish, and the thumbscrews were much +more neatly finished than those used by the Dons of the Dark Ages. + +Rizal did not approve of the rebellion and desired to issue a manifesto +to those of his countrymen who had been deceived into believing that +he was their leader. But the proclamation was not politic, for it +contained none of those fulsomely flattering phrases which passed +for patriotism in the feverish days of 1896. The address was not +allowed to be made public but it was passed on to the prosecutor to +form another count in the indictment of José Rizal for not esteeming +Spanish civilization. + +The following address to some Filipinos shows more clearly and +unmistakably than any words of mine exactly what was the state of +Rizal's mind in this matter. + + +COUNTRYMEN: + +On my return from Spain I learned that my name had been in use, +among some who were in arms, as a war-cry. The news came as a painful +surprise, but, believing it already closed, I kept silent over an +incident which I considered irremediable. Now I notice indications of +the disturbances continuing and if any still, in good or bad faith, are +availing themselves of my name, to stop this abuse and undeceive the +unwary I hasten to address you these lines that the truth may be known. + +From the very beginning, when I first had notice of what was being +planned, I opposed it, fought it, and demonstrated its absolute +impossibility. This is the fact, and witnesses to my words are now +living. I was convinced that the scheme was utterly absurd, and, +what was worse, would bring great suffering. + +I did even more. When later, against my advice, the movement +materialized, of my own accord I offered not alone my good offices, +but my very life, and even my name, to be used in whatever way +might seem best, toward stifling the rebellion; for, convinced of +the ills which it would bring, I considered myself fortunate if, at +any sacrifice, I could prevent such useless misfortunes. This equally +is of record. My countrymen, I have given proofs that I am one most +anxious for liberties for our country, and I am still desirous of +them. But I place as a prior condition the education of the people, +that by means of instruction and industry our country may have an +individuality of its own and make itself worthy of these liberties. I +have recommended in my writings the study of the civic virtues, +without which there is no redemption. I have written likewise (and I +repeat my words) that reforms, to be beneficial, must come from above, +that those which come from below are irregularly gained and uncertain. + +Holding these ideas, I cannot do less than condemn, and I do condemn +this uprising--as absurd, savage, and plotted behind my back--which +dishonors us Filipinos and discredits those who could plead our +cause. I abhor its criminal methods and disclaim all part in it, +pitying from the bottom of my heart the unwary who have been deceived. + +Return, then, to your homes, and may God pardon those who have worked +in bad faith! + +José Rizal. + +Fort Santiago, December 15, 1896. + + +Finally a court-martial was convened for Rizal's trial, in the +Cuartel de España. No trained counsel was allowed to defend him, +but a list of young army officers was presented from which he might +select a nominal defender. Among the names was one which was familiar, +Luis Taviel de Andrade, and he proved to be the brother of Rizal's +companion during his visit to the Philippines in 1887-88. The young +man did his best and risked unpopularity in order to be loyal to +his client. His defense reads pitiably weak in these days but it was +risky then to say even so much. + +The judge advocate in a ridiculously bombastic effusion gave an +alleged sketch of Rizal's life which showed ignorance of almost every +material event, and then formulated the first precise charge against +the prisoner, which was that he had founded an illegal society, +alleging that the Liga Filipina had for its sole object to commit +the crime of rebellion. + +The second charge was that Rizal was responsible for the existing +rebellion, having caused it, bringing it on by his unceasing labors. An +aggravating circumstance was found in the prisoner's being a native +of the Philippines. + +The penalty of death was asked of the court, and in the event of pardon +being granted by the crown, the prisoner should at least remain under +surveillance for the rest of his life and pay as damages 20,000 pesos. + +The arguments are so absurd, the bias of the court so palpable, that +it is not worth while to discuss them. The parallel proceedings in +the military trial and execution of Francisco Ferret in Barcelona in +1909 caused worldwide indignation, and the illegality of almost every +step, according to Spanish law, was shown in numerous articles in +the European and American press. Rizal's case was even more brazenly +unfair, but Manila was too remote and the news too carefully censored +for the facts to become known. + +The prisoner's arms were tied, corded from elbow to elbow behind +his back, and thus he sat through the weary trial while the public +jeered him and clamored for his condemnation as the bloodthirsty +crowds jeered and clamored in the French Reign of terror. + +Then came the verdict and the prisoner was invited to acknowledge +the regularity of the proceedings in the farcical trial by signing +the record. To this Rizal demurred, but after a vain protest, affixed +his signature. + +He was at once transferred to the Fort chapel, there to pass the last +twenty-four hours of his life in preparing for death. The military +chaplain offered his services, which were courteously declined, but +when the Jesuits came, those instructors of his youth were eagerly +welcomed. + +Rizal's trial had awakened great interest and accounts of everything +about the prisoner were cabled by eager correspondents to the Madrid +newspapers. One of the newspaper men who visited Rizal in his cell +mentions the courtesy of his reception, and relates how the prisoner +played the host and insisted on showing his visitor those attentions +which Spanish politeness considers due to a guest, saying that these +must be permitted, for he was in his own home. The interviewer found +the prisoner perfectly calm and natural, serious of course, but not +at all overwhelmed by the near prospect of death, and in discussing +his career Rizal displayed that dispassionate attitude toward his +own doings that was characteristic of him. Almost as though speaking +of a stranger he mentioned that if Archbishop Nozaleda's sane view +had been taken and "Noli Me Tangere" not preached against, he would +not have been in prison, and perhaps the rebellion would never have +occurred. It is easy for us to recognize that the author referred to +the misconception of his novel, which had arisen from the publication +of the censor's extracts, which consisted of whatever could be +construed into coming under one of the three headings of attacks on +religion, attacks on government, and reflections on Spanish character, +without the slightest regard to the context. + +But the interviewer, quite honestly, reported Rizal to be regretting +his novel instead of regretting its miscomprehension, and he seems +to have been equally in error in the way he mistook Rizal's meaning +about the republicans in Spain having led him astray. + +Rizal's exact words are not given in the newspaper account, but it is +not likely that a man would make admissions in a newspaper interview, +which if made formally, would have saved his life. Rizal's memory +has one safeguard against the misrepresentations which the absence +of any witnesses favorable to him make possible regarding his last +moments: a political retraction would have prevented his execution, +and since the execution did take place, it is reasonable to believe +that Rizal died holding the views for which he had expressed himself +willing to suffer martyrdom. + +Yet this view does not reflect upon the good faith of the reporter. It +is probable that the prisoner was calling attention to the illogical +result that, though he had disregarded the advice of the radical +Spaniards who urged him to violent measures, his peaceable agitation +had been misunderstood and brought him to the same situation as though +he had actually headed a rebellion by arms. His slighting opinion +of his great novel was the view he had always held, for like all +men who do really great things, he was the reverse of a braggart, +and in his remark that he had attempted to do great things without +the capacity for gaining success, one recognizes his remembrance of +his mother's angry prophecy foretelling failure in all he undertook. + +His family waited long outside the Governor-General's place to ask +a pardon, but in vain; General Polavieja had to pay the price of his +appointment and refused to see them. + +The mother and sisters, however, were permitted to say farewell to +Rizal in the chapel, under the eyes of the death-watch. The prisoner +had been given the unusual privilege of not being tied, but he was +not allowed to approach near his relatives, really for fear that +he might pass some writing to them--the pretext was made that Rizal +might thus obtain the means for committing suicide. + +To his sister Trinidad Rizal spoke of having nothing to give her +by way of remembrance except the alcohol cooking lamp which he had +been using, a gift, as he mentioned, from Mrs. Tavera. Then he added +quickly, in English, so that the listening guard would not understand, +"There is something inside." + +The other events of Rizal's last twenty-four hours, for he went in to +the chapel at seven in the morning of the day preceding his execution, +are perplexing. What purported to be a detailed account was promptly +published in Barcelona, on Jesuit authority, but one must not forget +that Spaniards are not of the phlegmatic disposition which makes for +accuracy in minute matters and even when writing history they are +dramatically ificlined. So while the truthfulness, that is the intent +to be fair, may not be questioned, it would not be strange if those who +wrote of what happened in the chapel in Fort Santiago during Rizal's +last hours did not escape entirely from the influence of the national +characteristics. In the main their narrative is to be accepted, +but the possibility of unconscious coloring should not be disregarded. + +In substance it is alleged that Rizal greeted his old instructors +and other past acquaintances in a friendly way. He asked for copies +of the Gospels and the writings of Thomas-à-Kempis, desired to be +formally married to Josefina, and asked to be allowed to confess. The +Jesuits responded that first it would be necessary to investigate +how far his beliefs conformed to the Roman Catholic teachings. Their +catechizing convinced them that he was not orthodox and a religious +debate ensued in which Rizal, after advancing all known arguments, +was completely vanquished. His marriage was made contingent upon his +signing a retraction of his published heresies. + +The Archbishop had prepared a form which the Jesuits believed +Rizal would be little likely to sign, and they secured permission +to substitute a shorter one of their own which included only the +absolute essentials for reconciliation with the Church, and avoided all +political references. They say that Rizal objected only to a disavowal +of Freemasonry, stating that in England, where he held his membership, +the Masonic institution was not hostile to the Church. After some +argument, he waived this point and wrote out, at a Jesuit's dictation, +the needed retraction, adding some words to strengthen it in parts, +indicating his Catholic education and that the act was of his own +free will and accord. + +The prisoner, the priests, and all the Spanish officials present knelt +at the altar, at Rizal's suggestion, while he read his retraction +aloud. Afterwards he put on a blue scapular, kissed the image of +the Sacred Heart he had carved years before, heard mass as when +a student in the Ateneo, took communion, and read his à-Kempis or +prayed in the intervals. He took breakfast with the Spanish officers, +who now regarded him very differently. At six Josefina entered and +was married to him by Father Balanguer. + +Now in this narrative there are some apparent discrepancies. Mention is +made of Rizal having in an access of devotion signed in a devotionary +all the acts of faith, and it is said that this book was given to one +of his sisters. His chapel gifts to his family have been examined, +but though there is a book of devotion, "The Anchor of Faith," it +contains no other signature than the presentation on a flyleaf. As +to the religious controversy: while in Dapitan Rizal carried on with +Father Pio Pi, the Jesuit superior, a lengthy discussion involving the +interchange of many letters, but he succeeded in fairly maintaining +his views, and these views would hardly have caused him to be called +Protestant in the Roman Catholic churches of America. Then the +theatrical reading aloud of his retraction before the altar does not +conform to Rizal's known character. As to the anti-Masonic arguments, +these appear to be from a work by Monsignor Dupanloup and therefore +were not new to Rizal; furthermore, the book was in his own library. + +Again, it seems strange that Rizal should have asserted that his +Masonic membership was in London when in visiting St. John's Lodge, +Scotch Constitution, in Hongkong in November of 1891, since which +date he had not been in London, he registered as from "Temple du +honneur de les amis français," an old-established Paris lodge. + +Also the sister Lucia, who was said to have been a witness of the +marriage, is not positive that it occurred, having only seen the +priest at the altar in his vestments. The record of the marriage +has been stated to be in the Manila Cathedral, but it is not there, +and as the Jesuit in officiating would have been representing the +military chaplain, the entry should have been in the Fort register, +now in Madrid. Rizal's burial, too, does not indicate that he died +in the faith, yet it with the marriage has been used as an argument +for proving that the retraction must have been made. + +The retraction itself appears in two versions, with slight +differences. No one outside the Spanish faction has ever seen +the original, though the family nearly got into trouble by their +persistence in trying to get sight of it after its first publication. + +The foregoing might suggest some disbelief, but in fact they are only +proofs of the remarks already made about the Spanish carelessness in +details and liking for the dramatic. + +The writer believes Rizal made a retraction, was married canonically, +and was given what was intended to be Christian burial. + +The grounds for this belief rest upon the fact that he seems never +to have been estranged in faith from the Roman Catholic Church, +but he objected only to certain political and mercenary abuses. The +first retraction is written in his style and it certainly contains +nothing he could not have signed in Dapitan. In fact, Father Obach +says that when he wanted to marry Josefina on her first arrival there, +Rizal prepared a practically similar statement. Possibly the report of +that priest aided in outlining the draft which the Jesuits substituted +for the Archbishop's form. There is no mention of evasions or mental +reservations and Rizal's renunciation of Masonry might have been +qualified by the quibble that it was "the Masonry which was an enemy +of the Church" that he was renouncing. Then since his association +(not affiliation) had been with Masons not hostile to religion, +he was not abandoning these. + +The possibility of this line of thought having suggested itself to +him appears in his evasions on the witness-stand at his trial. Though +he answered with absolute frankhess whatever concerned himself and in +everyday life was almost quixotically truthful, when cross-examined +about others who would be jeopardized by admitting his acquaintance +with them, he used the subterfuge of the symbolic names of his Masonic +acquaintances. Thus he would say, "I know no one by that name," since +care was always taken to employ the symbolic names in introductions +and conversations. + +Rizal's own symbolic name was "Dimas Alang"--Tagalog for "Noli +Me Tangere"--and his nom de plume in some of his controversial +publications. The use of that name by one of his companions on the +railroad trip to Tarlac entirely mystified a station master, as appears +in the secret report of the espionage of that trip, which just preceded +his deportation to Dapitan. Another possible explanation is that, since +Freemasonry professes not to disturb the duties which its members owe +to God, their country or their families, he may have considered himself +as a good Mason under obligation to do whatever was demanded by these +superior interests, all three of which were at this time involved. + +The argument that it was his pride that restrained him suggested to +Rizal the possibility of his being unconsciously under an influence +which during his whole life he had been combating, and he may have +considered that his duty toward God required the sacrifice of this +pride. + +For his country his sacrifice would have been blemished were any +religious stigma to attach to it. He himself had always been careful +of his own good name, and as we have said elsewhere, he told his +companions that in their country's cause whatever they offered on the +altars of patriotism must be as spotless as the sacrificial lambs of +Levitical law. + +Furthermore, his work for a tranquil future for his family would be +unfulfilled were he to die outside the Church. Josefina's anomalous +status, justifiable when all the facts were known, would be sure +to bring criticism upon her unless corrected by the better defined +position of a wife by a church marriage. Then the aged parents and +the numerous children of his sisters would by his act be saved the +scandal that in a country so mediævally pious as the Philippines +would come from having their relative die "an unrepentant heretic." + +Rizal had received from the Jesuits, while in prison, several religious +books and pictures, which he used as remembrances for members of his +family, writing brief dedications upon them. Then he said good-by to +Josefina, asking in a low voice some question to which she answered +in English, "Yes, yes," and aloud inquiring how she would be able to +gain a living, since all his property had been seized by the Spanish +government to satisfy the 20,000 pesetas costs which was included in +the sentence of death against him. Her reply was that she could earn +money giving lessons in English. + +The journey from the Fort to the place of execution, then Bagumbayan +Field, now called the Luneta, was on foot. His arms were tied tightly +behind his back, and he was surrounded by a heavy guard. The Jesuits +accompanied him and some of his Dapitan schoolboys were in the crowd, +while one friendly voice, that of a Scotch merchant still resident +in Manila, called out in English, "Good-by, Rizal." + +The route was along the Malecon Drive where as a college student he +had walked with his fiancée, Leonora. Above the city walls showed the +twin towers of the Ateneo, and when he asked about them, for they were +not there in his boyhood days, he spoke of the happy years that he +had spent in the old school. The beauty of the morning, too, appealed +to him, and may have recalled an experience of his '87 visit when he +said to a friend whom he met on the beach during an early morning walk: +"Do you know that I have a sort of foreboding that some such sunshiny +morning as this I shall be out here facing a firing squad?" + +Troops held back the crowds and left a large square for the tragedy, +while artillery behind them was ready for suppressing any attempt at +rescuing the prisoner. None came, however, for though Rizal's brother +Paciano had joined the insurrectionary forces in Cavite when the death +sentence showed there was no more hope for José, he had discouraged +the demonstration that had been planned as soon as he learned how +scantily the insurgents were armed, hardly a score of serviceable +firearms being in the possession of their entire "army." + +The firing squad was of Filipino soldiers, while behind them, better +armed, were Spaniards in case these tried to evade the fratricidal +part assigned them. Rizal's composure aroused the curiosity of a +Spanish military surgeon standing by and he asked, "Colleague, may +I feel your pulse?" Without other reply the prisoner twisted one of +his hands as far from his body as the cords which bound him allowed, +so that the other doctor could place his fingers on the wrist. The +beats were steady and showed neither excitement nor fear, was the +report made ater. + +His request to be allowed to face his executioners was denied as being +out of the power of the commanding officer to grant, though Rizal +declared that he did not deserve such a death, for he was no traitor +to Spain. It was promised, however, that his head should be respected, +and as unblindfolded and erect Rizal turned his back to receive their +bullets, he twisted a hand to indicate under the shoulder where the +soldiers should aim so as to reach his heart. Then as the volley came, +with a last supreme effort of will power, he turned and fell face +upwards, thus receiving the subsequent "shots of grace" which ended his +life, so that in form as well as fact he did not die a traitor's death. + +The Spanish national air was played, that march of Cadiz which should +have recalled a violated constitution, for by the laws of Spain itself +Rizal was illegally executed. + +Vivas, laughter and applause were heard, for it had been the social +event of the day, with breakfasting parties on the walls and on +the carriages, full of interested onlookers of both sexes, lined up +conveniently near for the sightseeing. + +The troops defiled past the dead body, as though reviewed by it, +for the most commanding figure of all was that which lay lifeless, +but the center of all eyes. An officer, realizing the decency due to +death, drew his handkerchief from the dead man's pocket and spread +the silk over the calm face. A crimson stain soon marked the whiteness +emblematic of the pure life that had just ended, and with the glorious +blue overhead, the tricolor of Liberty, which had just claimed another +martyr, was revealed in its richest beauty. + +Sir Hugh Clifford (now Governor of Ceylon), in Blackwood's Magazine, +"The Story of José Rizal, the Filipino; A Fragment of Recent Asiatic +History," comments as follows on the disgraceful doing of that day: + +"It was," he writes, "early morning, December 30, 1896, and the bright +sunshine of the tropics streamed down upon the open space, casting +hard fantastic shadows, and drenching with its splendor two crowds +of sightseers. The one was composed of Filipinos, cowed, melancholy, +sullen, gazing through hopeless eyes at the final scene in the life of +their great countryman--the man who had dared to champion their cause, +and to tell the world the story of their miseries; the other was blithe +of air, gay with the uniforms of officers and the bright dresses of +Spanish ladies, the men jesting and laughing, the women shamelessly +applauding with waving handkerchiefs and clapping palms, all alike +triumphing openly in the death of the hated 'Indian,' the 'brother +of the water-buffalo,' whose insolence had wounded their pride. + +* * * Turning away, sick at heart, from the contemplation of this +bitter tragedy, it is with a thrill of almost vindictive satisfaction +that one remembers that less than eighteen months later the Luneta +echoed once more to the sound of a mightier fusillade--the roar of +the great guns with which the battle of Manila Bay was fought and won. + +* * *And if in the moment of his last supreme agony the power to probe +the future had been vouchsafed to José Rizal, would he not have died +happy in the knowledge that the land he loved so dearly was very soon +to be transferred into such safekeeping?" + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The After-Life in Memory + +An hour or so after the shooting a dead-wagon from San Juan de Diós +Hospital took Rizal's body to Paco Cemetery. The civil governor of +Manila was in charge and there also were present the members of a +Church society whose duty it was to attend executions. + +Rizal had been wearing a black suit which he had obtained for his +European trip, and a derby hat, not only appropriate for a funeral +occasion because of their somber color, but also more desirable +than white both for the full day's wear, since they had to be put +on before the twenty-four hours in the chapel, and for the lying on +the ground which would follow the execution of the sentence. A plain +box inclosed the remains thus dressed, for even the hat was picked +up and encoffined. + +No visitors were admitted to the cemetery while the interment was +going on, and for several weeks after guards watched over the grave, +lest Filipinos might come by night to steal away the body and apportion +the clothing among themselves as relics of a martyr. Even the exact +spot of the interment was intended to be unknown, but friends of the +family were among the attendants at the burial and dropped into the +grave a marble slab which had been furnished them, bearing the initials +of the full baptismal name, José Protasio Rizal, in reversed order. + +The entry of the burial, like that of three of his followers of the +Liga Filipina who were among the dozen executed a fortnight later, +was on the back flyleaf of the cemetery register, with three or four +words of explanation later erased and now unknown. On the previous +page was the entry of a suicide's death, and following it is that of +the British Consul who died on the eve of Manila's surrender and whose +body, by the Archbishop's permission, was stored in a Paco niche till +it could be removed to the Protestant (foreigners') cemetery at San +Pedro Macati. + +The day of Rizal's execution, the day of his birth and the day of +his first leaving his native land was a Wednesday. All that night, +and the next day, the celebration continued the volunteers, who +were particularly responsible, like their fellows in Cuba, for the +atrocities which disgraced Spain's rule in the Philippines, being +especially in evidence. It was their clamor that had made the bringing +back of Rizal possible, their demands for his death had been most +prominent in his so-called trial, and now they were praising themselves +for their "patriotism." The landlords had objected to having their land +titles questioned and their taxes raised. The other friar orders, as +well as these, were opposed to a campaign which sought their transfer +from profitable parishes to self-sacrificing missionary labors. But +probably none of them as organizations desired Rizal's death. + +Rizal's old teachers wished for the restoration of their former +pupil to the faith of his childhood, from which they believed he had +departed. Through Despujol they seem to have worked for an opportunity +for influencing him, yet his death was certainly not in their plans. + +Some Filipinos, to save themselves, tried to complicate Rizal with the +Katipunan uprising by palpable falsehoods. But not every man is heroic +and these can hardly be blamed, for if all the alleged confessions +were not secured by actual torture, they were made through fear of +it, since in 1896 there was in Manila the legal practice of causing +bodily suffering by mediæval methods supplemented by torments devised +by modern science. + +Among the Spaniards in Manila then, reënforced by those whom +the uprising had frightened out of the provinces, were a few who +realized that they belonged among the classes caricatured in Rizal's +novels--some incompetent, others dishonest, cruel ones, the illiterate, +wretched specimens that had married outside their race to get money +and find wives who would not know them for what they were, or drunken +husbands of viragoes. They came to the Philippines because they were +below the standard of their homeland. These talked the loudest and +thus dominated the undisciplined volunteers. With nothing divine about +them, since they had not forgotten, they did not forgive. So when the +Tondo "discoverer" of the Katipunan fancied he saw opportunity for +promotion in fanning their flame of wrath, they claimed their victims, +and neither the panic-stricken populace nor the weak-kneed government +could withstand them. + +Once more it must be repeated that Spain has no monopoly of bad +characters, nor suffers in the comparison of her honorable citizenship +with that of other nationalities, but her system in the Philippines +permitted abuses which good governments seek to avoid or, in the +rare occasions when this is impossible, aim to punish. Here was the +Spanish shortcoming, for these were the defects which made possible +so strange a story as this biography unfolds. "José Rizal," said a +recent Spanish writer, "was the living indictment of Spain's wretched +colonial system." + +Rizal's family were scattered among the homes of friends brave enough +to risk the popular resentment against everyone in any way identified +with the victim of their prejudice. + +As New Year's eve approached, the bands ceased playing and the marchers +stopped parading. Their enthusiasm had worn itself out in the two +continuous days of celebration, and there was a lessening of the +hospitality with which these "heroes" who had "saved the fatherland" +at first had been entertained. Their great day of the year became of +more interest than further remembrance of the bloody occurrence on +Bagumbayan Field. To those who mourned a son and a brother the change +must have come as a welcome relief, for even sorrow has its degrees, +and the exultation over the death embittered their grief. + +To the remote and humble home where Rizal's widow and the sister +to whom he had promised a parting gift were sheltered, the Dapitan +schoolboy who had attended his imprisoned teacher brought an alcohol +cooking-lamp. It was midnight before they dared seek the "something" +which Rizal had said was inside. The alcohol was emptied from the tank +and, with a convenient hairpin, a tightly folded and doubled piece of +paper was dislodged from where it had been wedged in, out of sight, +so that its rattling might not betray it. + +It was a single sheet of notepaper bearing verses in Rizal's well-known +handwriting and familiar style. Hastily the young boy copied them, +making some minor mistakes owing to his agitation and unfamiliarity +with the language, and the copy, without explanation, was mailed to +Mr. Basa in Hongkong. Then the original was taken by the two women with +their few possessions and they fled to join the insurgents in Cavite. + +The following translation of these verses was made by Charles +Derbyshire: + + + My Last Farewell + + Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caress'd, + Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost! + Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life's best, + And were it brighter, fresher, or more blest, + Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost. + + On the field of battle, 'mid the frenzy of fight, + Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed; + The place matters not--cypress or laurel or lily white, + Scaffold of open plain, combat or martyrdom's plight, + 'Tis ever the same, to serve our home and country's need. + + I die just when I see the dawn break, + Through the gloom of night, to herald the day; + And if color is lacking my blood thou shalt take, + Pour'd out at need for thy dear sake, + To dye with its crimson the waking ray. + + My dreams, when life first opened to me, + My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high, + Were to see thy lov'd face, O gem of the Orient sea, + From gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free; + No blush on thy brow, no tear in thine eye + + Dream of my life, my living and burning desire, + All hail! cries the soul that is now to take flight; + All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire; + To die for thy sake, that thou mayst aspire; + And sleep in thy bosom eternity's long night. + + If over my grave some day thou seest grow, + In the grassy sod, a humble flower, + Draw it to thy lips and kiss my soul so, + While I may feel on my brow in the cold tomb below + The touch of thy tenderness, thy breath's warm power. + + Let the moon beam over me soft and serene, + Let the dawn shed over me its radiant flashes, + Let the wind with sad lament over me keen; + And if on my cross a bird should be seen, + Let it trill there its hymn of peace to my ashes. + + Let the sun draw the vapors up to the sky, + And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest; + Let some kind soul o'er my untimely fate sigh, + And in the still evening a prayer be lifted on high + From thee, O my country, that in God I may rest. + + Pray for all those that hapless have died, + For all who have suffered the unmeasur'd pain; + For our mothers that bitterly their woes have cried, + For widows and orphans, for captives by torture tried; + And then for thyself that redemption thou mayst gain. + + And when the dark night wraps the graveyard around, + With only the dead in their vigil to see; + Break not my repose or the mystery profound, + And perchance thou mayst hear a sad hymn resound; + 'Tis I, O my country, raising a song unto thee. + + When even my grave is remembered no more, + Unmark'd by never a cross nor a stone; + Let the plow sweep through it, the spade turn it o'er, + That my ashes may carpet thy earthly floor, + Before into nothingness at last they are blown. + + Then will oblivion bring to me no care, + As over thy vales and plains I sweep; + Throbbing and cleansed in thy space and air, + With color and light, with song and lament I fare, + Ever repeating the faith that I keep. + + My Fatherland ador'd, that sadness to my sorrow lends, + Beloved Filipinas, hear now my last good-by! + I give thee all: parents and kindred and friends; + For I go where no slave before the oppressor bends, + Where faith can never kill, and God reigns e'er on high! + + Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away, + Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed! + Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day! + Farewell to thee, too, sweet friend that lightened my way; + Beloved creatures all, farewell! In death there is rest! + + + +For some time such belongings of Rizal as had been intrusted to +Josefina had been in the care of the American Consul in Manila +for as the adopted daughter of the American Taufer she had claimed +his protection. Stories are told of her as a second Joan of Arc, +but it is not likely that one of the few rifles which the insurgents +had would be turned over to a woman. After a short experience in the +field, much of it spent in nursing her sister-in-law through a fever, +Mrs. Rizal returned to Manila. Then came a brief interview with the +Governor-General. He had learned that his "administrative powers" +to exile without trial did not extend to foreigners, but by advice +of her consul she soon sailed for Hongkong. + +Mrs. Rizal at first lived in the Basa home and received +considerable attention from the Filipino colony. There was too +great a difference between the freedom accorded Englishwomen and the +restraints surrounding Spanish ladies however, to avoid difficulties +and misunderstandings, for very long. She returned to her adopted +father's house and after his death married Vicente Abad, a Cebuan, +son of a Spaniard who had been prominent in the Tabacalera Company +and had become an agent of theirs in Hongkong after he had completed +his studies there. + +Two weeks after Rizal's execution a dozen other members of his +"Liga Filipina" were executed on the Luneta. One was a millionaire, +Francisco Roxas, who had lost his mind, and believing that he was in +church, calmly spread his handkerchief on the ground and knelt upon +it as had been his custom in childhood. An old man, Moises Salvador, +had been crippled by torture so that he could not stand and had to +be laid upon the grass to be shot. The others met their death standing. + +That bravery and cruelty do not usually go together was amply +demonstrated in Polavieja's case and by the volunteers. The latter +once showed their patriotism, after a banquet, by going to the water's +edge on the Luneta and firing volleys at the insurgents across the +bay, miles away. The General was relieved of his command after he had +fortified a camp with siege guns against the bolo-armed insurgents, +who, however, by captures from the Spaniards were gradually becoming +better equipped. But he did not escape condemnation from his own +countrymen, and when he visited Giron, years after he had returned to +the Peninsula, circulars were distributed among the crowd, bearing +Rizal's last verses, his portrait, and the charge that to Polavieja +was due the loss of the Philippines to Spain. + +The Katipunan insurgents in time were bought off by General Primo de +Rivera, once more returned to the Islands for further plunder. The +money question does not concern Rizal's life, but his prediction of +suffering to the country came true, for while the leaders with the +first payment and hostages for their own safety sailed away to live +securely in Hongkong, the poorer people who remained suffered the +vengeance of a government which seems never to have kept a promise to +its people. Whether reforms were pledged is disputed, but if any were, +they never were put into effect. No more money was paid, and the first +instalment, preserved by the prudent leaders, equipped them when, +owing to Dewey's victory, they were enabled to return to their country. + +On the first anniversary of Rizal's execution some Spaniards desecrated +the grave, while on one of the niches, rented for the purpose, many +feet away, the family hung wreaths with Tagalog dedications but +no name. + +August 13, 1898, the Spanish flag came down from Fort Santiago in +evidence of the surrender of the city. At the first opportunity +Paco Cemetery was visited and Rizal's body raised for a more decent +interment. Vainly his shoes were searched for a last message which +he had said might be concealed there, for the dampness had made any +paper unrecognizable. Then a simple cross was erected, resting on a +marble block carved, as had been the smaller one which secretly had +first marked the spot, with the reversed initials "R. P. J." + +The first issue of a Filipino newspaper under the new government was +entirely dedicated to Rizal. The second anniversary of his execution +was observed with general unanimity, his countrymen demonstrating that +those who were seeing the dawn of the new day were not forgetful of +the greatest of those who had fallen in the night, to paraphrase his +own words. + +His widow returned and did live by giving lessons in English, at first +privately in Cebu, where one of her pupils was the present and first +Speaker of the Philippine Assembly, and afterwards as a government +employee in the public schools and in the "Liceo" of Manila. + +With the establishment of civil government a new province was formed +near Manila, including the land across the lake to which, as a lad +in Kalamba, Rizal had often wonderingly looked, and the name of Rizal +Province was given it. + +Later when public holidays were provided for by the new laws, the +anniversary of Rizal's execution was in the list, and it has become the +great day of the year, with the entire community uniting, for Spaniards +no longer consider him to have been a traitor to Spain and the American +authorities have founded a government in conformity with his teachings. + +On one of these occasions, December 30, 1905, William Jennings Bryan, +"The Great American Commoner," gave the Rizal Day address, in the +course of which he said: + +"If you will permit me to draw one lesson from the life of Rizal, +I will say that he presents an example of a great man consecrated +to his country's welfare. He, though dead, is a living rebuke to the +scholar who selfishly enjoys the privilege of an ample education and +does not impart the benefits of it to his fellows. His example is worth +much to the people of these Islands, to the child who reads of him, +to the young and old." + +The fiftieth anniversary of Rizal's birth was observed throughout the +Archipelago with exercises in every community by public schools now +organized along the lines he wished, to make self-dependent, capable +men and women, strong in body as in mind, knowing and claiming their +own rights, and recognizing and respecting those of others. + +His father died early in the year that the flags changed, but the +mother lived to see honor done her son and to prove herself as worthy, +for when the Philippine Legislature wanted to set aside a considerable +sum for her use, she declined it with the true and rightfully +proud assertion, that her family had never been patriotic for +money. Her funeral, in 1911, was an occasion of public mourning, the +Governor-General, Legislature and chief men of the Islands attending, +and all public business being suspended by proclamation for the day. + +A capitol for the representatives of the free people of the +Philippines, and worthy of the pioneer democratic government in the +Orient, is soon to be erected on the Luneta, facing the big Rizal +monument which will mark the place of execution of the man who gave +his life to prepare his countrymen for the changed conditions. + + + + + + +NOTES + +[1] -- I take the liberty, here, of citing an instance of this. In +1861, when I found myself on the West Coast of Mexico, a dozen +backwoods families determined upon settling in Sonora (forming an +oasis in the desert); a plan which was frustrated by the invasion +at that time of the European powers. Many native farmers awaited +the arrival of these immigrants in order to take them under their +protection. The value of land in consequence of the announcement of +the project rose very considerably. + +[2] -- See Appendix. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, +Philippine Patriot, by Austin Craig + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSE RIZAL *** + +This file should be named 8jsrz10.txt or 8jsrz10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8jsrz11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8jsrz10a.txt + +Text prepared by Jeroen Hellingman, +with help of the distributed proofreading website. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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