Rose Anne M.

Reaño

RIZAL’S GRAND TOUR OF EUROPE WITH VIOLA (1887)

· May 11, 1887- Rizal and Viola left Berlin by train

· Dresden- one of the best cities in Germany

· Prometheus Bound-painting wherein Rizal was deeply impressed

· Teschen (now Decin, Czechoslovakia)- next stopover after leaving Dresedn

LEITMERITZ

· At 1:30pm of May 13, 1887- the train, with Rizal and Viola on board, arrived at the
railroad station of

Leitmeritz, Bohemia

-for the first time, the two great scholars—Rizal and Blumentritt—met in person

· Professor Blumentritt- a kind-hearted, old Austrian professor

· May 13 to May 16, 1887- Rizal and Viola stayed in Leitmeritz

· Burgomaster- town mayor

· Tourist’s Club of Leitmeritz-which Blumentritt was the secretary; Rizal spoke

extemporaneously in

fluent Germany to the officers and members

· Dr. Carlos Czepelak- renowned scientist of Europe

· Professor Robert Klutschak- an eminent naturalist

· May 16, 1887 at 9:45 AM- Rizal and Viola left Leitmeritz by train

PRAGUE

· Dr. Willkomm- professor of natural history in the University of Prague

· According to Viola, “nothing of importance happened” in this city

VIENNA

· May 20, 1887- Rizal and Viola arrived in the beautiful city of Vienna, capital of Austria-
Hungary

· Vienna was truly the “Queen of Danube” because of its beautiful buildings, religious
images, haunting

waltzes and majestic charm

· Norfentals- one of the greatest Austrian novelists was favorably impressed by Rizal,
and years later he

spoke highly of Rizal, “whose genius he so much admired.”

· Hotel Metropole- where Rizal and Viola stayed

· In Vienna, Rizal received his lost diamond stickpin

DANUBIAN VOYAGE TO LINTZ

· May 24, 1887- Rizal and Viola left Vienna on a river boat to see the beautiful sights of
the Danube River

· Rizal particularly noticed that the passengers on the river boat were using paper
napkins during the

meals, which was a novelty to him. Viola, commented that the paper napkins were
“more hygienic and

economical than cloth napkins”

FROM LINTZ TO RHEINFALL

· Munich- where Rizal and Viola sojourned for a short time to savor the famous Munich
beer, reputed to be the best in Germany

· Nuremberg- one of the oldest cities of Germany

· The Cathedral of Ulm- the largest and tallest cathedral in all Germany
· From Ulm, they went to Stuttgart, Baden and then Rheinfall (Cascade of the Rhine). At
Rheinfall, they

saw the waterfall, “the most beautiful waterfall of Europe”

CROSSING THE FRONTIER TO SWITZERLAND

· June 2 to 3, 1887- stayed at Schaffhausen, Switzerland

GENEVA

· This Swiss city is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, visited by world tourists
every year

· June 19, 1887- Rizal treated Viola to a blow-out. It was his 26 th birthday

· Rizal and Viola spent fifteen delightful days in Geneva

· June 23, 1887- Viola and Rizal parted ways—Viola returned to Barcelona while Rizal
continued the tour to Italy

· Exposition of the Philippines in Madrid, Spain- Rizal was outraged by this degradation
of his fellow

countrymen the Igorots of Northern Luzon

The Social Cancer, original title Noli me tangere, novel by

Filipino political activist and author José Rizal, published in 1887. The
book, written in Spanish, is a sweeping and passionate unmasking of
the brutality and corruption of Spanish rule in the Philippines (1565–
1898).
The story begins at a party to welcome Crisóstomo Ibarra back to the
Philippines after seven years of studying in Europe. His father, Don
Rafael, passed away shortly before his return, and Crisóstomo soon
learns that he died in prison after accidentally killing a tax collector
and being falsely accused of other crimes by Father Dámaso, the
longtime curate of the church in Crisóstomo’s hometown of San Diego.
Crisóstomo returns to San Diego, and his fiancée, María Clara, joins
him there. After the schoolmaster tells him that Father Dámaso and
the new curate, Father Salví, interfere with his teaching, Crisóstomo
decides to build a new modern school in San Diego.
On a picnic with María Clara, Crisóstomo goes on a fishing boat and
helps the pilot, Elías, kill a crocodile. Elías later warns Crisóstomo that
there is a plot to murder him at the ceremony for the laying of the
school’s cornerstone, and indeed, as Crisóstomo is placing mortar for
the cornerstone, the derrick holding the stone collapses. Although
Crisóstomo escapes injury, the derrick operator is killed. At a dinner
later, Father Dámaso insults the new school, Filipinos in general,
Crisóstomo, and Don Rafael. An enraged Crisóstomo attacks him, but
María Clara stops him from killing the priest. Later her father breaks
off her engagement to Crisóstomo and arranges for her betrothal to a
young Spanish man, Linares.
Father Salví plots with Lucas, the brother of the deceased derrick
operator, to organize a strike on the barracks of the Civil Guard and to
convince the attackers that Crisóstomo is their ringleader. Father Salví
then warns the head of the Civil Guard of the impending assault.
When the attack fails, the rebels say that Crisóstomo was their leader,
and he is arrested. Elías helps Crisóstomo escape from prison, and
they flee by boat on the Pasig River with members of the Civil Guard in
pursuit. Elías dives into the river to distract the pursuers and is
mortally wounded. It is reported that Crisóstomo was killed, and
a distraught María Clara insists on entering a convent.
In the novel’s dedication, Rizal explains that there was once a type
of cancer so terrible that the sufferer could not bear to be touched, and
the disease was thus called noli me tangere (Latin: “do not touch me”).
He believed that his homeland was similarly afflicted. The novel offers
both a panoramic view of every level of society in the Philippines of the
time and droll satire. Its description of the cruelty of Spanish rule was
a catalyst for the movement for independence in the country. It later
came to be regarded as a classic of Philippine literature, though it is
more frequently read in English or Tagalog translation than in its
original Spanish.
Patricia Bauer
LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles:


Philippine Revolution
…novel Noli me tángere (1886; The Social Cancer, 1912) exposed the corruption of Manila
Spanish society and stimulated the movement for independence.…

José Rizal
…novel, Noli me tangere (The Social Cancer), a passionate exposure of the evils of
Spanish rule in the Philippines. A sequel, El filibusterismo (1891; The Reign of Greed),
established his reputation as the leading spokesman of the Philippine reform movement. He
published an annotated edition (1890; reprinted 1958) of…

novel
Novel, an invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that
deals imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected sequence of
events involving a group of persons in a specific setting. Within its broad framework, the
genre of the novel has encompassed an extensive range of types…

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-Because of the publication of the Noli Me Tangere and the uproar it caused among the
friars, Rizal was warned by Paciano (his brother), Silvestre Ubaldo (his brother-in-law),
Chengoy (Jose M. Cecilio) and other friends not to return home.

-Rizal was determined to return to the Philippines for the following reasons: (1) to
operate on his mother’s eyes (2) to serve his people who had long been oppressed by
Spanish tyrants (3) to find out for himself how Noli and his other writings were affecting
Filipinos and Spaniards in the Philippines and (4) to inquire why Leonor Rivera
remained silent

· July 29, 1887- Rizal wrote to his father, announcing his homecoming, “on the 15th of
July, I shall

embark for our country, so that from the 15th to the 30th of August, we shall see each
other”

DELIGHTFUL TRIP TO MANILA

-Rizal left Rome by train for Marseilles, a French port, which he reached without
mishap.

· July 3, 1887-Rizal boarded the steamer Djemnah, the same streamer which brought
him to Europe 5

years ago

· July 30, 1887-at Saigon, Rizal transferred to another steamer, Haiphong, which was
Manila-bounded

· August 2, 1887- the steamer left Saigon for Manila

ARRIVAL IN MANILA

· August 3, 1887- the moon was full and Rizal slept soundly the whole night. The calm
sea, illuminated by the silvery moonlight, was a magnificent sight to him

· Near midnight of August 5, 1887 , the Haiphong arrived in Manila

HAPPY HOMECOMING

· August 8, 1887- Rizal returned to Calamba

· In Calamba, Rizal established a medical clinic. His first patient was his mother, who
was almost blind.

· Rizal, who came to be called “Doctor Uliman” because he came from Germany,
treated their ailments
and soon he acquired a lucrative medical practice

· Rizal opened a gymnasium for young folks, where he introduced European sports

· Rizal suffered one failure during his six months of sojourn in Calamba—his failure to
see Leonor Rivera

TRAVELS OF RIZAL

Disillusioned with how Filipinos in the Philippines were regarded as second-class

citizens in institutions of learning and elsewhere, the National Hero Jose Rizal left the
country in May 1882 to pursue further studies abroad. He enrolled in a course in
medicine at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain. In June 1883, he traveled to
France to observe how medicine was being practiced there.

After his three-month sojourn in France, Rizal returned to Madrid and thought about
publishing a book that exposed the colonial relationship of Spain and the Philippines.
This idea was realized in March 1887, with the publication of the novel Noli Me
Tangere in Germany.
Rizal was actively involved in the Propaganda movement, composed of Filipinos in
Spain who sought to direct the attention of Spaniards to the concerns of the Spanish
colony in the Philippines. He wrote articles for publications in Manila and abroad;
convened with overseas Filipinos to discuss their duty to the country; and called on
Spanish authorities to institute reforms in the Philippines, such as granting freedom of
the press and Filipino representation in the Spanish Cortes.

Rizal returned to Manila in August 1887, after five years in Europe. However, his
homecoming was met by the friars’ furor over Noli Me Tangere. The Archbishop of
Manila issued an order banning the possession and reading of the novel, an order that
was later reinforced by the governor-general. Six months later, pressured by the
Spanish authorities as well as by his family and friends to leave the country and avoid
further persecution, Rizal left Manila for Hong Kong.
From Hong Kong, Rizal traveled to Macau and Japan before going to America. Entering
San Francisco, California, in April 1888, he visited the states of Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, and New York. He jotted down his observations of the
landscape in his diary.
Rizal arrived in England in May 1888. In August, he was admitted to the British
Museum, where he copied Antonio de Morga’s massive study of the
Philippines, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, which Rizal later annotated for publication
“as a gift to the Filipinos.” In the museum he devoted his time reading all the sources on
Philippine history that he could find. He kept up his correspondence with various people,
including his family, who were being oppressed by the Spanish religious landowners;
the Filipino patriots in Spain; and his Austrian friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, with whom
he planned to form an association of Philippine scholars. From 1888 to 1890 he shuttled
between London and Paris, where he wrote ethnographic and history-related studies, as
well as political articles. He also frequently visited Spain, where he met with fellow
Filipino intellectuals like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, and Graciano Lopez-
Jaena.
In March 1891, Rizal finished writing his second novel, El Filibusterismo, in France. He
planned to publish the book in Belgium, but was financially hard up. His brother’s
support from back home was delayed in coming, and he was scrimping on meals and
expenses. Finally, in September 1890, El Filibusterismo was published in Ghent using
donations from Rizal’s friends.
Meanwhile, a rivalry had ensued between Rizal and del Pilar over the leadership of the
Asociación Hispano Filipino in Spain. Rizal decided to leave Europe to avoid the
worsening rift between the Rizalistas and Pilaristas, and to help maintain unity among
Filipino expatriates. After staying for some time in Hong Kong, where he practiced
medicine and planned to build a “New Calamba” by relocating landless Filipinos to
Borneo, Rizal came home to the Philippines in June 1892.

TRIP TO AMERICA AND EUROPE

· April 28, 1888- the steamer Belgic, with Rizal on board, docked at San Francisco on
Saturday morning

· May 4, 1888- Friday afternoon, the day Rizal was permitted to go ashore

· Palace Hotel- Rizal registered here which was then considered a first-class hotel in the
city

· Rizal stayed in San Francisco for two days—May 4 to 6, 1888

· May 6, 1888-Sunday, 4:30PM, Rizal left San Francisco for Oakland

· May 13, 1888-Sunday morning, Rizal reached New York, thus ending his trip across
the American

continent

· Rizal stayed three days in this city, which he called the “big town.”

· May 16, 1888- Rizal left New York for Liverpool on board the City of Rome. According
to Rizal, this

steamer was “the second largest ship in the world, the largest being the Great Eastern”

· Rizal had good and bad impressions of the United States. The good impressions were
(1) the material

progress of the country as shown in the great cities, huge farms, flourishing industries
and busy factories (2) the drive and energy of the American people (3) the natural
beauty of the land (4) the high standard of living (5) the opportunities for better life
offered to poor immigrants

· One bad impression Rizal had of America was the lack of racial equality: “America is
the land par

excellence of freedom but only for the whites”

RIZAL IN LONDON (1888-1889)

-After visiting the United States, Rizal lived in London from May, 1888 to March, 1889
for three reasons: (1) to improve his knowledge of the English language (2) to study and
annotate Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, a rare copy of which he heard to be
available in the British Museum (3) London was a safe place for him to carry on his fight
against Spanish tyranny

TRIP ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

· The trans-Atlantic voyage of Rizal from New York to Liverpool was a pleasant one.
· Rizal entertained the American and European passengers with his marvelous skills
with the yo-yo as an offensive weapon.

· Yoyo-is a small wooden disc attached to a string from the finger.

· May 24, 1888-Rizal arrived at Liverpool, England

· Adelphi Hotel-Rizal spend the night here while staying for one day in this port city

· According to Rizal, “Liverpool is a big and beautiful city and its celebrated port is
worthy of its

great fame. The entrance is magnificent and the customhouse is quite good.”

LIFE IN LONDON

· May 25, 1888- a day after docking at Liverpool, Rizal went to London

· Rizal stayed as guest at the home of Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, an exile of 1872 and a
practicing lawyer in London. By the end of May, Rizal found a modest boarding place at
No. 37 Chalcot Crescent, Primrose Hill

· Dr. Reinhold Rozt- librarian of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an authority on
Malayan languages and customs

-He was impressed by Rizal’s learning and character and he gladly recommended him
to the authorities of the British Museum. He called Rizal “a pearl of a man” (una perla de
hombre)

· Both good and bad news from home reached Rizal in London. Of the bad news, were
the injustices

committed by the Spanish authorities on the Filipino people and the Rizal Family

· The greatest achievement of Rizal in London was the annotating of Morga’s book,
Sucesos de las

Islas Filipinas (Historical Events of the Philippine Islands), which was published in
Mexico, 1609.
· September 1888- Rizal visited Paris for a week in order to search for more historical
materials in the

Bibliotheque Nationale

· Rizal was entertained in this gay French metropolis by Juan Luna and his wife (Pas
Pardo de Tavera),

who proudly showed him their little son Andres (nickname Luling)

· December 11, 1888-Rizal went to Spain, visiting Madrid and Barcelona

· Rizal met, for the first time, Marcelo H. del Pilar and Mariano Ponce, two titans of the
Propaganda

Movement 19

· December 24, 1888-Rizal returned to London and spent Christmas and New Year’s
Day with the

Becketts

· Rizal sent as Christmas gift to Blumentritt a bust of Emperador Augustus and a bust of
Julius Caesar to another friend, Dr. Carlos Czepelak (Polish scholar)

· The Life and Adventures of Valentine Vox, the Ventriloquist-a Christmas gift from
Rizal’s landlady,

Mrs Beckett

RIZALS WRITING IN LONDON

Rizal was only 26 when he arrived in London in 1888.

In the entirety of his stay in the capital of the United Kingdom of the Great Britain, Rizal
published articles, read, copied, researched, and annotated an important work on
Philippine history, joined La Solidaridad, exchanged numerous letters and ideas with
friends and family, sculpted a number of items, visited Spain and crossed the English
Channel at least four times.

“In keeping with the 130th year of the publication of his Specimens of Tagal Folklore,
Two Eastern Fables, Annotations of de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, and his
letter Sa Mga Kababayang Dalaga Sa Malolos – all written in London, let us go back in
time and rediscover Rizal, his London, and his Philippine project,” Suliguin, a former
acting director of the Asia Pacific Desk of the Department of Foreign Affairs wrote at the
beginning of his essay.

Although Rizal was not able to fulfill his mission of completing the establishment of the
Philippine Studies during his days in Great Britain, Suliguin wrote: “Within that span,
London enriched Rizal’s mind regarding his people’s past. He was a changed man…
But while the Association never bloomed, the seeds planted had taken root.”

We are sharing herewith Suliguin’s thorough research and narration of Rizal’s life and
times in London and all the important elements to the planned launching of the
Philippine Studies in the very heart of Europe.

Rizal arrived in England on 24th May 1888 via Liverpool before proceeding to London
the following day.

He went on to settle as a lodger with the family of Charles Beckett at No. 37 Chalcot
Crescent in Primrose Hill, one of the terrace or row of adjoining houses in the
development.

Aside from the public park, the railway line out of Euston was the defining feature of
Rizal’s suburb since 1837.

The railway transported in and out both goods and people and altered the development
of Primrose Hill from the desirable plan of one to two detached units per plot.

Its completion also dragged from the 1840s to 1875.

The eastern side closest to the rail lines have endured enough of the smoke and soot
from the coal engines of the passing trains rendering the plots less desirable, busy and
dirty.

It was said that the plots away from the train lines to the west – Rizal’s is somewhere in
the middle – were somewhat larger but was taken over by “respectable” owners.

Aside from the public park, the railway line out of Euston was the defining feature of
Rizal’s suburb since 1837.

The railway transported in and out both goods and people and altered the development
of Primrose Hill from the desirable plan of one to two detached units per plot.

Its completion also dragged from the 1840s to 1875.

The eastern side closest to the rail lines have endured enough of the smoke and soot
from the coal engines of the passing trains rendering the plots less desirable, busy and
dirty.

It was said that the plots away from the train lines to the west – Rizal’s is somewhere in
the middle – were somewhat larger but was taken over by “respectable” owners.
In a span of one week after his arrival in London, Rizal was invited to a tea-party, his
first, by the German Dr. Reinhold Rost who also lived in Primrose Hill, reportedly at 1
Elsworthy Terrace or a short walk of about 600 meters northwest of Chalcot Crescent.

Reinhold Rost used to be the secretary to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and
Ireland for six years (in his 5 January 1894 letter to Rizal who was exiled in Dapitan,
Rost was encouraging Rizal to send some article contributions to the Asiatic Society of
Singapore or the RAS in Great Britain, or the Shanghai Society or the one at Wellington
in New Zealand) and at the time of their meeting in mid-1888 was a librarian at the India
Office (the park end of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office along Horse Guards

In a span of one week after his arrival in London, Rizal was invited to a tea-party, his
first, by the German Dr. Reinhold Rost who also lived in Primrose Hill, reportedly at 1
Elsworthy Terrace or a short walk of about 600 meters northwest of Chalcot Crescent.

Reinhold Rost used to be the secretary to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and
Ireland for six years (in his 5 January 1894 letter to Rizal who was exiled in Dapitan,
Rost was encouraging Rizal to send some article contributions to the Asiatic Society of
Singapore or the RAS in Great Britain, or the Shanghai Society or the one at Wellington
in New Zealand) and at the time of their meeting in mid-1888 was a librarian at the India
Office (the park end of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office along Horse Guards

During Sundays on his way to Rost’s residence, while on foot along Rothwell St, just
before crossing Regent’s Park Rd, Rizal may have noticed the wealthy house a few
doors away on his right, 122 Regent’s Park Road which was home from 1870 to another
German, Friedrich Engels.

Karl Marx was dead in 1883 but Engels was still active at the time Rizal was at
Primrose.

Engels at that time completed the preparation and publications of Das Kapital Volume ll
and Das Kapital Volume III in 1885 and 1884, respectively.

Also in 1884, Engels published his The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the
State which was translated into a number of European languages throughout the
decade.
In 1885, Engels’ The Condition of the Working Class in England was translated to
English and was published in 1887.

Das Kapital, Marx’ most important work, also appeared in English edition in 1887.

It is said that Engels’ interests included Sunday parties for London’s left-wing
intelligentsia.

Was it likely that Rizal noticed a group of left-wing intellectuals heading to House 122 on
his Sunday strolls to Rost’s?

A question was asked whether “it was impossible for Rizal to escape the influence of
the socialist movement” especially at the time when he was in London.

Socialist publications of Marx and Engels were ripe at the time of his arrival.

The man himself was just in the neighborhood less than 150m away, a fact impossible
to ignore.

Was it likely that Marx nor Engels did not ever come up as a subject matter in any given
Sunday afternoon tea with Rost?

As an Orientalist and linguist, Rost may have no interest in socialism.

But as a German, it is very unlikely that he was not familiar with Marx or Engels.

A recent study on Marx’s early associates revealed a point of connection.

When Marx and Engels published their Communist Manifesto in Brussels in February
1848, the London German Gazette serialized the publication from 3 March- 28 July
1848.

When Marx arrived in London in 1849, he placed an announcement on a meeting in

September of the German Workers’ Educational Society.

It was supposed that Marx likely met a certain Dr. William Plate in that meeting.

Dr. Plate, a regular contributor to the London German Gazette, was not only German
but trustee and Honorary Foreign Secretary of the Syro-Egyptian Society and was
highly regarded as an Arabist or an Orientalist for that matter and a registered reader at
the British Museum.

He was also known to fellow Society member Samuel Birch of the British Museum and
Sir Henry Ellis, the Principal Librarian. And so it came that on 12 June 1950, Karl Marx
was admitted as a new reader to the Reading Room with Dr. Plate as his referee.

Some three years before Marx was admitted, on 24 July 1847, Dr. Plate extended his
extraordinary kindness to another German Orientalist, a new arrival in London, by giving
him a letter of introduction to the Director of the British Museum.

That other German was no other than Dr. Rost.

Not much is known about Rizal and Rost’s encounters in London except that he
frequently visited the old man on Sunday afternoons.

Socialism was likely off the menu.

Rizal himself was adamant that his work, the Noli, was not “socialistic” and denied this
accusation as “false”.
Some writers filled the gap by discussing in length the romantic relationship between
Rizal and one of the Beckett sisters right under the noses of Victorians Mr. and Mrs.
Beckett.

In London, Rizal devoted time defending himself and the Noli from various attacks.

By 23 June, Rizal mentioned of his plans to make the second edition of Noli to correct
typographical errors and erroneous citations suffered by the first.

Come July, it appears he set himself on learning more of the history and development of
the human races, the classification of languages and learning the English language with
Blumentritt recommending titles that Rost could help him with.

Between studying and keeping up to date with what was happening in the Philippines,
Rizal was quick to recognize an opportunity at hand when he mentioned on 26 July his
wish to visit the Paris Exposition.

He was still uncertain how long he will remain in London.

He hinted to Mariano Ponce that he was drafting the sequel of Noli, only to tear up the
draft of the early chapters as he has not made up his mind about its plot.

He was clearly troubled by attacks not only on his novel but on the “primitive” Filipinos in
general.

He lamented on 7 August that majority of Spaniards, whether priests or employees,

“judge us according to the conduct of their servants with whom they deal”.

If only Blumentritt would give in to his wish and write a history of the Philippines.

But since he would not, Rizal knew there was still time.

It was still a year to the Paris Exposition.

He could work on something that will arouse the identity and pride of his countrymen.

He was tired of being mistaken as another Asian.

He wanted to be recognized as a Filipino.

Thus began the task of finding the “glorious past of an extinct civilization” to correct the
present mind view of the Indio and of Spain.

Even before Rizal completed and published his first novel, he was already tinkering on
the idea of writing about the Philippines’ past.

It was in Berlin where Rizal first expressed his plan “to do something for science and the
history” of his native country which he can do “very well at the Royal Library.”
As early as 22 November 1886, in between his studies of anthropology and translating
stories for his nephew the tragedies of Friedrich Schiller (of William Tell) and Hans
Christian Anderson’s (of The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Little Mermaid), Rizal was
already familiarizing himself with books on Philippine history.

He knew of the volumes Adelbert von Chamisso brought from the Philippines 60 years
ago including a copy of de Morga’s Sucesos.

He has read the account of Chamisso’s trip to the Philippines.

He was also aware that it was important that the Filipinos know that “foreigners take
more interest in the study of their country than they themselves do.”

Rizal’s interactions with German intellectuals and scientists during his stay in his
“scientific mother country” from February 1886 to May 1887 further lit the fire within him.

There he met the leading naturalists, ethnologists, anthropologist, and geographers who
have either visited the Philippines or have written an account about the country.

There he presented and wrote a paper on Tagalog poetry, to clearly demonstrate that
the Tagalogs were not “primitives”.

He was accepted as an intellectual peer and celebrated without regard to the color of
his skin, his hair or his nose.

In London, it was also a German Rost, who welcomed and showed him through the
library how various histories and civilizations in the East were being studied and
analyzed.

Certainly, Rost may have apprised him of the recent developments in oriental studies
and regaled Rizal of his lectures in various languages and topics.

It is more than a coincidence that Rizal was inspired to write more on Tagalog language
and folklore, among others, and help generate more knowledge about his people.

A quick look at Trubner’s record was enough to see how this part of the West was
devouring knowledge and producing new information – The Remains of Pagan (Burma),
The Bernard Free Library-Rangoon, Buddhist Relics in Western India, Dr. Leitner on
Muhammadanism, The Coins of the Early Gupta Kings, The Krakatoa Eruption and the
Javanese Chronicles, Four Curious Corean Books, The Nicobar Islanders etc etc not to
mention the list of new books and notes on Oriental, American, European and Colonial
studies and undertakings. Alas, none on the Philippines.

The bitter attacks against Noli hastened Rizal’s realization that it was more than
necessary to inform his countrymen about the past that they may fairly judge by
themselves the present and estimate how much progress has been made during the
three centuries endured under Spanish rule.
Rizal admitted that he, too, was born and brought up in ignorance of the country’s
history.

By mid-August, Rizal has made up his mind and embarked on writing the Filipino’s
glorious past.

London, with the knowledge and information it has accumulated, was the best place to
do it.

He registered as a reader at the British Museum on 16 August 1898 and busied himself
copying the entire work of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.

By annotating de Morga’s 1609 testimony, Rizal attempted to make known “our ancient
nationality in its last days”, counteract the malevolent influence of the numerous books
written by the friars and the Spaniards, be an example to his Filipino compatriots and
combat their bad qualities.

After a month of laborious copying by hand (less if we discount the days he stayed in
Paris) Rizal announced on 17 September that, “the day after tomorrow I shall finish” and
will begin his annotations.

He has read Pigafetta, Chirino and needed Van Noort’s account. By 12 October, he has
exhausted all sources of Philippine history available and shall continue reading in the
months ahead. He was determined not to leave London until this task was done.

As Rizal labored on the Morga, Rost was also introducing him to other important
personalities in London.

Rizal was introduced to Count Guillermo Morphy, an admired figure in artistic circles
and, more importantly, personal secretary to King Alfonso Xll of Spain.

Rizal also met the wife of Pascual De Gayangos, a Spanish scholar, orientalist, and a
member of the Royal Asiatic Society, who was involved in cataloging the Spanish
manuscripts in the British Museum.

This introduction helped Rizal as he progressed on his readings on Vidal y Soler, Rada,
Colin, Gaspar de San Agustin etcetera in November.

In the middle of October, Rizal contemplated abandoning his Morga studies as he was
chosen to assume management of a Filipino periodical in Madrid.

After considering the work he has put in his Morga, Rizal declined the offer.

While Rost was indisposed, Rizal managed to secure articles on ancient Philippine
conditions, most likely with the assistance of De Gayangos.

He shared the articles with Blumentritt on 6th December.

He was also working on the copies of bust sculptures of Julius and Augustus Caesars
he found at the museum, with the Augustus taking 10 days alone, as Christmas gifts to
Blumentritt and Czepelack.

Having initially declined the periodical, Rizal was still chosen as its director prompting
him to go to Spain.

He sent the busts by parcel to Blumentritt and left for Madrid where he stayed for 12
days.

He was back in London on the 24th of December.

With his return, Rizal started baring his plan that will coincide with the Paris Exposition
and mark the culmination of his Morga annotations.

After all, he has already consulted Sir Henry Yule, an accomplished Scottish Orientalist,
who gave his approval to the plan of its foundation.

Rizal drafted the prospectus and got Rost, Regidor, etc on board the project.

Rizal opened 1889 by surprising Blumentritt with the formation of the Association
Internationale Des Philippinistes with himself as Secretary.

He wanted the Association to be truly international and planned to invite scholars who
were interested in Philippine affairs.

With these goals, it was only natural that Rizal’s choice for president was Blumentritt
who was not only an ardent defender of Rizal but have written works on the Philippines
and was very well connected with other European scholars.

Blumentritt accepted the presidency by end of January, however, the exchange of

proposals and nominees for Board of Directors dragged until March.

And although they were initially deciding against electing two executive members from
one nationality, in the end, it wasn’t avoided.

To mark the formal organization of the association, Rost found it necessary to publish
something about the group.

It also helped that beginning its March issue, the editorship of the Trubner’s Record fell
on Rost.

When the Record came out in the middle of March 1889, it carried a preliminary
prospectus on the Association.

The announcement did not carry as much difference in membership from Rizal’s initial
proposal to Blumentritt except that the French Dr. Edmund Planchut was no longer Vice
President but a Counselor.
Also, three German Counselors in Rost, Dr. Meyer, and Dr. Riedel completed the five-
person body with Dr. Regidor.

Rizal’s name was wrongly printed as Dr. T. Rizol, Secretaire.

There is no doubt that Rizal thought of the Association and the nomination of Dr.
Planchut, not to mention the French name of the organization, as a homage to the
Exposition Universelle 1889.

Rizal planned to use the Exposition to launch the study on the Philippines by holding the
International Congress of the Association in August in Paris.

This was the main reason Rizal left London in the middle of March.

His energy and activities were focused on the preparation for the International
Congress.

By 19th of March, he acknowledged that there wasn’t much time to publish Morga.

However, he intimated that he had money to print Blumentritt’s works – Ethnography of

Mindanao and Defense which he finished translating.

He also founded Kidlat Club with Filipinos in Paris in support of the activities during the
Exposition.

In the next nine days, Rizal crossed the English Channel shuttling between Paris and
London four times to make everything ready.

To garner interests on the newly formed association, Rizal submitted two contributions
in the May and July 1889 issues of Trubner’s Record.

The Record included notes and lists of current American, European and colonial
publications.

Published six times a year, the issue came out in the middle of the month and aimed to
provide ample space to literary and scientific articles on subjects within its scope like
history, antiquities and Civilization of the East in addition to personal notices and notes
of works projected or in progress.

Rizal’s articles were entitled “Specimens of Tagal Folklore” composed of proverbial

sayings, puzzles and verses and “Two Eastern Fables” – a comparative analysis of the
‘Tagal Ang buhay ni pagong at ni matsing’ and the Japanese ‘Saru Kani Kassen’ (Battle
of the monkey and the crabs).

The Specimens was meant to draw the attention of the readers and other scholars to
sample the language, its tones, its rhyme, its metric, and its vocabulary while at the
same time appreciate the genius of the common folk.
These are the reasons the samples were printed in Tagal with their corresponding
English translations.

The contribution was straightforward, not even a short introduction of where the Tagal
speakers were from.

Two Eastern Fable, on the other hand, was an invitation to dig deeper into Philippine
studies by offering a comparative analysis of related fables from the Philippines and
Japan.

It also helped that the article landed on the first page of the issue.

Rizal stated that the Japanese fable may have come from a South country where the
Philippine version may have come from as well.

He also stated that the Philippine version was a more primitive version as it is plainer,
and shows a more delicate observation of character and feeling as opposed to the
Japanese version that is much changed.

He also implied that the Philippine version may be the primitive form itself and referred
to it as an inheritance of an extinct civilization.

After Rizal sent Ethnography in Barcelona for printing in late April, his grand plan in
Paris was dealt a big blow.

The Exposition organizers gave no quarters for the Philippine Congress as the number
of International conferences was limited.

He lamented that he missed the British Museum and wanted to go back to London.

The association members also had problems with commitments – Meyer was arriving in
May, Rizal had a falling out with Regidor, only the old man Rost was likely to come in
August.

On the 20th of May, Rizal has conceded on his Paris plan.

He promised to prepare a meeting for good Philippinists if Blumentritt was coming over.

He also sent the Morga proofs to Blumentritt for the latter’s prologue before it could be
printed.

By this time, the Association was nipped right in the bud.

It was May all over again.

London – is busy and smelly roads, the British Museum and its rich collections, the
home by the park with a watercolor painting left hanging by his study because he
planned to go back, the Rost family in Primrose, the Sunday tea, and the circle of
Orientalists friends – all distant memories. It has been a year.
Within that span, London enriched Rizal’s mind regarding his people’s past.

He was a changed man.

The publication of his annotations of Morga’s Sucesos (published later in the year) and
the International Congress would have completed his project and heralded the birth of
Philippine Studies – all made in London.

But while the Association never bloomed, the seeds planted had taken root

WOMENS IN RIZALS LIFE

There were about nine significant women in Rizal’s life. They were:
SegundaKatigbak, Leonor Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, Consuelo Ortega, O-Sei
San, “Gettie” Beckette, Nelly Boustead, Suzanne Jacoby, and Josephine Bracken.

Segunda Katigbak

She is considered to be Rizal’s first puppy love, but she became engaged to a
townmate of theirs – Manuel Luz.

Leonor Valenzuela

After Segunda came Leonor Valenzuela who came from Pagsanjan. Rizal would send
her love letters written with invisible ink, which could only be read by way of lamp or
candle light. Unfortunately, he had to say goodbye to her on the night before he left for
Spain.

Leonor Rivera

Leonor Rivera was Rizal’s love for 11 years and she was the reason he tried not to fall
in love with other women during his travels. But, due to Rizal’s being a Propagandist
and owing to the fact that he was the cause of many political problems in Calamba,
Leonor’s mother disapproved of the relationship. It is known that Rizal sent many letters
and notes to Leonor, all of which her mother hid and never gave to her. This caused
Leonor to believe that Rizal no longer had any feelings for her and she decided to agree
to marrying a man of her mother’s choosing – the Englishman Henry Kipping.

Consuelo Ortiga

During his stay in Madrid, Rizal and some fellow Filipino’s would visit the home of Don
Pablo Ortiga. They went there to visit the Don’s daughters, but more specifically, Rizal
went there to visit Consuela, who was considered to be the prettiest among Don Pablo’s
daughters. Consuela fell in love with Rizal and he even wrote a poem for her called A
LA SENORITA C.O. y R. which became one of his best poems. Yet, keeping in mind
that he was loyal to Leonor Rivera, he backed out before the relationship could get any
more serious. Also, he knew that his friend – Eduardo de Lete – was in love with
Consuela and he did not wish to destroy their friendship over a girl.

O Sei San

During his stay in Japan, Rizal fell in love with his guide, interpreter, and teacher in the
Japanese language. It is said that if Rizal did not have a personal mission to
accomplish, he would have married O-Sei San and lived in Japan for good.

Gertrude Beckett

In London, while Rizal was working on his annotation of Morga’s work, he stayed in the
Beckette family house which was walking distance from the British Museum where
Morga’s work was displayed. The eldest of the Beckette sisters, Gertrude or “Gettie” as
Rizal used to call her, fell in love with Rizal. He suddenly left for Paris though, in order to
avoid the growing feelings between himself and Gettie. Before he left, he left Gettie a
sculpture of the Beckette sisters.

Nellie Boustead

After learning of Leonor Rivera’s marriage to Henry Kipping, Rizal was able to go back
to courting the other ladies. During his stay in Biarritz, Rizal stayed with the Boustead
family, where he became friends with Eduardo Boustead’s two pretty daughters. He
would practice fencing with them at Juan Luna’s studio. Antonio Luna, another frequent
visitor to the Boustead residence, was trying to court Nelly but she was already
infatuated with Rizal. This resulted in an ugly scene where Antonio said some bad
words about Nelly while he was drunk at a Filipino hosted party in Madrid. Rizal then
challenged him to a duel, but Antonio – after sobering up – realized his mistakes and
apologized to Rizal and thus preventing rift among the unified Filipinos in Madrid.
Unfortunately, Rizal and Nelly did not end up getting married because Rizal did not want
to be converted to Protestant and Nelly’s mother didn’t want a poor man for ther
daughter. The good thing is, they remained friends and parted as friends when Rizal left
Europe.

Suzanne Jacoby

Due to the high cost of living in Paris during the 1890’s, Rizal moved to Brussels where
he stayed in a boarding house owned by the Jacoby sisters. As time passed by, they fell
in love but it was for nothing since Rizal ended up leaving Brussels, though she did
write him while he was in Madrid.

Josephine Bracken

While in Dapitan, late Feb 1895, Rizal met an 18 year old Irish girl. Josephine Bracken
had blue eyes, brown hair and was a happy character. She was the adopted daughter
of George Taufer, a man from Hong Kong seeking medical help from Rizal. It is said
that Rizal was attracted to her physically, and that his loneliness had taken over and
that it was better than to be in love again. Surprisingly, the Rizal sisters thought that
Josephine was a spy for the friars and considered her a “threat to Rizal’s security.” In
time, Rizal proposed to Josephine but she wasn’t prepared to make such a big choice,
since she still had to look after her blind father. Unfortunately, George Taufer’s illness
could not be treated so he went back to Hong Kong while Josephine stayed with Rizal’s
family in Manila. When she returned to Dapitan, Rizal tried to arrange for their marriage
with Father Antonio Obach. the priest, however, wanted a retraction as a precondition to
marrying them. Thus, Rizal took Josephine as his wife even without the Church’s
blessing, at the urging of his family and with her consent. She later gave birth to a
stillborn, believed to be the result of some incidence, and this could have traumatized
her.

NOLI ME TANGERE

Written in Spanish and published in 1887, José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere played a crucial

role in the political history of the Philippines. Drawing from experience, the conventions
of the nineteenth-century novel, and the ideals of European liberalism, Rizal offered up
a devastating critique of a society under Spanish colonial rule.

The plot revolves around Crisostomo Ibarra, mixed-race heir of a wealthy clan, returning
home after seven years in Europe and filled with ideas on how to better the lot of his
countrymen. Striving for reforms, he is confronted by an abusive ecclesiastical hierarchy
and a Spanish civil administration by turns indifferent and cruel. The novel suggests,
through plot developments, that meaningful change in this context is exceedingly
difficult, if not impossible.

The death of Ibarra’s father, Don Rafael, prior to his homecoming, and the refusal of a
Catholic burial by Padre Damaso, the parish priest, provokes Ibarra into hitting the
priest, for which Ibarra is excommunicated. The decree is rescinded, however, when the
governor general intervenes. The friar and his successor, Padre Salvi, embody the
rotten state of the clergy. Their tangled feelings—one paternal, the other carnal—for
Maria Clara, Ibarra’s sweetheart and rich Capitan Tiago’s beautiful daughter, steel their
determination to spoil Ibarra’s plans for a school. The town philosopher Tasio wryly
notes similar past attempts have failed, and his sage commentary makes clear that all
colonial masters fear that an enlightened people will throw off the yoke of oppression.

Precisely how to accomplish this is the novel’s central question, and one which Ibarra
debates with the mysterious Elias, with whose life his is intertwined. The privileged
Ibarra favors peaceful means, while Elias, who has suffered injustice at the hands of the
authorities, believes violence is the only option.

Ibarra’s enemies, particularly Salvi, implicate him in a fake insurrection, though the
evidence against him is weak. Then Maria Clara betrays him to protect a dark family
secret, public exposure of which would be ruinous. Ibarra escapes from prison with
Elias’s help and confronts her. She explains why, Ibarra forgives her, and he and Elias
flee to the lake. But chased by the Guardia Civil, one dies while the other survives.
Convinced Ibarra’s dead, Maria Clara enters the nunnery, refusing a marriage arranged
by Padre Damaso. Her unhappy fate and that of the more memorable Sisa, driven mad
by the fate of her sons, symbolize the country’s condition, at once beautiful and
miserable.

Using satire brilliantly, Rizal creates other memorable characters whose lives manifest
the poisonous effects of religious and colonial oppression. Capitan Tiago; the social
climber Doña Victorina de Espadaña and her toothless Spanish husband; the Guardia
Civil head and his harridan of a wife; the sorority of devout women; the disaffected
peasants forced to become outlaws: in sum, a microcosm of Philippine society. In the
afflictions that plague them, Rizal paints a harrowing picture of his beloved but suffering
country in a work that speaks eloquently not just to Filipinos but to all who have endured
or witnessed oppression.

MAKING OF NOLI

The first half of Noli me Tangere was written in Madrid, Spain from 1884-1885 while Dr.
José P. Rizal was studying for medicine.
While in Germany, Rizal wrote the second half of Noli me Tangere from time-to-time
starting February 21, 1887. After he read the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet
Beecher Stowe, he had an inspiration to write his own novel with the same topic–to
expose Spanish colonial abuse in print. Beecher Stowe's novel describes black slavery
abuse done by white men. Rizal suggested to his fellow Filipino friends in Europe,
through writing, to have a meeting and plan for writing a novel similar to that of Beecher
Stowe's. (At this moment, Rizal planned not to write the novel himself, but through
collective efforts done by other Filipinos who shared ideals with him.) In 1884, Rizal and
his friends including the Paterno brothers–Pedro, Maximo, and Antonio; Graciano
López-Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Melecio Figueroa, Valentín Ventura
and Julio Llorento; decided to meet at the Paternos' house in Madrid. Each of them
agreed to write a unified novel. Suddenly, when the writing began, most of them wanted
to change the topic from Spanish abuse to somehow related to women. Rizal walked-
out of the hall and decided to write the novel himself.
The title of Noli Me Tangere is not Spanish, nor Tagalog, but Latin. Rizal, in his letter to
his friend and Czech scientist Ferdinand Blumentritt, admitted that he obtained the title
from the Bible. Rizal took the passage in John 20:17 where Jesus said to Mary
Magdalene "don't touch Me!" when she recognizes him after his resurrection. The
passage, when translated in Latin, is equivalent to noli me tangere.
At the time when the novel is ready for printing, he ran out of fund. He contacted his
friend, Maximo Viola, who agreed to lend him money for publishing. According to
accounts, Rizal is about to throw Noli manuscripts to the fireplace when he received
Viola's telegram agreeing for lending him.
Viola gave him an amount equal to three hundred pesos as preliminary payment for the
first 2,000 copies of Noli. In 1887, the first edition of Noli was published in Berlin,
Germany. To express his gratitude, he gave the original manuscript plus the plume he
used to Viola. Rizal also signed the first print and gave it to Viola with dedication.

In another letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal described what he expects when the
novel will be in circulation. Finally, he pointed out his primary objective:

 to defend Filipino people from foreign accusations of foolishness and lack of

knowledge;
 to show how the Filipino people lives during Spanish colonial period and the cries
and woes of his countrymen against abusive officials;
 to discuss what religion and belief can really do to everyday lives; and
 to expose the cruelties, graft, and corruption of the false government at honestly
show the wrongdoings of Filipinos that led to further failure.
But the real objective of Rizal in writing Noli Me Tangere is not to free our country, he
just wants Philippines to be part of Spain as described in Chapter 2 as Crisostomo
Ibarra says that Spain is his second home.

Noli Me Tangere is considered to be romantic but is more socio-historical because of its

nature. Most of the issues discussed in Noli can still be seen today.
After publication, Noli me Tangere was considered to be one of the instruments that
initiated Filipino nationalism leading to the 1896 Philippine Revolution. The novel did not
only awaken sleeping Filipino awareness, but also established the grounds for aspiring
to independence. Noli was originally written in Spanish, so the likelihood that Spanish
authorities would read it first was very high;which is what Rizal wanted to happen.
Copies of books were redirected to churches, many were destroyed, many anti-Noli
writers came into the picture. Catholic leaders in the Philippines at the time regarded the
book as heretical, while Spanish colonial authorities declared it as subversive and
against the government. Underground copies were distributed, so Rizal decided to
increase the price, the demand was so high.
The impact also included the expulsion of Rizal's clan in Calamba, Laguna. Extradition
cases were filed against him. This led to his decision to write the sequel of Noli Me
Tangere, the El filibusterismo. Unlike El Fili or Fili, as they called it, Noli Me Tangere
was more delicate and did not invoke rebellion. as El Fili does. So to ensure
revolutionary ideas and patriotic reaction, Rizal redefined his careful concepts in Noli to
aggression in El Fili.

HIGHLIGHTS OF NOLI

The Social Cancer, original title Noli me tangere, novel by Filipino political activist and
author José Rizal, published in 1887. The book, written in Spanish, is a sweeping and
passionate unmasking of the brutality and corruption of Spanish rule in
the Philippines (1565–1898).
The story begins at a party to welcome Crisóstomo Ibarra back to the Philippines after
seven years of studying in Europe. His father, Don Rafael, passed away shortly before
his return, and Crisóstomo soon learns that he died in prison after accidentally killing a
tax collector and being falsely accused of other crimes by Father Dámaso, the
longtime curate of the church in Crisóstomo’s hometown of San Diego. Crisóstomo
returns to San Diego, and his fiancée, María Clara, joins him there. After the
schoolmaster tells him that Father Dámaso and the new curate, Father Salví, interfere
with his teaching, Crisóstomo decides to build a new modern school in San Diego.
On a picnic with María Clara, Crisóstomo goes on a fishing boat and helps the pilot,
Elías, kill a crocodile. Elías later warns Crisóstomo that there is a plot to murder him at
the ceremony for the laying of the school’s cornerstone, and indeed, as Crisóstomo is
placing mortar for the cornerstone, the derrick holding the stone collapses. Although
Crisóstomo escapes injury, the derrick operator is killed. At a dinner later, Father
Dámaso insults the new school, Filipinos in general, Crisóstomo, and Don Rafael. An
enraged Crisóstomo attacks him, but María Clara stops him from killing the priest. Later
her father breaks off her engagement to Crisóstomo and arranges for her betrothal to a
young Spanish man, Linares.
Father Salví plots with Lucas, the brother of the deceased derrick operator, to organize
a strike on the barracks of the Civil Guard and to convince the attackers that Crisóstomo
is their ringleader. Father Salví then warns the head of the Civil Guard of the impending
assault. When the attack fails, the rebels say that Crisóstomo was their leader, and he
is arrested. Elías helps Crisóstomo escape from prison, and they flee by boat on
the Pasig River with members of the Civil Guard in pursuit. Elías dives into the river to
distract the pursuers and is mortally wounded. It is reported that Crisóstomo was killed,
and a distraught María Clara insists on entering a convent.
In the novel’s dedication, Rizal explains that there was once a type of cancer so terrible
that the sufferer could not bear to be touched, and the disease was thus called noli me
tangere (Latin: “do not touch me”). He believed that his homeland was similarly afflicted.
The novel offers both a panoramic view of every level of society in the Philippines of the
time and droll satire. Its description of the cruelty of Spanish rule was a catalyst for the
movement for independence in the country. It later came to be regarded as a classic of
Philippine literature, though it is more frequently read in English or Tagalog translation
than in its original Spanish.