Chapter 15: Rizal's Second Sojourn in Paris and the Universal Exposition of 1889

● DIFFICULTY OF FINDING QUARTERS

● The Universal Exposition of 1889 attracted thousands of tourists; thus, all hotel
accommodations were taken
● RIZAL AND PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1889
● The greatest attraction of this exposition was the Eiffel Tower
● International Art Competition in the Exposition
● Felix Hidalgo = 2nd prize
● Juan Luna & Felix Pardo de Tavera = 3rd prize
● Rizal’s bust = no prize
● KIDLAT CLUB
● Purely a social society of a temporary nature
● It was founded by Rizal to bring together young Filipinos in the French capital so that
they could enjoy their sojourn in the city during the duration of the Universal
Exposition.
● It will disappear like lightning
● INDIOS BRAVOS
● Rizal and the members of the Kidlat Club were amazed to see the Buffalo Bull show
which featured the American Indians
● These Red skinned Indians were proudly riding their sturdy ponies, elegantly dressed in
their native attire and wearing their war feathers and paints.
● Rizal told his friends:
● Let us be proud of the name Indio and make our Spanish enemies revise their
conception of the term
● We shall be Indios Bravos
● The Indios Bravos (brave Indians) replaced the ephemeral Kidlat Club.
● Members pledged to excel in intellectual and physical prowess in order to win the
admiration of the foreigners, particularly the Spaniards.
● They practiced with great enthusiasm the use of the sword and the pistol.
● Rizal taught them judo, an Asian art of self-defense that he learned in Japan.
● R.D.L.M. SOCIETY
● The letters R.D.L.M. are believed to be the initials of the society’s secret name
Redencion de los Malayos (Redemption of the Malays).
● It was patterned after Freemasonry
● The aim of the secret society, as stated by Rizal was the “propag ation of all useful
knowledge –scientific, artistic, literary, etc. –in the Phil.”
● Rizal was inspired by a famous book entitled Max Havelaar written by Multatuli
● This book exposed the miserable conditions of the oppressed Malay inhabitants
of the Netherlands East Indies under Dutch Rules
● Letter to Blumentritt:
● Revealed his intentions to be a leader of freedom, if not in the Philippines,
then in Borneo.
● If it is impossible for me to give freedom to my country, at least I should like to
give it to these noble compatriots in other lands.
● ANNOTATED EDITION OF MORGA PUBLISHED
● Blumentritt censured Rizal for two things which revealed Rizal’s errors, namely:
● Rizal commits the error of many historians in appraising the events of the past
in the light of present standards
● Rizal’s attack on the Church were unfair and unjustified because the abuses of
the friars should not be construed to mean the Catholicism is bad.
● Rizal dedicated his new edition of Morga to the Filipino people so that they would know
of their glorious past. His dedication is as follows:
 ● Born and reared in ignorance of our past like almost all of you: without voice
nor authority to speak of what we have not seen nor studied I deemed it
necessary to invoke the testimony of an Illustrious Spaniard who controlled the
destinies of the Philippines at the beginning of its new era and personally
witnessed the last days of our ancient nationality.
● Rizal proved that the Filipinos were already civilized before the advent of Spain
● They had clothes, government, laws, writing, literature, religion, arts,
sciences, and commerce with neighboring Asian nations.
● Rizal blasted the historical heresies of the Spanish writers who claimed that the
early Filipinos were savages and were of low mentality.
● THE PHILIPPINES WITHIN A CENTURY
● In this article, Rizal predicted with amazing accuracy the tragic end of Spain’s
sovereignty in Asia.
● Colonies established to subserve the policy and commerce of the sovereign country, all
eventually become independent
● THE INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS
● It is an able defense of the alleged indolence of the Filipinos.
● Rizal made a critical study of the causes why his people did not work hard during the
Spanish regime.
● His main thesis: Filipinos are not by nature indolent
● The Spanish conquest of the country brought about a decline in economic activities
because the Filipinos had abandoned their pre-Spanish industries and worked less than
their ancestors
● Such decline in economic life was due to certain causes:
● Native revolts and other internal dis orders which followed the establishment
of Spanish rule
● The wars which the Filipinos fought for Spain’s enemies
● The frightful raids on the coastal towns and village of Christian Philippines by
the Muslim pirates of Mindanao and Sulu
● The forced labor which compelled thousands of Filipino laborers to work in
public works resulting in the abandonment of their personal works
● Lack of stimulus to work harder because the people could not enjoy the fruits
of their labor
● Government neglect and indifference to agriculture, industry, and commerce
● The bad example shown by the Spaniards in despising manual labor
● The teaching of Spanish missionaries that it is easier for a poor man to enter
heaven than for a rich man, hence the Filipinos prefer not to work and be poor
so that they could easily enter heaven after they die
● Encouragement and propagation of gambling by the Spanish authorities
● System of Spanish education did not promote economic enterprise and activity
● Filipinos are easy going and do not work so hard because they are wise enough to
adjust themselves to their warm, tropical climate.
● They do not have to kill themselves working hard in order to live because
nature gives them abundant harvests by working less than those in temperate
and arid countries.
● INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FILIPINOLOGISTS
● The aim of the association is to study the Philippines from the scientific and historical
point of view
● Their inaugural convention did not materialize because the French government
discouraged the holding of conferences by private organizations during the period of
the international exposition.
● PROJECT FOR FILIPINO COLLEGE IN HONGKONG
● This College aims to “train and educate men of good family and financial means in
accordance with the demands of modern times and circumstances”
 ● A rich Filipino resident in Paris, Mr. Mariano Cunanan, from Mexico, Pampanga,
promised to help him raise P40,000 as initial capital for the college.
● This project of Rizal to establish a modern college in Hong Kong did not materialize.
● POR TELEFONO
● This satirical pamphlet under the authorship of “Dimas Alang” is a witty satire which
ridicules Fr. Font.
● It describes in comical vein a telephone conversation between Fr. Font who
was in Madrid and the father provincial of the San Agustin Convent in Manila
● Rizal predicted much ahead of his times that people could carry on overseas telephonic
conversations- 12 years after the publication of Rizal's "Por Telefono"
●

Chapter 16: In Belgian Brussels

● LIFE IN BRUSSELS
● Two reasons impelled Rizal to leave Paris:
■ The cost of living in Paris was very high because of the Universal Exposition
■ The gay social life of the city hampered his literary works
● Rizal was busy writing his second novel and writing articles for La Solidaridad
● NEW ORTOGRAPHY OF TAGALOG LANGUAGE
● The tagalong letters k and w should be used instead of the Spanish c and o.
■ Salacot = salakot/ arao = araw
● RIZAL CRITICIZES MADRID FILIPINOS FOR GAMBLING
● Rizal’s letter to del Pilar:
■ Luna in Paris complains of the gambling of the Filipinos in Madrid
■ We are serving the friars’ scheme
■ Filipinos do not come to Europe to gamble and to amuse himself but to work
for his liberty and for the dignity of his race
■ We in whom the poor people place their modest hopes.
● The gambling Filipinos in Madrid were angry when they learned of Rizal’s moralizing
■ They derisively called him “Papa” (Pope) instead of “Pepe”
● BAD NEWS FROM HOME
● The Calamba agrarian trouble was getting worse.
● The management of the Dominican Hacienda continually raised the land rents until
such time that Rizal’s father refused to pay his rent.
■ The Dominican Order filed a suit in court to dispossess the Rizal family of their
lands in Calamba.
■ Tenants were persecuted
● Jose’s letter to Soledad
■ I have caused much harm to our family, but at least there remains to us the
consolation of knowing that the motive is not disgraceful nor does it humiliate
any body
■ It raises us up and gives us more dignity in the eyes of our enemies themselves;
to fall with the head high and the brow serene is not to fall, it is to triumph
■ The sad thing is to fall with the stain of dishonor
● PRESENTIMENT OF DEATH
● He feared that we would not live long
● He was not afraid to die, but he wanted to finish his second novel before he went to his
grave
● Letter to del Pilar:
■ In my childhood I had a strange belief that I would not reach 30 years of age
■ I am preparing myself for death and for any eventuality. Laong Laan (Ever
Ready) is my name
● PREPARATION TO GO HOME
 ● In the face of the sufferings which is afflicted his family, Rizal planned to go home
● He could not stay in Brussels writing a book while his family are persecuted
● Letter to Ponce:
■ Graciano Lopez Jaena should not go to Cuba but to our country to allow himself
to be killed in defense of his ideals
■ We have only once to die, and if we do not die well, we lose an
opportunity which will not again be presented to us
■ I want to go back to the Philippines
■ We are not making any progress by following prudence
● DECISION TO GO TO MADRID
● Rizal ignored the dire warning of his friends to return to the Philippines. No threat of
danger could change his plan
● Something happened suddenly made him change his plan
■ It was a letter from Paciano which related that they lost the case against the
Dominicans in Manila, but they appealed it to the Supreme Court in Spain
■ A lawyer was needed to handle it in Madrid
● Rizal wrote to del Pilar retaining the latter's services as lawyer
■ Jose informed del Pilar that he was going to Madrid to supervise the handling of
the case
● TO MY MUSE
● A poem that represents Jose's worries on the disasters experienced by his family
● ROMANCE WITH PETITE JACOBY
● Two things brought some measure of cheer to the despondent Rizal, as he was
preparing for his trip to Madrid
■ First: Summertime Festival in Belgium, which was celebrated in carnival style
■ Second: Romance with Petite Jacoby, niece of his landladies