Rizal chose the English City to be his new home for three reasons; the first one is to improve

his
knowledge of the English language. Second, to study and annotate Morga’s Sucesos de Las Islas
Filipinas and the last reason is that London was a safe place for him to carry on his fight against
Spanish tyranny. Rizal was on board of SS City of Rome. He arrived at Liverpool in London on May 24,
1888 and stayed for one day. Rizal spent a lot of time in the British museum where he read Morga’s
Sucesos de Las Islas Filipinas and the other historical works concerning the Philippines. He described the
book as excellent, written in a scholarly fashion. He then went to Madrid and Barcelona to determine
the political situation relevant to the agitations of reforms in the Philippines. He met the two leaders in
Propaganda Movement, Marcelo H. del Pilar and Mariano Ponce and exchanged ideas and plans in
their fight for reforms. After Rizal’s stay in Spain, he went back to London and spent his Christmas and
New Year there. Then, he was chosen as the Honorary President of Filipino Patriotic Society in
Barcelona called Asociacion La Solidaridad which would cooperate in the crusade for reforms. This was
inaugurated on December 31, 1889. Rizal then wrote a letter of thanks addressed to the members of
Asociacion La Solidaridad on January 28, 1889. The letter content is a great deal of integrity and much
good will. Graciano Lopez Jaena founded the patriotic newspaper called “La Solidaridad” in Barcelona.
It was printed on February 15 – October 31, 1889 in Barcelona and in Madrid it is on November 15
1895. He became an active contributor to the newspaper as “Laong Loan” and “Dimas Alang”. The
objectives of La Solidaridad was to work peacefully for political and social reforms, to oppose the evil
forces of reaction and medievalism, to advocate liberal ideas and progress and to champion the
legitimate aspirations of the Filipino people to life, democracy and happiness. Rizal’s first article in La
Solidaridad was entitled Los Agricultores Filipinos (The Filipino Farmers) it was published on March 25,
1889, six days after he left London for Paris. Rizal received news on Fray Rodriguez through presenting a
spirited conversation between the Friar and St. Augustine. In London, Rizal wrote the famous “Letter to
the Young Women of Malolos” in Tagalog. He penned it upon the request of Marcelo del Pilar to praise
the young ladies of Malolos for their courage to establish a school where they could learn Spanish
despite the opposition of Father Felipe Garcia, Spanish parish priest of Malolos. The main points of the
letter were to teach the children love of God, Fatherland and mankind. Filipino woman should also
know how to preserve her dignity and honor. Lastly, he said that faith is not merely reciting long
prayers and wearing religious pictures, but rather, it is living the real Christian way with good morals
and manners.