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Chapter 08: 1889 in Paris "Parisian Life" is a painting that brought Juan Luna the Silver Medal at the St. Louis Exposition (World's Fair). Rizal is one of the men in the background.
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Chapter 08: 1889 in Paris "Parisian Life" is a painting that brought Juan Luna the Silver Medal at the St. Louis Exposition (World's Fair). Rizal is one of the men in the background.
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45 Rue Maubeuge "Dear friend, "I sent you those proofs a long while ago. Since you have not received them, they must be lost. Send me others at once; I have the manuscript. "We have many enemies, and they are furious; we face the fight and must not be divided. Your friend, The above hasty letter to his trusted friend Mariano Ponce gives a perfect picture of José Rizal in Paris. You could have found him most of the time in the French National Library, though, as he says, he does not find it "half as good as that of the British Museum." (01) His brain is on fire. He has found that he can stir the Philippines, Spain, the world, with that pen which he can use more effectively than any sword. He is working on his sequel to Noli Me Tangere [This is, of Course, the El Filibusterismo -- RLY] . Perhaps, after this is finished, the third book will be in French, so that all Europe can read it. With this in mind he toils over the French language until he can speak and write it like a native. (02) He is also finishing his edition and his notes on De Morga's Succesos de Filipinas, which he copied in the British Museum the previous year. Dr. Blumentritt writes the preface and Rizal the excellent introduction. Morga's book finally appears at the end of the year, and Ponce, after reading it, pronounces it a "tremendous blow to our enemies. . . Your book will change the ideas which now prevail concerning our country." (03) Ponce says he is so much inspired by the book that he, too, will write a book on "the lives of Filipinos who have stood out from the crowd in the past and during the present time. . . It would be possible to demonstrate to all the world that our race has produced men who may be ranked with the wisest." Immediately Rizal sets about to furnish Ponce with material. "Our whole aspiration," he declares, "is to educate our nation; education, and more education!" (04) He has discovered that history and anthropology are the best friends of the Philippines, for these sciences are exploding the lies which the Spaniards have told for generations. He has nothing to fear and everything to gain by exploring every corner of the past, so he enlists his friends in scouring all the libraries of Europe for ancient documents and abstruse knowledge concerning his country.
When [as a part of the 1888 Universal Exposition - rly] Buffalo Bill brings to Paris a show with American Indians called Indios Bravos, Rizal organizes a society of Filipinos who call themselves Indios Bravos, for the purpose of making the "Indios", as Spaniards called the Filipinos, proud of their race. This organization includes Ventura, the Luna brothers, Pardo de Taver and his wife, the Bousted family, Del Pilar, Baldomero Roxas and others. For a long while when writing to one another, they sign their names "Indios Bravos". (05) He is asking Dr. A. B. Meyer of Berlin difficult questions which that famous philologist cannot answer. Here is one of them: "The word VPOS is found in Morga (chap. 6)." Does Meyer know what it means? José wants a long list of books from German libraries including books on the Tagalog, Visayan, Spanish, and Ilocano languages and histories dating back to 1440. "I am studying all the books which have been published about colonies in order to become fully informed concerning colonization. Tell me if you know any books worth recommending." (06) Dr. Meyer writes that he is puzzled over the etymology of the Tagalog word "anuang". Rizal's reply, written from Paris, gives one a taste of the thoroughness of his trained mind. "In the Celebes the 'anoa depressicornis' is called anoa" or a similar word, and it may be supposed that the Tagalog 'anua' came from there. The word 'anua', meaning water buffalo, is used only in the province of Tayabas; in Tagalog it is called 'kalabaw', in Pampanga 'damulag,' etc. . . This word has an onomatopoetic origin, like 'unga', the mooing sound used in some regions to call oxen, cows, and bulls. The name 'uak' (crow) comes from his croak; the 'tiktik' bird from his song; the 'tuko' lizard (gecko) from the same cause. . . They are all names which indicate the cries of animals. Likewise, the word 'anuang' may be derived from 'aung uang'. 'Uang o unga' is the moo which the Indian servants try to reproduce. . ."
In Germany Rizal has found more men with the scientific zeal for profound and patient research than in any other country. These true descendants of Aristotle love knowledge for its own sake, but Rizal seeks it for a deeper purpose. Their cold scientific findings blaze with hot significance when they pass though his burning mind. The Spanish writer Barrantes writes that "this foremost of Filipinos. . . whose good faculties I recognize and applaud. . . has his spirit twisted by a German education". Rizal replies, "What burns in me, I have had from childhood, before I left the Philippines, before I knew a word of German. My spirit is 'twisted' because I was educated witnessing injustices and abuses of all kinds, because from childhood I have seen many suffer helplessly. . . Abuses, arbitrariness, hypocrisy, farce, violence. . ." (07) He organizes a society called the "Association Internationale des Philippinistas", with Dr. Blumentritt of Austria as president, Dr. Rost of England as Vice-President, and Dr. Planchet of Paris as a director. They plan to summon an international congress to face the Philippine question. The association also sets out to study the Philippines historically and scientifically, to publish books on all Philippine topics, to create a Philippine Library and Museum. . . (08)
Parisian studio of Juan Luna
Rizal's friends in Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, London, Hong Kong, and Germany have become infected with his faith. They, like him, are writing to the utmost of their ability, pinning their faith upon education' they call it "propaganda", though it is not what we ordinarily mean by that word in English. It is propaganda for the truth. "Take care," says Rizal to them, "not to insert exaggerations or lies, nor to imitate those who make use of dishonest means and of low and unworthy language to gain their ends. . . We must teach our enemies that, speaking morally and humanely, we are better than they are. We can win our cause by speaking the truth, because right and justice are on our side." (09)
So led by this scientist with a passion for truth and a blazing love for his country, the Filipinos and their friends plunged into such a period of research and writing as the Philippines had never known. Supporting them by letters from Austria and writing more than anybody save Rizal himself, was Dr. Blumentritt, the German idealist with Spanish blood, who looked upon Rizal as his own son. He was, as the Spanish Retana said, "fanatical for our country (Spain) and also a great lover of the Filipinos." Rizal lovingly wrote to him, "you would like to see everybody in the world hugging one another." Blumentritt's pacifism was a very important factor in helping Rizal to keep his poise. Rizal found in him the one man in the world who fully comprehended his vision of education and self-sacrifice.
Lucia Rizal From the Philippines came news that Noli Me Tangere was reaching farther and farther every month. The Filipinos wept as they read it. "All that you tell is unfortunately the sad truth and taken from real life. . . Just because you tell the truth and tell it so well, your work has caused fury without bounds in the clergy, (10) so much so that Padre Fount, in December, 1887, petitioned in the name of the clergy that Governor General Terrero should not allow your book to be in the Philippines." (11) But Terrero, a liberal when it was safe to be so, waited too long. The book was setting the Filipinos on fire. The friars retaliated by persecuting Rizal's relatives and town. Lucia's husband Mariano Herbosa died of cholera on May 23, 1889 (12) On a plea that Mariano had not confessed since he was married, the Spanish friar of Calamba would not allow him to be buried in the cemetery, and he had to be buried on a little hill outside the town. When Rizal heard this, says Retana, "it required all his cool blood not to lose control of himself." Poor widow Lucia wrote tragically to her brother: "Since the death of Mariano the misfortunes which follow me have had almost no interruption. When I think my mind will be overwhelmed, the only consolation I can find is to read your letters, which serve as a balm to my miseries. . . Now abuse, folly and despotism are on the throne." (13) Lucia was hailed before the court and ordered to abandon the house she had been building since her husband's death. Rizal's brother-in-law, Manuel T. Hidalgo, who had been released from exile for good behavior, was back in Calamba, and kept José awake at nights by the news he wrote: (14) "The Governor General in company with the rector of the University and two Dominicans were here on the 27th of this month. . . to intimidate the tenants into paying their rent. . . The trustee friar Francisco Gobeas, who is in our town today, is going around telling the people that when the Governor General arrives again he will order lashed and exiled the persons whom he designates. . . The General is sold to the friars body and soul, and wherever he goes he is accompanied by two or three of them. None of us here is safe." Hidalgo himself had been ordered to be deported anew. The trustee had declared that Hidalgo was the man who incited the people to refuse to pay, and that he caused the unrest in Calamba -- which was doubtless partly true. Manuel wrote pleading with Rizal to appeal to the Spanish government to suspend his exile, (15) but José knew too well that his every word was like a red rag waved before a bull. The next bad news came from druggist Elejorde of Calamba. "They have chased your brothers-in-law off their land, and I hear they are going to do the same with all your supporters; they have accused my brother of putting his faith in Don José (Rizal) and so not paying fees for mass. They are inhuman. Oh José! The people here ask only about you and pin their faith in you! Even the poor people in the mountains ask me when you will return, and seem to think you are a second Joshua who is going to save them from their miseries. (16) Here are thirty pesos, to be their Joshua! They ask when he will return. Ah, little do they realize what that return will mean! But he sees it clearly now; not Joshua; no sun will stand still -- but a cross! A telegram from Manila came one day pleading with him to seek release for the prisoners in the Philippines. He spent a sleepless night and the next morning wrote to the Filipinos in Madrid a letter that revealed his deepest thoughts: "These persecutions and intrigues help to open the eyes of the sleeping and to diminish the prestige of the hypocrites. . . All these imprisonments, abuses, etc., are necessary. . . If the Filipinos in this cruel and unequal struggle prove their fortitude and valor, in spite of everything and everybody, then they will be worthy of liberty and we will be able to say, 'Success has already arrived.' It is not a crime to possess anti-friar books. This is the hand of fate, and even though we deplore it as a private evil, we must applaud it as a public good. Without 1872 we would not now have Plaridel, nor Jaena, nor Sanciano, nor would there exist the brave and unselfish Filipinos in Europe; without 1872, Rizal, in place of writing Noli Me Tangere. . . . would have written its opposite. At the sight of these injustices and cruelties, even as a child my imagination was awakened and I swore to dedicate my life to avenge so many victims; and it is with this idea that I have been studying. This may be seen in all my works and writings; God gave me the opportunity some day to carry out my promise! Well! If they commit abuses, if there are prisoners, banishments, executions, very well! This, the fulfillment of Destiny! The day in which they put a hand on us, the day in which they martyr our innocent families for our crimes, good-bye friar government, and perhaps, good-bye Spanish government! This cruelties and egotism of Louis XIV brought on the Revolution; the cruelties of the Inquisition killed monarchism. We will say in our books and writings that the friars are not what they pretend to be, are not ministers of Christ, are not protectors of the country. This we will write and affirm, and the friars will prove it with their deeds. What more should we want? . . . Well now, there is no reason to fear nor be disturbed when some of us fail. In every struggle there must be victims, and it is the greatest battles which are the most sanguinary. What is imprisonment? What is death? An illness sends us to bed at times and takes our life. The question is whether this infirmity and this death will afterwards be useless for those who survive. Some people say: 'It is these imprisonments and deaths that terrify and intimidate the rest!' If the country is really valiant, when the terror is past she will return with greater zeal to the struggle and avenge the fallen, as occurs in the cauterization of an ulcer; apparently, the part burned has been killed, but the day following the scab will be seen to have taken on a new healthy appearance. If the country lacks courage, if it is paralyzed by despair, infected, close to disorganization, fire is precisely the remedy indicated. Fire will awaken vitality, irritate the cells, cause the fluids to circulate. . . And it is only dead if there exists no vitality at all. Suppose we free it today from the tyranny of the friars; tomorrow it will fall under the tyranny of their employees. "With all these imprisonments and oppressions there continues too much bland courtesy on the part of our fellow-countrymen. What we need now are people who, in these imprisonments and banishments exhibit courage and fortitude and so give an example to our country of zeal like the early Christian martyrs. . . . If Burgos at his death had shown as much courage as Gomez, the Filipinos would be otherwise today. Nevertheless, nobody knows how he might act in that supreme moment, and I myself with so much preaching and bravado, might exhibit more fear and less energy than did Burgos in that last moment of his life. Life is so pleasant, and death by hanging so hideous that a young man with ideas in his head. . ." (17) This white-hot letter to Ponce continues: "If you accept these ideas, pass them on to your countrymen, tell them to show more valor, more self-sacrifice, less fear of death and tortures, so that our enemies may respect us. If they are exiled, all the better! For from the island where they live they can communicate their ideas abroad. Suppose they are killed by the disease "friar phobia"; we will avenge them and in their blood we will steep our enemies. . . The first words I said to my family when I reached the Philippines and they showed me how much they were afraid, were, that if I were captured they should not take the smallest step in my behalf, nor interpose, nor pay money to rescue me, but teach my nephews to avenge me! This is what I now say to my countrymen: The day that you see me in the clutches of the friars, do not waste time in making remonstrances, do not utter moans or lamentations; that would be futile. Seek another to take my place who will avenge me and make them pay dear for my misfortune. "Our fellow countrymen must not look upon imprisonment as death; and even if they come to that, what is death? Have they no faith in God? (18) In none of his work did Rizal take keener interest than in helping La Solidaridad, of which Lopez Jaena was director, while Del Pilar and Ponce were the editors. Rizal wanted the fortnightly paper to be perfect. No typographical errors went unnoticed, no poor inking, no delays, and no paper failing to reach its subscriber. (19) Delightedly he wrote from Paris to Jaena that "We here think that the paper is improving with each issue. . . Make it just, honorable, and true, so that its opinions may be respected." "I am glad," Rizal wrote later, "that you are sending me so many copies, for I always send them on to the Philippines. There is where this periodical ought to be read. . . There is where we must sow if we wish to reap. . . Take care how you send them to the Philippines, for according to my information the Governor General has ordered every number that arrives burned. Wrap them up and conceal them well. . . Send copies to Manila with sailors who go there, by mail or by other means. . . The people there also want our booklets and other writings. Hereafter send such materials with each issue. . . I enclose two hundred pesos which my fellow townsmen in Calamba gave to La Solidaridad. Tell me if you lack money." (20) As the sting in La Solidaridad began to take effect, it increased the risks of those who wrote for it. The signatures Laong Laan and Dimas Alang were Rizal's pseudonyms. Del Pilar signed himself Plaridel, or L. O. Crame; Ponce was named Naning, etc. Assumed names were used in correspondence going to Spain or the Philippines, since letters were always in danger of being intercepted. The home of Mariano Ponce was searched in Barcelona, and he was placed under arrest. "Do not write to us directly," said Rizal's brother-in-law Hidalgo from Calamba, "for here all your letters are intercepted; so you can send them to Basa in Hong Kong, and he will then take care of sending them to us through Mr. Ramos." (21) When Rizal sent to Manila a box of his new Morga edition he was informed by Manuel Arias y Rodriguez that "they will not permit the circulation of the books at all, in spite of which a few copies are going from hand to hand. . . Although postage is much more than freight, you should send the books by registered mail in packages closed tightly, in paper cloth especially made for packages; and the cost should be charged to the books, for gladly they will pay for what they are eager to get. . . Nobody absolutely should know that we are on such close terms, for many of our countrymen residing on the continent write here what they ought not to tell. . ." The Filipinos organized a society with a secret countersign, to secure a more effective distribution of papers and letters. Rizal wrote to Basa appointing him as the Hong Kong correspondent. "You will see that Chinese sailors, servants, etc. carry out the aims of the society, which is to spread knowledge through our country. . . All useful knowledge, scientific, artistic, literary, etc. . . For example if you receive a little package, a book, or a letter on which you read the initials Rd. L. M. that will be sufficient warning to take special care that the thing reaches its destination, because it will be of the greatest importance. . . When these initials are so:
R Burn that letter, and tell none of your subordinates, for this countersign should be known only by the heads of each department, and by persons upon whom we can pin our faith." Spanish officials little dreamed what strange channels were being used to get literature into the Philippines. For example, Rizal kept a German book-agent in Hamburg supplied with copies of Noli Me Tangere, which this man forwarded to the Philippines at every opportunity. (22) For several months La Solidaridad signed assumed names for its articles, but Rizal came to believe that this was cowardly. "Away with pseudonyms," (23) he wrote to Del Pilar. "It is necessary that henceforth we inaugurate another policy, a policy of courage and of genuine solidarity. . . Luna is going to commence a series of articles signed with his own name. . . The periodical will then assume importance; just fancy the appearance of such names as Blumentritt, Del Pilar, Jaena, Luna, etc. Our fellow countrymen, at seeing our valor, at seeing that Rizal is not the exception, but the general rule will also take new courage and lose their fear; there is nothing like example. Our enemies will be astonished to encounter youth who fear nothing or hesitate to unite in the service of their country, youth not afraid of being victims of vengeance. The more atrocities they commit the more liberal Filipinos will emerge. "Moreover, he who desires to enter upon this crusade ought first to have renounced all, his life and his fortune. Henceforth let it be seen that the more dangerous a contribution is, the more valor it reveals on the part of the man who wrote it. . . If they take vengeance on us, at least our death or our misery will be a brilliant example for the rest. "Convince them that if the life in the Philippines is dangerous for the author of Noli, or for the author of (24) La Soberania Monacal it is because they are isolated works. . . When that which sustains a weight is a single column, it may break; but if there are many, they will no longer be so much in danger. . . Convince them that by every good example of a Filipino, thousands and thousands are conquered, that the progression is geometrical, that God and Destiny are on our side because we have justice and right and because we struggle not for ourselves but for the sacred love we hold for our country and for our fellow countrymen. . . The men who preceded us fought for their own interests and so God did not sustain them -- Novales over the question of bullion, Cuesta for vengeance, Burgos for his priests. We, on the contrary, struggle for greater justice, for liberty, for the sacred rights of mankind, asking nothing for ourselves, sacrificing all for the common good; what have we to fear? We are not revolutionaries; we desire not blood, we have no hatred, and we will resort to force only when all other means have been exhausted, when they compel us to fight or die; for in such extremes God gives each man the right to defend himself as he can; then we will be within our legal rights, and like the Americans, we will fight for our just cause and triumph. What have we to fear? You see that the foreigner already applauds and esteems us; our cause will find champions. (25) Fear will enter our enemies when they confront men who are resolute and immovable."
Such splendid integrity and the lofty idealism in Rizal aroused a confidence
and love among his countrymen that amounted almost to worship. Millions
would have endorsed the words of Fernando Acedova when he wrote to "I see in you the model Filipino; your application to study and your talents have placed you on a height which I revere and admire." Then he spoiled the compliment for Rizal by adding, "You are the Oceanic-Spaniard personified!"
Bousted
While Rizal was carrying this tremendous load of work in Paris, he watched
his health with a doctor's eye, and took time for exercise. He was fond of
fencing, then popular in Europe. Among those with whom he often fenced was
his close friend, the artist Juan Luna. Another expert fencer was Nellie Boustead whose wealthy and cultured family welcomed their distinguished
countryman in their home. (27) Nellie's younger sister Adelina was of the
spiritual and intellectual type that a man of Rizal's tremendous mental
powers would find most stimulating. As he peered more deeply into her soul
[sic. NOTE: it is Nellie Bousted, not Adelina, to whom Rizal became
attracted. - rly],
he realized that she met the need of his own soul more fully than any other
woman he had ever known. But he put the thought out of his mind, for back in
his native land was Leonor, and though he never heard from her, he felt
confident that she would be true. His own loyalty was like the rock of
Gibraltar. |
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