CHAPTER 15: RIZALS SECOND SOJOURN IN PARIS AND THE UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION OF 1889

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

DIFFICULTY OF FINDING QUARTERS

a. The Universal Exposition of 1889 attracted thousands of tourists; thus, all hotel
accommodations were taken
RIZAL AND PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1889
a. The greatest attraction of this exposition was the Eiffel Tower
b. International Art Competition in the Exposition
i. Felix Hidalgo = 2nd prize
ii. Juan Luna & Felix Pardo de Tavera = 3rd prize
iii. Rizals bust = no prize
KIDLAT CLUB
a. Purely a social society of a temporary nature
b. 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.
c. It will disappear like lightning
INDIOS BRAVOS
a. Rizal and the members of the Kidlat Club were amazed to see the Buffalo Bull show
which featured the American Indians
b. These Red skinned Indians were proudly riding their sturdy ponies, elegantly dressed in
their native attire and wearing their war feathers and paints.
c. Rizal told his friends:
i. Let us be proud of the name Indio and make our Spanish enemies revise their
conception of the term
ii. We shall be Indios Bravos
iii. The Indios Bravos (brave Indians) replaced the ephemeral Kidlat Club.
d. Members pledged to excel in intellectual and physical prowess in order to win the
admiration of the foreigners, particularly the Spaniards.
i. They practiced with great enthusiasm the use of the sword and the pistol.
ii. Rizal taught them judo, an Asian art of self-defense that he learned in Japan.
R.D.L.M. SOCIETY
a. The letters R.D.L.M. are believed to be the initials of the societys secret name
Redencion de los Malayos (Redemption of the the Malays).
b. It was patterned after Freemasonry
c. The aim of the secret society, as stated by Rizal was the propagation of all useful
knowledge scientific, artistic, literary, etc. in the Phil.
d. Rizal was inspired by a famous book entitled Max Havelaar written by Multatuli
i. This book exposed the miserable conditions of the oppressed Malay inhabitants
of the Netherlands East Indies under Dutch Rules
e. Letter to Blumentritt:
i. Revealed his intentions to be a leader of freedom, if not in the Philippines, then
in Borneo.
ii. 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
a. Blumentritt censured Rizal for two things which revealed Rizals errors, namely:
i. Rizal commits the error of many historians in appraising the events of the past
in the light of present standards
ii. Rizals attack on the Church were unfair and unjustified because the abuses of
the friars should not be construed to mean the Catholicism is bad.
b. 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:
i. 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.
c. Rizal proved that the Filipinos were already civilized before the advent of Spain
i. They had clothes, government, laws, writing, literature, religion, arts, sciences,
and commerce with neighboring Asian nations.

ii.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

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
a. In this article, Rizal predicted with amazing accuracy the tragic end of Spains
sovereignty in Asia.
b. Colonies established to subserve the policy and commerce of the sovereign country, all
eventually become independent
THE INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS
a. It is an able defense of the alleged indolence of the Filipinos.
b. Rizal made a critical study of the causes why his people did not work hard during the
Spanish regime.
c. His main thesis: Filipinos are not by nature indolent
d. 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
e. Such decline in economic life was due to certain causes:
i. Native revolts and other internal disorders which followed the establishment of
Spanish rule
ii. The wars which the Filipinos fought for Spains enemies
iii. The frightful raids on the coastal towns and village of Christian Philippines by
the Muslim pirates of Mindanao and Sulu
iv. The forced labor which compelled thousands of Filipino laborers to work in
public works resulting in the abandonment of their personal works
v. Lack of stimulus to work harder because the people could not enjoy the fruits
of their labor
vi. Government neglect and indifference to agriculture, industry, and commerce
vii. The bad example shown by the Spaniards in despising manual labor
viii. 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
ix. Encouragement and propagation of gambling by the Spanish authorities
x. System of Spanish education did not promote economic enterprise and activity
f. Filipinos are easy going and do not work so hard because they are wise enough to
adjust themselves to their warm, tropical climate.
i. 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
a. The aim of the association is to study the Philippines from the scientific and historical
point of view
b. 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
a. This College aims to train and educate men of good family and financial means in
accordance with the demands of modern times and circumstances
b. 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.
c. This project of Rizal to establish a modern college in Hong Kong did not materialize
POR TELEFONO
a. This satirical pamphlet under the authorship of Dimas Alang is a witty satire which
ridicules Fr. Font.
i. 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.
b. Rizal predicted much ahead of his times that people could carry on overseas
telephonic conversations --- 12 years after the publication of Rizals Por Telefono.