Chapter 16 Life and Works of Rizal in London After Rizals travels in the United States he lived in London from

May 1888 to March 1889. He chose to stay in this English for three reasons: 1. To improve his knowledge of English language. 2. To study and annotate Morgas 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. During his stay, he engaged deeply in Filipiniana studies. He completed annotating Morgas book, he wrote many articles for La Solidaridad in defense of his people against Spanish critics, he penned a famous letter to the young women of Malolos and carried his voluminous correspondence with Blumentritt and other friends and relatives. Trip Across the Atlantic. The trans-Atlantic voyage of Rizal from New York to Liverpool was a pleasant one. He won many friends of different nationalities on board the palatial City of Rome because of his ability as a linguist. Rizal entertained the American and European passengers with his marvelous skill with the yo-yo. It is used by Filipino children as a toy but Rizal manipulated it as a weapon of offense, to the great amusement of the foreigners. Rizal arrived at Liverpool, England on May 24, 1888. He stayed one day in this port city. Life in London. On May 25, 1888 a day after docking at Liverpool, Rizal went to London. For a short time he stayed as a guest at the home of Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, an exile of 1872. By the end of May, he found a boarding place at No. 37 Chalcot Crescent Primrose Hill. He was a boarder of the Beckett family. The Beckett home was conveniently located near the public parks and w/in easy walking distance to the British Museum where Rizal did much of his work. Rizal came to know Dr. Reinhold Rost, the librarian of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an authority of the Malayan languages customs. Dr. Rost was impressed by Rizals learning character and called Rizal a pearl of a man (una perla de hombre) He spent Sundays in the house of Dr. Rost with whom he had pleasant discussions on linguistics. He also played cricket and boxed with Rosts sons. News from Home, Good and Bad. Rizal received both good and bad news from home. On the bad news were the injustices committed by the Spanish authorities on the Filipino people and Rizals family, among them are as follows: 1. Persecution of the Filipino patriots of Manila and the surrounding towns who signed the Petition of 1888 which was presentedto Don Jose Centeno, Civil Governor of Manila, on March 1, 1888. This petition was addressed to the Queen of Spain, requesting the expulsion of the friars, including Archbishop Pedro Payo (Dominican) of Manila. 2. The Calamba agrarian trouble of 1888 in w/c the tenents, including the Rizals, were being persecuted by the hacienda management. 3. Manuel T. Hidalgo (husband of Saturnina), Rizals brotherin-law, was exile in Bohol. 4. Another brother-in-law Mariano Herbosa (husband of Lucia) was denied a Christian burial because of the malicious rumor that he had not confessed since his marriage. 5. A friend of Rizal, Laureano Viado, a medical student at the UST was imprisoned because a copy of the Noli was found in his possession. One good news cheered Rizal and that was Rev. Vicente Garcias (a venerable Filipino canon of the Manila Cathedral) defense of the Noli against the attacks of the friars. He heard this from Mariano Ponce.

Annotating Morgas Work. Rizals greatest achievement in London was the annotation of Dr. Morgas famous historical work entitled Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Mexico,1609)For nearly two years Rizal was seeply immersed in historical studies in London that he refused Mariano Ponces request for him to edit a newspaper defending the Filipino interests from attacks of the Spanish dictators. Short Visit to Paris and Spain. Early September 1888 he visited Paris for a week to search more materials in the Bibliotheque Nationale. He was entertained by Juan Luna and his wife, Paz Tadro de Tavera and their son Andres. After that he returned to London. On December 11, 1888, he went to Spain visiting Madrid and Barcelona. For the first time he met Marcello H. del Pillar and Mariano Ponce. He exchanged ideas w/ these new friends and promised to cooperate in the fight for reforms. Christmas in London. Rizal returned to London on December 23 and spent Christmas and New Years Day with the Becketts. He had a delightful Christmas Eve, his first on English soil. Romance with Gertrude Beckett. Rizal had a romantic interlude with the eldest of the three Beckett sistersGertrude. She was a buxom girl had brown hair, blue eyes and pink cheeks. She was in love with Rizal. Rizal being a normal man found great delight in Gertrudes companionship. He was on the verge of love himself but out of loyalty of Leonor Rivera he could not reciprocate the girls love. This led Rizal to leave London in 1889 for he cannot marry Gertrude. Writings in London. Aside from annotating Morgas book he also wrote articles for La Solidaridad. Informed of Fray Rodriguez attacks on the Noli in a series of leaflets entitled Cuestiones de Sumo Interes, Rizal wrote a pamphlet entitled La Vision del Fray Rodriguez, published in Barcelona.1889, under the pen name Dimas Alang. This pamphlet of Rizal demonstrated 2 things; (1) his profound knowledge of religion and (2) his biting satire. He also wrote Letter to the Young Women of Malolos (February 1889) in Tagalog upon request of M. H. del Pillar to praise the young ladies of Malolos for their courage to establish a school where thet could learn Spanish, despite the opposition of Fr. Felipe Garcia. The main points of the letter were: 1. Filipino mother should teach their children love of God, fatherland and mankind 2. Filipino mother should be glad like Spartan mother to offer her sons to defense the fatherland. 3. Filipino woman should know how to preserve her dignity and honor, 4. Filipino woman should educate herself, aside from retaining her good racial virtues 5. Faith is not merely reciting long prayers and wearing religious pictures but rather it is living the real Christian way, w/ good morals and good manners Rizal also contributed to Dr. Rost, editor of Trubners Record two articles; (1)Specimens of Tagal Folklore published May.1889 (2)Two Eastern Fables published June 1889. Rizal and La Solidaridad. On January 12, 1889, while Rizal was in London, Filipino patriots and their Spanish friends Founded a society, called Asociacion Hispano-Filipina. The president was Don Miguel Moyarta. The vice-president was General Felipe de las Corte and Dr. Dominador Gomez as secretary. Mariano ponce invited Rizal to be an organ but he declined because he was busy annotating Morgas Sucesos. Lopez Jaena, founded the La Solidaridad on February 15, 1889. This became the organ of the Propaganda. As a proof of Rizals approval and cooperation, he became an active contributor to La Solidaridad, using 2 pen names Dimas Alang and Laong Laan. Adios London. Rizal left London because of the serious turn of Gertrude Becketts love for him. He was to good of a man to take advantage of a girls affection. He decided to move to Paris so she may forget him. Before leaving London he carved several sculptural works--(1) Prometheus Bound, (2) The Triumph of Death over Life, (3) The Triumph of Science over Death and (4) a composite carving of the heads of the Beckett sisters In the middle of March,1889, Rizal departed for Paris.