Lineage, Life and Labors of José Rizal, Philippine Patriot
United States, and has since attained an importance which could not
possibly have been anticipated either under the Spanish Government
or during the anarchy which followed. With regard to permanence,
the Spanish system cannot for a moment be compared with that of
America. While each of the colonies, in order to favour a privileged
class by immediate gains, exhausted still more the already enfeebled
population of the metropolis by the withdrawal of the best of its
ability, America, on the contrary, has attracted to itself from all
countries the most energetic element, which, once on its soil and,
freed from all fetters, restlessly progressing, has extended its power
and influence still further and further. The Philippines will escape
the action of the two great neighbouring powers all the less for the
fact that neither they nor their metropolis find their condition of
a stable and well-balanced nature.
It seems to be desirable for the natives that the above-mentioned
views should not speedily become accomplished facts, because their
education and training hitherto have not been of a nature to prepare
them successfully to compete with either of the other two energetic,
creative, and progressive nations. They have, in truth, dreamed away
their best days."
This prophecy of Jagor's made a deep impression upon Rizal and
seems to furnish the explanation of his life work. Henceforth it was
his ambition to arouse his countrymen to prepare themselves for a
freer state. He dedicated himself to the work which Doctor Jagor had
indicated as necessary. It seems beyond question that Doctor Rizal,
as early as 1876, believed that America would sometime come to the
Philippines, and wished to prepare his countrymen for the changed
conditions that would then have to be met. Many little incidents
in his later life confirm this view: his eagerness to buy expensive
books on the United States, such as his early purchase in Barcelona
of two different "Lives of the Presidents of the United States"; his
study of the country in his travel across it from San Francisco to
New York; the reference in "The Philippines in a Hundred Years"; and
the studies of the English Revolution and other Anglo-Saxon influences
which culminated in the foundation of the United States of America.
Besides the interest he took in clay modeling, to which reference
has already been made, Rizal was expert in carving. When first
in the Ateneo he had carved an image of the Virgin of such grace
and beauty that one of the Fathers asked him to try an image of the
Sacred Heart. Rizal complied, and produced the carving that played so
important a part in his future life. The Jesuit Father had intended to
take the image with him to Spain, but in some way it was left behind
and the schoolboys put it up on the door of their dormitory. There it
remained for nearly twenty years, constantly reminding the many lads
who passed in and out of the one who teachers and pupils alike agreed
was the greatest of all their number, for Rizal during these years was
the schoolboy hero of the Ateneo, and from the Ateneo came the men who
were most largely concerned in making the New Philippines. The image
itself is of batikulin, an easily carved wood, and shows considerable
skill when one remembers that an ordinary pocketknife was the simple
instrument used in its manufacture. It was recalled to Rizal's memory
when he visited the Ateneo upon his first return from Spain and was
forbidden the house by the Jesuits because of his alleged apostasy,
and again in the chapel of Fort Santiago, where it played an important
part in what was called his conversion.
The proficiency he attained in the art of clay modeling is evidenced by
many of the examples illustrated in this volume. They not only indicate
an astonishing versatility, but they reveal his very characteristic
method of working--a characteristic based on his constant desire
to adapt the best things he found abroad to the conditions of his
own country. The same characteristic appears also in most of his
literary work, and in it there is no servile imitation; it is careful
and studied selection, adaptation and combination. For example, the
composition of a steel engraving in a French art journal suggested
his model in clay of a Philippine wild boar; the head of the subject
in a painting in the Luxembourg Gallery and the rest of a figure in
an engraving in a newspaper are combined in a statuette he modeled
in Brussels and sent, in May, 1890, to Valentina Ventura in place
of a letter; a clipping from a newspaper cut is also adapted for
his model of "The Vengeance of the Harem"; and as evidence of his
facility of expressing himself in this medium, his clay modeling of
a Dapitan woman may be cited. One day while in exile he saw a native
woman clearing up the street in front of her home preparatory to
a festival; the movements and the attitudes of the figure were so
thoroughly typical and so impressed themselves on his mind that he
worked out this statuette from memory.
In a literary way Rizal's first pretentious effort was a melodrama in
one act and in verse, entitled "Junta al Pasig" (Beside the Pasig),
a play in honor of the Virgin, which was given in the Ateneo to the
great edification of a considerable audience, who were enthusiastic
in their praise and hearty in their applause, but the young author
neither saw the play nor paid any attention to the manner of its
reception, for he was downstairs, intent on his own diversions and
heedless of what was going on above.
Thursday was the school holiday in those days, and Rizal usually spent
the time at the Convent of La Concordia, where his youngest sister,
Soledad, was a boarder. He was a great friend of the little one
and a welcome visitor in the Convent; he used to draw pictures for
her edification, sometimes teasing her by making her own portrait,
to which he gave exaggerated ears to indicate her curiosity. Then he
wrote short satirical skits, such as the following, which in English
doggerel quite matches its Spanish original:
"The girls of Concordia College
Go dressed in the latest of styles--
Bangs high on their foreheads for knowledge--
But hungry their grins and their smiles!"
Some of these girls made an impression upon Jose, and one of his diary
entries of this time tells of his rude awakening when a girl, some
years his elder, who had laughingly accepted his boyish adoration,
informed him that she was to marry a relative of his, and he speaks
of the heart-pang with which he watched the carromata that carried
her from his sight to her wedding.
Jose was a great reader, and the newspapers were giving much attention
to the World's Fair in Philadelphia which commemorated the first
centennial of American independence, and published numerous cuts
illustrating various interesting phases of American life. Possibly
as a reaction from the former disparagement of things American, the
sentiment in the Philippines was then very friendly. There was one
long account of the presentation of a Spanish banner to a Spanish
commission in Philadelphia, and the newspapers, in speaking of the
wonderful progress which the United States had made, recalled the
early Spanish alliance and referred to the fact that, had it not been
for the discoveries of the Spaniards, their new land would not have
been known to Europe.
Rizal during his last two years in the Ateneo was a boarder. Throughout
his entire course he had been the winner of most of the prizes. Upon
receiving his Bachelor of Arts diploma he entered the University of
Santo Tomas; in the first year he studied the course in philosophy
and in the second year began to specialize in medicine.
The Ateneo course of study was a good deal like that of our present
high school, though not so thorough nor so advanced. Still, the method
of instruction which has made Jesuit education notable in all parts
of the world carried on the good work which the mother's training
had begun. The system required the explanation of the morrow's
lesson, questioning on the lesson of the day and a review of the
previous day's work. This, with the attention given to the classics,
developed and quickened faculties which gave Rizal a remarkable power
of assimilating knowledge of all kinds for future use.
The story is told that Rizal was undecided as to his career, and wrote
to the rector of the Ateneo for advice; but the Jesuit was then in
the interior of Mindanao, and by the time the answer, suggesting that
he should devote himself to agriculture, was received, he had already
made his choice. However, Rizal did continue the study of agriculture,
besides specializing in medicine, carrying on double work as he took
the course in the Ateneo which led to the degree of land surveyor and
agricultural expert. This work was completed before he had reached
the age fixed by law, so that he could not then receive his diploma,
which was not delivered to him until he had attained the age of
twenty-one years.
In the "Life" of Rizal published in Barcelona after his death a
brilliant picture is painted of how Rizal might have followed the
advice of the rector of the Ateneo, and have lived a long, useful
and honorable life as a farmer and gobernadorcillo of his home town,
respected by the Spaniards, looked up to by his countrymen and filling
an humble but safe lot in life. Today one can hardly feel that such
a career would have been suited to the man or regret that events took
the course they did.
Poetry was highly esteemed in the Ateneo, and Rizal frequently made
essays in verse, often carrying his compositions to Kalamba for his
mother's criticisms and suggestions. The writings of the Spanish poet
Zorilla were making a deep impression upon him at this time, and while
his schoolmates seemed to have been more interested in their warlike
features, Jose appears to have gained from them an understanding of how
Zorilla sought to restore the Spanish people to their former dignity,
rousing their pride through recalling the heroic events in their past
history. Some of the passages in the melodrama, "Junta al Pasig,"
already described, were evidently influenced by his study of Zorilla;
the fierce denunciation of Spain which is there put in the mouth of
Satan expresses, no doubt, the real sentiments of Rizal.
In 1877 a society known as the Liceo Literario-Artistica (Lyceum of
Art and Literature) offered a prize for the best poem by a native. The
winner was Rizal with the following verses, "Al Juventud Filipino"
(To the Philippine Youth). The prize was a silver pen, feather-shaped
and with a gold ribbon running through it.
To the Philippine Youth
Theme: "Growth"
(Translation by Charles Derbyshire)
Hold high the brow serene,
O youth, where now you stand;
Let the bright sheen
Of your grace be seen,
Fair hope of my fatherland!
Come now, thou genius grand,
And bring down inspiration;
With thy mighty hand,
Swifter than the wind's volation,
Raise the eager mind to higher station.
Come down with pleasing light
Of art and science to the fight,
O youth, and there untie
The chains that heavy lie,
Your spirit free to blight.
See how in flaming zone
Amid the shadows thrown,
The Spaniard's holy hand
A crown's resplendent band
Proffers to this Indian land.
Thou, who now wouldst rise
On wings of rich emprise,
Seeking from Olympian skies
Songs of sweetest strain,
Softer than ambrosial rain;
Thou, whose voice divine
Rivals Philomel's refrain,
And with varied line
Through the night benign
Frees mortality from pain;
Thou, who by sharp strife
Wakest thy mind to life;
And the memory bright
Of thy genius' light
Makest immortal in its strength;
And thou, in accents clear
of Phoebus, to Apells dear;