Lineage, Life and Labors of José Rizal, Philippine Patriot
This point in the reformed Spanish writer's biography of Rizal is
made occasion for another of his treacherous attacks upon the good
name of his pretended hero. Just as in the land troubles Retana held
that legally Governor-General Weyler was justified in disregarding
an appeal pending in the courts, so in this connection he declares:
"(Despujol) unquestionably had been deceived by Rizal when, from
Hongkong, he offered to Despujol not to meddle in politics." That
Rizal meddled in politics rests solely upon Despujol's word, and
it will be seen later how little that is worth; but, politics or no
politics, Rizal's fate was settled before he ever came to Manila.
Rizal was accompanied to Manila by his sister Lucia, widow of that
brother-in-law who had been denied Christian burial because of his
relationship to Rizal. In the Basa home, among other waste papers,
and for that use, she had gathered up five copies of a recent
"proclamation," entitled "Pobres Frailes" (Poor Friars), a small
sheet possibly two inches wide and five long. These, crumpled up,
were tucked into the case of the pillow which Mrs. Hervosa used on
board. Later, rolled up in her blankets and bed mat, or petate, they
went to the custom house along with the other baggage, and of course
were discovered in the rigorous examination which the officers always
made. How strict Philippine customs searches were, Henry Norman, an
English writer of travels, explains by remarking that Manila was the
only port where he had ever had his pockets picked officially. His
visit was made at about the time of which we are writing, and the
object, he says, was to keep out anti friar publications.
Rizal and his sister landed without difficulty, and he at once went to
the Oriente Hotel, then the best in town, for Rizal always traveled
and lived as became a member of a well-to-do family. Next he waited
on the Governor-General, with whom he had a very brief interview,
for it happened to be on one of the numerous religious festivals,
during which he obtained favorable consideration for his deported
sisters. Several more interviews occurred in which the hopes first
given were realized, so that those of the family then awaiting exile
were pardoned and those already deported were to be returned at an
early date.
One night Rizal was the guest of honor at a dinner given by the masters
and wardens of the Masonic lodges of Manila, and he was surprised and
delighted at the progress the institution had made in the Islands. Then
he had another task not so agreeable, for, while awaiting a delayed
appointment with the Governor-General, he with two others ran up on
the new railway to Tarlac. Ostensibly this was to see the country,
but it was not for a pleasure trip. They were investigating the sales
of Rizal's books and trying to find out what had become of the money
received from them, for while the author's desire had been to place
them at so low a price as to be within the reach of even the poor, it
was reported that the sales had been few and at high prices, so that
copies were only read by the wealthy whose desire to obtain the rare
and much-discussed novels led them to pay exorbitant figures for them.
Rizal's party, consisting of the Secretary of one of the lodges of
Manila, and another Mason, a prominent school-teacher, were under
constant surveillance and a minute record of their every act is
preserved in the "reserved" files, now, of course, so only in name,
as they are no longer secret. Immediately after they left a house it
would be thoroughly searched and the occupants strictly questioned. In
spite of the precautions of the officials, Rizal soon learned of this,
and those whom they visited were warned of what to expect. In one home
so many forbidden papers were on hand that Rizal delayed his journey
till the family completed their task of carrying them upstairs and
hiding them in the roof.
At another place he came across an instance of superstition such as
that which had caused him to cease his sleight-of-hand exhibitions
on his former return to the Islands. Their host was a man of little
education but great hospitality, and the party were most pleasantly
entertained. During the conversation he spoke of Rizal, but did not
seem to know that his hero had come back to the Philippines. His
remarks drifted into the wildest superstition, and, after asserting
that Rizal bore a charmed life, he startled his audience by saying
that if the author of "Noli Me Tangere" cared to do so, he could be
with them at that very instant. At first the three thought themselves
discovered by their host, but when Rizal made himself known, the
old man proved that he had had no suspicion of his guest's identity,
for he promptly became busy preparing his home for the search which
he realized would shortly follow. On another occasion their host
was a stranger whom Rizal treated for a temporary illness, leaving
a prescription to be filled at the drug store. The name signed to
the paper was a revelation, but the first result was activity in
cleaning house.
No fact is more significant of the utter rottenness of the Spanish
rule than the unanimity of the people in their discontent. Only a
few persons at first were in open opposition, but books, pamphlets
and circulars were eagerly sought, read and preserved, with the
knowledge generally, of the whole family, despite the danger of
possessing them. At times, as in the case of Rizal's novels, an entire
neighborhood was in the secret; the book was buried in a garden and
dug up to be read from at a gathering of the older men, for which a
dance gave pretext. Informers were so rare that the possibility of
treachery among themselves was hardly reckoned in the risk.
The authorities were constantly searching dwellings, often entire
neighborhoods, and with a thoroughness which entirely disregarded
the possibility of damaging an innocent person's property. These
"domiciliary registrations" were, of course, supposed to be unexpected,
but in the later Spanish days the intended victims usually had
warning from some employee in the office where it was planned, or
from some domestic of the official in charge; very often, however, the
warning was so short as to give only time for a hasty destruction of
incriminating documents and did not permit of their being transferred
to other hiding places. Thus large losses were incurred, and to these
must be added damages from dampness when a hole in the ground, the
inside of a post, or cementing up in the wall furnished the means of
concealment. Fires, too, were frequent, and such events attracted so
much attention that it was scarcely safe to attempt to save anything
of an incriminating nature.
Six years of war conditions did their part toward destroying what
little had escaped, and from these explanations the reader may
understand how it comes that the tangled story of Spain's last half
century here presents an historical problem more puzzling than that
of much more remote times in more favored lands.
It seems almost providential that the published statement of
the Governor-General can be checked not only by an account which
Rizal secretly sent to friends, but also by the candid memoranda
contained in the untruthful executive's own secret folios. While
some unessential details of Rizal's career are in doubt, not a point
vital to establishing his good name lacks proof that his character
was exemplary and that he is worthy of the hero-worship which has
come to him.
After Rizal's return to Manila from his railway trip he had the
promised interview with the Governor-General. At their previous
meetings the discussions had been quite informal. Rizal, in
complimenting the General upon his inauguration of reforms, mentioned
that the Philippine system of having no restraint whatever upon
the chief executive had at least the advantage that a well-disposed
governor-general would find no red-tape hindrances to his plans for
the public benefit. But Despujol professed to believe that the best
of men make mistakes and that a wise government would establish
safeguards against this human fallibility.
The final, and fatal, interview began with the Governor-General asking
Rizal if he still persisted in his plan for a Filipino colony in
British North Borneo; Despujol had before remarked that with so much
Philippine land lying idle for want of cultivation it did not seem to
him patriotic to take labor needed at home away for the development
of a foreign land. Rizal's former reply had dealt with the difficulty
the government was in respecting the land troubles, since the tenants
who had taken the old renters' places now also must be considered,
and he pointed out that there was, besides, a bitterness between the
parties which could not easily be forgotten by either side. So this
time he merely remarked that he had found no reason for changing his
original views.
Hereupon the General took from his desk the five little sheets of
the "Poor Friars" handbill, which he said had been found in the roll
of bedding sent with Rizal's baggage to the custom house, and asked
whose they could be. Rizal answered that of course the General knew
that the bedding belonged to his sister Lucia, but she was no fool
and would not have secreted in a place where they were certain to be
found five little papers which, hidden within her camisa or placed
in her stocking, would have been absolutely sure to come in unnoticed.
Rizal, neither then nor later, knew the real truth, which was that
these papers were gathered up at random and without any knowledge of
their contents. If it was a crime to have lived in a house where such
seditious printed matter was common, then Rizal, who had openly visited
Basa's home, was guilty before ever the handbills were found. But no
reasonable person would believe another rational being could be so
careless of consequences as to bring in openly such dangerous material.
The very title was in sarcastic allusion to the inconsistency of a
religious order being an immensely wealthy organization, while its
individual members were vowed to poverty. News, published everywhere
except in the Philippines, of losses sustained in outside commercial
enterprises running into the millions, was made the text for showing
how money, professedly raised in the Philippines for charities,
was not so used and was invested abroad in fear of that day of
reckoning when tyranny would be overthrown in anarchy and property
would be insecure. The belief of the pious Filipinos, fostered
by their religious exploiters, that the Pope would suffer great
hardship if their share of "Peter's pence" was not prompt and full,
was contrasted with another newspaper story of a rich dowry given
to a favorite niece by a former Pope, but that in no way taught the
truth that the Head of the Church was not put to bodily discomfort
whenever a poor Filipino failed to come forward with his penny.
Despujol managed to work himself into something like a passion over
this alleged disrespect to the Pope, and ordered Rizal to be taken
as a prisoner to Fort Santiago by the nephew who acted as his aide.
Like most facts, this version runs a middle course between the extreme
stories which have been current. Like circulars may have been printed
at the "Asilo de Malabon," as has been asserted; these certainly came
from Hongkong and were not introduced by any archbishop's nephew on
duty at the custom house, as another tale suggests. On the other hand,
the circular was the merest pretext, and Despujol did not act in good
faith, as many claim that he did.
It may be of interest to reprint the handbill from a facsimile of an
original copy:
Pobres Frailes!
Acaba de suspender sus pages un Banco, acaba de quebrarse el New
Oriental.