Note 8 — First Period
Reading edition
As an oculist Rizal performed some very clever operations, but he had another mission—one which brought upon him all the odium of the clerical party, but which as quickly raised him in popular esteem in native circles. He led a party in his own town who dared to dispute the legality of the Dominican Orderʼs possession of a large tract of agricultural land. He called upon the Order to show their title-deeds, but was met with a contemptuous refusal. At length prudence dictated a return to Europe. I often recall the farewell lunch we had together at the Restaurant de Paris, in the Escolta. During his absence his own relations and the chief families in his town became the objects of persecution. They were driven from the lands they cultivated and rented from the Religious Order, without compensation for improvements, and Spaniards took their holdings. In 1890 Rizal saw with his own eyes, and perhaps with envy, the growing prosperity of Japan; but the idea of annexation to that country was distasteful to him, as he feared the Japanese might prove to be rather harsh masters. On his return to Europe he contributed many brilliant articles to La Solidaridad, the Madrid-Philippine organ mentioned on p. 363; but, disgusted with his failure to awaken in Spain a sympathetic interest in his own countryʼs misfortunes, he left that field of work and re-visited London, where he found encouragement and very material assistance from an old friend of mine, a distinguished Filipino. Rizalʼs financial resources were none too plentiful, and he himself was anxious for a position of productive activity. It was proposed that he should establish himself in London as a doctor, but with his mind always bent on the concerns of his country he again took to literary work. He edited a new edition of Dr. Antonio de Morgaʼs work on the Philippines8 (the original was published in Mexico in 1609), with notes, and wrote a new book in the form of romance, entitled “El Filibusterismo,”9 the purpose of which was to show how the Filipinos were goaded into outlawry.