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Calamba two days later. In his native land, he opened a medical clinic and restored
his mother's vision. Such miraculous news spread throughout the community like wild fire, thus,
his clinic was flocked by people aspiring for a better eyesight. Newly arrived from Germany, he
began to be known as Doctor Uliman (from the word Aleman).
Regarding his novel Noli Me Tangere, Rizal met Governor General Emilio Terrero who informed
him of the charges against him. As a defense, Rizal told Terrero that the Noli only exposes the
reality. Not having read the book yet and out of curiosity, the governor general asked for a copy
of the controversial novel, which he later confessed that he enjoyed reading. He saw no problem
on the book, yet to protect Rizal's life which was then in danger, he assigned Jose Taviel de
Andrade, a young Spanish lieutenant, as Rizal's personal bodyguard. Soon enough, the attackers
and defenders of the novel resurfaced.
Second Travel
Realizing that his family's and friends' safety were at risked; and that his fight against the
Spaniards have better chance of winning if he'd stay abroad, Rizal, six months after, finally
decided to sail back to Europe. Before his departure, a friend from Lipa City, Batangas asked of
him a poem dedicated to the industrious workers in their town. Privileged, Rizal wrote the Himno
Al Trabajo (Hymn to Labor).
finally to New York. On May 16, 1888 the ship, City of Rome sailed for Liverpool and where he
decided to stay in London until March 1899. Rizal chose to stay in London so that he could
improve his English skills, study and do an annotation of Antonio Morga's Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas and because he believed that the said English city was a safe place for him to carry on
the reforms he wanted for the Philippines. He stayed at Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor's home and
boarded at the Beckett family where he fell in love with Gertrude.
In Great Britain
In London, Rizal received both good news and bad news from home. The good news was that
Rev. Vicente Garcia was defending his Noli from the attacks of the friars. On the other hand, the
bad news were that the Filipino signatories of the Petition of 1888 and the tenants of the
Calamba agrarian trouble were facing persecution; that his brothers-in-law, Manuel T.
Hidalgo and Mariano Herbosa, were exiled to Bohol and was denied Christian burial, respectively;
and his friend, Laureano Viado, a UST medical student, was imprisoned for possessing a copy of
his Noli. During his stay in this country, Rizal also made used of his time in writing essays and
articles for the La Solidaridad. On June 12, 1889, with Filipino and Spanish friends, they founded
the Asociacion Hispano-Filipino which aimed for union and reforms. After ten months, Rizal left
London and departed for Paris.
In France
In Paris, Rizal continued his study on various languages and practiced his artistic skills, and
finished two statues - The Beggar and The Maid With A Basket. He organized a social club
called Kidlat Club which brought together young Filipinos residing in France. Soon, the members
of the said club founded a new Filipino society the Indios Bravos, an organization which
envisioned Filipinos being recognized by Spain for being excellent in various fields of knowledge.
By January 1890, Rizal's annotation of the Sucesos was finally printed and published by the
Garnier Freres.
In Belgium
With his roommate, Jose Albert, Rizal celebrated Christmas in Paris. Shortly after New Year, he
visited London for the last time and on January 28, 1890, left Paris for Brussels. With Albert, they
left the extravagant and gay social life in Paris and stayed in a boarding house owned by the
Jacoby sisters in Brussels. Rizal continued contributing for La Solidaridad under the
pseudonyms Dimas Alang andLaong Laan. From Calamba, Rizal received letters telling that the
agrarian trouble in the province was getting worse, and as such, he decided to go home. But
instead of going home, a letter from Paciano told him that they already lost the case against
the Dominicans and they were in need of a lawyer who would defend their family and the families
in Calamba from Madrid. Rizal traveled to Madrid to seek justice but in vain he could not find
the right person and he heard that his family was already evicted from their land in Calamba and
other family members were banished to Mindoro and Manila.
In Spain
Rizal had many misadventures in Madrid. For one, he challenged Antonio Luna and Wenceslao
Retana in a duel. With Luna, it was about the latter's frustration with his unsuccessful love
affair with Nellie Boustead, and so gave negative remarks on the lady which Rizal did not
tolerated. The other encounter was with Retana who had insulted Rizal and his family by writing
in La Epoca, an anti-Filipino newspaper, that the Rizal family in Calamba was ejected from their
lands because they did not pay their rents. It is also from this city where Rizal heard the news of
Leonor Rivera's marriage with Henry Kipping, an Englishman, which terrible broke his heart.
Another marked event in Madrid was the Marcelo H. del Pilar-Jose Rizal rivalry for leadership in
the Asociacion Hispano Filipino. A faction emerged from the Filipinos in Madrid,
the Rizalistas and Pilaristas, Rizal and del Pilar's compatriots, respectively, during the
organization's election. Losing the election, Rizal decided to go back home, fearing that his
presence may result to bigger and stronger faction among the Filipinos in Madrid. But instead of
going straight to Hongkong, he went back to Brussels to finish his second novel, the El
Filibusterismo.
Back in Hongkong
After the Fili was published, Rizal left Europe. Aboard the S.S. Melbourne, he sailed to Hongkong
where he lived for seven months. His reasons for venturing to Hongkong were the following :
1. to leave behind his rivalry with del Pilar;
2. to facilitate a Propaganda Movement in Hongkong; and
3. to be proximate to his family in the Philippines.
On November 20, 1891, Rizal arrived in Hongkong and was cordially welcomed by the Filipino
residents in the city, particularly, his friend Jose Ma. Basa. He resided at No. 5 D' Aguilar Street,
No. 2 Rednaxela Terrace and opened a medical clinic there. Rizal had a continued correspondence
with his family in Calamba and had been aware of the unsettled agrarian problem. Through a
letter from his brother-in-law, Manuel T. Hidalgo, he had been informed of the deportation of
twenty-five persons in Calamba, including the Rizal family. This news made Rizal even more
desperate to return to Manila, but his sorrow was replaced by surprise when his family visited him
in Hongkong and celebrated the 1891 Christmas with him.
While in Hongkong, Rizal practiced his medical career. With the help of his friend, Dr. Lorenzo P.
Marquez, they built a large clientle and opened a medical clinic where he was recognized as an
excellent eye surgeon. He was equally supported and aided both morally and financially by his
family and friends with his chosen career.
Another marked event during Rizal's stay in Hongkong was his plan to move the landless Filipinos
to Borneo and transform the said wilderness into a New Calamba through the so called Borneo
Colonization Project. In April 1892, he visited Borneo and negotiated with the British
authorities who are willing to provide 100,000 acres of land for the Filipinos. Many Filipino patriots
found this project amusing, thus, promoted the said project. However, there were a number who
objected it, one of which was Rizal's brother-in-law, Hidalgo. Twice did Rizal wrote a letter
addressed to Governor GeneralEulogio Despujol informing his Borneo colonization project, with
whom he received no response. Instead, Despujol commanded the Spanish consul-general in
Hongkong to notify Rizal that such project was very unpatriotic, and by immigrating Filipinos to
Borneo, the Philippines will surely be lacking of laborers.
Despite the many oppositions from friends and relatives, he decided to return to Manila on the
following reasons:
1. to discuss with Governor General Despujol his Borneo colonization project;
2. to form the La Liga Filipina in the Philippines; and
3. to prove that Eduardo de Lete's allegations on him and his family in Calamba were wrong.
Before his departure, he wrote three more letters the first addressed to his parents and friends;
the second one, to the Filipinos; and the last to Governor General Eulogio Despujol. Instead of
having the protection he desired, Rizal and his sister, Lucia, fell into the Spanish trap a case was
secretly filed against Rizal, and Despujol ordered his secretary, Luis de la Torre, to verify whether
the patriot had naturalized himself as German citizen or not. And so the siblings sailed across the
China Sea without prior knowledge of what awaits them in the Philippines.
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Jose_Rizal:_Travels_and_Adventures