Life of Jose Rizal in Belgium :) )
Life of Jose Rizal in Belgium :) )
Life of Jose Rizal in Belgium :) )
By jaymut
He wrote articles for La Solidaridad and letters for his family and friends.
He had gymnastics at the gymnasium and target practice and fencing at the
armory.
Rizal received news from Juan Luna and Valentin Ventura that the Filipinos in Spain
were destroying the good name of their nation by gambling too much. Accordingly
Rizal wrote to M. H. Del Pilar on May 28, 1890 to remind the Filipinos in Madrid that
they did not come to Europe to gamble, but to work for their fatherlands freedom.
The gambling people in Madrid were angry when they learned of Rizals moralizing.
They derisively called him Papa (Pope) instead of Pepe.
Bad News from Home
The Dominican order filled a suit in court to dispossess the Rizal Family of
their lands in Calamba.
Preparation to Go Home
Rizal planned to go home. He could not stay in Brussels writing a book while his
parents, relatives and friends in the distant Philippines were persecuted.
July 9, 1890 upon hearing that Graciano Lopez Jaena was planning to go to Cuba,
Rizal wrote to Ponce to oppose the plan of action of Graciano.
July 18, 1890 he wrote another letter to Ponce in which he expresses his
determination to go home.
All his friends, including Blumentritt, Jose Ma. Basa, and Ponce, were horrified by
Rizals to return to the Philippines. They warned him of the danger that awaited him
at home.
Decision to go to Madrid
Something happened that made Rizal to change his plan in returning to the
Philippines when he received a letter from Paciano which related that they lost the
case against the Dominicans in Manila but they appealed it to the Supreme Court in
Spain.
June 20, 1890 Rizal wrote to M. H. Del Pilar retaining the latters service as a
lawyer and informed Del Pilar that he was going to Madrid, in order to supervise the
handling of the case.
July 29, 1890 he wrote a letter to Ponce announcing that he was leaving Brussels
at the beginning of the following month and would arrive Madrid about the 3 rd and
4th of August.
To My Muse A Mi he wrote this poem which was against the a background of
mental anguish in Brussels, during those sad days when he was worried by family
disasters.
Romance with Petite Jacoby
Two things brought some measure of cheer to the despondent Rizal as he was
preparing for his trip to Madrid:
1. The summertime festival of Belgium, which was celebrated in carnival style.
2. His romance with Petite Jacoby, the pretty niece of his landladies.
Rizal was so charming and dignified a gentleman the Petite Susanne was
attracted to him.
He was lonely in a strange country and Leonor Rivera was so far away.
Like other women Segunda Katigbak, Orang Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, OSei-San, Gettie Beckett, Consuelo Ortiga y Perez and Nellie Boustead
Susanne fell in love with Rizal