diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

Besides what has been indicated, the above-named persons must havelent the young student periodicals, reviews, and books not easily available tothe average reader.November 1884 was one of the most tragic for the student world in theSpanish capital towards the end of the nineteenth century. Rizal witnessed theevents which left a deep impress in him. Miguel Morayta had delivered theinaugural lecture for the academic year, in which he defended the professors'right to untrammelled research and also freely express their ideas within theuniversity circles. Some of his statements provoked the criticism andcondemnation by part of the more traditional elements of the Spanish Church,some of the bishops going to the extent of banning the reading of his lectureand recommending the destruction of all the extant copies. Urged on by theliberals, the students responded by organizing a massive demonstration "withvivas! and mueras! ," in the words of the author of the Noli, which wasbrutally dispersed by government forces. The rector was arrested, hissecretary, and various professors of the university. The steps of the universitywere stained with the victims' blood, the number of students wounded washigh, and those arrested were even more. Rizal, fearing the same fate,managed to escape by disguising himself.The condition of the young student following this dramatic experiencewhich doubtless could have reminded him of the vivid experiences of hisbrother Paciano 14 years before in Manila must have registered a high degreeof emotional tension, judging from this paragraph from one of his letters:. It is no longer an honor to graduate from this dishonored, violated, debased,oppressed, and tyrannized Center. Knowledge should be free, the professor too.I shall not obtain my medical degree as long as Creuss is in the Rectory. I do notwant a man exsecrated by all to sign my most glorious page . . . . If he does, Iwould tear it.'"This same year, 1884, a handbill fell into his hands, published probablyby Jose Ma. Basa in Hongkong. It was anticlerical in tone, and was directedagainst the Franciscans of Manila. Rizal must have read it with genuine glee,judging from the number of times he mentions it directly or indirectly in hiswritings, and the use he made of it in the writing of the epilogue to his novel,Noli me tangere. Its central theme is the scandalous conduct attributed to theFranciscan chaplain of the nuns at the monastery of Santa Clara in Manila.'"Not much later, still in 1884, Rizal, carried by his desire to put down onpaper his intimate experiences, wrote an article, better, its sketch, titled "AFilipino's Thoughts." Here for the first time, we have, although still in outline175