diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

the Philippines by half. The Philippines could not escape the influence of theMeiji Restoration in Japan (1868) which has led to the opening and.modemizationof the once secluded hermit empire of the Shoguns. The change fromsailing ships to the steam boat has opened the sea lanes and turned the onceremote Philippines into a busy junction of trade mutes in the Pacific and theFar East. The tobacco monopoly has been abolished. The Madrid Expositionof 1887 has drawn the attention of Spain and Europe to the long forgottenIslands. A penal code has been introduced and many other reforms havegotten under way, the number of peninsular Spaniards supporting thesereforms having increasea. From all this Blumentritt drew the correct conclusion:The financial interests of certain Spanish groups (were) threatened by the novel. . . naturally all those in the Philippines whose lives were endangered, by theintroduction of such reforms were fearful lest Rizal's novel, portraying as it soclearly did the miseries of the Indios, would increase the number of reforms inSpain, and so they closed ranks against their enemy."2) The Social Aspect—Economic progress and the opening of the countrydid not stop at pragmatic reforms. They led to the beginning of spiritual andideological enlightenment. The Spaniard, the mestizo, and finally the indiohad begun to wake up from their lethargy. This could be a chance for theclergy, Blumentritt wrote, to reform education and cater to the new desire toknow more of the changing world. But the monastic orders did not see thisneed, a blindness that resulted in the exodus of talented young men to theuniversities in Spain and other European countries. And this has, producedunforeseen but important results.From there they returned home filled with new ideas and they saw their countryin a new light. Here in the Philippines condemnation and tyranny! There in Spainliberty and liberalism! They had been free citizens in Spain; in the Philippinesthey were subordinated and subdued.lzNaturally, the returning students, now full-fledged doctors, lawyers,artists, scientists, tried to enjoy at home the same status and the same right' toparticipate in public life as they had in the mother country. They did notunderstand and would not accept two different rights and justices which inconsequence meant the denial of right and justice in their homeland.It can be said that Blumentritt's was an original analysis. He was the firstto recognize a problem that would engage and influence politics in what we235