On August 1, 1896, Rizal bade farewell to the Dapitan students and neighbors who adored him, and sailed

for Manila with his wife and sister. As Rizal departed the town of Dapitan was filled with grief. The local brass band played Chopin's melancholy "Funeral March." No doubt they did not recognize how fitting was this piece, often played in Philippine funeral processions to this day. When the ship bearing Rizal and his family reached Manila, August 5, 1896, Andres Bonifacio prepared to save him, not knowing that he was again a free man. Emilio Jacinto and others, disguised as sailors, went to the S. S. Espaa on a launch. Jacinto started to swab down the deck until he had a chance to speak to Rizal alone. Then he said: "If they are holding you a prisoner, we will free you, for we are all well-armed."

Rizal replied: "Do nothing of the kind! Let me work it out, for I know what ought to be done. " There was no further chance to talk. Katipunero Guillermo Masankay was also supposed to have been a part of the rescue attempt. It should be noted that Rizal does not mention this episode in his diary nor was it included in his letter to Blumentritt dated 28, September, 1896. For this reason many biographers do not mention this incident. If it did occur it might be reasoned that at this point in time Rizal would be intentionally circumspect in both his letters (which were sure to have been read by the Spanish authorities) and his diary (which could be used toward the prosecution of Rizal and / or those seeking to aid him or abet his escape.)

"Unfortunately," he later wrote Dr. Blumentritt, "we did not catch the mail boat for Spain, and, fearing that my stay in Manila might result in trouble, I remained on board the boat and sent word to the Governor General that I wished to be isolated from all the world. The General sent me to the Cruiser Castilla, where I remained isolated, excepting for my family." The day before the sailing of his ship from Manila, he wrote this touching letter to his mother.

"Aboard the Cruiser Castilla September 2, 1896 "My dearest Mother, "I write you a few lines before leaving. My health is good, thank God, only I am worried as to what will happen to you in these days of confusion and unquiet. God grant that my old parents may have no trouble. "I will write to you at points where the mail boat stops. I expect to be in Madrid, or at least in Barcelona, at the end of this month. Nothing is certain; we are all in the hands of Divine Providence. Not everybody dies who goes to Cuba. At last one must die at any rate, and it is better to die doing some good.

"Take care of yourself, and take care of my old father, so that we may all see one another again. Loving remembrances to my brother, my sisters, nephews, aunts, etc. . . You are the bond that ties us all together. "His Excellency, the Governor General, has been good to me; I am going to show him, if God gives me health and opportunity, that I can return his kindness. "In closing, my dearest mother, I kiss your hand and that of my father, with all the feeling and love of which my heart is capable; give me your blessing for I greatly need it. An affectionate embrace to each of my sisters, and a token of how much I love them all. Your son, Jos

On September 3, 1896, bearing letters of introduction from the Governor General to the Secretaries of War and Foreign Affairs in Spain, he departed for Barcelona. The letters which he carried are both alike. They must have cheered him more than anything had done for months: Manila, August 30, 1896
Esteemed General and Distinguished Friend: I recommend to you with genuine interest Dr. Jos Rizal, who is leaving for the Peninsula to place himself at the disposal of the government as volunteer army surgeon to Cuba. During the four years of his exile at Dapitan he has conducted himself in the most exemplary manner, and he is, in my opinion, the more worthy of praise and consideration in that he is in no way connected with the extravagant attempts we are now deploring, neither those of conspirators nor of the secret societies that have been formed. I have the pleasure to reassure you of my high esteem, and remain, Your affectionate friend and comrade, Ramon Blanco

But meanwhile trouble was brewing fast. During the month of Rizal's waiting came the whirlwind hour in the Philippines. Fifteen days before his departure the Katipunan was betrayed. There are two stories as to how this happened. One story says it was by a sister of Patio, one of its members, who told the mother superior in a convent school in Tondo that this organization was planning to murder all the Spaniards in the Philippines. The other unpublished story is that Patios wife told Father Gil. The Spanish population went wild with fear. Members and supposed members of the Katipunan were arrested and tortured until they revealed the names of other supposed members. At last 4,377 persons were arrested. (08) Bonifacio himself and most of the real leaders escaped to safe hiding places and there proclaimed the Philippine Republic.

 General

Blanco was entirely too mild for the friars who demanded that he execute conspirators by wholesale. The Archbishop excoriated Blanco for his failure to deliver Rizal to the torturers. Why was the traitor kept alive awaiting the next boat to Cuba? The friars cabled to Spain for Blanco's recall at once.

Meanwhile the Isla de Panay departed for Spain, bearing Jos Rizal toward his new work in Cuba. When they reached Singapore, Pedro B. Roxas, a Filipino fellow passenger, and Captain Camus, an agent of Tabacalera, tried to persuade Rizal to step ashore and save his life. "He gave a round 'NO' for an answer. "A fugitive? No! They would declare me an accomplice in the insurrection! . . . Blanco will save me whatever happens," said Rizal. Roxas stayed in Singapore and so saved his life.

But Blanco did not possess final authority. The special military court summoned Rizal to appear before them, and the Governor General felt compelled to obey the court. When the Isla de Panay reached Suez, a cable awaited it, ordering the immediate arrest of Jos Rizal and his return to Manila for trial. A prisoner again after only six weeks of freedom, he was taken in chains to Barcelona and thrown "into the odious Mantjuich prison", where he lay for a week. Despujol, who when Governor General caught Rizal "in the trap" four years before by promising him safe conduct, was now Commandant of Montjuich prison, and "had the insolence to pay Rizal a visit." Rizal received him courteously and with not a word of reproach.

Meanwhile, the news had spread among his friends in all parts of Europe. Dr. Antonio Regidor, Sixto Lopez, and others in London devised a shrewd plan to have Rizal removed from the boat by legal processes when he reached the British port of Singapore. Two long telegrams containing over a hundred words were sent to Mr. Fort, a lawyer in Singapore, asking him to file in the Singapore Court a demand for an immediate writ of habeas corpus, on the ground that Rizal had been illegally arrested without an order of the court. "Funds are being provided by the Chartered Bank of England," said the telegrams.

It happened that the great Chinese patriot Sun Yat-sen was saved by the same method the very day Mr. Fort made his affidavit. But the Singapore judge said that the S. S. Colon was practically a warship, since it carried Spanish troops from Spain to Manila, and as such did not come under the law obtaining for merchant ships. While they continued to argue, the Colon weighed anchor and left Singapore for Manila.

On November 3, 1896, Jos Rizal, heavily guarded, reached Manila and was locked in Fort Santiago prison. His brother Paciano was tortured with a screw which was twisted into his left hand, while a pen was thrust into his right hand to make him sign a statement that his brother had been connected with the Katipunan. Paciano would not sign. The torture continued until he fainted. The next day he was tortured again until he began to act insane. But he never signed anything. What courage flowed in the Rizal veins, in father, mother, sons, and daughters!

 The

trial of Rizal began December 3, 1896, before the Spanish Military Court Martial. The charge against him was that he was "the principal organizer and the living soul of the Filipino insurrection, the founder of societies, periodicals and books dedicated to fermenting and propagating ideas of rebellion, as proven by the following declarations."

The prosecution then presented fifteen documents against Rizal. 01. A letter from Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce proving that Rizal helped organize La Solidaridad, a radical periodical. 02. A letter of Rizal to his sister, written August 20, 1890, from Madrid when his family was suffering terrible persecutions. The letter said: "If the authorities were ilustrados there would be no treasonous government trials, nor tricks nor infamies. I see the hand of Providence in the exiling of the (Filipino) ilustrados to distant points, for they keep alive the spirit of the people, not permitting them to sleep in a lazy peace, and they accustom the people not to fear dangers, to hate tyranny, etc." 04. Kundiman, a poem calling for Liberty, but mistakenly ascribed to Rizal. He denied having written it.

06. A Masonic document bearing the dreadful words: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." 07. A letter of Rizal from Hong Kong dated May 24, 1892, saying that "I am now devoting myself to preparing a secure refuge in Borneo for our countrymen in case of persecution, and I am writing a few articles for propaganda." 13. Copy of a speech by Emilio Jacinto in a Katipunan meeting saying, "Viva Filipinas! Viva la Libertad! Viva el Doctor Rizal! Union!!!" and by Jos Turiano Santiago in the same meeting: "We all cry together: 'Viva Filipinas! Viva la Libertad! Viva the eminent Dr. Jos Rizal! Death to the oppressive nation!" 15. The poem Rizal wrote for his boys in Dapitan, "To the Talisay tree".

 For

a time, it looked as though Rizal might have had a chance to win his case, for his opponents did not use their strongest evidence. Scores of far more damaging documents have appeared in this book.

 But

in the midst of the trial, December 13, Governor General [Camilo] Blanco, who had become Rizal's sincere friend, lost his position, and Governor General Polavieja took his place. It was a triumphant event for the enemies of Rizal, for they knew, and doubtless he knew, that he was doomed. Polavieja at once sent to the Military Court a terrific attack on Rizal which the Governor General's secretary had prepared.

 The

heart of his accusation was "that Dr. Rizal, with the publication of his works Noli Me Tangere, Annotations to the History of the Philippines by Morga, El Filibusterismo, and endless pamphlets, proclamations and printings of all kinds, against religion, the friars and the Spanish authorities, has been inculcating in the Philippines the ostensible idea of expelling the religious orders, as the more or less secret method of obtaining the independence of this territory."

Rizal's family urged him from the beginning to employ legal advice but this he declined to do. The government presented him with the names of a hundred lieutenants from whom to choose one man to act as his defense attorney. He recognized among them only one name, that of the brother of Lieutenant Jos Taviel de Andrade, the man who had been appointed by Governor Terrero in 1887 as his body guard, just before he had left for Japan. Rizal did not know Andrade's brother personally, but knew that he must have heard glowing words from the former guard. So Lieutenant Luis Taviel de Andrade became the legal adviser. He worked feverishly and almost tearfully to save Rizal's life, but he had no experience at all. So Rizal prepared his own case for Andrade to read.

 The trial was interrupted by On December 26, the fiscal

Christmas. presented a very long list of accusations and ended by demanding "the penalty of death". Andrade made an earnest reply, and Rizal added a brief but masterly supplement to Andrade's defense. The Council of War then retired and immediately condemned the prisoner to death "for the crime of having founded illicit associations and for having incited and promoted rebellion".

The Governor General thereupon decreed that Rizal should be shot at seven o'clock on the morning of December 30th on Bagumbayan Field "with the formalities the law requires." Rizal did not hear the verdict until two days later, but he did not need to be told that he was doomed. Nothing ever written by his enemies shows the tremendous power Rizal yielded over his countrymen better than the report which the Governor General endorsed from the Auditor General, in signing the death sentence:

The prohibition against friends seeing the prisoner was lifted on December 26, after the Court reached its decision. Trinidad at once visited her brother, Jos, who said to her: "Ask for my corpse when I am dead. In my right shoe you will find something" Probably a guard heard and reported that statement. Not a scrap of paper of any kind could be gotten past the guards, not even an order for food. During the last two days the guard would not accept any of the food the family had been sending Jos. His sisters say he was starved.

 Early

on the morning of December 29 Rizal heard the death sentence read to him without evidencing the slightest signs of fear. Protesting against the sentence as unjust, he signed it, and was then taken over to the chapel of Fort Santiago, where he remained for the next twenty-four hours. All Manila was wild with excitement. Nobody talked about anything but the death sentence of Jos Rizal.