Discourse of Dr Jos Rizal

on the Occasion of the awarding

of the Gold and Silver Trophies
to Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccin Hidalgo
at the Restaurant Ingles, Madrid 25 June 1884
As I rise to speak to you, I know you are listening attentively, for if you are here at all,
you have come to add your enthusiasm to ours, to share the vivacity of our youth and
the depth of your understanding. And so, in this air of sympathy, I feel the power of
friendship binding us. Your brilliant minds are listening, so I need not fear my lowly
position [as an indio]. Nor do I doubt your kindness, because sincere men like
yourselves, seek only sincerity. You can view the entire horizon, you sound the depths
and extend your hand to whomsoever, like myself, wishes to unite with you in a single
thought, in a sole aspiration: to recognize and honor personal genius, and to honor the
fatherland of that genius! [Applause]
And that is the reason why we are here this evening. In all of world history, certain
names in themselves signify achievement; they stir old memories and feelings of
greatness. Like magic formulas, such names evoke memorable and pleasant thoughts;
they form a compact, a token of peace, a bond of love among nations.
The names of Luna and Hidalgo are such names: their splendor illuminates the far
reaches of our planet, from the West to the East, from Royal Spain to the Philippines.
And as I pronounce the names of these two peoples, I am starting to see two luminous
arcs rising from both these regions, enlacing themselves on high, bound by a
common origin and from this height, uniting in eternal embrace our two peoples
separated in vain by seas and space, our two countries in which the seeds of disunion
sown blindly by men and despotic [friars] do not take root. Luna and Hidalgo are the
pride of Spain as they are also the pride of the Philippines. For although they were
born in the Philippines, they might also have been born in Spain, for genius has no
country. Genius bursts forth everywhere; genius is like light and air. Genius is the
patrimony of all. Genius is everyones, like space, like life, like God! [Applause]
The parochial era of the Philippines is ending, for the brilliant works of its sons are no
longer limited to their native home. The oriental flower is blossoming, the pupa
becomes a butterfly quitting its cocoon; the dawn shines now on a broader day
announced in brilliant tints and rosy morning hues; and our [indio] race, lethargic
during the night of its history, while the sun was illuminating other continents, begins
now to awaken, electro-shocked by its contact with the cultures of the West, this race
now clamors for light, life, and the civilization that once might have been its heritage,

thus conforming to the eternal laws of insistent evolution, of transformation, of

historical periodicity, of progress itself.
Of course, you know this very well and you glory in it. Spain, to you we owe the
beauty of the gems that circle the crown of the Philippines. We supplied the gems, but
you gave the polish. We all contemplate proudly your work, we have given the
inspiration, the encouragement the materials. [Bravos, cheers]
Our two artists drink the poetry of nature, grandiose and terrible in its cataclysms, in
its evolutions, in its dynamism. But nature can also be gentle, tranquil and
melancholic in its routine, everyday manifestation. Nature prints its name on all it
creates and produces, her children take that imprint wherever they go. Think about
it. If you do not believe me, examine, their character, their works, and even if you
know little about that nation, you will see them act in everything as if forming their science, as the
soul that presides over all, as the spring in the mechanism, as the substantial form, as the raw material.
It is not possible to disregard what they feel inside, for one cannot be one thing and do another;
contradictions are only apparent, they are only paradoxes.
Look at the Spoliarium, Juan Lunas painting. Its canvas is not mute! You can hear the
tumult of the crowds, the cries of slaves, the dull beating of armor on the cadavers, the
sobs of orphans, the hum of prayers. It is forceful and real, like the crash of thunder
or the roar of waterfalls, or the fearful rumble of an earthquake. This is the power of
nature as it drove Luna to present it artistically in El Spoliarium.
On the other hand, Hidalgo shows us the purest sentiment, the ideal expression of
melancholy, beauty and weakness, as they are victims of brute force. This is because
Hidalgo was born under the azure blue of that sky, to the murmur of the majestic
harmony of her hills and mountains, the murmur of sea breezes, the serenity of her
lakes, the poetry of her valleys and the majestic harmony of her mountain ranges. But
in Luna we find dark shades, the contrasts, the moribund atmosphere, the mysterious
and the terribleechoes of the dark tropical storms, its thunderbolts, its destructive
erupting volcanoes. In Hidalgo, all is light, color , harmony, feeling, clearness
Filipinas on moonlit nights, her horizons inviting to meditation on the infinite.
Though strikingly different in appearance, both paintings are basically of one piece.
By depicting from their palettes the dazzling rays of the tropical sun, they both
transform them into rays of unfading glory, glory to the fatherland. For Hidalgo and
Luna both express the spirit of our social, moral and political life; humanity subjected
to oppression, humanity unredeemed; reason and aspiration in open battle against
prejudice, fanaticism and injustice; because human feelings and beliefs make their
way through the thickest walls, because for them all bodies are porous, all obstacles
are transparent. If the pen should fail and the printed word be silent, then the palette
and the brush not only delight the view, but also eloquently defend our deepest
sentiments.
If a mother teaches her child her language in order to understand its joys, its needs,
and its sorrows, so Spain, like that mother, also teaches her language to Filipinos, in
spite of the opposition of those short-sighted pygmies who, so sure of the present, are
inept to see into the future, and thus are ignorant of the consequences.

Like sickly nurses, corrupted and corrupting, these opponents of progress pervert the
hearts of the people. They sow among them the seeds of discord, to reap later the
harvest, a deadly nightmare for future generations.
But, let us stop commiserating! May the dead rest in peace, because they are dead.
Breathless, their souls are departed, their bodies now eaten by worms. Let us not
recall their sad memories; do not let their sufferings taint our celebration. Fortunately,
there are more brothers. Generosity and nobility are innate under the sky of Spain, and
you are all evidence of this. You have responded generously, you have cooperated,
and would have done more, had more been asked.
Seated here to share our agape and to honor the illustrious sons of the Philippines, you
also honor Spain, because, as you well know, Spain's frontiers are not the Atlantic
Ocean or the Bay of Biscay or the Mediterranean Seawhat a shame if her greatness
and broad horizons of thought were to be restrained by bodies of water! Spain is
wherever her beneficiary influences shall be exerted. And even though her flag should
disappear, her memory, eternal, imperishable, would remain. For what value has a red
and yellow cloth, what pride and power the boom of guns and cannon, if no feeling of
love, of affection has blossomed? If there is no fusion of ideas, no harmony of
opinion? [Prolonged applause]
Juan Luna and Hidalgo belong to you as much as to us. You love them, you see in
them abundant hope, precious aspirations. The Filipino youth of Europe always
enthusiastic, and some other persons whose hearts remain ever young through the
universal outlook and enthusiasm that characterize their actions, offer Luna a golden
trophy, a humble tribute--small indeed compared to our enthusiasm--but up to now the
most spontaneous and freest of all the tributes ever given to him.
But the gratefulness of the Philippines toward her illustrious sons is not yet satisfied.
And desirous of freely expressing the sentiments that are bubbling in our minds, and
to show the feelings that overflow our hearts, and to let escape the words that play on
our lips, we have all convened at this banquet to offer our good wishes and to feel the
mutual embrace of two races that share understanding, that love and care for each
other, united morally, socially and politically for almost four centuries, so that they
may form in the future one sole nation in spirit, in obligations, in aspirations, in rights.
And so I raise my glass in toast to our artists Luna and Hidalgo, genuine and pure
glorious sons of our two peoples. I toast those persons who conceived this
competition along the perilous path of art. I toast our Filipino youth sacred hope of the
fatherland, that they may follow such precious models and that mother Spain
solicitous and mindful of her provinces may put into practice those reforms she has
long been planning. The ploughs have dug the furrows, the earth is fertile.
And finally, I drink to the happiness of those parents who, deprived of their sons'
affection, but follow them from those distant regions, across the seas and distance
with moist tears and throbbing hearts; sacrificing on the altar of the common good,
the sweet consolations that are so scarce in the decline of life precious and solitary
flowers that spring up on the borders of their tomb. [Warm applause and
congratulations to the speaker]