Jose Rizal's Brindis Speech: A Toast Honoring Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
The following is the English translation of the full text of Rizal's brindis or toast speech delivered at a banquet in the Restaurant Inglés, Madrid, on the evening of June 25, 1884 in honor of Juan Luna, winner of the gold medal for his painting, “El Spoliarium,” and Felix Resurrección Hidalgo, winner of a silver medal, for his painting “Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho” at a Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes de Madrid.
This was taken from Gems of Philippine oratory; selections representing fourteen centuries of Philippine thought, carefully compiled from credible sources in substitution for the pre-Spanish writings destroyed by missionary zeal, to supplement the later literature stunted by intolerant religious and political censorship, and as specimens of the untrammeled present-day utterances, by Austin Craig, page 34-37, University of Manila, 1924.
In rising to speak I have no fear that you will listen to me with superciliousness, for you have come here to add to ours your enthusiasm, the stimulus of youth, and you cannot but be indulgent. Sympathetic currents pervade the air, bonds of fellowship radiate in all directions, generous souls listen, and so I do not fear for my humble personality, nor do I doubt your kindness. Sincere men yourselves, you seek only sincerity, and from that height, where noble sentiments prevail, you give no heed to sordid trifles. You survey the whole field, you weigh the cause and extend your hand to whomsoever like myself, desires to unite with you in a single thought, in a sole aspiration: the glorification of genius, the grandeur of the fatherland!
Jose Rizal established La Liga Filipina, a civic association, in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco at Ilaya Street, Tondo, Manila on July 3, 1892. Though it was Jose Ma. Basa who conceived the establishment of ‘La Liga Filipina’ (The Philippine League), his friend and namesake Jose Rizal was the one who wrote its constitution in Hong Kong and actually founded it upon his return in the Philippines in 1892.
This is the student memoirs or reminiscences of José Rizal. He wrote it from 1879 to 1881, from the age of 17 to 20. The English translation is by the José Rizal National Centennial Commission. It is taken from the book José Rizal: Life, Works, and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist, and National Hero by Gregorio F. Zaide and Sonia M Zaide (Metro-Manila: National Book Store Publishers).
