Jose Rizal : letters with family members.

The National Heroes Commission presents, with this volume, the second of the series of Rizaliana books which it is publishing and making available to the public from time to time. The volume is Part Two of four parts and contains all the epistolary correspondence of Dr. Jose Rizal. While many of his letters have previously been published in Spanish, this is the first time they appear together in their English translation and alongside noteworthy pieces of hitherto unpublished correspondence. The collection of the letter had been task satisfactorily accomplished by the Commission's panel of researchers despite the fact that during Rizal's time these letters should have been lost or burned, as the mere possession of a letter from Rizal or to Rizal could mean a prison term, or death, or deportation. It has always been said that a man's personality is reflected in his letters. The changes man undergoes from youth to manhood and maturity alter his mood and style, his interest and viewpoints. Besides being the logical, the chronological order of arrangement is, therefore, followed in this collection. It is expected that the reader will see reflected in them the growth and blossoming of intimate facets about Rizal's character, his affections, his moods and his reactions, his emotions and his way of living. During his travels with his friend and benefactor, Dr. Maximo Viola, in Germany and Switzerland, Rizal was said to have carried all the time among his luggage a small bag containing the letters his friends had written him. Viola wondered at the care Rizal took of them and the pains, the extra expense, and the bother he endured in carrying the bag from place to place in addition to his other personal effects. Asking Rizal what the motive was, Dr. Viola was told that in them the keeper could get glimpses not only of the character and mood of the writers but also of the changes that had taken place in their lives. In his own familiar letters, Rizal himself opened his soul with his sincerity and freshness; in his letters to others than his closest friends and relatives, he made evident his spirit of sacrifice, his abnegation, and his plans and ideals. Consequently, the letters addressed to him mirror their authors' esteem, respect and admiration which he had nobly inspired. Going over all these letters can never fail to reveal to us Rizal the man, or Rizal the patriot, or Rizal the hero and martyr whom we fondly and unquestioningly worship. --Preface of the book.