If things are thus, we should recommend to the Dominicans that they should exclaim as Job: “Naked I came from the womb of my mother (Spain), and naked will I return to her; the devil gave, the devil took away; blessed be the name of the Lord”! Fr[aile] Jacinto. Manila: Press of the Friends of the Country. [167] Government in the Philippines had sunk so low that this could be deemed seditious. Nevertheless, for some days thereafter the trap was not sprung upon the victims. Rizal with his sister went about the city, visiting old friends. More than once he called upon Governor-General Despujol and was rather astonished to find that his footing seemed to be secure upon the dark and slippery precincts of Malacañan. In his usual frank way he discussed with the governor-general the brand-new program of reforms, commending most of their features and hoping for the best, as was likewise his habit. Despujol, responding to all this, seemed equally ingenuous. No one would have suspected that while he stressed so much gracious hospitality he was but waiting for the most convenient season to strike to death the man before him. Rizal pleaded in behalf of his persecuted relatives. Despujol promised immunity for the father, but not for the brother or sisters. Afterward he was willing to concede even these favors. They discussed Rizal’s project of a settlement in North Borneo, and the governor-general applied his veto. For this he gave the expected reasons but never once the real one. He objected to taking people out of the colony but said nothing about the wrath of the friars if he should let their victims escape unhurt. Rizal had long known well enough that the lack of unity among the Filipinos was chief reason why they were enslaved and to keep up this condition chief point in Spanish policy. “Divide and rule”—the good old formula of the exploiter in all ages. To combat this he proposed an organization that would bring together the most promising elements among his people; a plan for it he had with him when he landed. It included the full working constitution of a society to be called La Liga Filipina, or Philippine League, of which the objects were declared to be to better economic conditions, to spread education, to advance the Philippine youth, and to defend by legal means persons oppressed, wronged, or unjustly accused. He now called together his friends, [168] explained the purposes of the league, and began to enroll members. The real nature and front-parlor origin of this association [169] were of a nature to occasion in these days only a mild surprise that anybody could object to it, as may be observed from the following precepts Rizal prepared for his fellow-members: