A cablegram from Manila led to Rizal's arrest shortly after the streamer reached the Mediterranean, so he was placed on the returning steamer at Barcelona.

In Singapore, his London friends, led by Dr. Regidor, made an effort to save him by cabling a firm of lawyers there to apply for a writ of habeus corpus, but the steamer flew the Spanish royal flag and was carrying troops so that the court held it was not a merchant ship that would be subject to British law but a war vessel which remained Spanish wherever it was.

Had Dr. Rizal ever been brought before a British court he would have gone free for only in Spain of all nations claiming to be civilized did the charges against him constitute a crime, "carrying on an anti-religious and anti-patriotic campaign of education" (por propagandas anti-religiosas y anti patrioticas).

Three times haed England tried to aid him; with the consul general's protest against his imprisonment without trial: when an Englishwomen sought an interview in Madrid with the Queen Regent and on being refused waylaid the Queen's carriage in her drives to cry out, "Justice, madam, for poor Rizal"; and this third time when the greatest safeguard of Anglo-Saxon liberty was invoked in his behalf.

Manila had been frightened by the insurrection and in their fear the authorities blindly resorted to their old policy of trying to strike terror. The jails were crowded, executions were made public demonstrations of patriotism and the only man, Blanco, who had had the courage to remain calm was superseded by Poliavieja, an ardent terrorist.

Under these circumstances Rizal was brought to trial before a military court and was even denied the right of counsel, for he was only permitted to choose his advocate