is hardly visible above them. Call to mind the hedgerows of England,
stretch them in straight, long lines with just room between for the
pickers. A space twenty-five feet wide between every hundred rows is a
road for carts, but there are no cross streets. Starting from the edge
of the fazenda (plantation) quite rapid riding for two hours brings one
to the center view from a dome-shaped hill. In all directions as far
as the eye can see there is nothing but coffee trees. The only visible
ground is the deep red earth of the streets separating each hundred
rows. It is a rolling prairie of living green, on a colossal scale. Two
months earlier the blossoms covered it ‘like a white sheet.’ A little
later this green will be brilliant with red cherries, the branches
heavily weighted down by the fruit. This fazenda has 1,600,000 bearing
coffee trees. The next has nearly 4,000,000 trees and is the largest
in the world. Now I understand how this State produces more coffee
even in a bad year than all the rest of the world outside of Brazil
combined. Its possibilities in a good year are nearly double the crops
other than those of Brazil. The quality is altogether finer than that
known in the United States as Rio. This is what has brought English
and German capital, increased the population of the city of São Paulo
to 200,000 from 60,000 in 1884, and made the commerce of Santos what
it is. Italians and Germans both work on these plantations and the one
I have just described, which I have just visited, has fifteen hundred
people living on the fazenda and constantly employed. The larger
plantation, ‘the Fazenda Dumont,’ had a railroad of some twenty miles
for use on the plantation, and its connecting line running through the
‘Fazenda Schmidt,’ was used by Mr. Schmidt, my hospitable host, for
shipping his coffee to the trunk line and so on down to Santos.”
[Illustration: COFFEE PICKING.]
HOMEWARD BOUND.
It is October. You choose to leave here before it grows too warm. The
young spring buds are already adding their delicate green to the darker
old foliage.
Rio is reached by rail in fourteen hours. You would like to go home in
one of the great New Zealand steamers which makes the round trip from
London to London in ninety days, and which always carries charming
passengers for the whole voyage by Suez, New Zealand, Straits of
Magellan, Rio de Janeiro, Madeira, London. Everybody here knows what
variety is provided by this journey, not only of interesting sights in
port, but of amusement of every description at sea. They also know when
one of these steamers has arrived by the unwonted varieties of game,
vegetables, and well-hung beef and mutton in the markets.
No. You decide to go directly to New York, for you have come by way of
England, so sail on the “Wordsworth.” Even she is English and there
is no longer an American Line. You will touch at Bahia, Pernambuco,
and St. Lucia, one of the West Indies, and see New York harbor in
twenty-four days from Rio.
Bahia you saw hurriedly on the way down, but it looks even more
attractive as you approach it the second time. It is invested with some
added interest, also, since learning that the court came here from
Portugal for shelter in Napoleonic times; and that this city has always
been the center of Jesuitical influence.
The Bahian blacks, a finer race of negroes than you have ever seen,
and said to have been Mohammedans, make a very strong impression now.
They are physically superb. The low-necked, short-sleeved linen garment
worn by the women is frequently beautified with “drawn-work.” The great
strings of gold beads around their necks are their substitute for a
bank account, for banks are not a convenience to a people who cannot
read.
The Bahian oranges are like the finest Floridas, and far superior to
any others you have had. Bananas are everywhere the food of the poor,
and not better than are for sale at home, and other tropical fruits
have been a disappointment.
At Pernambuco you find you own the wonderful reef, and the pine-apples,
and the catamarans; for have you not seen them before, and do they not
now prove themselves old friends and permanent possessions!
The next many days are a repetition of your former oceanic, tropical
temperatures, with far fewer passengers, and less ceremony, perhaps.
The sea, however, seems trying to compensate you for other lacks by
furnishing interesting creatures for you to watch. There are numberless
flying fish, frightened from the water by your ship, and the delicate,
little, pink “Portuguese men-of-war,” as the sailors call them, go
dancing by on the surface of the water in tantalizing beauty. Do not
be sorry that you cannot get one, for, trailing from that shining pink
bladder, there are processes which sting like nettles.
[Illustration: COFFEE WASHING.]
For a few days you seem almost to be crossing a wheat-field as you
take a long look across the water yellow with gulf-weed which has been
thrown off by the gulf stream and floats at rest on this quiet sea.
Take a fish line and catch some pretty branches, look at the little
fruit which grows upon them and gives the name, grapes, to the sea. It
is called by its Spanish form the Sargasso Sea.
St. Lucia pleases you to see for several reasons. You like a day in
port. You like to know what this one of the West Indies is like. You
enjoy the negroes diving under the ship for coins you throw in the
water as you did before at St. Vincent, and, on the whole, though you
have had a rarely charming summer, you are glad to cable that you are
well and leaving your last port before your arrival home.
The cool October days of the North Atlantic demand again the rugs and
warmer wraps which have been needed now and then since the journey was
begun. As the fresh air blows in your face you are delighted to find
yourself so rested and so easily challenged to an expenditure of energy.
But there are other passengers whose residence in Brazil numbers years
of work instead of weeks of pleasure. They have found themselves unable
to conquer some attack of disease without the bracing and stimulating
aid of a more rigorous climate. They are longing for cold and snow. The
Brazilian air which has relaxed and rested you has become enervating to
them. Foreign merchants and Bank managers expect six months’ furlough
once in three years. Missionaries get a year’s recruiting once in eight
years. Anxious relatives were notified before these workers left Brazil
that the wrecks were going home. Who would believe that twenty-four
days of sea-voyage could make such different looking beings of these
invalids! The prospect of home and old familiar scenes and foods seems
happiness enough to put new life into anyone, one thinks, in watching
these returning exiles.
Familiar faces are waiting on the dock. Good-by. _Ate logo._
APPENDIX.
AN AMERICAN SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS IN BRAZIL.
Nearly thirty years ago an attempt was made to adapt the American
system of schools to Brazil, South America, where social conditions
and political aspirations are somewhat analogous to our own, and we
set about to find out what the American system really was. We sought
it in the official courses, which usually cover the whole domain of
knowledge; in the voluminous reports of Superintendents, reeking with
erudition and statistics; in the schools and colleges of the different
States, which we visited and studied, and in the great educational
conventions. We found such a lack of uniformity of thought, of
organization, and even of purpose and principles, as to leave us in
doubt as to whether we had as yet a distinctively American system. In
some places there was genuine education, in others they were simply
drilling for examination, and not a whit better than the Chinese. We
made an extended tour of European institutions for a comparative study,
and found many special processes and devices that could be engrafted,
and singularly enough, that some of the German methods had their best
development in the United States, but no complete system that could
be profitably taken over _en bloc_. The great problem of how best
to influence the heterogeneous masses which flock to the shores of
both Americas and make them into good citizens is not touched by the
European systems. The problem is not exactly how to teach this or that
special branch, but how to co-ordinate the work and relate all branches
to the rapidly changing conditions of American society. The problem is
the same in both Americas.
We found it difficult to follow the vertiginous activity of American
educators along all lines or to wade through the voluminous
literature which accompanies it, brought from the ends of the earth;
but, believing that there was a truly American system in process of
development, we tried to catch the trend of thought and anticipate the
results. Entirely free, unhampered by politics or precedent; with no
fads or need of seeking favor of governments or patrons, but at liberty
to select what was best from all sources, it will be readily conceded
that we had a decided advantage over the educational reformer of our
own country.
The following, in brief outline, has been in operation for the fourteen
years in the American schools at S. Paulo, Brazil, as a result of our
study, and has been eminently satisfactory.
1. A primary school of five years, with a minimum of 100 school days of
five hours each per annum, for the ungraded country schools, and 210
(a full school year) for the graded city schools. This course embraces
Reading, Writing and the four operations of Arithmetic. Arithmetic is
made the test of advancement, but great attention is also paid to
Expression and Language, and, very early, small vocabularies of the
_two modern languages_, that are to be studied systematically later,
are introduced by the “natural method” (French and English by French
and English teachers), with pleasure and profit to the pupils; thus
in the very beginning of school life the habit of comparing modes of
expression is cultivated, which later will be applied to processes.
Through Geography the study of nature is begun and our relations to the
world in which we live are studied; through Manual training, and the
drawing preliminary to it, _things_ and their relations are studied
and the child is taught to _do_ and _see_ as well as to think. This is
that part of education which society, for its own safety, _must demand_
for every girl and boy in the land. It is all that can be given to the
masses, the very poor, the wage-earner’s children, who must go to work
early in life. Very bright pupils, with intellectual surroundings, may
complete this course easily in four years, as many have done far better
than others in five.
2. A Secondary course of six years divided into two periods of three
years each. This is an expansion of the primary, extending mathematics
to meet all requirements of practical life; cultivating carefully
the mother tongue, giving some notions of the two modern languages;
thorough training in Brazilian Geography and History, with outlines of
General History and Geography; Manual training and mechanical drawing,
etc. This first section embraces that part of an education essential
to GOOD citizenship, within reach of all, but not compulsory--a short
Grammar school course. The second section is a preparation for College,
without, however, special reference to a college course. In it the two
modern languages are finished; Algebra and Geometry are studied, Latin
begun, etc., going about a year further than the average High-school
course of the United States. This completes the common school system
and prepares the pupil for the highest duties of citizenship.
[Illustration: COFFEE DRYING]
The bright pupil who has finished the primary course in four years may
complete this in five. This has been frequently done, and is the
rule for those preparing for College.
The student who does this is ready for College at fifteen.
We believe the tendency of American education is to return somewhat to
the _Humanities_, enrich the secondary school with studies heretofore
included in the advanced courses, and thus shorten the College course.
This is the language period of life, and fourteen years’ experience has
shown us that the two modern languages can be easily carried parallel
to the mother tongue, with benefit to the pupil. It furnishes excellent
mental discipline and has the advantage of awakening the habit of
comparison earlier. There is a slight sacrifice of the mathematical
or scientific side, which is pushed into the next division where it
logically belongs.
The first division in this system aims to reach the great mass of
society and force it up to the level of _safe_ and intelligent
citizenship. The second reaches after the great middle class and
purposes to fit its members for the highest duties of citizenship,
as well as equip them for trade, manufactures and all legitimate
activities, at public expense. It gives a sufficient amount of
formulated knowledge and mental training to enable them to continue
their studies independently through the opportunities afforded by the
Press, public libraries and lectures.
The next step embraces three years of a _culture_ course for that
comparatively small class who desire to take a profession, or
wish a _liberal education_ in literature, art and sciences, as a
stepping-stone to still more advanced studies. Entrance to this
class ought to be guarded by severe tests in order to exclude the
weak-brained who want a degree simply as an ornament and because they
can pay for it. The brainy, poor young man can always find means.
This is the College, reduced to three years. It lies between the
public school system and the specialized University courses,--not
absolutely necessary but highly advisable. It is where the student
is thrown into the larger current of independent action and takes on
the responsibilities as well as the privileges of manhood, either to
prepare for entrance into the higher spheres of active life or to enter
upon other studies.
This gives a minimum of school life, at public expense, of four years
and a maximum of eleven years.
Education will, therefore, be finished at these ages: The large class
of children of the very poor, at ten or eleven years. Another class
will go out at the end of the first period of the secondary (the old
Grammar course) and enter society fairly well equipped for the ordinary
pursuits of life at twelve or thirteen. The second class completes
school life, at the end of the public school course, at the age of
fourteen or fifteen, well educated; a still smaller class completes the
liberal College course at seventeen or eighteen, while the winnowing
of all classes produces the comparatively small group of scholars and
professionals who are able to enter life fully equipped, with such
knowledge as can be obtained from books, at twenty-one to twenty-two.
The student who skips the College and short-circuits from the High
School to the University may graduate from his professional course with
honor at nineteen or twenty, but will always lack that something that
enables the man with the wider culture and discipline to win in the
race of life.
The points in which the foregoing differs from the plan commonly
adopted in United States are: the introduction of two modern languages
at the language period of life, for their own value, to improve the
study of the mother tongue and to develop earlier the comparative
process as mental discipline; the shortening of the College course to
three years and reducing school life by at least two and possibly three
years, leaving some of the enthusiasm of youth for the first years
of independent self-supporting life, also shortening the period of
parental support.
No attempt is made here to indicate the exact organization of the
various courses; the purpose and logical distribution is what is
sought to show. We have been able to see the finished product of the
system and feel sure it is an improvement upon the old plan. This is
the system of schools known as “Mackenzie College” and the “Eschola
Americana” at S. Paulo, Brazil, and is intended to serve, in a modest
way, as a model of American education for Brazil.--_Dr. H. M. Lane, in
The Brazilian Bulletin._
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS.
There is much vague talk about religious teaching, its relation to
other branches, the time that can be given to it, its character, etc.
In order to show what we think about it, we venture to give extracts
from our last annual circular to the teachers of the American schools
at S. Paulo on the subject.
General considerations to which the attention of young teachers is
called:
1.--The opening of school is not a religious ceremony, but a
_devotional_ exercise. If arranged with skill it may be made so
attractive to children that none will want to miss it (thus tardiness
may be diminished); if it holds attention, it cannot fail to teach the
lesson.
2.--We may easily overestimate the value of perfunctory religious
exercises, as we may also overestimate the capacity of children to
understand formulated religious truth. The child’s perceptions are
duller in this than in other branches of knowledge, where his senses
are engaged, hence the necessity of grading it more carefully and
watching its effects more closely.
3.--Schools are not chiefly, nor primarily, to teach religion, i. e.,
to instruct in creeds. Considered in its relation to courses of study,
religious instruction is a _means_ for the development of character and
for giving a sure foundation for moral training; but, in its relation
to the pupil, it is an absolute _end_; giving to him, as he can
comprehend it, the saving truths of Christianity.
The first is directly related to courses of study and from it
definite results may be expected; the other depends upon the subtle
and immeasurable spiritual power of the Christian teacher, and no
definite results can be demanded. The first has a recognizable,
educational value and its correlates are easily found; the other has
no appreciable relation to hours of recitation or quantity of matter
and cannot enter into any plan of correlation of studies. It touches
all studies and permeates all methods, the greatest result often coming
from the least matter; its educational value, therefore, cannot be
measured.
4.--We may not safely assume that the child has received from parents
or church proper religious instruction, but we may suppose, in
nominally Christian lands, that it has some ideas, however vague and
erroneous, of God. It is the duty of the teacher to adjust these ideas
to the truth, and so relate them to the child that he may _feel sure_
that _there is a God_,--though he cannot see Him,--Who is All-wise,
All-seeing, All-powerful: who is everywhere and who loves him, the
child, personally; that God is his Heavenly Father; that the Bible is
God’s Word, sent to him, the child, and to everybody else; that God
sent His Son to save the world; that Christ is God and God is Christ;
that God made everything,--even we ourselves are the work of His hand.
These are fundamentals, and must precede all other instruction. The
clearness with which the children perceive these truths will depend
largely upon the skill and spiritual power of the teacher.
5.--The teacher should carefully avoid lecturing little children on
religious subjects. Do not let the idea that the Bible is a Protestant
book get a foothold in the school. The three things essential to
religious teaching are: 1.--The Holy Bible, God’s Word. 2.--Sacred
Song. 3.--With very small pupils, in fact with any pupils, the most
important factor is the _Christian teacher_, who works through personal
influence, contact, example of Christian living and doing--(slow to
anger and quick to forgive). Every child must be made to feel that the
teacher is interested _in him personally_; and the teacher must watch
closely the child’s growing power to appreciate spiritual things.
6.--The Bible furnishes abundant material for all grades of religious
instruction, from the kindergarten to the college. It abounds in
romantic and intensely interesting episodes calculated to excite the
imagination, interest the young and fix the attention,--if the teacher
have the skill to adapt it to the demands of the child, as he is
obliged to adapt other branches of school work.
7.--Every Christian teacher should be a diligent student of the Bible,
particularly the New Testament. Very little formal instruction can be
given in religion in the lower primary grades, much, however, is taught
by _seeing_ the conduct and _feeling_ the touch of the teacher who has
heard the “follow Me” spoken to Andrew and Simon.
8.--No revival or pulpit methods, no pressure of an emotional kind is
to be made in any department of the school to induce children to become
Protestants. Protestantism is not to be lauded nor Romanism attacked.
The Word of God is a cure for all false beliefs and a sure guide to
right living.
The above precedes the specific directions for the organization of
the work in the different grades,--selections of Scripture, hymns,
Bible narrative, etc., and is enough to show the principles on which we
proceed.--_Dr. H. M. Lane._
FACTS ABOUT BRAZIL.
Brazil is one-fifteenth of the habitable world, one-fifth of both
Americas, three-sevenths of South America. It is larger than the United
States and her territories (leaving out Alaska), and fourteen times
as large as France. It has a coast-line of nearly five thousand miles
and possesses forty-two seaports, among which are the largest and best
of the world. Within these limits are found the unexplored and almost
boundless _selvas_ of the great Amazonian basin in the north, a large
slice of the rich _pampas_ in the south, and by far the largest of the
three great elevated masses that constitute the bulk of the continent,
in the center. These table lands, well watered, well timbered and
possessing a climate unparalleled in the tropic regions of the earth,
represent about four-sevenths of the whole country. As a rule the high
plateaus are of exceptional salubrity. These broad areas of fertile
farming land, rich pastures and almost inexhaustible supplies of
timber and minerals are rendered easily accessible through the natural
highways furnished by the three great river systems--the Amazon on the
north, the La Plata on the south, the San Francisco in the center. The
Amazon, among its numerous affluents and tributaries, numbers twenty
rivers larger than the Rhine, and it holds in its mouth an island
larger than Switzerland, almost as large as England.
The material resources of Brazil are almost incalculable. The range of
its productions embraces the products of both the temperate and torrid
zones--the cereals, cattle, sheep, horses, cotton, sugar, coffee, rice,
rubber, drugs, dye-stuffs, precious metals, iron and other minerals.
The climate of Brazil is varied, and on the whole very favorable. Being
on the eastern side of the continent, it is milder and more healthful,
even on the coast, than the corresponding latitudes on the west coast
of Africa, which lies just opposite, across the South Atlantic ocean.
The northern parts are always warm; yet the natives there prefer their
own climate to that of even Rio de Janeiro, where the variation is
quite sensible, though not very great. The part which lies in the south
temperate zone enjoys a delightful climate, will produce the grains,
fruits, etc., of the north temperate zone, and is well suited for
emigrants from the north of Europe.
The mineral resources of Brazil are unquestionally very great, but so
far unimproved to any useful extent, save precious stones and gold. The
conditions for sustaining an immense population everywhere abound, when
once properly developed and improved.
Brazil was discovered about A. D. 1500, and was soon after taken
possession of by the Portuguese, and continued to be a colony of
Portugal till 1822, when it was declared independent, under the title
of the Empire of Brazil. In 1889 it revolted and became a republic,
adopting a constitution and system of government similar to our own.
It is divided into twenty States and a neutral district, where its
capital, Rio de Janeiro, is situated.
[Illustration: THE BLACKS OF BAHIA]
The white population of Brazil is chiefly of Portuguese extraction;
and hence the Portuguese element prevails in the institutions of
the country, in the customs and habits of the people, and in every
department of life. The civilization, though in general less advanced
than in the more favored portions of Europe and the United States, is
still European.
The language of the country is the Portuguese, a sister language to the
Spanish, but clearly a distinct language. It is a beautiful language,
and has been appropriately styled the eldest daughter of the Latin.
It is compact, expressive, flexible, and well adapted for oratory and
literature.
THE SAMARITAN HOSPITAL AT S. PAULO.