RELIGION--EDUCATION--JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE
Very few writers upon Argentina refer to the subject of religion at
all, and those who do give very scanty information. There are in
existence several good-sized works which make not the faintest
allusion to the Church. And yet one would have thought that the
subject possessed some general importance, or, at any rate, that in a
daughter State of Spain and one of the great fields of Jesuit labour
there was room for a few remarks upon the relations of the Church to
the State and people, and also upon the general religious and moral
conditions of Argentina.
The Spanish conquerors of South America were zealous crusaders, as
eager to add subjects to the Kingdom of Christ as to add territory to
the estates of their earthly sovereign. During the process of conquest
they displayed few Christian virtues, but in the Plate districts,
where they were not demoralised by lust of gold, their proceedings
were relatively good, and, in general, when Spanish America was
settled, the masters were anxious to do their duty by their servants
according to their lights and if they were negligent in attending to
the religious and material welfare of the Indians, their negligence was
speedily rebuked by the home authorities. One of the conditions of
holding land was an undertaking to educate the Indians and teach them
Christianity. The wise and good Las Casas laid down on the subject of
the conversion and treatment of the Indians Thirty Propositions,[82] two
of which may be given in substance: "The means for establishing the
Faith in the Indies should be the same as those by which Christ
introduced His religion into the world--mild, peaceable, and charitable;
humility; good examples of a holy and regular way of living, especially
over such docile and easy subjects; and presents bestowed to win them.
Attempts by force of arms are impious, like those of Mahometans, Romans,
Turks, and Moors; they are tyrannical, and unworthy of Christians,
calling out blasphemies; and they have already made the Indians believe
that our God is the most unmerciful and cruel of all gods."
The rough Spanish soldiers of fortune, as might have been expected,
recked little of such principles, and some of the priests were
little better than their flock, for Father Valverde is said to have
instigated Pizarro to the treacherous and cruel arrest of Atahuallpa.
But the principles adopted both by spiritual and temporal powers were
those of justice and mercy, as far as the circumstances permitted, and
thus there was implanted in the new settlements something of the
crusading spirit which was engendered in Spain by the struggle with
the Moors. The pioneer in forest or plain was not merely amassing land
and wealth for himself; there was a spiritual harvest, and as he
received new lands, he had new duties in religious administration and
protection. Thus the Spanish religious fervour was nourished in the
overseas dominions.
The religious spirit was handed down unimpaired from father to son
until the time of the Revolution. The question as to whether the power
of the Church was beneficial or not is a matter of controversy, and
travellers have uttered the most various opinions, but few candid men
will deny that the Jesuits performed a noble task which could have
been carried out by no other human power, and the disparaging remarks
which are found in many notebooks are usually due to the cant of
irreligion that was common among the Englishmen of the time between
the French Revolution and the Oxford Movement. On a subject which does
not interest them they say, without having troubled to make inquiries,
what they would say about any Roman Catholic country or what some
freethinking acquaintance in Buenos Aires has told them.
With the Revolution came a great shock to the faith of the people, and
the same principles that undermined their faith undermined their
loyalty. The philosophers of France ever urged that the Church must be
overthrown before there could be any progress, and the priests ever
fought against their doctrines as destructive to all religion.
Consequently the male population of Buenos Aires formed habits of
mind[83] which they have by no means entirely shaken off at the
present day. Apathy towards religion or even absolute hostility is by
no means uncommon, and perhaps in well-to-do houses it is generally
true that the women go to church and the men stay away. And yet it
would not be true to describe the nation as irreligious on the whole.
Materialism has, no doubt, to some extent corrupted the upper classes;
they devote themselves to business and pleasure and ignore the things
of the spirit. But the churches are crowded with men as well as women,
and it is certain that the poor love the Church and doubtless find
the priests their best friends. Cordoba and Mendoza are looked upon as
the cities where the Church is strongest, but its general hold upon
the masses is possibly almost as strong as ever. Intellectually it is
weak; few of the better-class Argentines will take priests' orders,
and nearly all the prelates are foreigners. Beyond a doubt, in Spanish
America there is an unexampled field for a devout missionary; the foe
is merely apathy, and if a warmer spirit were breathed into the
Church in Argentina, and if the clergy paid more attention to the
intellectual side of their calling, the results would be remarkable.
But if the religious indifference spreads downwards, Argentina, like
France, may see her population dwindle, and her army decay, and may be
prevented from taking a high position among world Powers.
Statistically, there can be no doubt that Argentina belongs
unreservedly to Rome; only the merest fraction, perhaps forty
thousand, of the population is outside that Church. In 1895 there were
sixty-eight Reformed Churches, but of these twenty-five belonged to
the Welsh colonists at Chubut. There were 1,019 Roman Catholic
churches, or one to every four thousand inhabitants. The prevailing
religion is also the State religion, but all others are tolerated.
There is an archbishop at Buenos Aires and eight suffragan bishops,
including one for Paraguay.
Education has not made remarkable strides in Argentina, for exactly
half of the people over six years of age are illiterate. In 1885 some
25 per cent. of the children of school-going age attended school, and
in 1904 the percentage had only risen to 45, and of these only a
fraction could read or write. The defects of primary education[84] are
comparatively unimportant, for the country needs agriculturists rather
than clerks, and when the peasants really desire instruction they will
not be long in obtaining it. But indifferent University and secondary
education are the curse of Latin America. Beyond anything else
Argentina requires a real aristocracy--a large, cultivated, and
public-spirited upper class--and this class, owing chiefly to
defective education, is now very small. There are at Cordoba and
Buenos Aires national Universities, and provincial Universities at La
Plata, Santa Fé, and Parana. But the unfortunate materialism is not
eradicated by these institutions, which, in Latin America, are too
often merely bread-winning concerns, which neglect humane studies
because they are "useless." If the Holy See would encourage the
foundation of a religious University, the country would benefit in
every way.
Secondary education (it is difficult to obtain up-to-date figures)
does not appear to have been particularly flourishing in 1905. There
were 16 lyceums, 450 professors, and 4,103 pupils. There were also 35
normal schools with 2,011 pupils. It is, of course, a common practice
for wealthy parents to send their children to Europe to be educated,
and perhaps, under the circumstances, that is the best course. But
with a sound and liberal course of studies and good moral and
religious discipline, the young might be kept in the country till they
had completed their University career, and then sent for a short
residence abroad. There is a temptation that besets cultivated
Argentines, who are the most necessary to the welfare of their
country, to seek diplomatic posts or some duties that will take them
abroad. Most of the distinguished authors publish in Madrid or Paris,
and thus there is an intellectual and moral drain which would be
checked if the system of education were improved.
As regards primary education, there were in 1905, 5,250 schools,
14,118 teachers, and 543,881 pupils. The average attendance was
408,069. Considering that in 1899 about one million sterling was spent
upon education, and that for a generation Argentina has spent probably
more per head upon each school-child than any other country except
Australia, the results are by no means satisfactory, and, like all new
nations, the Argentines require to learn the lesson that learning and
enlightenment cannot be obtained by money or bricks and mortar.[85]
As regards the journalism of Argentina, it would be difficult to speak
too highly of the two principal daily newspapers, _La Nacion_ and _La
Prensa_. _La Nacion_ may perhaps claim the front place. It is the
oldest daily journal in Buenos Aires, dating from 1852, and it was
long under the influence of General Bartolome Mitre, for, as a French
writer[86] remarks, no politician can succeed without a newspaper, and
no newspaper can hope to obtain much influence without the support of
a politician. It has a circulation of about ninety thousand. The
paper is on a very large scale and full of matter; its tone is
admirable, the ability of the leading articles is remarkable, and the
literary pages, which are lavishly provided, reach a very high
standard indeed. Hardly second to _La Nacion_ is _La Prensa_, which
has offices, situated in the Avenida de Mayo, said to be more splendid
than anything of the kind in existence. It is not as old as its rival,
dating from about 1872, and it may be described as being of much the
same size and scope as the _Daily Telegraph_, but rather more
attention is given to literary style. Sobriety and moderation, as well
as great ability, are its characteristics. It is the property of Dr.
José C. Paz, who is said to have made a large fortune by it.
_El Diario_ is an enterprising evening paper, and has a very large
circulation. The journal possessed of the largest circulation of all
(said to approach two hundred thousand) is _La Argentina_, which
appeals more to the man in the street. Other Spanish dailies are _El
Pais_, _El Tiempo_, _La Razon_, _El Diario de Comercio_, and _El
Correo Español_.
There is a French daily, _Le Courier de la Plata_, and several German
and Italian. At the same office as _La Argentina_ is printed the
_Standard_, an old English newspaper of high repute. This was founded
in 1861 by the Mulhalls--an honoured name in Buenos Aires--and besides
being extensively read by English residents, it has considerable
influence with the authorities. Very similar in appearance and scope,
but less influential, is the _Buenos Aires Herald_, another English
daily paper, the property of Mr. Thomas Bell.
The provincial towns have also meritorious journals, but they are, of
course, overshadowed by those of the capital. The daily press of
Argentina is perhaps the most elevating influence in the country. It is
a really useful daily help, containing a splendid assortment of foreign
telegrams, and news and dissertations to suit the most varying tastes.
While conducted with unflagging enterprise and commercially very
valuable, as is shown by the interminable columns of closely printed
advertisements, it is honourably free from the sensation-mongering and
vulgarity which is rampant in the United States and which has, to some
extent, infected our own daily newspapers.
Among weekly periodicals the _Review of London and the River Plate_,
which deals principally with industrial and economic subjects, is a
high-class publication, and the _Standard_ has a weekly edition. There
are several other weekly and monthly journals, and there are numerous
comic papers,[87] but few periodicals deal exclusively with literature
or special subjects. These matters, however, are treated so generously
in the daily organs that it may be supposed that there is little
opening for one-subject journals. After all, the circulation of the
dailies is very large when we consider the limited population. It is
curious to notice how entirely cut off each South American Republic
is from the other. In Buenos Aires it is difficult to procure a
Brazilian, Uruguayan, or Chilian newspaper, and the commercial
intercourse is astonishingly small. For example, the trade of
Argentina with Holland is more than twice as large as her trade with
Chile.
As is frequently the case with periodical literature, some of its most
valuable instances are to be found among the defunct publications.
Prominent among these is the _Nueva Revista de Buenos Aires_, which
only lived from 1881-1885. It was edited by Señor V. G. Quesada and
Dr. Ernesto Quesada, and, as a monthly review, chiefly literary, but
also dealing with politics, history, and philosophy, it was a work of
the highest excellence. Nearly all the articles are signed, and most
of the eminent Argentine men of letters of those days have either
written or been reviewed in its pages. Another good magazine, which
lived from 1871-1874 was the _Revista del Rio de La Plata_. This dealt
with the same subjects, but was more historical than literary. In
Buenos Aires 189 newspapers are published. Of Spanish there are 154,
Italian 14, German 8, English 6, and the others are Scandinavian,
French, Basque, and Russian.
The excellent journalism of Argentina has not, as yet, developed into
literature of a class correspondingly high. Those who deal with the
literature of a new country usually strike an apologetic note, and
their main stumbling-block is the absence of originality, for it has
to be admitted that the poets and romancers of the young nations are
too often mere craftsmen imitating old European models. This admission
has to be made in the case of Argentina, but in other respects her
literature may well stand forth on its own merits; the artists are not
imported but American-born, and though they may not have produced an
indigenous literature, yet their creations are European with a
difference. They are Spanish American, not Spanish, and those of
Argentina are quite distinct in tone from those of their kinsmen on
the same continent.
A foreigner has considerable difficulty in dealing with the literature
of a country whose publications are little studied in Europe, and
apparently little information can be gathered except from the actual
writers. It is, therefore, necessary to begin with Dr. Ernesto
Quesada, whose _Reseñas y Criticas_ (Buenos Aires, 1893) is a mine of
information.
He remarks in the Preface: "In Europe the creations of the mind are
kept, polished, revised, accomplished, and completed for publication
very slowly and with tender care: in America we look upon writing as a
mere incident, and though we may as far as possible do it with the
long study and the great love of which the poet spoke, we do not boast
ourselves of it, or, perhaps, keep a record. Our life draws us to
action and into such strange vicissitudes that it is not possible to
see what to-morrow will bring." There is, then, an amateurish air
about Argentine literature; it has at present more grace than
strength. The writer has been before the public for more than thirty
years. "Un Invierno en Russia," a book of travel, was published in
1888, and long before that he produced a youthful work on Juvenal and
Persius--an unusual subject, for Latin Americans usually look upon the
study of Latin and Greek as waste of time. Dr. Quesada has also written
on political and ecclesiastical subjects. In the first-mentioned book of
essays he deals with the poetry, history, and jurisprudence of his
native land, as well as the Latin-American Congress, the Argentine
Universities, the intellectual movement in Argentina, and a number of
other subjects which are exactly those upon which a thoughtful observer
of a foreign country desires information.
Cultured Argentines have devoted considerable attention to history;
their nation has played a great part in the revolutionary wars; they
are proud of it and demand chroniclers. Mention must first be made of
Dean Funes, who lived in the days of the Revolution and whose "Ensayo
de la Historia Civil del Paraguay, Buenos Ayres y Tucuman" is, to one
who wants a comprehensive view of Argentine history, the most valuable
work upon the subject. Upon the Revolution itself General Bartolome
Mitre is the best authority, and D. F. Sarmiento has written well upon
the troubled times of the mid-century, but in general English and
French works deal with the history of modern Argentina quite as
satisfactorily as do her own writers.
Undoubtedly it is in jurisprudence, particularly in International Law,
that writers of this country have accomplished most original work.
Prominent among her publicists is Carlos Calvo (1824-1893) who lived
chiefly abroad in pursuit of his diplomatic career. In 1868 he
published in Paris his "Derecho internacional teorico y practico de
Europa y America," which was at once translated into French and took
place as one of the highest modern authorities on the subject. Calvo
observes: "I have called my work 'The International Law of Europe and
America in Theory and Practice,' because I am endeavouring in it to
make amends for the neglect of my predecessors and contemporaries who
have almost entirely omitted to deal with the vast American continent,
which nevertheless is growing daily in influence and power and
marching side by side with the civilisation of Europe." The book is a
minute analysis of the principles and practice of International Law
and is specially valuable on account of its historical treatment and
copious instances. Calvo also did good service to Argentine history by
his collection of documents, but his eminence is in the field of
International Law, and he is one of the very few Latin-American
authors who have won a world-wide reputation.
While Calvo has surpassed all other South Americans in the importance
of his contribution to the theory of International Law, Dr. Luis Maria
Drago has done the same as regards the practice. Towards the close of
1902 England, Germany, and Italy had blockaded the coast of Venezuela
on account of certain grievances. On December 29, 1902, Dr. Drago,
then Minister for Foreign Affairs, despatched a note to the Argentine
Minister in Washington. He maintained that no European State was
entitled to intervene by force in the affairs of an American nation,
still less to occupy its territory, in order to recover a debt due from
its Government to the subjects of the intervening State, such
intervention being an infringement of the sovereignty of the debtor
State and of the principle of the equality of the sovereign States.[88]
This doctrine, though never precisely stated, had been foreshadowed by
Calvo. It has been pointed out[89] that the blockade of 1902 was not
originally instituted on account of Venezuela's failure to pay debts,
but to obtain redress for outrages inflicted upon the subjects of the
blockading Powers, that Venezuela had refused the suggestion of
arbitration, that Dr. Drago misunderstood the Venezuelan question, and
that the Powers never intended permanently to occupy any part of
Venezuela. Further, Mr. Hay, in his reply to Dr. Drago, said: "The
President declared in his Message to Congress, December 3, 1901, that by
the Munroe Doctrine 'we do not guarantee any State against punishment if
it misconducts itself, provided that punishment does not take the form
of the acquisition of territory by any non-American Power.'" Although
the practice, against which the Drago Doctrine protests is liable to be
abused, it would hardly be prudent on the part of European Powers nor
conducive to progress in backward States, if the right of collecting
debts were surrendered altogether; and this view was taken at the Hague
Conference of 1907. It adopted the Drago Doctrine in a modified form,
providing that force must not be used for the recovery of ordinary
public debts originating in contracts, but the prohibition was not to
apply if the debtor State refused or ignored an offer of arbitration,
obstructed the process, or repudiated the decision. The resolution was
adopted by thirty-nine votes. There were five abstentions, including
Venezuela, which had no liking for the modifications. This tangible
addition to the public law of the world, which was one of the few
successes of the Conference, was a great personal triumph for Dr. Drago,
who was then the Argentine Delegate to the Conference. There have been
many other meritorious Argentine writers on legal subjects of all kinds,
as well as commercial and economic, but this account of two great names
must suffice.
After the splendid achievements of Argentina in jurisprudence, the
work of her writers in more purely literary fields may appear to be
eclipsed. But in the charming branch of essay-writing many good
authors have appeared, and these were mostly trained in the excellent
periodicals of a quarter of a century ago and upwards. Prominent among
these is Martin Garcia Mérou, who will also claim notice as a poet. He
is an author of long standing, having first appeared before the public
in 1880 with a volume of poems which was published at Barcelona. As
before remarked, it is a practice of many Argentine writers to publish
in Paris or Madrid in preference to Buenos Aires, and indeed the
influence of Spain upon Argentine literature is now quite as strong as
that of England used to be upon the United States. It was at Madrid
that Garcia published, in 1884, an acute critical work, "Estudios
Literarios" and also "Impresiones," a book of travel, but since then
he has reverted to Buenos Aires. One of his most spirited works
appeared there in 1900, "El Brasil Intelectual," which is a rich
storehouse of information about a country which is perhaps somewhat
neglected by Argentines. Garcia has a deservedly high reputation among
his countrymen, and has been warmly praised by Dr. Ernesto Quesada.
Among this class of writer J. M. Gutierrez has done valuable editorial
and critical work, and some have held that he is the most eminent man
of letters, in the ordinary sense of the word, who has appeared in
Argentina. M. Daireaux[90] remarks caustically: "He knew no joys but
those of literature; he had all the traditional American curiosity, he
made researches in the chronicles and caused them to live again, he
re-discovered all the thoughts of the greatest men of the world, and
illuminated them with the powerful rays of his gigantic intellect. But
withal, as he was not a politician with influence at his disposal, nor
a lawyer with a numerous group of clients around him, as he had
nothing but a great soul, he occupied in society but a humble rank. I
used to speak of him with men who appreciated him, and I never drew
from them more than a shrug and this word of pity: 'What would you
have? He is a literary man!' They did not even say a member of the
literary profession; the profession did not exist, was not classed; he
was only a literary man--not even, as they say in France, a man of
letters." The writer adds that the profession is now recognised in
Buenos Aires.
Still, in spite of his capacious intellect, Gutierrez can hardly be
looked upon as occupying the first place among the men of letters of
Argentina, because he produced little original work.
Prose fiction now fills a very prominent place in the literature of
almost every nation, and Argentina is no exception to the rule, but it
cannot be said that her writers possess any great distinction. Dr.
Quesada considers that José Marmol, distinguished in other branches of
literature, was the best of the early novelists. In 1851 he published
a spirited romance named "Amalia," somewhat after the style of the
elder Dumas. It can hardly be called historical, for the scene is laid
in 1840 and the subject is the tyranny of Rosas, but the author
declares that he wishes to describe for the benefit of future
generations, the Argentine dictatorship, and that therefore he has
treated in a historical manner actual living persons. The book was a
success, but Marmol does not appear to have followed it up.
In 1884 Carlos Maria Ocantos published a juvenile work, "La Cruz de la
Falta," which was recognised as showing considerable promise, and in
1888 appeared "Leon Saldivar," which was hailed as a national novel.
This writer, who, like most Argentine authors, is a diplomatist by
profession and a man of letters by temperament, does not follow the
trend of Argentine fiction, which is towards historical romances. He
is a realist, and "Leon Saldivar" is a powerful study of Argentine life,
and particularly life at the capital. The more spiritual people of the
city were beginning to complain of it as a noisy, overgrown place,
devoted to money-grubbing, and indeed its poets and philosophers in
general made haste to quit it for a more favourable atmosphere, and
often did not even pay it the compliment of allowing it to publish their
works. Ocantos strove to elicit the romance of Buenos Aires as Dickens
found out the romance of London. He continued this vein with a still
more powerful and sombre work, "Quilito," in 1891. The two writers here
briefly noticed illustrate the imitative character of the Argentine
novel--the first looks to Dumas, the second to Zola.
Many critics think that the strongest Argentine novel which has yet
appeared is "La Gloria de Don Ramiro," published at Madrid in 1908.
The author, Sr. Enrique Larreta, lays his plot in the times of Philip
II. of Spain, and stirring scenes are described with great verve. The
musings of a boy, when his intellect is expanding and his head full of
the books he has last read, are always a tempting theme for romancers,
and the following passage, in the spirit of "the days of our youth are
the days of our glory," reflects the glow of boyish dreams:--
"Fascinated by his books, Ramirio began to imagine himself the hero of
the story. He was in turn Julius Cæsar, the Cid, the Great Captain,
Cortes, Don Juan of Austria. To take up the _Commentaries_ was to lead
the legions across Gaul, but, on the Ides of March, more sagacious
than the Dictator, he discovered the treachery of Junius Brutus and,
concealing a sword under his toga, he entered the Senate House and
slew the conspirators one by one. He conquered the Moors on countless
fields, he offered to Spain the kingdom of Naples or the empire of
Montezuma, and finally, planting his foot on the prow of a strange
ship, he destroyed for ever the whole Turkish fleet, at a new and
marvellous Lepanto, which his imagination evoked from the prints. The
result was that he began to deem himself chosen by God to carry on the
tradition of deathless fame. He put away from his mental view the
mediocre, the commonplace, the humdrum. All that was not impulsive
and heroic seemed intolerable, for he felt in himself an absolute
confidence of winning at a blow the highest honours and becoming, in a
short time, one of the foremost knights of the Catholic Faith on
earth."
The book is in many ways one of the most remarkable works of the
imagination that has been created by an Argentine and Sr. Larreta
writes pure and nervous Spanish.
Last comes a branch of literature which is probably the most popular,
and certainly the most esteemed, in Spanish America, which takes
mediocre poets far more seriously than did Horace, or, indeed,
than is the habit of the more stolid East. A somewhat sardonic
French traveller[91] lately remarked: "Spanish America has only one
thought--love. And love has given to it the one art which it practises,
if not in perfection at least in abundance inexhaustible--lyric poetry.
It appears that Peru and Colombia and Guatemala possess great poets....
Being a foreigner, I cannot judge about their greatness, but I can see
that they are numerous, indeed innumerable. Not a newspaper but contains
every morning poems, and their invariable burden is the passion of love.
The eyes, the teeth, the lips, the hair, the hands and feet of the
American misses are here, one by one, compared to all the beauties of
earth and sky. The warmth of sentiment is undoubted, but the expression
lacks originality."
There seems, indeed, to be an inexhaustible demand for a kind
of verse which a foreigner has a great difficulty in judging,
owing to difference in national temperaments and, perhaps still
more, differences in national ages. A thousand years makes a great
difference in a nation's point of view, and much that seems fresh and
beautiful to the younger people is hackneyed and tedious to the older.
The poetry of Argentina and, it is said, of all Latin America,
appears to be erotic or spasmodic, or both. It is pretty, but it has
not sufficient freshness to conquer a hearing in the great world.
But the earliest work with which we need deal is an anonymous
anthology, which forms an exception to the general rule. In 1823 some
patriot, by a happy inspiration, collected the snatches of song which
the revolutionists had composed and by which they marched to victory,
and these form a substantial volume--"La Lira Argentina." It consists
of a great number of poems, mostly short--"Marcha patriotica," "Oda"
(por la victoria de Suipacha), "Cancion patriotica," "Cancion
Heroica," "A La Excelentisima Junta," "Marcha Patriotica" ("Long live
our country free from chains, and long live her sons to defend her"),
"Marcha Nacional Oriental," and the like. They are full of fire and
simple art; they are really a noble national memorial and worth a
wilderness of love lyrics. But this view has not been developed,
although one would suppose that Argentina, with its mountains and
Pampas, deserved better local poetry of manhood and adventure than the
rude songs of the Gauchos.
Marmol (1818-1873), already referred to as a novelist, in some way
carries on the patriotic tradition, for in 1838 he was thrown by Rosas
into a dungeon, and inscribed with a burnt stick the following
quatrain on the walls of his prison:--
"Wretch! set before me dreadful Death,
And all my limbs in fetters bind;
Thou canst not quench my moral breath,
Nor place a chain upon my mind."
He managed to survive and became a busy man of letters and
subsequently Director of the National Library. Marmol wrote a good
many love poems, but he is more remarkable for having attempted a
field which seems to have little attraction for his countrymen. He
wrote at least two poetical dramas, "El Cruzado" and "El Poeta," the
first historical, the second a modern comedy. He is a sound and
conscientious literary craftsman, and the literary world of Buenos
Aires looks back to him with profound respect. He seems to have
approached nearer to the type of the professional man of letters than
is common in Argentina.
The other poets are extremely numerous, and it is not necessary to
particularise them. With them it is always the hour of night, and the
same question always arises: "Why do you come to disturb my calm,
image of that being whom I adore, image of that being, for whom alas!
I weep, for whom I consume away and die of love?" The quotation in
question happens to be from a Colombian poet, but the note is always
the same; there is too little distinctiveness about the poets of
Argentina to require detailed treatment. The short-lived Adolfo Mitré,
who was highly praised for his sincerity and passion, or Sr. Martin
Garcia Mérou may stand as types of the rest.
Garcia Mérou, besides being a poet, is an elegant essayist--already
noticed--a good historian, and has shown himself highly appreciative
of the work of brother poets. It is, perhaps, to the amateurish state
of Argentine literature, which does not engender professional
jealousy, that the pleasant comradeship and apparent lack of literary
squabbles are due. Garcia Mérou published many volumes of poems of the
usual type in the eighties. In 1891 appeared a different kind of
work, "Cuadros Epicos," short poems dealing with various scenes in
Spanish-American history. "El Mar de Balboa" is impressive.
The things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme are still the best part
of Argentine literature; in new countries material fruit precedes
intellectual blossom. This is inevitable in such cases, for it is
necessary to live before it is possible to write, and literature is at
every disadvantage owing to the scantiness and preoccupation of the
people. Prosperity may probably continue to blunt the literary sense,
for national dangers and terrors, such as called forth the Elizabethan
literature and the Romantic Revival in England, or the modest "Lira
Argentina," are unlikely, and the education system, which despises
Latin and Greek--_i.e._, literature--does not foster good writers. The
matter must be left to time and events. The people of Argentina are
practical, and their literary wants are well supplied in the shape of
all that the practical man wants. There are excellent and useful
writings on law, adequate histories, lucid essays, a few novels, and,
above all, a most excellent press, which last probably forms his
complete substitute for a library. He wants no more. Possibly that
absence of wants is the most serious want of all; a life that can be
satisfied by craftsman, cook, or groom, is at least incomplete, and it
may be that earth has something better to show than fat cattle, corn,
grapes, or even dollars. These things have not been the distinguishing
products of nations in the past which are now inscribed upon the rolls
of fame, and, however materialistic men become, such things will
not even now hand a nation on to all futurity. The literature of
Argentina, though creditable, is by no means on a scale proportionate
to her present position among nations.
FOOTNOTES:
[82] See Windsor, "History of America," ii. 322, 3.
[83] "The obligations of religion were undermined, every weapon was
directed to the extermination of the unshaken foes of the revolution.
The ignorant and depraved set no bounds to their conduct, every
thought of religion and morals, of future welfare and its effects upon
unborn generations, were out of the question. Many of the youth of
this province have, in consequence, been brought up in a neglect of
all religion" (Captain Andrews, "Journey" &c., i. 190).
[84] Primary education is free and compulsory for children between the
ages of six and fourteen. It is also, unfortunately, secular.
[85] The following table will show that Argentina is more advanced
than her neighbours:--
Percentage to Population
of School-going Children.
Argentina 10
Uruguay 7
Chile 3·70
Paraguay 3·50
Peru 2·86
Brazil 2
Bolivia 2
Santiago and Jujuy are the most ignorant parts of the Republic, Buenos
Aires City the least.
[86] Émile Daireaux, "La Vie et Les Moeurs à La Plata," i. 414.
[87] _Caras y Caretas_ is a sprightly weekly paper of varied
interests, which makes a special feature of coloured cartoons.
[88] See the _Annual Register_ of 1907, p. 345.
[89] See the _North American Review_, July 31, 1907.
[90] "La Vie et les Moeurs à La Plata," i. 408-9.
[91] M. de Waleffe, "Les Paradis de l'Amérique Centrale," p. 213.