Portuguese writers are prolific. Few countries have produced more literature, compared with the number who speak the language, than Portugal and Brazil. The Portuguese language is especially rich in expression, and is said to be the nearest to the classic Latin of any living dialect. It lends itself easily to poetic expression, and there have been many poets. The Brazilians are fond of elaborate and flowery expressions, and this verboseness and ornate form of expression runs through their literature and public speaking. At the commencement exercises mentioned above the addresses of some of the graduates were most elaborate. Where an American graduate would have started out with “Ladies and Gentlemen,” and perhaps have added “our dear professors and honourable trustees,” the Brazilian youth took several minutes to make his introductory remarks, and pass around his compliments to the professors and other dignitaries who were on the stage. No one was omitted in the general round of compliments. Impromptu poems spring up on every and all occasions, and the recent visit of a high state official of the United States prompted more than one poetic effusion, many of which were fortunately suppressed by the committees in charge of the festivities.
Brazil has produced a number of eminent writers. The best known, and perhaps most widely loved of all, is Gonçalves Diaz, who has been called the Longfellow of Brazil. He died nearly a half century ago, but his memory has been honoured by monuments and streets named in his honour, and his name has been kept green by continuous quotations from his writings. The “Song of the Exile,” written by him, has been called the “Home, Sweet Home” of the Brazilians, and is said to be quoted more than any other poem in the language. Says Mrs. Wright:[3] “No translation has ever been made which in any sense reveals the exquisite delicacy of touch in the original, or its plaintive rhythmic melody, though many attempts have been made to put it into English and other languages. Throughout the six stanzas of which it is composed, the little poem voices a heart cry of homesickness. After recounting, with childlike simplicity, the charm of his native land, its palm trees, and the sweet-voiced Sabiá, the favourite songbird of Brazil, he prays with touching pathos to be spared to return, that he may once more see its glorious palms and hear the Sabiá sing.” Diaz had received a good education in Portugal, and became a professor of history in the college at Rio. Many of his poems have a historic basis and deal with events of history. He served on several government commissions, among which was a trip up the Amazon with a scientific commission. On this trip his health was ruined, and from that time he was an invalid to the time of his death. On his return from a trip to Europe his vessel was shipwrecked, and his remains went to a watery grave, at the early age of forty.
There have been many other and excellent writers, both of fiction and poetry, in the past century, but few of them are known to the English-speaking world, as translations have not been made. Some excellent histories have been written also, which have been fostered and preserved by the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute. Dr. Machado de Assis is one of the most distinguished living writers, who has written both poetry and fiction. Dr. Olavo Bilac has also written many beautiful poems, and is one of the best-known writers and orators of the day. I had the pleasure of meeting him, and listening to an address by him, and it was a very pleasing address, distinguished for its purity of style. Dr. Ruy Barbosa, prominent also in political circles, has been a prolific writer in many lines. There is scarcely an important subject that his pen has not touched upon, from fiction to the intricate problem of international law. Baron de Rio Branco, a member for many years of the official cabinet, and Dr. Joaquim Nabuco, late Ambassador to the United States, who died a few months ago in Washington, are also writers of considerable merit.
The press of Brazil is a strong factor in the literature of the country, as well as in the politics. Nearly every politician is a writer, and, conversely, nearly every writer is more or less of a politician. Speeches are published in full, and politics and literature fill a large part of the space in the average Brazilian newspaper. The first newspaper established in Brazil was the Gazeta do Rio, in the year 1808, and other newspapers followed soon after in many other cities. The oldest paper in the capital, as well as the most influential one to-day, is the Jornal do Comercio, originally established as the Spectator, in 1824. Its contributors have included all the leading politicians and writers since that time. It is a large and well-printed newspaper of many pages, and is well edited. O Paiz, Correio da Manhã, Jornal do Brazil, Gazeta de Noticias, Diario do Commercio, Diario de Noticias, A Noticia, O Seculo, Correio da Noite and A Tribuna are the other leading daily newspapers in the city to-day. O Malho and Revista da Semana are weekly reviews, while O Tico-Tico and Fon-Fon are illustrated comics. São Paulo, the second city, has a dozen daily newspapers, more than the average city of the United States of the same size. O Estado de São Paulo and the Correio Paulistina are the leading and most influential ones. The Brazilian Review, a weekly journal, is the only English periodical published in the country, but there are several German and Italian publications. There are also a number of class publications and trade journals, and nearly every town and city has a local daily or weekly publication.
The artistic sense is one of the essential elements of the Latin character. It has perhaps reached its highest development with the Italian race, but the Spaniards and the Portuguese also have this talent well developed. The traveller throughout Latin America can not fail to be impressed by the transplanted art that he finds everywhere in evidence. In Mexico, Central America and Peru he will find the original sense tinged with the Indian influence of the ancient races, who developed an architectural style of their own. Along the Atlantic coast of South America this element is lacking, because the Indians of that coast had not reached an advanced civilization, and lived in the crudest way. Hence the architecture of Brazil corresponds more nearly to the established schools that one will find in Latin Europe.
The Latin Americans strive for beauty, and, for myself, I must say that in general I admire their style. Some of their buildings would not appear well in a cold climate, but in design and decoration they are well adapted to the country. The government buildings, the plazas, the numerous statues, all have lines of beauty that please the eye. In small towns far from the railway one will oftentimes stumble upon a church, a convent or some other building of real artistic beauty and design. These buildings in a sense satisfy the artistic hunger of the race, and they are the objects to which every resident points with pride.
THE MUNICIPAL THEATRE, RIO DE JANEIRO.
The municipal theatre is one of these buildings that one will find in all the larger cities, where social life has attained anything of a metropolitan development, and even in smaller towns, where that stage has not been reached. It is constructed with the same care and regard for artistic proportions as the municipal building or the governmental palace, and, in many instances, with even more taste. The teatro municipal, as it is always named, is almost invariably built in an open place, where the view is unobstructed, while many of the public edifices are crowded up to the street line, and often hemmed in between surrounding buildings. Frequently it is exposed on all four sides, and an effort is made to give it an artistic appearance from whatever angle it is viewed, instead of limiting the artistic touches to the façade. Public money has been used for the construction of these buildings, and money from the same source, either municipal or national, is used to provide for the presentation of the drama or opera. It is only in this way that the best Italian, French, Portuguese and Spanish artists could ever be brought to Latin America, for the box receipts alone would not prove profitable. No one dreams of objecting to the use of the public money in this way, for the idea is inbred, and in accordance with the traditions of the race. This idea of practically subsidizing things artistic sounds strange to Anglo-Saxon ears, but among the Latins it is considered a proper function of government.
