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Mar chant, Langworty
'The Achievements of a Century of
Brazilian Independence*
Washington, 1922,

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\ for ike founding of a, College in this Colony

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Gift of the Publishers

The PAN AMERICAN UNION

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF
A CENTURY OF BRAZILIAN
INDEPENDENT UNIVERSITy
J A N 1 5 1924
LIBRARY,
Reprinted from the May, 1922, issue of the
Bulletin of The Pan American Union

L. S. ROWE : : :
FRANCISCO J. YANES

Director General
Assistant Director

LanPuJOY-my MarclnavVl,

WASHINGTON, D. C.
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1922

THE CRY OF YPIRANGA.
The Prince Regent Dom Pedro is seen in the center, with drawn sword, and shouting the historic words "Independence or death."

THE AG

MDEPI

By Langworthy Marchant,
Pan American Union Staff".

tOOKING backward over the first century of Brazilian inde
pendence, we find that the opening scene is set on a stage
. that had been prepared by the hand of destiny 1 3 years bef ore]
I will therefore crave the reader's indulgence to dwell for a
few brief moments on the reign of Dom John, first in his character
of Prince Regent, from his arrival in 1808 to the proclamation of the
new Kingdom of Brazil in 1815 and thereafter as King John VI,
down to the date of his departure in 1821.
It is permissible to suppose that Prince John intended to fix the
seat of his government definitely in Brazil, and that his return to
Portugal, resulting as it did from unforeseen circumstances, was a
complete reversal of his original plan.
If Dom John had remained in Brazil, naturally there would have
been no date of independence to commemorate other than that of
his landing in Rio de Janeiro, March 7, 1808, or else that of the
creation of the Kingdom of Brazil, December 16, 1815, for by the
events connected with these dates Brazil was suddenly lifted out
of the condition of a dependent colony to become the chief unit of
the Portuguese empire. It was King John's return to Portugal that
caused a break in the orderly course of events, and made it necessary
for the Brazilians to proclaim their separation from Portugal and
assert their national independence.
When Dom John came over, he brought with him a great fleet
laden .with the most valuable treasures of the realm — a necessary
precaution, in view of the circumstance which determined his migra
tion — the imminence of invasion by the armies of Napoleon. Among
these treasures were precious collections of works of art — paintings,
(l)

sculpture, and his own royal library. All these things he used as the
basis of civic and cultural institutions which he proceeded to estab
lish in the colony.
With the paintings and sculpture he founded the Academy of Fine
Arts, which has evolved in a marvelous manner through the course
of the century, increasing in importance and utility until it is now
the alma mater of many noted artists — painters, sculptors, and

DOM JOHN VI, KING OF PORTUGAL, BRAZIL AND
ALGARVES.

architects — not a few of whom are at this very time working in
feverish -haste, day and night, erecting and decorating the wonder
city of the Exposition which is to commemorate the dawn of the
century of independence.
With his own private collection Dom John established a museum
of natural history, which has since become the National Museum,
and is now installed in what was once his own royal residence of
Sao Christovao.

3
Another creation of his was the Botanical Garden, in which, with
his own hand he planted the royal palm from which are descended
all the other trees of its species in Brazil. The mother palm is
still growing where King John planted it, inclosed within a railing
and marked with an inscription.
When Dom John arrived in Brazil there was a lack of higher
institutions of learning. It had been the policy of the Portuguese
Government to encourage the sons of wealthy and influential colonials
to receive their education at the University of Coimbra, in Portugal,
by which means it was thought they would acquire a new lease of
loyalty, together with the culture of the mother country. Con
sequently there had been few establishments of higher education
except those maintained by the Jesuit fathers, and even these had
disappeared with the expulsion of the Jesuits under Pombal in 1759.
Dom John founded schools of higher education in a number of cities,
the Medical Schools of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia; the Engineering
School of Rio de Janeiro; the law schools of Sao Paulo and Recife;
in addition to a large number of secondary schools and academies.
Dom John also established a printing house under the name of
"Imprensa Regia," or "King's Printing House," for the special pur
pose of printing Government matter. This establishment has grown
since the days of King John, and its name has been changed to that
of "Imprensa Nacional," or "National Printing House," but it
continues to perform its original function of printing Government
matter, which includes the Diario Official, a daily publication in
which are recorded all the acts of all the branches of the Federal
Government. The migration of Dom John was the occasion of a complete up
heaval in the economic conditions of Brazil. With the exception of
the interval of the Pombal administration, the foreign activities
of the colonials were limited to dealing with the mother country,
ships of other nations not being allowed in the Brazilian ports. The
internal life of the colony was cramped and oppressed. No manu
factures were permitted except those of the coarsest and most neces
sary articles. Agriculture was limited in scope to the growing of
crops for home consumption or for export to Portugal, to be con
sumed there or to form the materials of trade for Portuguese mer
chants. The only industries of real value, because of their importance and
the revenue which they brought into the colony, were the extraction
of gold and precious stones, and the manufacture of sugar, and both
these were so heavily taxed as to be often ruinous to those engaged
in them.
With the arrival of Dom John all this was changed. The ports
were opened to the ships of all friendly nations. Not only was the

ban lifted from all industrial pursuits, but the mdustries were fostered
in every possible manner. Seeds and plants were brought from the
Portuguese possessions in Asia and Africa and acclimated m the
botanical garden in order to enrich the agricultural resources of the
new Kingdom. Among these was China tea, which King John
endeavored to make a regular source of revenue. His experiments
proved successful, and China tea was bidding fair to become a stand
ard Brazilian product "when its career was suddenly cut short by the
appearance of its more powerful rival, coffee.
Had King John VI been as wise in political affairs as in matters of
intellectual and material progress, had he not failed to understand
that the Brazilian national spirit was a reality with which he must
reckon, however distasteful to his medieval ideas of the divine right
of kings, it is more than probable that he would never have left
Brazil, notwithstanding the loud clamors of his Portuguese subjects
for his immediate return to his Old World Kingdom. Realizing,
however, that his high-handed policy had completely destroyed his
popularity in Brazil, King John decided to embark for Portugal,
which he did on the 21st of April, 1821.
His departure was as fortunate for Brazil as had been his coming.
Dom Pedro, his son, whom he left in Brazil, as regent, became the
champion of the Brazilian cause in opposition to the Portuguese
reactionaries, who desired to reduce the new Kingdom to its old
colonial status. The home Government demanded his return. A
committee of Brazilian deputies waited upon Dom Pedro, requesting
him in the name of the people to defy the order and remain. His
answer has become historic: "Since it is for the good of all and the
general happiness of the nation, tell the peopk\that I will remain."
A few months after this event Dom Pedro made a journey to Minas
and Sao Paulo. Not far from the capital of the latter Province he
and his escort were met on the banks of the small stream Ypiranga
by a body of functionaries bearing messages from the Portuguese
court. A letter was delivered. As Dom Pedro read it his counte
nance flushed with anger. Suddenly turning his horse to face his
attendants, he tore the Portuguese insignia from his hat and breast,
drew his sword, and shouted the historic words, "Independence or
death!" The peculiar significance of the cry of Ypiranga is not so much that
it facilitated the achieving of independence, which would have ensued
in the natural course of events in the very near future, but that the
establishment of the Empire contributed effectively to hasten the
consolidation of the national spirit and strengthen the bonds of union
between widely distant parts of the country. But for this event it
may be conjectured with a high degree of certainty that the fate of

r>
Brazil would have resembled that of the vast republic which had been
the fond dream of Bolivar.
Thus, the first great achievement of the century of independence
was the achievement of independence itself. Attempts at reaction
on the part of the Portuguese garrison and fleet with their sympathiz
ers had been crushed. The Brazilian fleet under Lord Cochrane,
that extraordinary champion of South American independence, had

DOM PEDRO PRIMEIRO, CONSTITUTIONAL EMPEROR AND
PERPETUAL DEFENDER OF BRAZIL— SURNAMED THE
FOUNDER.
driven the Portuguese men-of-war from the Brazilian coast, whence
he pursued them into the very mouth of the Tagus.
The age-old struggle for independence was over. The blood of
the multitude of Brazilian patriots who had died for their country
on the field and on the scaffold — the heroes of Pernambuco ; the Beck-
mans and their comrades in Maranhao ; and the glorious protomartyr
of the Republic, Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, the Tiradentes;

and all the brilliant galaxy of his inspired companions had at last
borne generous fruit, and Brazil was free.
Limitations of space forbid more than a glance at the most promi
nent of the political events of the first reign, the bare narration of
which would fill many volumes.
First in order is the fusion of all parties into one in support of the
newly installed head of the nation, Dom Pedro I, Constitutional
Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil; then follows the convo
cation of the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of establishing a
constitution; later, the violent dissolution of the same assembly by
the Emperor, because it proposed to curtail his privileges and estab
lish a virtual republic ; then in swift succession the arrest and banish
ment of the parliamentary leaders, among them the illustrious Jose
Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, who goes down in history with the
title of "Patriarch of the Independence"; the promulgation of the
constitution of the Empire by Dom Pedro Primeiro — a most liberal
document, notwithstanding the extraordinary circumstances in
which it was promulgated; the republican revolution of 1824 in Per-
nambuco, which was repressed by Dom Pedro in a way which raised
up against him the deep resentment of the Brazilians and led to his
abdication April 7, 1831.
A curious incident in connection with the abdication of Dom Pedro
Primeiro was his appointment of Jose Bonifacio, the exiled Patriarch
of the Independence, as the guardian and tutor of his son, Dom
Pedro Segundo, whom he intrusted at the age of 5, with his baby
sisters, to the loving care of the subjects with whom he had quarreled.
Dom Pedro Segundo was proclaimed Emperor of Brazil by a joint
committee of Senators and Deputies amid the joyous shouts of the
whole population. A regency of three members was constituted,
and Jose Bonifacio was invited to assume the personal guardianship
of the Emperor.
Dom Pedro Primeiro left Brazil in a state of confusion. Riots,
revolts and serious revolutions broke out in all parts of the country,
a condition of affairs with which the regency was unable to cope
and which continued to exist for several years. In 1834 the Addi
tional Act, or constitutional amendment, was adopted, and the triple
regency was replaced by a single regent, Father Diogo A. Feijo
being chosen for the post.
The various reforms embraced by the Additional Act were exceed
ingly appropriate and useful, but they did not prove successful in the
reestablishment of order, which was the chief reason for the enact
ment of the new instrument. Revolutions continued to rage in
several Provinces, notably in Rio Grande do Sul, which constituted
itself into an independent country, styled "Republic of Rio Grande, "
under the leadership of Bento Goncalves da Silva. It is worthy of

remark that it was with the republican army of Rio Grande that the
celebrated Italian liberator Giuseppe Garibaldi began his military
career. All thinking people now began to look toward Dom Pedro Segundo.
He was but a child, only 14 years old, but his education had been
directed by wise and liberal men, and it was thought that sympathy

JOSE BONIFACIO DE ANDRADA E SILVA, PATRIARCH
OF THE INDEPENDENCE.
for the boy Emperor would help to draw the attention of conflicting
parties from their factional struggles to one common point of interest.
Dom Pedro, on being asked if he desired to be declared of age and
to assume the personal direction of public affairs, replied: "I do,
and at once." That this reply was no idle whim, and that he was
capable of rising to the occasion was proved in the sequence.
108162—22  2

8
It was the good fortune of this prince to be surrounded by wise
and able counselors and to have in his service that great patriot and
humanitarian, Gen. Lima e Silva, Baron and afterwards Duke of
Caxias. Caxias went from one revolted Province to another announcing to
all parties and persons the Emperor's proclamation of unconditional

From an engraving by M. L. Brown.
DOM PEDRO SEGUNDO, THE MAGNANIMOUS.
Dom Pedro Segundo was the son oi Dom Pedro Primeiro and his consort, the Empress Dona Leo-
poldlna, Archduchess of Austria. On his father's side he was a Braganca and a Bourbon, and
through his mother a Hapsburg. He was born in Rio de Janeiro December 2, 1825; succeeded to
the throne April 7, 1831; was declared of age at 14 and crowned at 16; deposed November 15,
1889, by reason of the Proclamation of the Republic; died in Paris 1891. It was said of Dom
Pedro Segundo that he never caused a bitter tear to be shed.
amnesty, and inviting all to join him in the patriotic task of upbuild
ing the national welfare. He was successful everywhere except in
Rio Grande, which, for a time, spurned the imperial offer, preferring
to continue her nine years' struggle for independence. In 1845, how
ever, Caxias was able to announce that peace had been made on

9
terms honorable to all, and that Rio Grande do Sul was proud to
take once more her honored place in the national constellation and
again assume her ancient heroic title of "Shield of Brazil."
During the period 1850-1852, Brazil took part in the war against
the tyrant of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel Rosas, who after a struggle
of nine years finally gave up the contest and fled to Europe.

From an engraving by M. L. Brown. DONA THEREZA CHRISTINA.
Dona Thereza, daughter of Francis I, King of the two Sicilies, was born March 14, 1822. At the age
of 21 she was married by proxy in Naples to Dom Pedro Segundo, and the ceremony was repeated
on her arrival in Rio September 4, 1843. She was exiled with her husband November 16, 1889,
and died shortly afterwards in Lisbon. From her active leadership in good works of every de
scription she merited the surname of "The Mother of the Brazilians."
Brazil's next foreign war was against the dictator of Paraguay,
Francisco Solano Lopez. In this struggle Brazil was allied with the
Republics of Argentina and Uruguay. It was a cruel war, in which
all the participants suffered heavily — Paraguay more than the others,
owing to the desperate resistance of the dictator. Among the famous
Brazilian commanders in this war were the Prince Imperial Marshal
Count d'Eu, Generals Ozorio, Polydoro, Porto Alegre, Caxias, Argollo,

10
and Admirals Barroso and Tamandare. Fortunately, time has healed
the wounds of that bitter struggle, and all the nations which partici
pated in the conflict are now united in the bonds of loyal and sincere
friendship. The next outstanding event in the political evolution of Brazil's cen
tury of independence is the abolition of slavery, by two successive
steps, under the auspices of Dona Isabel, daughter of Dom Pedro
Segundo, when serving as regent of the Empire. The first decree was
signed on September 28, 1871 . By this decree slave mothers bore only
free children. The prime minister who submitted the bill to Parlia
ment and secured its adoption was the celebrated Viscount of Rio
Branco, one of Brazil's most illustrious statesmen and father of that
other illustrious statesman, the Baron of Rio Branco, who gained
immortal fame by his settlement of the boundary questions of Brazil.
The final abolition of slavery was effected by Dona Isabel on May 13,
1888, with the aid of that famous statesman Councillor Joao Alfredo
Correa de Oliveira.
From the rapid unfolding of the events immediately preceding the
revolution of 1889, one not familiar with the political life of Brazil
might be led to infer that either the republican spirit came into
existence very suddenly, or that it had been stifled and repressed
under the Empire. Both inferences would be wrong. Republican
ideas had flourished in Brazil during at least two centuries of colonial
rule and had given abundant proof of their existence through many
violent and bloody revolutions. Indeed, it would be impossible
within the limits of this brief sketch even to enumerate the political
upheavals which occurred in every part of Brazil with the object of
setting up some sort of popular government.
Exactly 100 years before the advent of the Republic, that is, in the
latter part of the year 1789, the Inconfidencia Mineira had well
nigh become the occasion of the separation of at least a part of
Brazil from the Portuguese Crown. The movement failed, but the
terror which it inspired in the exponents of absolutism is attested by
the atrocity of the punishments which were meted out to the Tira-
dentes and his companions.
Brazil was intensely republican when Dom John came over. It was
the vigor of the republican spirit that caused him to return to Por
tugal in 1821, and but for the circumstance that Prince Dom Pedro
lent the prestige of royalty to the national cause, Brazil would have
soon become independent, as a republic. His intervention, however,
was useful and beneficial because it concentrated the national energies
upon one single object, thus ending factional strife and division.
All these things were weighed in the balance by the Brazilians,
and it was at their earnest solicitation that Dom Pedro consented to

11
disobey the mandate of the Portuguese court ordering his immediate
return to Portugal. Their desire was to save the national unity, and
the method which presented itself as best suited for the purpose was
to secure the cooperation of the Prince Regent; but they soon made it
plain to their new sovereign that under the forms of monarchy they
expected democratic realities. But Dom Pedro Primeiro could not
understand this. Here was a prince whose life was divided between
obedience to two opposite principles. He was a democrat by natural
impulse and the effect of his democratic surroundings ; and yet, influ
enced by the ancient traditions of his race, he was both willful and
autocratic. The independent attitude of the Brazilians pleased him
in so far as it accorded with his own supremacy; beyond that it
shocked him as savoring of demagogy and ingratitude. "I will do
everything for the people, but nothing through the people," he said, and
rather than yield to their will he made his graceful, but nevertheless
compulsory, withdrawal.
In the reign of Dom Pedro Segundo community independence
and personal freedom and safety were guaranteed realities to the
point that under these heads the most extreme republican could find
nothing to desire which had not already been conceded. These great
benefits, coupled with the prevalence of order throughout the Empire
and the constant growth of the spirit of national unity, were suffi
cient to outweigh any objections to the then existing institutions on
the ground of concentration of power in the capital.
As soon as the Empire had completed its task and the spiritual
bonds of one indivisible nationality had become ingrained for all
time in the mind of all Brazilians, it behooved the old institutions
to give way and yield their place to a new order of things better able
to satisfy the aspirations of progress'in all its multiple aspects. Then,
and not till then, was it possible to establish that wonderful Republic
of 21 autonomous States, each pressing vigorously forward in the
race of modern achievement, and yet all united in one common and
perpetual sisterhood.
The first regular Republican organization was formed in 1870. A
document was prepared called the Republican Manifest, which all
who desired the adoption of the republican form of government were
invited to sign. There was nothing secret about it, and the docu
ment was signed by quite a number of men of position and influence.
The party continued in an embryonic condition for at least a decade,
after which the political issues of the period became entangled with
the question of the abolition of slavery, to the great advantage of
the republicans.
The most active nucleus of the republican party was the Prov
ince of Sao Paulo, particularly in Campinas and Piracicaba, from

12
both of which it soon succeeded in sending representatives to the
Imperial Parliament. These two representatives were Manoel Ferraz
de Campos Salles and Prudente de Moraes Barros, each of whom

From an old portrait. DONA ISABEL,- PRINCESS IMPERIAL, THE REDEEMER.
Dona Isabel, daughter of Dom Pedro Segundo and his consort Dona Thereza Christina, was
born in Rio de Janeiro July 29, 1846. On October 15, 1864, she was married to Prince
Gaston d'Orleans, Count d'Eu, a grandson of King Louis Philippe. She and her husband and
children were included in the decree of banishment on the Proclamation of the Republic.
She died in Paris November 14, 1921. The decree of banishment of the imperial family
has been repealed, and the Brazilian Government has ordered the transfer of the remains
of its various members to Rio de Janeiro.

rose in the course of events to the Presidency of the Republic. Other
representatives were sent by the party from different sections of the
Empire. Permanent committees were formed to promote the ex
pansion of the organization, newspapers were established, and lee-

13
turers were commissioned to tour the country. It was about this
time that Quintino Bocayuva, the prince of Brazilian journalists, as
he was styled, estabUshed the newspaper 0 Paiz to fight the battles
of the new party.
After the abolition of slavery on May 13, 1888, the old Conserva
tive Party began to disintegrate very rapidly, its members going
over to the Republicans. The Liberals made an heroic effort to
sustain the shock alone, but the impetus already gained by the radi
cals, together with the combination of extrapolitical elements and
circumstances, precipitated events beyond the control of men or
parties. Such a circumstance was the participation in the republican move
ment by the Positivistic school of philosophy, then at the zenith of
its power in Brazil, which included among its members some of the
most eminent scientists and men of letters. Gen. Benjamin Constant
Botelho de Magalhaes, the chief exponent of the Positivistic doctrine,
was president of the military college. Under his pajtronage a plan
was worked out among the higher officers of the army, with the
assistance of the chiefs of the Republican Party, for the deposition
of the dynasty and the proclamation of the Republic. The revolu
tion declared itself on the 15th of November, 1889, and a provisional
government was organized under the Presidency of Gen. Deodoro
da Fonseca.
The last imperial cabinet, headed by the illustrious Viscount of
Ouro Preto, finding itself powerless to act, simply ceased to exist
with the arrest of its members. The imperial family were banished.
The inevitable note of sadness in the passage from the Empire to
the Republic was the pain which it inflicted on the devoted Emperor
and his family. Their misfortunes were keenly felt by all, including
those who by the force of circumstances were called to be the execu
tors of the stern commands of destiny.
Pedro Segundo is in the true sense of the word the child of the
Brazilian nation. His mother, the Empress Leopoldina, died when
he was a year old. When his father abdicated in 1831, taking with
him his second wife, the Empress Dona Amelia, and one of his
daughters, the infant Queen of Portugal, he left his other daughters
and Dom Pedro Segundo, then 5 years of age, entirely to the care
of the Brazilian people, as already stated. By them he was reared
and educated as they thought best, in the principles of liberalism
and democracy. In his bringing up they gave him the best they
had, and his teachers were men of deep wisdom and exalted patriot
ism. In due course the cherished child became the inspired leader.
All he had learned from those about him was assimilated and matured

14
in his own great mind, and he never failed to show himself worthy
of the loving trust that had been placed in him. It was his Mosaic
destiny in the early part of his personal reign to save his country
from being wrecked on the rocks of discord and the separation of the
Provinces, and by the power of his own benign spirit to consolidate

-From a painting by Eduardo de Sa.
GENERAL .BENJAMIN CONSTANT BOTELHO DE MAGA-
LHAES, THE FOUNDER OF THE REPUBLIC.
forever the spiritual union which is the soul of Brazilian nationality.
He led his country to victory with honor in the two foreign wars in
which he was forced to engage. He inaugurated an era of intellec
tual and material progress which filled his whole reign, and consti
tuted a solid foundation for the easy and peaceful transition from

15
the Empire to the Republic. For all these reasons it is impossible to
honor the memory of the second Emperor without heaping honor on
the Brazilian people whom he so well symbolizes. Neither is it
possible to honor fully the memory of Pedro Segundo without honor
ing also that of his glorious daughter Isabel the Redeemer, who
gained the heights" of immortal fame in the inspiration of his example.
Of the 33 years of independence under the Republic, 10 were spent
in adjustment to the new conditions. In some of those years there
was fear and doubt and divided counsel. It was in those years that
Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, Marshal Floriano Peixoto, Admiral
Saldanha da Gama, Admiral Custodio de Mello, President Prudente
de Moraes and a host of other patriots rose to prominence and played
important roles in the consolidation of the new institutions. By
the end of the nineteenth century the crucial test was over, and the
new Brazil, covered with the glories of a noble past, entered hope
fully and courageously on the conquest of the twentieth century
under the inspiring motto of " Order and progress " inscribed on
the banner of the Republic Triumphant.
Let us now turn our attention for a few brief moments to the cul
tural achievements of the century. It will be readily conceded that
in point of time the major part of these belong to the Empire, and
that in the matter of quality and quantity the Empire's share lies
chiefly within that part of the second reign which extends from the
coming of age of Dom Pedro Segundo to the proclamation of the
Republic in 1889. Brazil during those years experienced in every
aspect of intellectual progress a greater impulse than ever before.
The older colleges broadened their scope, and there was a large
increase in the number of secondary schools. At the same time a
very complete system of public schools carried the benefits of primary
instruction to every town and village. Dom Pedro, himself an emi
nent scholar, took a keen interest in the diffusion of knowledge.
The Dom Pedro Segundo College, which he founded, stands to this
day as a model institution of its class.
During this period there flourished a brilliant galaxy of intellec
tuals — painters, sculptors, musicians, poets, novelists, critics, histo
rians, scientists — including an illustrious school of statesmen who
will be forever a glory to Brazil.
The cultural achievements of the Republic have been truly pro
digious, reaching far beyond the fondest dreams of its founders.
The erection of the Provinces into autonomous States has created a
spirit of friendly emulation in cultural matters as in all else, with the
result that the public-school systems of some of them have attained
such a high degree of development that they are cited as models

16

worthy of imitation by older peoples. In short, Brazil as we see
her to-day under the Republic is marching proudly forward in the
vanguard of the nations of the Western Hemisphere and of the world.
It was my purpose to mention a few among the representative
exponents of the different classes of cultural expression, but I have
been forced to desist owing to the limitations of space. And yet I
can not refrain from naming some of those whose works are ever
recurring symbols in the forward movement of the national life —
poets like Goncalves Dias
and Olavo Bilac; novel
ists like Jose de Alencar
and Machado de Assiz;
musicians like Carlos Go
mes and Leopoldo Mi-
guez ; painters like Pedro
Americo and Antonio
Parreiras; sculptors like
Rodolpho Bernardelli
and Eduardo de Sa; ar
chitects like Mestre Val-
entim and Heitor de
Mello ; statesmen like
Jose Bonifacio and the
two Rio Brancos; diplo
mats like Joaquim Na-
buco and Cochrane de
Alencar; jurists like Ruy
Barbosa and Clovis Be-
vilacqua; engineers like
Christiano Ottoni and
Paulo de Frontin; geog
raphers and explorers like
Couto de Magalhaes and
Candido Rondon;. publicists like Sylvio Romero and Oliveira Lima;
historians like Capistrano de Abreu and Rocha Pombo; hygienists
like Carlos Chagas and Belisario Penna; journalists like Evaristo da
Veiga, Quintino Bocayuva and Jose Carlos Rodrigues.
In Rio de Janeiro alone intellectual culture finds a home in in
stitutions such as the Brazilian Academy of Letters; the National
Academy of Medicine; the Brazilian Society of Fine &rts; the Geo
graphic Society of Rio de Janeiro; the Society of Medicine and Sur
gery; the National Society of Agriculture; and the Association of
Brazilian Lawyers.
A mere fleeting glance is all that can be bestowed upon that great
world of surging activity which is the economical progress of Brazil

COUNCILLOR RUY BARBOSA.

17
during the century of independence. I shall therefore confine myself
to the enumeration of a few, only, of the most notable events which
constitute the landmarks in the different branches of economic
progress. First in order comes the establishment of the coffee industry in the
first quarter of the nineteenth century, an event which has led in
modern times to the meteoric rise of the State of Sao Paulo. Then
comes the building of the first railway, the Maua, running from the
bay of Rio de Janeiro to the foot of the Petropolis Hills and, later,
the inauguration of the Dom Pedro Segundo Railway, now the Central
Railway of Brazil and in its day the masterpiece of Brazilian engi
neering; the opening up of steam navigation on the internal water
ways of the country; and the opening up of the Amazon River to
the merchant ships of the world. Next in order, we have the
prodigious economic development which followed the proclamation
of the Republic — the docks of Santos; the port works of Rio de
Janeiro, Para, Rio Grande do Sul, and other cities; the complete
transformation of Rio de Janeiro under Rodrigues Alves, Lauro
Muller and Pereira Passos into the city of light and magic enchant
ment which it now is ; the creation of the city of Bello Horizonte, the
elegant capital of Minas Geraes, which arose from nothing to a most
beautiful center of population and culture in half a dozen years; the
reorganization of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry,, and Commerce,
and the vast amount of constructive work which it has realized under
the administration of men like Candido Rodrigues, Rodolpho Miranda,
Pedro de Toledo, Pandia Calogeras, and their able and efficient suc
cessors; the extension of the railway systems and the great develop
ment of coastwise and transoceanic navigation; the enormous influx
of immigration; the opening up of the wilderness of the interior; the
sanitation and embellishment of towns and cities in every State in
the Federation; the vast number of agricultural and industrial events
which make up the progress of our day, among which, last but not
least, are the important improvements conceived and carried into
effect by the present administration.
Among scientific events bearing on the progress and welfare of
the human race must be mentioned the conquest of the air by Alberto
Santos Dumont with his invention of the dirigible balloon; the
neutralization of ophidic poison by the Butantan Institute under
Vital Brazil and his associates; and the elimination of yellow fever
in Rio de Janeiro and other cities by Oswaldo Cruz.
The weight of Brazil's moral influence in the world's affairs is
indicated by the fact that a Brazilian, Dr. Gastao da Cunha, was
chosen to preside over the Council of the League of Nations at
Geneva, while one of Brazil's most illustrious statesmen and jurists,

18
Senator Ruy Barbosa, is a member of the Permanent Court of
International Justice sitting at The Hague.
Brazil joined the Allies in the Great War, in which she rendered
signal service, chiefly through the cooperation of her Navy and the
shipment to Europe of large quantities of food and other materials.
The dominant note of the present time is the splendid progress
which is being realized in private enterprise under the intelligent
guidance of the Federal and State Governments in every branch
of economical activity.
In matters of culture and social progress the forward movement
is equally remarkable. Education in every branch, and notably in
university expansion and concatenation, has advanced very rapidly.
Problems of hygiene, public health, and sanitation have not lagged
behind, nor yet those of child welfare, all of which are being vig
orously pushed by the increasing participation of Brazilian women in
matters of public interest.
The problems which have confronted the legislative and executive
branches of the Federal Government have been both varied and
important, embracing questions of Brazil's external policy with
regard to the adjustment of world conditions resulting from the
Great War, and an immense variety of internal subjects of every
imaginable character.
To President Epitacio Pessoa belongs the great privilege of closing
the door of bronze and turning the golden key on the First Century
of Brazilian Independence, in the midst of the unanimous acclama
tion of the world. At the same time he will enjoy the no less high
privilege of opening wide that other door, leading to the transcendent
realization of the destinies of Brazil in the century that is to follow.
But the reflected glory which covers President Pessoa on this occa
sion will in no wise diminish the luster of the many and eminent
services which constitute his own contribution to the general treasury
of the national achievements. o

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