PROTESTANTISM IN BRAZIL.
By Horace M. Lane
[Horace M. Lane, M.D., Sao Paulo, Brazil, President of Mackenzie College.] THERE are more points of difference than resemblance between Brazil and her sister republics. The Brazilians are descendants of that plucky, hard-headed, industrious, superstitious race of people who conquered India, and made a stir in the world in the sixteenth century—the Portuguese. The flower of the Portuguese nobility emigrated to Brazil in the early days of colonization—the Albuquerques, the Cavalcantis, the de Barros, the Barretos, etc., whose descendants form to-day the best elements of Brazilian society. It differs also in the enormous extent of its fertile lands, its unrivaled river system, and the exceptional value of its great staples—coffee and rubber. Again, it differs, and very widely, in appreciation of liberty and of what constitutes a republic, and also in its tolerance and hospitality. It has adopted our Constitution, and is putting its principles into practice; it has also begun to elevate the masses through education. The Brazilians have an intense pride of country, and guard, with perhaps too much jealousy, their vast possessions, yielding not a foot to anybody; this may be seen in their successful contention with England for the disputed island of Trinidad, with France for the Tunc- boundary, with the Argentines for the Misiones territory, and as will certainly be seen in the vexed Acre question. There the spirit of tolerance prevails everywhere, and the missions established forty years ago (those of an earlier date had disappeared altogether) have had a phenomenal growth; so that to-day Protestant Christianity is an important element in society which no political party dare ignore. The Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Lutherans all have numerous, self-supporting churches, ministered to by talented native pastors; some have their theological seminaries, and are growing in numbers and strength, becoming rapidly independent of the boards. The Roman Catholic Church has no advantage under the law, but still holds sway, through tradition and inherited devotion, over the masses of the great interior, tho in most places it has little power to suppress the growth of Protestant Christianity. In Brazil these two influences go hand in hand. The people and government accept and adopt as fast and as far as possible what is known as American education. Now, American education really means Protestant education—not in the sense of having for its chief object the teaching of Protestant doctrine, but in being based upon principles of Protestant origin. It promulgates the broad principle of personal liberty, devotion to and pursuit of truth for truth’s sake; it puts character before erudition, and inculcates personal independence and personal responsibility. These are distinctly the attributes of Protestant Christianity as distinguished from that system founded by Loyola, which has had undisturbed control of the education of the people of Latin America for centuries, and which is responsible for their present condition—a system which is based upon blind obedience to authority, which places duty to church above duty to self, country, or God, which educates pupils to defend opinions rather than to seek the truth, and which strangles freedom of thought and action. Primarily an essentially military society, formed to meet a crisis in the life of the church, the Jesuit Society has developed into the most wonderful organization known to human history—more far-reaching, more powerful, more dangerous to human liberty and free government than anything ever before known. It has come down to us across the centuries unchanged in principle and with power unimpaired, and to-day constitutes a peril to free institutions and a menace to liberty. The diabolical principle which underlies its organization—that the end justifies the means—has done more to destroy the moral sense of the Latins than any overt acts on the part of the Jesuits. Claiming to be the servant of the church, it became its master, and more than once the church has tried to free itself from its tyranny. The evils of Jesuit education, the false processes of thought which it inculcates, the wrong motives of action which it originates, have become so crystallized in the Latin races as to be almost hereditary. The only weapon that can be used successfully against it is that which has been used in our own country—the enlightenment and uplifting of the people . In Brazil the upper classes have broken away from it to some extent, but in the reaction have unfortunately fallen into the various forms of unbelief; the masses, however, are still under its baneful influence, and it will require education of more than one generation on true principles to eradicate the evils planted during three or four centuries. The foreign evangelistic missionary is sent out to do a specific work with the expectation of one day completing it. He goes to deliver a message, and procure its acceptance. The results of his work ought to be self-propagating, but history shows they are not, and that the work of the preacher must be supplemented by the teacher. This is the plan which we aim to follow in Brazil. The work of the educational missionary is never finished, and must be perpetuated by institutions which he must establish, and which his successors must carry on indefinitely. The most notable feature of modern missions is the recognition of this truth, and the organization of permanent institutions of learning as the natural sequence of evangelistic work. Not only theological seminaries and mission training-schools to preserve the form of faith of the respective denominations are necessary, but schools and colleges for secular education on Christian principles must be established. To secure permanent results the lives of men must be touched, not merely their beliefs. The demand for the new education comes from the converts themselves, who see the danger of the old methods. Brazil, tho she may not welcome with great effusion the greedy speculator, who seeks only personal gain, with no purpose of benefiting the country or identifying himself with it, is still the only “wide-open” door in South America—open alike for the missionary, the educator, the laborer, and the capitalist. It is a wonder that North Americans, so keen and quick-sighted, have not yet perceived the great importance and deep significance of Brazil in the life of Greater America. After our own country, it is the most important factor in the problems of the near future, and as such must be considered.—Missionary Review.