Part 11 (1/2)

XI--BRAZIL

Brazil is a land a.s.sociated with romance; one of great rivers and mighty forests, of wealth, of slavery, of misery and of progress. It is larger than the United States (not including Alaska), and its future must be of immense importance. Its history includes that of its empire, which should make the topic of one meeting, for it is of great interest. The early struggles of the republic, the abolishment of slavery, and the establishment of a government founded on our own, may all be studied.

The influence of the Portuguese in Brazil has been marked, especially in its literature, music and art. Notice how beautiful the situation is of the city of Rio Janeiro, and show pictures of its streets and great buildings, with their over-ornamentation.

Study the River Amazon in one meeting; the coffee plantations, and the cotton and rubber industries in another.

Follow these meetings with one on the Guianas, another on the various islands which lie along the coast, especially the Falkland Islands and Tierra del Fuego.

XII--LATIN AMERICA

Among the many topics which will suggest themselves for discussion are these: What can be said of education in Latin America? What is the percentage of those who can read and write, and why is it so low? What of higher education? What is the relation between church and state and what has the church done for education? What can be said of the morals of the Latin Americans? What is the position of woman? How is she educated and trained? What is her home efficiency? Compare South American cities with those of France, England and America and point out the great differences.

What can be said of literature, art, music and science? Where does South America show her strength, and where her weakness?

Among the many excellent reference books these are suggested: ”The Republics of Central and South America,” by C. Reginald Enock (Scribner). ”Panama, the Creation, Destruction and Resurrection,” by Philippe Bunau-Varilla (Constable and Sons, London). ”Panama and the Ca.n.a.l To-day,” by Forbes Lindsay (The Page Company). ”The Panama Ca.n.a.l,”

by J. Saxon Mills (Thomas Nelson, London and New York). ”South America,”

by James Bryce (Macmillan). ”Conquest of Peru,” by W. H. Prescott (Lippincott).

CHAPTER XI

THE WORK OF THE RURAL CLUB

I--A CLUB FAR FROM LIBRARIES

Letters have come from the Far West, from Nova Scotia, from remote districts in the South, and from ranches in Canada asking much the same question: ”Is it possible to carry on a women's club when we are far away from any public library and have few books, if any, in the community?”

If any group of women need a club it is the women on farms and ranches and in little villages, whose lives are monotonous, who have no lectures or concerts to attend and few magazines or new books to read. They, above all the rest of us, need intellectual stimulus. And their question may be answered with a positive affirmative: Yes; it is perfectly possible to have a club, one doing excellent work, with no library at hand. Many examples of what can be done might be given, but one will stand for them all: In a singularly isolated spot in New England a club was began ten years ago with a handful of farmers' wives and daughters living within an area of a dozen miles. They used what material they had at hand; they added to it; they studied simple things at first, and later took up more difficult subjects; and then they did practical work for their community. To-day that club is made up of many well-read women of all ages who have acquired what may truly be called a liberal education, and the whole neighborhood has been raised and enlightened by what they have done for it in a hundred ways. And they had nothing more to begin with than any group of women has under similar conditions. Any woman who feels the need of a club can start one, and once started it will grow of its own volition and justify its existence.

II--HOW TO START A RURAL CLUB

Let us suppose that some country woman decides to start a club. She is not quite sure what steps to take, but she invites some of her neighbors to meet with her and talk it over. Probably they will agree to begin very simply, merely meeting once a week or so and reading aloud--feeling their way to other things. This is the right sort of a beginning, for in a very short time they will have gained sufficient confidence in themselves to plan something better. At this point some one may suggest that at the next meeting each woman shall bring in a written list of the books she owns. When this is done it will probably be found that there are many good ones to use. There will probably be a set of d.i.c.kens, volumes of Longfellow, Tennyson, and Whittier, a few biographies, including one of General Grant, a book or two of travel and scattered volumes of all kinds, novels, histories, and school books, and possibly an encyclopedia.

This list has great possibilities for club study, especially if there is the encyclopedia, so essential for reference. With a very small members.h.i.+p fee, perhaps five cents a month, one new book may be bought every three months; with ten club members this can be done.

When the club is fairly going it may decide to select d.i.c.kens's novels to study, as a sort of popular beginning; a simple plan of work would be as follows:

Divide the club into committees of two, and to each give one novel to read and thoroughly master. Meanwhile the president may study the life of d.i.c.kens. If she has no book to use she should write to the State Librarian and try to secure a traveling library with this and other needed books in it; or at least she may get, if not a library, one or two volumes, sent by mail. At the first regular meeting she should give a sketch of d.i.c.kens's life and show any pictures of the author in the book. She should also try to find in an English history pictures of Canterbury, London, and other places a.s.sociated with his life, and Westminster Abbey, where he is buried.

By the next meeting the first committee should be ready to give an afternoon program on one novel, say ”David Copperfield.” One member may tell the story of the book, mentioning the various characters; another may take these up in part and describe them. Then there should be readings, not only by these two members but by others to whom they have been given, ill.u.s.trating the main points of the story. After the meeting the book should be loaned to some one who will read it and pa.s.s it on to the rest. And so with each novel in turn. There should be a discussion at each meeting, and members should tell why they admire or dislike this character or that, and what great moral lesson d.i.c.kens points out in each book, and so on. Such a study might well occupy an entire year and be extremely interesting.

Or suppose the club decided to study Longfellow's poems. Again the first meeting is to be on the life of the poet; the second will take up the first of the group of American poems, ”Hiawatha,” and have it read aloud; the discussion following may be on the types of Indians drawn by Longfellow and inquire: Are they true to life? The next meeting will be on ”Miles Standish,” with a paper or talk on the Puritans in England and America, and a description of the first winter in the colony.

The third meeting will take ”Evangeline,” with a paper on the Acadians.

Later should come other poems of our own country, on slavery, and on village life, with readings from these, and from ”The Wayside Inn.”