Nearly thirty years ago an attempt was made to adapt the American system of schools to Brazil, South America, where social conditions and political aspirations are somewhat analogous to our own, and we set about to find out what the American system really was. We sought it in the official courses, which usually cover the whole domain of knowledge; in the voluminous reports of Superintendents, reeking with erudition and statistics; in the schools and colleges of the different States, which we visited and studied, and in the great educational conventions. We found such a lack of uniformity of thought, of organization, and even of purpose and principles, as to leave us in doubt as to whether we had as yet a distinctively American system. In some places there was genuine education, in others they were simply drilling for examination, and not a whit better than the Chinese. We made an extended tour of European institutions for a comparative study, and found many special processes and devices that could be engrafted, and singularly enough, that some of the German methods had their best development in the United States, but no complete system that could be profitably taken over _en bloc_. The great problem of how best to influence the heterogeneous masses which flock to the shores of both Americas and make them into good citizens is not touched by the European systems. The problem is not exactly how to teach this or that special branch, but how to co-ordinate the work and relate all branches to the rapidly changing conditions of American society. The problem is the same in both Americas. We found it difficult to follow the vertiginous activity of American educators along all lines or to wade through the voluminous literature which accompanies it, brought from the ends of the earth; but, believing that there was a truly American system in process of development, we tried to catch the trend of thought and anticipate the results. Entirely free, unhampered by politics or precedent; with no fads or need of seeking favor of governments or patrons, but at liberty to select what was best from all sources, it will be readily conceded that we had a decided advantage over the educational reformer of our own country. The following, in brief outline, has been in operation for the fourteen years in the American schools at S. Paulo, Brazil, as a result of our study, and has been eminently satisfactory.