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.