The press of Brazil is a strong factor in the literature of the country, as well as in the politics. Nearly every politician is a writer, and, conversely, nearly every writer is more or less of a politician. Speeches are published in full, and politics and literature fill a large part of the space in the average Brazilian newspaper. The first newspaper established in Brazil was the _Gazeta do Rio_, in the year 1808, and other newspapers followed soon after in many other cities. The oldest paper in the capital, as well as the most influential one to-day, is the _Jornal do Comercio_, originally established as the _Spectator_, in 1824. Its contributors have included all the leading politicians and writers since that time. It is a large and well-printed newspaper of many pages, and is well edited. _O Paiz_, _Correio da Manhã_, _Jornal do Brazil_, _Gazeta de Noticias_, _Diario do Commercio_, _Diario de Noticias_, _A Noticia_, _O Seculo_, _Correio da Noite_ and _A Tribuna_ are the other leading daily newspapers in the city to-day. _O Malho_ and _Revista da Semana_ are weekly reviews, while _O Tico-Tico_ and _Fon-Fon_ are illustrated comics. São Paulo, the second city, has a dozen daily newspapers, more than the average city of the United States of the same size. _O Estado de São Paulo_ and the _Correio Paulistina_ are the leading and most influential ones. The _Brazilian Review_, a weekly journal, is the only English periodical published in the country, but there are several German and Italian publications. There are also a number of class publications and trade journals, and nearly every town and city has a local daily or weekly publication. The artistic sense is one of the essential elements of the Latin character. It has perhaps reached its highest development with the Italian race, but the Spaniards and the Portuguese also have this talent well developed. The traveller throughout Latin America can not fail to be impressed by the transplanted art that he finds everywhere in evidence. In Mexico, Central America and Peru he will find the original sense tinged with the Indian influence of the ancient races, who developed an architectural style of their own. Along the Atlantic coast of South America this element is lacking, because the Indians of that coast had not reached an advanced civilization, and lived in the crudest way. Hence the architecture of Brazil corresponds more nearly to the established schools that one will find in Latin Europe.