groups of chairs, placed in true Brazilian style somewhat as follows:  A cane-bottomed divan was set with its back to the wall, then several cane-bottomed chairs were placed at right angles to it in two rows facing each other, usually four in a row.  The President guided me between these chairs and took a seat on the divan and motioned me to a seat by his side.  He is a man of slight build, with a mild expression which wins confidence.  He was most informal in his speech and spoke in a candid and unreserved manner which quickly put us at ease.

I told him, through an interpreter, that we had come from a visit to the Minister of the Interior, with whom we had been in conference about the status of Brazilian schools.  The President expressed his great pleasure over our coming to see him and said that he had personal knowledge of what our denomination is doing and of some of the workers.  He was satisfied that our object was altruistic and for the good of the country and people; that so far as depended upon him, he was ready to give us the full benefit of his official position.  As proof of his wish to see absolute religious freedom, he cited an instance of how he had protected some monks in the Amazon Valley recently.  These men were in straits and he had sent soldiers to liberate them, and then turning with a smile to Ginsburg, he said that he also never abandoned his friend Solomon when he was attacked.  He refreshed our minds upon the fact that lately, when certain priests in the city of Rio had attempted to resist the government over a disputed piece of property which had been granted them under the old regime, he gave them to understand that if they did not behave themselves, the door was open and they could leave the country.  They soon came to terms.  As to his successor, the President said that the incoming President was of the same party and would carry out the same policies, ideas and ideals.  These policies meant absolute liberty of thought, conscience and speech, which is guaranteed by the constitution.  Before the interview closed, he again expressed his pleasure at receiving a representative of an American institution, convinced as he was that the propaganda of our schools, morals and ideals would draw the two nations closer together, and that he was ready to encourage us to that end.  “We are following the ideals of the United States”, he said, “which we recognize as our elder sister.”  He expressed peculiar pleasure over the prospect of our establishing a college and he assured us that the Brazilian government would put no obstacle in the way of our purpose, but that it would do all in its power, on the other hand, to encourage us.