Of the 18th Century, a 19th century critic remarked that it mated decadence with splendor — a poetically conceived evaluation, but one which introduces more than aesthetic judgment. From the time of Sylvester Baxter's pioneer appreciation of art and architecture in colonial Mexico, there have been a great variety of travellers and scholars who have attempted to clarify the stylistic problems of the period. It would be impossible to give any just measure of credit to all those who have contributed; much of the most meaningful interpretation of this period, however, must be based on the brilliant work of the late Manuel Tous-saint and the investigadores of the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas at the University of Mexico.

One curious and distinctive development of early ecclesiastic architecture in Mexico is the open chapel. The three great monastic orders which early in the sixteenth century divided up Mexico for its spiritual welfare were amazingly successful. The construction of churches, rapid though it was, failed to keep pace with the thousands of converts who thronged to the services and filled the existing buildings to overflowing. Realizing that their Indian followers must have frequent opportunities for attending mass, the monks conceived the idea of erecting small chapels, large enough to shelter the altar and so constructed as to render it visible to great numbers of Indians outside. As the years passed, great cathedrals and many parish churches arose until there were more than enough to serve the people. The open chapels were gradually abandoned or enclosed and dedicated to special uses. Many have disappeared but those which remain provide an interesting commentary upon early colonial religious life in Mexico.

The Puerto Rico of the 1830's was one of the two remaining jewels in the Spanish Imperial Crown in America. The tenor of its insular way had not been unaffected by the revolutions that in a half century had brought about the political separation of the Old World and the New. The Reformismo Ilustrado of the Bourbons which was begun in the previous century had left its mark on the island; and if insularity had more than literal connotations when applied to Puerto Rico, it was nevertheless true that increased trade with the United States was creating an economic bond foreshadowing the political absorption of 1898.

La revolución industrial que caracterizó la segunda mitad del Siglo XIX y que se ha intensificado en los años que han transcurrido del presente Siglo, ha traído como consecuencia un natural despertar de la conciencia social hacia las duras realidades del trabajador asalariado y se ha pronunciado en legislaciones más o menos avanzadas para proteger a dicho trabajador.

Todos los países del mundo occidental, cual más cual menos, han dictado códigos y leyes laborales y de seguridad social, con el propósito de defender al trabajador industrial frente a los intereses de la industria, permitiéndole no solamente equilibrar un tanto su posición en las negociaciones de los contratos colectivos de trabajo, mediante la organización de sindicatos y uniones, sino garantizándole salarios mínimos, la limitación de horas de trabajo, seguros de enfermedad, invalidez y fallecimiento, etc. Estas legislaciones, unas con visión de la realidad y otras un tanto exageradas con relación al medio en que deben aplicarse, tienen en común la profunda preocupación del Estado y de la sociedad en general, de aproximarse en la medida de lo posible a una situación de justicia social que permita el desenvolvimiento de la clase trabajadora hacia niveles humanos y dignos.

Por los años de 1883 decíase en La Verdad de Bogotá con referencia a Bolívar: “Acaso el distintivo más característico de la grandeza de los hombres, es la variedad de las facultades que constituyen su genio. De esta variedad provienen principalmente sus más insignes cualidades, así como sus defectos; porque de la combinación de facultades diversas, que todo lo abarcan, resultan de ordinario, tanto en la mente misma y en el temperamento como en el carácter, contrastes que, considerados desde un punto de vista, son armonías, y desde otro, son disonancias y aún contradicciones.”

La Revista azul, una de las revistas literarias más destacadas de México del siglo diecinueve, llegó a ser portavoz del movimiento modernista de la América española septentrional. Este movimiento literario tenía como motivo primordial la renovación de la prosa y la poesía hispánicas que, según los iniciadores del movimiento, habían caído en los excesos de la retórica romántica. En otros términos, los modernistas intentaron introducir una belleza más fina y sutil en las letras españolas. Su impulso inicial se tradujo en un ansia de novedad y de superación en cuanto a la forma de sus composiciones. Con el propósito de incorporar más elementos musicales a su verso, imitaron la versificación francesa e inventaron combinaciones nuevas basadas en las formas españolas tradicionales. Más tarde, resucitaron los moldes antiguos del verso español como el monorrima de Berceo y el pie quebrado y emplearon las técnicas de los gongoristas.

Recent events have once again focussed attention upon the Republic of Bolivia and the efforts of its governing party, the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, to grapple with the realities of a chaotic economy and a changing social and political order.

Yet, studies of the development of the Bolivian social revolution have not kept pace with Bolivia's increased prominence in news reports, perhaps because of the inavailability and widely-scattered nature of source materials. Bolivian source materials cannot be considered in a vacuum, however, and a brief survey of recent Bolivian history is in order here.

Any history of education in republican Chile, however brief, must of necessity touch first upon the colonial period. Although education, and indeed government, were completely dominated by the Church during the colonial period, in the late eighteenth century Chile grew restless under religious domination and began to free both its educational system and its governmental process from absolute church control.

Prior to the eighteenth century education had been the exclusive prerogative of the church. In the period immediately preceding the Independence the Church and the clergy began to lose some of their unchallenged importance and authority. This loss was reflected in administration and schools. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 and the not-too-respectful criticism of things religious by Charles III indicated that the Church was no longer directing the government and hence was no longer the dominant element in the educational process.

On April 21, 1958, Peru joined Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile to bring to five the number of Latin American nations possessing integrated steel mills. Whether these countries should engage in heavy industry is beside the point; they are determined to make iron and steel, for they fervently believe that an iron and steel industry is the inevitable harbinger of progress. There is simultaneously a belief that the export of raw materials and the import of manufactured goods implies “colonial” status. Sensitive national pride rebels against the thought that raw materials producers are “hewers of wood and drawers of water” for the industriallyadvanced countires.