Founded in 1551, nearly a hundred years before Harvard received its charter, the University of San Marcos is the oldest educational institution of America. Under the royal seal of the Emperor Charles V. and Queen Joana, his mother, it was established in the City of the Kings soon after the inauguration of the viceroyalty, and was conceded all the honors and privileges enjoyed by the University of Salamanca, at that time the most celebrated seat of learning in Europe. The royal grant was issued to the priors of the Dominican order, and the original lecture halls were installed in the chief monastery of “Santo Domingo,” in Lima. Twenty years later, King Philip II. ordered the secularization of the university and its separation from the Dominican convent. The cathedral was then chosen as the hall for literary functions, and in one of its chapels, consecrated to the Virgin known as La Antigua, and especially venerated from that time by the university, the degrees of scholarship were conferred. This chapel is of especial interest because of its history, some of the most impressive ceremonies of the viceregal period having taken place here. The conferring of degrees in the early history of the university was attended with elaborate religious formalities, an important feature being the celebration of a mass of the Holy Ghost in preparation for the event. After this solemn sacrament, the candidate passed through two days’ examination, chiefly of a religious character. If successful, he was then led to the chapel of the Virgin, accompanied by his fellow-students and the doctors of the faculties, and was obliged to make the customary profession of faith, the same as that adopted by the University of Paris in the beginning of the sixteenth century, which required the candidate to pledge his loyalty to the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. The degree of doctor was then conferred by the dean, who represented both the royal and the pontifical authority; and as soon as this part of the ceremony was concluded the sponsor decorated the new doctor with the insignia of his class.

In 1572, Don Gaspar Meneses, a scholar of note, who held the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Master of Arts, was appointed the first rector of the university. He was well fitted, by his piety and learning, to promote the education of the colony in accordance with the ideals that prevailed during that early period. The independent career of the University of San Marcos began in 1574, the name being chosen by lot from a list of saints’ appellatives; and on the 31st of December of that year the first reunion was celebrated in a building purchased by the faculty. Two years later, during the reign of the Viceroy Toledo, an edifice was constructed for the university, in the Plaza de la Constitucion, which was occupied by its classes until 1770, when, after the expulsion of the Jesuits, the committee charged with the final distribution of their schools made the college of San Carlos the university building, promoting the two flourishing Jesuit schools of San Carlos and, later, San Felipe, to equal dignity and privileges with the classes of San Marcos. The college of La Libertad was accorded the same advancement in 1826. La Libertad was a college for Indian princes, and had been called Del Principe during the viceroyalty. An interesting chronicler of those days gives a charming description of the collegians of San Carlos, Del Principe, Santo Toribio, and other schools. The students of San Carlos were distinguished by their black dress, cocked hats, and dress swords; the young caciques of Del Principe wore a full suit of green with a crimson shoulder ribbon and a cocked hat; and the Santo Toribio collegians adopted the almond-colored opa, a gown made like a poncho, wide at the bottom, with which a pale blue scarf was worn, and a square bonnet of black cloth.

The curriculum of a university in the sixteenth century was governed by the predominating influence in intellectual culture, as it is to-day. In Spain, even more than in other countries of Europe, this influence was essentially religious in character. Theology was the most important branch of study, and law and medicine were taught from textbooks which read more like religious treatises than scientific compendiums of knowledge. In the University of Lima, the plan of studies included three classes daily in theology, three in law, two in canonical law, two in medicine, two in grammar, and one in native languages, the last being considered necessary for the propagation of the faith among the Indians. During the viceroyalty, the University of San Marcos was an exclusively aristocratic institution, and its chief mission was to educate the nobility and the clergy, the latter ranking in the same class as the highest aristocracy. The candidate for a degree had to meet such enormous expenses that its advantages were within the reach of only a favored few. He was obliged to give a sum of money to each doctor of his faculty and to those of all the other faculties, a larger sum to the rector and further amounts to the dean of his faculty, the sponsors in the ceremony, and other ministering officials. If a layman, he was expected to present his fellow-graduates with a silk cap, the biretta taking its place in the case of a sacerdote. “Four pounds of food and six hens” are named as the gifts which each colleague must receive from the new doctor. These expenses amounted to large sums in the aggregate, and were greatly increased by the cost of the festivities with which such an event was celebrated. It was the custom for the graduate to give a bull fight in the plaza, always a costly entertainment; and he must have a sumptuous dinner, at which his friends would toast the successful scholar and felicitate him in poetical periods and oratorical flights. The most modest cost never went below ten thousand dollars in an epoch when that sum meant many times the wealth it does to-day; and stories are related of brilliant festivities in which the reckless scions of wealthy noble houses spent sums that call to mind the follies of millionaire spendthrifts of the present time. Toward the middle of the eighteenth century a resolution was passed by the directors, limiting the expense to a deposit of two thousand dollars in the treasury of the university, which freed the graduate from further responsibilities. This resolution continued in force until 1870, when the sum was reduced to eight hundred dollars; subsequent reductions have brought it down to the present cost, which is fifty soles for the bachelor’s degree and one hundred soles for that of doctor. Students who have excelled in their classes, and have taken the highest prizes, called contentas, are exempt from the payment of any dues. The purpose of the contenta is to enable young men of energy and ambition, but with small means, to profit by the advantages of a liberal education. The Faculty of Letters gives free scholarships to its most successful students and exempts from the payment of dues all who have obtained a prize in any course of study.

The University of San Marcos is to-day a thoroughly modern institution, representative of the liberal spirit of progress which pervades all classes in Peru,—a country that has passed through greater and more vital changes than fall to the lot of most nations. What transformations have been wrought in education in Peru since the amauttas imparted knowledge to the sons of the Sun, holding its precious truths too sacred to be communicated to any but noble princes! The attitude of the Spanish teachers was less openly restrictive, though, in effect, the system of education was little broader than it had been under the monarchs of Cuzco. The lessons of the temple were replaced by those of the convent, and the benefits of knowledge were still chiefly confined to the nobility. With the evolution of ideas that modern civilization encouraged, conditions gradually improved during nearly three hundred years of Spanish rule, and the eighteenth century witnessed the phenomenon of independent thought, the awakening of the individual in society. With the inauguration of the republic, the progress of Peru entered a new channel, and though, at first, the stream of liberal ideas had to force a narrow passage between walls of tradition, to surmount rocks and boulders of obstructing prejudice, carrying in its flow an accumulated driftwood of sentiment from the ancient groves of worship, yet its course has been always toward the sea of universal good, and its channel, deepened and widened by the growing force of the current, now forms the bed of a mighty tide of worthy endeavor.

The university leads in promoting the interests of a broad and liberal education in Peru, and, under the present administration, important reforms have been introduced, in accord with the progressive ideals of the twentieth century. The government of the university is in the hands of a council, composed of the rector, vice-rector, and secretary of the institution, with the dean and a delegate from each of the faculties. It is practically independent in the conduct of its affairs, the state having only the economic interest which rests on a pecuniary grant, and even this is disposed of according to the discretion of the University Council. Although all education in Peru is under the immediate protection and solicitude of the supreme government, the intervention of the executive is used only for the improvement of educational advantages and the extension of public instruction. In all that relates to the internal régime of the university, the rector and his advisers constitute the supreme authority. Dr. Don Luis F. Villarán succeeded the lamented Dr. Francisco Garcia Calderon as head of the university in 1905, and has continued the progressive methods of that learned statesman. The past three years have been marked by several important reforms.

The closing ceremonies of the university year of 1907 took place March 15, 1908, instead of the 24th of December, 1907, in consequence of the students having been called away in November for military manœuvres, obedient to the new law of forced military service. The occasion was one of solemn ceremony, President Pardo attending, with his cabinet. The address of the rector included a résumé of the year’s events in the university, showing that its influence and usefulness had been increased, and notable advancement made in its affairs. The prestige of the university was enhanced last year through the brilliant record of its delegates at the congress of students in Montevideo, when this institution was shown to be in the first rank among Spanish-American institutions in culture and progress.

The curriculum of studies is under the direction of six faculties: Jurisprudence, which confers the degree of lawyers and ministers on the completion of a five years’ course, the dean of the faculty being Dr. Lizardo Alzamora; Medicine, granting the title of “Physician and Surgeon” to graduates who complete its six years’ course, Dr. Manuel Barrios, a statesman of distinction, now president of the Senate, being dean of this faculty; and the Faculties of Theology, Mathematics and Physical and Natural Sciences, Philosophy, Letters and Administrative and Political Economy, which do not confer professional degrees. In order to be eligible to the Faculty of Medicine, the student must have completed two years of the course in Natural Science and the obligatory course of the first and second years of Mathematical Science and Physics. The Faculty of Letters, presided over by the dean, Dr. Javier Prado y Ugarteche, renders especial services and performs double duty by preparing students to follow the career of the law and training professors to teach in the higher public schools and colleges. It is thus the meeting ground between the university and the primary school, its graduates being afterward represented both in the highest classes of the Faculty of Jurisprudence and among superintendents of primary schools. Only recently a law was introduced in the Senate through the efforts of university professors, to establish complementary courses in the Faculties of Letters and Sciences for the special training of professors to direct the national colleges of secondary instruction. The law makes professorship a public career sufficiently attractive to induce students of ability to devote themselves exclusively to this pursuit. A four years’ term of preparation is required, practical teaching in the College of Guadalupe being included in the last two years’ course.

The Faculty of Administrative and Political Economy, which, as elsewhere stated, was founded by President Manuel Pardo, was first organized by the eminent scholar, Dr. Pradier Fodéré. The object of this faculty is to give special instruction to those who are preparing to follow a diplomatic career or to direct administrative offices. The degree of doctor is conferred after a three years’ course in constitutional, international, administrative, diplomatic and maritime law, political economy, economical legislation of Peru, science of finance, financial legislation of Peru, and statistics. The present dean of the faculty is Dr. Ramón Ribeyro, a noted authority on international affairs and a member of the supreme court of justice. The Faculty of Theology gives a theological education, the course covering six years. In the Faculty of Sciences, the student is allowed to enter the School of Engineers after completing the obligatory courses of the first and second years of mathematical sciences and physics. The University of Lima is destined to achieve greater distinction during the present century through its liberal and democratic ideals than was gained in the three centuries of existence under the influence of aristocratic exclusiveness. The new edifice of the Faculty of Medicine is one of the signs of material progress evident in many features of the institution. A University Review is published monthly, replacing the annual volume founded in 1862 as the Annals of the University. Although the ancient University of San Marcos stands at the head of the educational institutions of Peru, the universities of Arequipa, Cuzco, and Trujillo are important centres of learning, having Faculties of Jurisprudence, Literature, and Political and Natural Sciences. The rector of the University of Arequipa, Dr. Jorge Polar, was Minister of Public Instruction during the first two years of President Pardo’s administration, and is an eminent authority on educational matters. Dr. Eliseo Araujo, rector of Cuzco University, is also a distinguished statesman as well as an experienced educator. Trujillo University is under the direction of Dr. Pedro M. Ureña, who succeeded Dr. Carlos Washburn as rector, when that statesman was called to the cabinet of President Pardo.

The universities, which represent the most revered traditions of education and reflect the highest culture of the nation, are supplemented by a number of colleges and schools of special instruction for pupils who, after graduating from the primary and secondary schools, do not enter on a university career, but prefer to prepare for the military service, to secure technical training, or to obtain a practical knowledge of engineering, agriculture, etc. The School of Military Cadets at Chorillos, the Naval School-ships, the School of Civil Engineers, and the National School of Agriculture, as well as the flourishing Technical School of Arts and Trades, fulfil these purposes. The School of Arts and Trades was reorganized September 24, 1905, under the direction of Dr. Pedro Paulet. The school was founded forty years ago, and reorganized in 1871, when its purpose was declared to be “the training of honest and capable mechanics.” Although the excellent work of this school was interrupted for some years in consequence of the calamitous war of the Pacific, yet its benefits have been so general that, to-day, the best mechanics on the plantations of the coast and in the mining establishments of the sierra are graduates of its classes. These schools are now to be found in all the cities of the republic.

The mining interests of Peru, as well as the peculiar conditions that govern transportation across its snow-capped sierras and through its cañons, make the study of engineering of paramount importance. The School of Engineers, under the direction of an expert Polish engineer, Mr. Eduardo Habich, has for its object the teaching of civil, industrial, and electrical engineering, and mining. The extraordinary industrial development which Peru has experienced within the past few years made it necessary, in 1901, to include industrial engineering in the course of studies, which originally comprised only two sections, that of electrical engineering being added in 1903. Graduates of this school are entitled to rank as mining, civil, and industrial engineers, and electricians; land surveyors are also trained here. The average attendance is about two hundred pupils. Training is given in both theory and practice, the students making trips to the mines of Cerro de Pasco and Yauli as well as to the factories, smelters, and electrical plants of these establishments. The school has complete laboratories as well as collections of specimens for the study of mineralogy, geology, and other subjects related to the course. Agricultural training is furnished in a school organized for the purpose and directed by Belgian professors. The instruction afforded is technical and of the greatest practical value, including all that pertains to the administration and cultivation of a landed estate.

The greatest evidence of educational progress in Peru is afforded by the report of the past school year, especially as regards primary instruction. According to the new law of December 5, 1905, primary instruction was taken out of the hands of the municipalities and made subject to the central government, and a special fund for educational purposes was created in such a manner that it is bound to go on increasing with the growth of population and the development of wealth. Attendance at school was not only made obligatory but absolutely gratuitous, schoolbooks, paper, etc., being provided free of charge to the pupil. The name of President José Pardo will go down to posterity with that of his illustrious father, as the friend of the helpless and the protector of the humble, inspired by the true patriotism which seeks the ennoblement and aggrandizement of the State by raising to the highest mental and moral standard every citizen, from the proletaire to the plutocrat. The reform of 1875 sought to extend to the poorest class the blessings of education. But the law was impeded in its beneficent action by inadequate funds and lack of unity in purpose. So long as public instruction remained under municipal government, its advantages could not be uniform or satisfactory. Political changes, the fluctuation of rents, and other causes contributed to make the support of municipal schools unsettled and dependent. A new law, passed in 1901, improved conditions by the creation of a central Directorate of Primary Instruction; but the efforts of this body were handicapped because the local Councils and Commissions acting under its authority represented municipal interests conflicting with its purposes. Complete centralization was the only way to secure the successful establishment of the educational system on a basis that would ensure permanent and increasing progress, and elevate the national standard of culture.

In his programme four years ago, President Pardo set his government the noble task of raising the Indian out of his apathetic and ignorant condition and making him an active and conscious factor in citizenship, declaring this to be a necessity as urgent as the building of railways, the establishment of a fixed currency, or any of the reforms that have contributed to the prosperity of the country. To stimulate a sense of individual responsibility and worthy ambition in a race that for centuries has lived only to obey,—under the Incas, the Curaca; under the Spaniards, the priest; under the republic, the provincial governors and the proprietors of estates on which they are employed—is an undertaking that calls for tremendous patience, tact, and courage. President Pardo believes that no effort should be considered too great which will accomplish this noble task.

A few educated Indians, descendants of the Inca nobility, have aided the government in its purpose by trying to teach their benighted people the meaning of freedom and to instil in them an appreciation of personal rights. Phoccohuanca, who bears the Christian name of Carlos Portilla, a pure Indian of Puno, has proved himself a worthy descendant of the great Manco-Ccapac by his ambition, energy, and loyalty to his race. His story is not unlike that of other self-made men. A thirst for knowledge made him leave his native town when a mere child to seek an education in the capital. From town to town he trudged, working at anything that offered him a chance to gain a few pennies out of which a little was always put aside for the purchase of books and for tuition. He was intelligent, hard-working, patient, and economical, and succeeded in getting together the requisite funds for his education, which was often interrupted by “hard times,” but was always kept in mind as the goal of his efforts. Now, at twenty-two years of age, he holds a teacher’s certificate, with recommendations from several well-known educators of Peru, testifying to his “aptitude, morality, and diligence”; as a preceptor in the correctional school for boys, in Lima, his work has been eminently satisfactory. Another Indian is the editor and proprietor of a newspaper called El Indio, which bears the subtitle of “Defender of the social interests of the native race.”

The new law governing primary education has already produced remarkable results. The number of schools has increased from one thousand four hundred and twenty-five under the support of the municipalities in 1905 to two thousand five hundred at present under the control of the central government; the staff of teachers that numbered one thousand six hundred and fifty-seven before the change of educational administration now comprises three thousand and twenty under state direction; and the pupils’ roll has swelled from one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand names since the adoption of the new system two years ago. The educational fund has been so greatly increased that the government has not only been enabled to add to the number of schools and teachers, but also to improve salaries, to provide instruction for a greater number of pupils, to build and repair school-houses, acquire new and modern pedagogical materials, maintain normal institutes, including one for the instruction of teachers in manual training, and send teachers to the United States for normal school training.

The General Directorate of primary instruction has the management of all the various sections into which the system is divided, including those that relate to the teaching corps, school materials, statistics, accounts, etc., as well as to Departmental and Provincial inspectors. Under the new régime, the school extends a beneficent influence over all society, giving to the poorest child such training as will best prepare him for the struggle of life. The law provides for two grades of primary instruction, the first being the elementary school, in which are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, notions of geography and history in general and as related to Peru, rudimentary anatomy and physiology of the human body, the making of objects of common use, gymnastics, and, especially, the essential notions of morality and civic duty. This course covers two years, after which the pupil may enter the second grade, taught in what are known as school groups, or scholastic centres, where three years more are required to complete the primary education, including the learning of a trade. Free night schools for workmen are maintained by the Department of Fomento, and in addition to the public schools there are many private institutions throughout the republic for primary and secondary education.

The question of hygiene in the primary schools occupies the particular attention of the government, and a congress was recently held for the purpose of studying the best means of protecting the health of children, with a view to improving the general condition of the race, and making the rising generation robust and strong. In 1907, a system of sanitary and hygienic inspection was adopted for the schools of primary instruction, and the results, so far, have been most satisfactory.

Intermediate or secondary education has also received special attention during the present administration, new colleges having been established in several cities, in addition to commercial and industrial schools in Iquitos and Yurimaguas. Twenty-five government colleges provide secondary instruction, three of these being girls’ schools in Trujillo, Ayacucho, and Cuzco. Belgian and German professors have been engaged by the government to conduct the courses of study in the greater number of these schools. In the national colleges the pupil receives a general education, the law requiring four years’ study to complete this course. The graduate is then prepared either to leave school with sufficient knowledge to serve the ordinary purposes of a business career, or to enter the Faculty of Letters and Sciences in the University.

In every department of national education, the spirit of a broad and liberal government is to be seen, and even in the private schools and the colleges supported by benevolent institutions the influence of modern reform is general and unmistakable. The most notable tendency of education in Peru to-day is toward an increase of knowledge among the poorer classes. Under the traditional system of instruction, now passing away, the distinctions of caste were fostered and strengthened, because of the character and scope of the old-time school. The higher classes of society received more instruction than they applied in the course of their after lives, while the lower classes were neglected, or taught only so much as tended to impress on them their inferiority and the duties of submission. Under such a system it was inevitable that tyranny should flourish, and that the rich and governing class should abuse their power over the poor and ignorant. But with the patriotic ideas which have grown up and which now stimulate both the governing and the governed, the question of education has become one of the national requirements, and its benefits are enjoyed by all classes. It means the development of the middle class, which a great economist calls “the bulwark of a nation.”