The regrettable part of England’s intellectual intrigues in the United States is the subservient and docile acquiescence of Americans themselves. Either they are impervious to England’s sneers and deaf to her insults, or else their snobbery is stronger than their self-respect. I have learned from Britishers themselves, during an extended residence in London, that not a little of their contempt for Americans is due to our inordinate capacity for taking insults. Year after year English animus grows; and to-day it is the uncommon thing to find an English publication which, in discussing the United States and its culture, does not contain some affront to our intelligence. It is quite true, as the English insist, that we are painfully ignorant of Europe; but it must not be forgotten that the chief source of that ignorance is England herself. And the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, if accepted as authoritative, will go far toward emphasizing and extending that ignorance. Furthermore, it will lessen even the meagre esteem in which we now hold our own accomplishments and potentialities; for, as the following pages will show, the _Britannica_ has persistently discriminated against all American endeavor, not only in the brevity of the articles and biographies relating to this country and in the omissions of many of our leading artists and scientists, but in the bibliographies as well. And it must be remembered that broad and unprejudiced bibliographies are essential to any worthy encyclopædia: they are the key to the entire tone of the work. The conspicuous absence of many high American authorities, and the inclusion of numerous reactionary and often dubious English authorities, sum up the _Britannica’s_ attitude. However, as I have said, America, if the principal, is not the only country discriminated against. France has fallen a victim to the Encyclopædia’s suburban patriotism, and scant justice is done her true greatness. Russia, perhaps even more than France, is culturally neglected; and modern Italy’s æsthetic achievements are given slight consideration. Germany’s science and her older culture fare much better at the hands of the _Britannica’s_ editors than do the efforts of several other nations; but Germany, too, suffers from neglect in the field of modern endeavor.