Such is Theodore Dreiser’s arraignment of American culture. Puritanism thwarted intellectual energies. It is its fault if this country of wonderful technicians remained in a state of childhood in regard to higher mental achievements. On one hand the American grasps the physical world with the might of a Titan, on the other he revels in platitudes about brotherly love, purity, virtue, truth, etc., and under the cover of these platitudes he unleashes the Comstocks against independent writers. There are some professional psychologists among the critics of Puritanism to-day. In a recent book entitled “The American Mind in Action” two of them[5] made a methodical study of puritanic inhibitions. They selected, to illustrate their case, personalities such as Emerson, Lincoln, Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, Comstock, Barnum, Franklin, Longfellow and Margaret Fuller.[6] According to these authors the Puritan repression of natural instincts is a danger and a failure. It breeds hypocrisy and poisons the soul. Puritanism is responsible for most of the mental tortures which have been dramatized by American novelists in particular. The scientific name for these tortures is “floating anxiety” or “soul-fear.” They explain the transformation of Puritanism into imperialistic expansion. Everything is good for the Puritan if it takes him away from himself, from his fears, and his remorses. Hence his worship for action, for prosperity and success at all cost. American energy, viewed from this angle, is nothing but a substitute for scruples. If we believe this theory, the darings of the modern business man, his pluck, his boasting spirit of enterprise are only means to get rid of fright. A business man’s courage resembles that of the “Chocolate Soldier” in Bernard Shaw’s comedy. It is a derivative of fear, a _flight_ straight ahead toward the enemy, because there is no hope left behind. The American continent was conquered by religious misanthropists who vented their bad feelings by starting an onslaught on the Indians and other inferior races. The wrath of Miles Standish when he finds himself rebuked by Priscilla in his courtship and his subsequent offensive on the Redskin explains this point of view.[7] How different America would be if the Virginian Cavalier had won over the Puritan! But the contrary happened. Natural conditions and economic forces made Puritanism the sole form of national ethics in the United States. So much the worse! This state of blind repression and of anxious insecurity have made Puritanism the only form of thinking in America. Notwithstanding the diversion of affairs or the relaxation of sports, travel and amusement, soul-fear cannot be eschewed.