Transcriber’s Notes: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. * * * * * THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN THE WRITINGS OF AMERICANS OF FOREIGN BIRTH * * * * * The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth SELECTIONS CHOSEN AND EDITED BY ROBERT E. STAUFFER, A. M., B. L. S. [Illustration] The Christopher Publishing House Boston, U. S. A. * * * * * COPYRIGHT 1922 BY THE CHRISTOPHER PUBLISHING HOUSE PRINTED IN U. S. A. * * * * * To my revered friend and teacher Joseph Lorain Shunk And to my younger friend Henry Praus The one born in the United States The other in far-away Czecho-Slovakia But in both of whom I have found True and noble manifestations Of the American spirit * * * * * Let us judge our immigrants also out of their own mouths, as future generations will be sure to judge them. _Mary Antin._ _He_ is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds.... The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. _Crèvecoeur._ Where the schoolhouse banner flaunts the morning breeze, Where the rough farm student strides amid the wheat, Where the voice of knowledge fills a thousand halls, Where the athletes in their mimic warfare meet; Where the master grasps the brand Of lightning in his hand, And the hidden Powers of Air to service bent Proclaim the issue of the long experiment, I behold the future race Arise in strength and grace; Shall they falter? Shall they fail? Shall they endure? Lo, the onward march is sure. _William James Dawson._ INTRODUCTION A visit to the public library of many towns and cities of five to twenty thousand inhabitants, and inquiry among persons of considerable and even college education, reveals a widespread unacquaintance with the writings of our foreign-born citizens. Seldom does one find the books of more than four or five of these authors upon the shelves of the smaller public and college libraries; yet these institutions are doing much to develop public opinion in countless communities made up for the most part of native Americans who have hitherto been largely ignorant of and indifferent to the condition and aims of the foreign population, but whose intelligent and sympathetic interest in the foreign-born must be aroused if the great gulf between the two is to be bridged.