The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth

American literature; Americanization; Noncitizens -- United States

Of all the means of improvement other than personal associations with
good men and women, the churches and the public schools gripped most
strongly at the strings of my heart. Upon coming into town, the sight
of the church spires rising above the houses and the trees as witnesses
to man’s desire for God, always gave me inward delight. True, religion
in America lacks to a certain extent the depth of Oriental mysticism;
yet it is much more closely related than in the Orient to the vital
issues of “the life which now is.” Often would I go and stand on the
opposite side of the street from a public-school building at the hour
of dismissal (and this passion still remains with me) just for the
purpose of feasting my eyes on seeing the pupils pour out in squads, so
clean and so orderly, and seemingly animated by all that is noblest in
the life of this great nation. My soul would revel in the thought that
no distinctions were made in those temples of learning between Jew and
Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, the churched and the unchurched; all
enjoyed the equality of privileges, shared equally in the intellectual
and moral feast, and drank freely the spirit of the noblest patriotism.


AN IMMIGRANT TELLS HIS STRUGGLES WITH THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

My struggles with the English language (which have not yet ceased)
were at times very hard. It is not at all difficult for me to realize
the agonizing inward struggles of a person who has lost the power of
speech. When I was first compelled to set aside my mother-tongue and
use English exclusively as my medium of expression, the sphere of my
life seemed to shrink to a very small disk. My pretentious purpose of
suddenly becoming a lecturer on Oriental customs, in a language in
which practically I had never conversed, might have seemed to any one
who knew me like an act of faith in the miraculous gift of tongues.
My youthful desire was not only to inform but to _move_ my hearers.
Consequently, my groping before an audience for suitable diction within
the narrow limits of my uncertain vocabulary was often pitiable.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

General

The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth

American literature; Americanization; Noncitizens -- United States

Of all the means of improvement other than personal associations with
good men and women, the churches and the public schools gripped most
strongly at the strings of my heart. Upon coming into town, the sight
of the church spires rising above the houses and the trees as witnesses
to man’s desire for God, always gave me inward delight. True, religion
in America lacks to a certain extent the depth of Oriental mysticism;
yet it is much more closely related than in the Orient to the vital
issues of “the life which now is.” Often would I go and stand on the
opposite side of the street from a public-school building at the hour
of dismissal (and this passion still remains with me) just for the
purpose of feasting my eyes on seeing the pupils pour out in squads, so
clean and so orderly, and seemingly animated by all that is noblest in
the life of this great nation. My soul would revel in the thought that
no distinctions were made in those temples of learning between Jew and
Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, the churched and the unchurched; all
enjoyed the equality of privileges, shared equally in the intellectual
and moral feast, and drank freely the spirit of the noblest patriotism.


AN IMMIGRANT TELLS HIS STRUGGLES WITH THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

My struggles with the English language (which have not yet ceased)
were at times very hard. It is not at all difficult for me to realize
the agonizing inward struggles of a person who has lost the power of
speech. When I was first compelled to set aside my mother-tongue and
use English exclusively as my medium of expression, the sphere of my
life seemed to shrink to a very small disk. My pretentious purpose of
suddenly becoming a lecturer on Oriental customs, in a language in
which practically I had never conversed, might have seemed to any one
who knew me like an act of faith in the miraculous gift of tongues.
My youthful desire was not only to inform but to _move_ my hearers.
Consequently, my groping before an audience for suitable diction within
the narrow limits of my uncertain vocabulary was often pitiable.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth

The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth

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