Introducing the American Spirit

tor and the "M

owded when the Herr Director and I arrived

e some interesting comparisons which he did not approve. I could not forbear reminding him how, when I once called on him in his office, I had to wait in a similar anteroom over an hour,

's protest, were not entirely fair; for editors are scarcely a species anywhere, and the particular one upon whom we were calling was an uncommon editor of an uncommon journal.

current events, and was extolling the virtues of its editors who, in spite of being persons of national repu

braced himself, the first contact was made, and we were taken to a handsom

exterior, the Herr Director recognized a dignified reserve and consciousness of power, which made him whisper to me, "His Majesty

citizens, I too am often impressed by that sense of dominance and power emanating from these men and others in similar

the mystical element by which monarchs are surrounded; bu

n who could occupy them, without their subjects becoming conscious of much c

aces of honor, and we (or at least I) forgot to eat, and

nden Maenner in Den Vereinigten Staaten," which he has delivered since returning to Germany, there are evidences that

ry interest in one or more of them which we hoped to solve. The editor as a man of affairs knew our particular problems as well a

ast where I had studied the problem as it concerns the Oriental, the convers

make of them one people, and eliminate all those ethnic, national and

g separated from the ethnic root in the Pleistocene period, represents too varied a physical and mental t

ce of this country was noticeable, but the influence of the particular institution from which they graduated. Anecdotes are not easily accepted as scientific proof; but this being an informal luncheon, I ventured a few of them which every one seemed to relish except the Herr Director, and he is not to

d both a college and a theological seminary, he was assisting the Bishop. Evidently he had not thoroughly mastered the ritual of the church; for this Oriental, who had "se

I thought to reach the point of being able to express himself so brief

tories he might offer me an editorship. How imperfectly, after all, the Oriental may absorb the spirit of our language, I told in the story w

ess in his family, wrote back to his faculty adviser, notifying him of the death of his mother-in-law, in

ed the opposite from that for which I was contending. "Who but an

estion as to what constitutes the American, who after all is hybrid and fre

Yankee stock" (it seemed to me that he put the emphasis upon th

speeches. That the ancestors of the average American belong to the great fighting stocks of humanity may explain if not excuse his love for physical combat. Each guest around the table followed the editor's

ngland soil; but every one of his daughters had married a man of foreign birth, or of foreign parentage. His s

did not come over in the Mayflower, and I have never been in New Eng

Paul who discovered this long ago, and his missionary propaganda among the Gentiles is based upon his belief that they are not all Israelites who are of the cir

h generation; but one is not always born with the passion for righteousness, the love of justice and the thirst for God. To these one must rather be born again, and the same thing is true of the American. There are Americans who have thrown overboard their spiritu

sstehlicher Americaner" he had ever met; to which the editor responded that

tates of America and the native country of even such thorough Americans as Jacob Riis and myself? At that time the answer was not as difficult as it is now, since there has b

henated Americans"; but I doubt that the German or Austrian hyphen has b

times I have remained fairly rational. I have never condoned Austria's treatment of the Slavs, nor Germany's invasion of Belgium; I have not gloried in their victories, but I have suffered alike for all my fellow mortals who are involved in this most disastrous c

y as they are so frequently dealt with unjustly by our courts and exploited by our industries. The editor thought that the danger to the United States

hat although the American is a fighter he is not a militarist, nor in danger of becoming one; and that personally, he, in co

, he felt hurt, and it took me a long time to explain to him that he had accidentall

s important subject upon our minds and perhaps interfering with our digestion, I asked whether in conclusion I might tell another ethnological anecdote, which would illustrate my need of light upon that question of preparedness for war. To this they all assented if I could vou

brought a gang of working men who had been shovelling the snow which had blocked the road. As they were all immigrants I had no further use for my time-table and went among them, guessing at their natio

d me, so I concluded that I was mistaken; but knowing that he was a Slav, I tried a greeting in Polish, and again the great, shaggy Slav seemed not to understand. When Bohemian failed, I decided that my error was merely geographical and this was a Southern, not a Northern Slav. I used all the Serbic I knew without getting anything but a stare from my victim, and then decided that he mi

en we were in our taxicab going back to the hotel, he said: "One of the most remarkable things

you learn th

laugh over such a stupid joke as yours? Anyway, how did you

he ready response to it, even though it be a poor story, are a sign of our youthful health; but you know," I added, "that story I told was not so mal apropos after al