Produced by ellinora, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriberâs Notes: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Additional Transcriberâs 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. _CrÃ¨vecoeur._ 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. The funds of many libraries, it is true, are so limited as to preclude the purchase of a majority of these books, worth while as they are; yet the splendid American spirit to be found in many of them ought to be more familiar to Americans, whether native or foreign-born. This volume of selections is offered, therefore, not as an equivalent for the reading of the complete works here represented, but to help stimulate a more general interest in their authors and in books of this type, and to show with a cumulative emphasis the essence of the genuine Americanism with which these writings are imbued. As one reads these and other works of the foreign-born in historical sequence, he will notice that their manner of writing has become less reflective and philosophical and more critical and impassioned, but that keeping pace there has been an intense and burning patriotism. The early colonists and immigrants were seldom touched except in their political liberties; recent immigrants have been growing increasingly sensitive to the infringement of their social and economic rights. This, of course, is a quality not peculiar to the writings of the foreign-born, but is incident to the modern industrial and social situation with conditions very different from those obtaining in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The struggle against social forces with their great complexity and ever renewed and boundless energy has demanded of the recent immigrants the highest qualities for success. Nearly all the selections included in this volume will be found charged with a strong human quality, revealing the poignant homesickness of the stranger in a new world, his sensitiveness, his forward-looking hope, his realization of both the humorous and the tragic side of his case, his fine hero-worship, his firm belief in the unique mission and high destiny of his adopted country, and his faith in the brotherhood of man and the dawning of a new day upon the earth. It is not within the scope of this introduction to plead for any particular immigration policy. Whether we shall adopt one of rigid restriction or assume a liberal attitude, and what shall be the bases of the selection of the immigrant in the future, are questions to be answered not by the petty politician, the unscrupulous demagogue, the uninformed provincial, or the alarmists of little faith who, in their hysteria, would completely reverse the traditions of the nation by closing the gates entirely, but are matters to be determined by fair-minded and representative leaders after a careful and unbiased study of the problem in its various economic, social and national aspects. The chief concern here is with our attitude toward the millions of unassimilated immigrants already among us. To them it would be well for most of us to give our attention before attempting to solve the intricate and perplexing question of an immigration policy. Perhaps if we did, we might get more light and arrive at a more unanimous and consistent conclusion regarding the admission of those who are now said to be ready in such great numbers to knock at our gates. In these selections, it is believed, will be found convincing proof that to try to educate and Americanize the foreign-born by force is not only unwise and will prove futile, because it flies in the face of the principles of human nature, but is also unnecessary. Still, the dejection on the part of many persons over our apparent failure to assimilate the immigrant is truly pathetic. But why so much despair about this, when countless thousands of native Americans have little or no realizing sense of the duties of citizenship? Who is the more culpable, the man who, being in a new land and often lonely and neglected, finds it difficult to overleap the barriers of timidity and suspicion and a foreign language and strange customs, in order to seize the larger opportunities; or the man who, though born and reared in the midst of all the advantages of American life, fails to appreciate his precious heritage and treats with indifference or abuses the sacred right of franchise? Certainly hostility and neglect will accomplish nothing, where hospitality and helpfulness may go far to induce the newcomers to avail themselves of the opportunities and responsibilities open to them in America. An illustration of how readily the foreigner may respond to the least show of kindness and fellowship is afforded by the following incident. A traveller on a west-bound train out of New York was accosted by a young Italian immigrant, who handed him a card of the Italian Immigration Society on the reverse of which was written, âPlease direct this man to Santa Cruz train.â Now it happened that the American had once visited Italy and had picked up a smattering of the language, and partly by this and partly by the use of signs he did his best to convey the desired information. He then asked the young man into his own seat; and, as they talked together of Italy and the places the American had visited, the youthâs face glowed with the joy of remembrance. And then it was revealed that this sturdy and warm-hearted Italian, from whom the American might have turned as from a âdagoâ and âscum of the earth,â was one of the heroes of the Great War; that he had been wounded in the terrible disaster of Caporetto, and had received from the Italian minister of war testimonials and medals for gallant conduct in battle. It is at least a question whether a vast amount of time, energy, and money has not been misspent in a hysterical endeavor to get the adult immigrant to change his vernacular and foreign ways. Realizing from my own experience, both as a student and as a teacher of English to foreigners, the immense effort necessary to acquire even a rudimentary knowledge of a strange language after the plastic period of youth has passed, I am convinced that too much stress may be laid upon the importance of the mere acquisition of the English language by the adult immigrant. A change in the manners and customs of the immigrant has undoubtedly a useful and necessary part in his Americanization; but undue emphasis upon mere externals may, with its false implications, easily create erroneous impressions. Just now there comes to mind in this connection an illustration prominently displayed upon the front page of one of our most respected periodicals,--a photograph of an immigrant mother standing between her two sons, one of whom is garbed in American hat and overcoat, the other in uncouth workaday attire. Beneath the picture appears this question, âWhich is Americanized?â One feels he must protest against the shallow and all too prevalent thinking which finds in the mere alteration of language and dress the essentials of Americanism, and which consequently has so little constructive and farsighted assistance to give to the momentous work of Americanization. It has been far too frequently demonstrated that a person may not only wear American clothes and speak English fluently, but may have been educated from his youth up in American institutions without being really Americanized. The elder generation should, of course, be aided in every reasonable and practicable way; but it should soberly be borne in mind that it is going to take decades, if not centuries, to Americanize America, and that the hope of the nation is in the children, both native and foreign-born. It is a splendid demonstration of the truth of this that the most fervid tributes to America come from the lips of those who have arrived in the United States in the impressionable years of youth. If, then, the rate of progress toward perfection is to be appreciably accelerated, there must be much more liberality in the support of the public schools and other educational and humanizing institutions. What is an American, or what is Americanism? Many persons to-day are asking this question, to which perhaps only the future can give a complete answer. I venture to say, however, that an American is not one who expects to find in the United States Utopian conditions, but one who realizes the imperfections of American society and yet has faith in the ultimate goal toward which the diverse human elements here are struggling; that he is one who does not seek or propose any single panacea for the ills of the nation, but who, above all else, is conscious of his spiritual unity with those American minds that are striving in the sanest and best, though various, ways for the attainment of the high ends for which the republic was founded, and that desire to see the golden rule and âreason and the will of Godâ prevail in American life. And it is just this consciousness of spiritual unity that is perhaps the most intense and valuable element in the writings of those who have paid the highest price for their citizenship, and that is so well worth bringing to the attention of those who, whether native or foreign-born, have never passed from the âcentre of indifferenceâ into the âeverlasting yeaâ of patriotism and national feeling. Much available and appropriate material has of necessity been omitted from this compilation, periodical articles in particular, with two exceptions, being excluded. But although the selections chosen constitute the utterances of only a small minority of the foreign-born, it is felt that their validity and representative character are not impaired. It must be remembered that there are thousands of American citizens of foreign birth leading contented and useful lives,--lawyers, physicians, clergymen, artists, teachers, and craftsmen, whose ideals and life-work have either not found expression in books, or whose writings have been impersonal in character, but who, if they were to write down their feelings, would express themselves in sentiments similar to those of their gifted compatriots of literary tendencies; and even among the inarticulate mass there is a potential devotion, which, under the proper conditions, can be kindled into an ardent loyalty and patriotism. Theodore Roosevelt once said, in writing the foreword to one of the works here quoted: âWhen we tend to grow disheartened over some of the developments of our American civilization, it is well worth while seeing what this same civilization holds for starved and eager souls who have elsewhere been denied what here we hold to be as a matter of course, rights free to all--although we do not, as we should do, make these rights accessible to all who are willing with resolute earnestness to strive for them.â That in part has been the aim in bringing these selections together. It is hoped that they may contribute not a little to a better understanding between America, new and old, and that they may help to allay the fears of those who have been inclined to ascribe most of our national ills to the presence among us of the foreign-born, and who have had their share in the âwave of blind distrust of the foreignerâ which has recently swept over the land. Surely, no one is justified in judging the foreign-born, or is worthy or fitted to aid in educating them in regard to the duties of citizenship, unless he has first acquainted himself with their hopes, their disappointments, their aspirations, the travail and pathos of their new birth, and their deep-rooted love for America, as set forth in their own writings; for these are probably the strongest Americanization documents we possess and one of the surest proofs of the soundness of our institutions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For generous permission to use copyrighted selections grateful acknowledgment is given to the following publishers and individuals: To Messrs. Harper & Brothers for the selections by M. E. Ravage; to The Pilgrim Press for the selection by George A. Gordon; to Messrs. Charles Scribnerâs Sons for the selection by Edwin L. Godkin; to The Four Seas Company for the selections by Robert M. Wernaer; to Fleming H. Revell Company for the selections by Edward A. Steiner; to J. B. Lippincott Company for the use of part of the address, âTrue Americanism,â by Carl Schurz; to The Christopher Publishing House for the selections by Enrico C. Sartorio; to Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. for the selection by Felix Adler; to Messrs. P. J. Kenedy & Sons, to the trustees of the estate of Mary J. A. OâReilly, and to the daughters of the poet, Mrs. William E. Hocking, Miss Mary Boyle OâReilly and Miss Elizabeth Boyle OâReilly for the use of poems or parts of poems from the work of John Boyle OâReilly; to The Century Company and to Miss Anzia Yezierska for the selection, âHow I Found America,â from the _Century Magazine_; to The Century Company also for the selection by Oscar Straus; to Mr. Seraphim G. Canoutas for the selection from his âHellenism in Americaâ; to The State Historical Society of Iowa and to Mr. Jacob Van der Zee for the selection from âThe Hollanders of Iowaâ; to Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Co. and to Mr. Stefano Miele for the selection from an article by Mr. Miele in the _Worldâs Work_; to The Macmillan Company for the selections by Angelo Patri and E. G. Stern; to The Macmillan Company and The Outlook Company for the selections by Jacob Riis; and to Mr. Otto H. Kahn and to Mr. John Kulamer for the selections appearing under their names. The selections by Mary Antin and Abraham M. Rihbany, and the one from Carl Schurzâs âAbraham Lincolnâ are used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of their works. Thanks are here also cordially given to those persons, including several authors not mentioned above, who, by their courtesies and encouragement, and in a number of instances by specific suggestions, have assisted in the work of compilation and editing. CONTENTS[1] PAGE INTRODUCTION 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 15 PHILIP SCHAFF 20 Cosmopolitan Character of âAmerican Nationalityâ 21 FRANCES DâARUSMONT 29 The Constitution and Establishment of the Federal Government 30 FRANCIS LIEBER 33 A German Immigrant Points Out the Dangers of Segregation 34 Political Liberty in America 36 CARL SCHURZ 38 An Immigrantâs Tribute to Lincoln 39 âTrue Americanismâ 40 EDWIN LAWRENCE GODKIN 44 An Immigrantâs Faith in Democracy 45 JOHN BOYLE OâREILLY 52 âThe Exile of the Gaelâ 52 âThe Pilgrim Fathersâ 54 âLiberty Lighting the Worldâ 55 âAmericaâ 57 HANS MATTSON 58 Scandinavian Contribution to American Nationality 59 JACOB RIIS 61 âA Young Manâs Heroâ: An Immigrantâs Tribute to Roosevelt 63 JACOB VAN DER ZEE 66 âWhy Dutch Emigrants Turned to Americaâ 67 EDWARD BOK 71 OSCAR SOLOMON STRAUS 72 âAmerica and the Spirit of American Judaismâ 73 FELIX ADLER 77 The American Ideal 78 MARY ANTIN 82 An Immigrantâs Tribute to the Public School and to George Washington 83 âThe Law of the Fathersâ: A View of the Declaration of Independence 89 ABRAHAM MITRIE RIHBANY 91 America Offers Something Better than Money 92 An Immigrant Tells his Struggles with the English Language 94 EDWARD ALFRED STEINER 96 âThe Criminal Immigrantâ 97 Industrialism and the Immigrant 105 GEORGE A. GORDON 111 âThe Foreign-born American Citizenâ: Cost, Privilege and Duties of his Citizenship 112 SERAPHIM G. CANOUTAS 121 Americanization: Its Principles and Meaning 123 STEFANO MIELE 125 Some Obstacles to Americanization 126 JOHN KULAMER 130 âThe American Spirit and Americanizationâ 131 ENRICO C. SARTORIO 136 Patronizing the Foreigner 137 Training for Citizenship 140 OTTO HERMANN KAHN 143 âCapital and Labor--A Fair Dealâ 144 MARCUS ELI RAVAGE 150 The New Immigration 151 What College Life in the West Did for an Immigrant 152 ELIZABETH G. STERN 160 The Pathos of Readjustment 161 ROBERT M. WERNAER 166 âThe Soul of Americaâ 167 âWe Must Be Trueâ 172 ANGELO PATRI 173 An Immigrant and His Father 174 An Immigrant and the Children 177 ANZIA YEZIERSKA 181 âHow I Found Americaâ 182 * * * * * LIST OF AUTHORS WITH THEIR WRITINGS FROM WHICH SELECTIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN FOR INCLUSION IN THIS VOLUME PAGE Adler, Felix 77 _The World Crisis and Its Meaning_ Antin, Mary 82 _The Promised Land_ _They Who Knock at Our Gates_ Bok, Edward 71 Canoutas, Seraphim G. 121 _Hellenism in America_ DâArusmont, Frances (1795-1852) 29 _Views of Society and Manners in America_ Godkin, Edwin L. (1831-1902) 44 _Problems of Modern Democracy_ Gordon, George A. 111 _The Appeal of the Nation_ Kahn, Otto H. 143 _Capital and Labor--A Fair Deal._ Pam. pub. by the author Kulamer, John 130 _The American Spirit and Americanization_ Lieber, Francis (1800-1872) 33 _The Stranger in America_ Mattson, Hans (1832-1893) 58 _Reminiscences_ Miele, Stefano 125 _America As a Place to Make Money._ (In âWorldâs Work,â December, 1920) OâReilly, John Boyle (1844-1890) 52 _Selected Poems._ Kenedy Patri, Angelo 173 _A Schoolmaster of the Great City_ Ravage, Marcus E. 150 _An American in the Making_ Rihbany, Abraham M. 91 _A Far Journey_ Riis, Jacob (1849-1914) 61 _The Making of an American_ _Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen_ Sartorio, Enrico C. 136 _Social and Religious Life of Italians in America_ Schaff, Philip (1819-1893) 20 _American Nationality._ Pam. Schurz, Carl (1829-1906) 38 _Abraham Lincoln: An Essay._ Houghton _Speeches._ 1865. Lippincott Steiner, Edward A. 96 _From Alien to Citizen_ _Nationalizing America_ Stern, Elizabeth G. 160 _My Mother and I_ Straus, Oscar S. 72 _The American Spirit_ Van der Zee, Jacob 66 _The Hollanders of Iowa_ Wernaer, Robert M. 166 _The Soul of America_ Yezierska, Anzia 181 _How I Found America._ (In âCentury Magazine,â November, 1920) FOOTNOTE: [1] Several titles have been supplied by the editor; those given in the words of the author are enclosed in quotation marks. * * * * * The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth PHILIP SCHAFF It is as a theologian and as editor of the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia and other religious works that Philip Schaff is chiefly known; but there is a slighter work of his which hardly deserves the neglect into which it has fallen,--that is, his address on âAmerican Nationality,â delivered before the Irving Society of the College of St. James, Maryland, June 11th, 1856. He was born at Coire, Switzerland, and was educated at the Stuttgart Gymnasium and at the universities of TÃ¼bingen, Halle and Berlin. After traveling for a while as a private tutor he was called to a professorship in the theological seminary of the German Reformed Church at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and came to the United States in 1844. In 1870 he accepted the professorship of sacred literature in Union Theological Seminary, New York City. He revisited Europe several times, on one occasion going to Russia in behalf of oppressed people there. It is not unnatural that one who was born in a land that has sheltered so many nationalities, and where a strong spirit of liberty has always existed, should have so keen and farsighted an appreciation of the meaning and influence of the cosmopolitan character of the American nation. Cosmopolitan Character of American Nationality By nationality we understand the peculiar genius of a people which animates its institutions, prompts its actions and begets a feeling of common interest and sympathy. It is not the result of any compact, but an instinct of human nature in its social capacity, an expansion of the inborn love of self and kindred. To hate his own countrymen is as unnatural as to hate his own brothers and sisters. Nationality grows with the nation itself and acts as a powerful stimulus in its development. But on the other side it presupposes an organized state of society and is the result of a historical process. Barbarians have no nationality, because they are no nations, but simply material for nations. It is not only the community of origin and language, but also the community of rights and duties, of laws and institutions, of deeds and sufferings, of freedom and oppression, of literature and art, of virtue and religion, that enters into the definition of a nation and gives vigor to the sense of nationality. Historical reminiscences of glory and woe, whether preserved in monuments, or written records, or oral traditions, popular songs and national airs, such as âGod save the Queen,â âYe mariners of England,â âRule, Britannia,â âScots wha hae with Wallace bled,â âAllons enfants de la patrie,â âWas ist des Deutschen Vaterland,â âThe Star Spangled Banner,â âHail, Columbia,â contribute powerfully to strengthen the national tie and to kindle the fire of national enthusiasm. Nationality begets patriotism, one of the noblest of natural virtues that has filled the pages of history with so many heroic deeds and sacrifices. Who can read without admiration the immortal story of Gideon, Leonidas, Cincinnatus, Horatius Cocles, William Tell, Arnold von Winkelried, the Maid of Orleans, John Hampden, Prince William of Orange, Andreas Hofer, George Washington, who lived or died for their country? True patriotism does not imply hatred or contempt of foreigners, and is entirely compatible with a proper regard for the rights and welfare of other nations, just as self-love and self-respect may and should coexist with the most generous philanthropy. A narrow-minded and narrow-hearted nationalism which walls out the life of the world, and for this very reason condemns itself to perpetual imprisonment in the treadmill of its own pedantry and conceit, may suit semi-barbarians, or the stagnant heathen civilization of China and Japan[2], but not an enlightened Christian people. True and false nationalism and patriotism are related to each other, as self-love to selfishness. The first is a law of nature, the second a vice. We respect a man in the same proportion in which his self-love expands into love of kindred and country, and his patriotism into love of humanity at large. Washington was always generous to the enemy and was the first to establish amicable relations with England after the conclusion of the American war. The Christian religion, which commands us to love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves, tends to purify and elevate patriotism, like every other natural virtue, by emancipating it from the selfish, overbearing, all-grasping passion of conquest, and making it contributory to the general welfare of the human family. One of the noblest acts of the English nation, as a nation, is the disinterested abolition of the African slave trade. The events of modern times tend more and more to break down the barriers between the nations, to bring the ends of the earth together and to realize the unity and universality of the human race. This we must steadily keep in view, if we would understand the distinctive character and mission of the _American_ nation, i. e., the people of the United States, who are emphatically called by that name, as the chief bearers of the historical life and future significance of the entire Western Continent. In discussing this interesting topic, we shall avoid, of course, the whirlpool of party politics, and endeavor to rise above those violent sectional strifes, which, for some time past, have been and are still agitating our country on the question of the true nature of Americanism. Of all the great nations of the earth none has entered into existence under more favorable auspices and prospects, none is better prepared and more clearly called to represent a compact, well defined and yet expansive, world-embracing nationality, than the American. Our motto, _E Pluribus Unum_, is an unconscious prophecy of our national character and destiny, as pointed out by the irresistible course of events and the indications of Providence. Out of many nations, yea, out of all the nations of Christendom, is to be gathered the one cosmopolitan nation of America on the strong and immovable foundation of the Anglo-Saxon race.... Let us now proceed to an analysis of the different elements, which enter into the composition of the American nationality and will, in their combined action, enable it to fulfil its great destiny. It is evident to the most superficial observer that the basis of our national character is English. It is so, not only in language, but also in manners and customs, in our laws and institutions, in the structure of our domestic, political and ecclesiastical life, in our literature and religion. It is perfectly idle to think that this country will ever become German, or French, or Irish, or Dutch. Let them emigrate by hundreds of thousands from the continent of Europe, they will modify and enrich, but they can never destroy or materially change the Anglo-Saxon ground-element of the American people.... But with all due regard for good old England, America is by no means intended to be a mere copy or continuation of it. If our nationality, owing to its youth and the many foreign elements still entering into its composition, is less solid and compact than that of our older brother, it is, on the other hand, more capable of expansion and development; it is composed of a greater variety of material and destined ultimately for more comprehensive ends by the Almighty Ruler of nations, who assigned us not an island, but a continent for a home, and two oceans for a field of action. If ever a nation was laid out on a truly cosmopolitan basis and gifted with an irresistible power of attraction, it is the American. Here where our globe ends its circuit seems to terminate the migration of the human race. To our shores they come in an unbroken stream from every direction. Even the tribes of Africa and Asia are largely represented amongst us and call our country their home. But whatever may be the ultimate fate of the red man, the negro and the Chinese, who are separated from us by the unsurmountable difference of race, it is evident that all the civilized nations of Europe, especially those of Germanic origin, have contributed and will continue to contribute to our stock. They meet here on the common ground of freedom and equality, to renew their youth and to commingle at last into one grand brotherhood, speaking one language, pervaded by one spirit, obeying the same laws, laboring for one aim, and filling in these ends of the earth the last and the richest chapter in the history of the world. As Europe is a great advance on the civilization of Asia, so we have reason to believe that America will be in the end a higher continuation of the consolidated life of Europe. The eyes of the East are instinctively turned to the West, and civilization follows the march of the sun. The history of the colonization and growth of this country strongly supports the view here taken. The descendants of England were indeed the chief, but by no means the only agents in the Colonial period. The Dutch on the banks of the Hudson, the Swedes on the Delaware, the Germans in Pennsylvania and the neighboring States, the Huguenots in South Carolina, New York and Boston, were amongst our earliest and most useful settlers. In a more recent period Scotland, Ireland and all parts of Germany have made the largest contributions to our population. Florida, California and New Mexico are of Spanish origin. The French claimed once by right of exploration and partial occupation the immense central valley from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, and between the Alleghenies and the Rocky Mountains; and although these possessions have long since been ceded to England and the United States, the French element can never be entirely effaced on the banks of the lower Mississippi or in Canada East. In the Revolutionary War the descendants of the Continental Europeans, especially the Germans of Pennsylvania and Virginia, in proportion to their number, fought with as much zeal and success and shed their blood as freely for the independence of the country as the Anglo-Americans. Some of them, as the Muhlenbergs and the Hiesters, acquired considerable distinction as officers of the army or members of the first Congress. But a number of our most eminent Revolutionary heroes were not even native Americans, but came from different nations to offer us the aid of their means, their enthusiasm, their military skill and experience in the hour of trial. The Irish Montgomery died for us at the gates of Quebec. General Mercer, who fell in the battle of Princeton, was a native of Scotland. Kosciusko, the Pole, paid his early vows to liberty in our cause, and his countryman, Pulaski, perished for it at Savannah. The noble Germans, Baron de Kalb, who shared with Gaines the glory of capturing Burgoyne and fell in the battle of Camden in South Carolina, bleeding of seven wounds, and Steuben, the pupil of Frederic the Great, and the Seven Years War, who left a handsome pension to serve his adopted country and helped to decide the day at Yorktown, crowned in the new world the high military reputation which they had previously acquired in the old; they were amongst the most experienced officers in the American army, and did it essential service, especially by training, with immense labor, the raw recruits, and preparing them for the victories of the battle-field. Our Congress knew well how to appreciate their merits, by erecting to the former a monument at Annapolis, and by voting to the latter a handsome annual pension, to which the legislatures of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York added large donations of land. France threw the weight of her powerful moral influence and material aid into our scale, and sent us the Count de Rochambeau, Baron de Viomenil, and especially the Marquis of Lafayette, the citizen of two worlds, whose name will be handed down to the latest American, as well as French posterity, in inseparable connection with Washington. The West Indies gave us Alexander Hamilton, who fought gallantly in the war, and, after its conclusion, organized our financial credit and took the most distinguished part in the formation and defence of our Federal Constitution, thus joining to the laurels of the battle-field the more enduring honors of peace, like his friend, the Father of his Country, whom we justly revere and love as âfirst in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.â Thus all the leading nations of Christendom were actively and honorably represented in the first settlement of our country, and in that great struggle which resulted in the birth of a new nation, and thus earned a title to a share in the blessings of its freedom.... As long, then, as we have such an immense body of land waiting for living men, and such a gigantic task of the future before us, there is no cause to discourage immigration. Let this continent of land continue to attract another continent crowded with men, that they may thus both prove a blessing to each other. How could we cherish a proscriptive spirit without striking at the fundamental creed and glory of our institutions? How could we indulge in hatred of foreigners and shut the gate to the stranger, without insulting the memory of our own fathers and of the fathers of this country? Let us never forget the sacred trust of civil and religious liberty committed to us; never forget our past history and our comprehensive destiny. Ourselves the children of the pilgrims of a former generation, let us welcome the pilgrims of the present day, and open a hospitable asylum to the oppressed and persecuted of every Christian nation. Favored by the free gift of Providence with a territory almost as large as Europe, and capable of sustaining ten times the amount of our present population, let us cordially invite and encourage the immigrants, till prairies and forests, and mountains and valleys resound with the songs of living men and the praises of God. Here are our millions of acres stretching towards the setting sun and teeming with hidden wealth, that must be made available for the benefit of society. Here is room enough for all the science, learning, art, wisdom, virtue and religion of Europe, that, transplanted into a virgin soil and breathing the atmosphere of freedom, they may bring forth new blossoms and fruit and open a new epoch in the onward march of civilization. Here is the general congress of the noblest nations of Christendom, the sterling, energetic Briton; the strong-willed, enterprising Scotch; the hard-working, generous Irish; the industrious, deep-thinking German; the honest, liberty-loving Swiss; the hardy, thrifty Scandinavian; the even-tempered, tenacious Dutch; the easy, elegant Frenchman; the earnest, dignified Spaniard; the ingenious, imaginative Italian; the patriotic, high-minded Magyar and Pole,--that they might renew their youth, and, laying aside their prejudices and defects and uniting their virtues, may commingle into the one American nation, the freest, the most enlightened, the most comprehensive of all, the nation of the new world, the nation of the future.... The destiny and mission of such a cosmopolitan nation can hardly be estimated. It must be majestic as our rivers, magnificent as the Niagara Falls, lofty as the Rocky Mountains, vast as our territory, deep as the two oceans around it, far-reaching as the highways of commerce that already carries our name and influence to the remotest regions of the globe. History points to a boundless future before it, and nothing can prevent it from filling the most important pages in the annals of coming centuries [except] its own unfaithfulness to its providential trust.... Such high views on the destiny of our nation, so far from nourishing the spirit of vanity and self-glorification, ought rather to humble and fill us with a deep sense of our responsibility to the God of nations, who entrusted us with a great mission for the world and the Church, not from any superior excellency of our own, but from free choice and an inscrutable decree of infinite wisdom. Nor should we forget that there are fearful tendencies and dangers growing up in our national life, which threaten to unfit us for our work and to expose us to the judgment of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, who is not bound to any particular human instrumentality, but can raise a new generation on the ruins of our own to carry out His designs. It is only in steady view of these dangers, and by an earnest struggle against evil temptations, that we can at all succeed and accomplish the great ends for which Providence has called us into existence. FOOTNOTE: [2] The reader will, of course, note that this statement was made prior to the modern awakening in these Oriental countries. FRANCES DâARUSMONT Frances DâArusmont, better known as Frances Wright, was born in Dundee, Scotland. She seems to have inherited the intellectuality and liberal feeling of her father, who was a man of independent means and considerable accomplishments. Scarcely three years after her birth in 1795, she lost both her parents and was brought up by a maternal aunt in England. She was largely self-educated, and from early youth was keenly interested in history, particularly the history and condition of the United States. This interest found definite expression in her determination to sail for America in 1818, where she spent two years in the States, publishing in 1821 her âViews of Society and Manners in America,â a series of letters to a friend in England. While it is true that these letters are filled with prepossessions, they had a wholesome effect in counterbalancing a great deal of ignorance about and prejudice against the United States at that time. After going back to Europe for a short stay, she returned to the United States in 1824, eager to solve the slave question. In pursuance of this desire she bought a tract of land in Tennessee, about fourteen miles northwest of Memphis, and settled negro slaves on it, in the hope that they would work out their own liberty and that the Southern planters would be induced to follow her example. The experiment proved a failure, and, with health broken, she was ordered to Europe by her physician. On returning to America again, she became a member of Robert Owenâs colony at New Harmony in Indiana, and with the assistance of Robert Dale Owen conducted a socialistic journal. At this time she frequently appeared on the lecture platform in many parts of the country. During one of her numerous trips to Europe she was married in France to M. Phiquepal-DâArusmont. She died at Cincinnati in 1852. Though no fanatic, Frances DâArusmont had several qualities of the visionary, courage and enthusiasm without prudence and judgment. It is greatly to her credit and honor, however, that she was among the first to realize the importance of the slavery question and to make an effort to settle it amicably. It is to be regretted that she did not devote her life solely to the solution of this momentous problem. The selection here given from her âViews of Society and Manners in America,â follows the text of the first New York edition, 1821. THE CONSTITUTION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT What is most worthy of admiration in the history of America is not merely the spirit of liberty which has ever animated her people, but their perfect acquaintance with the science of government, which has ever saved that spirit from preying on itself. The sages who laid the foundation of her greatness possessed at once the pride of freemen and _the knowledge of English freemen_; in building the edifice, they knew how to lay the foundation; in preserving untouched the rights of each individual, they knew how to prevent his attacking those of his neighbor: they brought with them the experience of the best governed nation then existing; and, having felt in their own persons the errors inherent in that constitution, which had enlightened, but only partly protected them, they knew what to shun as well as what to imitate in the new models which they here cast, leisurely and sagely, in a new and remote world. Thus possessed from the beginning of free institutions, or else continually occupied in procuring or defending them, the Colonies were well prepared to assume the character of independent States. There was less of an experiment in this than their enemies supposed.[3] Nothing, indeed, can explain the obstinacy of the English ministry at the commencement of the Revolutionary struggle but the supposition that they were wholly ignorant of the history of the people to whom they were opposed. May I be forgiven the observation, that the inquiries of ... have led me into the belief that some candid and well-informed English gentlemen of the present day have almost as little acquaintance with it as had Lord North. Respecting the Revolution itself, the interest of its military history is such as to fix the attention of the most thoughtless readers; but in this, foreigners sometimes appear to imagine, was expended the whole virtue of America. That a country which could put forth so much energy, magnanimity, and wisdom, as appeared in that struggle, should suddenly lose a claim to all these qualities, would be no less surprising than humiliating. If we glance at the civil history of these republics since the era of their independence, do we find no traces of the same character? Were we to consider only the national institutions, the mild and impartial laws, the full establishment of the rights of conscience, the multiplication of schools and colleges to an extent unknown in any other country of the world, all the improvements in every branch of internal policy which have placed this people in their present state of peace and unrivalled prosperity, we must allow them to be not only wise to their interests, but alive to the pleas of humanity; but there are not wanting instances of a yet more liberal policy. How seldom is it that history affords us the example of a voluntary sacrifice on the part of separate communities to further the common good! It appears to me that the short history of America furnishes us with more examples of this kind than that of any other nation, ancient or modern. Throughout the war of the Revolution, and for some years preceding it, the public feeling may be said to have been unusually excited. At such times, men, and societies of men, are equal to actions beyond the strength of their virtue at cooler moments. Passing on, therefore, to the peace of 1783, we find a number of independent republics gradually reconciling their separate and clashing interests, each yielding something to promote the advantage of all, and sinking the pride of individual sovereignty in that of the united whole. The remarks made by Ramsay on the adoption of the federal constitution are so apposite that I cannot resist quoting them: âThe adoption of this constitution was a triumph of virtue and good sense over the vices and follies of human nature; in some respects, the merit of it is greater than that of the Declaration of Independence. The worst of men can be urged to make a spirited resistance to invasion of their rights; but higher grades of virtue are requisite to induce freemen, in the possession of a limited sovereignty, voluntarily to surrender a portion of their natural liberties; to impose on themselves those restraints of good government which bridle the ferocity of man, compel him to respect the claims of others, and to submit his rights and his wrongs to be decided upon by the voices of his fellow citizens. The instances of nations which have vindicated their liberty by the sword are many; of those which have made a good use of their liberty when acquired are comparatively few.â Nor did the liberality of these republics evince itself only in the adoption of the general government. We find some making voluntary concessions of vast territories, that they might be devoted to national purposes; others releasing part of their own people from existing engagements, and leaving them to consult their wishes and convenience by forming themselves into new communities. Should we contrast this policy with that employed by other nations, we might hastily pronounce this people to be singularly free from the ordinary passions of humanity. But, no; they are only singularly enlightened in the art of government; they have learned that there is no strength without union, no union without good fellowship, and no good fellowship without fair dealing; and, having learned this, they are only singularly fortunate in being able to reduce their knowledge to practice. FOOTNOTE: [3] Mr. Burke, who seems to have possessed a more thorough acquaintance with the institutions and character of the Colonists than any other British statesman, insisted much on âthe form of their provincial legislative assemblies,â when tracing the consequences likely to result from the oppressive acts of parliament. âTheir governments,â observed this orator, âare popular in a high degree; some are merely popular; in all, the popular representative is the most weighty; and this share of the people, in their ordinary government, never fails to inspire them with lofty sentiments, and with a strong aversion from whatever tends to deprive them of their chief importance.â (Authorâs note.) FRANCIS LIEBER In these latter days when the world has been inclined to wonder whether any good could come out of Prussia, it is interesting to recall that Francis Lieber, who came to the United States in 1827 in the vanguard of the German political refugees of the early nineteenth century, was born in Berlin, March 18, 1800. His life was one of intense activity, both physical and mental. He fought in the Prussian army at Ligny and at Waterloo, and was severely wounded in the attack on Namur. After the Napoleonic wars he studied in Berlin; and in 1819, because of his political ideas, he was imprisoned on the charge of plotting against the government. He was discharged without trial; but, being forbidden to stay at the Prussian universities, he took his degree at Jena in 1820. After taking part in the Greek Revolution of 1821 he went to Rome, where he became a tutor in the family of the famous historian, Niebuhr. On returning to Berlin he was rearrested and imprisoned, but released through the efforts of Niebuhr. Tired of this relentless persecution, he left his native land forever in 1825. Before embarking for the New World he was a teacher in London for a short time. Lieberâs first literary undertaking after reaching the United States was the editing of the EncyclopÃ¦dia Americana in Boston, 1827-32. For the next twenty years he was professor of political economy in South Carolina College, where his most important works were produced,--âA Manual of Political Ethics,â 1838; âLegal and Political Hermeneutics,â 1839; âCivil Liberty and Self-government,â 1852. In 1856 he was called to a similar professorship in Columbia College, New York. He was member of the French Institute and other learned societies in Europe and America. The spirit of the man and his work is manifested in his favorite motto, _Nullum jus sine officio, nullum officium sine jure_ (âNo right without its duties, no duty without its rightsâ). It is not necessary to mention his numerous writings except the one of immediate interest here,--âThe Stranger in America,â published in 1834, a series of letters written to a friend in Germany. In the selection that follows, the reader will be struck by the wisdom and foresight in pointing out the danger of segregation and the futility of German immigrants attempting to erect a German state within the United States. A GERMAN IMMIGRANT POINTS OUT THE DANGERS OF SEGREGATION The Germans, as I said, form a most valuable addition to our population, when mingled with the great predominant race inhabiting the northern part of this continent. Whenever colonists settle among a different nation, in such numbers and so closely together that they may live on among themselves, without intermixture with the original inhabitants, a variety of inconveniences will necessarily arise. Living in an isolated state, the current of civilization of the country in which they live does not reach them; and they are equally cut off from that of their mother country: mental stagnation is the consequence. They remain a foreign element, an ill-joined part of the great machinery of which they still form, and needs must form, a part. Sometimes, indeed, particular circumstances may alter the view of the case. When the French Protestant colonists were received into Prussia, it was perhaps
{'title': 'The American Spirit in the Writings of Americans of Foreign Birth by Stauffer', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}