The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-06-04

= idt4isi lIaI the E3~SeiES oil
Norman William. In our I.eNoIution-
AIRY War the Battle of Hastings Was
Iought over again and native indi&ld-
ualiSm Won out over enforced inSti-
tlttonalisIn. Ideallsrn proved stronse
than Imperialism.
Idcali~m III the american Environ
cur forefathers found themselves in
2 vastly different environment from
that which they had left. But the
new environment was better ntted
than the old 10 bring OUT the latent
reserves Of the Angio-Saxon shirt
especially its heritage Of idealism.
e most significant factor IN the new
NE was the presence OF i frontier.
The frontier says Professor l.. j.
turner, who has almost pre-empted
the subject by his mastery paper On
ne Frontier in American History.
IS Of ln~diNidualism. Com
pick society IS precipitated by. the
wilderness into 4 kind OF primitive
organization based on the family.
The result is that 10 the
frontier the American intellect owes
its striking characteristics. That
coarseness and strength combined
With acuteness and in~quisitiyeness;
that practical. inventive turn Of mind.
quick TO find expedients, that master
1ul grasp OF material things. lacking
IN the artistic. but powerful to effect
great ends, that restless. nervous
energy: that dominant indiyidualism.
WCrklng for good and evil, and, withal.
mat oyanc and exuberance which
come with freedom.-these are traits
OF the frontier. or traits called out
because of the existence Of
the frontier. What the
Mediterranean Sea was to the Greeks.
the bond Of custom. offer
ing new experiences, calling out new
institutions and activities. that. and
more. the ever-retreating frontier has
been to the United States"
But more than this may be said.
What the fact of the frontier has been
to our history. the consciousness OF
the frontier has been to our litera-
ture. James sIenimore Cooper stood
upon the physical, territorial frontier
and sketched an advancing and 4 re
ceding civilization. What Cooper did
Twain did for the Middle West. and
Bret Harte for the extreme West. Joe
Chandler Harris did for the negro
what Cooper did for the INDIAN: as
ChingAchgool1 was the last of the
NOhicans. SO Uncle Renus may bt
considered the last Of the old-tifns
Southern negroes. In William Cutler
. Bryant verse we See the frontier o.
the growing city impinging upon tn
5 quietude and freedom of the forest
Hawthorne stood uDv1 the frontier Q
+ an evanishine P%uritanism and por
r trayed in allegory its struggle with
more liberal creed and a more human
practice. Poe stood not so much OF
a frontier as on a precipice. The Yer,
9 vigor and eXuberance Of the life abOu
4 him suggested to his Imagination. b.
e the law Of inverse analogy. the inmi
enc of ruin and decay. He is Oh,
E only autumnal genius. He did no
look backward to summer with its lif,
but forward to winter and death
o Emerson and h other transcendent
g alists stood upon a more purel.
spiritual frontier, a frontier tina
separated or rather united the seel
f and the unseen. the known and tn
unknown, the actual and the possible
america means opportunity" sail
k Emerson-opportunity not to acquir
q material things but to bridge tn
chasm between the material and tn,
spiritual. From this consciousness Q
r a frontier have sprung the most es
e sential characteristics Of America
e literature-not only its idealism blu
a it's optimism. it's sanity. Its humor
= It's VISION OIL something DetlcT YET =
be.
u Characteristic Achievements.
With an origin and environment
n that favored idealism, what ave tn
n American people done to max goo
their heritage? Ex-President Elio
has said hat the five contribution
g to civilization that the American PEG
l. pie have made are peace-keeping
: religious federation, development Q
manhood suffrage. the welcoming 0
newcomers. and the diffusion Q
It physical Well-being. Some of thes
are plainly by-products rather thai
O principal products of American actiy
Is ity. The five do not seem to me t
e make clear the main channels i
n which the American spirit has flowed
e Outsiders are usually the best judge