The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-02-06
OF
\ Most Interesting Ism Approached
Through the Study OF Our
National Literature.

North Carolina on University Day
1911.
Ladies and Gentlemen: I am go
ing to speak for a little "hlie thio
morning an "a theme that concerns
each one Of us by reason or ouT
Amcricanism. However else We may
differ We stand here upon the same
Ulatfnrrn: We are all Americans. and
We are all Influenced by n in turn
exert influence upon TINS ~lntanSlbie
but lrrcpreSsible force that we call
A~mericanism. If | do not mistake
the signs Of the time, A~mericanlSm
is the most interesting ism that men
are now studying. 1t is unqucStion-
ably the greatest word the most
potent idea that our nation has given
to history. 1t sums up our past, II
intcrprcts our present, and 1T prophe-
sizes our future. !
l shall approach 1T trough our
literature. Strange to say it has been
approached almost invariably through
our political and industrial activities.
not through our literary activities.
1t has been assumed that the Ameri-
can spirit has manifested itself GlS-
tinctivcly only in the combined realm
OF political and industrial captalncy.
and that if A~mercanism cannot be
iCuDO mere, II cannot nc iouilu any
where. This is a superficial view, q
view not borne out by the facts. The
Americans who are best o abroad
have for u hundred years been our
writer's, not our statesmen or mllilon-
aires. With the exception Of Wash
ington, Franklin. Jefferson. and Lin
coin. we have had no statesmen n
certainly no ~fnanciers who could
compare for 4 moment in world re-
nown with Washington Irving. James
Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe,
Henry Wadsworth ~I.ongfcllOW, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Bret llartc, and
Mark Twain. These are the men who
cmbody the national spirit and stand
as its opponents.
l shall not attempt, however. to
study AmcriCanisln by citing A,neri-
can authors or American books or
American themes of my own choOs-
ing. ON the contrary, | prefer to
takc those aspects of American liter
r allure that foreigners have themselves
found most interesting and most
representative and then try to inter
pref their preferences in terms OF
u distinctive Americanisrn These
aspects seem to me to be four.
shall cnumcrate them separately an
then attempt to interpret them.
II.
The first revelation that came tl
me as l lectured on American litera-
ture at the University Of Berlin anC
talked with German men and WOmer
about American literature was thu
significant part that the Indian ha:
played in turning the thoughts O.
other lands to our own land. ] hat
always thought that it was Washing
ton Irving and his Sketch Book
that gave American literature a stand
ing abroad. Eut this IS only partl,
true. Irving introduced American
literature into England, but it wa
Cooper and his Indians that CAV,
American literature standing an
vogue on the continent. 1t is tn
fashion today to make merry owe
Cooper. Mark Twain has said tina
the Misunderstanding Series ought t
have been called the "Braaking Twig
Series, because every TIME somethin!
interesting is about to happen. some
body breaks q twig and the intende
victim gets away. He tihds Cooper
novels 1strewn with broken twigs
However this may be, Cooper's popu
larity in Europe remains greater tina
that OF any other American writer
a large class Of German universit
students, that profeSSed utter ignOr
ance Of Walt Whitman, had not
man or woman in it that did not kno,
the works Of Cooper. His Majest
himself grew enthusiastic at the men
Nion u copper ) name. L nave READ,
he said, Everything that Coope
wrote. AS a boy l used to sleep wit
his works under my pillow. | rea
them in English, too, not in a trans
iation. Cooner is unsurpassed in h
larger out-of-doOrs effects. in h
scenes sketched on q broad canya
lie Is weak only in minor Details
AS fast as Cooper's novels we1
written they were republished j
thirty-four European cities. IL
probable, as Bryant says, that /,
other author ever enjoyed so great
popularity during his " life tim
Balzac said that if Cooper had su,
ceeded as we'll in the portrayal
character as in the portrayal OF +,
phenomena of nature, 'he would ha,
uttered the last word Of our art
Ruskin said that nobody but Coon
knew how to describe accurately Il
changing phenomena of sea-foa
during Il storm.
But it was through his familiar,