The spirit of America

Front matter

Henry van Dyke

\Cat

CORNELL

Preface

This book contains the first seven of a series of twenty-six conferences, given in the winter of 1908- 1909, on the Hyde Foundation, at the University of Paris, and repeated in part at other universities of France. They were deKvered in English, and afterward translated into French and published under the title of Le G/nie de rAm^rique. In making this American edition it has not seemed worth while to attempt to disguise the fact that these chapters were prepared as lectures to be given to a French audience, and that their purpose, in accordance with the generous design of the founder of the chair, was to promote an intelligent sympathy between France and the United States. If the book finds readers among my countrymen, I beg them, as they read, to remember its origin. Perhaps it may have an interest of its own, as a report, made in Paris, of the things that seem vital, significant, and creative in the life and character of the American people.

Contents

Introduction ....

The Soul of a People .

Self-reliance and the Republic Fair Play and Democracy Will-power, Work, and Wealth Common Order and Social Cooperation Personal Development and Education Self-expression and Literature ,