Chapter I: Preface

This book contains the first seven of a series of twenty-six _conférences_, 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 delivered in English, and afterward translated into French and published under the title of _Le Génie de l'Amérique_. 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

PAGE
INTRODUCTION xi
THE SOUL OF A PEOPLE 3
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE REPUBLIC 31
FAIR PLAY AND DEMOCRACY 71
WILL-POWER, WORK, AND WEALTH 113
COMMON ORDER AND SOCIAL COÖPERATION 151
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 195
SELF-EXPRESSION AND LITERATURE 239