PREFACE



  lThe present European war, with its heartbreak for
humanity, should reveal the spirit of America, with
its sources in the ideals of manv nations, as no
'oner narrowly nationai, but definitelyvcosmopolitan.
The opening of our doors to every civilization-and
the consequent mingling of many racial classes-has
made the serious absorption of much the outside
world has to offer so easily possible, that even in our
reading we have become strongly inclined to prefer
the book from abroad to that written at home,
though the latter is not infrequently of equal or
superior quality.
  Let this enlarged horizon once be realized by those
who are confusedly looking for a point of view from
which our writers may achieve an enduring literature
that is distinctively "American," and a new era will
                       '-ii