1750-1900] American architecture 749 in the country has combined with various new conditions of life to demand from trained architects something like actual novelties - things for which there is no precise precedent elsewhere; and American architects, though generally trained in European schools, have shown, in adapting themselves to these conditions, great and increasingly flexible intelligence. In accordance with the new demands of their country, they have developed various types of building which are, at this moment, at least so far successful, that to an American who visits Europe contemporary architecture in the Old World is apt to appear comparatively lifeless. Recent private houses in America display an opulent spaciousness, and at the same time an intelligent adaptation to the conditions of the life that they are designed to serve, which are seldom apparent in modern private houses in Europe. American churches are comparatively unimportant, conventional, and inconspicuous; for the moment, the most earnest enthusiasm of American ideals is somewhat distracted from religion. On the other hand, the schools, the libraries, and the hospitals of America, together with the civic buildings which are rising everywhere, show increasing dignity, beauty, and impressiveness. At the same time, the commercial conditions of the country, which require, in the larger cities, light and strong structures of great height, have encouraged new methods of construction, in which steel frames are masked by a screen of ornamental masonry, which promise ultimately to achieve a peculiar grandeur of architectural effect. It seems more than possible that, before long, the decorative arts of painting and of sculpture may adapt themselves to these new architectural conditions. The same tendency towards flexible adaptation of effort to practical necessity which has displayed itself in American architecture may be said, on the whole, to characterise American science. It is a commonplace that Americans are apt inventors; and it appears to be an acknowledged fact that the economic success of the United States has been most pronounced in the industries which can be most readily advanced by labour-saving mechanical devices. American machinery is far more remarkable than American handiwork. The temper of the country still recoils from that kind of patient self-effacement without which the highest personal skill is out of the question. Accordingly, though Americans have been by no means neglectful of pure science, the ablest minds in the United States have always been, and still are, for the most part, directed rather towards the needs of applied science, and the consequent rewards which they offer. From Franklin's time to our own, there have been in America plenty of applications of scientific knowledge, and more than a few extensions of such knowledge in directions where this extension may prove of practical or of humanitarian use. But America has still to wait for a thinker who shall 750 Science and education [1800 take his place, in the realm of scientific thought, with the deathless masters of the Old World. The practical character of American science has given rise, throughout the country, to a number of schools specially devoted to the higher scientific training. Schools of law and medicine and scientific laboratories abound; hardly any of the numerous universities which, with widely varying standards, maintain everywhere at least the form of the higher learning, is without these adjuncts. But perhaps the most significant fact concerning American education to-day is that which must instantly impress the eye of any traveller from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In Europe, the architectural structures which attract attention are usually churches, castles, or buildings connected with some phase of government. In America the most conspicuous structures are, as a rule, the schools and the public libraries. This difference implies a deep contrast between the instinctive faith which, throughout the centuries, has animated the Old World and that which, for the moment, is most blindly cherished in America. From the days of Rome itself, the more serious imagination of Europe has been most deeply stirred by religious influences, which found architectural expression in the churches dominating almost every town. This predominance may, no doubt, be passing away; but the traces of it remain everywhere. In America, a faith in the saving grace of education seems more deeply rooted than even religion itself. And this faith finds expression, not only in the architectural facts so apparent to any eye, but in the vast sums which throughout the country are frequently given for the foundation or the support of schools and universities and libraries. Such enthusiasm as this has naturally given rise to a state of affairs perhaps unprecedented in educational history. Elsewhere education has generally been a matter either of tradition or else of alertly intelligent reform. In America it tends as religion has sometimes tended in the Old World - to become a matter of unintelligent formalism. A typical incident occurred at San Francisco during the summer of 1901, when the Philippine Islands had just come, for better or worse, under American control. At that moment hundreds of half-trained public school teachers, men and women alike, crowded into the transports which were to carry them to Manila, with a spirit as devoted, and a belief in their calling as absolute, as that which animated the crusaders of Peter the Hermit. In short, the nation that we are trying to understand is a nation whose most prominent characteristic at this moment is its superstitious devotion to education. What is necessary is that this devotion shall be enlightened and directed. Those leaders are probably right who maintain that the chief service which can be rendered to the country -1900] Education and character 751 in the years immediately to come will be rendered by those who shall correct educational errors and wisely guide educational progress. Our main reason for this hasty glance at American education is its significance in the question of American character. As we have seen, the native character of the Americans may be traced to that phase of English character which was most potent in the days when the American colonies were founded. The original divergence between the English character and the American occurred in days when mature men were still of Elizabethan birth. And throughout the course of their national history, Americans have never quite lost the wonderful old Elizabethan fusion of firm faith in ideals with versatile and swiftly sensible management of practical affairs. In ideal philosophy, they still seek the simple essentials of truth; in practical life, they still show a tendency to do, simply and instinctively, the essential thing; and in the simplicity of heart which is still theirs, they never quite understand how far from consistent their lofty phrases and their work-a-day deeds may seem to unsympathetic observers. Thus, in their own way, the educational leaders of America may be taken, at this moment, as among the most characteristic figures whom the country has as yet produced. For, however they may differ concerning all manner of detail, they are agreed in faith that education should be a fearless search for truth; that the truth, honestly proclaimed, will make life on earth better and better; and that the best way to discover and proclaim truth is to open to all who can use them the fullest resources of learning. In which buoyant faith, though often obscured by the superstitious errors of the moment, there glows a deep belief in the ultimate excellence of human nature, which, throughout the continent, has paled, for a while, the blaze of Calvinistic fire, as the sunlight pales the flames that flicker, in darkness, above burning coals. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY In order to avoid needless repetitions, and for the sake of rapid reference, a short List of Works bearing on the whole or on considerable portions of the history of the United States, or giving general views of various departments of national activity, is here prefixed to the Special Bibliographies bearing on particular chapters. I. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, C. K. Manual of Historical Literature. 3rd ed. New York. 1889. Channing, E., and Hart, A. B. Guide to the Study of American History. Boston. 1896. Larned, J. N. (editor). The Literature of American History. A Bibliographical Guide. Boston. 1902. Supplement (for 1900-1). Ed. by P. P. Wells. Boston. 1902. (A very full and useful bibliography, dealing with Canada, Spanish and Portuguese America, and the West Indies, as well as the United States; and giving notes of the contents, and estimates of the value, of the books mentioned.) II. GENERAL WORKS (i) CHRONICLES, ETC. American Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events, 1861-74: (continued as) Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia, 1875, etc. New York. 1862, etc. Philadelphia. 1901. Annual Register (from 1758). London. 1759, etc. 1606-1861. Poore, B. P. Descriptive Catalogue of Government Publications, 1774-1881. Washington. 1885. (ii) HISTORIES Adams, H. History of the United States of America. New York. 1883-5. 9 vols. New York. 1889-91. Author's last revision. 6 vols. Bryant, W. C., and Gay, S. H. Popular History of the United States. 5 vols. New York. 1896. Fiske, J. The Discovery of America. 2 vols. Boston. 1892. The Beginnings of New England. Boston. 1889. Old Virginia and her neighbours. 2 vols. New York. 1897. Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America. 2 vols. Boston. 1899. The American Revolution. 2 vols. Boston. 1891. Critical Period of American History (1783-89). Boston. 1888. C. M. H. VIL 753 48 |