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Show DR. ELIOT'S REJOINDER. Nothing is more common than for visiting vis-iting Europeans to point out to us with a condescension which is often oxtroino-1)7 oxtroino-1)7 Irritating, our deficiencies in tho line of origiual thought, philosophy, and tho doep thinking which is supposed to bo an accompaniment of the older civilization. civil-ization. Such critics usually consider our work superficial and raw, and they do not hesitato to point out to us our supposed deficiencies ,md to impress im-press their own superiority upon us. Tho latest instance of this is tho TYonch writer Piorro Loti. This noted Frenchman and Httorateur has recently appeared in America to tho exaltation of his own pooplo and to point out to us our deficiencies in genuine and deep thinking. The fact that M. Loti is almost al-most wholly ignorant of American achievements, even in the lines upon which he criticises them, does not in tho least, restrain him from giving us the "bonefit" of his crude opinions, this crudity being in his lack of knowledge knowl-edge of Amorica., of American thought, and of American achievement. But President Lliot takes M. Loti to task on these lines in a way that Is wholly jns.t and eminently pungent. His criticism criti-cism of Loti is far moro fair, far better bet-ter deserved, and far more intelligently directed, than is Loti's opinion of us. President Eliot, in a letter to the New York Times on this matter, says: M. PJcrra L,otl seems to mo to make tho usual narrow-minded mlstalts of men of letters, namely, that real thinking: can only bo done In philosophy and literature. My Impression Is that the American people peo-ple havo dono a. preat deal of genuine thinking In puro and applied science, politics, poli-tics, economics and applied ethics, and have also made some serious contributions contribu-tions to philosophy and literature. With these last M. Totl Is presumably unac-tiualnted. unac-tiualnted. and the nature of Ills own spcoulallona has mado him blind lo tho valui of tho American contributions lo civilization In tho other subjects I have mentioned. No American can possibly fail to enjoy en-joy most keenly this dextrous rap which President ISliot administers to a man who has not hesitated to enter into a field whore he is a strangor, and to givo forth a self-complacent criticism, which in no rightful sense applies. President Pres-ident Eliot deserves the thanks of all Amor! cans for his extremely civil, and at the same timo most export, calling down of this foreign presumption. |