PRESENT PROBLEMS IN ROMANCE LITERATURE 473 



The dominant trait in the Romance literatures at present is more 

 individuality, less enslavement to schools and their supposed rules 

 and precepts. There is, in general, a broader human feeling, a well- 

 marked interest in things common to mankind, and this feeling is 

 evidenced by the presence at this Congress of Arts and Science of 

 distinguished men and women from all parts of the world. Let 

 each one of us cherish above all the land of his birth, the land where 

 reside those dearest to him, but let us all unite in a common love for 

 the noble thoughts contained in the great literatures of the world, 

 among which are to be found, in a position of well-deserved honor 

 and dignity, the Romance literatures. 



