CHAPTER XC.WHY I AM AN AMERICAN.
I came to this country from England over fifty years ago, expecting to stay for merely a short visit. I had barely learned the localities of the public buildings and the principal streets, when I began to perceive the possibilities that presented themselves to a young man, who had the courage to push, to compete for a place in the race for wealth and position. I liked the hustle and the bustle that contrasted so vividly with the slow and easy style which prevailed in my native country. I could not escape being drawn into the spirit which surrounded me, and I made up my mind that I would make my stand in life in New York, and I sought and found employment. Fortunately I had letters of introduction to people of culture and refinement, so my social surroundings were both attractive and beneficial. In a few years the Civil War broke out and the leaven was thereby added to the liking I had for the flag which floats for freedom, and I became a more ardent American than though this had been my native soil. I had the good fortune to meet the great men of those days and they whetted my appetite to rise to their level, and much of my success is due to the quiet influence they exerted upon my young mind. When I landed in New York, most o what is now the great West, was boundless prairie or dense forest, but even then the indomitable spirit of people around me yearned to subdue this wilderness and make it blossom and bear fruit. Millionaires were few in those days and truthfulness and honesty, combined with a willingness to work, were the necessary requisites to enable a young fellow to succeed. The fact thatthis was a government for the people, and by the people, did much to determine me that here I had found the promised land. No aristocracy to contend with but the aristocracy of brains and courage; no traditions of centuries to hang between you and your right to toe the scratch with any man. The country was growing beyond its population and immigration was invited in such an attractive way that the desirable classes from all over Europe were drawn to our shores. The fact that men born in humble life had become some of the world’s leaders proved the possibilities that might come to any one who cared to try and who had the courage not to know when he was beaten. In this country Congress has always made, and is still making, laws that benefit all kinds and conditions of men who behave themselves. Before the law neither blue blood nor family tree protects any man who violates the statutes, for all are free and equal. This nation has never fought for conquest of territory and wherever our flag floats it has a moral and undisputed right to do so.
The foregoing is but a summary of the volumes I might add to the reasons why I am an American. One more is that I cannot help being an American and I don’t want to.
Henry Clews.