eat men and women rise up
to move the world along. Time itself brings only decay and death. The
truth is 'Nothing will come right unless those who feel they have the
truth speak, and Work, and strain as if on them alone rested the
destinies of the world.'" I went to see a celebrated man, George W.
Childs, who had made a fortune out of The Philadelphia Ledger, and who
was one of the best employers in the States. He knew everybody, not
only in America but in Europe; and his room was a museum of gifts from
great folks all over the world. But, best of all, he, with his devoted
friend Anthony Drexel, had founded the Drexel Institute, which was
their magnificent educational legacy to the historic town. I saw the
Liberty Bell in Chicago--the bell that rang out the Declaration of
Independence, and cracked soon after--which is cherished by all good
Americans. It had had a triumphant progress to and from the World's
Fair, and I was present when once again it was safely landed in
Independence Hall, Philadelphia. I think the Americans liked me,
because I thought their traditions reputably old, and did not, like
European visitors, call everything crude and new. The great war in
America strengthened the Federal bond, while it loosened the attachment
to the special Satte in which the United States citizen lives.
Railroads and telegraphs have done much to make Americans homogeneous,
and the school system grapples bravely with the greater task of
Americanizing the children of foreigners, who arrive in such vast
numbers. Canada allowed the inhabitants of lower Canada to keep their
language, their laws, and their denominational schools; and the
consequence is that these Canadian-British subjects are more French
than the French, more conservative than the Tories, and more Catholic
than Irish or Italians. Education is absolutely free in America up to
the age of 18; but I never heard an American complain of being taxed to
educate other people's children. In Auburn I met Harriet Tribman,
called the "Moses of her people"--an old black woman who could neither
read nor write, but who had escaped from slavery when young, and had
made 19 journeys south, and been instrumental in the escape of 300
slaves. To listen to her was to be transferred to the pages of "Uncle
Tom's Cabin." Her language was just that of Tom and old Jeff. A pious
Christian, she was full of good works still. Her shanty was a refuge
for the sick, blind, and maimed of her own peopl