New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1883-09-12
Foreigners in America.

An Englishman writes as follows to
the London Field:
''Six years residence in the States
has quite convinced me that for quiet,
transformations refinement of mind and
sentiment, for general spread of human
sympathy and human kindness, for lack
of petty, unworthy jealousies and sus-
picions, for generous impulses and gen.
erOus acts towards those who are hon.
estly trying to get on, the great mass
of the American people are far ahead of
ourselves. Far be it from me to say one
word which might unfairly seem to de-
tract from the qualities of the kind,
true, honest English nature. But our
American cousins are under less pres
sure than we are, socially and financial
~. They were generously treated as
children. and they treat their children
generously. They were thanked, APP
preciated and largely rewarded for 10y
atty and hard work to their employers
and their friends, and they similarly
consider due to loyalty and honesty and
diligence those rewards which here it
is SO often not in our power to bestow
that, when it is, we are aptto think the
recipient will be spoiled by so unusual
an exhibition of generosity, and with
hold it on principle.
But, on the other hand, the newly
arrived Englishman has not established
any claims on Americans, and. though
it is easier for him to do so there than
here, perhaps. still he has to begin, and
to work straight away without a break
from the commencement. In the West,
!. at any rate, it is a generally accepted
theory that Englishmen are either very
good or very bad; only to an American
is conceded the privilege of being a
medium character. Indeed, must ad-
NIT that, as a rule, this classification OF
my fellow-countrymen is apparently
justified. A young Briton who goes to
work, remains sober and we'll conduct
ed, exhibits any capacity for positions OF
trust, and honestly fulfills his duties, is
more certain to rise than is any Ameri-
can. There is not single large corpor-
alton in America that does not prove
the above by it's list of employees. On
the contrary, a rollicking, now friendly
and then sulky, Briton is left in the cold
in the most determined way by his
American neighbors. There is no
chivalrous theory there as here, that a
f0rei gner, because he is one, is at liber-
ty to make himself rs disagreeable as
he pleases; on the contrary, he is at
once relegated to persons, if any such
can be found by him, who will tolerate
his eccentricities.
This is done very quietly, but it is
done quite regardless of any position or
rank: equally to "a nobleman from the
country" the son of New York mill
lionaire, or anybody else who adopts airs
and manners which assume on his part
that he is anything more than gentle
man of education and refinement, or
more than what any ordinary American
gentleman is or would wish to be. This
may all SAVIOR to my readers little too
much of freedom and equality" but
these words are a bugbear to American
gentlemen as much as to us in the cant
sense. We surely are as free as they,
and if we do not consider them on an
equality with us, SO much the worse for
ourselves, unless we decide to remain
at home. No Importance is SO great as
parochial Importance, and of that, un.
fortunately, all we English SAVIOR strong
ly, and we resent the world expressing,
as being given a chance to express, an
opinion on the matter