Transcribed from the 1900 Charles Scribner’s sons edition by David Price,
email ccx074@pglaf.org
THE WAYS OF MEN
by
Eliot Gregory
(“_An Idler_”)
_Author of_ “_Worldly Ways and Byways_.”
NEW YORK
Charles Scribner’s Sons
MCM
_Copyright_, 1900, _by Charles Scribner’s Sons_
_D. B. Updike_, _The Merrymount Press_, _Boston_
TO
Edith Wharton
“I have not lacked thy mild reproof,
Nor golden largess of thy praise.”
CHAPTER 1—“_Uncle Sam_”
The gentleman who graced the gubernatorial armchair of our state when
this century was born happened to be an admirer of classic lore and the
sonorous names of antiquity.
It is owing to his weakness in bestowing pompous cognomens on our embryo
towns and villages that to-day names like Utica, Syracuse, and Ithaca,
instead of evoking visions of historic pomp and circumstance, raise in
the minds of most Americans the picture of cocky little cities, rich only
in trolley-cars and Methodist meeting-houses.
When, however, this cultured governor, in his ardor, christened one of
the cities Troy, and the hill in its vicinity Mount Ida, he little
dreamed that a youth was living on its slopes whose name was destined to
become a household word the world over, as the synonym for the proudest
and wealthiest republic yet known to history, a sobriquet that would be
familiar in the mouths of races to whose continents even the titles of
Jupiter or Mars had never penetrated.
A little before this century began, two boys with packs bound on their
stalwart shoulders walked from New York and established a brickyard in
the neighborhood of what is now Perry Street, Troy. Ebenezer and Samuel
Wilson soon became esteemed citizens of the infant city, their kindliness
and benevolence winning for them the affection and respect of the
community.
The younger brother, Samuel, was an especial favorite with the children
of the place, whose explorations into his deep pockets were generally
rewarded by the discovery of some simple “sweet” or home-made toy. The
slender youth with the “nutcracker” face proving to be the merriest of
playfellows, in their love his little band of admirers gave him the pet
name of “Uncle Sam,” by which he quickly became known, to the exclusion
of his real name. This is the kindly and humble origin of a title the
mere speaking of which to-day quickens the pulse and moistens the eyes of
millions of Americans with the same thrill that the dear old flag arouses
when we catch sight of it, especially an unexpected glimpse in some
foreign land.
With increasing wealth the brickyard of the Wilson brothers was replaced
by an extensive slaughtering business, in which more than a hundred men
were soon employed—a vast establishment for that day, killing weekly some
thousand head of cattle. During the military operations of 1812 the
brothers signed a contract to furnish the troops at Greenbush with meat,
“packed in full bound barrels of white oak”; soon after, Samuel was
appointed Inspector of Provisions for the army.
It is a curious coincidence that England also should have taken an
ex-army-contractor as her patron saint, for if we are to believe
tradition, St. George of Cappadocia filled that position unsatisfactorily
before he passed through martyrdom to sainthood.
True prototype of the nation that was later to adopt him as its
godfather, the shrewd and honest patriot, “Uncle Sam,” not only lived
loyally up to his contracts, giving full measure and of his best, but
proved himself incorruptible, making it his business to see that others
too fulfilled their engagements both in the letter and the spirit; so
that the “U.S.” (abbreviation of United States) which he pencilled on all
provisions that had passed his inspection became in the eyes of officers
and soldiers a guarantee of excellence. Samuel’s old friends, the boys
of Troy (now enlisted in the army), naïvely imagining that the mystic
initials were an allusion to the pet name they had given him years
before, would accept no meats but “Uncle Sam’s,” murmuring if other
viands were offered them. Their comrades without inquiry followed this
example; until so strong did the prejudice for food marked “U.S.” become,
that other contractors, in order that their provisions should find favor
with the soldiers, took to announcing “Uncle Sam” brands.
To the greater part of the troops, ignorant (as are most Americans
to-day) of the real origin of this pseudonym, “Uncle Sam’s” beef and
bread meant merely government provisions, and the step from national
belongings to an impersonation of our country by an ideal “Uncle Sam” was
but a logical sequence.
In his vigorous old age, Samuel Wilson again lived on Mount Ida, near the
estates of the Warren family, where as children we were taken to visit
his house and hear anecdotes of the aged patriot’s hospitality and humor.
The honor in which he was held by the country-side, the influence for
good he exerted, and the informal tribunal he held, to which his
neighbors came to get their differences straightened out by his common
sense, are still talked of by the older inhabitants. One story in
particular used to charm our boyish ears. It was about a dispute over
land between the Livingstons and the Van Rensselaers, which was brought
to an end by “Uncle Sam’s” producing a barrel of old papers (confided to
him by both families during the war, for safe keeping) and extracting
from this original “strong box” title deeds to the property in
litigation.
Now, in these troubled times of ours, when rumors of war are again in the
air, one’s thoughts revert with pleasure to the half-mythical figure on
the threshold of the century, and to legends of the clear-eyed giant,
with the quizzical smile and the tender, loyal heart, whose life’s work
makes him a more lovable model and a nobler example to hold up before the
youth of to-day than all the mythological deities that ever disported
themselves on the original Mount Ida.
There is a singular fitness in this choice of “Uncle Sam” as our patron
saint, for to be honest and loyal and modest, to love little children, to
do one’s duty quietly in the heyday of life, and become a mediator in old
age, is to fulfil about the whole duty of man; and every patriotic heart
must wish the analogy may be long maintained, that our loved country,
like its prototype, may continue the protector of the feeble and a
peace-maker among nations.