For the first time in his life he feels that he can do whatever he pleases
without restraint, and that he can talk freely to people without fear.
When he takes up a newspaper and reads statements about different persons
in high positions which are not at all creditable to them,
and learns that no serious consequences happen to the writers,
he is lost in wonderment. After a little time he begins to understand
that this is the "land of the free and the home of the brave",
and that in America everybody is on an equality. The President,
the highest official in the United States, is neither more nor less
than a citizen; and should he, which is very unlikely, commit an offense,
or do anything in contravention of the law, he would be tried in
a Court of Justice in the same manner as the lowest and the poorest citizen.
Naturally the new visitor thinks this the happiest people on earth,
and wishes that his own country could be governed as happily.
Until that lucky day arrives he feels that he would rather
stay in free America than return to his native land.
One of the first lessons which is learned by the American child in school,
and which is deeply impressed on its mind by its teacher,
is that according to the Constitution all persons are born equal,
and that no distinction is made between sections, classes, or sects.
No slaves, or persons under bonds, have been allowed in the United States
since the abolition of slavery by President Lincoln. The moment a slave,
or anyone in bonds, steps on the shores of the United States he is free,
and no one, not even his former master, can deprive him of his liberty.
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