She brought many
passengers to the young metropolis, the majority of whom came with the
intention of seeking fortunes in this land of promise.
Among them was a young Irishman who had left his home in his native land
to seek in America the means of bettering his condition. This was
ALEXANDER T. STEWART. He was the son of Scotch-Irish parents, and was
born in Belfast in 1802. Being only three years old when his father
died, his grandfather took charge of him, and proved a kind and
judicious guardian. As he was designed for the ministry by his relative,
and as his own tastes inclined him to that profession, he was given a
good common school education, and placed at college, where he made
favorable progress in his class. He was particularly successful in the
classics, and is said to retain his relish for them at the present day.
During his second term his grandfather died, and he was by this event
obliged to leave college. Abandoning the idea of entering the ministry,
he embarked for America, determined to make a fortune in the New World.
He came sufficiently supplied with ready money to insure him against
immediate want, and with letters of introduction which at once secured
him an excellent social position.
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