The Press., 1893-01-26
W. c. T. U. DEPARTMENT.
Lady Henry Somerset's Farewell.

=. O. AOuIOhiO3 tNOW 1OIk, hpEu To, lo5S l To tbe WHite Ribbon Arnay.:
 1 Dear Sisters and Comrades This let
 ter will reach you when I have left the
 land have learned to love so we'll The
 great Atlantic losses her gigantic pillows,
 and fathomless seas will soon roll between
 us; but "hearts are near, though hearts
 are far;" and my heart is bound by cords
 far stronger than the wires along which
 are whispered messages from the old
 world to the new-the cable of love that
 is anchored in heaven. The ship on which
 l crossed the sea had barely arrived in
 port before knew that in your land, then
 strange to me, but now so homelike, there
 were hands held out to greet me, that the
 cause which brought me to your shores
 was my passport to your confidence and
 love; and the welcome and white flowers,
 the words of greeting, the waving banners
 of our nations intertwined, were tokens
 telling me that all I had hoped and prayed
 to find among my sisters here was to be
 more than realized. A letter from your
 president also reached me. Her valued
 words had been treasured by me, since on
 the occasion of my becoming president of the British Women's Temperance Asso- citation she wrote me her first letter, a
 message which have preserved in Eng
 land among my most valued documents
 The first telegram I sent on my arrival
 was to- her, in response to her loving
 words, and was unerringly prophetic,
 'Your welcome makes America home."
 1t has been said that I am writing a
 book concerning my impressions of Amer ica. Nothing could be further from the truth. I came not to teach, but to be taught; and though you have graciously said. many times that can but believe you must have meant it, that had been help to you-it is you who have helped inspire and strengthen me. But, con- corning my impressions, I may tell you quite confidentially that the intelligence and education of your wage workers, the remarkable acumen and versatile acquire ments of your women, the universality of the cold-water dinner table, the freedom and courtesy of the press, the progressive quality of mems minds, so that they seem to take as a matter of course that women are equals, the way in which American. men share with their wives the cares of home and children, the independence of young women in the general condaaSncf life, and especially the pursuit of a voea- finn rafhar fbop a attall to the prejudice of their finding that husband-the good comradeship between young men and women, boys and gi,ls, the almost universal sobriety of women- these, with the boun6less distances. rapid -transits, and the varied seefqhery, have i'm pressed me beyond any other character lstles of this happy country of the Larger Hope. In some respects my own dear land excels you, even in the particular that is your most striking quality-pro- gressive thought. I make no plea for the superiority of our own government, but I merely state that it has given us a far more rapid and accurate postal service, and railways much less destructive to hu- man life, although they do not provide the comfort and the luxury that I find in this country.
 The smoking car on your trains seems to me degradation. have been obliged to pass through it several times, and grieve that card playing is permitted-a thing strictly prohibited on English rail- ways. It is sad to see how this demoral- lzing atmosphere has blinded the occu- pants, so that the uncleanly floor and the slckening air are not distasteful to them stunted manhood must result from the national custom that this ''black hole of Calcutta" car illustrates
 The fact that our telegraphic system is under government control is of inesti- mable value to our people. We can send twelve words for twelve cents to any part of the United Kingdom. Our civil service being wholly divorced from politics, is in every way more satisfactory. It is incon- ceivable to me that any people so intelli- gent as the American, should patiently put up with changing every local post master with every change of president. You are ahead of us, however, in that your civil service examinations are more widely open to women. One of the differ ences between our countries which seems to me most in our favor, is the far greater interest taken by English women in pol itics, local and general. They understand the questions of the day, and are by that much better fitted to be the companions of their husbands and sons As a result of this domestic aspect of political quest ions, men of better class go in political life with us, than is, judge, the case with you. In this there is immense advantage to the well being of the country; and if I might make one suggestion to those whose mode Of life has been so eloquently sug- gestive to me, would beseech good wom en everywhere to give conscientious study to these public questions in the munici- pality, the state and the nation. For 1 believe that with the participation of wom- en in government, the good of the people (which means the coming of Christ into the laws of the nation) is inextricably blended. The white-ribboners have served their country beyond telling, by bringing these sacred questions of human veal to the hearts and hearthstones of the people. It is my solemn conviction that with all this better understanding as to the real mission of politics, shall come the greater and more Christian America for which we hope and pray. Perhaps the mother coun- try may do you greatest service by prov ing that the participation of women in government will be surer solution of our social problems; for we are practically certain to precede you in putting to test