Then I tried to tell them what English women did--how they bore it all; and just worked and smiled and helped their sons when they came from America. You here in Plymouth know all about that, for you did it so well. You bound many a Yankee with your West Country kindliness. They won’t forget. I went back and reminded them that English Kings found out in 1214 at Runnymede what the Kaiser only discovered in 1918. I reminded them that long before they set sail to settle America, Englishmen were fighting for freedom. They let me say all this, and they listened and were very kind. And so we travelled far and wide, the two Plymouth M. P.’s of the Upper and Lower Houses. The Member of the Upper House was a far greater success than the member of the Lower House. They were slightly prepared for my democratic outlook, but they were totally unprepared for his. Imagine their surprise when they found him more progressive and democratic than most of the people that they saw about them. Before I leave America, I must tell you that my welcome in Virginia was best of all--Virginia, England’s first child and my first home. All I can tell you here at Plymouth about Virginia is this: I got a Plymouth man a job in Virginia, and I saw him when I got back home and he said: “Lady Astor, you are right about Virginia. I didn’t feel a bit away from Devon here. It’s just like home.” And so I feel about Plymouth. It, too, to me is just like home. There’s the same sort of naturalness about Virginians as there is about Devonians. We both have fine traditions, and perhaps we are both a little slow. The rest of the countries may pick out many faults in us, but they can also pick out many pages of history that would not have been written without us. We went from New York to Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Virginia, then Chicago--a wonderful place--and everywhere we found a great spirit of hope. It really seems a land of hope. Then we went to Canada. Everyone in Canada was kind, from the Prime Minister down, and most of my friends were down. They appeared all along the railway on the train from Ottawa to Montreal. When I was trying to rest a bit I heard at a wayside station two familiar voices--“Hurry up and come out, Mrs. Astor, we’ve come a long way to see you.” There they were--two of the Canadian soldiers from the Hospital at Cliveden. Virginia and Canada did give me a very personal kind of welcome; so much so that I can’t really speak of it, but I told them I realised that in thanking me, they were just thanking all the women of England who had worked so hard for their sons.