there in 1881; that was, the one containing the "jubilee gifts of
1897," when hearts and hands must have been emptied in making these
royal presents. The treasures of India were there, those of Afric's
sunny shores, and from every nation and every tribe that acknowledged
Victoria. Queen and empress, each and all, poured forth their trophies
at her feet. Her stables were shown us, well stocked with thoroughbred
steeds from far off Arabia and the Shetland Isles.

"Time and tide waits for no man," and we are booked for the "Augusta
Victoria," that sails April ----, 1896. Some love to roam, but I like it
better when I am nearer home. Our trip across the Atlantic is not what
we hoped for, and a choppy sea with an occasional swell made us feel
uncomfortable. I had the pleasure in Paris of making the acquaintance of
a gentleman, wife and young lady daughter, who invited me to return to
America in their company, and seldom, if ever, has it been my lot to
have my lines cast among more delightful people than they and, although
our homes are far apart, my heart often goes out to them.

When our own home port is sighted and the sensation the appearance of a
custom-house officer always creates is over, and the welcome "O. K." is
visible on our luggage, we feel like taking off our chapeau to "Liberty
Enlightening the World."

It is midnight when we land on the Jersey shore, and the gallant
captain, no less courteous on land than on sea, bids us return to our
cabins and rest, when we have obeyed our country's mandate, the custom
house officer.

A hasty breakfast and a few good-byes are spoken, and my heart swells
within me, as I spring from the gang-plank to the shore, and the lines

"My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above,"

seem to express all and more than all that I could say.

A short stay of a few hours in New York, and an uneventful trip on the
New York Central Railroad brought me into Chicago, where those nearest
and dearest to me were in waiting to bid me welcome home. And now in
closing, my dear children, I will say: "That if the work I have done in
leaving you these impressions and footprints, gives the pleasure hoped
for, I will feel compensated, notwithstanding I have labored when the
flesh was weak and my vision clouded. When you have reached my age