At her house I met many distinguished women.  Mrs. J. F. Fields, the widow of the well-known author-publisher; Madame Blaine Bentzam, a writer for French reviews; Miss Sarah Ortne Jewett, one of the most charming of New England write is, and others.

My best work in Canada was the conversion to effective voting of my good friend Robert Tyson.  For years now he has done yeoman service in the cause, and has corresponded with workers all over the world on the question of electoral reform.  I visited Toronto, at the invitation of Mr. William Howland, with whom I had corresponded for years.  I was invited to dinner with his father, Sir William Howland, who was the first Lieutenant-Governor of Toronto after the federation of the Dominion.  I found it very difficult to remember the names of the many interesting people I met there, although I could recollect the things they spoke about.  Mr. Howland took me on with him to an evening garden party—­quite a novel form of entertainment for me—­where there were other interesting people.  One of these, a lady artist who had travelled all round the world, took me on the next afternoon to an at-home at Professor Goldwin Smith’s.  In a talk I had with this notable man he spoke of his strong desire that Canada should become absorbed in the States; but the feeling in Canada was adverse to such a change.  Still, you found Canadians everywhere, for many more men were educated than could find careers in the Dominion.  Sir Sandford Fleming, the most ardent proportionalist in Canada, left Toronto on his trip to New Zealand and Australia shortly after I arrived there.  I spent a few hours with him, and owed a great deal of my success in the Dominion to his influence.  I felt that I had done much good in Canada, and my time was so occupied that the only thing I missed was leisure.

Much of the time in New York was spent in interviews with the various papers.  I had a delightful few days at the house of Henry George, and both he and his wife did everything in their power to make my visit pleasant.  Indeed, everywhere in America I received the greatest kindness and consideration.  I had been 11 months in the States and Canada, and lived the strenuous life to the utmost.  I had delivered over 100 lectures, travelled thousands of miles, and met the most interesting people in the world.  I felt many regrets on parting with friends, comrades, sympathizers, and fellow-workers.  When I reflected that on my arrival in San Francisco I knew only two persons in America in the flesh, and only two more through correspondence, and was able to look back on the hundreds of people who had personally interested me, it seemed as if there was some animal magnetism in the world, and that affinities were drawn together as if by magic.

CHAPTER XVIII.

BRITAIN, THE CONTINENT, AND HOME AGAIN.