WORCESTER V. WORCESTER • [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sim,—Some of your readers may be glad to hear of the success which has crowned the efforts of the Worcester County (Mass.) Sportsmanship Brotherhood in sending over an amateur team of Association football players to engage in a series of matches in Worcestershire, England. The Prime Minister, who is a member of the Fellowship, sent the men a message of welcome while they were still on board the Samaria.' The main object of the experiment—i.e., the establishment of better relations between Englishmen and Americans—has been fulfilled beyond what any member of the Worcester County Sports- manship Brotherhood would have considered possible. Although the men lost every game they played, they have made a multitude of friends wherever they went, and they will carry home with them golden memories of their sojourn. One of the men told me that he had the happiest time in all his life. Several players have noted down various incidents of their trip, and will deliver a lecture on the subject when they reach their home in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is to be borne in mind that all the players were working men who would otherwise have had little chance of making themselves acquainted with what England really stands for.
This is the first time that any attempt has been made for the actual personal acquaintance of English and American citizens who in ordinary circumstances would stay at home and attend to their own affairs. Now that it has been done— and done most successfully—we urge other counties both in England and America to follow our example. In the words of the American Ambassador, Mr. Houghton, who was present at the preliminary banquet in Worcester, nothing but good can come from such visits, and may I add that the more counties that engage in this undertaking the greater the good that can be done ?—I am, Sir, dec.,
HENRY HARMON CHAMBERLAIN.
Slanmore Court, St. James's Street.
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