multiplying their gardens and playgrounds, because it appreciates that the boy will one day be the man of the nation and the pillar of the homeland.
And here there comes to my mind the alert young man who emigrates from his country in search of work in foreign lands. If our young men expended in their own country the energy, diligence, and work they expend abroad, they would not need to leave the homeland; but they will not be persuaded by the facts, nor do they value the counsel given them by those who have had the experience. The field of work is wide, but it is for the young to knock at its doors and find it. When I went to South America, I carried with me the notion that the emigrant refuses to return to the homeland. But after meeting people and living there, I felt how hard it is to carry out such a resolve. For the man who has gathered his fortune by the sweat of his brow, or the man bound to the Mahjar by a wife and children who are citizens of those countries — such a man finds it very hard to forsake a country after he has taken it as a second homeland for himself and his children. And yet they yearn with a powerful yearning and greatly desire to visit the homeland, and they are not slow to fulfill that desire at the first opportunity that favors them. Upon the men of the legations there falls the responsibility of kindling this sentiment and that yearning, so that the bond may remain unbroken between Lebanon abroad and Lebanon at home."
Q — Can the diplomat's wife do her duty as mother and housewife and at the same time carry out her official functions?
"The Minister Plenipotentiary and his wife must belong to everyone alike, for every member of the community abroad looks upon the representative of his country as though he were the country entire. Upon the minister's wife in particular falls a great responsibility, for she is bound to be tactful and modest, treating everyone with equal treatment, and every movement she makes is watched. And this work in no way conflicts with
her first mission, which is caring for her home and her children.
We ourselves felt the community's sentiment toward the homeland in the feeling they showed in Argentina when they bought a splendid house to be the beloved piece of the mother country — so how would you have the minister and his wife answer such a sentiment? At the least with good welcome and hospitality, and by letting the members of the community truly feel that the house is their house, and that the ground on which it stands represents the homeland they love — nay, hold sacred. We were much envied by the other legations, not for the eminent material position our community enjoys, but for that sentiment they hold toward their country and the way they showed that feeling by presenting the legation building. It is, then, a gift whose importance is not confined to its material value, but lies in its being a symbol of the community's sentiment toward homeland and kin. This tenderness showed itself on the day of our farewell: emotion and yearning were plain on old and young alike, and the scene was truly moving — which
only deepens our attachment to our emigrant half."
Q — How do the people of Argentina treat the stranger?
"The life of the peoples of Latin America closely resembles our own, especially in what concerns the family, as we have said. And just as it is our custom to honor the guest and love the stranger, so it is theirs; a person never feels himself a stranger there at all."
Q — And what is your final remark to the ladies and daughters of the homeland?
"I call upon every lady to care for her home and her family before all else; in this she will have rendered the country the greatest service. For if she concerns herself with raising the rising generation in a sound national upbringing, she plants in their souls not only love of the homeland and concern for it, but accustoms them to the truth that understanding and love among all the sons of humanity bring individuals closer together and make peace prevail. And she must cooperate with the school in the training of her children, for instruction and culture alone are by no means enough."