that Nature has almost become to the
novelist what light and shade are to the painter--the one permanent
element of style; and if the power of A Village Tragedy be due to its
portrayal of human life, no small portion of its charm comes from its
Theocritean setting.

* * * * *

It is, however, not merely in fiction and in poetry that the women of
this century are making their mark. Their appearance amongst the
prominent speakers at the Church Congress, some weeks ago, was in itself
a very remarkable proof of the growing influence of women's opinions on
all matters connected with the elevation of our national life, and the
amelioration of our social conditions. When the Bishops left the
platform to their wives, it may be said that a new era began, and the
change will, no doubt, be productive of much good. The Apostolic dictum,
that women should not be suffered to teach, is no longer applicable to a
society such as ours, with its solidarity of interests, its recognition
of natural rights, and its universal education, however suitable it may
have been to the Greek cities under Roman rule. Nothing in the United
States struck me more than the fact that the remarkable intellectual
progress of that country is very largely due to the efforts of American
women, who edit many of the most powerful magazines and newspapers, take
part in the discussion of every question of public interest, and exercise
an important influence upon the growth and tendencies of literature and
art. Indeed, the women of America are the one class in the community
that enjoys that leisure which is so necessary for culture. The men are,
as a rule, so absorbed in business, that the task of bringing some
element of form into the chaos of daily life is left almost entirely to
the opposite sex, and an eminent Bostonian once assured me that in the
twentieth century the whole culture of his country would be in
petticoats. By that time, however, it is probable that the dress of the
two sexes will be assimilated, as similarity of costume always follows
similarity of pursuits.

* * * * *

In a recent article in La France, M. Sarcey puts this point very well.
The further we advance, he says, the more apparent does it become that
women are to take their share as bread-winners in the world. The task is
no longer monopolised by men, and will, perhaps, be equally shared by the
sexes in another hundred years. It will be necessary, however, for women
to invent