follow out this
suggestion in reading his books.

Read from the novels mentioned; note the strength of Jehan and the
subtlety of Mary. Read also from his three delightful out-of-door
stories of to-day, Half-Way House, Open Country, and Rest Harrow.
Compare the descriptions of scenery in England, Scotland, France and
Italy.

III--MRS. HUMPHRY WARD

Mrs. Humphry Ward, born of English parents in Tasmania in 1851, lived in
Oxford and was educated in the Lake Country. The granddaughter of Thomas
Arnold of Rugby, and the niece of Matthew Arnold, she inherited a strong
moral sense which was increased by the atmosphere of her home, and grew
up feeling that life was full of ethical problems. She married an Oxford
tutor, moved to London, wrote reviews, translated Amiel's Journal into
English, and then in 1888 wrote her first novel, Robert Elsmere, a
brilliant presentation of the religious difficulties of a young
clergyman, leading to his abandonment of orthodoxy. It attracted so much
attention that Gladstone thought it worth his while to review it and
combat its views.

She wrote later The History of David Grieve, contrasting the spiritual
development of a brother and a sister. This is called her most vital
book. Marcella, her most powerful book, deals with the problem of
socialism in England. Then came Sir George Tressady, Eleanor, Lady
Rose's Daughter, Fenwick's Career, and others. Her later books, if more
finished, lack the strength of her earlier.

Mrs. Ward has often been compared with George Eliot; clubs will find it
interesting to note resemblances and differences and compare heroines
and plots. Which of the two best concealed the moral purpose both used
as the theme of their books? Read from several of Mrs. Ward's earlier
volumes and also some selections from George Eliot's Adam Bede and
Romola. Discuss the sense of humor shown by the two authors.

IV--HALL CAINE

Hall Caine, though of Manx descent, was born in Cheshire in 1853, but he
has always seemed less of an Englishman than a Manxman. His stories all
have the atmosphere of the little Isle of Man, and his plots are laid
there. Yet he lived in London as architect, journalist, novelist, and
dramatist. There is much that is interesting about his life, especially
the year that he spent with Rossetti.

His best books are The Shadow of a Crime, The Deemster, The Bondman, The
Scapegoat, and The Christian. In all of them there is a definite
somberness, a notic