e difficult subjects; and then they did practical work
for their community. To-day that club is made up of many well-read women
of all ages who have acquired what may truly be called a liberal
education, and the whole neighborhood has been raised and enlightened by
what they have done for it in a hundred ways. And they had nothing more
to begin with than any group of women has under similar conditions. Any
woman who feels the need of a club can start one, and once started it
will grow of its own volition and justify its existence.

II--HOW TO START A RURAL CLUB

Let us suppose that some country woman decides to start a club. She is
not quite sure what steps to take, but she invites some of her neighbors
to meet with her and talk it over. Probably they will agree to begin
very simply, merely meeting once a week or so and reading aloud--feeling
their way to other things. This is the right sort of a beginning, for
in a very short time they will have gained sufficient confidence in
themselves to plan something better. At this point some one may suggest
that at the next meeting each woman shall bring in a written list of the
books she owns. When this is done it will probably be found that there
are many good ones to use. There will probably be a set of Dickens,
volumes of Longfellow, Tennyson, and Whittier, a few biographies,
including one of General Grant, a book or two of travel and scattered
volumes of all kinds, novels, histories, and school books, and possibly
an encyclopedia.

This list has great possibilities for club study, especially if there is
the encyclopedia, so essential for reference. With a very small
membership fee, perhaps five cents a month, one new book may be bought
every three months; with ten club members this can be done.

When the club is fairly going it may decide to select Dickens's novels
to study, as a sort of popular beginning; a simple plan of work would be
as follows:

Divide the club into committees of two, and to each give one novel to
read and thoroughly master. Meanwhile the president may study the life
of Dickens. If she has no book to use she should write to the State
Librarian and try to secure a traveling library with this and other
needed books in it; or at least she may get, if not a library, one or
two volumes, sent by mail. At the first regular meeting she should give
a sketch of Dickens's life and show any pictures of the author in the
book. She should also try to find in a