Review of Eeviews, l/i/13. 



M. RAYMOND PO I SCARE. 



191 



and eventually was charged with the re- 

 port of the Budget investigations — a 

 sure sign that the young deputy was 

 marked out for office. 



" And so it proved. He was given 

 the portfolio of Public Instruction in 

 M. Dupuy's Cabinet in 1894. ^hen took 

 over the finances, and afterwards re- 

 turned to his original ministerial post 

 under M. Ribot in 1895. Three Cabi- 

 net offices in less than two years. 



" For fifteen years after this, although 

 he remained in Parliament, his political 

 career attracted no attention. He 

 reached the Senate, it is true, at forty- 

 three, and introduced a form of income 

 tax which a grateful people knows has 

 not )^et become law. He has since been 

 elected to the Academie Fran(;aise. It 

 was not until twelve months ago, when 



he came out as such a strong critic of 

 the Morocco Treaty, that he made the 

 reputation for himself which, with 

 ability to back it up, has secured his 

 election to the Presidency of the French 

 Republic." 



FRENCHMEN, FIRST AND LAST. 

 The keynote of M. Poincare is one of 

 trium])hant and confident optimism in 

 the present and future of his country. 

 He is the sounding-board of the French 

 nation, and his creeci, as theirs, is 

 summed up in these words: — 



" You v.ill love humanity . . . 

 but this will not make you forget that 

 side of humanity, the most choice, the 

 most intense, and the most dear — the 

 Fatherland. You zvill be men; you 

 iiuist be before all tilings F renchnienP'' 



WELLS ON MARRIAGE. 



Marriage. By H. G. Wells. (Duffield, 



N.Y.) 



Of the numerous novels recently 

 U'ntten on the subject of the relation of 

 the sexes, Mr. H. G. Wells' " Marriage" 

 is surely the most brilliant, and the 

 least effective. As a picture, graphic 

 though unsympathetic, of contem- 

 porary British middle-class life, as an 

 exposition of human nature, as an en- 

 tertaining narrative, it is excellent. But 

 as propaganda for any belief, or as a 

 study of social conditions, it is value- 

 less. The heroine, who comes from a 

 bourgeois family similar to that of Ann 

 Veronica, but is inferior to her in intel- 

 lect and training, marries a young scien- 

 tist. His wife's extravagance hinders 

 the young scientists's studies, and while 

 making a fortune to satisfy her de- 

 mands, he becomes estranged from her. 

 Family peace is restored only after the 

 unhappy couple have spent a winter in 

 Labrador, away from all the worries of 

 civilisation — including their children. 

 Of course, a trip to Labrador is not a 

 readily available cure for matrimonial 

 difficulties. Mr. Wells has, for once, no 

 remedy to offer, he is merely telling a 

 story. And he does it very well. This 

 is the best thing he has written since 

 " Kipps." 



DIVORCE, A REWARD OF 

 VIRTUE ! 



T/ic MoUi. By William Dana Orcutt. 



(Harpers.) 



This is supposed to be a defence of 

 convention, a demonstration of the dan- 

 ger w'hich comes from the mere appear- 

 ance of evil. The Wo\\\ is Lucy Spen- 

 cer, a wealthy \'oung matron with an 

 innocent delight in masculine friend- 

 ships. Fler husband is a drunkard, and 

 she seeks a refuge from her unpleasant 

 home-life in dinner parties, motor-rides, 

 cocktails, and cigarettes. Her indiscre- 

 tions nearly bring on a divorce suit, and 

 endanger the good name of Cunning- 

 ham, a lawyer who has, with his wife's 

 aid, been endeavouring to teach Lucy 

 the foil)' of deliberately antagonising 

 public opinion. She learns her lesson, 

 and shows admirable courage and 

 strength of mind. So far this is all 

 very well, but the ultra-modern climax, 

 makes Mr. Orcutt's story very funn)- in- 

 deed. In the old tales it was a mar- 

 riage that repaid the heroine's patience 

 and faithfulness — "they lived happily 

 ever after " was the old tag. But Mr. 

 Orcutt, after making his heroine demon- 

 strate how very good she can be when 

 she tries, gives her, as a reward of vir- 

 tue, a divorce ! 



