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REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



September 1, 191 S^ 



Mrs. Gallichan then proceeds to con- 

 sider the status of. woman on the great 

 empires of antiquity, beginning with 

 Egypt, Greece and Rome. Interesting 

 excerpts are given from old Egyptian 

 writings : — 



If thou would'st be a wise man, rule thy 

 house and love thy wife wholly and con- 

 stantly. Feed her and clothe her, love her 

 tenderly, and fulfil her desires as long as 

 thou livest, for she is an estate which con- 

 ferreth gi-eat reward upon her lord. Be not 

 hard to her, for she will be more easily moved 

 by persuasion than by force. Observe what 

 she wisheth, and that on which her mind 

 runneth ; thereby shalt thou make her to 

 stay in thy house. If thou resisteth her will, 

 it is ruin. 



Do not treat rudely a woman in heir house 

 when you know her perfectly ; do not say to 

 her. "Where is that? bring it to me!" when 

 she has set it in its place where your eye sees 

 it; and when you are silent you know her 

 qualities. It is a joy that your hand should 

 be with her. The man who is fond of heart 

 is quickly master in his house. 



Going from her study of these manu- 

 scripts to a study of the figures in the 

 Egyptian galleries, the strange fact 

 struck Mrs. Gallichan that it is often 



difficult to decide whether a statue re- 

 presents a man or a woman, and asks 

 whether the Eg\^ptian husband and wife 

 have solved a secret which we yet are 

 searching out. 



It is impossible to examine into " The 

 Truth About Woman " without the mar- 

 riage question coming very strongly to 

 the fore, and the author states quite 

 clearly her belief that the ideal perman- 

 ent marriage between one woman and 

 one man, to last for the life of both, 

 must persist as an ideal never to be lost ; 

 yet it is but a base counterfeit of mono- 

 gamy, which is accepted and practised 

 by many among us to-day. Our mar- 

 riage s}'stem is buttressed with prostitu- 

 tion, but it would be a very great mis- 

 take to rid marriage from all legal 

 bonds. As regards woman's political 

 freedom she says : — " Freedom carries 

 with it the acceptance of responsibility. 

 Women must accept this : they are work- 

 ing toward it. . . . It is to go on 

 with man, and not to get front vmn, that 

 is the goal of woman's freedom." 



THE MOST USEFUL BOOK IN AUSTRALIA. 



The Official Year Book of the Com- 

 monwealth has become an absolute 

 necessity to every politician, public man, 

 business man, and, indeed, no one who 

 wants to know what is going on in the 

 Commonwealth can possibly do without 

 it. Each volume — this is No 6 — issued 

 by Mr. Knibbs is more comprehensive, 

 more practical, and more useful than the 

 last. The present book contains 1236 

 pages, every one packed with carefully- 

 collected information, checked and re- 

 checked on the weird machines which 

 the famous statistician has under his 

 command. Not only is there an im- 

 mense amount of information given, any 

 item can be quickly found. The index 

 is copious and well arranged — as one 

 would expect, indeed. Condensation 

 has been brought to a fine art here, yet 



enough is always 



given. 



Although 



published at the end of June, it yet con- 

 tains the results of the voting at the 

 general election on 21st May, and the 

 Referenda are also included. In other 

 respects it is equally up to date. Many 

 maps and graphs illumine its pages. A 

 useful supplementary index enables 

 reference to be made to the whole of the 

 special articles which have appeared in 

 previous issues. These cover items of 

 interest, like Australian Fauna, Flora, 

 Geological and Geographical features, 

 as well as accounts of the Aborigines, 

 and of Australian exploration. Alto- 

 gether Mr. Knibbs has scope in the year 

 book for his versatile genius, though it 

 is not here that we can find any of his 

 verses. These, though, are being pub- 

 lished in England, and will discover 

 our statistical expert as a human 

 poet ! 



