284 



The Review of Reviews. 



September 1, 190S. 



human life that a state ot aflairs might very well follow 

 which, later on, would necessitate, for its amelioration, just 

 such a huge upward effort as Darwin discerned and de- 

 scribed. . . . One can readily imagine that, if the Creator 

 of our universe is indeed a dual Being, feminine and mas- 

 culine in nature, as is clearly indicated in the Bible, and 

 if the unfallen woman was a direct emanation from the 

 feminine side of God, and was expressly charged to convey 

 to the world the glory, the tenderness, the beauty, resideiit 

 in that side of the Divine — one can easily believe that, if 

 this is so. any definite deterioration of the soul-structure 

 of woman, .any pervasion of her being by lower magnetic 

 currents, would bring about a disaster almost inconceiv- 

 able in its magnitude. 



This is an application of the principle clicrches la 

 femmc on a colossal scale ! It is next said to supply 

 the central doctrine of the Christian religion : — 



We can infer that the fall of woman may have made the 

 Incarnation a. necessity, as a sort of Divine counter-stroke. 

 We are, in fact, brought back in a very curious way, 

 thiough what may be termed the theology of science, to 

 something resembling the theology of Milton. 



SHELLEY'S INSIGHT. 



Shelley's idea of woman, he goes on to say, was 

 always of the unfallen woman : — 



He never saw woman aa she really is. He met the eyes 

 of the unfallen Eve. and did not realise the significance of 

 the change that has taken place. He did not understand 

 that woman, having once allowed a lower magnetism to 

 possess and dominate her. henceforth operated only partly 

 as the a<'credited messenger from the Host High— partly 

 also as the skilful and subtle exponent of dangerous and 

 destructive forces. 



Yet. the mystic proceeds: — 



Love, even as the poets conceive it. is a weak and frail 

 thing compared to the spiritual reality. There is, some- 

 where in tlie universe, a sex-love, unspeakable in its purity, 

 inconceivable in its intensity, and a joy of which we can 

 hardly dare to dream. 



VISION OF WOMAN RESTORED. 



So he finds the sex problem becomes more easy 

 to understand. He closes with an enraptured vision 

 of what is yet to be : — 



It is well also to bear in mind that if, as I have been 

 suggesting, the shock of the Fall of Woman was felt 

 throughout the whole material universe, that whole uni- 

 verse, on the other hand, would instantly be thrilled into 

 diviner life by her redemption and restoration. 



There is not a single star throughout the measureless 

 ree-ions past which the star-r.iys travel; not one smallest 

 blossom amid the unending multitude of flowers whose scent 

 each summer fills forest upon forest, meadow after meadow, 

 hili-side beyond hill-side; not one bluest wavelet among the 

 innumerable ripples ot lake or river or sea ; there is not 

 one of these which will not in some way, not merely meta- 

 phorical but strangely literal, respond to the sceptre of 

 woman the slave when she becomes woman the queen. No 

 lily can win its noblest whiteness, no iris its true royal 

 purple, no rose its most passionate perfume, till woman 

 herself is restored to her rightful empire. For only with 

 the eye ot love can we discern the glory of the outward 

 universe: th.at glory resides not in material things, but in 

 our loving apprehension ot them. It is the human passion 

 of love tba*. bestows its passionate beauty upon rose and 

 lily, its golden splendour upon sun and star, and to create 

 and sustain that passion of noble love in the heart of 

 humanity is, and will ever increasingly be, the prerogative 

 of woman. 



Mr. 



CAMPING OUT. 



Why P.ay Rent or Hotel Bills? 

 R. T. Mecredy, in Fry^s Magasine for July, 



tains that it is cheaper and healthier to live in tents. 

 He says : — 



Take the case of a man of moderate means. If he is a 

 bachelor, he could rent a tiny plot ot ground tor a few 

 pouniis a year and erect a small marquee such as mine, 

 measuring 10 ft. long by 9 ft. wide, by 9 ft. high, which 

 I purchased for the sum of £5 from Messrs. Saunders and 

 Son, of Wisbech. This he could use as his sleeping apart- 

 ment. To this should be added a small wooden room, which 

 he could use for a combined kitchen and sitting-room, with 

 a primitive lavatory attached. The whole cost would be 

 trifling when divided over a term of years, and if he wished 

 to entertain friends, it would only be necessary to erect 

 another tent. 



In the case ot a married man with a family the idea 

 could be amplified. Instead of merely existing in a wretched, 

 over-crowded, stuffy house, he and bis family would have 

 ample elbow-room, unlimited. i)ure. fresh air. and enjoy 

 sucli robust health that any trifling hardships that such a 

 life might entail would make no impression on the sum of 

 their happiness and contentment. 



He asserts in the most positive fashion that there 

 is no such thing as catching cold even when you 

 sleep with the tent door wide open in the midst of a 

 snowstorm. Quoting his own experience, he says 

 that his wife, who was always susceptible to colds — 



p;tssed the winter without catching a severe cold, and per- 

 sonally I found that I was able to continue wearing my 

 summer clothes all the winter through without discomfort 

 or risk- I also found that it increased my iivailable day 

 by at least one and a half hours, for sleep under canvaa 

 is so sound and refreshing that the man who retires at 11 

 p.m. awakes at aboitt 6.30 a.m. so fresh and alert that he 

 has no inclination to lie longer. 



A camping outfit for two cyclists weighs between 10 lbs. 

 anti 12 lbs. Tliis includes a tent, measuring about 6 ft. 

 6 in. in length and 5 ft. 9 in. in breadth, and weighing less 

 than 3 lbs., poles of the lightest bamboo, a gossamer rubber 

 ground-sheet, an eiderdown quilt, a baby Primus stove, and 

 an aluminium cooking outfit, consisting ot two good-sized 

 pots, two pans. cups, plates, spoons, knives and forks, etc. 

 With a silk tent ot the wigwam type this outfit can be 

 further reduced by about IJ lbs. With such an outfit the 

 cyclist is independent of inns, trains, wind, and weather. 

 He is a genuine gipsy living in comparative comfort at a 

 cost of from Is. to 2s. per day, according to his taste. 



Readers who desire to occupy the Hollybush Tents, 

 Ha\ ling Island, this summer, are requested to appl\ 

 by letter to Mrs. Stead, 5 Smith Square, West- 

 minster. 



asks this question in all serious earnest. He main- 



" MUCK=RAKING " AS A PROFESSION. 



Mr. Maurice Low's article on "American Affairs " 

 in the current yaiional Review contains the follow'ng 

 passage: — 



What with the lite insxirance scandals, the crimes of the 

 meat packers, the " graft " disclosures affecting the Penn- 

 sylvania Railway Company, and the predatory methods of 

 the Standard Oil Company, " muck raking " ceases to be a 

 term of repro:ich, and becomes a recognised and honoured 

 profession. For everyone, from the President down, is now 

 engaged in muck raking, not because it is a pastime to 

 appeal to the cultivated taste, but because it is necessary. 

 Mr. Roosevelt has delved deep into the muck ot the Chicago 

 stock-yards, the Inter-State Commerce Commission has un- 

 covered the Pennyslvauia Railway's code of ethics: another 

 Government Commission is writing one ot those extraor- 

 dinary chapters that constitutes the literature ot the Stan- 

 dard Oil; an investigation of the Burlington Railroad has 

 shown the close connection between bribery and railroad 

 management. 



