AUGUST 433 



great, it may be an excessive, value on success. It dis- 

 tressed him to see his pupils making a mess of life. He 

 wished them to take their part in the work of their 

 generation with energy and effect. And yet one of his 

 pupils writes, 'that it was Jowett, as much as anyone, 

 who taught me that work, not success, made life worth 

 living.' I quote this here in my chapter to young 

 women, though it is intended for men, because it applies 

 equally to women, and has a cheerful ring. Women's 

 work is seldom crowned with success, but it is always 

 there in some shape or another, ready for them to take 

 up ; and if they do so the result, if there is none other, 

 will at least be the strengthening and improving of 

 their own lives, not by escaping their trials, but by 

 learning to bear them better. 



Goethe says : ' Everything that happens to us leaves 

 some trace behind ; everything contributes impercep- 

 tibly to make us what we are. Yet it is often dangerous 

 to take a strict account of it. For either we grow 

 proud and negligent, or downcast and dispirited ; and 

 both are equally injurious in their consequences. The 

 surest plan is just to do the nearest task that lies 

 before us.' 



I do not believe the state of mind which improves a 

 woman's character ever comes without some intellectual 

 effort. Most women of a certain type generally fly to 

 music and desultory reading. Both these may be turned 

 to serious use. Both may be only another form of the 

 excitement which brings on reaction. Drawing and art 

 were the saving of me. The creative work and the 

 endless intellectual ramifications independent of — in 

 fact, active against — a society life made drawing most 

 useful to me. It does not much matter what the occu- 

 pation is, so long as it is a mental gymnastic — some- 

 thing which stretches and strengthens the mind, and 



BB 



