THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN.* ALL these three books approach
their different subjects from the feminist point of view, and together (if allowance is made for the inevitable effects of political bias) they form an instructive summary of the social development of woman and the problems which that development has gradually brought into being. Of the three volumes Mr. Schuster's covers the widest field and takes, on the whole, the broadest view. Unfortunately the form of it militates to some extent against its usefulness. The substance of the book was origin- ally delivered as a lecture, and it still bears traces of its origin, sacrificing compression and thoroughness for an illusive ease and perspicuity of manner which seem now and then to conceal definitely false conclusions. Thus it is difficult to agree with Mr. Schuster's pronouncements as to the state of women in classical Athens. For be maintains that although their posi- tion was in theory one of absolute seclusion and dependence, in practice intellect and character were always able to take their proper rank ; and he dismisses as unsupported by authority of any solidity the view which attributes to the Hetairai the position that should have been the wife's. There is no space here to indulge in quotation, but it would be easy to show that there is more authority for the traditional views on these subjects than Mr. Schuster has been able to array against them. The chapters on Rome and the Canon Law are of greater value, and in particular the writer brings out clearly with regard to the latter the real service which the Church rendered to the institution of marriage in making it a religious act, and one of agreement between the actual parties, instead of a mere legal transaction between the bridegroom and the bride's father. The general chapters at the end of the book, which deal with the social position and prospects of the institution of marriage, are also notable for a common sense and humanity which is unhappily rare among the more enthusiastic class of feminist advocates. Mr. Kitchin's book is much more limited in scope and detailed in treatment than Mr. Schuster's, and in so far as it deals with facts it is clear and interesting, and supplies a summary which no other English writer has yet reduced to so neat and compendious a form. Unfortunately Mr. Kitchin's opinions are more questionable than his facts, and he is sadly apt to confuse fact and opinion. He has nothing to say for the Canon Law, and looks back to the days of the Roman Empire, when marriage was dissoluble at will like an ordinary contract, as (legally) the golden age of the institution. Nowhere, however, does he really face the question as to what effect this view of marriage really bad on domestic life and morality. He refuses to see that marriage, like all other really important evolutions, is not to be comprehended in any strictly logical system. The achievement of the Church in raising the status of the institution he entirely overlooks. In his view the retention of Canon Law principles after the Reformation was entirely due to a mixture of senseless • (1) The Wife in Ansient and Modern Times. By E. J. Sohuster. London : Williams and Norgnte. [4-!. 6(1. net.]—(2) 4 History of Divorce. By S. B. Kitehin. London Chapman and Hail. [7s. 6d. net. J—(3) The Politica/ Status of Women in the United States. By Bertha Rembo.ugh. Introduction by Sarrtet Stanton Blatch. London : G. P. Butnara's Sons. [Ss. net.] bibliolatry and ecclesiastical ambition. It never occurs to him that these principles were allowed to survive because they did, in fact, suit the conditions of society at the time, any more than it occurs to him to inquire whether the system of dissolution by consent at which he aims is really suitable to the conditions of present-day society. That the tendency of public opinion and of legislation has been towards a greater freedom in these matters is not to be denied, nor can one gainsay that legislation here, as elsewhere, tends rather to lag behind opinion in the race. One must further admit that even in the most up-to-date systems considerable con- fusion and inconsequence still prevail. A glance at Miss Rembaugh's useful compilation is enough to convince one of this. "The political position of women in the United States," says the introduction, "is a chaos of contradictions." Her political and social capacities vary with the varying laws of every State, and the State laws of divorce vary as widely. One may lament the lack of logic which the confusion denotes, but one should also recognize that this very quality is proof conclusive that the world is not yet ripe for a logical solution of its difficulties. Who can foretell the years of ponderous evolution that lie between us and so desirable an end ?
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