ISH NOVELISTS 207
XV. ENGLISH NOVELISTS OF TO-DAY 221
XVI. THE GILDED AGE OF LOUIS XIV. 236
XVII. FORESTRY 250
XVIII. SHAKESPEARE 257
XIX. THE EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN 273
XX. IMPORTANT MOVEMENTS OF OUR TIMES 281
XXI. THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD 297
XXII. MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS 309

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

HOW TO BEGIN CLUB WORK

The time has long since passed when a special plea is needed for the
existence of women's clubs, for actual demonstration has proved their
worth to the individual and to society. Multitudes of women on farms, on
remote ranches, in little villages, in great cities, have felt their
impetus to a broader and more useful life. They have instructed those of
limited education; they have given a wider horizon to those hemmed in by
circumstance; they have trained the timid to speak, and, of late years,
they have prepared the way for women of leisure and influence to take up
what is called "the larger housekeeping," the bettering of social and
civic conditions.

But many women to-day still feel a certain timidity about venturing to
start a club, and an inability to make out a consistent line of study.
They have a lingering idea that it is all difficult, and that only the
expert may try to handle these things. So for these women here are the
simple, fundamental things about club work, which any one can follow.

If you would like to organize a club, begin by making out a list of ten
or a dozen of your neighbors and friends, those whose interests are much
like your own, and tell them that you think it would be pleasant to have
some sort of a little circle for reading, or study, or social
companionship. Probably they will all have something to say about this,
and various ideas will be advanced as to the sort of club which is most
desirable. Then, after it is talked over, you, as the one who suggested
the meeting, will call the women to order and ask some one to nominate
and second a temporary chairman, and, after she is elected, a temporary
secretary.

When these two have taken their seats and the secretary is ready to
begin taking notes, the chai