made by the Legislative Assembly of said Territory as is hereinafter by this section provided, be performed under the existing laws of the United States and of said Territory by proper persons, who shall be appointed to execute such offices and perform such duties by a Board of five persons, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, not more than three of whom shall be members of one political party, a majority of whom shall be a quorum. The members of said Board so appointed by the President shall each receive a salary at the rate of 3,000dols. per annum, and shall continue in office until the Legislative Assembly of said Territory shall make provisions for filling said offices as herein authorised. The secretary of the Territory shall be the secretary of the said Board, and keep a journal of its proceedings, and attest the action of said Board under this section. The canvass and return of all the votes at elections in said Territory for members of the Legislative Assembly thereof shall also be returned to said Board, which shall canvass all such returns, and issue certificates of election to those persons who, being eligible for such election, shall appear to have been lawfully elected, which certificates shall be the only evidence of the right of such persons to sit in such Assembly, provided said Board of five persons shall not exclude any persons otherwise eligible to vote from the polls on account of any opinion such person may entertain on the subject of bigamy or polygamy; nor shall they refuse to count any such vote on account of the opinion of the person casting it on the subject of bigamy or polygamy; but each House of such Assembly, after its organization, shall have power to decide upon the elections and qualifications of its members. And at, or after the first meeting of said Legislative Assembly whose members shall have been elected and returned according to the provisions of this Act, said Legislative Assembly may make such laws, conformable to the Organic Act of said Territory, and not inconsistent with other laws of the United States, as it shall deem proper concerning the filling of the offices in said Territory declared vacant by this Act.

It will be many years probably before the Mormon population will look upon this Act in any other light than as an unjustifiable act of oppression, however necessary it may seem to us. Any custom which has been made an article of religion, dies slowly, because it has some of the best as well as the worst instincts of humanity to maintain it. A new generation must grow up accustomed to a nobler code of morals, and taught to believe that purity and happiness in married life is impossible except by one man keeping true to one woman, or one woman to one man. But it should be the care of the Christian communities, among whom the Mormons are placed, to show that their own moral standard is raised, to wipe off the imputation which now too

justly clings to them. We do firmly believe that this will be the result of the better education and the wider influence of women, and that they have no nobler task before them, in England as in America, than of letting in light into the dark places of the earth, and cleansing the foul stains of vice and injustice which sully all our social life and this is a task which Christian women and Mormon women can co-operate in.

ART. III.-SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF HOME STUDY.

FOR the last fifteen years a small and unobtrusive society, which deserves to be better known and more widely supported, has been at work under the above title. The readers of the ENGLISHWOMAN'S REVIEW may like to hear something of this society, its aim and work. As shown by its name, it was designed especially for the promotion of Study at Home, and was started before the extension of "Ladies' Classes," "Lectures for Ladies," and "Colleges for Women," which are now to be met with in almost every provincial town of any importance. Valuable, however, as these are they do not cover the ground occupied by this society. Its object was to furnish a yearly course of study, which could be carried on at home, and would provide girls unable to enjoy those opportunities for mental improvement, which are to be found in towns, with a carefully arranged scheme of work that might give method and interest to their reading. The Society was founded in 1867 by a lady whose spirit was stirred whilst contemplating the empty, aimless lives led by girls living in the country, who, their education being considered complete when they had left school, or had dismissed the governess, were left without any regular occupation, or any guidance which would help them to keep up what they had learnt. With the help of some friends she drew up a scheme, which, with a few modifications, continues

Review

the basis of work at the present time. A period of history is taken, and books for studying it rightly are recommended. At first the members of the Society were only expected to make abstracts of the works read, which were submitted to the criticism of an examiner, chosen by the committee, who selected the best, which were therefore entitled to the prize. Of late years this has been improved by the examiner, who objected to such merely mechanical work as making abstracts, and now a set of questions is given, the answers to which ought to be full, and in the form of short essays. Besides this, a subject for an essay calculated to call out more independent thought is given, and a prize is offered for the best one sent in. In addition to this English work, which is the chief object of the Society, prizes are given for work in French, German, Drawing, Mathematics, one of the Natural Sciences, and Theology. Professors of all these subjects are asked to set the work, examine the papers, and adjudge the prizes. They are not all taken up every year. English, drawing and theology are the only subjects that are annual, and the others are taken up in turns. A meeting of the Society is held once a year in London; this gives the members an opportunity of becoming acquainted with each other. During the three days of the meeting lectures are given by the various professors, together with criticisms of the work which has been sent to them: a visit to a picture gallery, museum, or some other interesting sight is arranged, and the three day's meeting winds up with an evening entertainment, to which the members may invite their friends when the prizes are given, the report of the Society is read, and some kind of amusement, such as recitations or music, pleasantly finishes up the proceedings for the year. A new scheme of study for the ensuing year is ready, and the members separate and start afresh, inspirited by this little bit of social companionship.

The society has always been fortunate in securing the assistance of examiners distinguished in their various subjects, and who have bestowed great care in looking over the work with a sympathetic interest in the progress of the members, which is very valuable.

The cost of examiners fees, printing and prizes are all defrayed by a small subscription of one guinea yearly, from each member, and five shillings extra from those who are able to attend the annual meeting in London.

It will be seen that this scheme differs in many respects from the various essay societies or correspondence classes. It is not a medium for supplying direct teaching; it rather aims at being a guide to private study, by saving it from the mischief of desultoriness (which so often prevails in the attempt to keep up work at home), and at extending the knowledge acquired in the schoolroom. If any who read this would like to have particulars as to the scope of the Society and the conditions of membership, they may be obtained by applying to the Hon. Secretary, Miss A. Moore, Oakfield, Eltham, Kent. It seems a pity that a society which so pleasantly supplies some stimulus to thought and mental improvement should be confined to a small circle, as the machinery already in existence might be made available for a largely increased number of members.

ART. IV. AN INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF

WOMEN.

UNDER the above title the following sensational paragraph on French women appeared lately in our papers: "Mdlle. Louise Michel, the well-known amnestied Communist, is engaged just now in forming what she calls an International League of Women against their Tyrants. A meeting presided over by her has been held in support of the project, and a subscription has been started with the same object. Mdlle. Michel proposes in effect, that the men shall be 'Boycotted' by the women until such time as they shall have accorded certain political rights to the latter."

On reading the above paragraph we cannot help feeling that English women have been throughout the long course of the movement which is the chief characteristic

September 15th, 1882.

of the latter half of the nineteenth century, much more fortunate than their French sisters. We do not presume to question the unfortunate necessity which may exist in France for this aggressive method of action, but we must congratulate ourselves that in no case have we in England had to combine ourselves as women against men as men. There is not one of the many divisions into which this great question is subdivided in which women have been compelled to work singly or without the sympathy and co-operation of hundreds of men. It has been so with women's education, women's employment, medical women, women as poor law guardians and school board members, women's suffrage, married women's property, national morality, &c., &c., for the list might be increased tenfold. Women have often had to take the initiative, to be the first to arouse public attention to the necessity of a change, to supply the requisite zeal and persistency in carrying on the work to a successful issue, for it has always been true, "who would be free themselves must strike the blow," but they have never banded themselves antagonistically towards men in England, and they have always had the support of man in their efforts. Our work has all tended to show that harmony of purpose and thoroughness of detail will not be less but greater from the joint action in all things, of men and women,-that the "two heads in council, two beside the hearth," is not only the dream of the poet, but a system which is already tried and which everywhere works well; and it is in this combined action of men and women in carrying on objects of national and human progress that we see the happiest auguries for future well-being.

REVIEWS.

History of Women's Suffrage, Vol. II., edited by ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, SUSAN B. ANTHONY and MATILDA Joslyn Gage.

WE have just received the second volume of this most carefully compiled and deeply interesting work. Any