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I.

HE CIVILIZATION of the nineteenth century in the New World was enriched by the influence of the most illustrious group of public-spirited women that up to that time had appeared in the life of any nation. Indeed, they may be said to have been the advance guard that ushered in the larger and freer day for woman. The voices of most of this chosen band are silent now, but their splendid work and influence live and blossom in all that is best in our civic, social and domestic life, and their names will be reverenced more and more as the years vanish and the greatness of their work and the heroism of the stand they so courageously took in the face of a frowning conservatism is more and more appreciated.

Dorothy Dix is only to-day beginning to be valued at anything like her worth. She wrought far more than any score of men in the nineteenth century to improve the condition of the insane in America and in Europe. Lucretia Mott, Lydia Maria Child, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Julia Ward Howe and Mary A. Livermore are only particularly brilliant lights among the historic coterie of American women who dealt Herculean blows for the emancipation of the black man while ever working for the elevation of the moral ideals of the people. Lucy Stone Blackwell, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were noble representatives of the woman's suffrage movement in its earlier days, as they were also effective defenders of democratic ideals and the vital demands of an expanding civilization.

Among these apostles of emancipated womanhood Frances E. Willard and Helen M. Gougar stand preeminent. Miss Willard has passed from view, but her great work for temperance, for social purity and for juster social conditions has left its imprint on the nation and will be felt for good for generations yet to

come.

II.

Mrs. Gougar alone of all this chosen band remains strong with the vitality of a fine intellect in its rich maturity. She alone of the group we have mentioned is carrying forward the battle for progress and freedom-the warfare of true civilization, with all the power and energy of youth. She is a woman of splendid ability, of superb moral courage, and richly endowed with that passionate love for humanity, for justice and the higher development of the people that more than aught else is demanded by civilization from her leaders to-day.

She was born in Litchfield, Michigan, and was educated at Hillsdale College. After graduating she taught school in Lafayette, Indiana, where she became the principal of one of the public-schools -the first woman to hold that position in the city.

One day Mrs. Gougar was summoned to the home of a neighbor where she beheld one of those frightful tragedies that are frequently witnessed in all Christian lands. A woman had been murdered by her husband while he was insane through strong drink. The horrible picture presented by the dead wife, the bleareyed husband and the crushed and terrorstricken children, roused the young woman as a trumpet-call from heaven.

By temperament she belonged to that class, all too rare in our age, who when they hear the voice of duty unhesitatingly obey. No thought of ease or popularity, no consideration or self-interest or the pleasant applause of the world will deter these royal natures to whom duty is divine and her call the command of the Infinite. Hence we find Mrs. Gougar soon among the most eloquent, logical and convincing temperance advocates of the land. For many years she was in the very front of the fight, nowhere being more effective than when appearing before legislative committees, for she was, we think, the only prominent temperance worker who possessed a thorough legal education. This she had acquired after coming to Indiana. Possessed of a natural aptitude for study and not content with her achievements as a teacher, she determined to master the law. After careful preparation she passed the requisite examination and was admitted to practice in all the courts of the state. She enjoys the distinction of being the first woman lawyer to argue a case before the supreme court of Indiana. The circumstances attending this famous appearance are interesting.

Mrs. Gougar was for twenty-three years President of the Woman's Suffrage Association of Indiana. The courts had admitted women to practice law, making a ruling that logically would sustain them in the exercise of the right of franchise. A "test vote" case was therefore pushed forward and Mrs. Gougar appeared as advocate for the woman voters. When the case reached the supreme court she made a legal argument which called forth the highest encomiums from the bench, bar and press for its strength, clarity of reasoning, consistency and logic. A writer thoroughly conversant with the facts of this well-known trial makes the following observations in regard to it:

"Her contention was and is that the law of Indiana is sufficient to allow women to vote, basing her claim on the decision

of the supreme court in the ‘Leach case,' which admits women to practice law in Indiana. Many able jurists claim that she sustained her contention; at least she made the two decisions look exceedingly inconsistent on the part of the court. In the Leach case the chief justice writing the opinion declared: "That which is expressed [in state constitution] does not make that which is silent cease.' In the test-vote case the same chief justice writing the opinion declared: "That which is expressed does make that which is silent cease.'

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Mrs. Gougar more than anyone else was responsible for securing municipal suffrage for women in Kansas. She has also waged a winning warfare in many states to secure school suffrage for women, her knowledge of constitutional law being of great aid in these battles for a wider recognition of the inherent rights of women in a free state.

Unlike many temperance and women's suffrage reformers, Mrs. Gougar is not narrow-visioned. She recognizes that these great issues are but two of the many grave problems that the moral obligations impose upon free governments-obligations that should be bravely met and settled in alignment with the fundamental demands of democracy. She has fought a splendid battle for a wider meed of justice for all the people. She has eloquently opposed the despotism of privilege and the anarchy of corporate wealth. She is the only woman on the National Executive Committee of the Anti-Trust League of the United States.

Perhaps her greatest influence has been exerted on the platform, but she has also wrought effectively and with great ability through her pen. She is a strong, incisive and logical writer, possessing the power of presenting her subject in an engaging manner not unfrequently enhanced with wit, humor and satire, while sincerity, earnestness and clarity of thought are marked characteristics of all her work. Those who read her writings feel instinct

ively that they are following the thoughts of one who would not prostitute her Godgiven powers for gold or for policy or expediency. She has contributed to many of our leading magazines and daily papers and has recently published a monumental work of travel presenting a vivid penpicture of the races, nations and peoples with whom she and her husband came in contact during their extended travels around the globe. We thus briefly refer to this work as it forms the subject of one

of our book studies, but in passing we can truthfully say that it is the most satisfactory and informing work of travel we have read in a decade.

We trust the years may deal kindly with this strong, fine representative of twentieth-century womanhood, this champion of a higher standard of manhood and womanhood and of a nobler ideal of nationhood.

Boston, Mass.

B. O. FLOWER.

"M'

RS. GOUGAR, as a prominent representative American citizen who has personally visited the Philippines, I should be very glad to have you give me some facts touching the condition of the Filipinos under the imperialistic rule of America in Manila. In the first place, what is your impression of the Filipinos of Manila?"

'The Filipinos are by far the superior race of the Malays. Many Filipinos are finely educated, have handsome, wellfurnished homes, are patrons of art, music and literature. The women are agreeable, cultured and well-treated by their husbands. Many of these homes have suffered loss of works of art and furnishings from looting by American soldiers. Many able men are holding positions of honor and trust in the civil government which they are serving with credit and ability. All of these things indicate the worthiness of these people to be given self-government under Âmerican protection from outside interference, and this at no distant day. Give the Filipinos a chance and they will make a fine race in education, art and industry and will become capable of self-govern

ment in a very short time. If we are unjust, if we care more for the dollar than for the man while administering affairs in the transition state through which these people are passing, then they will fall before the march of the white man as the Indian has fallen, and the white man, true to every experiment he has tried in the tropics, will become degraded and fall from his temperate zone estate.”

“Often one can, I think, gain a better idea of a strange people by seeing them together in public gatherings, especially when the intellectual and moral sensibilities are being stimulated. Did you have any opportunity for such observation while in the Philippines?"

"Yes, on two very different occasions; once at a theater and once in a church. Through the courtesy of the author of a comedy and its translator into English, I was privileged to witness a play by a Filipino and presented by Filipinos. The large auditorium of the National Theater, which is much like the great rink buildings at home, was packed on Sunday night, fully one thousand being present. The women were in evening dress. Men came with their wives and