In this series of illuminative articles, Mrs. Sarah A. Tooley will describe for the readers of Every Woman's Encyclopaedia the wonderful achievements which mark the steady and irresistible progress of woman throughout the civilised world. Like a triumphal procession in an ancient pageant, there will pass before the reader the distinguished and ever-increasing army of women who have worked and won. Pioneers of the past will mingle in friendly fellowship with their sisters of to-day, and it will be seen, by comparing the achievements of the former with those of the latter, how persistent and how real has been the forward movement as regards women and their position in the history of the race

Woman stands on the threshold of the twentieth century a triumphant figure, her face to the dawn, her eyes on the roseate future.

Doors once closed are swinging back on the rusty hinges of prejudice that she may taste of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

She may now pluck the apple with impunity; no serpent lurks to wreck her Eden, neither can the hand of man stay her progress.

No longer do we hear our girls wishing that they were boys, for the future beckons them with promise of a full, free life in which their talents may unfold and their aspirations be realised. In every land women are rising to a sense of self-expression and the power of achievement. The awakening of women is the most potent factor of this new century. In the inspiring words of Ella Wheeler Wilcox :

They are waking, they are waking, In the East and in the West, They are throwing wide their windows to the sun ; And they see the dawn is breaking, And they quiver with unrest, For they know their work is waiting to be done.

Yes ! "Work waiting to be done." That is the incentive of the twentieth century women. As Dr. Headlam, the Principal of King's College, said of the woman student : "Without interest she will have no enthusiasm. A definite purpose will give interest, and interest will give enthusiasm. No woman will become a true University student unless she can find a definite answer to the question : ■ What is my purpose in my work ? ' '

Proper pride in sex and belief in her own possibilities will help woman to attain her goal, even as these same qualities have buoyed up man in the voyage of life.

Let the deprecatory feminine note of apology be heard no more. We women have a tremendous part to play in the future of the human race, and a corresponding responsibility which must needs make us thoughtful in the midst of our triumphs.

Mme. Curie, who, with her husband, the late Professor Curie, was the discoverer of radium. Madame Curie is one of the most distinphoto, guished recipients of the Nobel Prize H. Manuel

Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, with the insight of the greatest natural scientist of the day, realised long ago that the higher education of women and the opening to them of lucrative professions and trades would exercise an incalculable influence for the betterment of the race. The improved economic condition of women would make them independent of marriage for social and mercenary reasons.

The perfect marriage must be one of natural selection and affinity. To quote the words of Dr. Wallace : "When such changes have been effected that no woman will be compelled, either by hunger, isolation, or social compulsion, to sell herself in uncongenial wedlock ; when all women alike shall feel the refining influence of a true, humanising education, of beautiful and elevated surroundings, and when there is an educated public opinion, the result will be a form of human selection which will bring about a continuous advance in the average status of the race. I believe that this improvement will be effected through the agency of female choice in marriage. The hope of the future lies with women."

It is an old truism that great men have most frequently derived their fine qualities from their mothers. This can be traced down the ages, from the mother of the Gracchi to the mother of the Wesleys. It is a natural inference that the mothers of the race cannot be too highly trained in mind and body for the supreme functions assigned to them. Their children should be the fruit of a union of perfect choice, unfettered by any of the mercenary considerations defined with such relentless logic by Miss Cicely Hamilton in " Marriage as a Trade."

As to whether the girl of the future will propose to the man whom she deems her fit mate, is a matter which must be left to the exigency of the tender situation.

Mrs. Maurice Hewlett, the pioneer among women aviators, from whom naval and military airmen have taken lessons in the art of flight

Photo, Elwin Neame

It will, I believe, be one of the triumphs of our century that woman will be more and more guided by disinterested affection in the choice of a husband, and will demand a higher standard of character and conduct in her life's companion.

Yes, I am still writing love stories," I was told by a sweet, silver-haired lady novelist; "but you know, my dear, in my new story I have been obliged to lay the plot in the eighteenth century. Why, one couldn't write a simple love story with the modern girl for a heroine ! " Such is the echo of the past.

As Miss Elizabeth Robins pointed out in a speech, there is a splendid opportunity for the novelist who will help the girl of to-day to realise herself and the great and ever-widening life which is opening before her. Girls would not prefer boys' papers and boys' stories, as is said to be the case, if they had periodicals which recognised their modern outlook and their bright, healthy aspirations. The success of Every Woman's Encyclopedia arises from the fact that every department of woman's life has a place in its pages. While home topics hold a foremost place, the feminine activities in the outside world are abundantly dealt with.