INTRODUCTORY


In a banquet given in honor of Heinrik Ibsen by a Norwegian society
known as the Woman's League, in response to a speech thanking him in the
name of the society for all he had done for the cause of women, the
poet, while disclaiming the honor of having consciously worked for the
woman's cause--indeed, not even being quite clear as to what the woman's
cause really was, since in his eyes it was indistinguishable from the
cause of humanity--concluded his speech with the words:

"It has always seemed to me that the great problem is to elevate
the nation and place it on a higher level. Two factors, the man and
the woman, must co-operate for this end, and it lies especially
with the mothers of the people, by slow and strenuous work, to
arouse in it a conscious sense of culture and discipline. To the
woman, then, we must look for the solution of the problem of
humanity. It must come from them as mothers: that is the mission
that lies before them."

Whether we are admirers of the great Norwegian poet or not, whether we
are afflicted with Ibsenism, or regard his peculiar genius in a more
critical and dispassionate light, no one would deny to him that deep
intuitive insight which belongs to a poet, and which borders so closely
on the prophet's gift.

It is now some years since I have been laid aside, owing to the terrible
strain and burthen of my ten years' conflict with the evils that are
threatening the sanctity of the family, the purity of the home, and all