blifornia 
 
 gional 
 
 jilitv
 
 XT'
 
 DOMESTIC DUELS 
 
 OR 
 
 EVENING TALKS ON E WOMAN 
 QUESTION 
 
 Conversations Relating to the Domestic, Social, Industrial, 
 
 Historical and Political Phases of the 
 
 Subject 
 
 BY ERNEST A. GIRVIN 
 
 E. D. BRONSON & CO., PUBLISHERS 
 
 933 .MARKET STREET 
 
 San Francisco
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1898, by 
 
 E. A. GIRVIN 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This work has been Avritten with the earnest purpose of 
 directing public attention to truths of vital importance, which 
 bear upon the relations of the sexes, the welfare of society, and 
 especially the well-being of the homes of our land. Upon the 
 recognition of these truths by the people generally depends the 
 future of this nation. The respective spheres of men and women 
 are not to be determined by mere caprice or inclination, or even 
 by the fashions of any particular time. They are immutably 
 fixed by laws far beyond human control, and when either of the 
 sexes in any society persistently violates these laws, or oversteps 
 the narrow limits which they define, the whole social fabric 
 inevitably crumbles into chaos. The women of America are 
 near this danger line, and in the pages which follow an effort is 
 made to warn them of their peril, and point them back to the 
 old paths of happiness and safety. I believe in the true prog- 
 ress of woman. Such progress, however, is not to be attained 
 unless accompanied by a corresponding elevation of her friend 
 and companion, man. The solidarity of the human race is such 
 that neither sex can rise upon the ruins of the other, and any- 
 thing which tends to make woman less womanly or man less 
 manly, is in the nature of retrogression rather than progress. 
 
 The book has been cast in the form of conversations between a 
 husband and wife, partly as a convenient vehicle for the ideas 
 sought to be expressed, and partly with the object of rendering 
 it more agreeable to the popular taste. Of course "Mr. and 
 Mrs. Notion J> are purely imaginary characters, and nothing that 
 is said by them about their own family or affairs is intended to 
 apply either to the author, or to any other particular person or 
 persons. 
 
 (iii) 
 
 2C68SPT
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 In the discussion of delicate subjects great plainness of speech 
 has been used. This has been absolutely necessary in order to 
 convey the real thought, and accomplish the purpose of the book. 
 
 Wherever the numerous questions involved in this vast subject 
 have been susceptible of an honest difference of opinion, I have 
 tried to present both sides as fairly and forcibly as possible, and 
 I leave my personal views as to these debatable matters to be 
 inferred by the intelligent reader. 
 
 ERNEST A. GIRVIX. 
 
 San Francisco, Cal., August 31, 1898.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 i 'HATTER PAGE 
 
 I. WHY WOMEN SHOULD Do HOUSEWORK ... 7 
 
 II. THE AMERICAN FAMILY 15 
 
 III. THE AMERICAN FAMILY (Continued) 25 
 
 I V. THE AMERICAN FAMILY (Concluded) . . . . 38 
 V. EFFECT OF TAMPERING WITH THE PROCREATIVE 
 
 FUNCTIONS 46 
 
 VI. PSYCHIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BE- 
 TWEEN THE SEXES 56 
 
 VII. PSYCHIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BE- 
 TWEEN THE SEXES (Continued) 69 
 
 VIII. PSYCHIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BE- 
 TWEEN THE SEXES (Concluded) 85 
 
 IX. COMPARISON BETWEEN WOMANHOOD IN HEATHEN 
 
 AND CHRISTIAN LANDS 100 
 
 X. INFLUENCE OF WOMEN UPON LIVES AND CHAR- 
 ACTERS OF GREAT MEN 114 
 
 XI. INFLUENCE OF WOMEN UPON LIVES AND CHAR- 
 ACTERS OF GREAT MEN (Concluded) . . .128 
 XII. MODERN INVENTIONS AND WOMEN 145 
 
 XIII. SOME OF THE INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THI: QUES- 
 
 TION 1.54 
 
 XIV. SOME OF THE INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUES- 
 
 TION (Concluded) 170 
 
 XV. HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN 186 
 
 XVI. PROGRESS OF WOMEN IN THE PROFESSIONS . . 204 
 
 XVII. LAWLESSNESS AS A MARKED CHARACTERISTIC OP 
 
 THIS AGE 220 
 
 XVIII. THE POLITICAL STATUS OF WOMEN 233 
 
 XIX. ARGUMENTS FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE 244 
 
 XX. ARGUMENTS AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE . . . 256
 
 Mr. Notion Tries to Convince His Wife That 
 Women Ought to do Housework. 
 
 " Nothing lovelier can be found 
 In woman than to study household good, 
 And good works in her husband to promote." 
 
 Milton. 
 
 "Matilda, my dear," inquired Mr. Notion, with a depreca- 
 tory and half apologetic air, ' ' have the children had their usual 
 bath this week ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' No, they have not. I have been so pushed this week with 
 one thing and another that I have not found time to attend to it. 
 The Ladies' Aid Society held a special meeting on Monday after- 
 noon. On Tuesday my time was taken up with the Ladies' Home 
 Missionary Society. I spent all day Wednesday in visiting the 
 poor. Thursday afternoon was fully occupied in trying to pro- 
 mote the cause of female suffrage. Friday I devoted to temper- 
 ance work; and to-day I have been busied in decorating the 
 church for to-morrow's services." 
 
 "Ahem!" coughed Mr. Notion in that timid, hesitating way 
 which indicated that he was afraid of hurting his wife's feelings, 
 and yet must have his say, "I fear that outside demands upon 
 your time and strength have reached a point where your domestic 
 affairs are seriously interfered with." 
 
 Mrs. Notion flushed and frowned. 
 
 ' ' Of course, ' ' continued her husband in still milder and more 
 insinuating tones, ' ' there are so few who are either capable or 
 willing to do the work of religious and philanthropic institutions, 
 that I can readily appreciate the pressure which is brought to 
 bear upon you by those who feel the need and realize the value 
 of your services. They have no idea what your home duties are, 
 or how much time and labor are required for the proper care and 
 training of seven children." 
 
 The flush had partially faded from Mrs. Notion's face, but 
 she was still annoyed, and with considerable asperity exclaimed: 
 
 (7)
 
 8 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "The chief trouble, Mr. Notion, is that you do not supply me 
 with sufficient help. Cue servant is absurdly inadequate to do 
 the work of our large family ; and if you are so particular about 
 having your children bathed, you had better hire more help, or 
 do it yourself. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Notion had learned by long experience that when his 
 wife's feelings were wounded, it was useless to reason with her, 
 or to attempt to convince her that she was either illogical or 
 unjust. So he simply remarked that when they had two servants 
 there was more work about the house for her to do than when 
 they had only one, and shifted the conversation into other chan- 
 nels by saying: "I do vrish that women would be content in 
 their own peculiar and appropriate sphere, where God has placed 
 them, and where they are most charming and attractive. In her 
 home woman can reign as queen, and receive the homage and 
 admiration of men, who, when compelled to compete with her in 
 the daily walks of life, regard her with feelings of mingled 
 aversion and disdain. Of course, there are exceptions to all 
 rules; but women should accomplish their greatest achievements 
 in the realm of wifehood and motherhood, and consider them- 
 selves unfortunate when brought into rude contact with the world, 
 and compelled in some industrial or professional pursuit to earn 
 an income for themselves." 
 
 By this time Mrs. Notion had regained her accustomed com- 
 posure and mental equipoise. She thought she saw a weak place 
 in her husband's logic, and said: "Why, would you have us 
 unfortunate creatures household drudges all our lives ? Are we 
 always to be merely a part of the male establishment, content to 
 be noticed and petted by our lords occasionally, and delighted 
 with the high privilege of ministering to their comforts and pleas- 
 ures?" 
 
 "Not at all," answered Mr. Notion. "The Almighty in his 
 wisdom has so constituted women that they alone can bear the 
 children ; and it seems only reasonable to conclude that they, 
 and not the men, should care for and nurture the little ones. 
 No woman can earn her own living in the commercial world, and 
 bear children. No woman can earn her own living, and take 
 care of children. Hence it is that every woman who goes forth 
 into the industrial arena to compete with men, really withdraws 
 from domestic life, and declines to assume the duties and respon- 
 sibilities of wifehood and maternity."
 
 WHY WOMEN SHOULD DO HOUSEWORK. 9 
 
 "All the better for them, Ned. They are much more inde- 
 pendent, and can wait for the man of their choice." 
 
 ' ' But the trouble is in most cases that the man of their choice, 
 if there be such a person, does not choose them. For, take my 
 word for it, Matilda, men do not like the independent, self-reliant, 
 strong-minded and intensely practical style of women; and the 
 girl who has worked for a long time in any employment where 
 she is brought into constant contact with men, has greatly dimin- 
 ished her prospects of acceptable matrimony. Of course, she can 
 marry some scrub who admires her wage-earning ability, and 
 asks for nothing better than to be supported by a woman. But 
 the true man does not marry as a cold-blooded business proposi- 
 tion. In the domestic side of his character sentiment predomi- 
 nates, and he seeks a life companion who is refined, reserved, 
 and the delicacy of whose maidenly modesty has not been blunted 
 or impaired in any degree by rough jostling with male competitors 
 in the battle for bread. The man worth marrying looks forward 
 longingly to a happy home, presided over by a pure and accom- 
 plished woman, the mother of his children. He is not searching 
 for a wife who can try lawsuits, perform surgical operations, 
 extract teeth, preach sermons, or keep books. In fact, if there 
 is to be any difference in mental power between his wife and 
 himself, he instinctively prefers to have that difference in his 
 own favor. He likes to look up to his wife as a being vastly his 
 superior in delicacy, refinement, taste, sensibility, sympathy, and 
 all those other rare and subtle qualities which unite vaguely to 
 form his ideal of exalted and lovable womanhood. But he would 
 rather have her look up to him as surpassing her in 'wisdom, 
 strength, courage, justice, knowledge of the world, and all other 
 elements which constitute manliness." 
 
 "All of which means, my dear Ned, that man is a conceited 
 animal, and can not bear the idea of living with his wife on 
 equal terms." 
 
 "Again you err, Matilda. Man gladly concedes woman's 
 superiority in all the beautiful traits which I have named; but 
 he naturally desires to excel her in those characteristics which 
 qualify him to act as her protector." 
 
 " There is the same idea in another form, " interrupted Mrs. 
 Notion. "You love to patronize and protect us; but we are tired 
 of being protected and coddled into weakness, inferiority, and 
 nothingness, and insist upon a perfect equality with men in every 
 respect. ' '
 
 10 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 ' ' I sincerely hope for your own sakes, Matilda, that the day 
 will never come when the women of America will have any such 
 equality, for you little realize the inevitable consequences of such 
 a change. The gallantry and chivalrous deference to the fairer 
 sex which now distinguish the American gentleman, would soon 
 pass away, and woman would have to look out for herself, and 
 take her chances in the rough conflicts of life. The fact is that 
 the women covet the privileges of power, but do not wish to 
 endure its pains and penalties. I have never heard any of you 
 insist upon an equality with men in the right to stand up in the 
 street-cars, or to risk your precious lives in the apprehension of 
 criminals, the quelling of riots, the extinguishing of fires, and 
 the many other kinds of rough, hard and dangerous work which 
 has to be done for the welfare and comfort of every civilized 
 community. ' ' 
 
 "No," replied Mrs. Notion, "what we want is an opportunity 
 to show our intelligence, and to enjoy on equal terms with men 
 the good things of life. ' ' 
 
 "You are enjoying them now to a much greater extent than 
 we," said her husband. "In the quiet shelter of your homes 
 you are secure from most of the cares, dangers, perplexities, and 
 responsibilities which plague the men and make them gray and 
 bald while their wives retain their youthful appearance. It is a 
 high privilege to be the queen of a refined and beautiful American 
 household, and to realize that it has been made such by your own 
 instrumentality. Why, we treat you as superior beings, and 
 defer to you in every way. We lift our hats when we meet or 
 pass you in the streets, as a mark of respect for your sex. You 
 cheerfully accept all the homage which we pay you, and I have 
 never heard even the most aggressive and strong-minded woman 
 protest against the reverential manner in which the American 
 lady is treated by the American gentleman." 
 
 "That is all very well, Edward, but why shouldn't we retain 
 your homage and at the same time be recognized as your equals 
 in the political, commercial, and industrial departments of life? " 
 
 ' ' That would be an impossibility. An equality with men in 
 these respects would be for women a step downward rather than 
 a movement upward, a defeat instead of a victory. We now 
 delight to recognize you as our superiors, and yet you foolishly 
 clamor to become our equals. But it is for the very reason that 
 you are more secluded from the world, and consequently more
 
 WHY WOMEN SHOULD DO HOUSEWORK. 11 
 
 free from the taint which comes from constant contact with the 
 rough side of life, that we venerate you. We love to think of 
 you as being made of finer clay than ourselves, as being purer, 
 sweeter, better, more refined and more ethereal than we. But 
 if you compel us to meet you hourly in the business arena not 
 as occasional visitants from a lovelier, brighter, higher realm, the 
 home but as competitors for the means of subsistence, we will 
 regard you differently, and the homage of men to women, which 
 now constitutes one of the most delightful features of American 
 life, will soon become a thing of the past." 
 
 "Oh, but Ned, the home is too narrow for us! Our aspira- 
 tions and ambitions have been aroused, and we are no longer 
 satisfied to be kept on a little shelf, but yearn for triumphs 
 grander, more enduring and more glorious than the petty achieve- 
 ments of the household. In other words, we are tired of obscurity, 
 and want to take a more conspicuous part on the stage of life.". 
 
 A shade of sadness passed over Mr. Notion's expressive face. 
 He paused a moment, as if striving to concentrate his ideas into 
 the fewest and clearest words possible, and thus replied: "My 
 dear, you do not adequately realize the lofty position of your sex 
 as the presiding genius of the home, that blissful center of all that 
 is best in humanity, that beloved spot which occupies the fore- 
 most place in the heart of every true man, that haven of rest, 
 where flow in a ceaseless stream the choicest results of our wonder- 
 ful civilization. In the home we gather and enjoy the rarest 
 fruitage of all our endeavors, and the treasures of art, literature, 
 music, philosophy, invention and commerce, are there poured out 
 unstintedly in the effort to bring happiness and development to 
 wives, mothers, and children. 
 
 "As the poet says, speaking of man's homage to woman: 
 
 ' The far-fetched diamond finds its home 
 
 Flashing and smouldering in her hair. 
 For her the seas their pearls reveal, 
 
 Art and strange lands her pomp supply 
 With purple, chrome, and cochineal, 
 
 Ochre and lapis lazuli. 
 The worm its golden woof presents. 
 
 Whatever runs, flies, dives or delves, 
 All doft' for her their ornaments, 
 
 Which suit her better than themselves.'
 
 12 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 ' ' All this is doue that woman may preside, a happy, beauteous 
 queen, over the divinities of home, that most sacred and heavenly 
 of all spots on earth. There it is that human life has its origin, 
 takes its direction, and receives its earliest tendencies and bias. 
 Oh, how unspeakably exalted is the position of mistress of a 
 beautiful home ! The lady who there presides can utilize and 
 bring into play every faculty, every talent, every accomplish- 
 ment, every kind of knowledge. She has to deal with life, with 
 character, with human nature in its most interesting and critical 
 stages. In her care and keeping are immortal spirits, and their 
 precious physical casements. Here all the sciences converge. 
 Biology, psychology, physiology, hygiene, logic, rhetoric, theol- 
 ogy, ethics, chemistry, physics, architecture, zoology, botany, 
 mathematics, philology, astronomy, history here all have a prac- 
 tical application. What, may I ask you, is there narrow in 
 this?" 
 
 "Nothing," laughingly replied Mrs. Notion, "but for the 
 life of me I can't see what all those fourteen sciences have to do 
 with housekeeping. In fact, I have been inclined to think that 
 a good education was about wasted on a woman who immured 
 herself in a house, and became the drudge of her husband and 
 children. I have been under the impression for some time that 
 the less such a woman knew, the better for her own peace of 
 mind, and the greater the probability of her being contented with 
 her humble lot. But your views are really becoming interesting; 
 and I am curious to know how a woman can use a knowledge of 
 the sciences you enumerate, in her conduct of the home." 
 
 " Biology will enable her to intelligently superintend and aid 
 the development of the life forces of her children. In conjunc- 
 tion with physiology and hygiene, it will help her to attend to 
 their health and physical growth. Psychology will assist her to 
 understand their individual peculiarities and to adapt her methods 
 sagaciously to them. Logic and rhetoric will be potent instru- 
 mentalities in inducing them to obey, not blindly, but rationally. 
 Theology and ethics will lend her their aid in building up the 
 moral and spiritual character of the little ones. Chemistry and 
 physics will enter into the conduct of the culinary department, 
 and will settle many otherwise pu//ling questions which constantly 
 arise in the management of a modern home. They will have 
 special reference to the heating, lighting, and cooking arrange- 
 ments, and to the application of motive power to most of the
 
 WHY WOMKX SllorU) DO HOUSEWORK. 13 
 
 household work. Architecture will enable the lady of the house 
 to plan intelligently for the construction of her home at the very 
 outset, and to wisely supervise and modify the designs of the 
 architect. Zoology will assist her in the selection and training of 
 the pets of the home, and the other domestic animals about the 
 establishment Botany will be indispensable in the garden, and 
 in the choice and care of flowers. Mathematics will come into 
 play continually, not only in the practical administration of the 
 affairs of the home, but in the education of the children. Her 
 knowledge of astronomy will be a source of constant joy, both 
 to herself and her children, and will render many an evening 
 pleasant and profitable by intelligent observation and explanation 
 of the wonders of the starry expanse which stretches above every 
 home in the land. Philology will be useful in everything that 
 pertains to the speech of the children, and the presentation to 
 them in a simple way of its primary principles Avill interest as 
 well as instruct them, and render the study of languages a 
 delight. History will throw its light upon almost every occur- 
 rence in the household, and will give color and brilliancy to the 
 conversation of the home. ' ' 
 
 ' ' And yet I have noticed, ' ' said Mrs. Notion with a smile, 
 "that women who were profoundly ignorant of all these things, 
 got along fairly well as wives and mothers. For instance, I 
 know of a few ladies in this city who are compelled to manage 
 their household without a thorough knowledge of the principles 
 of psychology." 
 
 ' ' They may not have a conscious knowledge of those princi- 
 ples, " replied Mr. Notion, "but if they are really ignorant of 
 them, and do not intuitively adapt themselves to them, they will 
 not succeed in the discharge of either their parental or wifely 
 functions. In effect, a practical knowledge of p-ychology is a 
 knowledge of human nature, and the woman who intelligently 
 observes, analyzes, and adjusts her methods to the peculiarities 
 of the different members of her family, will smooth out most of 
 the wrinkles of life, reduce domestic friction to the minimum, 
 and make the atmosphere of the home calm and peaceful. She 
 will understand her husband, and will manage him with com- 
 parative ease. Holding in her dainty hand the key to his 
 character, she will lock and unlock the myriad chambers of his 
 soul, according to her own sweet will. She will get the best 
 there is out of him, instead of the worst, and in so doing, will
 
 14 DOMESTIC ]>n:i.-. 
 
 make him happy, and herself enjoy the society ot a man who, 
 in the companionship of another woman, less wise and tactful, 
 would probably be intensely disagreeable. She will understand 
 the idiosyncrasies of each of her children, and will so regulate 
 matters as to strengthen qualities which are too weak, and 
 weaken those which are too strong. With one, perhaps, she will 
 find moral suasion, more effective than force, while with another 
 stern measures will be more potent than milder ones. By show- 
 ing her children that she knows and appreciates all their good 
 points, she will secure a respectful and considerate hearing when 
 she finds it necessary to chide them for their faults." 
 
 " Why, this is delightful," exclaimed Mrs. Notion. "I shall 
 immediately begin the study of psychology, and if it enables me 
 to manage the children and their father, I shall consider myself 
 as amply repaid for all my toil." 
 
 "But there is still another phase of this subject," continued 
 her husband, "and that is the great value of a knowledge of 
 human nature in the selection and management of servants. 
 Some ladies, as you know, have little difficulty with their serv- 
 ants, while others, yourself I regret to say among the number, 
 are almost constantly involved in trouble on this score. I am 
 satisfied that the success of the former class in their dealings with 
 domestics is not to be attributed to good luck or chance, but is 
 the result of their discriminating choice of help in the first place, 
 and their diplomatic and adroit procedure and manipulation of 
 domestic affairs, afterwards. Again, these same women enjoy 
 their social relations, and get along well with their friends. This 
 is due to the same causes, that is, discretion in forming friend- 
 ships and tact in continuing them." 
 
 At this point Mr. Notion was interrupted in his remarks by 
 the departure of his wife from the room. She politely excused 
 herself before doing so, however, and he could hear her inviting 
 the two youngest children into the bathroom.
 
 Mr. Notion Gives His Views on the "American 
 Family." 
 
 "How sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman! 
 It is so seldom heard that when it speaks 
 It ravishes all senses." 
 
 Massing er . 
 
 "I have been thinking a good deal, Ned," said Mrs. Notion 
 one evening, "of what you said last Saturday about women 
 staying at home and doing their household duties, rather than 
 devoting most of their time to religious and philanthropic work. 
 I am sure work of that kind must be done in the interest of 
 humanity, and, if we who are willing to do it, and who have the 
 welfare of others at heart, turn away from it, what will be the 
 result?" 
 
 "Excuse me, Matilda, but you have nothing to do with 
 results, when principles are involved. It is your duty to do 
 right, regardless of the consequences, and right begins at home. 
 If, after the Avants of your family have been thoroughly cared 
 for, you have time and strength left for outside benevolences, all 
 right; but, if not, your duty has ended as well as begun at home, 
 and you have nothing to reprove yourself for in the way of 
 neglecting charitable and religious enterprises." 
 
 "Oh, I should consider myself a complete failure if I con- 
 fined my activities to my own family, and did nothing for the 
 great suffering masses of mankind!" 
 
 "The chances are, my dear Matilda, that if you neglect your 
 own in the effort to help others, you will do more harm than 
 good in the world. If, through your neglect, these children of 
 ours were to become bad men and women, there can be no doubt 
 that the injury they would do the race would much more than 
 counterbalance all the good you might have done outside of your 
 home. ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Notion looked unusually thoughtful, and said somewhat 
 mournfully, "I never regarded the matter in that light before." 
 
 (15)
 
 16 DOMKSTIC nrr.i.s. 
 
 ' ' The fact is, my dear Avife, that there are plenty of womei 
 with no children of their own to look after, to do full justice to 
 all the orphan asylums, hospitals, sewing circles, missionary 
 societies, and female suffrage clubs in the world. And yet I 
 would not have you think that I advocate your devotion to home 
 cares to the total exclusion of other matters. Society makes 
 demands upon us all, which we must recognize; and, in order to 
 do our best at home, it is necessary for us to do something for 
 those beyond the charmed circle of our fireside. But the point 
 I wish to make now is that there are multitudes of women who 
 have no children, and upon these devolves the duty very largely 
 of conducting the benevolent enterprises in which you take so 
 keen an interest. Some of these women are unmarried, others 
 have lost their children by death, others have reared them to 
 manhood and womanhood, and still others, though married, have 
 preferred to remain childless. Nor would I appear for a single 
 moment to ignore the wonderful work which American and 
 English women have done for humanity in many different fields 
 of charitable, philanthropic, and reformatory endeavor. I am 
 not unmindful of Clara Barton's illustrious career in camp and 
 battle-field, and in the organization and conduct of the inter- 
 national society of the Red Cross; of Anna Dickeuson's self- 
 sacrih'cing labors for the freedom of the slaves; of Elizabeth Fry's 
 noble work in behalf of prisoners early in this century; of the 
 kindly ministries in jail and prison of Margaret Prior and 
 Margaret Fuller Ossoli; of the effective endeavors of Dorothea 
 Dix in behalf of the insane; of Miss Linda Gilbert's success in 
 procuring employment for six thousand ex-convicts in the period 
 of fifteen years, and establishing six hundred of them in business; 
 of the unselfish deeds of Elizabeth Comstock, who in thirty 
 years visited no less than one hundred and twenty thousand 
 prisoners; of the work accomplished in behalf of the Indian by 
 Hclen Hunt Jackson, Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Mary L. Bonney, 
 Mrs. Marne J. Chase, Mrs. Mary C. Jones, Mrs. Margareta 
 Sheppard, Miss Fanny Lea, and Mrs. Edward Cope; of the anti- 
 slavery agitation and systematic efforts for the amelioration of 
 the condition of the colored people carried on by such women as 
 Prudence Crandall, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Lucretia Mott, 
 Abby Kelley, Sallie Holley, Caroline F. Putnam, Lucy Stone, 
 Susan B. Anthony, Mary Grew, Lydia Maria Child, Harriet 
 Beecher Stowe, Maria Weston Chapman, Ann Green Phillips,
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 17 
 
 and Helen E. Garrison. Nor am I unaware of the remarkable 
 achievements of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, with 
 Miss Frances "Willard at its head, not only in behalf of temper- 
 ance, but in the interest of social purity, the education of chil- 
 dren regarding the evils of the liquor traffic, the enactment of 
 laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors, and increasing the 
 age of consent in girls. In all these ways, and in the establish- 
 ment of kindergartens, hospitals, orphanages, industrial educa- 
 tion associations, fresh air work, homes for working women, 
 women's unions, training schools for girls, girls' clubs for the 
 education and reformation of working girls, neighborhood guilds, 
 training schools for nurses, homes for incurables, etc., the good 
 women of America have accomplished untold good, and conferred 
 incalculable benefits upon humanity." 
 
 ' ' But the trouble is, Edward, that as a rule the women who 
 have the most time for these things, have the least inclination. ' ' 
 
 ' ' That, of course, is to be regretted, but they and not you are 
 responsible. The fact remains that they have the requisite 
 leisure, and if they choose to waste it in selfish follies and pleas- 
 ures, you are not to blame." 
 
 ' ' Do you know, Ned, that a great many of my lady acquaint- 
 ances tell me I am a fool for having so many children; that 
 I don't know what it is to have a good time; and that I ought to 
 be ashamed of myself in this enlightened age to have a lot of 
 young ones bothering me all the time? " 
 
 "I am not at all surprised," replied Mr. Notion. "But, on 
 the same principle that the opium smoker and morphine victim 
 try to induce others to imitate their evil example, these miserable 
 women, who have no conception of what honorable matrimony 
 is, seek to justify themselves by winning others over to their 
 unnatural mode of existence. You, and women like you, are a 
 constant reproach to these creatures. ' ' 
 
 "And yet," exclaimed Mrs. Notion, "they are perpetually 
 commenting upon my youthful appearance, and expressing their 
 astonishment that a woman who has had so many children as I 
 should retain so much of her maidenly freshness. ' ' 
 
 "Your retention in middle age, Matilda, of so much of your 
 youthful beauty is the direct result of your observance of physio- 
 logical laws. In obeying the divine injunction to increase and 
 multiply, you have put yourself in harmony with great natural 
 principles which work for happiness, as well as righteousness.
 
 18 no.MKsTK 1 i>ri-:i.s. 
 
 Your children, like those of the lovely matron described so 
 beautifully in Proverbs, rise up and call you blessed. They arc 
 a comfort to you now in middle life, and in old age they will be 
 your pride, joy, and shield. Happy are the man and the woman 
 who have their quiver full of them." 
 
 "But in saying this, Mr. Notion, you are going directly 
 counter to the general opinion of society. I feel that I have lost 
 caste by presuming to have so many children, and nearly all my 
 acquaintances express themselves as being horrified at the multi- 
 tude of little ones- 1 have been instrumental in bringing into the 
 world. That this is no mere fancy on my part is proved by the 
 fact that the few ladies in my circle who have large families, 
 have had precisely the same experience as myself. The women 
 are possibly a little more outspoken than the men in their dislike 
 for children, but the feeling is nearly universal. When I take 
 more than two of the children into a street-car, I am immediately 
 made to feel this prejudice, and when I have them accompany 
 me to the stores, I notice at once the difference in the treatment 
 accorded me then and on those occasions when I go shopping 
 alone. On my solitary expeditious, the salesmen are deferential 
 and polite, but when the children are Avith me, these gentlemen 
 adopt toward me a manner which varies from brnsqueness to 
 incivility. ' ' 
 
 ' ' And this despite the fact that the largest families buy the 
 most goods and make the best customers," suggested Mr. Notion. 
 
 ' ' They do, Edward, if their purchasing power corresponds to 
 their necessities; but I have noticed that as a rule the large 
 families live in the small houses, while the ' American family ' of 
 two resides in a palatial mansion." 
 
 "Your use of the phrase 'American family,' Matilda, would 
 indicate that you have been an attentive reader of the newspapers, 
 and have noticed its peculiar use in the advertising columns." 
 
 " No, I can't say that I have." 
 
 "Well, this morning, just out of curiosity, I glanced over the 
 'small ads,' and I readily discovered that the dislike to children 
 was assuming an acute form, and that those who employed the 
 space of the newspaper for busi ness purposes were frank to avow 
 this feeling of aversion. In order to show you what I mean, I 
 shall read vou a few of these announcements, which I copied 
 verbatim: 
 
 " 'Competent woman wishes situation at housekeeping in
 
 THK AMi:UI< AN FAMILY. 19 
 
 family; no objection, to children.' 'Choicest part of Rincon 
 Hill; handsome residence; ample grounds; tine view; three 
 furnished, sunny rooms, etc.; rent reasonable to adults.' 'Large 
 unfurnished bav- window room; American family; adults.' 'Fur- 
 nished housekeeping rooms; front; no children.' 'Furnished 
 for housekeeping in part of new flat; cozy parlor bedroom; 
 kitchen; bath; suitable only for man and wife.' Large, sunny 
 housekeeping room; newly renovated; no children.' 'Young 
 woman desires a place in a small family to do general housework 
 and plain cooking.' ' Wanted, girl to do general housework in 
 small f<niii/i/.' ' Wanted, young giii to assist in housework; 
 family of two; references required.' 'Wanted, a girl for a small 
 family.' How are these, my dear, as straws showing the direc- 
 tion of the popular current ? ' ' 
 
 "I am surprised!" exclaimed Mrs. Notion. "The thing has 
 gone farther than I had any idea of. Judging from what you 
 have read, the American family has been narrowed down to two. 
 But, surely, such a phrase as a 'family of two' can have no 
 sanction, either in law or good usage." 
 
 "Oh, yes, it has!" asserted Mr. Notion. "It is becoming 
 more common, and has already secured some judicial recognition. 
 In the Century Dictionary I find the following: 'In law, husband 
 and wife, living together and having no children, are sometimes 
 deemed within the benefit of a statute as to families. ' Of course, 
 as yet the accepted definitions of the word ' family ' hardly leave 
 room for such a signification. The Standard Dictionary defines 
 it as 'a group of persons, consisting of a father, mother, and their 
 children ; the collection of persons forming a domestic household, 
 including parents, children, servants, and sometimes lodgers; a 
 domestic establishment; in a restricted sense, the children as 
 distinguished from the parents.' Webster's International Dic- 
 tionary gives the following definition: 'A collective body of 
 persons, who live in one house and under one head, or manager; 
 a household, including parents, children and servants, and, as the 
 ra-e may be, lodgers or boarders; the group comprising a hus- 
 haud, wife, and their dependent children, constituting a funda- 
 mental unit in the organization of society.' The Century 
 Dictionary says the family is 'the collective body of persons 
 who form one household, under one head and one domestic 
 government, including parents, children, and servants, etc.' By 
 the way, Matilda, I observe that the Century and the Inter-
 
 20 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 national Dictionaries agree in speaking of 'one head' of the 
 family. I suppose you will admit that that head is the husband. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yes, I concede that freely, ' ' replied Mrs. Notion, ' ' but 
 such a concession is of 'no significance, for the reason that the 
 dictionaries are man-made, and the laws and customs which they 
 record are also the product of the male portion of society. ' ' 
 
 "True, Matilda, true; and I shall take pleasure in discussing 
 that phase of the woman question with you at some future time. 
 But we were talking about the 'American family. ' A few momen ts 
 since you referred to the astonishment expressed by a certain 
 class of women at your youthful looks. What did they have to 
 say about their own health? and what was their appearance? " 
 
 "Most of them complain incessantly of their maladies and 
 ailments, and don't see how it is possible for me to do so much 
 work, and yet enjoy such robust health. So far as their appear- 
 ance is concerned, they are prematurely old. ' ' 
 
 "Yes," interjected Mr. Notion, "I can testify to that. 
 Women who were girls and schoolmates of mine twenty years 
 ago, are now decrepit. Their figures have lost their former 
 symmetry; their faces have no longer the graceful contour of 
 yore; their featwes are pinched; their complexions are pale and 
 yellow. They are in the ' sere and yellow leaf. ' Their youthful 
 buoyancy and high spirits are gone, and they look forward 
 either to a premature death or to an old age of pain and anguish, 
 unmitigated by the affection and sympathy of children, unbright- 
 ened by the sweetness and* gaiety of grandchildren, but, on t!.< 
 contrary, embittered by the consciousness that they are a burden 
 to those around them." 
 
 "How ready you are, Edward, to criticise women, and to 
 assume that they alone are to blame for any deviations from the 
 strict path of domestic rectitude ! ' ' 
 
 " And I am sorry to say," continued Mr. Notion, apparently 
 unheeding his wife's remark, "that most of the childless wives 
 of our acquaintance, as well as those who have submitted but 
 once to the experience of maternity, are a burden to their 
 husbands. ' ' 
 
 "I have no doubt," said Mrs. Notion, "that their husbands 
 are chiefly in fault in the matter, and richly deserve all the 
 punishment which comes to them." 
 
 "Possibly so, Matilda, but the fact remains that these women 
 spend much of the family income upon dressmakers and phy-
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 21 
 
 sicians, and when their husbands come home in the evening, 
 wearied with the day's work and worried with the day's cares, 
 their alleged ' helpmeets, ' instead of comforting and cheering 
 them, pour long tales of woe into their harrowed ears, and make 
 large demands upon them for condolence and sympathy. And so 
 the man who reaches his home brimful of trouble ' ' 
 
 ' ' Brimful of liquor, would be oftener correct, ' ' interrupted 
 Mrs. Notion. 
 
 ' ' And who longs to tell it all to one who can give mm sympa- 
 thy and advice," continued Mr. Notion, "has to sit throughout 
 the dismal dinner and listen to his wife's misfortunes her pains 
 and aches and peculiar sensations, the hatefulness of the servant, 
 etc., etc." 
 
 "What a deep and tender compassion and pity you have, 
 Edward, for the injustice and persecution to which your poor, 
 meek, little^ fellow-men are subjected by their cruel and unreason- 
 able, though admittedly sickly, wives! Hereafter, I wish you 
 would pour forth a little of your superabundant sympathy upon 
 me, undeserving and reprobate though I be." 
 
 "What a little satirist you are!" exclaimed Mr. Notion. 
 ' ' But, to resume the thread of my remarks, I do not wonder that 
 thousands of these unfortunate fellows, denied the delights of 
 home, listening in vain through the dreary years for the voice of 
 wifely sympathy, or the pretty prattle of childhood, become 
 desperate, and flee from their forbidding firesides to the warmth, 
 brightness, fellowship, and good cheer of club, lodge, saloon, and 
 still viler places of resort. " 
 
 "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Edward. You have 
 been dinning so constantly into my ears the declaration that men 
 are strong and wise and brave, and in every way incomparably 
 the superiors of women, that I am sometimes tempted to believe 
 you ; and yet you now assume for the purpose of your argument 
 that men are weak and easily influenced by their wives. If they 
 were as great, powerful, and noble as you sometimes paint them, 
 they would mould the character of their wives in accordance with 
 their own wishes, almost as easily as the skilful sculptor shapes 
 the plastic clay. In fact, I am very firmly of the opinion that in 
 nine cases out of ten the men whose wives are not what they 
 si mi ild be, are themselves chiefly to blame for it; and, so far as 
 children are concerned, I believe that the women who are averse 
 to maternity, have generally been drilled into that frame of mind 
 by their unnatural husbands."
 
 22 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Well, well, Matilda, we won't argue that point. But you 
 must agree with me that within the past generation a great 
 revolution has been silently accomplished in the domestic life of 
 the American people. Among the numerous successful business 
 and professional men of my acquaintance, those who come from 
 small families are rare exceptions. But these men are, as a rule, 
 the fathers of only one or two children. That their cases are 
 representative, is proved by the last three censuses, which show a 
 marked falling oft' in the birth rate, and this, despite the fact that 
 the percentage of births in the southern states still continues 
 large. ' ' 
 
 " To what do you attribute this decrea-e ? " 
 
 "The causes are numerous, and while I do not pretend to have 
 discovered them all, I think I can point out a few of the most 
 salient. As a people, we have traveled a great deal, and 
 children are an inconvenience to travelers. Vast currents of 
 population have been in constant motion from Europe to America, 
 and from the eastern states to the great west. Home life has 
 been interfered with in millions of cases, and in hundreds of 
 thousands of instances entirely destroyed. In our American 
 migrations the men have gone as pioneers, thus terribly disturb- 
 ing the numerical proportions of the sexes. In the east the 
 women have greatly exceeded the men in number, while in the 
 west women have been in a very small minority. Then, there has 
 been the rush to the towns and cities, and the influences in great 
 centers of population nearly all militate against true home life. 
 Multitudes live in hotels, boarding-houses, lodging-houses, and 
 restaurants. With persons so situated children are a positive 
 inconvenience. Besides, we have become more and more of a 
 pleasure-loving people. Much of our time is spent in theaters, 
 concerts, balls, parties, and private social gatherings, while the 
 habit formed by the men of going to lodge, needs no comment. 
 Young children interfere greatly with this round of pleasures, 
 especially with married persons who can not afford to employ a 
 servant, and rather than stay home night after night to take care 
 of the children, they refrain from having any. With the rich 
 many causes work in the same direction. The difficulty of getting 
 faithful, reliable servants is one; but the disinclination of stylish 
 women to permit anything to mar even temporarily the symme- 
 try of their forms, or to interfere in any degree with their social 
 functions, is still more potent in preventing their assumption of
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 23 
 
 maternity. The expense of living, the uncertainty of business, 
 the force of example, and the fear of ridicule are all more or less 
 influential in diminishing the hirth rate." 
 
 "Quite a formidable array of causes this!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Notion. "Can't you think of one or two more ? " 
 
 ' ' Indeed I can, Matilda. I have by no means exhausted my 
 list. As the native-born Americans look around them and see 
 the intensity of the struggle for existence, as they watch the 
 hordes of foreigners who do nearly all the laboring work of the 
 country, they shrink from bringing any children of theirs into 
 the world to compete with these coarse, vulgar, illiterate, and 
 semi-civilized multitudes. They doubt their ability to exempt 
 their children from what they consider degrading labor, and, 
 haunted by the fear of their own girls working in filthy factories, 
 and their own boys shoveling sand, they determine to have none. 
 Another cau.se is monopoly." 
 
 " Why, Ned, what can monopoly have to do with it? " 
 
 ' ' A great deal. It used to be that the American people could 
 utilize most of their substance in the rearing of families; now a 
 large proportion of their earnings is diverted into the coffers of 
 grinding monopolies. As a matter of fact their involuntary 
 contributions to the barons of boodle, the count of coin, and the 
 marquises of monopoly have seriously impaired their abilitv to 
 support children." 
 
 "Well, I never thought of that before. But surely, Ned, 
 you have now finished your enumeration." 
 
 ' ' Not quite, my dear. The prevailing disobedience to parents 
 on the part of the young, and the general lack of respect for 
 parental authority, are certainly calculated to dissuade men and 
 women from assuming parental responsibilities. The increase of 
 crime among the young is also very discouraging." 
 
 "Yes, indeed. O Edward, I do hope our children will 
 never speak of us as the ' old man ' and the ' old woman, ' or call 
 you the ' governor ' ! I hear of so many cases of insolence, con- 
 trmpt, and cruelty practised by children to their parents, that I 
 often tremble at the future." 
 
 "So do I, Matilda. But 1 want to mention two other 
 potential reasons for our decreasing birth rate. One is the 
 prevailing mania for divorces, and the other is the disinclina- 
 tion to marry on the part of both young men and young women. 
 These divorces break up families, and make it bad for the chil-
 
 24 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 dreu of the separated parents. Now, isn't it reasonable to 
 suppose that the consciousness of this fact, combined with a 
 general feeling of uncertainty as to the duration of the marriage 
 relation, has something to do with the aversion to children ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes, there is a good deal offeree in your argument." 
 
 1 ' And then, Matilda, these hundreds of thousands of divorces 
 have much to do with the dislike to marry. Naturally, the 
 unmarried shrink from taking a step which in such a multitude 
 of cases has been fraught with disaster. But, as I said in our 
 little talk the other day, one of the principal reasons Avhy young 
 men hesitate to marry, is because, on account of female competi- 
 tion, they doubt their ability to support a wife." 
 
 ' ' But is it not a fact, Mr. Notion, that many of these causes 
 which you mention have been in operation right along, and that 
 they antedated the sudden decline in the proportion of births? " 
 
 "To a certain extent they have, but in a much less degree 
 than now. There are certain facts, however, which tend to 
 make them more effective in lessening the population than they 
 ever were before. The causes which I have given all point in 
 the direction of disinclination to have children. I have not yet 
 shown you why it is that this disinclination is more active and 
 operative in these days than was the comparatively slight disin- 
 clination which existed in former times." 
 
 At this point Mrs. Notion went to sleep in her chair, and her 
 husband immediately began his preparations for retiring.
 
 Mr. Notion Extends His Remarks on the 
 "American Family/* 
 
 "Oh, trebly blest the placid lot of those 
 
 Whose hearth foundations are in pure love laid, 
 Where husband's breast with tempered ardor glows, 
 And wife, oft mother, is in heart a maid! " 
 
 Euripides. 
 
 ' ' You must excuse me, Edward, for falling asleep last even- 
 ing while you were so kindly explaining to me the causes which 
 retard the increase of our American families. When I dozed 
 off, you were just hinting at the greater facilities which exist in 
 these modern times for limiting the dimensions of the family. I 
 am curious to hear what you have to say on that phase of the 
 subject, and now that the children are all snug in their beds, we 
 can have a nice, confidential talk. ' ' 
 
 ' ' To continue our interrupted conversation of last night, ' ' said 
 Mr. Notion, ' ' there are three great positive agencies which go to 
 give practical effect to this parental disinclination, if I may call 
 it so, of which we were speaking, and one equally powerful 
 agency of a negative character. The positive ones are the news- 
 paper, the medical profession, and the drug stores. The nega- 
 tive one is the pulpit." 
 
 " What in the world, Edward, have the newspapers to do with 
 this question ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' You sweet little innocent, how little you know of the evils 
 that are all around you! In you is verified the truth of the 
 saying that to the pure all things are pure. You read the news- 
 paper every day, and yet have never noticed some of its most 
 serious and immoral features. Perhaps that is one reason why 
 you have so many children. If you had made the use of your 
 newspaper that some women do, our darling children would 
 never have seen the light of day. 
 
 " Listen to this, Matilda, culled from the advertising columns 
 of to-day's paper. [Here Mr. Notion read several of the infamous 
 
 (25)
 
 26 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 advertisements so common in the daily press.] Of coarse, 
 Matilda, you see the devilish meaning of these announcements, 
 for the language is very thinly veiled, and in some cases there is 
 no pretense of concealment." 
 
 "Yes, I fully comprehend the Satanic purpose which under- 
 lies all these advertisements, and I am shocked to think that 
 women should be among those who engage in such a diabolical 
 business. But is there no law against such things ? " 
 
 "Oh, the law is all right, my dear; but the trouble is that no 
 attempt is made to enforce it! Let me call your attention to 
 section 317 of the Penal Code of this state, which is evidently 
 designed for just such cases as these, and which is fairly illustra- 
 tive of similar legislation in most of the other states. It is as 
 follows: 'Every person who wilfully writes, composes, or pub- 
 lishes any notice or advertisement of any medicine or means for 
 producing or facilitating a miscarriage or abortion, or for the 
 prevention of conception, or who offers his services by any notice, 
 advertisement, or otherwise, to assist in the accomplishment of 
 any such purpose, is guilty of a felony.' ' 
 
 "Why, Ned, I never dreamed there was such a law in exist - 
 .ence. Surely it has been recently enacted, and the authorities 
 are not aware of it. ' ' 
 
 "You are mistaken about that. It went into full effect on 
 July 1, 1874, and the boys, if there are any, whose lives were 
 saved by its instrumentality, are old enough to vote to-day." 
 
 " Can you tell me, my dear, why they don't enforce this law? " 
 asked Mrs. Notion with manifest surprise. 
 
 "Simply because the violators of the law have too much 
 influence back of them to be reached by the moral sense of the 
 community, which, I am sorry to say, is very low. Many 
 thousands of people in this city avail themselves of the services 
 of these specialists, or of regular physicians who are equally 
 guilty, and all these are interested in preventing the prosecution 
 of the violators of this provision of the law. Then, there are 
 still larger numbers of our citizens who- habitually disobey other 
 similar sections of the Code, and naturally their moral feelings 
 are so blunted that they do not realize the turpitude of these 
 crimes. ' ' 
 
 "While you were reading that section, I thought it included 
 publishers in its provisions. Was I right in that impression?" 
 
 " I think you were. It says: 'Every person who publishes
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 27 
 
 any notice or advertisement; ' and, although the language is not 
 as specific as I should wish, still I am of the opinion that any 
 fair construction of the terms of the section Avould include the 
 proprietors of newspapers in its prohibition. ' ' 
 
 "And so, Edward, these great daily journals which enter 
 scores of thousands of the people's homes with their load of filth, 
 are constant and unpunished defiers of the law of the land ? ' ' 
 
 "I am sorry to say that they are," answered Mr. Notion. 
 " But they are conducted by men who seem to be entirely devoid 
 of moral scruples, and who in their greed for gold gladly violate 
 every legal and moral obligation which can be trampled upon 
 with impunity. These newspapers have tremendous influence, 
 and in combination with the physicians who thrive by infanticide, 
 the avowed specialists in that line, the drug stores who carry on 
 a profitable traffic in the drugs and appliances which prevent 
 conception or induce miscarriage, and the multitudes of people 
 who themselves disobey these legal injunctions, constitute a 
 phalanx which has thus far presented an invincible front to the 
 fe\v and feeble advocates of an enforcement of the law." 
 
 "You referred a moment ago to other similar provisions. 
 What are they?" 
 
 "Section 274 of the Penal Code declares: 'Every person who 
 provides, supplies, or administers to any pregnant woman, or 
 procures any such woman to take any medicine, drug, or sub- 
 stance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means what- 
 ever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such 
 woman, unless the same is necessary to preserve her life, is 
 punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than two 
 nor more than five years.' Section 275 provides: 'Every woman 
 who solicits of any person any medicine, drug, or substance 
 whatever, and takes the same, or who submits to any operation, 
 or to the use of any means whatever, with intent thereby to pro- 
 cure a miscarriage, unless the same is necessary to preserve her 
 life, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less 
 than one nor more than five years.' You will see from these 
 sections that there is considerable law on the subject, and that 
 the number of criminals within the scope of its inhibitions 
 constitutes a large proportion of our population. No effort is 
 made. to enforce these laws, except where the death of the woman 
 results from their violation, and in those ca-i-s it is generally 
 impossible to convict the murderer."
 
 28 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "These statements of yours, Edward, are appalling. It is 
 hard to believe that our community is so degraded as they would 
 indicate, and I find it almost impossible to give credence to the 
 charge that reputable physicians would connive at the crime of 
 infanticide, and assist in its perpetration." 
 
 "Do not understand me, Matilda, to make a sweeping con- 
 demnation of all our medical men. Many of them are high- 
 minded, honorable gentlemen, who would spurn any proposal to 
 take part in such iniquity. But I learn from numerous and 
 reliable sources that a considerable proportion of the doctors in 
 this and other communities, do not hesitate, when so requested 
 by an influential patient, to perform these criminal operations. 
 More than this, the practise lias become very common among 
 medical men of advising their lady patients not to become moth- 
 ers, as their strength is not sufficient for the ordeal. They warn 
 them to be very careful in this regard, and impress upon them 
 the seriousness and difficulty of the function of maternity. The 
 results of this species of counsel are obvious. When fashion, 
 folly, public opinion, selfishness, and the fear of ridicule all 
 co-operate as deterrents from maternity, it is only necessary to 
 add physical timidity, and they become thoroughly effective." 
 
 "I remember well, Ned, when our first baby was born, the 
 doctor warned me not to have any more, as I was too delicate 
 either to bear or rear children. I did look delicate then, but I 
 am more robust in appearance now." 
 
 "You are indeed, Matilda, and a fine, vigorous wife and 
 seven strong children are a much better investment than a 
 peevish, querulous wife, with a long list of chronic complaints, 
 especially when her maladies are the consequence of wilful and 
 wanton disregard of both divine and human laws. But before 
 I leave this point, I want to say that among the bravest and 
 most outspoken advocates of reform along these lines, are some 
 of the medical men of the country. To them, indeed, I owe 
 much of the knowledge I possess of the widespread extent and 
 terrible prevalence of infanticide and kindred evils. For 
 instance, Dr. Cook, of Cedar Rapids, says: 'It lias been ascer- 
 tained that in many' of the countries of Europe the fecundity of 
 the population, or the ratio of its annual increase, is rapidly 
 diminishing; in Sweden it has lessened one-tilth ; in Denmark 
 and England, one-third; in Prussia, one-fourth, and in Russia, 
 Spain, Germany, and France it has lessened by one-half during
 
 TIIK AMKKK'AN FAMILY. 29 
 
 the iast single century. In France, the deaths, independent of 
 those killed in battle or dying in the army, exceed the actual 
 births by a very startling percentage.' Professor Hale, of 
 Chicago, says: 'Two-thirds of all the conceptions occurring in 
 the United States and many other civilized countries are destroyed 
 criminally.' ' 
 
 "Surely," exclaimed Mrs. Notion, "that must be a gross 
 exaggeration ! ' ' 
 
 "I think myself," replied Mr. Notion, "that the professor 
 goes to extremes, and, besides, it is impossible to ascertain the 
 facts of the case. But we do know that the extent of this crime 
 is appalling. Dr. J. Bell, president of the Kansas State Med- 
 ical Society, in 1889, read an article before that society upon 
 the subject of Infanticide, in which he said: 'It would be difficult 
 to find a hamlet in the laud, or a street or alley in a city, where 
 unborn children have not been destroyed by those who were 
 bound by every law of God and man to cherish and protect 
 them. . . . There have been thousands upon thousands 
 more children murdered in the prenatal state by our so-called 
 "high-toned, cultured, professedly civilized American women" 
 than have ever perished by being thrown to the crocodiles in the 
 Ganges. This horrible picture grows still darker when we 
 remember the vile means often used to prevent conception. I 
 have known mothers to teach their daughters after marriage how 
 to prevent conception, and the result is no children for many 
 years, and perhaps never. When our young folks get married 
 they soon learn to look upon parenthood as a responsibility and 
 a burden which they may properly avoid if possible, and they 
 virtually commit themselves to a childless marriage. They may 
 not for some time think it proper to interfere with nature when 
 she has begun to create a human life, but they are prepared to 
 prevent her beginning, so that it may well be said that the pre- 
 vention and destruction of unborn human life is, in this country 
 at least, "the terror that walketh in darkness, and the destruction 
 that wasteth at noonday." 
 
 ' ' The good doctor talks with great plainness, ' ' remarked Mrs. 
 Notion. 
 
 "Yes, Matilda, and I am glad he does, for the existing con- 
 dition of affairs demands strong, stern, true words. In another 
 part of his address Dr. Bell says: 'Permit me to call your 
 attention to a few more statistics that are not only curious, but
 
 30 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 should alarm any right-minded man or woman iu America, it 
 the perpetuity of our republican institutions, the Protestant 
 religion, and the American race are any object. The census 
 taken in 1865 in the State of New York gives a total of 780,931 
 families; of this number 196,802 were without children, while 
 there were 148,208 families with only one child each, 140, 072 
 with two children each, and 107,342 with three each. This 
 shows that in almost one-fourth of all the families in the state 
 not a single child is found, and in 591,934 families more than 
 three-fourths there was an average of only a small fraction 
 over one child to each family. ... A very large majority 
 of these with no children, or the mothers of but a few, were 
 American women.'' 
 
 "Much as I advocate woman's rights, Edward, I do not think 
 it fair for so large a proportion of married women to decline the 
 cares and responsibilities of maternity, and thus throw upon 
 their more conscientious sisters an undue burden of child-bearing. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Neither do I, ' ' replied Mr. Notion. ' ' It has been estimated 
 that in order to maintain the population of Great Britain at a 
 standstill, an average of a slight fraction more than six children 
 must be born to every married couple in the country. The same 
 thing may be said of our own land. In a book called 'The 
 Crowning Sin of the Age,' I find the following significant state- 
 ments: 'Two facts appear to be established beyond controversy: 
 First, that the birth rate of the foreign population is more than 
 twice as large as the strictly American. Second, that in the 
 country districts of New England, settled mainly by Americans, 
 the death rate keeps pace with, and in many cases exceeds, the 
 birth rate, so that there is no addition to the population by natural 
 increase. This will do much to throw light on the question of the 
 deserted farms of New England. The Board of Health of New 
 Hampshire, after carefully analyzing the births and deaths in 1880, 
 to draw the line between the foreign and the American, estab- 
 lished the fact that the deaths among the Americans exceed the 
 births by 800. That is, New Hampshire lost just 800 of her 
 native population in 1880 by a deficit of births. ... A 
 careful examination of the facts in the Massachusetts State census 
 of 1885, exhibits the same relative comparison, when we inquire 
 who the mothers of the children are. This reveals the same 
 disparity which we saw in the birth rate and in the conjugal 
 condition of the state's population. ... . According to the
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 31 
 
 most authentic reports, the birth rate of the New England states 
 is less than that of any large European nation, except Frainv. 
 And the New England birth rate, as collected in the vital 
 statistics, being based upon both the foreign and American 
 classes, it will be seen that when the former is eliminated in the 
 computation, the birth rate of the native Americans in New 
 England is much lower than that of infidel France.' ' 
 
 "But don't forget in this connection," suggested Mrs. Notion, 
 "that the men are just as culpable as the women, and that neither 
 sex has any right to throw all the blame upon the other for the 
 existing condition of affaire." 
 
 "I can not reply to you, Matilda, in any more effective man- 
 ner than by quoting briefly from a pamphlet written by Dr. 
 George L. Fitch, of this city, called 'Humanity's Wrongs alia* 
 Woman's Rights,' in which that gentleman very pertinently 
 remarks: 'It is not enough to say that man is equally guilty with 
 woman in this matter. The fact is, the life of the unborn infant 
 is in her sole charge, and the further fact that she has not the 
 courage and steadfastness to protect that charge, shows that she 
 has not the discretion and ability for self-government which are 
 absolutely prerequisites to the rightful discharge of the duties of 
 citizenship. ' ' 
 
 "The latter part of Dr. Fitch's assertion, Edward, squints in 
 the direction of female suffrage, and we have not reached that 
 subject." 
 
 "Nor have I any desire to discuss it at this time," said Mr. 
 Notion, "but I quoted Dr. Fitch's statement as being especially 
 relevant to the question of the respective culpability of the sexes 
 regarding infanticide and other related offenses. I desire to read 
 you one more extract from 'The Crowning Sin of the Age,' and 
 then I shall relieve your patience, so far as this particular phase 
 of our theme is concerned: 'By the Massachusetts census of 
 1885, it is shown that the total number of families in the State 
 of Massachusetts are 424,415, and that the average size for all 
 the normal families of the state, excluding boarding-houses, 
 hotels, schools, inmates of charitable homes, was 4.45. This 
 indicates 2.45 children to a family. It seems to be the fact that 
 our fair America, notwithstanding her favored position, with 
 such ample resources to feed and clothe her children, with such 
 magnificent institutions of learning and culture to educate and 
 refine them, with such an honored and glorious inheritance of
 
 32 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 religious faith and life to save their souls, has entered the lists 
 with India and China in the Satanic and heathen practise of 
 childlessness and infanticide and foeticide.' Is it any wonder, 
 Matilda, that a large proportion of the young men of the coun- 
 try should refrain from matrimony, and lead licentious lives? 
 That such is the case I can prove by referring to Extra Census 
 Bulletin No. 69, issued by the United States Census Bureau, 
 April 25, 1894, which shows that of men between 20 and 24 
 years of age, 80. 69 per cent were single ; from 25 to 29 years 
 of age, 45.98 were single; from 30 to 34, 26.50 per cent, and 
 from 35 to 44, 15.34 per cent." 
 
 "If you are right in your deductions as to the seriousness of 
 this evil, ' ' thoughtfully remarked Mrs. Notion, ' ' all other ques- 
 tions pale into utter insignificance, and should hardly be men- 
 tioned until it is rightly decided." 
 
 "True, Matilda, and yet the wise and righteous women who 
 assembled at the Women's Congress at Chicago in 1893, saw fit 
 to devote only one brief paragraph to this subject in all their 
 essays, addresses, and discussions." 
 
 "You were going to say something, Edward, about the drug 
 stores as one of the positive agencies, and the pulpit as a negative 
 one, in giving effect to the general disinclination to procreate the 
 human species." 
 
 ' ' I am sorry to say that the drug stores, as generally conducted, 
 are doing a great deal to degrade the community. There all 
 sorts of iniquitous appliances, apparatus, and nostrums designed 
 to produce foeticide, or prevent conception, are kept for sale, and 
 sold without question to all who ask for them. And this is only 
 one of the disgusting features of the drug stores of the present day. 
 The druggists, as a rule, conspire with the physicians to rob the 
 unfortunate patients, by paying large percentages on prescriptions, 
 and charging all the traffic will bear. The doctor knows that the 
 more prescriptions he gives, the more he will increase his income. 
 The druggist knows that the more he charges for the prescription, 
 the larger will be his monthly payment to the doctor, and the 
 better the latter will be pleased. As a result the doctor gives 
 unnecessary prescriptions, and the pharmacist charges extortion- 
 ate prices for filling them. Besides this, the average druggist 
 fattens on the most degrading vices of humanity, and willingly 
 supplies opium, morphine, and cocaine victims with their respect- 
 ive drugs. He also does more or less liquor business besides, 
 and in various ways transgresses the moral law."
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 33 
 
 ' ' I should think it would be almost impossible for a good man 
 to engage in the drug business, ' ' remarked Mrs. Notion. 
 
 ' ' Oh, there are good men in it, but they are not popular 
 druggists, and have a perpetual struggle with temptation. Of 
 course each particular vocation has its own peculiar snares and 
 moral pitfalls, but that of pharmacy, in these modern days, has 
 more to the square inch than any other business making any pre- 
 tension to respectability. Besides, many of the druggists have 
 lost all confidence in the beneficial effects of the prescriptions 
 which they fill, and the patent medicines which they sell. One 
 of the oldest pharmacists in this city has frankly avowed to me 
 that the whole thing was a sham, and has expressed the opinion 
 that the entire medical system in all its ramifications is a delu- 
 sion and a fraud." 
 
 ' ' How about the pulpit as a negative agency in the matter 
 referred to ? " 
 
 "The Protestant ministers of this country are criminally silent 
 on the subject. They are afraid to speak the truth specifically 
 relative to this vital question. Glittering generalities they do 
 occasionally indulge in, but they purposely and persistently 
 refrain from direct appeals to the consciences of their hearers 
 concerning these matters. And yet they must be aware that 
 many of the most active members of their churches are constantly 
 violating the commandments of God in their family relations; 
 that women prominent in religious circles are taking extreme 
 measures to avoid motherhood ; that fceticide is frequently prac- 
 tised by professing Christians; that the families of church- 
 members are proverbially small; that the few women in the 
 churches who have large families are held up as objects of wonder 
 and commiseration ; and that it is a common thing for religious 
 workers who travel a good deal from place to place, to avoid 
 having children. In fact, I have been informed by a saintly old 
 lady in this city, that several women of her acquaintance, who 
 were members of the church, sent for her on their death-beds, 
 and told her that they could not die in peace until they had con- 
 fessed to her their misdeeds along these lines. They told her 
 what they would not tell their pastor." 
 
 "Don't you think, Edward, that motives of delicacy have 
 much to do with this ' conspiracy of silence, ' if I may speak of it 
 as such ? ' ' 
 
 "Certainly. There is a great deal of a sort of superficial
 
 34 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 squeamishness, falsely called modesty, whicn covers over the 
 surface of things with smooth, soft, sweet talk, while the heart of 
 society is fairly rotting out. While ministers are preaching 
 against forms of sin which are hardly represented in their congre- 
 gations, or congratulating themselves on the rapid conversion of 
 the world, this moral cancer is eating away the very vitals of our 
 nation, and embittering and ruining the lives of most of the men 
 and women who listen to their sermons. ' ' 
 
 " But have you any idea, Ned, that the people would submit 
 to the truth in this regard ; that they would endure plain talk ? ' ' 
 
 " Doubtless many of them would not. Paul says in one of his 
 epistles that the time will come when men will not endure sound 
 doctrine, and I know of no sounder doctrine than that which is 
 designed to secure to the individual his primal right that of 
 being born and to prevent the physical as well as the mental 
 and moral destruction of the people of America. It is very likely 
 that many church-members would profess to be outraged by such 
 preaching; that they would stigmatize it as gross, vulgar, low, 
 brutal, obscene, indelicate, immodest, etc., etc.; and it is also 
 quite likely that the very persons who were loudest in their 
 denunciations would be most amenable to the strictures of the 
 preacher. But many would listen, learn, and profit by the light 
 and knowledge thus imparted. Why, Matilda, you have no idea 
 of the ignorance which exists among intelligent church-members 
 on these themes. I have talked to many of the male members 
 about them, and have been astonished to find that they were 
 perfectly unconscious of the dreadful moral guilt involved in tam- 
 pering with the procrcative functions. They need to be taught, 
 and the saddest need in the pulpit to-day is men with the con- 
 science, wisdom, and courage to cry aloud against the secret sins 
 which are devastating American homes and destroying American 
 society." 
 
 " \Vhat do you think of the Salvation Army in this respect? " 
 
 "I am sorry to say that, with all its admirable features, it is 
 even more culpable than the churches in these matters. Its very 
 constitution is incompatible with home life. The two ideas <>i 
 the home and the army are absolutely and irreconcilably hostile. 
 Domestic virtues do not flourish amidst the stern discipline, 
 severe hardships, and constant motion of camps. The members 
 of the Salvation Army are under orders continually, and the 
 officers hold themselves in readiness to go to the ends of the earth
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 35 
 
 whenever the command is given, and with hardly a moment's 
 notice. They hold nightly religious services, and march regu- 
 larly in the streets. A large proportion of their officers are 
 women. What opportunity have these women to cultivate the 
 domestic virtues ? A woman who tramps the cobbles and attends 
 meetings every night in the week is not fit to be either a wife or a 
 mother. And then, if she be an officer, she must obey orders 
 and go wherever she is sent. Under these conditions it is not 
 strange that child- having is discouraged among the married 
 members of this organization. Naturally children are felt to be 
 a very great inconvenience, and I doubt not the time will come, 
 as it did in the history of the Roman Church, when the rule of 
 celibacy on the part of officers will be made and enforced just as 
 it is among the priests. Now the officers of the Salvation Army 
 do marry, and their marriages are generally public spectacles. 
 Occasionally they have children, and their babies are publicly 
 dedicated to God and the army. But it needs no argument to 
 show that they know nothing of the comforts and blessings of 
 home. ' ' 
 
 "You surprise me, husband, by this indictment of the Salva- 
 tion Army. I thought it was well-nigh perfect, and that seems 
 to be the general impression nowadays. A few years ago it was 
 greatly ridiculed and persecuted, but to-day it is the most 
 popular organi/ation in the world." 
 
 ' ' The good Book says, ' Woe unto you when all men speak 
 well of you, ' and I fear that this sudden wave of prosperity and 
 popularity will have a demoralizing influence upon the Salvation 
 Army. As yet, however, it is doing excellent work, although it 
 does not take a very close observer to see that it is not what it 
 was a few years ago. It inclines too much to street pageants, 
 and, like the churches, resorts to various questionable catch-penny 
 schemes for the purpose of swelling its revenues. In doing this 
 it yields to one of the greatest temptations of all the ages, and 
 'docs evil that good may come.' But the idea which 1 wish 
 rspi-cially to emphasize at this time is that modern society, in all 
 its phases, is hostile to the home life. I have spoken of the 
 causes which directly militate against child-bearing; but in 
 addition to these there are many others which injure the family 
 incidentally, by impinging upon its special sphere. The devo- 
 tees of pleasure have little time or energy for home, and their 
 tastes do not lie in that direction. Business as now conducted,
 
 36 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 leaves a far too narrow margin for the domesticities. Politics, 
 reform, philanthropy, charity, and a variety of literary, artistic, 
 and educational associations, make tremendous drafts upon, the 
 vitality of the home circle. This being so, it should be the 
 especial care and mission of religion to conserve and reinforce the 
 domestic life in every possible way. But, instead of so doing, 
 the churches make such imperious demands upon the time and 
 strength of their members, that the home tends more and more 
 to become a mere boarding-house, where parents and children 
 (if there are "any) eat and sleep, and occasionally exchange a 
 few hurried words. Without intending it, they are gradually 
 estranged and carried farther and farther apart by the subtle but 
 potent tides which sweep with ever-increasing force toward the 
 great centers of human life and thought. ' ' 
 
 "And no one knows better than I how strong they are!" 
 exclaimed Mrs. Notion. "Over and over again I have resolved to 
 spend more time at home, but have found myself unable to resist 
 the influences which ceaselessly drew me in other directions. I 
 wonder if there isn't some great underlying cause for all this." 
 
 "I think there is, my dear. This stream of tendency is seen 
 and felt everywhere. It is a kind of spiritual or social gravita- 
 tion, which may well be called concentration, and the operation 
 of which is to draw the less to the greater, to destroy the indi- 
 viduality of the smallar units by adding them to the larger ones. 
 It is contraction, and results from a loss of warmth, from a lack 
 of love. As contraction in physical things is the almost invaria- 
 ble consequent of cold, so in the moral, spiritual, mental, social, 
 and industrial realms is the corresponding phenomenon induced 
 by the dying out of the fires of affection." 
 
 " Why, Edward, I don't see how you make that out." 
 
 "Let me illustrate, Matilda. It is lack of family affection 
 that permits it to be absorbed in the church, the club, the associa- 
 tion, and other larger social units. It is lack of patriotism or love 
 of country that often permits nations to lose their autonomy and 
 become consolidated with larger states. It is lack of independ- 
 ence or the love of liberty which permits the individual citixen 
 to lose his identity and become merged in the soulless, artificial 
 corporation. It is lack of love of nature and the old homestead 
 in the sheltered vale or on the breezy hill, which permits the 
 dwellers of the rural regions to be pulled into the maelstrom of 
 the city. It is lack of love for humanity that permits the con-
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 37 
 
 stant contraction of the volume of money, the steady monopoliza- 
 tion of natural opportunities." 
 
 ' ' But are there not other influences at work to bring about 
 these results ? ' ' 
 
 "Certainly there are, but everywhere we behold this great 
 tendency of consolidation, concentration, contraction, the ascend- 
 ency of the centripetal over the centrifugal; and, while many 
 olt'iiieiits are involved, I believe that the lessening of the streams 
 of human affection has more to do with it than all else besides. 
 In view of all this, it is no wonder that the advocates of socialism, 
 that system which would swallow up all individuality in one 
 great governmental, social organism, are so rapidly increasing in 
 numbers." 
 
 "1 want to hear you again on this subject, Edward, but first 
 I wish you would continue your remarks on the American 
 family; and in order that I may have a good opportunity to 
 converse with you to-morrow evening on that subject, I shall stay 
 away from the Female Suffrage meeting which I had planned to 
 attend."
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Have a Third Conversa- 
 tion on the "American Family." 
 
 " The best school of discipline is home. Family life is God's own 
 method of truhiins* the young, and homes are very much as women 
 make them." Samuel Smiles. 
 
 "You expressed the opinion last evening, Ned, that the tend- 
 ency of the family to become absorbed in larger social units was 
 principally due to lack of affection. Now, I should like to know 
 why there should be less love in American families at the present 
 time than in former days. ' ' 
 
 " For the simple reason that they are so much smaller. Love 
 is soul warmth, and, other things being equal, a small fire will 
 not produce as much heat as a larger one." 
 
 "And do you pretend to say that there is any necessary cor- 
 relation between the size of a family and the mutual affection of 
 its members ? ' ' 
 
 "I do, my dear, and the reason is not far to seek. Self- 
 sacrifice is at the very root of all true love, and self must be 
 abnegated more in a large household than in a small one. Each 
 individual must subordinate his own interests to those of the 
 family as a whole, in so far as there is any conflict between them. 
 This process goes on invariably in things mental and spiritual, 
 and generally in things material. There are families whose 
 wealth is so abundant that the necessity for material sacrifices on 
 the part of their members does not exist. But, as a rule, the 
 family's financial ability is closely limited, and the margin of 
 expenditure over and above mere subsistence, is extremely nar- 
 row. This margin is less in large than in small families, and 
 must be divided into more parts, each of which is consequently 
 smaller. In order that this division may be equitably and ami- 
 cably effected, there is great need for self-control, self-denial, 
 patience, forbearance, kindness, charity, and other admirable 
 qualities, in parents and children alike." 
 
 "Then you think that the mere fact of being compelled to 
 
 (38)
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 39 
 
 share with others a fund not too large to supply all our own 
 wants, has a good moral tendency ? ' ' 
 
 "I am sure of it, Matilda. And I will go farther, and assert 
 that the mental and physical effects, except ill extreme cases, are 
 also excellent. The large family with a small income is a 
 splendid school of economy. It also affords the best kind of 
 opportunities for the study of human nature; but I shall have 
 more to say on that point in a little while. You can see at a 
 glance that the many deprivations in which all the members of 
 the family share, the mutual sacrifices which they make along 
 material lines, and the common interest which they feel in the 
 prosperity of the household, tend to knit them closely together, 
 to develop their affectioual nature, and to enlarge their capacity 
 for loving." 
 
 ' ' And then, Ned, there are the sick ones, who are to be found 
 at least occasionally in every home. The care and watchfulness 
 which they require, call for additional sacrifices by those who 
 are Avell, and pity, sympathy, and love are developed by many 
 acts of kindness, both in those who do them, and those for whose 
 sake they are done. ' ' 
 
 ' ' You catch my idea exactly, darling. Take our own expe- 
 rience. Can it be doubted that we love each other more tenderly 
 by reason of our mutual sorrows and sufferings, as well as our 
 mutual joys ? Were not our affections more closely intertwined 
 because of our nightly vigils by the bedsides of our darling chil- 
 dren, when they tossed with fever, and hovered for days and 
 weeks at the very portals of death? God has spared our dear 
 ones to us thus far; but few are the families where the death 
 angel has not come and taken a child away. The hearts of the 
 survivors are softened; they think of the good qualities of the one 
 who is gone; they grieve deeply over their own shortcomings and 
 unkindnesses toward the deceased, and, as they gaze with tear- 
 ful eyes around the family circle, and see other dear ones still in 
 the land of the living, their hearts are melted with teuderest 
 love, and they resolve that they will henceforth improve every 
 opportunity to show their appreciation of parents and brothers 
 and sisters, and make them happy. ' ' 
 
 "You said something a moment ago, dear, about mental and 
 spiritual sacrifices. I must confess that I don't quite apprehend 
 your meaning in that regard. ' ' 
 
 "There are always diversities of tastes and talents in the
 
 40 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 members of a family," replied Mr. Notion. " What one likes, 
 another dislikes. It is impossible to spend the evening hours, 
 when the family are gathered together, in such a way as to please 
 to the utmost every individual, or to benefit him in the highest 
 degree. Preferences must be waived, prejudices deferred to, and 
 weaknesses considered. If there is a song to be sung, John will 
 want one, and Dick another, while Mary would prefer a third. 
 If a book is to be read, the question will instantly arise, What 
 book ? and here again there is sure to be contrariety of opinion. 
 If a game is to be played, the difficulty of conflicting wishes 
 immediately presents itself, for some eagerly request one game, 
 and others are anxious to play another. These matters must 
 either be settled by parental authority, or by a spirit of com- 
 promise, and the latter plan is generally adopted. Thus we see 
 that domestic life is a series of compromises and mutual conces- 
 sions, not only by parents, but by children." 
 
 ' ' I am reminded of another feature of home life, ' ' remarked 
 Mrs. Notion, ' ' and that is what might be termed the ' forlorn 
 hope,' or the disagreeable duty to be done by a volunteer. I 
 know of nothing which has a greater tendency to cultivate 
 unselfishness than to ask any one of a number of children to vol- 
 untarily do something which involves labor, loss, or discomfort. 
 This sort of training is impossible in the family with one child, 
 for where there is something which must be done, and only one 
 person to do it, the principle of volunteering is inapplicable." 
 
 ' ' That is well thought of, my dear. There is also a noticeable 
 pairing off of children in large families. Congenialities and simi- 
 larities of taste are continually asserting themselves, and Tom and 
 Henry become such chums that they have neither the time nor 
 inclination to play with or amuse little Edward and Edith. 
 Here again is an occasion for wholesome discipline, for, while 
 these biases or preferences should not be wholly ignored or too 
 harshly dealt with, they should certainly be discouraged in their 
 extreme forms. Character is not to be cultivated in the midst of 
 ceaseless pleasures, and in the constant society of congenial com- 
 panions. These conditions are restful, and have their place. 
 Patience, unselfishness, and kindred virtues, however, are to be 
 developed, not along the line of least resistance or greatest trac- 
 tion, but in the face of difficulties and troubles. Hence, it 
 follows that Tom and Henry must sacrifice in some degree their 
 desire to fellowship together continually, and should be eiicour-
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 41 
 
 aged to cultivate the noblest traits in their own natures at the 
 same time that they help and amuse little Edward and Edith. 
 Nor should we forget that in large families the children's leisure 
 time is frequently devoted to the welfare of their brothers and 
 sisters, and that many hours which they might otherwise spend 
 in reading and study, are occupied in helping the -younger ones, 
 who are not so well able to help themselves." 
 
 "Oh, I can see very readily, Ned, that mental sacrifices must 
 be made; but how do you reach the conclusion that spiritual 
 sacrifices must also take place under the conditions which you 
 describe ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' I have yet to know of a family, my dear, where all the 
 children are on a plane of moral equality. Some are almost 
 invariably better than others, and even where this is not so, the 
 strong and weak traits of brothers and sisters do not corre- 
 spond. One will be deficient in some quality in which another 
 will excel, and vice versa. These facts call for sacrifice. If there 
 are two patient, amiable children, and two cross, irascible ones 
 in the same family, it is only natural that the two attractive ones 
 should desire each other's society. But it is equally natural that 
 their wish should not be gratified. The cross children, tired of 
 quarreling with each other, will seek relief in the company of the 
 cheerful, agreeable ones, and will constantly interfere with and 
 mar their pleasant intercourse. But this, though involving 
 sacrifice, is just what it should be. The good qualities of the 
 amiable will be tried and strengthened by frequent contact with 
 the hateful, and the faults of the latter will be modified and 
 mitigated by the admirable example of the former. I might 
 mention many other ways in which spiritual or moral sacrifices 
 must be made in the homes of which we speak. But I wish to 
 refer to another phase of the subject, namely, the knowledge of 
 domestic affairs which is gained in such families. The girls 
 learn to take care of babies, to cook, to wash, to mend, and in 
 numerous ways to lighten mother' s toil. Their social nature is 
 expanded and developed; in the busy hum of the household their 
 normal faculties have constant play, and there is little likelihood 
 of their falling into morbid modes of thought or life. Girls thus 
 reared make better wives than the spoiled darlings of fortune who 
 have a monopoly of parental affection, whose every whim is 
 gratified, and who are not compelled by necessity to learn the 
 mysteries of housekeeping."
 
 42 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 Mrs. Notion laughed merrily, and said: "I wonder if you 
 courted me because I was one of a family of nine children, and 
 spent more time in playing on the washboard and sewing-machine 
 than on the piano." 
 
 " I do not wish to give myself credit for more wisdom than I 
 really possessed when I was a young man; but I assure you that 
 your proficiency in all the useful arts of the household was not the 
 least of your attractions in our courtship days. My salary was 
 small then, and I felt the need of a helpmeet who could manage 
 matters economically and make the most of everything. I was 
 confident that you possessed this ability, and that confidence has 
 not been disappointed." 
 
 The shades of evening were darkening the room, and Mr. 
 Notion thoughtfully walked to the window and drew up the 
 curtains. His wife stood beside him, and with clasped hands 
 they looked wistfully toward the western sky, all gilded with 
 glory by the setting sun. 
 
 "The dark clouds of this morning have all cleared away, 
 darling," said Mrs. Notion softly, "and the sun has set in 
 serene beauty. How calm is this evening hour! I pray that our 
 lives may find a close as sweet and radiant and restful as the 
 setting of the sun which has just disappeared from view behind 
 the western hills. ' ' 
 
 "Why, my dear, you are very sentimental this evening, and 
 I am glad to see it, for it reminds me of the evenings long ago 
 when we sat together as lovers, and talked of the beautiful and 
 grand and heroic side of life. How gaily our hearts danced 
 then, and how brilliantly the future shone! In the magnetism of 
 your presence, and the light of your eyes, my thoughts flowed 
 on in melodious cadence; the whole world seemed brimful of joy, 
 and our lives were like a dreamy song set to the soft music of the 
 spheres." 
 
 " Ned, if you keep on talking that way, I shall imagine I am 
 a girl again, and that the journey of life lies before us as tempt- 
 ing and beautiful as it did a score of years ago." 
 
 "Well, Matilda, I believe we were talking about the knowl- 
 edge of housekeeping, etc. To put it concisely, I would rather 
 marry a good cook than a poor piano-player. But there are 
 other advantages to be derived by the members of large families. 
 One is the knowledge of human nature acquired by the children. 
 They see each other as they really are, in all the openness of
 
 THK AMERICAN FAMILY. 43 
 
 nature, and without the conventional masks and disguises which 
 society prescribes. They find out the methods which move the 
 human will, and learn to adapt themselves to the individual 
 idiosyncrasies and peculiarities of brothers and sisters. They 
 soon discover that the mode of action which will prove effective 
 with one will fail with another. They ascertain in this way 
 during the years of childhood the springs and motives of human 
 action, and acquire a knowledge of human nature, and skill in 
 adjusting themselves to it, which are invaluable throughout the 
 battle of life. Nor do they expect too much from the world 
 Coming forth from a family where they have experienced a good 
 many hard knocks and rough jostles, they take it for granted that 
 they will get more of the same sort of treatment. They are 
 accustomed to give as well as take, and are not at all surprised 
 to discover that that is the world's method. In consequence of 
 this training, and the strength in every department of their being 
 which has come from the varied gymnastics of home, they lose no 
 time in adapting and adjusting themselves to the serious work of 
 life, but begin at once in a practical way their real career. That 
 they generally succeed goes without saying. Look out into every 
 field of human action and endeavor, and you will find in the very 
 van the men who have emerged from these domestic hives. The 
 young men and women who sisterless and brotherless have passed 
 through life's initial stages, cannot as a rule compete with the 
 robust, stalwart specimens of humanity whom I have just 
 described. ' ' 
 
 "Your argument is very ingenious, Ned, but are there no 
 compensating features about the small family? Are the advan- 
 tages all in favor of the large family ? Now, it occurs to me that 
 the parents who have only one child will love it more than those 
 \vlio have a dozen, and they will care for it more tenderly, and 
 devote more time and pains to its nurture and development." 
 
 "I am glad that you have brought out that idea, Matilda, 
 for it is a popular one nowadays. Its error, however, lies in the 
 assumption that the parental love Avill be greater when concen- 
 trated upon one child than when bestowed upon several; that it is 
 a fixed quantity which is divided into parts, one of which is given 
 to each child; and that, consequently, the whole being greater 
 than any of its parts, the affection which is not thus subdivided is 
 greater than any of the parts of that which is. I assert with 
 confidence, however, that the parent loves each child with an
 
 44 DOMESTIC DUKI.S. 
 
 undivided affection, and with the whole heart; that the entire scope 
 and intensity of his love is concentrated upon each of his children. 
 I appeal to your own experience. Did you love Tom any the 
 less when Henry was born ? and was your affection for your first 
 six children diminished any by the birth of the seventh?" 
 
 ''On the contrary, Edward, it was increased. It seems to me 
 as though I loved all my children more with each addition to 
 their number. And yet I had never looked at it in that light 
 before. ' ' 
 
 "The fact is," said Mr. Notion, "that the faculty of loving 
 grows stronger with its exercise, and that our capacity to love 
 increases in an exact ratio with the number of persons whom we 
 love. This is the philosophy of religion, the principle Avhich 
 underlies the great commandment enunciated by Christ that we 
 should love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. The 
 affectional nature of the mother of one child is small and shriveled 
 compared to that of the mother of several. This is assuming, of 
 course, that they are equal originally, and that the former does 
 not supplement the domestic objects of her love by others in the 
 great world without the home. If I am right in this, it follows 
 inevitably that the mother of one child who voluntarily declines 
 the privilege of having others, will love that child less than the 
 equally gifted mother of a dozen." 
 
 "Do you think, Edward, that as she loves her child less, she 
 will love her husband more ? ' ' 
 
 "Not at all. The chances are that she will love him less, and 
 herself more, for undeveloped affectional capacity tends to trans- 
 form itself into selfishness. The woman who does nothing for 
 others always expects them to do more for her than she would if 
 she were helpful to them. It is the helpful classes of people that 
 need least help. Take the gentlemen and ladies of fashion, \\lio 
 neither toil nor spin, and see how constantly they require the 
 services of others. Their lives are keyed up to such an artificial 
 pitch that they would be miserable if deprived for a single day of 
 the assistance and labors of many persons. Thus they become 
 dependent, and their happiness instead of being interior and 
 subjective, is largely a matter of externalities which fluctuates 
 with its environment." 
 
 "I think I can see," said Mrs. Notion, "how you would 
 apply these principles to the childless wife. I suppose you would 
 argue that, having no children to help and amuse, she would 
 desire to be herself helped and amused; that her leisure time would
 
 THE AMERICAN FAMILY. 45 
 
 be dedicated to her own use; that she would consequently become 
 more and more self- occupied and self-conscious; and that as she 
 became more and more intensely interested in her own comfort and 
 pleasure, she would be less and less concerned about the welfare 
 and happiness of her husband." 
 
 "I see, my dear, that it will no longer be necessary for me to 
 elaborate or elucidate my ideas, or to explain my meaning in 
 detail, when conversing with you. A mere suggestion of the 
 general principle upon which I rely is sufficient. You grasp the 
 point immediately, and apply the principle to the case in hand 
 more clearly and more concisely than I am capable of doing. ' ' 
 
 "Fie, fie, Ned; no flattery, -please." 
 
 "I assure you I mean every word of it. You have become so 
 familiar with my mental processes, that when you see the start, 
 you can predict the finish. This indicates that I am systematic 
 in my methods, for otherwise you would not be able to anticipate 
 my ideas. But what are the practical results of these psycholog- 
 ical tendencies in every-day life? Simply these: that the woman 
 who declines motherhood falls into idleness, lovelessness, and 
 selfishness. Her little life becomes self-centered, and she soon 
 gets to regard her husband as a mere convenience, who exists for 
 her benefit, and whose value is to be gauged by his ability to 
 contribute to her pleasure. While he works hard every day for 
 the means of subsistence, she enjoys an elegant leisure. While 
 he habitually obeys and bends his will to that of his employer, 
 she is complete mistress of her time and movements. While he 
 walks wearily homeward from his day's toil, she rides home from 
 the matinee. While he wonders how he can make his clothes 
 last a month or two longer, she wonders what kind of material she 
 will buy for her new gowns, and what style she will adopt for her 
 new bonnets. While he exhausts his ingenuity in the effort to 
 make both ends meet, she is perplexed in the endeavor to find 
 new ways of spending money. While he is laboring through the 
 torrid summer, she is either enjoying a long vacation, or seeking 
 to restore her health by a change of scenery and climate." 
 
 "Isn't that rather too severe, Ked? " 
 
 "Exceptions may be found to every rule, but I am talking of 
 a large class. There are other reasons, however, why the child- 
 less .home is so often unblessed with conjugal love, and why so 
 many married women refuse to bear their share of the burdens of 
 life, and become mere parasites. I shall refer to them in our 
 next conversation."
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Discuss the Effect of 
 
 Tampering with the Procreative 
 
 Functions. 
 
 " God sent us children for another purpose than merely to keep up the 
 race: to enlarge our hearts; to make us unselfish, and full of kindly 
 sympathies and affections; to give our souls higher aims, and to call out 
 all our faculties to extended enterprise and exertion; to bring round our 
 firesides bright faces, and happy smiles, and loving, tender hearts." 
 Mary Howitt. 
 
 "What a mockery of married life is that which I tried to 
 describe last eveiiing! What a horrid caricature of the holy 
 ideals of matrimony! This woman, who calls herself a wife, and 
 who is so recognized by the law, performs no true wifely functions. 
 She acts on the principle that it is more blessed to receive than to 
 give. She takes it for granted that she shall have all the play, 
 and her husband all the work. She never dreams that recip- 
 rocity is one of the essential elements of marriage, and that 
 mutual love is its very soul. She fondly imagines from the mere 
 fact of her sex that she has a claim to the unrequited devotion, 
 unrepaid service, and unreciprocated love of her husband, and is 
 blissfully unconscious of the terrible truth that she is one of that 
 most degraded class of beings, called parasites." 
 
 "And do you contend, Mr. Notion, that all this degradation 
 results from the mere failure to have children ? ' ' 
 
 "No, indeed. There are many excellent women who would 
 delight to have little ones whom they could call their own, whose 
 greatest disappointment in life is their deprivation of the privi- 
 leges of motherhood. These, however, do not permit the streams 
 of their affection to stagnate and die, but are sure to find suitable 
 objects of their love. I am speaking of the women who persist- 
 ently and deliberately evade the responsibilities of motherhood 
 from selfish or other pernicious motives. These experience to the 
 full the evil effects which I have described, and others which I 
 hesitate to discuss." 
 (46)
 
 ABUSE OF PROCREATIVE FUNCTIONS. 47 
 
 "Please continue, my dear; I am very anxious to get all your 
 ideas on this subject, for you have given it much more thought 
 than I suspected." 
 
 "Well, the fact is that marriage is a physical as well as a 
 mental and moral union. The Almighty designed that one of 
 the ties uniting husband and wife should be sexual love, as contra- 
 distinguished from all other kinds of affection, and that closely 
 correlated with and resulting from this should be the propagation 
 of the human species. These two elements are indissoluble, and 
 all efforts to enjoy the former while disregarding the latter, are 
 exceedingly disastrous in their effects. Nature's laws can not be 
 nullified without paying the penalty, which in this case is mental 
 and moral, as well as physical. As we have both remarked in 
 previous conversations, ill health, especially on the part of the 
 female culprit, is the invariable consequence of such attempts to 
 enjoy the privileges of conjugal love, without performing the 
 duties legitimately resulting from its exercise. But the deteriora- 
 tion in physical health is the least of the punishments inflicted. 
 The unnatural manner in which the spouses live together changes 
 their disposition, making them irritable and faultfinding, and 
 eventually destroys their mutual love. Those moments of marital 
 intercourse, which should be among the happiest of their lives, are 
 haunted by the fear of conception, and polluted by unholy con- 
 trivances looking toward its prevention. In course of time these 
 episodes in married life become mutually distasteful, and husband 
 and wife grow more and more estranged. ' ' 
 
 "I really think, Mr. Notion, that this is more frequently the 
 fault of the husband than the wife. You must not make the 
 mistake of assuming that the women are alone in their aversion to 
 children. I know of cases where wives would be glad to bear 
 them, but are prevented from so doing by their husbands." 
 
 ' ' I have no doubt, Matilda, that in many cases there is a 
 perfect agreement between the spouses in this matter, and that 
 instances can be found where the man's objections to the birth of a 
 child are stronger than those of tin? woman. But i am confident 
 that in the vast majority of cases the wives have a much m< in- 
 decided antipathy to the assumption of parental responsibilities 
 than have their husbands." 
 
 ' ' In this connection, Edward, Mrs. Lille Devereux Blake 
 says, in her work called 'Woman's Place To-day,' that 'in- 
 stances are by no means rare in which the husband acted and
 
 48 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 spoke as if the coming of a child was an invention on the part of 
 his wife, which he had good reason to resent, and made her con- 
 dition a reason for denying to her what few indulgences her life 
 could have, on the ground that closer economy must be practised, 
 speaking always as if the baby were an extravagance of her own ; 
 and yet this same man would have been very indignant at any 
 denial of what he considered his marital rights.' Mrs. Blake 
 then goes on to say that if women do practise any of these vile 
 arts, they are undoubtedly nine times out of ten persuaded or 
 driven to thein by their husbands. But, even assuming that you 
 are correct in your statement that the women are oftener the cul- 
 prits, it is quite natural that this should be the case, for they have 
 to endure all the suffering, and upon them falls the heavy burden 
 of the care of helpless infancy. You wholly ignore this fact, 
 and speak as though the assumption of fatherhood required as 
 great sacrifices as that of motherhood. ' ' 
 
 "I did not intend to be so understood, Matilda. No one 
 realizes more keenly than I tlie pain, self-denial, and constant 
 nervous strain which the faithful mother is called upon to expe- 
 rience in bearing and rearing a child." 
 
 "Pshaw, Ned, you don't realize it at all. It is very easy for 
 you to sit there looking as wise as Solomon, and philosophize 
 about the duties of women, and the awful consequences of their 
 derelictions. But I just wish you had to go through the pangs 
 of maternity, and to learn by actual experience what it means to 
 have the constant care of children. Actually, you knoAV nothing 
 about these things. You are not capable of forming any ade- 
 quate idea of the worry, anxiety, and annoyance which are 
 inseparable from the cure of children. ' ' 
 
 " Oh, I do know something about these things, Matilda! " 
 
 "You think you do, but you don't. Theorize you may, but 
 your ignorance of the practical part of the matter is almost 
 complete. I really believe, if you* had to endure the suffering 
 incidental to childbirth just once, you would never consent to 
 its repetition." 
 
 "You may be right, Matilda; but your remarks savor of 
 exaggeration. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Well, I mean every word of it. You are very brave about 
 some things, but I have noticed that you make a dreadful fuss 
 about the least pain. If you have a slight headache, every one 
 in the house has to sympathize with you, and when you catch a
 
 ABUSK OF PUOCIIKATIVE FUNCTIONS. 49 
 
 little cold, you act like a martyr, and publish the news to the 
 entire household." 
 
 "But I'm not a bit afraid of mice and spiders," retorted 
 Mr. Notion. 
 
 "No, you men haven't sense enough to know when. there is 
 real danger, but when your precious bodies are hurt, you act as 
 if the whole universe were out of joint." 
 
 "I'm not afraid of the dark, darling, and don't look under 
 the bed every night before retiring." 
 
 ' ' That only goes to show how careless and thoughtless you are. 
 Darkness requires caution, and burglars have often been found 
 hiding under beds. But when it comes to the endurance of 
 pain, we little women bear in silence, or conceal beneath a smil- 
 ing face, agonies so excruciating that you men, if compelled to 
 suffer them, would make the air vocal with your cries. ' ' 
 
 ' ' There is much truth in what you say, ' ' answered Mr. Notion 
 soothingly. ' ' God has endowed your sex with great powers of 
 endurance, so far as physical anguish is concerned, and the mere 
 fact that he has done so shows that the divine purpose is to qualify 
 you in every way for the performance of maternal functions. 
 You are called upon to suffer more than men, but there is com- 
 pensation in the fact that you suffer gracefully, and that bodily 
 pain does not overcome you as it does men." 
 
 "But," remarked Mrs. Notion, changing the subject with 
 charming abruptness, "you were speaking of how the fear of 
 conception, and the devices resulting from it, made conjugal 
 experiences mutually disagreeable, and thus estranged the 
 spouses." 
 
 ' ' I am glad you brought me back to the point, my dear, for 
 I was digressing much further than 1 had intended. Let me say 
 right here that all illegitimate methods for the prevention of off- 
 spring are immodest and disgusting, and can not be practised 
 without degrading those who are guilty of them. They imply 
 a deliberation which is altogether incompatible with ideal conjugal 
 intercourse, which should always he >]>ontaneoiis, and the result 
 of mutual inclination. When a husband and wile get so demor- 
 alixed that they are capable of cold-bloodedly planning and 
 executing the means of prevention, they have lost the ability as 
 well as the art of love, and arc criminals in the sight of God. 
 As such, they are not to be trusted, and in innumerable instances 
 when opportunity and inclination concur, they are guilty of 
 infidelity to their marriage vows." 
 4
 
 50 DOMESTIC DUKI-. 
 
 "I can not entirely agree with you there, Ned. While I 
 share your aversion to all such practises, I can not bring myself 
 to believe -that all who are guilty of them are untrustworthy in 
 their marital relations. So almost universal have these sins 
 become in our country, that to make them the equivalent of 
 connubial infidelity, would be tantamount to a declaration that 
 the institution of marriage in America is a total failure. No, 
 no, Ned. Too many of my lady friends are addicted to these 
 methods of prevention for me to think for a moment of doubting 
 their virtue." - 
 
 "Mind you, Matilda, I do not say that all these married 
 persons, or even a majority of them, are actually false to their 
 wedded vows, but simply that the very basis of their virtue is 
 undermined, and that they are not able to resist the storm and 
 stress of temptation when it comes. Doubtless in most cases it 
 never comes, and hence the structure of their virtue, though 
 insecure, is never overthrown. ' ' 
 
 " But do you go so far," inquired "Mrs. Notion, "as to con- 
 tend that married people do not possess the moral right to limit 
 the number of their children under any circumstances or in any 
 way?" 
 
 "No, indeed," replied her husband. "On the contrary, I 
 believe it to be not only the privilege but the duty of those who 
 occupy the marriage relation to refrain from bringing children 
 into the world under circumstances which would manifestly 
 militate against the welfare of those children. Considerations 
 of health, morality, and finance should be permitted to have due 
 weight." 
 
 " I do not fully understand you, Ned. ' ' 
 
 "What I mean is this: Persons whose physical condition is 
 such that they are almost certain to transmit disease or an heredi- 
 tary tendency to disease to their children, should not have off- 
 spring while such condition lasts. Spouses who are dependent 
 upon charity for their own support, have no right to become 
 parents. Where either spouse is wholly unfit either to procreate 
 children who will be sound physically, mentally, and morally, or 
 to train them when born, it is the plain duty of the other spouse 
 to adopt every legitimate method of prevention." 
 
 ' ' If it is the husband who is to do the prevention, ' ' remarked 
 Mrs. Notion, "his task will be a comparatively easy one; but 
 if the wife, her way will be beset with difficulties. However, 
 much depends upon what you consider ' legitimate.' '
 
 ABUSE OF PROCREATIVE FUNCTIONS. 51 
 
 ' ' In my opinion, Matilda, there are but two legitimate means 
 of avoiding conception. One is complete and the other is partial 
 continence. But both of these are objectionable in many ways, 
 and should only be adopted in extreme cases. Persons in ordi- 
 nary circumstances, and enjoying ordinary health, should not seek 
 to regulate the number of their children, but should live together 
 in a natural and rational manner, and leave to Providence the 
 giving or withholding of offspring. ' ' 
 
 "Don't you think, my dear, that married persons have a 
 right to decide whether the state of their finances will justify them 
 in incurring the risk of childbirth ? ' ' 
 
 "Most certainly I do not, except, as I just stated, in extreme 
 cases. We have no means of knowing how many children we 
 are capable of supporting, or how many we will be called upon to 
 care for. That should be left to the Almighty." 
 
 "Why, Ned, where a man has a fixed income, and has all he 
 can do to support his family, should not prudential considerations 
 have some influence in preventing the increase of such a family ? ' ' 
 
 * ' Not at all ; and for this simple reason. We, for instance, 
 know what our family is to-day, but we have no idea what it will 
 be next year, or next week for that matter. We have seven 
 children, and are thankful for them; but have we any right to 
 assume that they will all be alive a year hence ? It follows from 
 this that we are not in possession of the data which will enable us 
 to calculate with any degree of certainty in these matters." 
 
 " I am acquainted with persons who assert that the conjugal act 
 is only lawful when done with the express purpose of having 
 children." 
 
 "Such views, Matilda, are in direct conflict with the teachings 
 of reason and the Bible, and are most mischievous in their 
 tendency. If the Almighty had intended us to live on such a 
 principle, he would undoubtedly have constituted us so that it 
 would be at least possible to do so." 
 
 "And so you think, Ned, that much of the abounding marital 
 unhappiness of these times is due to the perversion of the conjugal 
 relation?" 
 
 "I am positive of it," replied Mr. Notion with emphasis. 
 ' ' To this cause probably more than all others must be ascribed 
 the multiplicity of divorces, and the great prevalence of prosti- 
 tution. Much of the licentiousness of married men is to be 
 accounted for in this way. Connubial love, not allowed to flow
 
 52 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 in its proper channels, becomes diverted therefrom, and flows in 
 unlawful directions. Men and women whose own homes have 
 been thus robbed of happiness, become the invaders of other 
 homes, and double divorces are often obtained in order that the 
 unholy love of husband and wife for other wife and husband may 
 be gratified. How many men, think yon, will constantly endure 
 a wife's rebuffs of their tenderest approaches without loss of love 
 and sacrifice of virtue ? ' ' 
 
 " There is an old proverb, Ned, about the hatred of ' a woman 
 scorned,' but I have no idea that men are so sensitive as women 
 on such points. ' ' 
 
 "There you are mistaken. There is probably nothing more 
 calculated to wound a man's feelings to the quick than a repulse 
 by his wife at the very moment when his affectioual nature is 
 most in the ascendency. Under such circumstances, the man 
 who is not thoroughly established in virtue, becomes desperate, 
 and is likely to violate his marriage vows. ' ' 
 
 "The more shame to him if he does. I thought men were 
 strong and noble ; that they rose to the emergency, and conquered 
 their environment; that women alone were weak and erring, and 
 likely to fall in the moment of terrible temptation. But you, like 
 all other men, are incapable of looking at anything from a 
 woman's standpoint. You see through male eyes. You look at 
 the male side of every question, and sympathize with your fellows 
 in every inconvenience they experience in their relation with 
 women; but you never consider the matter from the position of 
 woman, and never stop to think of what her feelings and suffer- 
 ings must be." 
 
 " Perhaps most men do not, and it is quite possible that I fail 
 to enter into the feelings of your sex to the extent that L should. 
 But, believe me, Matilda, I do try to look from all possible 
 standpoints at every question that comes before me, and, if it be 
 a matter involving the relations of the sexes, I endeavor to regard 
 it dispassionately, and to reach just conclusions." 
 
 "To be sure you do, Mr. Notion. But you are a perfect 
 paragon. You are a model. You are incapable of making a 
 mistake, or misjudging anything. Your only trouble is that so 
 few appreciate you. But your case is exceptional, and men as a 
 rule arc not so broad in their outlook, or so equitable in their 
 opinions." 
 
 Mr. Notion laughed heartily at this little sally, and replied:
 
 ABUSE OP PROCREATIVK FUNCTIONS. 53 
 
 "You are making fun of me again, and indulging in sarcasm at 
 my expense. But when you become satirical, you cease to be 
 logical or reasonable." 
 
 ' ' Do I ? Well, let me put a case to you, and see how fair you 
 are where sex questions are involved. Is it ever right for a 
 woman to permit maternity to be forced upon her by a brutal 
 husband? Is there a single moral obligation which requires her 
 to bring a child into the world which has been begotten, not only 
 without her consent, but expressly against her will? " 
 
 " In the first place, Matilda, a woman should not marry that 
 kind of a man, and 
 
 " Stop right there, Ned. You are begging my question, and 
 you know it. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Please let me proceed, my dear, and I will reach the point. 
 You know my views relative to the exceptional cases in which 
 spouses are justified in avoiding the assumption of parentage. 
 Where those conditions exist, and the husband so far forgets his 
 manhood as to use force, I think the wife is warranted in employ- 
 ing every legitimate means to avoid conception ; but, if she fails 
 in preventing it, she should accept the consequences, and has no 
 right to produce an abortion." 
 
 ' ' There I differ radically from you, Mr. Notion. Under such 
 circumstances, I believe the wife has a perfect right to go to any 
 extreme to undo the diabolical work of the monster whom the 
 law calls her husband. No woman should ever have motherhood 
 forced upon her. But I want to ask you one more question: 
 Suppose the conditions were such as in your opinion would not 
 justify the spouses in trying to avoid conception, and that the 
 wife were clearly wrong in refusing to risk maternity. Now, 
 under these circumstances, suppose the husband used force, what 
 say you as to the rights of the wife in the premises ? ' ' 
 
 "I should say, Matilda, that it would be not only her right 
 but her duty to make every proper effort to avoid conception, for 
 the child thus brought into being, would be ill born, indeed, and 
 in its interest extreme measures would be justified. Among these, 
 however, I do not include abortion, for that is nothing less than 
 murder." 
 
 " All right, Ned. I have your ideas in the matter, and, while 
 you do not go far enough, still you go farther than I expected 
 you would. But, to change the subject, have you noticed how 
 anxious little Edith is to have a baby sister? "
 
 54 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Of course I have; but I have also noticed that Tom and 
 Henry object strenuously to her wishes in the matter, and declare 
 with emphasis that we have enough children now." 
 
 " That was just what I was coming to when I spoke of Edith's 
 whim about a baby sister. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Well, dear, this is a sign of the times. The average Amer- 
 ican family would rather have a funeral than a birth. Public 
 opinion is so strongly set against large families that the prejudice 
 is in the very air, and our children absorb it. Who ever heard 
 in the good, old times of brats of boys like Tom and Henry 
 taking it upon themselves to say that their parents had enough 
 children?" 
 
 "Oh, it is the same with the girls!" exclaimed Mrs. Notion. 
 "Mi's. Manychild tells me that her eldest girls, who are now of 
 the respective ages of sixteen and seventeen, inform her that nine 
 children are too many, and that they do hope she will not have 
 any more." 
 
 "It is easy to see, Matilda, what kind of a married life they 
 are preparing for. But how blind people are to the truth! I 
 have long believed that each child sent into a well-ordered family 
 has its mission and purpose, and is intended to accomplish some 
 definite object, not only in the world at large, but in the family 
 itself. The variety of disposition and character, the different 
 degrees of health and strength, and the manifold types of form 
 and feature, which are seen to exist in most large families, are 
 only so many parts of a general plan, which makes the household 
 what it is, and shapes its future destiny. Besides, the welcome 
 child, other things being equal, is always superior to the unwel- 
 come one. Most of the great men of the Bible, Isaac, Jacob, 
 Joseph, and Samuel, and many others, were not only welcome, 
 but were born in answer to prayer." 
 
 "Why, Ned, I am deeply interested! These are entirely new 
 thoughts to me. ' ' 
 
 "I shall be very glad to unfold them at some other time, my 
 dear, but it is just a little out of the line of our present discussion, 
 and I am getting sleepy. Before I forget it, however, let me 
 say that immorality, crime, and indecency are on the increase in 
 this land of ours; that the sins of Sodom are comintr like a plague 
 upon us, simply because as a people \ve do not permit our normal 
 sexual appetites to flow in their natural and legitimate eliannels; 
 and that polygamy, adultery, divorce, infanticide, and promis-
 
 ABUSE OP PROCREATIVE FUNCTIONS. 55 
 
 cuity of the sexes are thoroughly established in our midst, and 
 too strongly intrenched to fear serious opposition. The traffic in 
 little girls, the disgusting disclosures of divorce courts, the polluted 
 press, the indecent posters which occupy the most conspicuous 
 sign-boards, the prevalence of prostitution, the teeming immoral- 
 ities of lodging-houses, boarding-houses, and hotels, and the 
 unnatural and loathsome vices which were buried in Sodom and 
 ( roinorruli, and resurrected in Pompeii and Herculaneum all 
 point to the fact that Satanic influences are rampant, and that 
 society is in danger of rotting to its core. ' '
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Discuss the Psychic and 
 
 Physiological Differences between 
 
 the Sexes. 
 
 "O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee 
 To temper man; we had been brutes without you. 
 Angels are painted fair to look like you; 
 There's in you all that we believe of heaven, 
 Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, 
 Eternal joy, and everlasting love." 
 
 Otway. 
 
 ' ' We have talked a good deal about various phases of the sex 
 question," remarked Mr. Notion one evening; "and now I 
 desire to say something in reference to the psychic and physio- 
 logical peculiarities which differentiate men and women. These 
 differences are innumerable, but I shall not go into details. 
 Woman's stature is smaller than man's, and her brain is quite 
 differently constituted. Comparatively speaking, it is more 
 ample in the posterior region, and less developed in the anterior 
 than that of her male companion. This would seem to indicate 
 that her intellectual faculties were more circumscribed, and her 
 affectional nature stronger, than those of her humble servant and 
 ardent admirer, man." 
 
 "I rejoice, Edward, to hear you acknowledge that we are 
 capable of real love. But I see the drift of your remarks, and 
 ere your comparison is finished, I shall be surprised if you leave 
 woman either reason, strength, or ability to manage her own 
 affairs." 
 
 1 ' You are suspicious, Matilda. That is one of the most marked 
 traits of your sex, although, I regret to say, it manifests itself 
 more violently when you are surrounded by friends and well- 
 wishers than when real peril and deadly enemies are near. But, 
 after all, you quite correctly anticipate my conclusion. Nature 
 has unmistakably indicated the course which woman should 
 
 (56)
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 57 
 
 follow. Her anatomical structure, her instincts, and her deepest 
 tendencies, all point in the direction Avhich her life should take. 
 Her own constitution eloquently proclaims the truth that she is 
 not fitted to endure physical hardship, or to meet and conquer 
 material obstacles. She has been placed on this planet in obvi- 
 ous physical subordination to man. He is her keeper and 
 guardian, and she has no alternative but to accept what lie cares 
 to bestow." 
 
 "I deny every word of it, sir. While we are smaller physi- 
 cally than men, we are in no whit their inferiors in any way. 
 The fact is that we have done most of the hard manual labor of 
 the world through all the long centuries of male oppression, 
 cruelty, and wrong, and it is only lately that you men have 
 deigned to harden your hands with honest toil. And yet you say 
 that we can not endure physical hardship, or conquer material 
 obstacles. Fortunately, I am prepared to show that this is false. 
 I have just finished reading a book called 'Woman's Share in 
 Primitive Culture,' of which Otis T. Mason, curator of the 
 department of Ethnology in the National Museum, is the 
 author. ' ' 
 
 ' ' The name would indicate that the author is a man. Am I 
 right in the supposition V " archly asked Mr. Notion. 
 
 " Of course he is a man. You don't suppose a woman could 
 be appointed to such a position, do you? But please don't 
 interrupt me with your attempts at sarcasm. Mr. Mason, whose 
 fairness, honesty, and industry all show that he resembles his 
 mother rather than his father, proves conclusively that primitive 
 women cultivated the field, transported the harvest, as well as the 
 game which was killed by the men, prepared, cooked, and served 
 the food, manufactured all utensils and clothing, invented mills 
 and mortars, extracted poison from plants, invented nearly all 
 the processes of tanning, and developed all the forms, technique, 
 and uses of pottery. ' ' 
 
 "She may have been compelled by her savage master to do 
 rough work," interrupted Mr. Notion, " but that does not prove 
 by any means that she was naturally fitted for it. ' ' 
 
 "Please permit me to go on, sir," replied his wife with some- 
 what of ascerbity. "Woman during the ages has done all kinds 
 of work, and the same individual has been skilled in a multitude 
 of occupations and arts. Mason says that art, modern and classic, 
 is indebted to women for the beginnings of landscape gardening,
 
 58 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 including the aviary and the zoological garden, for poetry and 
 music associated with the home and its surroundings, for the cone 
 and the dome in buildings, for the whole plastic art in ceramics 
 and sculpture, for all geometric ornament of every sort whatso- 
 ever, for textiles, tapestries, embroideries, and laces, and largely 
 for free-hand drawing and painting; and that women have done 
 much to invent and conserve language, to institute marriage, and 
 to encourage temperance." 
 
 "I am delighted to hear," said Mr. Notion, "that women 
 have done so much good work in the past, and sincerely hope 
 that they willcontinue their well-doing in the future. I believe 
 that ancient women had much to do with the institution of matri- 
 mony; and yet, sad to say, their successors in America are doing 
 more than the men to destroy the marriage tie. Between the 
 years 1867 and 1886, 328, 716 divorces were granted in the courts 
 of this country, and 216,733, or nearly two-thirds of the whole 
 number, were asked and obtained by wives." 
 
 " That only goes to show, Edward, that the women were worse 
 treated than the men." 
 
 "Possibly so, Matilda; and yet it must be admitted that 
 many of the divorced women of this country have acquired a 
 very bad reputation on the score of morality. But we are 
 wandering from the subject. I was going much farther with my 
 comparison when you became indignant and interrupted me. In 
 women the cellular tissue, which tills out the skin, and effaces 
 the bony protuberances, is much more abundant than in man. 
 Tins it is which gives her form its graceful outh'nes and soft 
 symmetry, and, serving as a lubricant for the different organs, 
 makes her movements supple and harmonious. This cellular 
 tissue, however, is considered by physiologists as the elementary 
 substance of living organisms, and its relatively larger propor- 
 tion in woman would indicate that it was intended for her 
 offspring." 
 
 ' ' I suppose you are leading up to the idea, Mr. Notion, that 
 women are chiefly constituted to bear children, and that that is 
 about all they are good for, anyway." 
 
 "No, Matilda, I do not go to such an extreme; but woman's 
 structure shows that to her is assigned in a much greater degree 
 than to man, the production, nurture and care of the young." 
 
 "How easy it is for you men to reach a conclusion which 
 favors your selfishness and love of ease! "
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 59 
 
 "There you are mistaken, my dear. If woman's sphere is 
 what I have suggested, upon man must fall the labor and respon- 
 sibility of maintaining the family, and providing for all the 
 material wants of the household. This involves ceaseless toil. 
 But I wish to continue my comparison of the two sexes. 
 Woman's nervous system is more highly organized, closely con- 
 nected in all its parts, and intimately related to the reproductive 
 region than that of man. With her, sensation is much more 
 potent than with him, and all her parts are more sympathetic. 
 Her skin possesses the quality of reproducing at every part that 
 which is felt at a single point. She attains puberty sooner than 
 man, and the substance of her brain is less dense and consistent." 
 
 " Well, sir, what follows from all this? " 
 
 ' ' The answer is plain, Matilda. Woman is less reflective and 
 more sensitive than man. In the words of Rousseau, ' Woman 
 has more wit, and man more genius; woman observes, and man 
 reasons.' Among women there is less variety of temperament 
 than among men. A thorough knowledge of an average woman 
 will prove a truer index to the nature of every other member of 
 her sex than will a corresponding familiarity with an average 
 man." 
 
 " How absurd all this is, Edward! I have always been under 
 the impression that women differed from each other in a greater 
 variety of particulars than do men." 
 
 "That is quite true, my dear, but I refer to the temperament. 
 In their underlying motives, and manner of looking at things, 
 women are much more alike than men. And yet this is perfectly 
 consistent with the fact that there are more superficial differences 
 in the members of your sex than in those of mine. A recent 
 writer says: 'As the feminine nature is exceedingly impression- 
 able, there are observed a host of superficial differences arising 
 from education, manners, and customs, and from all the general 
 causes which affect the secondary qualities of beings.' The same 
 author remarks that 'the temperament of woman exposes her to 
 the most singular inconveniences and inconsistencies. Extreme 
 in good, she is also extreme in evil. She is inconstant and 
 changeable; she "will" and she "won't." She is easily dis- 
 gusted with that which she has pursued with the greatest ardor. 
 She passes from love to hate with prodigious facility. She is full 
 of contradictions and mysteries. Capable of the most heroic 
 actions, r-he does not shrink from the most atrocious crimes.' '
 
 60 DOMESTIC nru.s. 
 
 "You needn't read any more of that kind of trash, Mr. 
 Notion, with any expectation of my sitting here and listening to 
 it. What I wish to know now is, whether you indorse all the 
 opinions of the author whom you quote; whether you deem us 
 all criminals, etc." 
 
 "Of course I don't," replied Mr. Notion, in his most sooth- 
 ing and mellifluous tones. " While in some respects I heartily 
 concur in his sentiments, in others I difler radically from him, 
 and 1 deem him very unjust when he characterizes your sex as 
 being capable of the most atrocious crimes. He says that 'jeal- 
 ousy can transform this angel of peace to a veritable fury. She 
 poisons her rival as readily as she would sacrifice her life for him 
 she loves.' Of course this is absurd. The average woman is 
 neither an angel nor a fury. She would never think of poison- 
 ing her rival, nor would she be willing to sacrifice her life for the 
 man she loved." 
 
 ' ' In that regard, Ned, I agree with the author. The true 
 woman is willing to make any sacrifice, compatible with virtue, 
 for the object of her affection." 
 
 "The fact is, Matilda, that you are willing to credit your sex 
 with all the good qualities of its most heroic and distinguished 
 members, but you instantly demur when any one luus the temerity 
 to charge it with the vices of the female monsters whose foul 
 deeds have stained the pages of history. You should be more 
 consistent, but consistency is not a female virtue, and I am 
 unreasonable to expect it in even you." 
 
 "There you are very much mistaken, sir. I claim no more 
 for my sex than many fair-minded men are glad to concede, for, 
 fortunately, all men are not so prejudiced against their mothers, 
 wives; and sisters as you seem to be. I don't suppose you have 
 ever read that delightful little work of Malcolm G. Salaman's, 
 called 'Woman through a Man's Eyeglasses.' I heartily com- 
 mend it to you, for its author enters more deeply into the inner 
 life and character of women, than any other man with whose 
 views on the subject 1 am familiar. For instance, he says in 
 one place: 'It has been the fashion in all ages to decry women, 
 to call them false and fickle, to say that their business is to 
 deceive, that their spell is that of the serpent, that they are vain 
 and shallow and cruel. Poets have railed against them in plaus- 
 ible verse; philosophers have said bitter things about them ; and 
 many a wit has gained his reputation at the expense of woman's
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 01 
 
 fame; all of which is us wickedly foolish as to say that human 
 nature is uniformly infamous. You will not find that the great 
 writers, who live in the hearts of mankind, ever stultified or 
 debased their genius by defaming woman. But, on the contrary, 
 they have created for us immortal types of pure and lovely 
 womanhood. It is the cheapest cynicism to discredit a whole 
 sex ; and inysogyny and misanthropy are merely the affectations 
 of vain and egotistical minds. When I hear a man say he does 
 not believe in woman's constancy, or woman's virtue, I know 
 that there is something wrong with that man; he is either a 
 libertine or a bully, and no woman will ever respect him, how- 
 ever much he may ensnare her senses. ' ' 
 
 "I don't see anything in what you have just read, Matilda, 
 which militates in any degree against my opinions. I certainly 
 am not among the number of men who indulge in wholesale 
 tirades against womankind generally. On the contrary, I defy 
 any man to go beyond me in my love and admiration for the 
 good women of all ages and climes." 
 
 "I accept your apology, Edward. And now I wish to quote 
 a little further from Mr. Salaman, for he has a marvelous insight 
 into woman's real nature. Listen to this subtle delineation of 
 female character: ' For instance, a man kisses the woman he 
 loves, and she responds to his caress. He believes it is in the same 
 passionate spirit, but, really, the impulse is subtly different. He 
 kisses her to satisfy his own yearning; she kisses him because she 
 knows it will make him happy, and to make him happy is the 
 active spirit of her love. And it is just the failure of man to 
 distinguish and accept this beautiful spirituality in woman's 
 relations with him, which necessitates that protective dissimulation 
 which becomes her second nature. For example, here the woman 
 must simulate the passion of her lover, for he would not be satis- 
 fied with the delicate impulse of her responsive caress; so he is 
 permitted to believe that she feels as he does, reasoning only from 
 his own emotions, while she instinctively knows that their feelings 
 are running in different channels, though they meet in the broad 
 ocean of love. ' ' 
 
 "Is Salaman correct in that statement ?" inquired Mr. Notion. 
 
 " Why, of course he is, Edward, and if you were not very 
 stupid you would have found it out yourself twenty years ago. 
 But let me quote from him just once more: ' After marriage the 
 wife, happy in the possession of the husband she loves, believes
 
 <i2 DOMESTIC i>ri:i- 
 
 that all is mutual trust, and she ceases to practise that beautiful, 
 innocent dissimulation by which she held him as a lover. Then 
 he begins to misunderstand, and her love seems not the same to 
 him, though it has been unchanged all the while; so his love 
 grows colder, and he becomes consequently dissatisfied and irrita- 
 ble; and with this rift within the lute, the music of matrimony 
 sounds out of tune, and grates upon their ears, and the lovers 
 drift into mere husband and housewife lovers no more. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I am happy to say, Matilda, that that has not been our expe- 
 rience. ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Notion smiled a peculiar smile, and without replying to 
 her husband's words, abruptly changed the drift of the conversa- 
 tion again, and said: "It is you men who are inconsistent and 
 changeable. Take yourself, for instance. Once you were a 
 skeptic, and prided yourself upon your infidelity. Now you are 
 a member of the Presbyterian Church, and none more orthodox 
 than you. Once you were a Republican, then you became a 
 member of the Prohibition party, and now you are .a Single 
 Taxer without a party. I could name at least a dozen, subjects 
 upon which you have not only changed your opinions, but taken 
 at different times views which were diametrically opposite. For 
 instance, you began life as a believer in the old school of medi- 
 cine; then you advocated Homeopathy, and now you are an 
 Eclectic." 
 
 "Ah, my dear, that only goes to show that I am progressive! 
 But these things are the results of gradual growth, and are not the 
 capricious vacillations of a week or a day." 
 
 "Fie, fie, Ned! Be candid, now, and admit that what you 
 stigmatize as inconsistency in women, you glorify as progressive- 
 ness in men." 
 
 " Not at all, Matilda. The distinction is quite obvious to those 
 who care to see it. The changes on my part are those of opinion, 
 and are the logical and inevitable consequence of growth in 
 knowledge, and greater maturity of the intellectual powers. On 
 the contrary, women arc less likely to change their opinions, than 
 men, for the simple reason that their opinions are not founded on 
 impassionate investigation, but are rather built on feeling and 
 prejudice. It follows that so long as the feelings and prejudices 
 remain, the corresponding opinions also continue. The incon- 
 sistency of your sex is rather that of fact than of opinion, and 
 involves what you are more than what you think, your feelings
 
 SKX DIFFERENCES. 63 
 
 more than your judgments. You are made up of a set of con- 
 traries, and are by turns gentle and arrogant, timid and coura- 
 geous, vacillating and obstinate, self-sacrificing and selfish, ami- 
 able and irritable, truthful and unreliable, patient and petulant." 
 
 ' ' All of which, Ned, is the merest twaddle. I have read and 
 listened to it over and over again, and am surprised that a man 
 of your sagacity should beKeve in anything so silly. The fact is 
 that women are no more inconsistent, self-contradictory, and 
 capricious than men. ' ' 
 
 ' ' The opinion I have expressed, Matilda, is not borrowed 
 from others, but is the result of much observation and reflection. 
 However, there is room for difference of opinion upon that as 
 upon almost every other subject, and, without reiterating my views, 
 I shall proceed to state some of what may be called the psychic 
 differences between the sexes. Women are much more impres- 
 sionable than men. Great popular excitements or sensations, like 
 that of the Durrant case, spread among women like some con- 
 tagious disease or frightful epidemic. You know, without going 
 beyond the circle of your own acquaintances, how injuriously it 
 affected many of your sex. Men charged with horrible crimes 
 seem to have some mysterious fascination for women of a certain 
 temperament, and Durrant was daily the recipient of bouquets 
 from his lady admirers. Young girls persisted in visiting him at 
 his cell, and some of them would have taken up their lodgings 
 there if the authorities had permitted. The crowd which during 
 his trial filled the approaches to the court-room was composed 
 chiefly of women, and at least four-fifths of those who had sufficient 
 influence to secure admission to the place of trial, and who sat as 
 eagerly attentive listeners during all the long weeks that the 
 proceedings lasted, were members of your sex. ' ' 
 
 " This is too much, Mr. Notion. Am I to be held responsible 
 for the vagaries of silly women, who are really a disgrace to their 
 sex? You know that I studiously refrained from reading the 
 long reports of the Durrant case, and that I took no more interest 
 in it than you did. In fact, you were much more absorbed in 
 the circumstances of these revolting crimes than I was, and I beg 
 to remind you that it was you and not I that paid a visit to the 
 court- room on one occasion while the trial was in progress. ' ' 
 
 "That is all true," rejoined Mr. Notion, "but you are not 
 attempting to meet my point. I acknowledge that you were not 
 among the numerous women who were demoralized by the great
 
 64 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 crimes referred to, and that I did drop into Judge Murphy's 
 court- room one morning in company with a country friend and 
 his wife, who were very anxious to witness the proceedings. But 
 those things are irrelevant to the question at issue, which is the 
 peculiar susceptibility of women to popular excitements, supersti- 
 tious, and political fanaticism. That country friend's wife, 
 though an old lady whom I had always considered as remarkably 
 sensible and well balanced mentally, was so full of the Durrant 
 case that she preferred it to all other topics of conversation, and 
 when after much trouble I succeeded in procuring her a good seat 
 in the court-room, she looked as happy as though she had suddenly 
 inherited a large estate. Why, I know of girls whose nerves have 
 been so shattered by the so-called crime of a century, that they 
 are afraid to sleep alone, and who awake in terror at the slightest 
 sound. Others fear to go out even for a few moments after dark, 
 without at least one robust male escort. Others have become 
 insane over the case, and others 
 
 "Stop right there, Mr. Notion, until I remind you that the 
 first person to go crazy over the Durrant matter was a young 
 man. He brooded over the newspaper accounts of the crimes 
 until his mind gave way, and the poor fellow committed suicide. ' ' 
 
 "Oh, that was an isolated case, and no importance should be 
 attached to it! But you never heard of men leaving their wives 
 so that they could devote all their time to the trial of Durrant' s 
 case." 
 
 "Perhaps that is to be accounted for," archly suggested Mrs. 
 Notion, "by the fact that Durrant was a man." 
 
 " No, Matilda, that has nothing to do with it. If he had been 
 a female criminal instead of a male monster, men would not for 
 that reason have been attracted to him. I will admit that the wide- 
 spread injury to the community which has undoubtedly resulted 
 from these awful crimes, is not entirely confined to your sex. Boys 
 as well as girls have been deteriorated in their mental and moral 
 fiber by the published details, and a lew weak-minded men have 
 doubtless been more or less affected; but women have been the 
 chief sufferers, and many of them will never recover the mental 
 equipoise which they enjoyed before these tragic events took 
 place." 
 
 "Well, suppose you are right, and women are more impres- 
 sionable than men a supposition which I deny with emphasis 
 what conclusion do you draw from it?" inquired Mrs. Notion.
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 65 
 
 "Be patient, Matilda, and restrain your curiosity for just a 
 little while," answered Mr. Notion smilingly. "I will draw 
 several conclusions from my premises, but before doing so, I 
 wish to state the premises more fully. Women are more supei- 
 stitious than men. They believe in unlucky days and numbers, 
 and are averse to beginning a journey on Fridays, or being one 
 of a dinner party of thirteen. Many intelligent and estimable 
 ladies attach significance to their dreams, and cause themselves 
 and those who are foolish enough to agree with them, a great 
 deal of unnecessary uuhappiness, by perpetual forebodings of 
 disasters, which, though indicated by their dreams, rarely occur." 
 
 "Why, don't you believe in any dreams, Ned ? " 
 
 ' ' I certainly do not, Matilda. I deny them any value except 
 as an index of the mental and bodily condition of the dreamer. ' ' 
 
 " But Mrs. Poorsleeper's dreams often come true. When she 
 dreams of flowers, it means sickness or death, and washing means 
 moving. She says that just before they moved last time, she 
 dreamed of a big wash ; and that a week before little Allen took 
 sick and died, she saw him in her sleep just covered with 
 flowers. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Of course when a person is always prophesying trouble, such 
 predictions must sometimes be fulfilled; but I will warrant that 
 Mrs. Poorsleeper has dreamed a hundred times of washing, with- 
 out any moving coming to pass, and that she has had a thousand 
 visions of flowers for every case of sickness or death in her 
 family." 
 
 "Well, I must admit, Ned, that my dreams don't mean any- 
 thing." 
 
 ' ' I am glad of it, Matilda, for I have noticed that these 
 dreamers usually predict trouble and sorrow. But, while you are 
 free from most of the superstitions of your sex, you are not 
 entirely beyond their influence. For instance, you derive much 
 satisfaction from the fact that your wedding ring has never 
 slipped from your finger; you do not like to take a knife from 
 me, or hand one to me, and you are extremely averse to having 
 any one pass between us when we are out walking." 
 
 Mrs. Notion laughed, and replied: "Oh, those are more 
 habits than anything else! I don't believe much in such things ; 
 but I can not permit your assertion that women are more super- 
 stitious than men to go unchallenged. Whole classes of men are 
 given up to the most senseless superstitions. Sailors are prover- 
 
 5
 
 66 DOMESTIC DUKLS. 
 
 bially credulous iu this regai'd, aud are convinced that certain 
 ships are ill-omened or haunted, and that Friday is an unlucky 
 day to begin a voyage. The ship-owners, instead of resisting 
 and trying to overcome this absurd belief, evidently participate 
 in it themselves to a great extent, for in the majority of cases 
 they decline to start their vessels on the sixth day of the week. 
 Even the judges, men of unusual wisdom, who have been placed 
 upon the judicial bench because of their sound judgment and 
 learning in the law, recognize this ancient superstition, and with 
 few exceptions, sentence murderers to suffer the death penalty on 
 Friday. The governor of one of the principal states made a 
 personal appeal a few years ago to the judiciary to select other 
 days for the infliction of capital punishment, and for a time his 
 request was heeded, but the judges gradually relapsed into their 
 superstitious habit of choosing Friday as the exclusive day for 
 the execution of criminals." 
 
 ' ' Matilda, you put your side of the case with much ingenuity, 
 but, after all, the instances which you cite are exceptional. I 
 claim on the other hand that nearly all women, regardless of 
 class, station, occupation, or nativity, are given up to super- 
 stitions. You have told me yourself that many of the ladies of 
 your acquaintance consult their dream-books every morning, in 
 order to ascertain the significance of the fancies which disturbed 
 their slumbers." 
 
 ' ' Probably, Ned, they were made superstitious by the example 
 of their husbands. Is it men or women that carry potatoes in 
 their pockets as a cure for rheumatism, or that seek to cure the 
 same disease by putting their shoes beneath the bed with the toes 
 in aud the back part of the shoes projecting out? AVhat is that 
 ring on your finger for? Ah, I see you blush! That is a 
 Franco-Prussian ring, for which you paid four dollars, and in 
 the magic virtues of which you have so firm a belief that you 
 assured me only the other day that your rheumatic twinges had 
 left you the very day you began to wear it. ' ' 
 
 "Do not misunderstand me, Matilda. I do not claim that 
 the ring possesses any supernatural powers, but simply that it 
 has natural properties, not yet thoroughly understood, which 
 constitute a curative agency for rheumatism. Superstition I 
 would define as being a belief which is not merely incapable of 
 demonstration, or beyond reason, but which is absolutely contrary 
 to all human experiences, good judgment, and common sense.
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 67 
 
 To illustrate: I know a man who had a vacant house which was 
 numbered 13. Months passed by, and it still remained vacant. 
 He investigated the matter, and found out that the only objection 
 which the womenfolk made to the house was that it had an 
 unlucky number. He changed the number, and in a short time 
 his house was rented. Now, this was a genuine case of super- 
 stition, for there could be no possible connection between the 
 number on the door of the house, and the prosperity of its 
 inmates. ' ' 
 
 "That may be," replied Mrs. Notion, "but the practice of 
 nailing a horseshoe above the door of a house to keep bad luck 
 away, is j ust as superstitious, and yet men more than women are 
 addicted to that practice." 
 
 ' ' But it is the women, Matilda, who dread to see the moon 
 over their left shoulder, and attach also so much importance to 
 white horses. You believe, too, that some one is talking about 
 you when there is a ringing in your ears." 
 
 ' ' And then, see how superstitious the gamblers are, Edward ! 
 In fact, all men who play cards believe in luck, and think that 
 the good cards are more likely to go to players on a certain side 
 of the table than any other. Now all this I call Superstition. 
 You yourself are superstitious about numbers, and remarked 
 the other day, when Tom met with the second accident during 
 the week, that you feared a third, as you had noticed that two 
 misfoitunes of any kind were generally followed by a third." 
 
 "That is not superstition, Matilda. I had merely observed 
 that events usually occurred in series or sequences of three, and 
 felt that I was justified in assuming that they would continue in 
 the same order." 
 
 "Well, I think I have sufficiently disproved your assertion 
 that women are more superstitious than men, ' ' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Notion, with a sudden divergence from the direction of the con- 
 versation, which ill-natured critics might suggest was character- 
 istic of her sex, "and now I would like to know the origin of 
 the belief that thirteen is an unlucky number, and Friday an ill- 
 omened day." 
 
 ' ' I have never specially investigated the matter, ' ' replied 
 Mr. Notion, "but my impression has always been that these 
 superstitions have their origin in the fact that the last supper of 
 our Lord was partaken of by thirteen, and that he was crucified 
 on Friday."
 
 68 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 ' ' You spoke some little time since, ' ' said Mrs. Notion, as she 
 gave the talk another sudden turn, " of political fanaticism as a 
 characteristic of women. There I must dissent from your view. 
 I never was half as ardent a Republican as you, and I am sure 
 I wanted you to vote the Prohibition ticket long before you could 
 bring yourself to the point of doing so. And now that you are 
 a Single Taxer and a man without a party, I am perfectly willing 
 to have you remain so. ' ' 
 
 " Matilda, in your tendency to ignore the universal and culti- 
 vate the particular, you are a fair type of womankind generally. 
 I was not referring to you, or to any other individual, when I 
 spoke of political fanaticism. Nor do I claim that under ordi- 
 nary circumstances, women are any more intemperate in their 
 political prejudices and passions than men. But in times of wild 
 excitement, and great popular upheavals, like the French Revo- 
 lution, and our own Civil War, the women are much more 
 extreme than the men. The most cruel and blood-thirsty of the 
 mobs which clamored for the lives of the French Royalists, were 
 women. The most bitter and uncompromising among the rebels 
 of the south, were members of your sex. This is a topic, how- 
 ever, which I do not like to discuss, and with your permission, I 
 will pass on to other points of difference between the sexes. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Please postpone it until to-morrow evening, Edward, as I 
 am getting very sleepy. ' ' 
 
 And here this little matrimonial dialogue closed.
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Continue Their Discussion 
 of the Psychic and Physiological Differ- 
 ences between the Sexes. 
 
 "Woman may err, woman may give her mind 
 To evil thoughts, and lose her pure estate; 
 But for one woman who affronts her kind 
 By wicked passions and remorseless hate, 
 A thousand make amends in age and youth 
 By heavenly pity, by sweet sympathy, 
 By patient kindness, hy enduring truth, 
 By love, supremest in adversity." 
 
 Charles Mackay. 
 
 "You spoke in a recent conversation, Edward, about the 
 tendency of women to be political fanatics, and even went so far 
 as to charge them with being cruel and bloodthirsty. You 
 referred to the French Revolution as an illustration of the truth 
 of your charge. Permit me to quote from a papor read by Dr. 
 Emily Harriet StoAve, of Canada, before the Women's Congress 
 at Chicago in 1893. She says: 'Again, we find in the history of 
 the French Revolution that society seemed to be disorganized. 
 When men were intoxicated with the thirst for blood, women 
 like Madame De Stael, Madam Neckar, Madam Tallien, and 
 others, used all their power to reorganize the social system, opening 
 their salons in which men were inspired to nobler efforts, rescuing 
 the unfortunate victims from the guillotine, bringing with them 
 peace and order.' ' 
 
 "I had not intended to speak more particularly upon this 
 disagreeable phase of our subject," replied Mr. Notion, "but, in 
 order to show you that I have not exaggerated, I shall support 
 my statements by evidence. Ostrogorski,.in his work on 'The 
 Rights of Women,' says: 'The grotesque and somewhat dismal 
 part played by woman under the Terror only too well justified 
 the language of Mirabeau. Having flung themselves into the 
 Revolution with an ardor and an enthusiasm not devoid of 
 
 (69)
 
 70 DOMESTIC; DUIII.S. 
 
 grandeur at the outset, they soon lost all balance, intellectual and 
 moral. The Terrorists themselves were disgusted in the end, if 
 not by their excesses, at least by the habit into which they fell, 
 of exciting the people, of remonstrating with the men in office, 
 and of promoting disorder in the streets. Upon the defeat of the 
 Girondins, the Moutagnards were not slow in getting rid of their 
 sinister allies. On the 28th brunmire, IT'.).'), when a band of 
 red-capped viragoes forced their way into the lobby of the Com- 
 munal Council Chamber, Chaumette, the procm-rnr </t'iu'r<tl, 
 apostrophized them in the severest terms. "What! shall these 
 degraded beings who have shaken off and violated Nature's laws, 
 be suffered to enter a place intrusted to the guardianship of 
 citizens? Since when have women been allowed to abjure their 
 sex and turn themselves into men ? " The convention thereupon 
 decreed the suppression of female clubs and societies, and subse- 
 quently prohibited any public assemblies of women. The female 
 politicians completely disappeared.' ' 
 
 "Just like the male tyrants!" exclaimed Mrs. Notion. "If 
 some women went to extremes, and showed themselves so weak 
 and foolish as to be unduly influenced by the bad example of 
 the men, they certainly furnished no justification for such 
 extreme measures as the suppression and social and political 
 serfdom of the entire sex. Besides, they were of the lowest orders 
 of society, and had been degraded by centuries of poverty, 
 misery, and oppression. I think it is highly unfair to take 
 them as representatives in any way of their sex. I have shown 
 you that women of the higher classes were either the victims 
 of the Terror, or were doing their utmost to ameliorate its 
 anguish, and mitigate its misery and brutality. In this con- 
 nection let me quote from the celebrated traveler Ledyard, who 
 pays this deserved tribute to my sex: 'I have observed that 
 women in all countries are civil, obliging, tender, and humane. 
 I never addressed myself to them in the language of decency and 
 friendship, without receiving a decent and friendly answer. 
 With man, it has often been otherwise. In wandering over the 
 barren plains of inhospitable Denmark; through honest Sweden 
 and frozen Lapland; rude and churlish Finland; unprincipled 
 Ilussia; and the widespread regions of the wandering Tartar; if 
 hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, the women have ever been 
 friendly to n >e, and uniformly so; and to add to this virtue (so 
 worthy the appellation of benevolence), these actions have been
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 71 
 
 performed in so free and kind a manner that if I was dry I 
 drank the sweetest draught ; and if hungry, ate the coarsest morsel 
 with a double relish.' That would not indicate that women were 
 so cruel as you try to make out by your reference to their conduct 
 during the French Ilevolution. " 
 
 " I do not charge them with cruelty, Matilda. I refer rather 
 to their impressionability, and tendency to go to all sorts of 
 extremes under the influence of great popular excitement." 
 
 "The French Revolution," replied Mrs. Notion, " was some- 
 thing so unique, so exceptional, so extraordinary and peculiar in 
 every way, that its occurrences should not be used to support any 
 charge against either sex, or as a basis for any assertion whatever, 
 except the possibility of barbarous conduct by civilized humanity 
 under a combination of circumstances so rare that its recurrence 
 is exceedingly improbable." 
 
 "The fact remains, my dear, that women are more easily 
 affected by their surroundings than men; that they yield to 
 excitement more quickly; that they are more extreme in both 
 good and evil; that they are more creatures of instinct than of 
 intelligence. ' ' 
 
 "Sir, your statements are absolutely absurd. Women are 
 quite as intelligent as men. Besides, you grossly exaggerate the 
 difference between the sexes. Listen to Sydney Smith, for whom 
 I have often heard you express admiration: 'A great deal has 
 been said of the original difference of capacity between men and 
 women; as if women were more quick, and men more judicious 
 as if women were more remarkable for delicacy of association and 
 men for stronger powers of attention. All this, we confess, 
 appears to us very fanciful. That there is a difference in the 
 understandings of the men and the women we every day meet 
 with, everybody, we suppose, must perceive; but there is none 
 surely which may not be accounted for by the difference of cir- 
 cumstances in which they have been placed, without referring to 
 any conjectural difference of original conformation of mind. As 
 long as boys and girls run about in the dirt, and trundle hoops 
 together, they are both precisely alike. If you catch up one- half 
 of these creatures, and train them to a particular set of actions 
 and opinions, and the other half to a perfectly opposite set, of 
 course their understandings will differ, as one or the other sort of 
 occupations has called this or that talent into action. There is 
 surely no occasion to go into any deeper or more abstruse
 
 7i DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 reasoning, in order to explain so very simple a phenomenon.' 
 There, that flatly contradicts your unwarranted assumptions of 
 innumerable sex differences." 
 
 ' ' It may be very bold on my part to venture to differ from so 
 great a man as Sydney Smith, and yet I have the temerity to 
 retain my opinions on the subject despite the contrary views of 
 the celebrated 'wit, wag, and wicar,' as he was once mischiev- 
 ously and alliteratively called. I have perhaps said enough, 
 however, as to the excitability and impressionability of women; 
 but it will not do any harm to repeat that your sex are more 
 extreme in both good and evil than are men. I might say some- 
 thing about the great female criminals of history, of the Lucretia 
 Borgias, Agrippinas, and Mary Tudors, but I refrain from so 
 doing, and merely quote from Dr. Lombroso, the great Italian 
 specialist in criminology, who has recently published a book on the 
 'Female Offender,' in which he says: 'The female born criminal 
 is far more terrible than the male. She combines the worst 
 qualities of both sexes the woman's excessive desire for revenge, 
 cunning, cruelty, love of dress, and untruthfulness ; the man's 
 vices, fickleness, fearlessness, audacity, and often muscular 
 strength.' Celto wrote in the fifteenth century: 'No possible 
 punishments can deter women from heaping up crime upon crime. 
 Their perversity of mind is more fertile in new crimes than the 
 imagination of a judge in new punishments.' Rykise said, 
 'Feminine criminality is more cynical, more depraved, and more 
 terrible than the criminality of the male.' 'Rarely,' says the 
 Italian proverb, ' is a woman wicked, but when she is, she sur- 
 passes the man. ' Euripides exclaims: ' The violence of the ocean 
 waves or of devouring flames is terrible. Terrible is poverty, but 
 woman is more terrible than all else.' What think you of that, 
 Matilda?' 
 
 "I don't believe a word of it. I have not the honor of the 
 acquaintance of your Dr. Lombroso, but I long since lost all 
 respect for old Euripides. His representation of Clytemnestra is 
 that of a fiend, rather than a human being, and all through his 
 tragedies he fairly revels in slaughter and crime. He is a 
 butcher in his instincts, and, really, I find comfort in the reflec- 
 tion that he died several centuries before the beginning of our era. 
 But didn't Sophocles and ^Eschylus have something to say against 
 women ? ' ' 
 
 "Of course thov did. Each one of them gave his version of
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 73 
 
 the little peculiarities of Clytemnestra, the lady whom you 
 mention, and each very plainly betrays his opinion that her con- 
 duct in the murder of Agamemnon, her husband, was culpable. ' ' 
 
 "Isn't it about time for you to say something about Xantippe, 
 the quarrelsome wife of Socrates, and to quote with approval the 
 advice of Thales to unmarried men ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Hardly, Matilda. I prefer to maintain a discreet silence on 
 the subject of the lady you mention, and as for Thales, I have 
 no idea what advice of his you allude to." 
 
 "Well, sir, he was one of the seven wise men of Greece, as 
 you know, and when asked to prescribe the proper period for a 
 man to marry, said, 'A young man not yet; an elder man, not 
 at all." 
 
 "It should not be necessary for me to assure you, my dear, 
 that I do not agree with Thales in his cynical remark. Probably 
 his own matrimonial experience was unfortunate, while mine has 
 been highly satisfactory. But we are wandering from the sub- 
 ject. I believe I remarked that women were extreme in both 
 good and evil. You surely will acknowledge that when a woman 
 becomes degraded, her reformation seems almost an impossibility, 
 while all around us are men who, repenting of the vices of their 
 youth, are now living useful and respectable lives." 
 
 ' ' Yes, sir, that does seem to be so, but I do not attribute it to 
 any inherent qualities in the female sex, but to public opinion, 
 which presses so heavily on fallen women as to make their 
 recovery extremely difficult." 
 
 ' ' Who is it, Matilda, that does most to make that public 
 opinion?" 
 
 "Oh, I know what you are getting at now, sir! You want 
 me to admit that woman's hatred of woman, and unwillingness 
 to forgive her sin and folly, are chiefly responsible for the exist- 
 ing condition of affairs in this regard. But I shall admit noth- 
 ing of the kind. That assertion has passed unchallenged too 
 long. No, sir, it is the men who are most inveterate in their 
 hostility. They who are alone responsible for woman's missteps, 
 are the severest in their condemnation of her conduct. I assert, 
 confidently, that in this city, to-day, a faithful band of women 
 are doing more for the rescue and reformation of fallen girls than 
 all the men in San Francisco. ' ' 
 
 "That may be, Matilda, but the very work in which the 
 women are now participating was started by men, and it was a
 
 74 DOMESTIC DI:I:I>. 
 
 long time before they could persuade the respectable members of 
 your sex to have anything to do with it. Now, I am glad to 
 say the ladies are really interested in genuine rescue work, and 
 are accomplishing wonders in that direction. But I am curious 
 to hear whether you deny the latter part of my statement, namely, 
 that women are extreme in good." 
 
 ' ' Oh, no, Edward, my natural candor compels me to confess 
 that! In fact, I shall be pleased to enumerate several instances 
 of extreme female virtue, courage, and devotion; that is if you 
 care to listen to-them." 
 
 "It will afford me the utmost pleasure, my dear. Indeed, 
 I intended to remind you of some of these myself, and if you 
 omit those which I deem most deserving of mention, I shall take 
 the liberty of calling them to your attention." 
 
 "Well, Edward, there was Joan of Arc, the simple, unlet- 
 tered maiden, who at the age of nineteen left her sheep, and by 
 her courage and love of country brought about the final expul- 
 sion of the English from France. And yet this heroine was 
 condemned of magic and heresy by six French bishops, and 
 burned at the stake. So you see that the men are responsible 
 for her death. Lady Jane Gray, who was cruelly executed 
 because she had ]>ennitted herself to be placed for a few days 
 upon the throne of England, was only eighteen years old at the 
 time of her death. For simplicity of manners, purity of heart, 
 and extensive learning, she was scarcely ever equaled in any 
 age or country. In the language of Fuller, she united the 
 innocency of childhood, the beauty of youth, the solidity of 
 middle life, and the gravity of old age. She had the birth of a 
 princess, the learning of a divine, and the life of a saint; and 
 yet suffered the death of a malefactor for the of lenses of her 
 parents. On the wall of her prison in the tower she left a Latin 
 inscription, scratched with a pin, which may be paraphrased as 
 follows: 
 
 " ' Harmless all malice, if our God be nigh; 
 Fruitless all pains, if he his help deny. 
 Patient I pass these gloomy hours away, 
 And wait the morning of eternal day.' ' : 
 
 "Excuse me for interrupting you, Matilda, but permit me to 
 
 inquire who it was that so wickedly took the life of this beautiful 
 and talented young Ionian." 
 
 "Why, the executioner, of course."
 
 SKX DIFFKJIKNCRS. 75 
 
 "Fie, fie, Matilda; don't be guilty of prevarication! You 
 know what I mean. Who caused her death?" 
 
 " Well, sir, if you are so anxious to know, it was Queen 
 Mary, the sister of Elizabeth. But I suppose you want to draw 
 out the fact that she was a woman. I admit it. She was a 
 disgrace to her sex, a thing to be accounted for only by the 
 supposition that she inherited the cruel tendencies of her father, 
 the brutal Henry VIII. But let me proceed. Mary Queen of 
 Scots, so ill-fated and so beautiful, was a woman who had many 
 faults of character, but she died like a heroine and a Christian. 
 She received her sentence of death with the following words: 
 'The news you bring can not but be most welcome, since they 
 announce the termination of my miseries. Nor do I account 
 that soul to be deserving of the felicities of immortality, which 
 can shrink under the sufferings of the body, or scruple at the 
 stroke that sets it free.' During the nineteen years of close 
 imprisonment which preceded her execution she preserved the 
 magnanimity of a queen, and practiced with sincerity the duties 
 of a Christian." 
 
 "By the way, Matilda, who 
 
 "That will do, sir. I know just what you are going to say, 
 and while your levity is provoking, I freely admit that her death 
 was caused by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, and I much regret 
 that this great queen should thus have stained her otherwise lus- 
 trous fame. One of the greatest of monarchs was Queen Bess, 
 and her thoughts and conduct were usually characterized by 
 nobility, magnanimity, and true grandeur of soul. Her name 
 has been given to the period during which the foundations of 
 England's future greatness were securely laid, and in which a 
 literature was produced which succeeding generations have sought 
 in vain to equal, and which preceding ones were never able to 
 surpass. Of this glorious era Carlyle says: 'But indeed that 
 strange outbudding of our whole English existence, which we 
 call the Elizabethan era, did not it too come as of its own 
 accord?' ' 
 
 "Xo\v, don't be offended, Matilda, if I remind you that 
 Shakespeare and the other great authors of this period were all 
 men." 
 
 "That proves nothing, Edward, for the women in those days 
 were mostly suppressed." 
 
 "And why, dear, did not the queen come 1o the rescue of her 
 suffering sex ? ' '
 
 76 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "As you know full well, sir, she lacked the power. Great as 
 she was, and mighty as were her royal prerogatives, she was 
 utterly powerless to change the status of womanhood. Had she 
 attempted to do so, a revolution would have been the inevitable 
 result." 
 
 "And don't you suspect, Matilda, that Queen Bess lacked the 
 inclination as well as the power to help her female subjects; in 
 fact, that she was thoroughly imbued with the idea that women 
 were the ' weaker vessels, ' and that they were placed by an 
 all- wise Providence in perpetual subjection to men?" 
 
 "I have no doubt, sir, that she was influenced much by the 
 intellectual atmosphere in which she lived. But your remarks 
 tend to divert our conversation from its true course. There are 
 many other women of whose virtues and heroism I Avish to speak. 
 Conspicuous among these Avas Isabella, queen of Spain, who 
 shared most of her husband's campaigns, provided by her fore- 
 thought for every contingency, comforted his armies in reverses, 
 and softened by her humanity and bene\ r olence the miseries of 
 war. She was the first to appoint regular military surgeons, who 
 Avere paid out of her OAVH revenues, and she also provided six 
 tents, furnished Avith eA T ery necessary appliance, which were 
 knoAA r n as the 'Queen's Hospital/ thus originating that depart- 
 ment of warfare which has been so potent an agency in alleviat- 
 ing the horrors of the battle field. Isabella also distinguished 
 herself by declaring the freedom of the American Indians, and 
 on one occasion she ordered the instant return of several cargoes 
 of them which had been sent as slaves to Spain. But her 
 greatest claim to renoAvn and the gratitude of the world lies in 
 the fact that she made possible the discovery of America." 
 
 ' ' Let me ask you, Matilda, if you do not consider the estab- 
 lishment of the Inquisition her crowning achievement?" 
 
 "No, indeed," replied Mrs. Notion. "Her husband, Ferdi- 
 nand, who was a narroAV-minded bigot, had much more to do 
 Avith the Inquisition than she." 
 
 "Well, Matilda, AVC Avill say no more about that for the 
 present. But you give Isabella so much credit for the discovery 
 of America, that I am prompted to ask Avho it was that made 
 that great addition to the knowledge, Avealth, and Avelfare of the 
 human race." 
 
 "Oh, America Avas discovered by a man, if I must assure you 
 of Avhat every child knows! But, Avhile Columbus Avas the active
 
 ,-UCX DIFFERENCES. 77 
 
 agent in this brilliant enterprise, I would have you realize that 
 without the encouragement and help of a woman, he would have 
 utterly failed in his undertaking. So it has ever been in human 
 history. In every crisis of our race, the man who, the recog- 
 nized leader of thought or action, has gained the plaudits of the 
 multitudes, has had his hands strengthened by some good woman. 
 In fact, so universal has this been that I am forced to believe in 
 the existence of a deep-seated principle of humanity that without 
 the active, though perhaps hidden, participation of woman, no 
 great progress or uplift of our race can be attained. At some 
 other time I shall take much pleasure in demonstrating by his- 
 torical references the truth of this assertion, but at present I wish 
 to give other instances of remarkable female virtue and nobility 
 of soul. Let me at present, however, quote briefly from the 
 great Disraeli : ' It is at the foot of women we lay the laurel 
 that without her smile would never have been gained; it is her 
 image that strikes the lyre of the poet, that animates the voice in 
 the blaze of eloquent faction, and guides the brain in the august 
 toil of stately councils. ' ' 
 
 ' ' A true sentiment, very beautifully expressed ! ' ' exclaimed 
 Mr. Notion. ' ' But I beg you in your enumeration of instances 
 of female nobility, virtue, and grandeur of character not to 
 forget the case of Milton's first wife." 
 
 "Why, what did she do to distinguish herself?" asked 
 Mrs. Notion. 
 
 "Much in every way, Matilda. Shortly after their marriage, 
 a disagreement occurred, which resulted in their separation, she 
 returning to her father's house, and he publishing his work on 
 the 'Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce.' It seems that he 
 contemplated another matrimonial venture, but was prevented 
 from proceeding in that direction by the sudden appearance of 
 his wife, on the occasion of his visit to the house of a friend. 
 She came from an adjoining room, knelt at his feet, made sub- 
 mission to him, and begged his pardon for whatever had been 
 faulty in her conduct. A reconciliation resulted, and they lived 
 happily together until her death." 
 
 ' ' But I have been speaking, sir, of the virtues and courage of 
 women, and you, very inappropriately, it seems to me, drag in 
 an instance of female docility and submission. You doubtless 
 consider the conduct of Mrs. Milton very admirable, but I am 
 incapable of sharing your admiration. Much more to my liking
 
 78 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 is the character of Winifred Herbert, Countess of Nithsdale, 
 whose husband, the Earl of Nithsdale, was sentenced to tlie death 
 })enalty for attempting to seat the Pretender on the British throne 
 in 1715. She secured access to her husband's room in the 
 Tower, and after exhausting every effort to effect his pardon, 
 she induced two lady friends to accompany her to the prison on 
 the evening before the day set for his execution. They were 
 named respectively Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Mills. She intro- 
 duced them separately to the earl's room, and by clever manage- 
 ment, dressed hint in her own clothing. Then, after sending her 
 two confederates away separately on different pretexts, she left the 
 room in company with her husband, whom she addressed as 
 Mrs. Betty, and urged to hasten to her lodging and bring back 
 her maid. The earl was hidden for several days, and finally 
 escaped to France in the livery of the Venetian ambassador. 
 The voyage to Calais was made in a small vessel, which accom- 
 plished the passage with such remarkable rapidity that the 
 captain exclaimed, 'that if his passengers were flying for their 
 lives the ship could not have sailed quicker.' The countess at 
 the risk of her life remained in England for some time, in order 
 that she might secure some important family papers which she 
 had buried near their house in Scotland, and also that she might 
 effect the escape of her sou. At last, after many thrilling 
 adventures, she succeeded in both objects, and lived happily with 
 her husband in Rome for thirty-three years." 
 
 "Matilda," asked Mr. Notion, as he looked admiringly at his 
 wife, "where did you acquire all this knowledge of the heroic 
 members of your sex? Though my reading has been somewhat 
 extensive, I must say that many of these matters have escaped 
 my attention." 
 
 "To Elizabeth Starling, a woman of no mean literary attain- 
 ments, I owe considerable of this information, which I have 
 gleaned from her work entitled ' Noble Deeds of Women ; or 
 Examples of Female Courage and Virtue. ' ' 
 
 " The lady certainly deserves great credit for having compiled 
 so interesting a record. She must have spent much industry and 
 ingenuity in gathering together such varied material." 
 
 "Yes, she did, and these qualities are characteristic of true 
 womanhood. But let me proceed. Marshal Munich, who was 
 condemned to end his days in Siberia, was accompanied by his 
 faithful wife, who voluntarily shared his imprisonment and pri-
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 79 
 
 vations for twenty-one years, and did her utmost to make his 
 lot comfortable. Another remarkable case of female heroism 
 occurred in the latter part of the seventeenth century, when a lion 
 escaped from the menagerie of the Grand Duke of Florence, 
 and seized an infant, which a woman who sought to escape his 
 fury, accidentally dropped. In despair, she threw herself on her 
 knees before the animal, and implored with all the energy and 
 expression of a mother in despair, the life of her child. The 
 lion stopped fixed his eyes upon her placed the infant upon 
 the ground, without having injured it in the least, and went 
 away. What think you of such magnificent bravery as that ? ' ' 
 
 "I think, dear, that only a mother's love would be capable of 
 such heroic daring." 
 
 "And now, Edward, I shall relate an instance of woman's 
 magnanimity. Eudosia, wife of Theodosius the Great, though 
 treated by her brothers with 'the utmost barbarity before her 
 accession to the throne, procured for them two of the most 
 lucrative offices in the state, and contented herself with saying 
 to them: 'If you had not compelled me to leave my country, I 
 should never have visited Constantinople, nor had it ever been in 
 my power to give you this incontestible proof of my sincerest 
 love and affection.' Julia, the mother of Anthony, rescued 
 Lucius Caesar, her brother, from the vengeance of her son, when 
 the latter had made himself master of Rome, and she incurred 
 great peril in doing so. ' ' 
 
 ' ' But, Matilda, you must admit that these are rare instances 
 of nobleness of soul, and not to be expected from the vast 
 majority of your sex. I would remind you, too, that Eudosia, 
 in pardoning her brothers, was merely imitating the example of 
 Joseph. ' ' 
 
 "No, sir, I decline to make any such admission. And as for 
 Joseph, he was his mother's darling, and acquired his magnanim- 
 ity from her, and not from the crafty, selfish Jacob. But, 
 Speaking of woman's nobleness of soul, innumerable multitudes 
 of women have gladly sacrificed themselves for their husbands, 
 and are doing so to-day. Do not imagine for a moment that the 
 willingness of the Hindoo women to offer up their lives upon the 
 funeral pyres of their dead husbands, is due to mere custom. No, 
 it is only an extreme mode of manifesting the self-abnegation and 
 wifely devotion of our sex. I have already referred to ladies who 
 shared their husband's banishment and imprisonment. I can
 
 80 DOMESTIC 
 
 mention many others, but shall confine myself to a few. Antonia 
 Flaxilla, and Egnatia Maximilla, \vhose husbands "were exiled 
 by Nero, gladly accompanied their beloved partners into banish- 
 ment. When Lentulus Crustellus was exiled in Sicily by the 
 Triumvirate, his wife, Sulpitia, was prevented by her mother, Julia, 
 from joining him, and made her escape from her custodians in 
 the attire of a maid-servant. At last she reached his side, pre- 
 ferring a share in his miseries and misfortunes to all the luxury 
 and happiness that Rome could offer. Fannia, the illustrious 
 wife of Helvidius Priscus, attended him in exile up to the time of 
 his death, and her virtues have been commemorated by Pliny in 
 one of his Epistles." 
 
 ' ' You convince me, dearest, that I was wrong, and that those 
 cases where women are unwilling to make extreme sacrifices for 
 their husbands are exceptional." 
 
 "I fear, sir, that you speak ironically, but you must listen to 
 other cases of our self-sacrificing affection. Sibilla, wife of Robert, 
 Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, 
 when he had been wounded by a poisoned arrow, and refused to 
 allow her to risk her life for his, sucked the venom from his 
 wound while he slept, and thus saved his life at the sacrifice of 
 her own. Eleanor, wife of Edward the First, did the same 
 service for her husband in Palestine, but happily saved his life 
 without serious injury to herself. Another notable case of female 
 devotion was that of Rathean Herpin, who about the time that 
 Spinola with the Bavarians first entered the Palatinate, finding 
 that her husband, Christopher Thoeon, was afflicted with 
 apoplexy, bore him upon her back 1,300 English miles." 
 
 ' ' I would not have you forget Grace Darling, Matilda, in 
 your list of heroines." 
 
 "No, indeed, Edward. Her name is associated with one of 
 the noblest deeds of heroism which has done honor to humanity. 
 Her father was keeper of the lighthouse on one of the Fame 
 Islands, on the coast of Northumberland, and when she was a 
 mere child, she and he risked their lives in the effort to 
 row a boat through angry waves to where nine survivors of the 
 wrecked Forfarshire, were on the point of perishing. The 
 venture, undertaken at her suggestion, was a fearful one, but was 
 successful, and the eight men and one woman were rescued. 
 (Jrace immediately became world-famous, but bore her fame and 
 prosperity with modesty and gentleness. She died of consumption
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 81 
 
 at the early age of twenty-six. But I fear I weary you, Edward, 
 with my talk of all these women. ' ' 
 
 "No, no, dear, I keenly enjoy your narrative of womanly 
 greatness and sublimity of soul. ' ' 
 
 ' ' If I had time, Ned, I might tell you of the generosity of 
 Catherine of Russia; of the amiable characteristics of the Empress 
 Josephine; of the beautiful benevolence of Anne Boleyn; of the 
 courage and fortitude of Madame Malezoy, Madame Grimaldi, 
 and Madame Roland at the time of the French Revolution; of 
 how the Burgundians were repulsed by Jane Hanchette, when 
 they besieged the town of Beauvais; of how Margaret of Anjou, 
 wife of Henry the Sixth, by her rare genius and courage sup- 
 ported her feeble husband under the most trying circumstances, 
 teaching him how to conquer by her example, replacing him upon 
 the throne, and twice rescuing him from prison; of the coura- 
 geous conduct of the Duchess of Ferrara, daughter of Louis the 
 Twelfth, in protecting the Prince of Conde; of the heroism of 
 Augustl na, the Maid of Saragossa, when that town was beseiged 
 by the French in 1809; of the noble intrepidity of Mademoiselle 
 de la Charce, who for her defense of Dauphiuy, in 1692, against 
 the Duke of Savoy, received from Louis the Fourteenth a pension, 
 and was permitted to place her sword and armor in the treasury 
 of St. Dem's; of the wonderful bravery of the Empress of Austria, 
 Maria Theresa; and of many other deeds of valor, goodness, and 
 devotion by members of my sex. ' ' 
 
 "Your summary of those gifted women is most interesting, and 
 I shall gladly listen to more about them from your lips." 
 
 ' ' I am glad to hear you say so, Edward, but I am so anxious 
 to reach other phases of the discussion, that I can not dwell too 
 long on these instances of female heroism, interesting as they are. 
 I shall, however, relate a few more cases. The fair page of 
 woman's fume has been brightened by many distinguished 
 examples of filial devotion. One Roman lady, whose mother had 
 been sentenced to death, and left to die of starvation by her jailer, 
 visited her daily in prison, though not allowed to carry any food 
 with her. The length of time during which the imprisoned lady 
 lived without any apparent inconvenience from the lack of nour- 
 ishment, aroused the suspicions of her custodian, who upon inves- 
 tigation ascertained that she had subsisted upon her daughter's 
 milk. This discovery resulted in her pardon, and a temple was 
 erected on the spot and dedicated to Filial Piety. Xantippe, 
 6
 
 82 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 another Roman lady, supported her aged father in a similar 
 manner, in order to preserve his life while in prison. In ^ew 
 York in the severe winter of 1783, the daughter of an aged couple 
 who were in great distress and poverty, and entirely dependent 
 upon her for their support, having learned that a dentist would 
 pay three guineas for every sound fore tooth, went to him for the 
 purpose of making the sacrifice of her teeth. Having learned 
 the cause of her resolution, he presented her with ten guineas. 
 The Princess Maria Helena Elizabeth, of France, sister of the 
 ill-fated Louis XVI, refused to abandon her brother and the 
 queen at the time of their imprisonment, but voluntarily shared 
 their confinement, and herself endured the same dreadful death 
 which was inflicted upon them. Mademoiselle Delleglace endured 
 such hardships in her efforts to save the life of her father, when he 
 was arrested at Lyons, France, that when she finally succeeded in 
 her endeavors, her own health gave way, and she died in her be- 
 loved parent's arms." 
 
 "You haven't collected any data showing the self-sacrifice 
 of men how they died for their mothers, sisters, wives, and 
 daughters, have you, Matilda ? ' ' 
 
 " No; nor do I believe they are to be obtained, for the simple 
 reason that men are not in the habit of doing anything of the 
 kind. But one of the noblest examples of self-sacrificing devotion 
 on the part of a wife is that of Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson, whose 
 husband was one of the leaders of the Parliamentary party during 
 the civil war which resulted in the execution of Charles the First. 
 Mrs. Hutchinson actively assisted the colonel in all his under- 
 takings, and at one time during the siege by the Royalists of a 
 town of which he was the commandant, she acted as surgeon. 
 She was brave, beautiful, and remarkably talented, and after the 
 Restoration exerted herself to the utmost to save the life of her 
 husband. He Avas included in the Act of Oblivion, but was 
 subsequently apprehended. During his long imprisonment she 
 did her utmost to cheer and comfort him, and when at last he 
 died of a fever in prison, she wrote his biography for the benefit, 
 of her children. Madame de Mouchy not only accompanied her 
 husband the Marechal to prison and the place of execution, but 
 insisted upon snflering capital punishment in his companionship. I 
 shall not speak of the innumerable women who gladly wore; the 
 martyr's crown rather than deny their Saviour, or of those who 
 cheerfully resigned themselves to die for the sake of their country,
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 83 
 
 but will conclude what I have to say by quoting from Gall the 
 following: ' Who does not know many instances of the most 
 heroic devotedness on the part of the sex ? A woman spares no 
 effort to serve her friend. When it is a question of saving her 
 brother, her husband, her father, she penetrates into prisons she 
 throws herself at the feet of her sovereign. Such are the women 
 of our day, and such has history represented those of antiquity. ' ' 
 
 ' ' You have certainly made a very good showing for your sex, 
 and I am Just as proud of it as you could possibly be," remarked 
 Mr. Notion, "for I have long recognized the fact that there is no 
 necessary conflict or antagonism between the sexes, but that, on 
 the contrary, their Interests are absolutely identical. ' ' 
 
 "And yet," said Mrs. Notion, "you persist in treating us 
 with the most glaring injustice. Our marriage customs, for 
 instance, are palpably inequitable and unfair to the wife, who is 
 subordinated to the husband in every possible way. In this 
 connection Mrs. Lilie Devereux Blake gives an illustration 
 which is very striking. She says: ' Suppose a man should come 
 to another man .and say: "I would like to have you unite with 
 me in a partnership for life, but let me explain on what terms. 
 In the first place, the firm name shall be mine alone ; you must 
 give up your name entirely. Then all the money that we earn 
 shall be mine alone, and I will give you only what I choose of it, 
 providing you with such board and lodging as I see fit, and 
 giving you new clothes when I think you need them. You must 
 fully understand, also, that I am to have perfect liberty to go and 
 come as I please, but that you are never to go anywhere by day 
 or by night without my leave. ' ' What reply would any intelli- 
 gent and high-minded man make to such a proposition ? and yet 
 this is substantially what any man says to a woman when he asks 
 her hand in marriage.' ' 
 
 "Mrs. Blake's illustration is utterly absurd, Matilda. In the 
 first place, it begs the question entirely by ignoring the difference 
 of sex, and assuming that the marital agreement, or contract, as 
 it is sometimes called, between a man and a woman, is similar in 
 any way or capable of being compared at all with any contract 
 between two men. So far as the giving up of her maiden name 
 by the wife is concerned, a moment's reflection will show that the 
 unity of the family requires this step on the part of one of the 
 spouses; otherwise the children of the -marriage would take two 
 surnames instead of one, and in a few generations children would
 
 84 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 come into the world burdened with a vast accumulation of ances- 
 tral patronymics. Relative to the earnings, there can be no 
 doubt as to the practical advisability, as well as the abstract 
 justice, of giving their control to the spouse who earns them, 
 whether husband or wife, and whose practical experience makes 
 him more competent to take care of them. And with reference 
 to the wife depending upon her husband for such provision as he 
 deems proper, I would simply say that, if she has not sufficient 
 confidence in him to trust him to provide for her to the best of 
 his ability, she should not marry him. And, so far as freedom 
 of locomotion by day and by night is concerned, I assert that 
 married women in this country do enjoy the right of going where 
 they please in the daytime, and generally at night, too; that they 
 are less likely to be reprimanded for doing so than men, and that 
 they enjoy this liberty frequently while their husbands are toiling 
 for the subsistence of the family. ' ' 
 
 ' ' When sex questions are concerned, Edward, you are singu- 
 larly obtuse and obstinate. You know as well as I do that if the 
 married women of this country were even to hint at the desirability 
 of their going out alone at night, their husbands would consider 
 themselves insulted, and would spurn the mere possibility of such 
 outrageous and immodest conduct. And yet in nine cases out 
 of ten the same men would go out night after night, and never 
 deign to tell their lonely and long-suffering wives where they 
 were going." 
 
 ' ' But, Matilda, you forget ' ' 
 
 "Sir, I forget nothing." 
 
 And thus abruptly the conversation closed.
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Conclude Their Discussion 
 of the Psychic and Physiological Differ- 
 ences between the Sexes. 
 
 " What a strange thing is man! and what a stranger 
 Is woman! What a whirlpool is her head, 
 And what a whirlpool full of depth and danger 
 Is all the rest about her! Whether wed, 
 Or widow, maid or mother, she can change her 
 Mind like the wind; whatever she has said 
 Or done is light to what she'll say or do; 
 The oldest thing on record, and yet new!" 
 
 Byron. 
 
 "Well, Matilda," exclaimed Mr. Notion one evening after 
 dinner, " I hope you will deign to talk with me a little to-night. 
 I have tried for several evenings to continue our last conversa- 
 tion, but your taciturnity has been invincible." 
 
 ' ' The fact is, Mr. Notion, that I can not comprehend why you 
 should wish to discuss such weighty questions with a mere woman, 
 a creature unintelligent, capricious, prejudiced, and generally 
 incapable of such mental processes as involve reason, logic, or 
 consistency. ' ' 
 
 "You greatly exaggerate unconsciously no doubt what I 
 have said in some of our previous conversations. Nor must you 
 forget, my dear, that my remarks were made concerning your sex 
 generally, and were not intended to apply to you as an individual. 
 The fact that you are so reflective and almost judicial in your 
 mental modes, only goes to prove you a rare exception to 
 women generally, and to indicate that I exercised much discrim- 
 ination and good judgment when I did myself the honor of 
 selecting you as a life companion." 
 
 "Well, Edward," said Mrs. Notion in much milder tones, 
 "I suppose I must be content to endure your male arrogance, 
 conceit, and assumption of sex superiority, and that I do wrong 
 to become impatient with conduct on your part which is the 
 
 (85)
 
 86 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 unconscious and unavoidable expression of your mental bias and 
 peculiar way of looking at things. In other words, I am unrea- 
 sonable when I expect you to rise above your sex, and allow 
 myself to forget that you are only a man, after all." 
 
 ' ' I am glad, darling, that you view the matter so philosoph- 
 ically, and are determined henceforth not to expect too much 
 from me. All things are possible to her who waits, and it may 
 be that with much patient training you will eventually mold me 
 into shape. ' ' 
 
 "Not at all, Ned, not at all. I have given that up. The 
 task which I have assigned myself is the more practical one of 
 looking at your virtues rather than your faults, and patiently 
 enduring the latter while I enjoy the former. But what is it you 
 are so anxious to say on this subject? " 
 
 ' ' I wish to show my great respect for your sex by quoting from 
 a good woman, and one whom you much admire. I refer to Miss 
 Muloch, one of your favorite authors. I know that you will 
 listen with respect to her views on these questions. ' ' 
 
 "I don't know whether I will or not. While I have read her 
 books with pleasure, it does not follow that I shall accept her 
 ideas as in any sense authoritative. Besides, she was never 
 married, and knows nothing about men; but I am curious to hear 
 what she says on this question." 
 
 "She states in a recent book of hers, called 'A "Woman's 
 Thoughts about Women, ' that woman is the weaker vessel; that 
 the sexes are not equal ; that marriage is ceasing to become the 
 common lot, and unhappy marriages are common; that not one 
 woman in five thousand is fit to be a mother; that woman's 
 happiest and most natural life is when she loses herself in the 
 exquisite absorption of home; that women are deficient injustice, 
 and that it was a mistake to make that admirable virtue a female; 
 that stinginess is much more characteristic of women than of men; 
 that the husband who has to listen every evening to a long tale of 
 domestic woe, belongs to a numerous species, and deserves much 
 pity; that among the distinguishing faults of women are frivolity, 
 irrationality, and incapacity to seize on more than one idea at the 
 same time; that women rarely keep the secrets of friends after the 
 termination of the friendship; that most women are prone to 
 gossip; that 'very few women are absolutely and invariably 
 veracious;' that 'men lie wilfully, deliberately, on principle as 
 it were; but women quite involuntarily;' that women habitually
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 87 
 
 talk about marriage in a manner which impairs its sanctity; that 
 woman's proper place is home; that foul-mouthed women are 
 only too common in all classes of society. ' ' 
 
 With unnatural composure, Mrs. Notion asked if he had 
 finished his enumeration of Miss Muloch's statements, and upon 
 his replying that he had, thus continued: "Before this matter 
 proceeds any farther, sir, I desire to know if you indorse all the 
 accusations which this woman has made against her sex? " 
 
 " Why, no, my dear," answered her husband, who saw that a 
 crisis had been reached, and that only the utmost adroitness upon 
 his part would prevent the sudden and disagreeable termination 
 of the colloquy; "in the bald form in which I have combined the 
 lady's ideas, their general effect is entirely misleading. I was 
 merely stating as concisely as possible the points in which she 
 differed from the majority of the prominent women of the day. I 
 did not mean to be understood as asserting that she had expressed 
 herself with equal brevity and emphasis, or that she had not said 
 many things complimentary of her sex. If the points which I 
 have gathered from her book were the only ones she made, I 
 should certainly object very vigorously to her presentation of the 
 subject, as being highly unfair, untruthful, and in fact malignant. 
 But the spirit of her work is just the opposite of this. She dis- 
 cusses in a remarkably dispassionate manner the nature, situation, 
 surroundings, prospects, and tendencies of womankind generally, 
 and it is quite possible that she admits too much. Perhaps, if 
 she had " 
 
 "Excuse me for interrupting you, Mr. Notion, but you must 
 be aware that you are not answering my question. You are 
 evading it in the most palpable way. You are fighting for time. 
 In doing this you are making a very fine display of the boasted 
 candor of men. I did not ask you what you thought of the 
 book, but simply whether you indorsed the accusations which 
 that woman has seen fit to make against women generally. 
 Please answer the question. ' ' 
 
 "Your question, my dear, is one which does not admit of 
 either a directly affirmative or negative reply. Her concessions, 
 or accusations, as you prefer to term them, are numerous. With 
 some I might agree. From others I might dissent. Still others 
 might receive only my partial approval." 
 
 "Well, sir, as you decline to answer my question with a 
 simple yes or no, I shall gratify your desire for definiteness, and
 
 88 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 be just as specific as you could possibly wish. As you prefer to 
 consider the points seriatim, I -will take them up in that way. 
 Miss Muloch, according to your version of her book, makes no 
 less than eighteen positive statements, nearly all of which reflect 
 more or less upon my sex. She says first that woman is the 
 weaker vessel. If she means bodily, I grant it; but I emphat- 
 ically deny that woman is any weaker than man in the mental 
 and moral spheres. Then she affirms that the sexes are not 
 equal. If by this she intends to assert that woman is in any 
 sense inferior to man, I again take issue with her. But I am 
 forgetting myself, and talking when I ought to be listening to 
 you. You have already expressed yourself on this question of 
 comparative strength. I should now like to hear your views as 
 to the equality of the sexes. ' ' 
 
 "Matilda, I desire at the outset to be distinctly understood as 
 conceding not only the equality but the superiority of woman. 
 Your sphere is so much more exalted than ours that I pro- 
 test whenever I see any tendency on your part to seek a lower 
 level, and put yourself on the same groveling plane with man." 
 
 "Tush, man, that is a mere platitude, empty sound, a verbal 
 vacuum, so to speak! You say in one breath that we are weak, 
 vain, foolish, and unprincipled, and in the next that we are 
 paragons of excellence, so lifted up that you can only stand 
 before us in silent reverence, and look up to us with veneration 
 and almost adoration. Please be a little more consistent, and 
 tell me wherein the superiority of my sex consists." 
 
 "I have already done so, darling. I have admitted that 
 women were purer and more loving than men, and I have repeat- 
 edly told you that their nature was especially adapted to the 
 functions which it w r as their highest privilege to perform; that 
 they were fitted in every way to make home happy, to rear the 
 young, and in the privacy of their own families to create a public 
 sentiment for righteousness that would prove irresistible when 
 brought directly to bear against the vices and abuses of our age. ' ' 
 
 ' ' All right, sir, I suppose I must be content with these airy 
 abstractions and iridescent generalities; but again I ask you, 
 What do you think of the equality of the sexes in the world 
 where we live, in the prosaic matters of every-day life ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' With that diffidence, Matilda, which, as you are well aware, 
 is one of my most prominent characteristics, I prefer to quote 
 from great men and women in reply to your question. Mirabeau,
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 89 
 
 in his celebrated speech on public education, said: 'Man and 
 woman play an entirely different part in nature, and they could 
 not play the same part in the social state; the eternal fitness of 
 things only made them move towards one common goal by assign- 
 ing to them distinct and separate places. ... To take 
 these modest beings whose maidenly reserve gives a charm to the 
 domestic circle, where all their lovable qualities expand to per- 
 fection; to place them among men and affairs; to expose them to 
 the perils of a life which they can not learn to support except 
 by distorting their physical constitution -this is but to obliterate 
 that exquisite sensibility which, so to speak, constitutes their 
 essence, and becomes the guarantee of their aptitude for the 
 fulfilment of those private functions which a good social scheme 
 has assigned to them. It is to confound everything; it is by 
 vain prerogatives to flatter them into losing sight of those 
 advantages by which they might beautify their existence; it is 
 to degrade them in our eyes and in their own; it is, in a word, 
 to promise them sovereignty and rob them of their empire. No 
 doubt woman ought to reign, but on the hearth, in the home; 
 she should reign there, and there only; everywhere else she is 
 out of place. ' ' Mr. Notion looked at his wife with an air of 
 triumph, and exclaimed, "This is a quotation from Mirabeau's 
 paper called ' Travail sur I' Education Publique,' which was 
 published by Cabanis in 1791." 
 
 Mrs. Notion laughed, and said: "A pretty pass you must have 
 come to when you are compelled to go to Europe in point of 
 space, and to the last century in point of time, to find an argu- 
 ment in favor of your pet theories. But I can match your quo- 
 tation, for De Goncourt, also a Frenchman, and a contemporary 
 of Mirabeau's, said: 'Woman is the principle that governs, the 
 reason that directs, the voice that commands. She is the uni- 
 versal, fatal cause, the origin of events, the source of things. 
 From one end of the century to the other, the government of 
 woman is the sole government to be seen and felt, having the 
 steadiness of purpose, and the spring, the reality, and the activity 
 of power.' There, I take it that that completely offsets your 
 little declamation from Mirabeau." 
 
 "All right, Matilda, I will come to our own country, and 
 quote from an opinion rendered by Chief Justice Ryan, of the 
 Supreme Court of Wisconsin, in 1875. That eminent jurist 
 says: 'The law of nature destines and qualifies the female sex
 
 90 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 for the bearing find nurture of the children of our race, and for 
 the custody of the homes of the world, and their maintenance in 
 love and honor. And all livelong callings of women inconsistent 
 with these radical and sacred duties of their sex^ . . . are 
 departures from the order of nature.' In another part of the 
 opinion from which I quote, he says: 'The peculiar qualities of 
 womanhood, its gentle graces, its quick sensihility, its tender sus- 
 ceptibility, its purity, its delicacy, its emotional impulses, its sub- 
 ordination of hard reason to sympathetic feeling, are surely not 
 qualities for forensic strife. Nature has tempered woman as little 
 for the juridical conflicts of the court-room as for the physical 
 conflicts of the battle field. Womanhood is moulded for gentler 
 and better things.' ' 
 
 Mrs. Notion smiled disdainfully, and retorted: "Judge Ryan 
 may be an eminent jurist, but I do not like his style. He may 
 leap in his law, but he limps in his logic, and the sentiments 
 which you quote from him reflect much more credit on his 
 imagination than his knowledge of the subject which he presumes 
 to discuss with such an air of authority. But let me quote from 
 Mr. Mason's book on 'Woman's Share in Primitive Culture,' to 
 which I referred in one of our previous talks. Mr. Mason has 
 given the subject thorough investigation, and knows whereof he 
 speaks. He says: 'If women now sit on thrones, if the most 
 beautiful painting in the world is of a mother and her child, if 
 the image of a woman crowns the dome of the American capitol, 
 if in allegory and metaphor, and painting and sculpture the 
 highest ideals are women, it is because they have a right to be 
 there. By all their drudgery and patience, by all their suffering 
 and kindness, they have earned their right to be there.' In 
 another place he says: 'Life is now longer than it was, and 
 women live longer than men. There is at present a great 
 awakening among women as to their own attributes and capa- 
 bilities. They are seriously inquiring for the roads that will 
 conduct them to their largest and noblest development.' ' 
 
 "I fully agree with Mr. Mason in the views which you quote 
 from hin:, my dear; but I fail to see what bearing they have 
 upon the equality of the sexes. Just listen to the wise words of 
 a woman, Mrs. Kate Tupper Galpin, of California. I quote 
 from her address on the 'Kthical Influence of Woman in Educa-
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 91 
 
 tion,' delivered at the World's Congress of representative women, 
 held in Chicago, in 1893: 'While woman has this early training 
 of the child, and does it with her might, she is a queen. She 
 has scope, indeed, for the employment of every conceivable 
 faculty of the mind and soul. Education can not set her above 
 this work. Talents of the loftiest order can not exempt her from 
 it, if she has assumed the duties of maternity. Anything else 
 she attempts or performs must be subsidiary to it. Awful would 
 be any changes in her social status compelling or permitting her 
 to delegate her high office to any other hands. No conceivable 
 advantage to woman can compensate her for the loss of the inner 
 life of that holiest of holies her home. It would profit her 
 little, although she gained the whole world of fortune and fame, 
 if she could not reply worthily, with the approval of her soul, 
 to the searching summons, "Where is the flock that I have 
 given thee, the beautiful flock?" What do you think of those 
 sentiments, Matilda ? ' ' 
 
 "Like you, I can not see their bearing upon the question of 
 the equality of the sexes. The lady whom you quote says some 
 good things about woman's calling, although I think she greatly 
 exaggerates the responsibility and privilege of maternity and 
 child care. It strikes me that paternity involves just as much of 
 an obligation to care for and train the children as does maternity. 
 But, as you have seen fit to quote from the proceedings of the 
 Woman's Congress, I shall imitate your example, and call your 
 attention to the utterances of Helen H. Gardener, of New York, 
 addressed to that same body of representative women. She says: 
 'The fact is simply and only this, the arrogance of sex power 
 and perversion is now so thoroughly ingrained that man really 
 believes himself to be by divine right the human race, and that 
 woman is his perquisite. He has no universal language. He 
 thinks in the language of sex; but, more than this, and worse 
 than this, he insists upon no one being allowed to think in the 
 language of humanity, and to translate that thought into action.' 
 Elizabeth Cady Stanton gives expression to the following weighty 
 ideas: 'Our civilization to-day is simply masculine; everything is 
 by force and violence and war, and will be until the feminine 
 element is fully recognized, and has equal po\\cr in the regulation
 
 92 DOMESTIC DUKI.s. 
 
 of Iiuiuaii affairs. Then we shall substitute co-operation for 
 competition, and persuasion for coercion. Then we shall have 
 everywhere 
 
 "Two heads in council, two beside the hearth, 
 Two in the tangled business of the world, 
 Two in the liberal offices of life, 
 Two plummets dropped for one, to sound 
 The abyss of science, and the secrets of the mind." 
 
 ' ' Matilda, I wonder that a woman of your sound sense would 
 be willing to repeat such silly and unwholesome sentiments as 
 those expressed by the two women whose names you have men- 
 tioned. Surely you do not indorse their wild vagaries." 
 
 "I do, and most emphatically. Women are the equals of 
 men in every way, and demand the universal recognition of that 
 fact." 
 
 "I beseech you, my dear, do not accept Mrs. Stanton as a 
 guide, unless you are prepared to depart radically from the path 
 of true Christianity, and to declare war upon the holiest tradi- 
 tions and instincts of your sex. Mrs. Stautou is one of the 
 leaders in the Woman's Bible movement. She and about twenty 
 other congenial spirits are engaged in the task of preparing a 
 woman's edition of the Bible, in which all passages of the Word 
 of God relative to woman are made the subject of special com- 
 ment. Mrs. Stanton comments copiously on Numbers 12:1-15. 
 Among other things she says: 'It is rather remarkable, if Moses 
 was as meek as he is represented in the third verse, that he should 
 have penned that strong assertion of his own innate modesty. 
 . Speaking of the punishment of Miriam, Clarke in his 
 commentaries says it is probable that Miriam was chief in this 
 mutiny; hence she was punished, while Aaron was spared. A 
 mere excuse for man's injustice; had he been a woman he would 
 have shared the same fate. The real reason was that Aaron uas 
 a priest. Had he been smitten with leprosy, his sacred office 
 would have suffered, and the priesthood fallen into disrepute. 
 As women are supposed to have no character or sacred office, it 
 is :il ways safe to punish them to the full extent of the law. So 
 Miriam was not only afflicted with leprosy, but also shut out of 
 the camp for seven days. One would think that potential mother- 
 hood should make women as a class as sacred as the priesthood. 
 In common parlance we have much finespun theorizing on the 
 exalted office of the mother, her immense influence in moulding
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 93 
 
 the character of her sons ; ' ' the hand that rocks the cradle rules 
 the world," etc. But in creeds and codes, in constitutions and 
 scriptures, in prose and verse, we do not see these lofty paeans 
 recorded or verified in living facts. As a class, women were 
 treated among the Jews as an inferior order of beings, just as 
 they are to-day in all civilized nations. And now, as then, men 
 claim to be guided by the will of God. ... If Miriam 
 had helped to plan the journey to Canaan, it would no doubt 
 have been accomplished in forty days, instead of wandering 
 round like gypsies for forty years. With her counsel in the 
 cabinet, the people might have enjoyed peace and prosperity, 
 cultivating the arts and sciences, and not always making war on 
 other tribes with burnt-offerings to their gods.' Matilda, what 
 do you think of the woman who is capable of such talk as this ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' My reply to your question, Ned, is simply this, that, while I 
 do not indorse all of Mrs. Stanton' s ideas, and feel that she 
 speaks rather irreverently of Holy Writ, I still admire her great 
 ability, and the courage with which she exposes the injustice, 
 cruelty, and deception of man." 
 
 "The chief trouble with Mrs. Stanton and all of her ilk," 
 exclaimed Mr. Notion with some asperity, ' ' is that they totally 
 ignore the rock from which they were hewn, the foundation upon 
 which they stand, and refuse to recognize the fact that to the 
 principles of Christianity, though only partially applied in any 
 country in the world, they owe the liberty and high con- 
 sideration which they enjoy to-day throughout Christendom. 
 But perhaps you would like to hear some more from Mrs. 
 Stanton." 
 
 "Yes, indeed, Edward, I should keenly enjoy listening to 
 anything which emanates from her brilliant intellect." 
 
 "On the occasion of the celebration of her eightieth birthday 
 not long since, she made a long address, which included the fol- 
 lowing rather startling paragraphs: ' The other thought I would 
 emphasize to-night, is the next step to be taken in our march to 
 freedom. We must now make the same demands of the Church 
 that we have made of the State during the last fifty years, for 
 the same rights, privileges, and immunities that man enjoys. 
 
 "'First. We must see that the canon laws, Mosaic Code, 
 Scriptures, prayer-books, and liturgies be purged of all invidious 
 distinctions of sex, of all false teaching as to woman's origin, 
 character, and destiny.
 
 1)4 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 ' ' ' Second. We must demand an equal place in the offices of 
 the church as pastors, elders, deacons; an equal voice in the 
 creeds, discipline, in all business matters, and in the synods, 
 conferences, and general assemblies. 
 
 "'Third. We must insist that all unworthy reflections on 
 the sacred character of the mother of the race, such as the alle- 
 gory of her creation and fall, and Paul's assumptions as to her 
 social status, be expunged from our church literature. Such 
 sentiments can not inspire the rising generation with respect for 
 their mothers. 
 
 ' ' ' Fourth. We must demand that the pulpit be no longer 
 desecrated with men who read these invidious passages of Scrip- 
 ture, -and preach from texts which teach the subordination of 
 one-half the human race to the other.' 
 
 "Don't you think it strange, Matilda, in view of this, that 
 the men who most highly respect their mothers, wives, sisters, 
 and daughters, are just those who believe the Bible accounts of 
 woman's share in bringing about both the fall and redemption 
 of humanity ? ' ' 
 
 "Well, really, Ned, I do think Mrs. Stanton goes too far in 
 her sweeping denunciations of existing codes, creeds, customs, and 
 constitutions as being grossly unfair to the female half of the 
 human race. Her opinions, however, are her own, courageously 
 expressed, and hence entitled to respect. I as an independent 
 woman, differ from her in many things, but I do say that Paul 
 goes entirely too far in some of his epistles in placing women in 
 absolute subjection to their husbands. This is especially true of 
 the last few verses in the fifth chapter of his letter to the 
 Ephesiaus. I can not concur in the view that women are the 
 vassals and men the lords, irrespective of all questions of individ- 
 ual strength, ability, virtue, and wisdom. Nor do I approve of 
 that part of the marriage service which makes us promise to 
 1 love, honor, and obey' our husbands. It is getting to be quite 
 a common thing among young women now to refuse to make the 
 promise of obedience, and, if I were to be married again, I should 
 certainly decline to take any such vow." 
 
 ' ' It would make very little practical difference, dear, for as a 
 matter of fact you have consistently refused to obey me, and I 
 have been the spouse who has really been in subjection. I 
 undertake to sav that a large majority of the married men in 
 America are more or less completely subdued by their wives,
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 95 
 
 cither by clever tactics, sheer force of will, or a persistent course 
 of scolding, nagging, sulking, and teasing. There is Mr. Meek- 
 niau, for example, who takes his orders from his wife as unquestion- 
 ingly, and obeys them as implicitly, as any soldier possibly could 
 the commands of his superior officer. He cowers visibly beneath 
 her angry glance, winces uncomplainingly when she chides him 
 crossly, and never thinks for a moment either in public or private 
 of asserting his dignity, self-respect, and mauhoood. And Mr. 
 Meanheart goes to bed when his wife tells him to, and that, mind 
 you, when the order is given in the hearing of strangers. Mr. 
 Fearmuch, another of these wife- worn gentlemen, on one occasion 
 had the temerity to try to listen to a conversation between his 
 better half and another woman while the trio were walking on the 
 beach at Santa Cruz, in this state. This auditory effort on his 
 part was objectionable to his gentle spouse, who peremptorily 
 ordered him ' to the rear, ' and of course he instantly and unmur- 
 muringly obeyed. Now I want to know, Matilda, whether you 
 approve of that sort of thing. ' ' 
 
 "No, indeed," replied Mrs. Notion. "I despise a man who 
 permits himself to be treated in that way. But you have no 
 reason to complain, for you are well aware that you have always 
 been the master of this household. Besides, I do not think you 
 correctly state the proportion of ' hen-pecked ' husbands. There 
 are a few, I acknowledge, but in the vast majority of cases the 
 men are the tyrants and the women the slaves. What I advocate 
 is a dual head to the family, and no lordly chieftainship of either 
 husband or wife. Let me quote from the paper of Dr. Elizabeth 
 Gary Anderson : ' Women in the ministry also exert a special 
 influence in setting aside those offensive marriage customs which 
 are a relic of a time when woman was really given away, was not 
 recognized as an independent human being, but was transferred 
 from the guardianship of her father to that of her husband. 
 AVhen entering into the most sacred relationship of life, where 
 man and woman should stand side by side as equals, whatever 
 detracts in any way from dignity and sweet sincerity should be 
 put aside. The bride should not be given away, nor asked to 
 promise to obey, for the promise, if sincere, means subordination, 
 and certainly there should be no idle forms, no meaningless 
 promises of any kind. The whole service should symbolize a 
 voluntary, sacred union of equals, for, in view of the settled influ- 
 ence of outward forms upon human thought and feeling, whatever
 
 96 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 tends to ennoble the marriage service, tends to ennoble marriage, 
 and thus to uplift and purify humanity.' Don't you think, dear, 
 that that is a true sentiment, beautifully expressed ? ' ' 
 
 "Frankly, Matilda, I do not. While the language is good, 
 the ideas are bad, and avowedly antagonistic to the plain and 
 unmistakable teachings of Scripture, as well as to those of science 
 and history. And right here let me reenforce what I have to 
 say with a few quotations. Mrs. Jameson, a lady fully as fair- 
 minded and candid as Miss Muloch, says: ' The intellect of 
 woman bears the same relationship to that of man as her physical 
 organization; it is inferior in power and different in kind.' 
 Napoleon said: 'There is no more fatal misfortune for a man 
 than to allow himself to be governed by his wife ; in such a case 
 he is neither himself nor his wife; he is simply nothing. ' Paulina 
 W. Davis, another of your unprejudiced sisters, utters the follow- 
 ing words of wisdom: 'Nature does not teach that men and 
 women are equal, but only that they are unlike.' Michelet says: 
 ' Woman's happiness consists in obeying; she objects to a man 
 who yields too much.' The fact is, Matilda, that man is stronger 
 than woman, and where an irreconcilable difference exists between 
 them, he has the power to enforce and execute his will. In 
 every society there must be a court of last appeal; in every family 
 there must be a head. Naturally man takes this place, and 
 while there are always exceptions, it will be found where normal 
 conditions exist, that the great majority of men are stronger both 
 physically and mentally than the great majority of women. The 
 conditions which exist at the present time in this country are 
 abnormal, as I have sought to show in our previous conversations, 
 and hence it follows that women are exercising an unnatural and 
 mischievous power in most of the homes of the land. They have 
 the advantage of men in nearly every way, in the privacy of 
 home, in the courts, in society, in the popular amusements of the 
 day, in new religious movements such as the Salvation Army, and 
 in all such unwholesome substitutes for religion as Spiritualism, 
 Theosophy, Christian Science, etc. It is almost impossible to con- 
 vict a woman for the murder of a man, and in any sort of litiga- 
 tion between a man and a woman, the latter has a marked 
 advantage; and this, too, with male judges and juries. Our 
 divorce laws are absolutely unfair in their extreme tendency to 
 help the complaining wife, or even the wife who is a respondent. 
 The man who is so unfortunate as to become involved in divorce
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 97 
 
 litigation, may bid farewell alike to his children and his property. 
 The former are almost sure to be awarded to the care and custody 
 of their mother, who will so fill their minds with prejudice against 
 him that the occasional visits which the law allows him to pay 
 them will be seasons of mental anguish rather than times of 
 enjoyment. The latter will be taken to a great extent out of his 
 control, while, if he has no property, he can be compelled to 
 support his wife so long as she refrains from another matrimonial 
 venture. The women monopolize social pleasures. The men are 
 too busy earning money to go into society. The women not only 
 constitute the vast majority of the audience at the theater, but fill 
 the best positions on the stage. Most of the officers in the Salva- 
 tion Army belong to your sex, and nearly all the Spiritualistic 
 mediums are females. In fact, women are crowding into the 
 ministry, and the Rev. Ada C. Bowles, a Unitarian minister, 
 contributed a long poem to the Woman's Congress at Chicago, 
 one of the stanzas of which is as follows: 
 
 " ' Else up, rise up, O woman, 
 
 No longer sit at ease; 
 The banner of thy freedom 
 
 Is lifting to the breeze. 
 Be ready for the morning 
 
 That breaks thy long, dark night 
 Of ignorance and bondage, 
 
 And hail the coming light.' 
 
 ' ' I might go into many other avenues to show the truth of my 
 assertions, but I shall reserve them for subsequent conversations. 
 The real fact is that women have far too much power now, and 
 that they feel the lust of it, and cry for more. Nothing will 
 suit the leaders of female thought but the complete dominion of 
 the universe. Control of this Avorld will not suffice. They must 
 occupy the throne of omnipotence, and, consequently, many of 
 them now insist that motherhood or the female principle is an 
 essential part of Deity." 
 
 ' ' I had never heard of that, Ned. Who among the leading 
 women of the day goes so far as to claim that ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' I will quote from Oliva Ann Thayer, of New York, founder 
 of the Order of Melchizedek. In the course of an address at 
 the Woman's Congress, entitled 'The Light in the East,' she 
 said: 'In the third and the eighth chapters of Proverbs is given 
 a picture of the female principle of Deity, and as we uplift our 
 eyes to this resplendent Womanhood, the Motherhood in God, 
 7
 
 98 DOMESTIC nri:i,s. 
 
 with the Fatherhood, is calling on us as no other voice can call, 
 to come up to higher work for woman. It calls woman to a 
 remarkable destiny, as joined to the incarnated Most High, to 
 Christ Jesus, for the regeneration of the race. Following this 
 Hght around the whole world, AVC shall become blessed, radiant, 
 crowned with many crowns.' I think, Matilda, that I have 
 proved my assertion." 
 
 ' ' O Ned, I feel sure you have put a wrong construction upon 
 the lady's words! Surely she does not intend to say that the 
 Holy Spirit is the female principle of Deity, for the masculine 
 form of the personal pronoun ' he ' is almost invariably applied 
 in the Bible to the Paraclete. ' ' 
 
 "She undoubtedly does intend just that thing. But in refresh- 
 ing contrast to all this are the wise, strong, just words of jliss 
 Muloch : ' Equally blasphemous, and perhaps even more harmful, 
 is the outcry about the "equality of the sexes," the frantic 
 attempt to force women, many of whom are either ignorant of or 
 unequal for their own duties, into the position and dutf.es of men. 
 A. pretty state of matters would ensue! Who that ever listened 
 for two hours to the verbose, confused inanities of a ladies' com- 
 mittee, would immediately go and give his vote for a female 
 House of Commons? or who, on the receipt of a lady's letter of 
 business I speak of the average would henceforth desire to 
 have our courts of justice stocked with matronly lawyers, and 
 our colleges thronged by "sweet girl graduates with their golden 
 hair"? As for finance, in its various branches if you pause 
 to consider the extreme difficulty there always is in balancing 
 Mrs. Smith's housekeeping-book, or Miss Smith's quarterly 
 allowance, I think, my dear Paternal Smith, you need not be 
 much afraid lest this loud acclaim for "women's rights" should 
 ever end in pushing you from your stools, in counting-house, 
 college, or elsewhere. No; equality of the sexes is not in the 
 nature of things. Man and woman were made for, and not like 
 one another. One only "right" we have to assert in common 
 with mankind and that is as much in our own hands as theirs 
 the right of having something to do.' Pretty well put, isn't it, 
 my dear?" 
 
 "No, sir, I don't think so. Miss Muloch, like many other 
 foolish women, takes delight in underrating her own sex, and 
 trying in that way to please the men. But the hard, prosaic facts 
 of every-day life give the lie to her assertions. Women are the
 
 SEX DIFFERENCES. 99 
 
 best clerks and most successful bookkeepers, and are in constantly 
 greater demand by merchants and other heads of large establish- 
 ments. They are clean, honest, steady, and reliable, and do not 
 shirk their work. Their organizations, such as missionary socie- 
 ties, sewing circles, ladies' aid societies, boards of relief, and 
 many other associations, are as well conducted as any of which 
 men have the charge. They are claiming education as their 
 birthright, and the superiority of the girls to the boys in the 
 common schools has passed into a proverb, while the young ladies 
 have forced their way into nearly every college and university in 
 the land, and are graduating in large numbers, and with high 
 honors. Even Cambridge and Oxford, with all their moss-grown 
 conservatism, have felt the pressure of female progress, and col- 
 leges for women have sprung into existence in the very shadow 
 of those ancient institutions. I am very glad you quoted those 
 statements from Miss Muloch, for I have the facts at hand to 
 completely disprove every one of them, and to demonstrate, not 
 only that women are capable of doing all kinds of work, physical, 
 mental, moral, and spiritual, as well as men, but that they are 
 doing it in constantly increasing numbers." 
 
 "I shall be much pleased to hear your proofs, my dear, and 
 to discuss the matter with you, but as such discussion will open 
 up another branch, of our subject, I would suggest that we bring 
 this dialogue to a close. ' '
 
 Mr. Notion Institutes a Comparison between the 
 
 Conditions of Women in Heathen and 
 
 Christian Lands. 
 
 "A good wife is heaven's last, best gift to man, his gem of many 
 virtues, his casket of jewels; her voice is sweet music, her smile his 
 brightest day, her kiss the guardian of his innocence, her amis the pale 
 of his safety, her industry his surest wealth, her economy his safest 
 steward, her lips his faithful counselors, her bosom the softest pillow of 
 his cares." Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 "I desire, Matilda, before we proceed with the discussion of 
 women in the industrial sphere, to call your attention to what 
 woman was before Christianity ameliorated her condition, and 
 what she is now in countries beyond the reach of Christian 
 influences. I think, in view of the proposed woman's edition of 
 the Bible, and repudiation of everything in the Scriptures which 
 reflects in any way either upon the female sex as a whole or 
 upon any of its members, that it will be very profitable for us to 
 reflect a while on the lot of women in lands where the Bible is 
 not the standard of belief and conduct. ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Notion elevated her eyebrows slightly, and with a resigned 
 expression, said: "I had hoped to speak this evening of the 
 success of women in the different trades and professions, but I 
 shall listen patiently to what you have to say in the direction 
 indicated." 
 
 " Let me begin, Matilda, by quoting from an anonymous work 
 called * Satan in Society,' the author of which says: 'Wherever 
 woman is not married in the name of God, she sinks into the 
 slave and the merchandise of man. AVe challenge the facts of 
 history in proof of this. Let us drag them forth. It was 
 Lamech who, by espousing two wives, Adah and Zillah, first 
 attacked the divine unity of marriage. Theologians agree in 
 condemning most especially the perpetrator of this act, and 
 certainly there is a vast difference, in the moral point of view, 
 between him who establishes a vicious custom and him who, find- 
 (100)
 
 WOMAN IX HEATHEN AND CHRISTIAN LANDS. 101 
 
 ing it established, conforms to it. So by some Lamecli is termed 
 ''accursed," by others "an adulterer." St. Jerome says that 
 the Deluge punished homicide and bigamy at the same time. In 
 this connection it is significant to reflect that Noah, "a just man, 
 and perfect in his generations, ' ' and his three sons as well, had, 
 each of them, but one wife.' ' 
 
 "In that respect," suggested Mrs. Notion, "Lot was more 
 exemplary than faithful Abraham." 
 
 "True, Matilda, but let me read a little further from this 
 author, who, after describing the progress of polygamy, even 
 among the chosen people, continues: 'It will readily be con- 
 ceived that, in such an order of things, the condition of woman 
 must have been a very unhappy one, as in fact it was. She was 
 bought and sold like the beast of burden. She was formally 
 declared inferior by the civil law, which invaded her most tender 
 susceptibilities. Repudiation Avas tolerated freely.' In another 
 place I find the following striking description of the condition of 
 woman where it was unalleviated by the application of Christian 
 principles: 'Among the Egyptians, so renowned for wisdom, 
 polygamy was prohibited only to the priests. Marriages between 
 brothers and sisters were freely allowed. In public processions 
 the most gross and impure emblems were ostentatiously paraded. 
 Animals the most lecherous were adored as divinities. Practices 
 too indecent for recital, too horrible to believe possible, were of 
 constant and public occurrence. The Phoenicians, the Armenians, 
 the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Carthaginians, the Medes 
 and Persians, the Thracians, all had laws and customs relating to 
 woman too revolting and indecent to mention. ' ' 
 
 "But that was because those peoples were uncivilized, and not 
 simply because they had no written revelation from God," sug- 
 gested Mrs. Notion. 
 
 "Not at all," replied her husband; "most of these nations 
 were far advanced in the arts and BCJepeee, and many of them had 
 made remarkable industrial and intellectual progress. So far as 
 it is possible to have such a thing as civilization apart from 
 Christianity, they were highly civilized. The author, continuing 
 his description of these terrible customs, says: ' The most innocent 
 of these were the burying of the living widow with the body of 
 the dead husband, the sale of a woman for a pair of oxen. 
 Throughout Asia the same abominations were, and in manv 
 places are still, customary. Polygamy, the purchase of women,
 
 102 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 their enslavement, are things no less of to-day than of antiquity. 
 But that which, above all, proves to what abjection woman, 
 deprived of Christianity, can fall, how completely her heart can 
 become abased, her most natural sentiments abolished, is that 
 throughout, from the Red Sea to the sources of the Tigris and the 
 Euphrates, from the shores of Asia Minor to the depths of India, 
 the stones of the altars are bathed with human blood, the idols 
 devour the quivering flesh of infants offered in sacrifice. ' ' 
 
 ' ' But I notice, ' ' said Mrs. Notion, ' ' that you say nothing, or 
 rather read nothing, about Greece and Rome, and they were the 
 greatest and most advanced of ancient nations in every way. 
 You would not undertake to prove that their women were so 
 badly treated, or so lightly esteemed. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I am glad you mentioned them, my dear, for they are no 
 exception to the rule that Christianity alone is the protector and 
 champion of woman. In those classic lands adultery, polygamy, 
 incest, infanticide, legal prostitution, and promiscuity of the 
 sexes, existed in the midst of a cultivation and intelligence unpar- 
 alleled either before or since that time. In Sparta woman was 
 the prostitute of the republic, while in Corinth she was a volup- 
 tuous courtezan, and a thousand harlots officiated as the priestesses 
 in the temple of Venus. In Athens, so rich in glorious memories. 
 whose history is so indissolubly associated with immortal genius, 
 so interwoven with the great masters of literature, statesmanship, 
 philosophy, and art, where still thickly cluster recollections of 
 Phidias and Praxiteles, of Pericles, Alcibiades, Thucydides, of 
 Socrates, Plato, and Zeno, how wretched was woman's lot! The 
 wives of the citizens were kept in ignorance, and closely confined 
 to their homes, the slaves of their lords and masters. Demosthenes 
 thus defines the sexual relations of the Athenians: 'We marry in 
 order to obtain legitimate children and a faithful warder of the 
 house; we keep concubines as servants for our daily attendance, 
 but we seek the Hetrerse for love's delight,' Who were thex 
 HetaeraB? In Athens a sumptuous temple was dedicated to the 
 goddess Hettera?, and here were found the beautiful and accom- 
 plished courtezans whose names have come down to posterity as 
 the intimates of the great men of Greece. Here were Phryne, 
 Aspasia, Glyceria, Cotytto, Lais of Corinth, Gnatlm>na, Plangnne, 
 Pinope, Gnatone, Theano, and multitudes of other less-famed 
 women of light and easy virtue, who charmed and fascinated the 
 leaders of Greek thought and action."
 
 WOMAN IN HEATHEN AND CHRISTIAN LANDS. 103 
 
 "Is it possible, Edward, that the gifted Grecians, whose works 
 we still admire, should have sought the society of abandoned 
 women ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' There is not the least doubt of it, Matilda, But remember 
 that these women were distinguished by rare intelligence and 
 talent, as well as marvelous beauty. The only deficiency was 
 that of character. The chisel of Praxiteles was inspired by 
 Phryne, and the marble goddess of which she was the model 
 received the prayers and incense of worship upon the altars of 
 Greece. Under the title of ' Popular Venus, ' Cotytto had her 
 altars in Athens and other cities. Aspasia, who was finally 
 espoused by Pericles, directed his counsels, and decided grave 
 questions of peace or war. The painters of Sycion sought to 
 perpetuate upon their canvas the loveliness of Glyceria, and 
 Demosthenes, the orator of orators, was the devoted slave of 
 Lais." 
 
 " And what were the wives of these men doing all this time? " 
 inquired Mrs. Notion. 
 
 "Oh, they were in their Gyna3ceum, or 'woman-place,' 
 occupied with the tedious and prosaic cares of children and the 
 household, and entirely incapable of appreciating ^he things 
 which interested their cultivated and brilliant husbands." 
 
 "But the Romans, Edward, were brave and chivalrous, and 
 the names of noble Roman matrons have come down to us as 
 models of virtue, fidelity, and patriotism. Surely the Romans 
 honored and revered woman." 
 
 "There you err," said Mr. Notion. "The Roman husband 
 was the pater familiar, and as such, was invested with absolute 
 power over all the members of his family; and wife, children, 
 slaves, all lived and enjoyed themselves by his suflerance, for by 
 his ipse dixit he could banish, imprison, or kill them. Conjugal 
 tyranny was carried to extremes, and the husband might project 
 his authority over his wife beyond the grave by appointing a 
 guardian for her, to act in cae of his death." 
 
 " But I have always understood, Edward, that the Romans 
 were a virtuous people, both men and women." 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. Notion, "they were for several centuries; 
 but universal dominion, vast wealth, and limitless luxury brought 
 with them the most frightful corruption. To quote from August 
 Bebel, in his 'Woman in the Past, Present, and Future': 'With 
 the growing power and wealth of Rome, its former austere
 
 104 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 morality disappeared and made way to vices and excesses. Home 
 became the center of debauchery and sensual refinements. The 
 number of public brothels increased, while at the same time 
 Greek pederasty grew more and more common among men. 
 Celibacy and childlessness became more frequent in the ruling 
 class, and Roman ladies avenged themselves by having their 
 names registered in the lists of the ^Ediles, whose duty it was to 
 superintend prostitution, as a means of avoiding the heavy punish- 
 ments of adultery.' Under these conditions the courtezans flour- 
 ished in Rome as they had done in Greece, and such women as 
 Lamia, Chloe, Vetusilla, and Ligella were famous alike for their 
 beauty and intelligence." 
 
 ' ' You seem to be under the impression, ' ' exclaimed Mrs. 
 Notion, ' ' that the women of antiquity had no rights which men 
 were bound to respect, and, while this has been too true in the 
 majority of cases, the fact remains that in many nations women 
 were the ruling sex, and that they are dominant to-day in 
 portions of the earth where Christianity is unknown. As an 
 instance of this kind, let me refer you to the Amazon states, which 
 are supposed to have existed in ancient times in Asia, and on the 
 shores of the Black Sea, and which were ruled entirely by women. 
 It is stated on reputable authority that remnants of these states 
 existed as late as the reign of Alexander the Great, and Diodorus 
 informs us that a queen of the Amazons, named Thalestris, came 
 to Alexander's camp with the purpose of bearing him a child. 
 To-day certain tribes in the interior of Africa are ruled by 
 women, who are said to be stronger physically than the men. In 
 one Afghan tribe the women hunt and fight, while the men stay 
 at home and attend to domestic affairs. The king of Ashantee, 
 in West Africa, and the king of Dahomey, in Central Africa, 
 have body-guards composed of women, and their female regiments 
 are distinguished from the male soldiers by their greater courage 
 and cruelty. In other countries the ascendency of my sex is 
 marked by the fact that polyandry, or the plurality of husbands, 
 prevails. This is the custom in Thibet, Ceylon, the Marquesas 
 Isles, and in the Congo and Loango territories. Livingstone 
 once offered one of Nyakoba's men a hoe to be his guide, which 
 the man accepted, and went to show his wife. Upon his return 
 he said his wife would not let him go, and after considerable 
 chaffing exclaimed, ' Oh, that is the custom in these parts the 
 wives are masters! ' '
 
 WOMAN IN 1IKATHEN AND CHRISTIAN LANDS. 105 
 
 ' ' But you must admit, my dear, that the cases of which you 
 speak are exceptional; that the entire course of history, where 
 the principles of Christianity have not ameliorated the lot of 
 woman, has been the almost universal oppression and degrada- 
 tion of your sex. Sanger, in his celebrated work on the ' History 
 of Prostitution,' states that in Babylon a law existed which 
 required every virgin to make at least one pilgrimage to the 
 temple of the goddess Mylitta, and there to surrender herself in 
 honor of the deity to the licentious embraces of the men who 
 crowded the temple precincts. In fact, as Mason, one of your 
 favorite authors, says: ' She was the original burden-bearer, and 
 transported freight and passengers on her head, back, shoulders, 
 and arms. An Eskimo woman has been known to carry a stone 
 weighing 300 pounds for 20 yards.' Even in many so-called 
 Christian countries women are much less favored than they are 
 in America, where the teachings of Christ have been most prac- 
 tically applied to the daily problems of life, and where the weak 
 are most helped by the strong. And yet it is here, where woman 
 is most highly honored and most jealously sheltered by men from 
 hardship, suffering, and degradation, that she is loudest in her 
 complaints of male oppression, most fierce in her denunciation of 
 male tyranny, and most obnoxious in her criticism of the treat- 
 ment accorded her sex by the institutions and teachings of Chris- 
 tianity. In contrast with the situation of women in other lands, 
 their lot in this country is pleasant indeed. The peasant women 
 of Europe to-day carry heavy loads in knapsacks upon their 
 backs, and pull wagons filled with produce. Let me quote from 
 the New York World of August 7, 1892, with reference to the 
 working- women of Germany: 
 
 "'The life of the poor woman who picks up a living in 
 Germany, though more uncertain, is not harder than that of the 
 market woman in Nuremberg, who hauls a hand-cart as big as 
 a bed, in which are her baby, her black cherries, and a small 
 vegetable garden. When she applies to the farmer for work she 
 has no choice but to work. She fells trees, chops wood, hauls 
 coal, cleans the cattle-pens, gives the fattened hog a scrubbing 
 when he needs it, oils the machinery, puts an edge on whatever 
 tools she uses in the field, and performs the roughest kinds of 
 stable work. In the city the woman who hires out by the day 
 dues, and is expected to do, anything and everything. She 
 washes, scrubs, and irons; she hauls every drop of water that
 
 106 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 she uses from the fountain or neighboring pump, carrying it in 
 a tin caii from five to eight feet tall strapped on her back; she 
 sweeps the stretch of cobblestone paving from the doorstep to 
 the center of the street. Perhaps the most distressing figure in 
 the rank and file of this involuntary servitude is a woman wife 
 and mother of the last decade of the nineteenth century, toiling 
 up a plank to the top of a building in course of construction, 
 with a load of mortar on her back.' Two women hod-carriers 
 in Nuremberg are thus described: 'They arrive at the tower at 
 six o'clock in the morning, and at once begin their labors. The 
 tin in which the mortar is carried is perhaps eighteen, inches in 
 diameter at its greatest width, and three feet deep. By means 
 of a leather strap it is adjusted to the shoulders. Each woman 
 takes the shovel in her own hands, fills her can, slips her arm- 
 through the strap, shoulders the load, plods up to the scaflbld 
 where the masons are at work, and unloads her burden without 
 assistance of any kind. It all seems such a cruel waste of good 
 material her complexion tanned and tough as Avhitleather, her 
 figure robbed of every line of grace and beauty, her poor, willing 
 hands rough-grained, gross, and callous as a ploughman's, and 
 her body bent like the pictured slaves in the galley. She wears 
 a hempen suck tied about her waist to protect the shapeless cotton 
 dress, and a melancholy kerchief tied over her hetvd to shield it 
 from the broiling sun; a pair of worthless boots cover her heavy 
 feet, and the luxury of stockings neither burdens nor bothers her. 
 Apparently she is impervious to the weather. At eight o'clock 
 the men rest. The women do, too, after they have brought the 
 tankards of beer and cut the bread for the second breakfast. 
 At noon these beasts of burden Jay down their mortar cans, 
 untie their aprons, and go home to prepare the dinner for their 
 husbands. The meal over, the cottage is made tidy, and at two 
 o'clock they are back at the building, where they remain until 
 seven o'clock, toiling along the plank Avalk and straining imder 
 the load that seems so cruelly heavy for a woman living in this 
 generation to bo allowed to bear. After the day's work she has 
 her household duties to perform. Her earnings amount to five 
 cents an hour. If there is a daughter at home to provide for the 
 creature comforts of the family, the mother works ten hours a 
 day. If not, the law restricts her employment to six hours. 
 But in either instance she is in harness between 6 A. M. ami
 
 WO.MAX IX JIKATIIKX AXI) CHUJSTIAX LANDS. 107 
 
 " Evidently," remarked Mrs. Notion, "the principles of 
 Christianity have not been successful in lifting the burdens of the 
 women whose hard lot is so graphically described in the article 
 which you have just read." 
 
 "They have not had free scope, Matilda, in any nation in 
 continental Europe, and the deplorable condition of so many 
 millions of your sex in France and Germany to-day is to be 
 ascribed, not to the genius of Christianity, but rather to the lack 
 of real vital godliness in those lands, so plainly evidenced by 
 their worship of the god of war instead of the Prince of Peace. 
 But let me quote from Pere Lacordaire, an eloquent French 
 divine, as to the history of woman outside of and beyond the 
 pale of Christian institutions: 'Man has accumulated against his 
 companion all that he was capable of inventing of hardships and 
 privations. He has taken her captive; he has covered her with 
 a veil; lie has hidden her in the most secluded portion of the 
 house, as a mischievous divinity or a suspected slave; he has 
 contracted her feet from her infancy, to render her incapable of 
 walking and of carrying her heart wheresoever she pleased; he 
 has burdened her, like a servant, with the most painful tasks; 
 he has denied her the instruction and the pleasures of the mind ; 
 he has taken her in marriage under the forms of purchase and 
 sal* 1 ; he has declared her incapable of inheritance from her 
 father or mother; incompetent to give testimony; incapable of 
 the guardianship of her own children, herself reverting Into 
 guardianship on the dissolution of her marriage by his death. 
 The perusal of the various pagan legislators is a perpetual reve- 
 lation of her ignominy, more than one of whom, carrying 
 defiance to the extreme of barbarity, has constrained her to 
 follow the corpse of her husband, and to shroud herself upon 
 his funeral pyre.' ' 
 
 "All of which, Edward, only goes to show the cruelty, injus- 
 tice, and tyranny of your sex. Is or should you forget that 
 women have not yet been freed from all these limitations and 
 restrictions, even in our own country." 
 
 "But the point I am trying to make," said Mr. Notion, "is 
 that Christianity from the very first has redressed the wrongs of 
 woman, surrounded her with a veritable halo of respect and 
 even veneration, insisted on the sacredncss of the marriage tie, 
 denounced divorce under every circumstance but one, and held 
 up for the esteem and admiration of all ages that honored woman
 
 108 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 who, as the mother of the Saviour, exclaimed, ' All generations 
 shall call me blessed. ' ' 
 
 "I am not disposed to differ from you as to the influence of 
 Christianity in elevating and protecting womanhood," remarked 
 Mi's. Notion, "but I would remind you that there are men who 
 disagree with you in these matters, and who think that the Chris- 
 tian church has come far short of according to woman the con- 
 sideration which she deserves as the chief human instrumentality 
 in bringing about its triumphs. August Bebel, whom you quote 
 with approbation, says: 'Those who extol Christianity as a great 
 achievement in civilization, should not forget that to women a 
 large portion of its successes are due. Their missionary zeal 
 made itself felt as a powerful agent in the early days of Chris- 
 tianity, as well as among barbarous nations in the middle ages, 
 and men of high rank were converted by them. Among others, 
 we are told of Chlotilda, who induced Chlodwig, king of the 
 Franks, to accept Christianity; of Bertha, queen of Kent, and 
 of Gisela, queen of Hungary, who introduced Christianity into 
 their countries. It was a woman's influence, too, that effected 
 the conversion of the Duke of Poland, of the Czar Jarislaw, and 
 of many other kings and nobles. But Christianity requited her 
 ill. Its dogmas contain the same contempt of women as all the 
 ancient religions of the East; it degrades her to the rank of the 
 humble servant of man, and forces her to pledge her obedience 
 to her husband before the altar to this day.' ' 
 
 "Matilda!" exclaimed her husband reproachfully, "do you 
 approve of such sentiments as those ? ' ' 
 
 "Not entirely, Edward; but while I would shrink from criti- 
 cizing any of the teachings of Holy Writ, and would not even 
 venture to take exception to the views of Paul with regard to 
 women, I do say that the church as an ecclesiastical organization 
 has not always given woman her due. Even to-day she is 
 excluded from the highest councils of nearly every Christian 
 denomination. While, as you say, Christianity restored to mar- 
 riage its imlissolubility, its sanctity, and its unity, many of the 
 early fathers of the church entertained views regarding women 
 which were extremely unjust. For instance, Tertullian is credited 
 with the following apostrophe to our sex: ' Woman 1 thou oughtest 
 always to walk in mourning and rags, thine eyes filled with tears 
 of repentance, to make men forget that thou hast been the 
 destruction of the race. Woman! thou art the gate of hell.'
 
 WOMAN IN HEATHKN AND CHRISTIAN LANDS. 109 
 
 Jerome wisely remarks: ' Marriage is at the best a vice; all that 
 we can do is to excuse and purify it.' Origen declares: 'Mar- 
 riage is unholy and unclean, a means of sensual lust.' Even 
 Augustine, whose mother, St. Monica, Avas one of the saintliest 
 and loveliest of characters, thus expresses himself on this subject: 
 'Celibates will shine in heaven like dazzling stars, while the 
 parents who begot them resemble stars without light.' In the 
 Council of Macon, which was held in the sixth century, the 
 learned fathers gravely discussed the question as to whether or 
 not woman had a soul." 
 
 "It is highly unfair, Matilda, to take these extreme and 
 isolated passages from the writings of the fathers, and attempt to 
 make the ecclesiastical system which constituted the exterior 
 fabric of Christianity responsible for them. That system became 
 gradually apostate from the very first, and certainly has enough 
 to answer for, without trying to make it appear that it was hostile 
 to women, or otherwise than most friendly to the institution of 
 marriage. I admit that even in the first centuries of our era 
 there was a growing sentiment among the clergy in . favor of 
 celibacy, and that this sentiment found expression in the estab- 
 lishment of innumerable monasteries and nunneries, and finally 
 culminated in the enforced celibacy of the priesthood. If it 
 were not foreign to our present purpose, I should like to refer 
 you to many interesting passages in Lea's great work on 'Sacer- 
 dotal Celibacy, ' and to show you how long and sturdily the rank 
 and file of the priesthood fought against the papal decrees which 
 prohibited their marriage." 
 
 ' ' Do not misunderstand me, Edward. I am too good a Chris- 
 tian to blame Christianity for churchly injustice to woman. It is 
 the human element in the church, and not the divine, which is 
 responsible for these things. In fact, you men have always 
 insisted, and still insist, upon the absolute domination of eccle- 
 siastical as well as civil, political, industrial, and commercial 
 affairs. I have no complaint to make against the principles of 
 Christianity, for they are pure and good in every way, but I do 
 protest against the injustice, unfairness, and tyranny still dis- 
 played in America as elsewhere by your sex toward mine." 
 
 " It is quite possible, " replied Mr. Notion, "that the ancient 
 abuses and discriminations against women have not all been swept 
 away, even in those countries where the teachings of Christianity 
 are most perfectly exemplified. You know my views as to how
 
 110 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 far Christendom really is from the Christian standard, as to what 
 awful iniquities it will have to answer for, as to how heinously it 
 has sinned against light and knowledge. You know my opinion 
 in regard to the monstrous divorce laws of the different states in 
 the American commonwealth, which if permitted to continue in 
 operation will eventually destroy the institution of marriage, and 
 make the relations of the sexes simply those of legalized prostitu- 
 tion. And yet there is no comparison between the lot of woman 
 in Christendom and outside the sphere of its influence. In 
 China, that ancient empire, polygamy has always existed. There 
 the husband may repudiate his wife upon the most frivolous pre- 
 text, and in one case a divorce was granted because 'the wife 
 had filled the house with smoke, and scolded the dog so that he 
 was frightened.' You are well aware how the feet of the women 
 of the higher classes are compressed and mutilated. But the 
 Chinese go much farther in the direction of deliberate disfigure- 
 ment of the human body, and frequently prepare a sort of v:^c, 
 open at both ends, in which they fasten some unfortunate found- 
 ling so that the head and legs only can protrude. As the child 
 grows, its shape is moulded to that of the vase, which is finally 
 broken and removed, and the horrible human curio is ready for 
 sale to the keeper of some oriental side-show. In China the birth 
 of a daughter is considered a misfortune, and you can offer no 
 deadlier insult to a Chinese gentleman than to ask him if he has 
 any daughters. The infanticide of female children is still exten- 
 sively practiced, and thousands of infants are yearly exposed to 
 die by their heartless parents. A widow must either marry again 
 or become a bonzcss, and as a courtezan devote herself to the 
 worship of Fo. In Japan woman lives in a seraglio, and if the 
 husband wishes a divorce, he does not have to even put her away, 
 but is only required to condemn her to a separate apartment, in 
 order to entitle him to marry another. He lias the power to kill 
 her for infidelity, and is authorized bylaw to either kill or sell 
 his children. In the island of Formosa women are forbidden to 
 bear children before they have attained the age of thirty-six, and 
 the crime of abortion, now so popular in our own country, is theie 
 made compulsory until the requisite age is attained. In Burmah 
 the women are notoriously dissolute; in Si am wives are freely 
 bought and sold; and in India women are still persecuted and 
 despised. In the last-named country the wife is her husband's 
 serf, and is required to regard him as a divinity, while he
 
 WOMAX IX IIKATHKX .VXD MIUISTI.VX I.AXDS. Ill 
 
 addresses her in harsh tones. Until the English enacted and 
 enli >rced laws preventing the fiendish practice, widows were com- 
 pelled by public opinion to die with their deceased husbands, 
 either on the funeral pyre, or to be buried alive. With the 
 innumerable atrocities which are committed against the girls of 
 India by compelling them to marry men before they are either 
 physically or mentally capable of discharging the functions and 
 duties of matrimony, you are doubtless familiar. Against these 
 terrible abuses the British government of the country has as yet 
 been unable to make any measurable headway." 
 
 "Just one question at this point, Mr. Notion. Don't you 
 suppose if English women were represented in the government of 
 India as largely as are the men, that more progress would be 
 made in abolishing these dreadful evils?" 
 
 "Your question," answered Mr. Notion deprecatingly, 
 " opens up another and very important subject, viz., the political 
 rights of women, and in order to answer it as it deserves, I should 
 be compelled to wander far from our present topic. Please 
 remind me of it when we reach that phase of our general theme, 
 and I shall gladly give you my opinions relative thereto. But, 
 to continue, let me quote again from ' Satan in Society ' : 'In 
 Africa, from the Great Desert to the Cape of Good Hope, from 
 the coasts of Senegambia to those of Zanguebar, among the Jalofs, 
 the Foulis, the Mandingoes, the negroes of the Gold Coast, of 
 Congo, and of Angola, among the Jagos, the Hottentots, and all 
 the other tribes, the status of woman is most deplorable.' A 
 little further down on the same page I find the following: 
 ' Between Christianity and paganism there is a religion which is, 
 so to speak, intermediate; which has borrowed from the former 
 some of its dogmas and its morality, and from the latter a host of 
 the superstitions of idolatry. We allude to Mohammedism. With 
 the Mussulman the position of women is altogether peculiar. In 
 the material point of view she is not so unhappy as Avith many 
 other people whose history we have examined, but morally speak- 
 ing she is completely annihilated. It would seem that the 
 sensuality of the Mohammedans has aimed to destroy the last 
 vestiges of her moral nature, leaving only the automaton, the 
 physical being, the passive instrument of man's pleasure. Their 
 word designating a certain class of 'wives' has the same root as 
 another word which signifies utnixH. A Mohammedan has the 
 right to marry as many wives as he pleases. The rich often have
 
 112 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 a considerable number. Surrounded as they are by all sorts of 
 precautions, including vigilant and argus-eyed guardians, the 
 women are so corrupt that not only do they practice the most 
 incredible immoralities among themselves, but they find means of 
 keeping up intrigues and escapades the most astonishing. At 
 the slave marts of Constantinople there are found negresses, 
 Mingreliaus, Georgians, and Circassians. The latter are taken 
 in the raids that the people of Caucasus make upon each other, or 
 are bought from their parents. Many of them are very beautiful ; 
 indeed, they spring from the most beautiful type of the human 
 race. A girl of average beauty costs about the same, a little less, 
 rather, than a horse say twenty to thirty dollars. Once arrived 
 at the seraglio, the young slave has to undergo a regime which 
 must prove to her a veritable torture. She must absolutely grow 
 fat, under penalty of displeasing or failing to please her husband. 
 Your Mussulman has a singular idea of beauty. For him a 
 woman is only beautiful when inordinately fat so fat that in 
 walking she has to be supported by a slave on either side. So, 
 to be pleasing, she must drink without thirst and eat without 
 hunger. In certain parts of Arabia the young girls are forced to 
 swallow, after their appetite has been satisfied, several rations of 
 fat and quantities of camel's milk. Horrible state of society! 
 where each petty despot lives like a bird of prey in his hole, like 
 a savage beast in his den ; where all the sentiments which bud or 
 develop under the influence of women in Christian lauds are 
 repressed or destroyed; where the most abject and disgusting 
 egotism rules; where love is but gross sensualism; where paternal, 
 maternal, and filial affection rise but little above the instincts of 
 the brute; where woman passes her life inclosed within four walls, 
 or walks enveloped in a long veil, like a phantom revisiting a 
 world to which she no more belongs. Every one shuns her. 
 She moves silently, sadly, and lonely, amid those who treat her as 
 a slave, as a being without a soul, without intelligence, incapable 
 of loving, of feeling, or of suffering. ' 
 
 "A sad state of affairs, truly, Edward, as your author paints 
 the picture; and yet women have much to complain of here. 
 They have had to fight their way step by step to the right to 
 obtain an education, to hold office under the government, to gain 
 admission to the learned professions, to secure the guardianship of 
 their own children, and to-day they are denied all participation 
 in either the framing or execution of the laws in nearly every 
 American commonwealth."
 
 WOMAN IN HEATHEN AND CHRISTIAN LANDS. 113 
 
 "You bring up other phases of the subject, Matilda, and here- 
 after I shall be glad to discuss them with you; but now I desire 
 to impress indelibly upon your mind, if I can, the great truth 
 that women in so-called Christian lands owe all their rights, 
 privileges, advantages, and the consideration which they enjoy, to 
 the partial diffusion of the principles of the religion of Christ. In 
 conclusion I want you to listen to the words of James Bryce in his 
 great work the 'American Commonwealth,' relative to the posi- 
 tion of woman in America. He says: 'It has been well said 
 that the position which women hold in a country is, if not a 
 complete test, yet one of the best tests of the progress it has made 
 in civilization. When one compares nomad man with settled 
 man, heathen man with Christian man, the ancient world with 
 the modern, the Eastern world with the Western, it is plain that 
 in every case the advance in public order, in material comfort, 
 in wealth, in decency and refinement of manners, among the 
 whole population of a country for in these matters one must 
 not look merely at the upper class has been accompanied by a 
 greater respect for women, by a greater freedom accorded to 
 them, by a fuller participation on their part in the best work of 
 the world. Americans are fond of pointing, and can with perfect 
 justice point, to the position their women hold as an evidence of 
 the high level their civilization has reached. Certainly nothing 
 in the country is more characteristic of the peculiar type their 
 civilization has taken.' Mr. Bryce has many other interesting 
 and instructive things to say about American women, but I shall 
 not take the time to quote them, especially as the clock admon- 
 ishes me that it is time for us to bring our present talk to a 
 termination. ' '
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Discuss the Influence of 
 
 Women upon the Lives and Characters 
 
 of Great Men. 
 
 " A mother's love how sweet the name 1 
 
 What is a mother's love? 
 A noble, pure, and tender flame, 
 
 Enkindjed from above, 
 To bless a heart of earthly mould; 
 The warmest love that can grow cold; 
 This is a mother's love." 
 
 James Montgomery. 
 
 "I promised to show you, Ned, that some good woman had 
 invariably strengthened the hands of the men who were recog- 
 nized as leaders of thought and action, and that it seemed to be 
 a deep-seated principle of humanity that without the active though 
 perhaps hidden participation of woman, no great progress or 
 uplift of our race could be accomplished. I am now ready to 
 prove this, so far as such a proposition admits of proof, and 
 wish at the outset to quote briefly from the preface of 
 Laura C. Holloway's work on 'The Mothers of Great Men and 
 Women.' Among many other things well worth remembering, 
 she says : ' The influence of the mother has been proclaimed by 
 all races of men in all ages. The Red Cross Knights who 
 sauntered to "Hainte Terre, " and when they reached the Holy 
 Land fought for the Holy Sepulcher, were inspired to their 
 pilgrimages by zealous mothers and wives. The deeds of heroism 
 in every age have been the indirect, if not the direct, work of 
 women, and most frequently of mothei-s. We need not 
 
 "Pardon the interruption, my dear, but before you proceed 
 any farther, I wish to remark that those mothers and wives did 
 a very foolish thing when they sent their loved ones on such a 
 reckless, dangerous errand, and one from which the majority of 
 them never returned to home and native land." 
 
 "But, Edward, those were days of chivalry and religious 
 
 (114)
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 115 
 
 enthusiasm, and the women as well as the men naturally sup- 
 posed that it was a holy and a meritorious enterprise, under the 
 sanction of mother church, to rescue the land made sacred by 
 the Saviour of mankind, from the grasp of the pagans, or 
 unbelieving Mussulmen. ' ' 
 
 "That is very true, Matilda, but, while it excuses the women 
 of that day for sending their brave sons and husbands to suffer 
 and perish needlessly in an inhospitable clime, the course of 
 conduct on their part which requires such excuse, is not deserving 
 of encomiums from the enlightened women of our own time. ' ' 
 
 "Please let me continue reading, sir. The gifted lady from 
 whom I quote continues: 'We need not travel back to antiquity 
 to find illustrations of this truth; the women of this age are 
 living evidences of the source from whence their sons have 
 derived their gifts of mind and health. Every department of 
 human energy and excellence in modern times in all countries 
 furnishes abundant examples of the truth that whatever the 
 mother is that will the son be also.' A little further on she 
 says: 'There is no love like a mother's love, and love being the 
 highest and most potential of human qualities, it may be con- 
 cluded, very naturally, that the intensity of affection bestowed 
 by a mother of character upon her son marks him as hers through 
 life.'" 
 
 "I must admit, Matilda, that there is much truth in that 
 assertion." 
 
 "I will now talk a little," said Mrs. Notion, "about the 
 mothers of great generals. Our own George Washington had 
 a great mother. As Mrs. Holloway says: 'Like the mothers of 
 all great and earnest men, she was a praying woman. Her 
 Bible was her constant companion, and its precepts were ever on 
 her lips.' ' A silent, serious woman she was, self-contained, 
 self-respecting, and reserved. During the forty-six years of her 
 widowhood she managed her household and farm without the 
 a istance of any adviser, and reared her children to usefulness 
 and honor, and saw them go forth into the world equipped for 
 its work and pain. That they each and all revered her, and 
 sought her counsel in every emergency, is sufficient testimony of 
 her worth and ability.' ' 
 
 " I should judge from these statements, Matilda, that Mary 
 Washington was a home woman, that she attained her success 
 in life by attending strictly to her domestic duties, and leaving
 
 116 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 the management of the world at large and the great universe 
 beyond it to the wisdom of the Creator. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, sir, she was a domestic woman, but she was a business 
 woman also, and carried on successfully large affairs. It was 
 not her lot to be cooped up in a little, narrow home, and to 
 know nothing outside of the four walls of her own house. But 
 we must not digress. Mrs. Washington and her son George 
 were very similar in character, conduct, and personal appearance. 
 They both lacked humor and imagination, and were both char- 
 acterized in an extreme degree by gentleness, conscientiousness* 
 and resolution of purpose. Mrs. Washington was a great woman, 
 and a consistent Christian, who lived as she prayed during the 
 eighty-three years of her life. She was inflexible in courage, 
 and unyielding in purpose, and imbued with the heroic spirit of 
 the Scotch Covenanters, from whom she was descended. Wash- 
 ington Irving says of her: 'Endowed with plain, direct good 
 sense, thorough conscientiousness, and prompt decision, she gov- 
 erned her family strictly, but kindly, exacting deference while 
 she inspired affection. George, being her eldest son, was thought 
 to be her favorite, yet she never gave him undue preference, and 
 the implicit deference exacted from him in childhood continued 
 to be habitually observed by him to the day of her death, lie 
 inherited from her a high temper and a spirit of command, but 
 her early precepts and example taught him to restrain and govern 
 that temper, and to square his conduct on the exact principles of 
 equity and justice.' You will see from this, Mr. Notion, that 
 George Washington inherited his good qualities from his mother, 
 and was trained and formed almost entirely by her, as his father 
 died while he was still a lad." 
 
 "Yes, my dear, I see all this, and wait impatiently for you 
 to continue your showing." 
 
 "Another great woman who became the mother of a great 
 son, was Letitia Bonaparte, who was married to Charles Bona- 
 parte before she was sixteen, and who between her marriage and 
 the death of her husband, when she was thirty-five, gave birth to 
 thirteen children, eight of whom readied maturity. She was a 
 woman of singular beauty, which she retained until her death, at 
 the age of seventy-nine. Napoleon, in speaking of his boy- 
 hood, thus refers to his mother: 'I had need to be on the alert; 
 our mother would have repressed my warlike humor; she would 
 not have put up with my caprices. Her tenderness was joined
 
 WOMKN'S IXKLUKNCK UPON GREAT MEN. 117 
 
 with severity; she punished, rewarded, all alike; the good, the 
 bad, nothing escaped her. She did indeed watch over us with 
 a solicitude unexampled. Every low sentiment, every ungener- 
 ous affection was discarded, discouraged; she suffered nothing but 
 what was grand and elevated to take root in our youthful under- 
 standings. She abhorred falsehood, was provoked by disobedi- 
 ence; she passed over none of our faults.' At another time 
 Napoleon thus spoke of her: 'Left without guide, without sup- 
 port, my mother was obliged to take the direction of affairs upon 
 herself. But the task was not above her strength ; she managed 
 everything, provided for everything, with a prudence and sagacity 
 which could neither have been expected from her sex nor 
 from her age. Oh, what a woman! where look for her equal! ' ' 
 
 "You see, Matilda, that Napoleon joined other men in the 
 opinion that sagacity is not one of the characteristics of your sex, 
 and that in possessing it, his mother was a rare exception to 
 womanhood at large. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, sir, I perceive that he entertained the almost universal 
 male conceit that only men are wise and prudent. But I have 
 undertaken the task of showing that both he and you are in error 
 in so believing. If Letitia Bonaparte were the only woman who 
 had displayed those qualities, she might be considered exceptional 
 in that regard, but she was one among the many. Her son used 
 to say of her that she had the head of a man on the shoulders of 
 a woman, and on many occasions she showed her resolute spirit, and 
 a proud consciousness of what was due to her as his mother. 
 Shortly after he was crowned emperor, when he met her in the 
 gardens of St. Cloud, half in jest and half in earnest, he offered 
 her his hand to kiss. But she flung it from her with indignation, 
 and exclaimed in the hearing of his officers, 'It is your duty to 
 kiss the hand of her who gave you life!' When her son was 
 exiled in Elba, she visited and comforted him. This gifted 
 woman impressed not only her appearance but her character upon 
 her son." 
 
 "Don't you think," inquired Mr. Notion, "that she had 
 much to do with the faults and weaknesses as well as with the 
 nobler traits of Napoleon ''. " 
 
 " Possibly she had," admitted Mrs. Notion, "but I am inclined 
 to believe that he largely inherited his defects of character from 
 his father, who manifested no unusual abilities, and was an 
 attorney in Corsica of merely local reputation. Besides, it
 
 118 DOMESTIC DUKLS. 
 
 follows as a matter of course that, having inherited all his good 
 points from his mother, the bad ones must have come from his 
 father." 
 
 "This, however, Matilda, is only your conjecture, for there 
 are no facts that I know of upon which you can base any such 
 a theory. But what say you as to the immoralities and intrigues 
 of the daughters of this lady? Don't you think she ought to be 
 held responsible for their follies, as well as credited for the great- 
 ness of her son ? ' ' 
 
 "No, sir, I do not. She despised sensuality, and surely was 
 not to blame for that which she cordially disapproved. You must 
 also bear in mind the fact that the sudden rise of her daughters 
 from poverty to the position of queens and princesses was 
 enough to turn their heads. But I desire now to call your atten- 
 tion to the character of Elizabeth, the wife of Oliver Cromwell, 
 England's greatest ruler. She had nine children, who we're 
 educated under her supervision with great care. Devout in her 
 religious life, her manner was dignified, and her mode of living 
 was plain and unassuming. She wielded great influence over 
 her husband, who frequently sought her advice, and in one of his 
 letters to her said: ' I could not satisfy myself to omit this post, 
 although I have not much to write; yet, indeed, I love to write to 
 my dear, who- is very much in my heart.' He died holding her 
 hand, and almost his last words were encouraging assurances to her 
 that he would recover. This noble woman, whose head was not 
 turned by power and prosperity such as seldom fall to the lot of 
 mortals, survived her husband fourteen years." 
 
 "And yet," suggested Mr. Notion, "this woman did not 
 escape attack, and many rumors were circulated greatly to her 
 discredit." 
 
 "It is true, Edward, that the Cavalier party invented much 
 gossip concerning her, but they were unable to prove that she 
 ever failed to discharge her public as well as her private duties 
 in a creditable manner. Let me now remind you of the great- 
 ness of Sarah Jennings, the wife of that celebrated general, the 
 Duke of Marlborough. She was widely celebrated for her bril- 
 liancy and beauty. Though of the most charming personality, 
 and the possessor of great wit, ambition, intelligence, and political 
 power, she dearly loved her handsome and aide husband, and 
 was faithful, sincere, and unselfish in a high degree. To quote 
 from Mrs. Jlolloway: 'Her grace, majesty, and loftiness pj
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 119 
 
 carriage illuminated the dull court, while her wit flashed like an 
 unsheathed sword in the sunlight.' Undoubtedly she had a 
 potent influence in shaping her husband's destiny, and bringing 
 about his success, by her encouragement and counsel, as well as 
 by her power at court." 
 
 "She doubtless used her control of the weak Anne for her 
 husband's benefit," remarked Mr. Notion, "but she made him 
 pay dearly for all that she gave him. She was one of the most 
 hateful of women, and by her envy, jealousy, irritability, bitter 
 defiance, and domineering temper, must have made the poor man 
 so miserable at home that he was glad to seek relief in the camp, 
 and, if need be, risk his life on the battle field. You must 
 remember, too, that Marlborough attained power and fame long 
 before the reign of Anne, and that his sister, Arabella, the mis- 
 tress of James the Second, had as much to do with his advance- 
 ment as his beautiful and irascible wife." 
 
 "How you men do wander from the subject! I was talking 
 of Sarah, the wife of Marlborough, and you begin to discourse 
 about his wicked sister. Perhaps you would like to hear some- 
 thing about the mother of General U. S. Grant, from whom were 
 derived many of his strongest characteristics. Hannah S. Grant 
 was a kind, matronly woman, who found her happiness in the 
 domestic circle. She was handsome, though not vain, possessed 
 of a sweet disposition, prudent, thoughtful, pious, and 'accom- 
 plished in those household arts which add so much to the comfort 
 of a home.' One of General Grant's numerous biographers thus 
 describes her: 'She was amiable, serene, even-tempered, thor- 
 oughly self-forgetful, kind and considerate to all, and speaking 
 ill of none. Her children she governed with tender affection 
 and without the rod; and in return they were tractable and well- 
 behaved, never boisterous or rude in the family circle.' She was 
 very reticent and modest, and though proud of her illustrious 
 son, she refrained from boasting of him, and spent her closing 
 days in retirement and widowhood." 
 
 " I fail to see, " said Mr. Notion, "how Grant derived many 
 of his 'strongest characteristics' from a woman so sweet, gentle, 
 kind, reticent, serene, and tender as you describe his mother to 
 have been. There doubtless were such traits in his character, 
 but they were not the 'strong' qualities, which made him a great 
 general and a mighty leader among men." 
 
 "Even so," replied Mi-s. Notion, "his mother must be credited
 
 120 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 with having wisely and lovingly developed the best that was iu 
 him, regardless of the question as to whom he inherited it from ; 
 and, hence, whether his military genius was derived from his 
 mother or not, you must admit that she had much to do by her 
 training of his early years, with his brilliant successes in after life. ' ' 
 
 "Certainly, Matilda, I am perfectly willing to concede that, 
 but isn't that almost equivalent to saying that every man has a 
 mother, and, consequently, if he succeeds his success must be 
 attributed to her ? If that is your argument, it proves too much, 
 for if w T e once admit the superior influence of the mother in 
 moulding character and determining the future career of her 
 children, it would logically follow that the failures, faults, and 
 crimes of men are very largely to be charged against their 
 mothers. ' ' 
 
 "Not at all," answered Mrs. Notion. "Good mothers :uv 
 often hampered in their efforts to rightly train their children, by 
 the interference and bad example of their husbands. But let 
 me continue, as I have much to say along this line. I should be 
 faithless to my self-imposed task if I were to omit all reference to 
 Rome's greatest matron, Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi. 
 This noble lady was the daughter of the greatest Roman general 
 of his time, Scipio ' Africanus, ' the wife of a virtuous and dis- 
 tinguished statesman, and the mother of twelve children, of 
 whom only three reached maturity. While a widow she refused 
 the hand of the great King Ptolemy, and on one occasion, when 
 a lady referred to the plainness of her attire, and asked where 
 her jewels were, she replied that her sons were the only jewels she 
 could boast of possessing. Upon the murder of her sons by the 
 landed plutocrats, she bore her grief heroically, and said to a 
 friend who condoled with her, ' The woman who had the Gracchi 
 for her sons can not be considered unfortunate.' After her death 
 the people erected a brass statue to her memory, inscribed, 
 'Cornelia, the Mother of the Gracchi.' Is it any wonder that a 
 woman of so lofty and patriotic a spirit should have imbued her 
 sons with similar noble sentiments, and that they should have 
 willingly sacrificed their lives to the welfare of their country ? ' ' 
 
 "Your question, Matilda, seems intended to contain its own 
 answer, and, like many others, is put in the interrogative form 
 only for rhetorical effect. Still, I must dissent from your con- 
 clusion. As you have said, Cornelia's father was Rome's greatest 
 general. lie saved Rome from destruction by Hannibal after
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 121 
 
 the battle of Cannes, and years afterwards conquered the great 
 Carthaginiain chieftain at the battle of Zania. Her husband, 
 Tiberius Semprouius Gracchus, was once censor, twice consul, 
 and was twice accorded a triumph. Her uncle, Lucius Cornelius 
 Scipio, was also a great man, who filled one term in the consulate, 
 and was surnamed 'Asiaticus.' It seems to me it is far more 
 reasonable to suppose that her sons, Tiberius and Gains, inherited 
 their powers from their grandfather, father, and grand-uncle, 
 than to assume that all their greatness came from their mother." 
 
 "Edward, I am surprised at your inconsistency. Don't you 
 see that all the qualities which those brilliant men inherited from 
 their maternal grandfather and grand-uncle really were derived 
 from their mother, who proved throughout her glorious life that 
 she possessed those qualities, and was not a mere vehicle for their 
 transmission ? The matter is too plain for argument. And now for 
 a few words about Lady Sarah Lennox, the mother of the N apiers. 
 This beautiful and gifted woman was the daughter of the second 
 Duke of Richmond, the grandson of Charles the Second. Her 
 mother was Sarah Cadogan, whose father was the favorite general 
 of the famous Duke of Maryborough. The parents of Lady 
 Lennox were married while mere children, the consideration of 
 their marriage being the cancellation of a gambling debt con- 
 tracted by the father of the bridegroom. The youthful couple 
 did not live together as husband and wife until three years after 
 their union. At that time, however, they fell in love with each 
 other, and were so devoted that the wife died with grief one year 
 after the death of her husband. .The daughter of this remarkable 
 and romantic marriage grew to be one of the most marvelously 
 beautiful women in England, and in an era, too, whicli was 
 famed for the loveliness of its women. George the Third fell in 
 love with her, and wanted to make her his queen, but was 
 prevented from doing so by a variety of causes. Horace "NValpole 
 says of her: 'When Lady Sarah was in white, with her hair 
 about her ears, and on the ground, no Magdalen by Correggio 
 was ever half so lovely and expressive.' ' 
 
 ''Will you permit me to inquire, my dear, what her beauty 
 had to do with the greatness of her sons ? " 
 
 "Nothing, Ned, nothing; but you have always shown so keen 
 an interest in handsome women that I thought you would like to 
 hear of this quality in the mother of Sir Charles Napier." 
 
 "True, my love, and had it not been for my rare powers of
 
 122 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 discrimination in this regard, I might not have been so highly 
 favored in my own matrimonial experience. ' ' 
 
 " There, there, you are beginning to flatter me, and I am well 
 aware that you don't mean a word of what you say," replied Mrs. 
 Notion smilingly; "but in this connection I may state that Sir 
 Charles Napier, the greatest of this fair woman's three distinguished 
 sons, closely resembled her in personal appearance. To resume 
 my narrative, Lady Sarah married the Hon. George Napier, and for 
 ' half a century her life was one of purity, happiness, and peace. ' 
 She was the mother of many children, and her three sons, Charles, 
 George, and William, were brave soldiers, who became famous in 
 the service of their country. But the greatest of them was Charles 
 James Napier, whose splendid military career is too familiar a 
 part of English history to need repetition by me. In Spain, 
 America, and India he fought heroically, his last and greatest 
 victory being won at the bloody battle of Meanee, where against 
 overwhelming odds he subdued Sciude, and brought it into com- 
 plete subjection to British rule. This was in 1843. The love 
 which existed between this noble man and his mother was touch- 
 ing to contemplate. His diary and letters are full of affectionate 
 references and greetings to his mother, and he was prostrated in 
 spirit by her death, in 1826, at the age of eighty-one years. The 
 character and career of this man may best be described in a few 
 words by quoting from the opening of the book of his brother, 
 Lieutenant Sir William Napier, entitled ' Life and Opinions of 
 General Sir Charles James Napier,' where he says: 'This shall 
 be the story of a man who never tarnished his reputation by a 
 shameful deed ; of one who subdued distant nations by his valor, 
 and then governed them so wisely that English rule was rever- 
 enced and loved where before it had been feared and execrated. ' 
 ' His fame has been accepted by the British people as belonging 
 to the glory of the nation.' ' 
 
 "And do you claim, Matilda, that this illustrious general 
 and statesman inherited his brilliant qualities entirely from his 
 mother ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' I feel certain, Edward, that he did to a very large extent, if 
 not altogether. ' ' 
 
 ' ' But you forget, my dear, that his father was a descendant of 
 the great Mont rose, and of Napier of Merchiston, inventor of 
 logarithms, and of Lord Napier, a grandson of the mathematician 
 who lost his broad lands fighting for Charles the First."
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 123 
 
 "Yes, Edward, but the probability of ray theory that the 
 greatness of Charles Napier was largely derived from his mother, 
 is shown by the fact that her sister married Henry Fox, the first 
 Lord Holland, and became the mother of that famous orator and 
 statesman, Charles James Fox." 
 
 ' ' I notice, too, ' ' said Mr. Notion, that you omit all reference 
 to the first marriage of Lady Sarah, to Sir Charles Bunbury, and 
 the subsequent divorce obtained by him in the House of Lords, 
 on the ground of her infidelity. Nor do you allude to the 
 memoirs of the Due de Lauzun, in which that titled blackguard 
 boasts of having triumphed over her virtue. Thackeray in 'The 
 Virginians' evidently has reference to this book, when he says: 
 ' Very pleasing, no doubt, it must be for the grandsons and 
 descendants of the fashionable persons among whom our brilliant 
 nobleman moved, to find the names of their ancestresses adorning 
 M. le Due's sprightly pages, and their frailties recorded by the 
 candid writer who caused them. It is some comfort to know that 
 the chivalrous Due de Lauzun perished by the guillotine in the 
 days of the fii'st French Revolution.' ' 
 
 " Why, Edward, I am ashamed of you. It certainly indicates 
 little magnanimity upon your part to bring to the light the long- 
 repented and long-forgiven follies and sins of a woman who spent 
 fifty years of wedded virtue, and brought into being the noble 
 men whom I have described." 
 
 "Now, don't misunderstand me, or misconstrue my motives," 
 exclaimed Mr. Notion. " I should be the last to drag from their 
 long oblivion the misdeeds and frailties of this or any other 
 woman, were it not for the fact that you insist on crediting her 
 with all the talents and goodness of her husband's children. I 
 simply offer this as valid evidence in disproof of your allegations." 
 
 "And do you believe the charges of that infamous French 
 scoundrel ? ' ' asked Mrs. Notion rather sharply. 
 
 "Ah, that is not the question, Matilda! My belief or disbe- 
 lief in them cuts no figure here. I offer them for what they are 
 worth, although I must own that I have little confidence in the 
 word of any man who is capable of so base an act, and concur in 
 the opinion of Lauxun thus expressed by Thomas De Quincey: 
 ' On the hypothesis most favorable to the writer, the basest of 
 men, he is self-denounced as vile enough to have forged the, stories 
 he tells, and can not complain if he should be roundly accused of 
 doing that which he has taken pains to prove himself capable of 
 doing.' "
 
 124 DOMKSTIC JH'KLS. 
 
 "I am glad, sir, that you have the manhood to doubt at least 
 the uncorroborated statement of such a wretch ; and without 
 further discussing the ISapier family, I wish to direct your atten- 
 tion to a still clearer case of a noble mother transmitting her own 
 goodness and genius to a son. General Thomas .Jackson, better 
 known as 'Stonewall' Jackson, was the son of Jonathan Jackson, 
 a well-born Virginian, who, though possessing considerable inher- 
 ited wealth, and enjoying a lucrative legal practice, gambled 
 away his fortune, and at his death left his wife and children 
 dependent upon the charity of others. Mrs. Jackson, whose 
 maiden name was Julia Neale, was also a native of Virginia. 
 She was handsome, graceful, and unusually cultured. When left a 
 widow with three children, of whom Thomas, then three years old, 
 was the youngest, she tried to earn a living for herself and family 
 by taking in sewing and teaching a small school. After three 
 years of struggle, she was induced to marry a man almost as poor 
 as herself, and was compelled to relinquish her children to the 
 care of their father's kindred. Her grief at parting from 
 Thomas, especially, who was then a pretty, blue-eyed boy of six, 
 is described as pitiful and almost heart-breaking, and the scene 
 was so sorrowful that it left an indelible impression upon the 
 child's memory, and saddened every year of his future life." 
 
 "Excuse me, Matilda, but wasn't Mrs. Jackson very foolish 
 to take a step which compelled this separation from her children? 
 She voluntarily married a second time, and well knew the poverty 
 of her second husband, and yet, despite this knowledge, she 
 deliberately pursued a course which she must have been aware 
 would necessarily result in depriving her of the companionship of 
 her little ones. ' ' 
 
 ' ( No one can deny, ' ' replied Mrs. Notion, ' ' that she made a 
 serious mistake, but, after all, the fault was not hers, but that of her 
 first husband, who unnecessarily and by Ins own profligate conduct 
 exposed her to the horrors of want. My own opinion is that her 
 three years' conflict, single-handed, with poverty and misery left 
 her in such a mental and nervous condition that she was not 
 fully capable of realizing the consequences of her second marriage, 
 and that, without recognizing the danger of separation from her 
 children, she gladly welcomed any change which promised her 
 sympathy, companionship, and assistance." 
 
 "You may be right, Matilda, but how bitterly she must have 
 repented her folly! "
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 125 
 
 "Folly, yes," thoughtfully remarked Mrs. Notion, " but sin, 
 no. Mrs. Jackson was a \voniau of genuine Christian character, 
 and during the six years which her little boy spent in her society 
 she impressed her own spirit of faith and prayer upon him. At 
 the age of seven he saw her on her death-bed, and ever after he 
 remembered her with tenderness, and idealized her beauty and 
 amiability of character." 
 
 " What a sad, and yet what a glorious life," exclaimed Mr. 
 Notion, " was that of General Jackson! An orphan boy, leaving 
 the home of his stern uncle when only eight years old, living four 
 years with another uncle, wandering away again with his way- 
 ward elder brother, enduring all sorts of hardships on the Missis- 
 sippi, and earning a living cutting wood for the river steamers, 
 returning sick with chills and fever to his kind uncle, grieving 
 over his brother's early death, losing his beloved wife after four- 
 teen months of joyous companionship, dying in manhood's prime 
 from a cruel wound, saying a last farewell to his little daughter 
 in all these scenes of his earthly pilgrimage the element of sadness 
 predominates. ' ' 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. Notion, "his life was characterized by 
 much of sorrow and suffering, but he developed one of the grand- 
 est characters to be found emblazoned on the pages of history. 
 His undaunted determination to enter West Point, and final 
 success in doing so, his faithful career as a student, his fidelity to 
 duty as a professor in the Virginia Military Institute, his bravery 
 on the field of Churubusco, his heroic and brilliant achievements 
 as a general in the Confederate army all testify to his greatness 
 of soul. He resolved when a boy to be great and good, and the 
 only falsehood he ever remembered telling was when his men 
 became panic-stricken during an engagement in the Mexican 
 War, and as the bullets flew about them, he called upon them to 
 follow him, and exclaimed, * Don't you see there is no danger ? ' 
 It was at the battle of Manassus that he was given the title of 
 ' Stonewall ' in consequence of the remark made by General Bee, 
 as he pointed his own wavering men to Jackson's command, and 
 said, ' There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. ' From that 
 time the term was indissolubly associated Avith his name. One 
 night when his men were weary and worn, rather than have any 
 of them awakened to stand picket duty, he stayed up until 
 morning, and guarded the camp himself. Such things as these 
 greatly endeared him to his soldiers."
 
 126 DOMESTIC i>n-:i.s. 
 
 "I thoroughly agree with you, Matilda, in your high opinion 
 of General Jackson. He was certainly a man of the stricter 
 truthfulness, most unyielding integrity, and the highest standard 
 of morals. " 
 
 "But even better than all that, Edward, and because it com- 
 prehended it all, was his beautiful Christian character. Every 
 one that knew him respected him for his deep and unaffected 
 piety. Like his sweet mother, he died the Christian he had lived. 
 Her unwavering faith, and unbroken composure of spirit in the 
 presence of death, were thus described by her husband : * No 
 Christian on earth, no matter what evidence he might have had 
 of a happy hereafter, could have died with more fortitude. 
 Perfectly in her senses, calm and deliberate, she met her fate 
 without a murmur or a struggle. Death for her had no sting; 
 the grave could claim no victory. I have known few women of 
 equal, none of superior merit. ' When the time came for her heroic 
 son to die, he said to his chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Lacy, who had 
 just come to his tent: 'You see me severely wounded, but not 
 depressed, not unhappy. I believe that it has been done accord- 
 ing to God's holy will, and I acquiesce entirely in it. You may 
 think it strange, but you never saw me more perfectly contented 
 than I am to-day, for I am sure that my heavenly Father designs 
 this affliction for my good. I am perfectly satisfied that either in 
 this life or in that which is to come I shall discover that what is 
 now regarded as a calamity is a blessing. And if it appears a 
 great calamity (as it surely will be a great inconvenience) to be 
 deprived of my arm, it will result in a great blessing. I can 
 wait until God, in his own time, shall make known to mo the 
 object he has in thus afflicting me. But why should I not rather 
 rejoice in it as a blessing, and not look on it as a calamity at all ? ' 
 In this sweet spirit of resignation and submission both mother and 
 son passed over the boundary which separates the seen from the 
 unseen world, she to gain a glad release from poverty, suffering, 
 and sorrow, lie to rest from his arduous and highly-responsible 
 duties, and to leave behind millions of mourners, as he ' pas>ed 
 over the river to rest under the shade of the trees ' on the sunny 
 shores of eternity." 
 
 "I have noticed," remarked Mr. Notion as he wiped a tear 
 from his cheek, "that thus far you have confined your.-elf to the 
 mothers and wives of great soldiers. Is it possible that you have 
 found no instances of great men in other walks of life who owe 
 much to women for their character and success ? ' '
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MKN. 127 
 
 ' ' The fact is, "Ned, that I have a superabundance of material, 
 and my chief fear is that your patience will be exhausted long 
 before I conclude my enumeration of the great sons of great 
 mothers, and the great husbands of great wives. ' ' 
 
 "Don't be a bit afraid of that, Matilda. This phase of the 
 discussion constitutes an interesting episode in itself, and is in 
 refreshing contrast to other branches of our general subject which 
 we have talked about, or which still await our consideration. 
 Go right ahead. I am anxious to hear more about these charm- 
 ing and gifted women who bestowed upon the world the inestimable 
 boon of great and useful men. ' ' 
 
 "All right, Ned, I shall gladly do so, but the clock admon- 
 ishes me that it is time to bring this dialogue to a close, so I shall 
 postpone further discussion of our theme until another evening. ' '
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Continue to Discuss the 
 
 Influence of Women upon the Lives and 
 
 Characters of Great Men. 
 
 "Happy he 
 
 "With such a mother! faith in womankind 
 Beats with his blood, and trust in all things high 
 Comes easy to him, and though he trip and fall, 
 He shall not hind his soul with clay." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 "Few great men have flourished who, were they candid, would not 
 acknowledge the vast advantage they had experienced in -the earlier 
 years of their career from the spirit and sympathy of woman. " Dtxr<n-li. 
 
 "Now, Edward, if agreeable to you, I shall talk a little while 
 about the mothers of Lincoln, Garfield, and Webster, and the 
 wife of Disraeli ; and then, if time permits, I shall try to make a 
 few comments on the mothers of St. Augustine, Luther, and the 
 \\YsU>ys." 
 
 "I am all attention, my dear," said Mr. Notion as he smiled 
 complacently, and assumed his most comfortable posture in his 
 easy-chair. 
 
 "Let me read to you, Edward, preliminarily to what follows, 
 a short extract from the book of Mrs. Holloway, to which i have 
 already referred you. She says on page 112: 'The great mothers 
 of great men and women are few in number, but are widely 
 known. The obscure and comparatively unknown mothers of 
 men and women of genius form a great multitude of flitting 
 shadows whose outlines and properties are not easy to ascertain. 
 Undoubtedly these unknown mothers must have had strong char- 
 acteristics, or they could not have transmitted great qualities to 
 their children. It is the settled opinion of physiologists that the 
 mother has a far greater influence than the father in the mental 
 and moral qualities of the offspring. It has even been maintained 
 that no great man has ever existed who had not a great mother, 
 whether she was known to fame as great or not. ' ' 
 
 (128)
 
 WOMEN'S IXFI,I T KN< i; rrox GREAT MEN. 129 
 
 "Come, come, Matilda, isn't that going entirely too far? 
 Surely you do not indorse that extreme view of the question. I 
 can't believe that you are capable of sympathizing with those 
 women who claim everything good for their own sex, who appro- 
 priate all the precious metal of the ore of humanity, and leave 
 us poor fellows nothing but the tailings." 
 
 "I hardly go that far, Edward, for I am confident that at 
 least one of our boys will become a great man, and J know that 
 I am a very ordinary woman. ' ' 
 
 "You reach a very sensible conclusion, my dear," said Mr. 
 Notion, "but you base it upon a false foundation. Of course 
 your own modesty and diffidence prevent you from acknowledging 
 your true nature, but I can not allow you to underrate yourself 
 without my emphatic protest. ' ' 
 
 ' ' No more flattery, please, ' ' expostulated Mrs. Notion blush - 
 ingly, ' ' or I shall terminate the conversation. Mr. James Mill, 
 in his essay on 'Education,' lays much stress upon the prenatal 
 influence of the mother upon the character and disposition of her 
 child, and Sir Walter Scott, in 'The Fortunes of Nigel,' accounts 
 for the timidity of James the First, and his extreme aversion to 
 naked steel, by the brutal murder of Rizzio in the presence of 
 his mother shortly previous to his birth. Mrs. Hollo way asserts 
 that the undertone of melancholy in Lincoln's nature was directly 
 due to the hopeless state of mind in which his mother had fallen 
 before he was born. She was in poor health, disappointed, dis- 
 couraged, and morbidly sensitive to the sight of suffering in 
 others. Lincoln's father was a shiftless, unambitious, easy-going, 
 lazy man, and did little to contribute to the comfort and happi- 
 ness of his wife, who, though a high-spirited and cheerful girl, 
 grew to be a sad woman, shrinking and reserved to an extreme. 
 Lincoln was always averse to speaking of his early childhood, 
 and when questioned as to his mother, a cloud of mingled sadness 
 and anguish came over his face. That mother was well endowed, 
 unusually intelligent, of keen sensibilities, and possessing rare 
 intuitions. Dr. Holland says of her: 'She had much in her 
 nature that was truly heroic, and much that shrank from the rude 
 life around her. A great man never drew his infant life from a 
 purer or more womanly bosom than her own.' Lincoln's father 
 was a great talker, had an extensive fund of anecdotes, and never 
 was so much in his element as when sitting in the midst of an 
 appreciative circle telling stories and cracking jokes. From him
 
 130 DOMESTIC DUEI>S. 
 
 his son Abraham inherited and acquired his conversational powers 
 and rich vein of humor." 
 
 ' ' Thank you for that admission, Matilda. Even small favors 
 are now gratefully received by us poor men." 
 
 "You are facetious, Edward. Though Mrs. Lincoln died 
 when her son was only ten years old, she had indelibly impressed 
 herself upon his mind and heart. She taught him to read and 
 write, for, compared to those about her, she was a prodigy of 
 learning, although possessed of the merest rudiments of an edu- 
 cation. She praised and encouraged her boy, and tried her 
 utmost, without saying that she did not want him to be like his 
 father, to describe the kind of a man she wished him to become. 
 At the time of her marriage she was a 'slender, symmetrical 
 woman of medium stature, and a brunette, with dark hair, regular 
 features, and soft, sparkling, hazel eyes.' Her last days were 
 saddened by the consciousness that she was leaving behind her a 
 motherless, lonely child." 
 
 ''And do you really think, Matilda, that this unfortunate 
 woman, during the brief years of her companionship with her 
 hero son, laid the foundations of his greatness?" 
 
 ' ' I do, indeed, and in this connection let me quote Dr. C. C. 
 Graham, of Louisville, who says: ' It is not at all unlikely that 
 our great and good President owed his great qualities of head and 
 heart to Nancy Hanks Lincoln, to depreciate whom Messrs. 
 Lamon and Herndon have done their utmost. I am acquainted 
 with Dennis Planks, and find a very decided resemblance in 
 many features between him and President Lincoln, the difference 
 being in greater massiveness of Mr. Lincoln's features, not in 
 their type. The mother of Abraham Lincoln is entitled to 
 vindication and veneration from every American citizen who 
 loves his country, and to whom the fame and glory of its great- 
 ness is dear. She deserves as well and is entitled to as much 
 honor at our hands as the mother of Washington, for she gave us 
 as great and as good a man. ' ' 
 
 "Then," exclaimed Mr. Notion, "you are not among those 
 who attribute Lincoln's greatness more to his step-mother, 
 formerly Mrs. Johnson, than to his mother ? ' ' 
 
 "Most assuredly I am not, sir. While his step-mother was a 
 wise, industrious, and remarkably affectionate woman, who by 
 her kindness, justice, and appreciation of Abraham's traits, did 
 much to render possible his success in life, she did not contribute
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 131 
 
 one-thousandth part as much toward that result as did his mother.' ' 
 "And do you think, my dear, that Lincoln was America's 
 
 greatest man ? " 
 
 * ' Again I answer you with emphasis, Yes. My words are too 
 
 feeble to depict his genius, but let me quote two stanzas from the 
 
 well-known poem of B. H. Stoddard: 
 
 " ' This man, whose homely face you look upon, 
 
 WHS one of nature's masterful, great men; 
 Born with strong arms that unfought battles won; 
 Direct of speech and cunning with the pen. 
 
 " ' Chosen for large designs, he had the art 
 
 Of winning with his humor, and he went 
 Straight to his mark, which was the human heart; 
 Wise, too, for what he could not break he bent.' " 
 
 "I agree with you, Matilda, that Lincoln was not only the 
 greatest single human force projected into our national life, but 
 into this century. His personality was unique, massive, over- 
 powering. He impressed himself deeply upon the history of 
 mankind by his daring deeds, and enriched the English language 
 by his wise words, so strong in structure and commanding in their 
 combination that they are almost idiomatic, and have forced 
 their way into the every-day thought and speech of the American 
 people. Yes, Abraham Lincoln's kindness, humor, greatness, 
 goodness, and patriotism have become part of the very woof and 
 warp of our American institutions." 
 
 ' ' And now, Ned, a few words about the mother of Garfield. 
 Like nearly all the other great mothers whom I have thus far 
 called to your attention, Mrs. Eliza Garfield was a widow, with 
 four children, of whom the eldest was only eleven years of age." 
 
 "I have been very much impressed," interrupted Mr. Notion, 
 ' ' with the fact to which you now refer, that in nearly every 
 instance these mothers of great sons were widows, called by 
 bereavement to bear the burdens of life alone, and to train and 
 direct unassisted the developing characters and rising energies of 
 their children. But do you really think that the loss of their 
 fathers by these boys, who afterwards attained greatness, was one 
 of the providential circumstances which favored their success?" 
 
 "I am very much inclined to so believe," replied Mrs. Notion, 
 "unless, as hardly ever happens, both parents are unusually 
 endowed with the qualities which fit them to nourish and encour- 
 age budding genius. Where the mother alone possesses those
 
 132 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 qualities, she is more likely to manifest them in action when the 
 father is removed from the scene than when he is in the place of 
 chief parental authority and responsibility. In other words, 
 necessity would render active what otherwise might remain merely 
 latent or dormant. Besides, all possibility of weak or unwise 
 interference with the sagacious mother's plans for the develop- 
 ment of her gifted son, would be removed by the death of her 
 husband. ' ' 
 
 "I can not agree with you in these views," said Mr. Xotion, 
 " for the simple reason that widows' sons have become notorious 
 for their wilduess and lack of wholesome home training. I have 
 heretofore attributed this fact to the absence of the stern will of 
 the father in moulding the character and habits of the child, and 
 I see no good reason for modifying my opinion. ' ' 
 
 "What I have said does not militate in the least against your 
 theory, Edward, for I expressed myself solely with reference to 
 great mothers. I also think that with ordinary women, like 
 myself, for instance, the cooperation of the father is required to 
 successfully train the children. But, to resume my narrative, 
 Mrs. Garfield was left in a Ohio wilderness, on a farm encum- 
 bered with debt, and with four small children to care for and 
 support. In this emergency her eldest son said: 'I can plow 
 and plant, mother. I can cut wood and milk the cows. I want 
 to live here, and I will work real hard.' Most nobly did he 
 keep his word. For several months the struggle with starvation 
 was so fierce that Mrs. Garfield only allowed herself one meal a 
 day during a portion of the time, and kept her children on a 
 fixed allowance of food. But with the harvest came food in 
 plenty. James, the future statesman, was only three years old 
 when his father died, and he was the pet of the family. AY hen 
 lie was four years of age, his eldest brother, himself only twelve, 
 bought him his first pair of shoes out of his first weeU'< wages, 
 and his eldest sister carried him to school on her back. Mrs. 
 Garfield was of Huguenot ancestry, and her fathers had been 
 preachers in an unbroken line of ten generations. She combined 
 the deepest piety with executive ability, perseverance, ambition, 
 and indomitable courage, and sedulously trained her children in 
 the Word of God, veneration for the Sabbath day, and the neces- 
 sity of temperance. There was no church near them, and daily 
 she systematically taught her children from the Bible. Four 
 chapters were read each day, and the stirring events and whole-
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 133 
 
 some truths of Scripture were discussed with interest by the entire 
 family as they sat about the fireside." 
 
 "Didn't she bring about by her own efforts the erection of a 
 schoolhouse near her home?" inquired Mr. Notion. 
 
 "Yes," answered Mrs. Notion, "and she donated the land 
 upon which it stood. When her eldest son left home to work in 
 the clearings of Michigan, James took his place, and, while still 
 a boy, in addition to his work on the farm, learned enough of 
 the carpenter trade to earn a dollar a day. He took his first 
 day's pay home to his mother, and poured the pennies into her 
 lap. Though clad in home-made jean, and barefooted, he was 
 proud and happy, for he loved his mother, and was following the 
 example of his elder brother, who had given her the wages of 
 six months' wood-chopping with which to build a house. In the 
 words of Mrs. Holloway, Mrs. Garfield 'lived to see her two 
 daughters settled in life, her eldest son a highly respected citizen, 
 and her youngest son pass from college to the church, to the 
 halls of legislation, and to the army. ' When James A. Garfield 
 was inaugurated as President of the United States, in 1881, his 
 mother and his wife sat beside him, and when the ceremony was 
 finished, he kissed his mother, who had been silently weeping 
 during the delivery of his address. This noble woman was the 
 first mother of a President who ever occupied the White House 
 with her son." 
 
 "What a pity that the mother's pride and joy at the success 
 of her boy were so soon to be changed to anguish because of his 
 cruel murder ! ' ' exclaimed Mr. Notion feelingly. 
 
 "Ah, yes, dear, but it was fated so to be! When that sad 
 day in July came, and she realized the dreadful tidings which 
 it brought her, in the gentlest manner possible, she suddenly 
 exclaimed, 'The Lord help me!' and immediately afterwards 
 remarked, 'How could anybody be so cold-hearted as to want to 
 kill my baby ? ' When after weary weeks of suffering he passed 
 away, she did not despair, but still put all her trust in the Lord, 
 whom both he and she had loved and served so well." 
 
 There was a period of silence, which was broken by Mr. 
 Notion's saying: "And yet Garfield had his faults. We like 
 to think of him as perf'ect, but Senator Sherman in his recent 
 work 
 
 "There, there, Edward, please don't say anything against our 
 martyred President, lie was only human, after all, and doubt-
 
 134 DOMESTIC DUKI.S. 
 
 less had a weak side to his nature, but I do not wish to think of 
 it. Let us rather change the subject, and speak of the noble 
 mother of Daniel Webster. This great man's earliest lessons 
 were learned from her, and she took especial pains to instil 
 scriptural knowledge into his youthful mind. She was the first 
 to recognize that he possessed unusual gilts of intellect, and she 
 so arranged her duties as to be able to devote much time to his 
 instruction. So well did she succeed in this that when he went 
 to school, at the age of fourteen, he took a higher place than 
 students who- were considerably his senior. When the time 
 came to send her two sons to college, she proposed that the farm 
 be sold, and the proceeds devoted to the boys' education, upon 
 their promise to support their parents in their old age. Mr. 
 Webster at first objected to this, but so strong was her influence 
 with him, and so unflinching were her own trust and courage, 
 that he finally yielded, and Daniel Webster was given the 
 opportunity to fit himself for an illustrious and useful career. 
 Mrs. Webster had a powerful intellect, an ardent ambition, and 
 a determined spirit. Of Puritan ancestry, she was brave and 
 true, and to her more than to all other human agencies, Amer- 
 ica's greatest orator owed his brilliant genius and marvelous 
 success in the judicial forum, the halls of legislation, and the 
 political rostrum." 
 
 "But what of his father, Matilda? " 
 
 "Oh," replied Mi's. Notion carelessly, "he was a good enough 
 sort of a man, but very little beyond the ordinary in any way, 
 and there was certainly nothing either in his life or character 
 upon which any one could base the argument that Daniel 
 Webster inherited his wondrous faculties from him!" 
 
 "Well, Matilda, I suppose I shall have to let that pass, 
 especially as I am anxious to hear what you have to say of the 
 wife of that remarkable and self-made man, Benjamin Disraeli, 
 Earl of Beaconsfield, and prime minister of England." 
 
 "Very well, Edward. She was a widow when he married 
 her, and was undoubtedly a potent factor in shaping his high 
 destiny. She brought to him great wealth, as well as wifely 
 sympathy and love, and to her he ever attributed a great part of 
 his success in statesmanship. She was a woman of unusual 
 intelligence and sagacity, and, besides her literary ability, pos- 
 sessed rare political acumen. Her advice was invaluable to 
 him, and he prized it highly. He dedicated his novel 'Sibyl'
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 135 
 
 to her iu the following language: 'I would inscribe these volumes 
 to one whose noble spirit and gentle nature ever prompt her to 
 sympathize with suffering; to one whose sweet voice has often 
 encouraged, and whose taste and judgment have ever guided 
 their pages; the most severe of critics, but a perfect wife.' ' 
 
 "No higher encomium than that would be possible," said 
 Mr. Notion with fervency. "But you say nothing about 
 Disraeli's mother." 
 
 "Very little is known about her, Edward, and I can only 
 say that her name was Maria, and that she was the daughter of 
 Mr. George Bassoi, a retired London merchant. I may add 
 that Isaac Disraeli, the father of the statesman, conformed to 
 Christianity, and had his son baptized at the age of twelve, and 
 that Mrs. Lewis, the wife of Beaconsfield, was an Englishwoman 
 and a Christian." 
 
 "I must insist, Matilda, that Disraeli inherited his talents 
 from his father, who was a well-educated gentleman, of marked 
 literary tastes and attainments, and who did his utmost to encour- 
 age and improve the mind of his son. In order that he might 
 easily refer to books in the British Museum, he had a suite of 
 apartments in the Adelphi, London, and there it was that his 
 son Benjamin was born." 
 
 "I suppose, as usual, that I must let you have your own 
 way, ' ' remarked Mrs. Notion. ' ' But I desire now to describe 
 St. Monica, the mother of Augustine. Born of Roman parentage, 
 near the battle-field of Zama, in Northern Africa, in the year 
 332, she was bred in the Christian faith, but married the heathen 
 freeman Patricius, who did not embrace Christianity until a few 
 years before his death, which took place when Augustine, his son, 
 was seventeen years of age. Monica was persecuted by her 
 heathen mother-in-law; and her husband, who had a violent 
 temper, abused her and mocked her high standard of virtue. 
 But she endured with meekness, and returned good for evil, until 
 her persecutors were silenced, and learned to admire her and 
 revere the faith which she so sweetly exemplified. During all 
 the long years of his wild youth and wicked manhood, this 
 saintly mother prayed for the conversion of her wayward son. 
 At Carthage he studied rhetoric, heathen literature, and philos- 
 ophy, and became imbued with skepticism. It is related that 
 one night, when his mother slept, there appeared to her a youth 
 of shining aspect, who had, as it were, the face of an angel, and
 
 136 DOMESTIC DUKLS. 
 
 who whispered words of hope and consolation to her regarding 
 the future conversion of her son. She herself seemed to be stand- 
 ing safely upon a bridge, which no storm could shake or waters 
 of destruction reach. The radiant messenger assured her that 
 where she was there should her son be also. From this vision 
 she drew unfailing solace through all the years of waiting which 
 still remained. At the age of thirty Augustine was at Rome, 
 and the despondent tone of his letters induced his mother to follow 
 him there. The voyage was a long and stormy one, and when 
 she reached the eternal city, her son had gone to Milan. Undis- 
 mayed, she followed him thither. It was in that city that he 
 gave his heart to Christ. This was largely due to the preaching 
 of St. Ambrose, but the immediate occasion of his change of life 
 was singular, and if you care to listen, I shall take pleasure in 
 narrating it." 
 
 ' ' I am absorbed in your narrative, Matilda. Do not shorten 
 it in any way." 
 
 "An old friend from Africa, who was a devoted Christian, and 
 at the same time a military officer of the emperor, paid them a 
 visit at Milan, and told them of his travels and conversion. 
 Much affected by the story, Augustine and his friend Alypius 
 went into the garden, where the former, soon leaving his compan- 
 ion, threw himself under a fig tree, and began to weep. Suddenly 
 a child's voice seemed to reach him, singing and repeating the 
 words, ' Take and read. ' These words struck him as a revela- 
 tion from heaven. Seizing a copy of the New Testament, he 
 opened it at the concluding verses of the thirteenth chapter of 
 Paul's epistle to the Romans. Of course you recollect them, 
 Edward. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I have a general idea of them, my dear, but my memory is 
 not as distinct regarding them as I could wish." 
 
 "Well, they are as follows: 'The night is far spent, the day 
 is at hand ; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let 
 us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the 
 day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and 
 wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the 
 lusts thereof.' ' 
 
 "Those verses were certainly marvelously adapted, Matilda, 
 to a man in Augustine's state of mind, and with his previous 
 history. ' '
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 137 
 
 "That is just what he thought," replied Mrs. Notion, "for, 
 to use his own words, ' Instantly, by a light as it were, of serenity 
 infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.' 
 From that time until her death a beautiful spiritual union was 
 superadded to the natural affection which subsisted between 
 mother and son, and many rapturous talks concerning high and 
 holy things did they have together. Augustine, the greatest 
 intellectual accession to Christianity since St. Paul, did much to 
 stay the heresies and skepticism which were sapping the very life 
 of the Western Church. His glorious genius and marvelous gifts 
 of mind and soul were consecrated to the service of God. His 
 was one of the loftiest spirits that has ever pored over the 
 problems of humanity, or dived into the profoundest depths of 
 life's mystery and philosophy. Of his mother he thus spoke: 'It 
 is to my mother that I owe everything. If I am thy child, O 
 my God, it is because thou gavest me such a mother! If I prefer 
 the truth to all other things, it is the point of my mother's teach- 
 ing. If I did not long ago perish in sin and misery, it is because 
 of the long and faithful tears with which she pleaded for me. ' 
 Matthew Arnold thus alludes to St. Monica's death far away 
 from her beloved home in Africa: 
 
 " ' O could thy grave at home, at Carthage, be! 
 Care not for that, and lay me where I fall. 
 Everywhere heard will be the judgment call. 
 But at God's altar, O remember me! ' " 
 
 ' ' If that last line is to be seriously taken , Matilda, it is intended 
 to convey the idea that St. Monica believed in the doctrine of 
 prayers for the dead. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Perhaps she did, Edward, but now I shall have something to 
 say about a woman whose son did not believe that or any other 
 distinctively Romish doctrine. I allude to Margaret Lindemann, 
 the mother of Luther. Her son Martin, the great reformer, was 
 the eldest of seven children. A virtuous, faithful, God-fearing 
 woman, she brought up her children kindly and lovingly, although 
 with the severity which was almost universally adopted by parents 
 in those times. Often when Luther's father gave him an unusu- 
 ally severe whipping, she took him in her arms and kissed his 
 tears away. The family was very poor, and the mother often 
 carried wood on her back to help her husband, a wood-cutter, 
 to earn a livelihood for their children."
 
 138 DOMESTIC Drr:i.s. 
 
 " I don't suppose, Matilda, that you have been able to find 
 out very much about the mother of Luther." 
 
 "No, Ned, the accounts are very meager concerning her, but 
 the mother of such a son could not have been an ordinary woman. 
 While Luther has been cruelly misrepresented, he was undoubtedly 
 one of the world's greatest men, and I can not more appropriately 
 'close what I have to say of him than by quoting the words of 
 Archdeacon Hare, who says relative to his genius as an orator 
 and preacher: ' In the highest qualities of eloquence, in the 
 faculty of presenting grand truths, moral and spiritual ideas, 
 clearly, vividly, in words which elevate and enlighten men's 
 minds, and stir their hearts, and control their wills, Luther seems 
 incomparably superior to Bossnet, almost as superior as Shakes- 
 peare to Racine. ' As a thinker, writer, and theologian, he was 
 one of the master minds of our race." 
 
 ' ' And now, my dear, tell me, as you promised, something about 
 the mother of John and Charles Wesley." 
 
 "Susannah Wesley was one of the most wonderful women 
 who has graced this planet. Of good family, fine education, 
 powerful mind, and a heart as sincere and earnest as ever 
 throbbed in human breast, she was a paragon of excellence, 
 beauty, and grace. Her mind was highly cultivated, and her 
 curriculum included Greek, Latin, French, logic, and meta- 
 physics. This lovely and accomplished lady married Rev. 
 Samuel Wesley, a clergyman in the Church of England. She 
 was the mother of nineteen children, whom she trained and 
 nurtured with a love, fidelity, and wisdom unsurpassed in the 
 annals of maternity. In addition to the education of these chil- 
 dren, which she attended to personally, she transacted business, 
 wrote letters, and enjoyed social conversation. Her husband was 
 a bad financier, and she managed the affairs of the rectory, keep- 
 ing a sharp eye on the tithes and glebe. She was systematic in 
 all that she did, and ruled her household with admirable skill 
 and vigor. Her word with her children was law. ' ' 
 
 "Don't you think, Matilda, that this woman must have enjoyed 
 a powerful physical constitution, in order to be able to hear up 
 under this constant and long-continued strain ?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed, she was certainly rarely endowed in that par- 
 ticular. But her scheme of household government is interesting 
 and instructive. Her children were never allowed to eat between 
 meals; were washed and put to bed at 8 o'clock, the elder
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 139 
 
 children assisting the younger; were taught the Lord's prayer as 
 soon as they could speak; were never permitted to be rude to 
 each other; were made to study six hours a day; were prohibited 
 from playing or talking loudly in the street or garden without 
 her permission; were taught the alphabet in one day at the age 
 of five, with two exceptions, Mary and Anne, who required a 
 day and a half to learn it; were taught to sing hymns every 
 morning when school opened, and at the close of the day's work. 
 The elder children read the Psalms for the day out of the prayer- 
 book, and a chapter of the Bible to the younger ones." 
 
 "It is not at all surprising," remarked Mr. Notion, "that 
 two of the sons of this great woman should have become world- 
 famous. I would that children nowadays were trained that way." 
 
 "While she was too severe," said Mrs. Notion, "I greatly 
 admire her system. Her means were justified by the results. 
 Through her sous she became the mother of Methodism, that great 
 religious system which has changed the course of history, and 
 now numbers millions of members, all of whom rise and call her 
 blessed. But I must hurry on, for I find that I am taking up 
 too much time in my enumeration of the great mothers of history. 
 My material is so ample that I must select only the most striking 
 and conspicuous instances, and can hardly more than mention 
 them. The mother of Charles Dickens awakened his earliest 
 passion for reading, and taught him the first rudiments of English, 
 and also a little Latin." 
 
 ' ' But you must admit, Matilda, that Dickens always loved his 
 father better than he did his mother, a weak, careless woman, 
 who utterly failed to discern or appreciate the genius, or sympa- 
 thize with the aspirations, of her sensitive, shrinking, delicate 
 son. Of his father, however, he always spoke kindly, but he 
 could not help feeling in after life that both parents had been 
 remiss in his early training and education. He says: 'It is 
 wonderful to me that, even after my descent into the poor little 
 drudge I had been since we came to London, no one had com- 
 passion enough on me a child of singular abilities, quick, eager, 
 delicate, and soon hurt, bodily or mentally to suggest that 
 something might have been spared, as certainly it might have 
 been, to place me at any common school. Our friends, I take it, 
 were tired out. No one made any sign. My father and mother 
 were quite satisfied.' I am glad to know, though, that Dickens 
 made comfortable provision for both his parents in their old age."
 
 140 DOMESTIC Dl'KLS. 
 
 "His father was much more responsible than his mother 
 for his early neglect, " replied Mrs. Notion, " because the former, 
 although a government employee with a steady income, let himself 
 drift into debt, and was imprisoned at one time by his creditors. 
 Of Thackeray's mother there is nothing especial to tell, and, as 
 you know, his unfortunate wife became insane after bearing him 
 three children. Cowper's mother, a noble woman, died when he 
 was six years old; but he never forgot her gentle, loving com- 
 panionship, and has immortalized her in his verse. Of the 
 mother of Goethe, that profound and mysterious poet and philos- 
 opher, George Henry Lewes says: 'She is one of the pleasantest 
 figures in German literature, and one standing out with greater 
 vividness than almost any other. Her simple, hearty, joyous, 
 and affectionate nature endeared her to all. She was the delight 
 of children, the favorite of poets and princes.' And yet it must 
 be said that neither of Goethe's parents was possessed of unusual 
 mental powers, though his mother was a wonderful story-teller, 
 and did much in this way to develop and stimulate his imagina- 
 tion as a child." 
 
 "And can't you say a good word for his father?" asked Mr. 
 Notion pleadingly. 
 
 ' ' Oh, yes, Edward, he was a very respectable, methodical sort 
 of man, with a keen relish for the curibus odds and ends of 
 knowledge. And now, having gratified your desire, I shall 
 resume my summary, if thus it may be called. Jean Paul 
 Bichter's mother was a good, true, pious woman, the wife of a 
 German pastor, who died when Jean was sixteen. Madame 
 Necker, the mother of Madame De Stael, was beautiful and 
 brilliant. Richard Brinsley Sheridan inherited his literary 
 talents from his mother, who was a popular author. Anthony 
 Trollope's mother was a well-known novelist and satirist. Alex- 
 ander Humboldt, the famous scientist, explorer, and discoverer, 
 was indebted to his mother, a clever and capable woman, for his 
 remarkably thorough education, which he derived largely from 
 private tutors. Lamartine revered the memory of his mother, 
 who did much by her sympathy, encouragement, and companion- 
 ship to unfold his genius. She was a woman of fine literary 
 talents. Carlyle described his mother as the best of all mothers, 
 to whom he owed endless gratitude. 'By God's mercy,' said he, 
 'she is still left as a head and center to us all, and may yet cheer 
 us with her pious heroism through many toils, if God so please.'
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 141 
 
 Samuel Johnson had a good mother, and a wife whose memory 
 he affectionately cherished for thirty years after her. death. This 
 great man, whom Carlyle calls in his 'Heroes and Hero Wor- 
 shipers ' a giant, invincible soul, the greatest soul in all England, 
 was great as a boy. When ten years of age he penned in his 
 diary that diary which he had kept from his earliest years a 
 resolve, which, though written in Latin, may be thus translated : 
 ' I have bidden farewell to sloth, and intend henceforth to turn a 
 deaf ear to the strains of that siren.' ' 
 
 "What about the mothers of Shakespeare and Milton?" 
 inquired Mr. Notion. 
 
 ' ' That is a hard question to answer, Edward, for scarcely any- 
 thing is known of them. But Milton was not without plenty of 
 feminine help, as he had three wives and three daughters." 
 
 ' ' And they say, Matilda, that his daughters treated him 
 badly." 
 
 "And no wonder," said Mrs. Notion, "for he seemed to 
 regard them as mere machines, created for his especial comfort 
 and convenience. In order that they might read and write for 
 him during his blindness, he taught them in a superficial fashion 
 five or six foreign languages, but they learned them mechanically, 
 and he never took the pains to inform them of the meaning of the 
 words which they read to him. And now a word about the 
 mother of Robert Burns, the wondrous Scottish poet. She was 
 fair to look upon, with fine complexion, and beautiful dark eyes. 
 Sagacious, sincerely religious, quick in reading character, cheer- 
 ful, neat, industrious, and with her memory well stored with 
 old songs, ballads, and Scotch traditions, she was a remarkable 
 woman for one in her humble station in life. The father of 
 Burns was also a person of superior character, and was described 
 by Murdock as by far the best man he ever knew. Mrs. Burns, 
 like the mothers of Goethe and Humboldt, spent many years of 
 widowhood. The mother of Leon Gambetta was one of the 
 strongest of characters, and to her was her son indebted, not 
 only for inherited abilities, but for the advantages that enabled 
 him to become a statesman. She was of Jewish extraction, and 
 was mentally greatly the superior of her husband. Immanuel 
 Kant, the great German philosopher, who is just beginning to be 
 appreciated in English-speaking countries, said of his parents, 
 who were poor tradespeople, that 'never, not even once in his 
 knowledge, did they say an unbecoming word or do an unworthy
 
 142 DOMESTIC DLIKI.S. 
 
 act,' He described his mother a* 'a lovely, affectionate, pious, 
 and upright mother, who led her children to the fear of God In 
 means of pious instruction and a virtuous example.' She had 
 eleven children. Schiller's mother had tastes and acquirements 
 rare in women of her rank; she was a good musician, fond of 
 poetry, and wrote it, while the gentleness of her temper gave a 
 certain refinement to her manners. I learn this from Dr. 
 Charles I. Hempel, one of the poet's biographers, who wisely 
 says, 'No observation is at once more true and more hackneyed 
 that it is to the easy lessons of a mother men of genius have- 
 usually owed their earliest inspiration.' Mendelssohn and 
 Beethoven were both blessed with good mothers, and the mother 
 of the former was a woman of great natural gifts and excep- 
 tional attainments. The mother of Isaac Watts had strong 
 characteristics, and was singularly self-possessed and dignified. ' ' 
 
 "You have not mentioned Byron," remarked Mr. Notion. 
 "His case I suppose you regard as exceptional, as his mother 
 was a woman of violent temper, who derided his deformed foot, 
 and his wife refused to live Avith him." 
 
 "Yes," replied Mrs. Notion, "his case was exceptional, and 
 I do not care to discuss it. The great Chateaubriand attributed 
 to his mother the restoration of his faith in religion, and credits 
 her for the impulse that brought about the composition of his 
 great work on the 'Genius of Christianity.' The poet Gray 
 never mentioned his mother without a sigh. He owed every- 
 thing to her, as she saved his life in early infancy by her pres- 
 ence of mind, and afterwards earned by her own industry the 
 money needed to send him to Eton and Cambridge. Buffon, 
 the celebrated naturalist, said that he took after his mother, of 
 whom he always spoke in terms of the highest admiration and 
 praise. The mother of Fenelon was the daughter of a noble 
 house, and was naturally endowed with beauty, grace> and a 
 keen, discriminating judgment. She conducted his education 
 until lie was twelve years of age. The poets Campbell, Crabbe, 
 and Cowley were all much indebted to their mothers; and the 
 mother of Thomson, who also attained high reputation as a 
 writer of poetry, earned hei-self the means for his education at 
 Edinburgh. Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, and 
 the mother of John Quincy Adams, has been called the greatest 
 of American women. She was descended from four generations 
 of preachers. Having a powerful mind, she delighted in the
 
 WOMEN'S INFLUENCE UPON GREAT MEN. 143 
 
 exercise of her thinking and reasoning faculties, and, though 
 she never went to school, she gathered a vast fund of knowledge 
 by her own efforts, and without any systematic instruction. Her 
 letters are marvels of wisdom, patriotism, statesmanship, and 
 philosophic thought. Her husband said in one of his letters to 
 her: 'In reading history you will generally observe, when you 
 find a great character, whether a general, a statesman, or a 
 philosopher, some female about him, either in the character of a 
 mother, wife, or sister, who had knowledge and ambition above 
 the ordinary level of women, and that much of his eminence is 
 owing to her precept, example, or investigation in some shape 
 or other.' " 
 
 "Why," exclaimed Mr. Notion, " that almost sounds like your 
 own proposition, which you have been trying for some time to 
 demonstrate! " 
 
 " But listen, Ned, to the testimony of John Quincy Adams to 
 the worth of his mother: 'My mother was an angel upon earth. 
 She was a minister of blessing to all human beings within her 
 sphere of action. Her heart was the abode of heavenly purity. 
 She had no feelings but of kindness and beneficence; yet her mind 
 was as firm as her temper was mild and gentle. She had known 
 sorrow, but her sorrow was silent. She had completed within 
 less than a month of her seventy-fourth year. Had she lived 
 to the age of the patriarchs, every day of her life would have 
 been filled with clouds of goodness and love. She had been 
 fifty-four years the delight of my father's heart. If there are 
 existence and retribution beyond the grave, my mother is happy. 
 But, if virtue alone is happiness below, never was existence upon 
 earth more blessed than hers.' And this was penned when her 
 son was himself advanced in years. I have far from exhausted 
 my material, but I have said enough on this branch of the subject, 
 and feel that I have made good my promise, and have at least 
 made out a prima facie case to the effect that all great men owe 
 their greatness to some extent to the helping hand of some 
 member of my sex." 
 
 "You begin to look sleepy, my dear, and will no doubt be 
 glad to hear, before retiring, another anecdote illustrating the 
 genius of your sex, and which you have doubtless overlooked." 
 
 Mrs. Notion brightened up and asked with evident curiosity 
 what it was. 
 
 "It relates, Matilda, to the wife of Sir Walter Scott. As
 
 144 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 they were rambling about their estate one day, he said, 'Ah, it' a 
 no wonder that poets from the earliest ages have made the lamb 
 the emblem of peace and innocence! ' To this Lady Scott replied 
 with charming simplicity, 'They are indeed delightful animals, 
 especially with mint sauce. ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Notion smiled with great eifort, and began her prepara- 
 tions for retiring.
 
 Mrs. Notion Gives Her Ideas of Modern 
 Inventions. 
 
 ' ' Occupation is the best safeguard for women under all circumstances 
 mental, or physical, or both. Cupid extinguishes his torch in the 
 atmosphere of industry." Madame de Svign6. 
 
 "My dear," remarked Mr. Notion, as he looked over the 
 evening paper, " I see that the electric barouche is now a practi- 
 cal vehicle, and that in the well-paved streets of Paris fourteen 
 miles an hour is its rate of speed. ' ' 
 
 "Good, good!" replied Mrs. Notion with enthusiasm. 
 
 ' ' I can understand, ' ' said Mr. Notion, with an expression of 
 surprise, "why you should rejoice in the progress of modern 
 invention; but I am at a loss to see any particular reason why 
 you should exult over the introduction of the electric carriage." 
 
 ' ' You are a mere man, my dear, ' ' smili ngly answered his 
 wife, "and your inability to comprehend my feelings is natural 
 and excusable. Your male curiosity is doubtless aroused. I do 
 not wish to leave it unsatisfied. When the electric barouche 
 becomes cheap and practicable, it will come into general use, and 
 horses will no longer be utilized for the propulsion of vehicles 
 through the streets of cities. Immediately a multitude of men 
 Avill be thrown out of employment. The unfortunate fellows who 
 have worked with horses all their lives, and who are skilled and 
 daring in their management, will find their occupation gone. 
 Their work is not suited for women. It requires too much 
 strength, courage, and steadiness of nerve. In these qualities I 
 freely concede the superiority of men to women. But each new 
 invention places a heavier discount on animal strength and 
 physical courage. Women are no longer the helpless victims of 
 male cruelty. Inequalities of weight, nerve, and muscle all 
 disappear in the presence of a little revolver, possessed by a 
 woman who knows how to use it. To return, however, to the 
 electric carriage. I predict that it will give employment to hun- 
 dreds of thousands of women in all parts of the world." 
 10 (145)
 
 146 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Why, how do you reach that conclusion?" inquired Mr. 
 Notion. 
 
 ' ' Easily, Ned, ' ' was his wife' s answer. ' ' As I said, women 
 are not as strong as men, and never will be. In all occupations 
 where muscular vigor, powers of endurance, and nerves of steel 
 are required, women are at a terrible disadvantage in their com- 
 petition with men, and the men retain control. But the progress 
 of modern civilization is all in the direction of labor-saving 
 machinery. Each new invention either shifts from humanity to 
 motors the application of force and overcoming of the inertia of 
 matter, or opens up new and broad vistas of light and easy 
 employment. It follows that those realms of industry where 
 great human physical exertion is required, are constantly being 
 reduced to smaller proportions. In short, machinery is doing all 
 the hard, rough work, and only light and easy work is left for 
 humanity to do. Brute force is at a discount, and deftness, 
 speed, skill, intelligence, and reliability are the qualities now in 
 demand. In all of these except intelligence I confidently assert 
 that women excel men." 
 
 "Admitting for the present that you are right in this last 
 statement," suggested Mr. Notion, "how does it follow that 
 women are to do the work connectc'd with electric carriages? 
 Let us settle that matter first. I don't see any women among 
 the motormen and conductors of our electric cars. ' ' 
 
 "Neither do I see any on our electric cars," replied Mrs. 
 Notion, "but in other countries women have long enjoyed a 
 monopoly of that kind of work. In Chile, for instance, the 
 street-cars are managed exclusively by pretty girls, whose neat- 
 ness, politeness, and close attention to duty, make the car service 
 first-class, and attract a large patronage from the traveling public. 
 I believe that the time is near when women will fill positions of 
 that sort in nearly every country in the world." 
 
 "Then you are of the opinion," said her husband, "that new 
 inventions are more especially helpful to women than to men ?" 
 
 "Yes, Edward, I certainly am," was .Mrs. Notion's answer. 
 "Consider the telegraph. A vast majority of operators are 
 women. The work was originally performed almost entirely by 
 men, but the women soon demonstrated their ability to do it 
 better and for less pay, and so they now fill most of the posi- 
 tions. The telephone, too, has been a blessing to womankind. 
 From the start we have done most of the work. Bright, iutelli-
 
 MODKKN INVENTIONS AND WOMEN. 147 
 
 gent girls are employed in all the telephonic offices to answer 
 calls, connect the wires, and attend to all the complicated details 
 of the telephonic system. . Their fitness for this difficult and 
 responsible labor is shown by the fact that the business of the 
 companies goes on quietly, uninterruptedly, and without friction 
 or complaint. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, my dear," ejaculated Mr. Notion, "I admit that the 
 ' Hello ' girls have a practical monopoly of that kind of work. 
 Possibly their lack of that inquisitiveness which distinguishes the 
 male sex qualifies them especially for that particular kind of 
 employment." 
 
 "No," was his wife's smiling reply, "that is not the only 
 reason, although you speak truly when you say that women are 
 not as curious as men. Our indifference to the daily newspapers 
 shows that. But it is the patience, amiability, good judgment, 
 and tact of the young ladies which constitute their superiority 
 to men in the performance of the duties connected with the 
 telephone." 
 
 "Well, that is decidedly cool! " exclaimed Mr. Notion. 
 
 " To continue, however," proceeded Mrs. Notion, "the sewing- 
 machine has been and is another great boon to womankind. As 
 a result of its use, most of the hard tailoring work once done by 
 men is now done by women, and it is safe to say that we women 
 manufacture the greater part of men's wearing apparel, in addi- 
 tion to our own. And then there is the typewriter. Prior to 
 its introduction the clerical work in commercial counting-houses 
 and professional offices was performed almost altogether by men. 
 Now scores of thousands of young women in all our large cities 
 find light and congenial employment in the operation of type- 
 writers. And right here let me say that without another inven- 
 tion the writing machine would not have been so beneficial to 
 women. ' ' 
 
 "And what is that, pray?" inquired her husband. 
 
 ' ' Why, the elevator. Though buildings in our centers of 
 population are now higher than ever before, five and six-story 
 structures were quite common in all the large cities long before 
 elevators came into use. Then as now lawyers' offices were in 
 the upper stories, and the frequent climbing of numerous flights 
 of stairs constituted an almost insuperable barrier to the employ- 
 ment of lady clerks. Hence, if the typewriter had come without 
 the elevator, women would have been unable to gain such easy
 
 148 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 access to lawyers' offices, and male clerks might still be doing 
 much of their work." 
 
 " One would almost suppose from . your remarks, Mrs. Notion, 
 that some understanding existed between the women and the 
 inventors, and that the transfer of a considerable portion of the 
 work of the community from men to women was the result of 
 a deep-laid conspiracy." 
 
 "Not at all, my dear Ned. Behind all these things is a kind 
 and overruling Providence, who is correlating events which have 1 
 no obvious human connection, and so combining and shaping 
 them as to uplift the female portion of our race from the oppres- 
 sion and degradation of centuries." 
 
 "Hasn't it struck you as singular, Matilda," asked her 
 husband, "that the women whose emancipation was to be wrought 
 so largely through the instrumentality of inventions, should have 
 been willing to leave the labor of invention and discovery almost 
 entirely to men ? ' ' 
 
 "No, Mr. Notion, it has not. In the first place, you assume 
 what is not true. Women are just as inventive as men, and if 
 they were not, I should attribute it, not to any inherent inferi- 
 ority, but to lack of opportunity. As a matter of fact, though, 
 many of the greatest inventions of the age have originated with 
 women. But their ignorance of the patent laws, of business 
 methods, and of the real importance of their devices, was taken 
 advantage of by men, who thus appropriated to themselves the 
 credit and profit which belonged by right to women. For this 
 reason I claim that the final outcome of modern inventions in 
 favor of our sex, is a marked instance of righteous retribution." 
 
 "But surely, Matilda, some of these gifted women have had 
 sense enough to patent their own inventions." 
 
 "Yes, indeed they have," replied Mrs. Notion. " When I was 
 at the World's Fair in 1893, and visited that architectural 
 marvel, the Woman's Building, I was deeply impressed with the 
 inventions of women which I saw exhibited there. Among them 
 were a self-threading sewing-machine; an appliance by which the 
 occupant of a vehicle can easily and instantly detach the horses 
 from it, and at the same time apply the brakes to the wheels; a 
 refrigerator with ventilated food drawers; an adjustable trough 
 for feeding and watering cattle in transportation; an ingenious 
 garment fastener which closes like a seam, but which opens by a 
 single movement of the hand, and obviates the use of hooks or
 
 MODKRX INVENTIONS AND WOMEtt. 149 
 
 buttons; an appliance for matching stripes and figures in cloth; 
 a heat conserver, which will keep food hot for hours without 
 artificial heat; a perfect bread-raiser; a dough -beater; and a very 
 useful and novel waist and sleeve pressing board. The names of 
 some of the lady inventors whose devices were there displayed 
 were: Annie H. Chilton, Mary M. Harris, Madame J. Leontine, 
 Ida A. Teller, Mrs. Kellogg, Caroline W. Romney, Mary E. 
 Mapp, Mrs. A. J. Heinbel, and Mrs. M. J. Day. Though I 
 did not attend the Atlanta Exposition, I kept close watch for 
 accounts of the work of my inventive sisters, and, among other 
 things which they exhibited there, were a rubber bath-tub for 
 babies, a brass crib, a brass baby carriage, a baby jumper, a 
 baby tender, a model feeding bib, a baking pan, a new sewing- 
 machine, a straw sewing-machine, an ironing board, a douche 
 bath which closes like a folding bed, a condensed-milk cup with 
 spring attachment at the bottom, a coffee pourer which delivers a 
 definite amount by the pressure of a button, a bedclothes fastener, 
 a rattan bolster and sham holder, a street sweeper, a composition 
 for saving fuel, a marble shooter, a finger strengthener for piano 
 practice, a trunk protector, a step ladder, a duplex bicycle skirt, 
 anew waterproof called 'vulcanized air,' etc." 
 
 "I should judge, my dear, " said Mr. Notion, "that most of 
 these inventions are very sensible, and just such as true wives and 
 mothers should be interested in." 
 
 "True," replied Mrs. Notion, "but that is not the point I 
 wish to call to your attention at this time. The thought I desire 
 to emphasize in connection with these inventions of women, is that 
 most of them are for the comfort, convenience, and welfare of 
 mothers and their children. This shows that the lady inventors 
 of the country are in hearty sympathy with the home and its 
 youthful inmates, and would indicate that the women of America 
 were not so averse to the function of maternity as you have 
 asserted." 
 
 "To my mind the fact upon which you comment would bring 
 no such inference," said Mr. Notion, "but would simply make 
 it appear that many of the good mothers of the land had pat- 
 ented little labor-saving domestic appliances which had been 
 suggested to them during the course of their household experi- 
 ence. But, aside from this phase of the subject, you must con- 
 fess that the inventions which you have enumerated are compar- 
 atively insignificant and narrow in their scope, when compared 
 with the great inventions of men."
 
 150 I>oMI-Xn<! IH'r.l.-v 
 
 "Don't boast too much about them, Edward, for you will 
 find upon investigation that women have had a hand in nearly 
 all of them. Watt would never have thought of the strain 
 engine if it had not been for his mother's teakettle, and he 
 would not have perfected his invention without the aid and 
 encouragement of Margaret Miller, his cousin, and afterwards 
 his wife. She made his success possible by her work, cheer, 
 hope, self-sacrifice, and pravers. But, before he achieved fame, 
 repeated disappointments and privations caused her death. We 
 do not hear enough of the heroism and nobility of the wives of 
 great inventors. In this man-ruled world they are generally 
 ignored. By listening intently, however, faint echoes of the 
 life histories and characters of some of them have come to me. 
 It was the love which Elias Howe bore his wife which led him 
 to invent the sewing-machine, in order that he might lighten her 
 toil, as she sewed for their three little children. When he was 
 on the very verge of success, his noble helpmeet sickened with 
 consumption and died. But she was faithful to the last, and on 
 her death-bed gave him words of encouragement and love. At 
 that time his fortune consisted of sixty-two cents. Thirteen 
 years afterward his income was two million dollars." 
 
 "I am deeply interested, Matilda, in what you tell me, for 
 it comes to me with all the charm of novelty." 
 
 "Remember, too, Edward, that Arkwright's spinning-jenny 
 was the result of an effort on his part to improve upon his 
 mother's method of spinning yarn." 
 
 "That will never do," said Mr. Notion reproachfully. "You 
 would be just as logical if you were to claim that women were 
 entitled to credit for all great inventions, because they were the 
 mothers of great inventors." 
 
 "If I were disposed to argue along that line," retorted Mrs. 
 Notion, "I might say that men generally resemble their mothers, 
 and that great inventors are no exception to this rule. But I am 
 not forced to take such a position, for women have accomplished 
 great things in this direction themselves. The spinning of silk 
 was first done by a Chinese woman. Lace-making on pillows 
 was the invention of Barbara Uttmaii, in ( lermauy, .'500 years 
 ago, at a time when the country was on the verge of financial 
 ruin. The art spread with great rapidity, and such large sums 
 of money were thus brought into the country that the threatened 
 wreck and ruin were averted. The horseshoe machine, which
 
 MODERN INVENTIONS AND WOMEN. 151 
 
 turns out a shoe every three minutes, is the invention of a woman, 
 and the paper pail, rotary loom furnace for smelting ore, screw 
 crank for steamers, fire escapes, self-fastening buttons, danger 
 signals, etc., had. their origin in the ingenuity of members of my 
 sex. Women have also invented many improvements in sewing- 
 machines, a machine for the manufacture of boxes, an improved 
 clothes drier, a rug fastener, a sash fastener, agricultural imple- 
 ments, and a complete dishwasher and rinser, that makes the work 
 of washing dishes mere play. Mrs. Mather invented and her 
 daughter perfected the deep-sea telescope, by which wrecks can 
 be inspected, and the bottoms of large vessels examined without 
 their being docked. Mrs. Maggie Knight invented the satchel 
 bottom bag, and realized a profit of $50, 000 out of it. Harriet 
 Hosmer has succeeded in producing marble from limestone. The 
 Eureka street sweeper is the invention of a woman. In fact, 
 we are proving our ability to do all kinds of work, and conduct 
 all kinds of business. Mary Kies was the first woman in the 
 United States to obtain a patent. In 1809 she patented her 
 method of weaving straw with silk or thread. In 1893 the 
 women of this country took out 300 patents on their own 
 inventions, and. in 1894 they were granted 400 patents, 160 of 
 which were for wearing apparel, and 100 for cooking utensils. 
 There are fifty women architects in the United States, and the 
 number is increasing. Miss Kittie Wilkins, the 'horse queen' 
 of Idaho, has one of the largest horse-training ranches in the 
 world, and Mrs. Richard King owns a ranch in southern Texas 
 of 1,250, 000 acres. It is thirteen miles from her frontdoor to her 
 front gate, and she can drive over her land sixty-eight miles in a 
 straight line. She lives, as every woman ought to, in a magnifi- 
 cent mansion." 
 
 "You amaze me," exclaimed Mr. Notion, "by these state- 
 ments. I have read much concerning women, and have flattered 
 myself that I was well posted in reference to their history and 
 present status, but you have come into possession of much 
 information which is altogether new to me." 
 
 Mrs. Notion smiled, and said: "I have not confined myself 
 to books, but have hunted for facts in every nook and cranny of 
 literature, current as well as classic. But, speaking of women 
 architects, one of the most beautiful and imposing edifices I ever 
 beheld was the Woman's Building at the Columbian Exposition, 
 and it was designed by a lady."
 
 152 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Did the ladies build it?" inquired Mr. Notion, with an air 
 of the most unsophisticated innocence. 
 
 "No, of course they didn't. They were too busy trying to 
 prevent their male relatives from going into despair over the 
 tremendous business, failures and reverses of that time. In this 
 connection I will say that I am very thankful that- the cruel age 
 of steam has had its day, and that the era of electricity is here. 
 The one had to precede and prepare the way for the other. Just 
 think of the significance of the change ! The touch of a little 
 electric button set in motion the mighty machinery of the World's 
 Fair; the gentle pressure of a child's hand caused the huge 
 explosion at Hell Gate. Don't you see what this means? It 
 means that intelligence, tact, sagacity, patience, and integrity are 
 hereafter to dominate the world. Brute force has had its day. 
 The work of the rough hod-carrier can now be done by women, 
 for the elevator now lifts the building materials to the required 
 height. If wars are to continue, men will no longer monopolize 
 the fighting. Armies can now wage the most dreadful conflicts 
 out of sight of each other. Cavalry charges are a thing of the 
 past. Bicycle riders will take their place, and women will soon 
 be riding the metal steeds in larger numbers than the men. The 
 greatest cannon are now lifted, loaded, and discharged by machin- 
 ery, which women can manipulate as well as men; and smokeless 
 powder and long-distance firearms have removed combatants so 
 far apart that marksmen get their range only by means of mag- 
 nifying glasses and mathematical calculations. These things can 
 be done by women as well as men." 
 
 Mr. Notion looked at his wife with an expression of real 
 alarm. "Are you so warlike as all that?" he asked. "I 
 thought you were opposed to fighting of every kind, and favored 
 arbitration as a substitute for warfare. ' ' 
 
 "So I do; but you men have so long argued that it would be 
 useless to give women the ballot, for the reason that, in case they 
 outvoted the majority of men, they could not enforce the verdict 
 which they might render at the polls, that we have decided to 
 take military matters also into our own hands. After we have 
 sufficiently demonstrated our ability to wield the weapons of 
 modern warfare, and protect our sex, if necessary, against the 
 aggressions of men, we will gracefully disarm and bring about a 
 universal peace." 
 
 "What a beautiful programme, Matilda, and how charmingly
 
 MODERN INVENTIONS AND woMEff. 153 
 
 simple ill its design ! I wonder I dicln' t think of it myself. 
 Possibly, however, there might be some little difficulty in its 
 execution. Has it ever occurred to you that the great majority 
 of women will always be so busy about their household affairs 
 that they will have neither time nor inclination to take the reins 
 of power, even if they possessed the ability to do so?" 
 
 This pointed question was not answered, for Mrs. Notion 
 looked at her watch, and, exclaiming that she would be late at 
 the woman's suffrage meeting if she did not hurry, hastily left 
 the room.
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Discuss Some of the Indus- 
 trial Phases of the Woman Question. 
 
 " Woman ought not to give herself up to those pursuits which 
 interfere with her natural duties; her true merit consists in making 
 her husband happy, and in bringing up her children properly, and 
 in forming men." De Maistre. 
 
 ' ' I was much interested the other evening, Matilda, in your 
 novel views on the bearing of modern inventions upon the status 
 of your sex. I was somewhat amused, however, at the rather 
 guileless manner in which you rejoiced at the rapid progress which 
 women were making in driving men out of the industrial field. 
 You did not seem to give a thought to the future of the men who 
 were thus displaced, or how the women would be affected who 
 depended upon them for support. ' ' 
 
 ' ' There you are very much mistaken, ' ' replied Mrs. Notion. 
 "I have reflected upon these matters as deeply as I am capable 
 of doing, and admit that the problem is a grave one, not to be 
 settled in a day, and not to be solved by those who view it super- 
 ficially, or who take it for granted that the former relations of 
 the sexes are better than those of the present time. We are now 
 living in a period of transition, and so rapid and radical are tbe 
 changes in every department of life, that the fabric of society is 
 being strained almost to the point of breaking. In fact, I am 
 not sure that our present systems, or the civilization which is their 
 product, will survive. " 
 
 "It does look," remarked Mr. Notion thoughtfully, "as 
 though the old social and political machines were worn out. We 
 have been patching them up until we have almost reached the 
 point that the colored man had who went to the gunsmith and 
 said lie wanted his gun repaired. When asked to state the par- 
 ticulars in which it needed repairing, he said lie wanted a new 
 lock, stock, and barrel. There are those all around us now who 
 demand just as complete a change in the constitution of society. 
 The prohibitionist wants to annihilate the liquor traffic. The 
 
 (154)
 
 INDUSTRIAL I'HASKS <>!' TIIK (JUESTION. 155 
 
 so-called religious reformer wants to provide a substitute for all 
 existing sects and denominations. The free trader insists that the 
 custom-houses should be .abolished. The single taxer says that 
 taxation is robbery, and that ground rent, the product of society 
 at large is sufficient to defray the expense -of every legitimate 
 governmental function. The greeubacker says that metal money 
 is a fraud, that true economic money is merely a medium of 
 exchange, a representative of value, and that the only scientific 
 currency is that which is issued by the government as an acknowl- 
 edgment of indebtedness, which it will accept for all purposes, 
 or pay with other similar acknowledgments. The silver man 
 demands the free coinage of both metals at 16 to 1. The anti- 
 monopolist tells us that the road-beds of all the railroads in the 
 country should be acquired by the government, and maintained 
 by it as highways of commerce, freely accessible to all who own 
 cars and locomotives, and who comply with the laws of the road. 
 The female suffragist would have us believe that women are 
 entitled to the ballot equally with men, and that all that is 
 necessary to bring about a Utopian condition of affairs is to 
 clothe them with the elective franchise. The Christian Scientist 
 proclaims the unreality of matter, and the ability of en- 
 lightened man to free himself from the thraldom of sin, disease, 
 and pain by the mere exercise of his will. Legal reformers 
 strenuously assert that what is most needed is to withdraw the 
 sanction of the law from all private contracts, and to deprive the 
 parties to such agreements of the privilege of compelling their 
 performance by litigation. The ultra advocates of peace contend 
 that war is an unnecessary survival of barbarism, and that the 
 peaceable settlement of all international disputes by a court of 
 arbitration is entirely practicable. The labor agitator claims that 
 all the troubles between labor and capital should be settled by 
 official arbitrators. The socialist wants the community to own 
 everything and do everything, thus reducing the individual 
 to the minimum and expanding society to the maximum. The 
 anarchist, on the other hand, eagerly desires the utter abolition of 
 law, and would have only such communities as might be formed by 
 the voluntary association of individuals. While all these matters 
 are being excitedly discussed, the inventors of the day are 
 quietly undermining the foundations of society by inventions and 
 discoveries so great ill number, and so important and far-reaching 
 in their effects, that it is impossible for society to adapt itself to
 
 156 DOMKSTIC nt'Ki.s. 
 
 them. Labor-saving devices which would be of incalculable 
 benefit to the community, it' it possessed etricient and equitable 
 distributive functions, now only serve to render valueless vast 
 plants and investments, and to throw out of employment armies 
 of workingmen and working- women. ' ' 
 
 ''That being the case, Edward, the results would be most 
 deplorable if all the reformers whom you mention were to succeed 
 in the enforcement of their schemes. The ranks of the unem- 
 ployed would be suddenly swollen by the liquor men, the preach- 
 ers, the custom-house officials, internal revenue officers, and 
 tax-collectors, the mint employees and bank officials, the railroad 
 presidents, the physicians, the preachers, the lawyers, and judges, 
 the policemen and jailers, and the army and navy." 
 
 "Socialism would make matters right again by giving them 
 all government jobs, " dryly suggested Mr. Notion. 
 
 "Seriously, Edward, do you think that the great social tenden- 
 cies of the present are inimical to the welfare of the race'' " 
 
 "I certainly do, and I believe that the most ominous of them 
 all is the sinister prominence which women are gaining. As i 
 said before, they are to the front everywhere. Just look at the 
 fiestas, flower carnivals, fetes, etc., which have been so numerous 
 in different parts of California during the last few years. Kadi 
 of these has to be ruled by a queen, who is chosen after keen 
 competition among the most beautiful and influential women of 
 the neighborhood. Arrayed in rich robes of state, crowned 
 amidst the plaudits of the thoughtless multitude, escorted by 
 maids of honor and pages, she is formally invested by the city 
 officials with all the powers of the municipality, and begins her 
 reign by proclaiming a season of gaiety and revelry, unchecked 
 and unhindered by the usual restraints of the law. 
 
 " But that is only play, Edward." 
 
 " Yes, Matilda, it is only play, but the fact that the people in 
 these times of poverty, business depression, perplexing social and 
 political questions, and abounding vice and crime, should want 
 to play, constitutes a very serious sign of the times. It reminds 
 me painfully of the closing days of Roman greatness. But let us 
 return to our immediate subject, which is the supplanting of so 
 many nude workers by women. Permit me to again remind you 
 that the men w r ho are thus displaced, are often unable to obtain 
 other employment, and that great suffering results to their families 
 as well as to themselves. ' '
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 157 
 
 " I know it, Edward, but the woman who is looking for work 
 can not stop because of any such considerations. The fact is that 
 a very large percentage of the women of civilized lauds are 
 unmarried, and must depend upon their own exertions for 
 support. In 1870, 43 per cent of all the women of Scotland 
 over twenty years of age were unmarried. At the same time 40 
 per cent of English women were single. Can you wonder that 
 they exerted themselves to get work ? ' ' 
 
 " But the trouble is," said Mr. Notion, "that they accept less 
 wages than men, and thus by their cheap labor reduce the rewards 
 of industry. The men who are thrown out of employment by 
 this female competition are in many instances supported by their 
 own wives and children. In both Europe and America the 
 employment of women and children is continually on the increase, 
 especially in the textile industries, whose thousands of steam 
 looms and spindle frames are worked by the cheapest labor in the 
 market. In consequence of this condition of affairs, the relations 
 of sex and age have been pretty well reversed. The wife and 
 children are in the factory; the man, who has no work to do, 
 stays at home and attends to the house. A great many instances 
 of this kind have come within my personal observation. Men 
 who once earned good wages and salaries, unable to find work, 
 have become dependent upon the exertions of their wives and 
 daughters, and, ashamed to live at the expense of the female 
 member's of their household, without doing something, they have 
 gradually accustomed themselves to sweeping, cooking, and the 
 washing of dishes." 
 
 " I really had not given that phase of the subject much study," 
 said Mrs. Notion. " I was delighted to think that my unmarried 
 sisters were becoming independent, but I did not realize that their 
 competition with men was driving married women into the ranks 
 of industry." 
 
 "Let me quote a little from the census," exclaimed Mr. 
 Notion. "Carrol D. Wright, in the tenth census of the United 
 States, says: 'The factory system necessitates the employment of 
 women and children to an injurious extent, and, consequently, 
 its tendency is to destroy family life and ties and domestic habits, 
 and ultimately the home.' The census of 1870 gives the total 
 number of women workers at 1,830,288, an increase of 19 per 
 cent since I860. In 1880 they were 2,647,157, or 14.68 per 
 cent of females over ten years of age. In Massachusetts the
 
 15.S hoMKsTir i>ri-:i.s. 
 
 average weekly earnings of the working-girls for the average 
 time employed, which was 42. 95 weeks, were 8t>.01, and the 
 average weekly earnings of all the working-girls of Boston for 
 a whole year were $4.91. The average yearly income from all 
 sources was 8209.70, and the average yearly expenses for pos- 
 itive needs was $261.30, leaving but $7.77 on an average for 
 books, amusements, etc. In New York City the wages of work- 
 ing-women for the entire year average 83.50 to 84.00 per week, 
 and under the sweating system wages fall to 82.50 and 3.00 a 
 week, and m many instances lower still." 
 
 "In another part of Mr. Wright's reports," said Mrs. 
 Notion, "he shows the average wages per week of women- 
 workers in twenty-two American cities to be 85.24. I>ut 1 
 don't like these figures. They don't convey any very definite 
 idea to the ordinary mind. It is easy to see that they are low, 
 very low, but it must be remembered that many of these women 
 and girls do not have to entirely support themselves. They 
 merely supplement by their earnings the incomes of their hus- 
 bands, fathers, and brothers, and obtain money with which to 
 buy nice clothing, and the innumerable little articles of per- 
 fumery, confectionery, and bijouterie which women need to make 
 them happy." 
 
 "All the worse, Matilda, for the women who are solely 
 dependent upon their own exertions for support. They have to 
 compete with the girls who live at home, and are not able to 
 supply themselves with the bare necessities of life, let alone the 
 innumerable little luxuries which you mention as indispensable 
 to a woman's happiness. As a result hundreds of thousands of 
 them have to work for wages below the standard of subsistence, 
 and to suffer untold misery and want. Were it not for the 
 competition of the women who want a little pin money, these 
 unfortunate creatures would doubtless receive larger compensa- 
 tion. It makes me shudder as I think of the five hundred 
 thousand working-women of London alone, vast numbers of 
 whom are driven to prostitution as a means of keeping body 
 and soul together. A recent report shows that the English nail 
 and chain workers receive only eight pence a day, and that a 
 majority of English women workers receive compensation below 
 the point of subsistence. In France, where everything is dear, 
 and sugar sells at twelve cents a pound, there are 4,415,000 
 women workers. In Lille, France, the weavers and spinners
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 159 
 
 formerly lived in caves, 3,600 of which were destroyed by the 
 government some years ago." 
 
 "Yes," exclaimed Mrs. Notion, "I have read a graphic 
 description of the female spinners in France, by Jules Simon. 
 He says: 'Water covers the brick floor. The odor of the linen 
 and a temperature often exceeding 25 Reaumeer, fill the work- 
 room with an intolerable stench. The majority of the work- 
 women, obliged to put off most of their garments, are huddled 
 together in this pestilential atmosphere, imprisoned in the 
 machines, pressed one against the other, their bodies streaming 
 with sweat, their feet bare to the ankle; and when a day nom- 
 inally of twelve hours, but really of thirteen and a half, is over, 
 they quit the Avork-room for home, the rags they wear barely 
 protecting them from cold and damp.' ' 
 
 ' ' The same may be said, Matilda, of the women workers of 
 Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy. In Germany two-thirds of the 
 women are at work in field or shop or home, the proportion of 
 Avomen in agriculture being larger than in any other country of 
 Europe. The million female agriculturists of Germany receive 
 from 20 to 25 cents a clay for 12 and 13 hours' Avork. Nearly 
 half of the 15,000,000 Italian women Avork for Avages. In 
 Russia the female Avorkers get only one-fifth the Avages of the 
 men, and Avork from 12 to 16 hours a day." 
 
 "Helen Campbell is my favorite author on this subject," said 
 Mrs. Notion. "In one of her books I think it is 'Women 
 Wage- workers,' she says, speaking of unskilled women Avorkers: 
 ' All alike are half-starved, half-clothed, ovenvorked to a fright- 
 ful degree; the report specifies numbers AA'hose day's work runs 
 from 14 to 16 hours, and Avith neither time to learn some better 
 method of earning a living, nor hope enough to spur them on in 
 any IICAV path. ' ' 
 
 "The linen thread spinners of Paterson, NeAV Jersey," 
 remarked Mr. Notion, "are as badly off as those of France, 
 if the official report is to be believed. It says: ' In one brand) 
 of this industry women are compelled to stand on a stone floor 
 in Avater the year round, most of the time barefooted, Avith a 
 spray of Avater from a revolving cylinder flying constantly against 
 the breast; and the coldest night in Avinter, as AA'ell as the warmest 
 in summer, these poor creatures must go to their homes with 
 Avater dripping from their underclothing along their path, because 
 there could not be space or a feAV moments alloAved them wherein 
 to change their clothing.' '
 
 160 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "How fortunate it is, Edward, that the wretched condition of 
 the unfortunate women workers should be ameliorated by the 
 piety of some of their employers! The Labor Commissioner of 
 Iowa has discovered that shirts are being made in one of the 
 large cities of that state for 36 cents per dozen, and that the 
 rules of one establishment paying such wages to a large number 
 of women, require that the day's labor should commence and 
 terminate with prayer and thanksgiving." 
 
 "It is just such hideous hypocrisy as that, Matilda, that is 
 alienating the. masses from the church. The conditions are truly 
 appalling, and human wisdom is incompetent to discover or apply 
 the remedy which shall cure our social and industrial maladies. 
 When women are glad of the chance to make overalls for forty 
 cents per dozen pairs, and pants for from fifty cents to a dollar 
 and a quarter per dozen pairs, and charge from twenty-five cents 
 upwards for summer dresses, the outlook is gloomy. Our Amer- 
 ican working-girls begin work at the average age of fifteen years 
 and four months, and have to fight enemies insidious and almost 
 innumerable. Among these deadly foes to female industry I 
 may mention the dust of heckling flax, which kills the strongest 
 in fourteen years; that of emery powder, which sometimes destroys 
 life in a month; that of pottery, etc., so penetrating that the 
 medical reports give cases of stone for new-born babes; that of 
 rags, foul, and breeding fever in the picker; that of wools from 
 diseased animals, striking down the sorter; that of wood, coal, 
 and flour, each of which is so penetrating that it can not be 
 removed or dislodged; the poisonous paints of artificial flowers 
 and wall papers, which blotch the skin of children, and produce 
 frequently blindness, paralysis, and hideous sores; the deadly 
 vapors of muriatic acid from pickling tins; of chlorine from 
 bleaching- rooms; of gas and phosphorus, which, despite the 
 strongest preventives, destroy the teeth and jaws of many a 
 worker. In these shops and factories, amidst the stamping, saw- 
 ing, rolling, and cutting of machinery, the saying is heard, 'It 
 takes three fingers to make a stamper.' ' 
 
 "Just think, Edward, of little children of four being taught 
 lace-making, and made to sew on buttons and pick threads far 
 into the night! " 
 
 "Thase conditions are, fortunately, no longer possible under the 
 factory laws of England and most of the states of America," 
 Said Mr, Notion. "But the enemies I mentioned are only a
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 161 
 
 few of the terrible total of working- women's foes. The lack of 
 ventilation adds many to the multitude of victims who acquire 
 lung and bronchial diseases from the inhalation of the dusts of 
 feathers, furs, cotton, wool, a^id other fabrics of manufacture. 
 In soap factories the hands of the girls are eaten by the caustic 
 soda, and at the end of the day their fingers are often raw and 
 bleeding. In the manufacture of buttons, pins, etc. , the fingers 
 are often jammed or cut, and for the first three times the wounds 
 are dressed without charge, but after that at the worker's expense. 
 The intense watchfulness required in many trades brings on weak- 
 ness of the eyes, necessitating the expensive services of the 
 oculist. The girls who work in bakeries stand from ten to six- 
 teen hours a day, and soon break down." 
 
 "AVhat a dreadful catalogue of miseries!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Notion. 
 
 ' ' Yes, dear, the list is a dreary one, and yet I have not half 
 finished it. Cash girls, saleswomen, and factory workers have to 
 stand all day, and many diseases and troubles result. The girls 
 in type foundries are ghastly pale from the effects of the fine 
 metallic dust, while those in book binderies, brush factories, and 
 paper-box factories soon break down from a variety of causes. 
 In laundries and confectionery establishments the excessive heat 
 makes the women subject to pulmonary complaints, in addition 
 to the ailments produced by continuous standing. The fine dust 
 of straw goods makes the girls cough almost constantly, and the 
 acids employed often cause acid sores upon the ends of the 
 fingers. In match factories necrosis often eats the jaw away. 
 Ulcers, sores, and a variety of pains are the lot of the girls who 
 work in chemicals. Much of this misery might be obviated by 
 the employers, but they refuse to do anything as a rule, unless 
 compelled by law. Lack of seats for saleswomen, insufficient 
 time for meals, scanty and unsanitary toilet conveniences, and a 
 system of petty fines, which sometimes eat up one-third and one- 
 half the wages, are among the evils of shop life which might be 
 eradicated." 
 
 ' ' Another serious evil in all large establishments, ' ' said Mrs. 
 Notion, ''is the fact that girls are generally forced to obtain 
 from men permission to go to the closets, and are often compelled 
 to run the gauntlet of men and boys in order to get there. The 
 unanimous testimony of the physicians who treat these girls is 
 that many of them, as the result of their aversion to subjecting 
 11
 
 162 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 themselves to this trying ordeal, have contracted serious diseases. 
 I am sorry, too, that women are gradually becoming more 
 addicted to the use of strong driuk. Dr. Annie S. Daniel, for 
 many years physician in charge of out-practice for the New York 
 Infirmary for Women and Children, reports that 'drinking among 
 women is increasing. ' ' 
 
 "A very distressing phase of the female labor problem of 
 which we have not yet spoken," remarked Mr. Notion, "is that 
 of the so-called domestic industry, which might seem at a super- 
 ficial glance to be much more advantageous for those engaged in 
 it than the crowded factory. Let me quote in this connection 
 from your favorite industrial author, Helen Campbell: 'In the 
 region between Houston Street and Canal Street, New York, 
 known now to be the most thickly populated portion of the 
 inhabited globe, every house is a factory; that is, some form of 
 manufacture is carried on in every room. The average family of 
 five adds to itself from two to ten more, often a sewing-machine 
 to each person ; and from six or seven in the morning until far 
 into the night the work goes on usually the manufacture of 
 clothing. Here contagious diseases pass from one to another. 
 Here babes are born and die, the work never pausing, save for 
 death, and hardly for that. In one of these homes Dr. Daniel 
 found a family of five making cigars, the mother included. Two 
 of the children were ill of diphtheria. Both parents attended to 
 these children; they would syringe the nose of each child, and 
 without washing their hands, return to their cigars. AYc have 
 repeatedly observed the same thing when the work was manu- 
 facturing clothing and undergarments, to be bought as well by 
 the rich as the poor. Hand-sewed shoes, made for a fashionable 
 Broadway shoe store, were sewed at home by a man in whose 
 fan lily were three children with scarlet fever. And such instances 
 are common. Only death or lack of work closes the tenement- 
 house manufactories. AVhen we consider that stopping the work 
 means no food and no roof over their heads, the fact that the 
 disease may be carried by their work, can not be expected to im- 
 press these people. ' ' 
 
 "AYhy, Kdward, such a condition of things constitutes a 
 standing menace to the health and even the life of every family 
 in our land! " 
 
 "It certainly does, Matilda, and womanhood, childhood, and 
 the family as a whole, are greviously wronged by this state of
 
 INDUSTRIAL, PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 163 
 
 affairs. As Helen Campbell says, 'it is the future of the race 
 that is in question.' The married woman who works thus is 
 exposed to many accidents during pregnancy, which are alike 
 injurious to her offspring and herself, frequently producing abor- 
 tions, and premature and still births. The mother is compelled 
 to return to work as soon after her confinement as possible, with 
 the alternative of having her place filled by another competitor. 
 Hence the children are neglected, eat unwholesome food, are 
 quieted with opiates, and die like sheep, or live to suffer from 
 stunted development or chronic diseases and deformities. Helen 
 Campbell says that comparatively few prostitutes are recruited 
 from the ranks of female industry, but other writers differ radi- 
 cally from her in this respect. Bebel says: ' It was ascertained 
 in Munchen in 1877, that among the registered prostitutes under 
 the surveillance of the police, no fewer than 203 were the wives 
 of day laborers and artisans.' Countless other married women, 
 he says, are driven to this course without subjecting themselves to 
 police control. But the subject of prostitution is a disagreeable 
 one, and, though it is rather closely related to our theme, I don't 
 suppose you care to hear anything further about it. ' ' 
 
 "There you are mistaken, Edward. A sincere student of 
 social conditions must expect to come in contact with much that 
 is painful and even loathsome, and I am not one of those women 
 who carry their modesty to the extreme of prudery. I believe 
 it is only by frankly meeting these evils, and admitting the 
 horrible facts, that we can hope to improve existing conditions." 
 
 "Well, Matilda, I will only briefly refer to this phase of our 
 subject. It is impossible to do more than approximate the 
 number of fallen women in any city. While the police can state 
 with considerable accuracy the number of professional prostitutes, 
 it can not do so with regard to the far greater number of those 
 who resort to prostitution as a partial means of subsistence. 
 Von Dettingen estimated the number of lewd women in London 
 in 1870 at 80,000. General Booth expresses the belief in his 
 book 'In Darkest England and the Way Out,' that that great 
 city contains 100,000 of these wretched women. In Paris, 
 though there are only 4,000 registered prostitutes, the actual 
 number is said to be from 60,000 to 100,000. Von Dettingen 
 thinks there are from 25, 000 to 30, 000 of this class of females 
 in Berlin, although only 2,800 are directly controlled by the 
 police. In the year 1876, 16,198 women were arrested in that
 
 164 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 city for violations of the regulations issued by the Police of 
 Morals. In Hamburg in 1860 every ninth woman above the 
 age of 15 was a prostitute; and at the same time in Leipzig there 
 were at least 2,000 women depending chiefly upon this vicious 
 calling for their support. In our principal American cities the 
 evil is as great as in those of Europe, and vast armies of fallen 
 women are maz-ching to a speedy death, for loathsome diseases 
 haunt their every footstep, and dog them to the grave. Mrs. 
 Charlotte Smith, of Boston, who is engaged in the work of 
 reclaiming outcast women, says that there are 500, 000 women of 
 this class in the United States. Sanger calculates that the aver- 
 age life of prostitutes the world over is only seven years. As the 
 average age at which they begin their sinful occupation is about 
 eighteen, you can see that the poor creatures who constitute the 
 demimonde, and flaunt their finery in the faces of the decent 
 element of every community, are doomed to an early death. Many 
 of them commit suicide; many are murdered; but most of them 
 rapidly pass, as they lose their charms, to lower and lower haunts 
 of vice, and after a few years of unspeakable wretchedness and 
 misery, find a resting-place in the potter's field." 
 
 "O Edward, can it be that these unfortunate women are so 
 short-lived? If that is so, their numbers must be constantly 
 recruited from the little girls who are growing up around us." 
 
 "Yes, indeed, Matilda, hundreds of thousands of little inno- 
 cents who are now enjoying the happy thoughtlessness of child- 
 hood, and whose baby prattle perhaps delights the fond hearts of 
 loving parents, are doomed in a few years to fill the vacant ranks 
 in this army of those who are the victims of man's lust, and 
 inarch mournfully under the banners of sin and satan." 
 
 "But surely, Edward, these girls are almost entirely taken 
 from the lowest order of people, from the abodes of most abject 
 poverty and vice." 
 
 "Vast numbers of them are, but there is a constant demand 
 for thousands of girls of refinement, education, and accomplish- 
 ments, who by their beauty and brilliancy may brighten the 
 fashionable and glittering establishments where the wealthy rout B, 
 debauchees, and libertines come to satisfy their lust. In order 
 that these palaces of sin may be supplied with fresh and alluring 
 maidens, it is necessary that the carefully-nurtured and tenderly- 
 reared daughters of the rich and educated should be attracted 
 thither, for the girls who come from the habitations of want,
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 165 
 
 generally lack the grace, beauty, and charm of manner which 
 are essential in the occupants of these great houses of horror. ' ' 
 
 "I can understand, Edward, that there might be a demand 
 for this class of girls, but I utterly fail to comprehend how it 
 could be supplied." 
 
 "In every large community," said Mr. Notion, "there are 
 men and women called procurers and procuresses, whose business 
 it is to pander to vice, and who are constantly on the lookout for 
 new victims. They haunt the places of travel, the employment 
 offices, the hotels, lodging-houses, and pleasure resorts, and 
 keep a sharp eye on the public schools. In innumerable instances 
 they decoy young girls away from home, restrain them of their 
 liberty in rooms far beyond the reach of the writ of habeas 
 corjHis, and whose deadened walls subdue their cries of anguish 
 and despair in that awful moment when they are ravished of 
 their virtue. In other cases drugs are administered, and when 
 the victim awakes, she makes the agonizing discovery that'that 
 priceless jewel, her woman's honor, is lost. Of course large 
 numbers of young women are betrayed by the men they love, 
 and after a year or two spent as the mistress of some rich liber- 
 tine, who has probably daughters of his own at home or travel- 
 ing in Europe, finds her way into the palatial brothels and 
 assignation houses to which I have referred." 
 
 "You speak, Edward, of girls being frequently deprived of 
 their liberty. Surely all these fallen women are free at any 
 moment to go where they please, and can if they so desire return 
 to their homes and friends." 
 
 "No, Matilda, strange as it may seem, there are hundreds 
 and thousands of fallen women in all the large cities of Europe 
 and America who are virtually prisoners. They are kept con- 
 stantly in debt to the keepers of the bagnios where they are 
 confined, and do not own their gaudy wearing apparel. In 
 many instances they can not speak the language of the country 
 whoie they live, and when they try to escape, or become des- 
 perate, and refuse to continue their life of shame, some criminal 
 charge is trumped up against them, and legal process is abused 
 in order that they may be detained in captivity. They soon 
 cease the hojreless struggle, and resign themselves to their terrible 
 fate. In a hook called 'Maiden Tribute to Modern Babylon,' 
 the facts in which are based upon the exposures published some 
 years since in the J*<ill Mill (iazette, there are many statements
 
 166 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 so terrible as to make one shudder. It contains many detailed 
 accounts of how women were enticed into brothels in England 
 and France, and deprived of their liberty for years. Among 
 these is the story of a married Avoman who spent nearly four 
 years in a house of ill-fame in Bordeaux, where she had been 
 placed by a scoundrelly Greek, who once kept a cigar shop in 
 a street leading off Regent Street, and who took her and three 
 others over from London on the assurance that he would find 
 them good situations either as barmaids or in gentlemen's fam- 
 ilies. Arrived at Bordeaux they were taken to the house of 
 Madame Suchon, 36 Rue Lambert, which they believed to be 
 a hotel, and where they were kindly received. In a day or two, 
 however, their own clothes were taken away, they were tricked 
 out in silk dresses and other finery, and told that they must 
 receive gentlemen. Upon their saying they would leave, they 
 were told that they each owed the landlady eighteen hundred 
 francs, the cost of their transportation, the commission of the 
 agent, and the value of the dresses. Being strangers in a strange 
 land, and ignorant of the French language, they were powerless, 
 and had to submit to their fate. One of the companions of this 
 woman was subsequently sent to South America as a virtual 
 slave, and the woman herself only escaped by a chance. A 
 man from Toulouse took a fancy to her, paid off all her debts, 
 and gave her money to pay her passage to London, where she 
 rejoined her husband." 
 
 "Do you really think, Edward, that there are many such 
 cases?" 
 
 "I feel sure of it," replied Mr. Notion with emphasis. 
 "W. Joest, in his book of travels 'From Japan to Germany 
 through Siberia,' says that the German people would do better 
 to excite themselves over the dreadful fate of German girls than 
 about the slave trade in Africa, or the condition of affairs in 
 Cuba and Brazil. He then says: 'They would do better to take 
 the beam out of their own eye, for in no country in the world is 
 such a trade with white slaves carried on as in Germany and 
 Austria; and from no country in the world are such numbers of 
 these human wares exported. The road which these girls take can 
 be followed exactly. They are sent from Hamburg to South 
 America; Bahia and Rio Janeiro receive their quota, but the 
 greater number is intended for Montevideo and Buenoa Ay res 
 while the small remainder pass through the Straits of
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 167 
 
 to Valparaiso. Another batch is sent direct, or via England, to 
 North America, but here it finds difficulty in competing with the 
 native product, and is therefore dispersed along the Mississippi to 
 New Orleans and Texas, or westward to California; from thence 
 the coast is provided as far as Panama, while Cuba, the West 
 Indies, and Mexico receive their supply from New Orleans. 
 Under the title of "Bohemians" other troops of German girls 
 are exported over the Alps into Italy, and from thence further 
 south to Alexandria, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, and Singapore, 
 and even to Hongkong and Shanghai. Dutch India, the East 
 Indies, and Japan are bad markets, as Holland suffers no white 
 girls of this sort in its colonies, and in Japan the daughters of 
 the country are too good-looking and too cheap. Moreover, 
 competition from San Francisco prevents much profitable business 
 from being done. Russia is supplied from East Prussia, Poni- 
 erania, and Poland. The first station is generally Riga. Here 
 the dealers from St. Petersburg and Moscow pick out what suits 
 them, and send their wares in large numbers to Nischnij- 
 Nowgorod and over the Oural to Irbit and Krestofsky, as far 
 as the interior of Siberia; I met, for instance, a German girl 
 in Tschita who had been negotiated in that way. This enormous 
 business is thoroughly organized; it is transacted by agents and 
 commercial travelers, and if the Ministers of Foreign Affairs 
 were to demand reports from all the German consuls, very inter- 
 esting statistical tables might be made out.' ' 
 
 "Edward, this recital makes me sick at heart, and I. tremble 
 for the future of our own daughters. In the midst of such iniquity, 
 what girl is safe?" 
 
 ' ' I am sorry to say, Matilda, that the traffic in human flesh is 
 not confined to girls who have attained the age of puberty. Mrs. 
 Clmrleton Edholm, in her book called 'The Traffic in Girls,' 
 quotes extensively from the revelations of the commission of 
 inquiry appointed by Win. T. Stead, the proprietor of the Pall 
 Mall Gazette, and gives the cases of young girls of thirteen and 
 fourteen years of age who had been entrapped and outraged lu- 
 men who make it their business to debauch virgins. One beauti- 
 ful little girl was decoyed into a house conducted for such pur- 
 poses, and imprisoned in a room until the man should come who 
 was to rob her of her virginity. When he came, she recognized 
 him as her own father, and threw herself weeping into his arms. 
 There is or was a house in London where virgins are examined,
 
 168 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 and certificates of their virginity issued; and in the same estab- 
 lishment the same girls are ' repaired ' after their ruin has been 
 accomplished. From Mrs. Edholm's book I learn that little 
 mites five and six years old sometimes fall victims to the lust of 
 human monsters. Sister Emma in her home at Hants has more 
 than fifty children, all of whom were received under twelve. In 
 only four cases was the man punished." 
 
 "The more shame to you men," exclaimed Mrs. Notion 
 earnestly, "for you are the judges and jurors who pass upon 
 all these cases." 
 
 "And now, my dear, before we leave this branch of the sub- 
 ject, I shall briefly review the causes of prostitution, so far as I 
 have been able to discover them. They are as follows: The 
 influx of inexperienced country girls into the cities, where they 
 fall an easy prey to the procurers. The inability of working- 
 women to support themselves by honest industry. The wiles of 
 the professional procurer and procuress, who entrap virgins, and 
 sell the privilege of despoiling them of their virginity. The 
 avarice of parents, who sometimes demand from their daughters 
 a certain amount per week, regardless of where or how it is 
 obtained. The vanity of weak-minded and foolish girls who 
 want to dress flashily, and indulge freely in expensive pleasures, 
 and easily yield to what they believe to be the rewards of immor- 
 ality. The love of the stage, which seizes so many young girls, 
 who are thus brought into evil associations, and often stranded on 
 the road, where they fall a prey to the temptations which beset 
 them. The real or fancied neglect or cruelty of stepmothers, 
 and the harshness of parents, which often drives girls from home. 
 The desertion of young wives by husbands, and the intemperance 
 and brutality which so often drive wives away from their homes. 
 The seduction of young girls under promise of marriage. Beer 
 gardens, concert halls, night drives, public balls, night picnics 
 and excursions, and the facilities for unrestrained intercourse 
 between the sexes which these things promote. Hasty and ill- 
 as.-orted marriages, and especially marriages by well-meaning but 
 deluded young women with smooth, plausible, genteel-appearing 
 confidence men, who gradually train their wives into accomplices, 
 and often lead them into prostitution. A low standard of virtue, 
 which causes some women to think that so long as they live only 
 with one man, it makes little difference whether they do so as 
 wife or mistress. The habit of using strong drink, opium, mor-
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 169 
 
 phine or cocaine, which benumbs the nobler qualities of modesty, 
 self-respect, and love of chastity, and awakens in their stead the 
 hitherto slumbering fires of sinful passion. These habits are 
 generally acquired through the recklessness of physicians in pre- 
 scribing drugs and liquors. Some women become prostitutes to 
 gratify their own unbridled lusts, and some are trained for the 
 calling from early childhood. These are the hardest to reach." 
 
 "But, Edward, don't you think that much is being done in 
 this country to reclaim these unfortunates, and to prevent the 
 ruin of others ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes, Matilda, as you know, the Florence Crittenton Rescue 
 Homes and Missions are doing a great work in this direction. 
 Other similar homes for erring women, notably those established 
 by the Salvation Army, are accomplishing a great good ; besides 
 which the efforts along the line of social purity by the Women's 
 Christian Temperance Union and other societies, and the move- 
 ment to raise the age of consent, are very helpful. But, after all, 
 the great stream of prostitution flows steadily on, and during all 
 the ages has defied the efforts of Christians and philanthropists 
 and statesmen, either to reduce its volume, or to eradicate it 
 in toto. It is not a necessary evil, as many thoughtlessly and 
 wickedly claim, for it aggravates all the evils of which it is 
 supposed to be a preventive; but thus far it has proved to be an 
 incurable one." 
 
 ' ' You have horrified me, Edward, by these awful disclosures ; 
 but hereafter I shall sympathize more than ever with my 
 fallen sisters, and do what little lies within my power to rescue 
 them from their deplorable condition. But my feelings have 
 been so overwrought by the sad circumstances which you have 
 stated, that I must ask you to desist, in order that I may try to 
 find rest in sleep."
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Continue Their Discussion 
 of Woman in the Industrial Sphere. 
 
 "The woman's cause is man's; they rise or sink together, dwarfed 
 or godlike, bond or free; if she be small, slight-natured, miserable, how 
 shall man grow ? " Tennyson. 
 
 " Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth, 
 Unapt to toil and trouble in the world, 
 But that our soft conditions and our hearts 
 Shall well agree with our external parts? " 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 ' ' Now, Matilda, ' ' said Mr. Notion, ' ' it will he well for us, 
 perhaps, before proceeding further with the discussion of this 
 phase of our subject, to briefly sum up the facts which we have 
 thus far brought out. As I remember them, we are agreed that 
 a very large percentage of the women of civilized lands are 
 single; that in some countries the unmarried constitute more than 
 forty per cent of the women over twenty years of age; that large 
 numbers of these women, have invaded the industrial arena 
 formerly occupied almost exclusively by men; that the process 
 of the displacement of male by female labor is still rapidly going 
 on; that many of the callings in which women are largely 
 engaged are highly injurious to health, and often destructive to 
 life; that as an almost invariable rule women workers accept 
 much smaller compensation than that demanded by the men; 
 that many men are now doing housework, while their female rela- 
 tives are earning a livelihood for the family; that in numerous 
 instances the labor of women has to be supplemented by that of 
 children in order that the family may be maintained; that large 
 numbers of women work for wages below the standard of sub- 
 sistence, and as a result many of them increase their earnings by 
 prostitution, and finally become professional courtezans; that 
 among the female wage-earners are a considerable proportion of 
 married women, whose labors manifestly unfit them for the proper 
 
 (170)
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 171 
 
 discharge of their wifely and maternal functions, and that thus a 
 great wrong is done to the family and child life. ' ' 
 
 "I think," said Mrs. Notion, "that you have stated quite 
 fairly the ground we went over in our last talk. But, so far, 
 you have had little to say about your own ideas in regard to 
 these facts, and I have listened in vain for the suggestion of any 
 remedy for the existing condition of affairs. Now Helen Camp- 
 bell, who has given the subject exhaustive investigation, says: 
 'The entire movement appears to me a part of the natural evolu- 
 tion from barbaric law and restriction, and a necessary demon- 
 stration of the spiritual equality of the sexes. I regard it also 
 as the nurse and developer of many small virtues in which women 
 are especially deficient punctuality, unvarying quality of work, 
 a sense of business honor, and of personal fidelity to each and 
 each to all. But I can not feel that it is a permanent state, or 
 that when the essential ha.s been accomplished, women will have 
 the same need or the same desire that now rules. I believe that 
 wages must necessarily fluctuate and tend to the mere point of 
 subsistence when either child labor or the lowest grade of 
 woman's labor exists, and that the only way out of the compli- 
 cations we face is an alteration of ideals. Statistics and general 
 reports show the demoralization of family life where such work 
 goes on, and the fact that in the long run the workman loses 
 rather than gains where his family share his labor.' What 
 think you, Edward, of these views ? ' ' 
 
 "I think, Matilda, that it is a crying shame to see women 
 unsexing themselves, and crowding men out of employment in 
 every direction. I don't believe that there is any spiritual 
 equality of the sexes about it. I have tried to show you in our 
 previous talks that the physical and psychological differences 
 between men and women are such that their paths in life should 
 and must be radically different; that the former are fitted for the 
 rough, hard work of the world, while the latter are best adapted 
 to the duties of the fireside. I admit that there are exceptions to 
 every rule, but I declare most emphatically that as a rule women 
 should find their highest usefulness and chief delight in the sacred 
 duties of the home. ' ' 
 
 " But you forget, Edward, that millions of women are thrust 
 out into the world by circumstances over which they have no 
 control, and that they are not in a position to choose their sphere 
 in life, but must seize the first opportunity which presents itself
 
 172 noMKSTir nri;i>. 
 
 for earning a livelihood. I heartily concur in your view that the 
 home is the ideal place for woman's presence and activities, and 
 that in the future as in the past the majority of my sex will there 
 abide, but what would you do with the constantly-increasing 
 army of women who are self-dependent for subsistence?" 
 
 "Their numbers are grossly exaggerated, Matilda. Of the 
 forty per cent of women over twenty years of age \vli<> arc single, 
 it is safe to say that the larger proportion will marry before they 
 are twenty-five, and those who are destined to live a single lite 
 usually find hpmes either with their parents or their married 
 brothers or sisters. In the generality of cases these, unmarried 
 women are gladly welcomed into the families of their relatives, and 
 find many ways in which to make themselves useful and agree- 
 able about the household. We are all familiar with the beloved 
 aunt who voluntarily refrained from matrimony, and who in a 
 thousand ways lightened the domestic labors of her married sister, 
 and won the lifelong affection of her nephews and nieces. In the 
 old days the household which was not blessed and brightened by 
 such an occupant was an exception." 
 
 "But such a life," exclaimed Mrs. Xotion, "is intensely galling 
 and irksome to a woman of spirit. It is too dependent, too 
 humiliating; and no self-respecting woman will be content to 
 occupy permanently the position of a pensioner upon the bounty 
 of any one. ' ' 
 
 "I am glad to say," replied Mr. Notion, "that there are 
 many womanly ways in which a spinster can earn a comfortahle 
 support for herself. The profession of teaching has fallen almost 
 exclusively into female hands, and scores of thousands of intelli- 
 gent and estimable women maintain themselves and do invaluable 
 service in this calling. The business of dressmaking is largely 
 conducted by women, and offers a wide field for their remunera- 
 tive energies. Saleswomen are numerous in nearly all our large- 
 dry goods establishments, and I see nothing in that occupation 
 which is not entirely in keeping with womanly delicacy and 
 refinement. And then, for those who are not sufficiently intelli- 
 gent and well-educated to avail themselves of these avenues of 
 industry, there remains the lucrative, comfortable, and instructive 
 iidd of domestic service. There is no good reason why hundreds 
 of thousands of bright American girls should not earn a living in 
 this way, and at the same time acquire the art of housekeeping, 
 thus fitting themselves for the proper performance of their own
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 173i 
 
 housewifely and matronly duties, in the event that the future has 
 such in store for them. But, as you know full well, our Amer- 
 ican girls turn up their noses at the thought of domestic service, 
 and, rather than become 'servants,' willingly work in some dirty 
 factory, where they are subjected to all sorts of hardships and 
 humiliations." 
 
 " O Edward, you touch a sore point, indeed, when you 
 allude to the servant-girl question. Though I am far from agree- 
 ing with you in your general views regarding female industry, I 
 must own that the attitude of our girls with reference to household 
 service is unreasonable and indefensible. I am sure that 'hired 
 help, ' as the old phrase went, are better paid, more comfortable, 
 and safer from influences that menace virtue than are the girls 
 in factory, shop, and office. Besides, my own experience as a 
 housekeeper convinces me that the girls who do condescend to do 
 light housework are generally very hard to get along with. Some 
 are lazy, some slovenly, some grossly ill-bred, some impudent, 
 some dishonest, some tyrannical, and all ungrateful. I have set 
 it down as an invariable rule that when I do some especial favor 
 for my servant, or make some great sacrifice on her account, she 
 will surely treat me badly. You know, Edward, that this is so. 
 I could enumerate all the girls we have ever had, and tell what I 
 did for them, and how basely they requited my kindness and self- 
 denial. I do like to make my girls happy, to put them on a 
 plane of equality, to interest myself in their welfare, to plan for 
 their comfort and pleasure; but they can not endure it. AVhen 
 I am kind to them, they think I am afraid of them; when I tr\ r 
 to please them very much, they make up their minds that I am 
 preparing to take some undue advantage of them; when I treat 
 them as my equals, they become overbearing and disrespectful; 
 when I give them a handsome present, or make some special 
 effort to contribute to their happiness, they conclude that I am 
 one of the foolish women who can be imposed upon with impunity, 
 and that their services are so indispensable that I will endure any 
 indignity rather than let them go." 
 
 "And yet, Matilda, you tell me that some of your lady friends 
 have none of this trouble with their help, and I think I have 
 heard you say that Mrs. Wisehead kept the same servant for five 
 years." 
 
 "Yes," admitted Mrs. Notion, "she is one of the luckiest 
 women in that respect that I have ever known. That girl of hers 
 is a treasure, indeed. I do wish I could find such a jewel."
 
 ,174 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "But, Matilda," suggested Mr. Notion with unusual blumlm 
 ;uid suavity, "is it not barely possible that Mrs. Wisehead's 
 success in this regard is at least partly due to her good man- 
 agement and faculty of discipline ? I have observed that she 
 is a very self-possessed person, and the few remarks I have had 
 the pleasure of hearing her make have been so judicious that I 
 was forced to conclude she was. a decidedly superior woman. ' ' 
 
 "There you go again with your cruel insinuations! " exclaimed 
 Mrs. Notion. "You are one of the most unreasonable men I 
 have ever met... You always throw the blame on me when any- 
 thing goes wrong. I suppose you think all the fault is mine 
 when one of our girls leaves us on an hour's notice. It is a pity 
 you do not have to manage the girls yourself. I know they all 
 think you are a very fine gentleman, and that I am the black 
 sheep of the household. You do not have to suffer from their 
 laziness, neglect, and impudence. They are on their good 
 behavior when you are around. Oh, yes; it is very easy for you 
 to smile graciously upon them, and address them in dulcet tone.-! 
 Your nerves are not tried by their caprices and hateful ness, and 
 I have noticed that you are always on dress parade when the 
 hired girl is around. But you may imagine how pleasant it is 
 for me to stay here and drudge for you and your children, and 
 know all the time that every girl who has left this house has been 
 your ardent admirer and my bitter enemy. Oh, they must have 
 given me a beautiful reputation by this time! And yet I was the 
 one who always made the sacrifices for their welfare, for, if they 
 had only known it, you, with all your smiles and graciousness, 
 would not have caused yourself one moment's inconvenience to 
 save their lives. And so far as Mrs. Wisehead is concerned, it 
 is really too bad that you did not get her for your wife instead 
 of me. If it were not for your prejudice against divorces, it might 
 still be possible for you to make this matter right. I assure you 
 that you will have no trouble in getting rid of me. Have no 
 uneasiness on that account. I got along before I saw yon, and I 
 can go out and earn a living for myself in some way, without any 
 of your help. Rest assured, sir, that I am ready to leave at any 
 time. But I don't know whether Mrs. \Visehead would be 
 willing to leave her husband in order to take my vacant place. I 
 have no doubt, however, that if she were inclined to make the 
 change, you would soon find good reasons to convince yourself 
 that your former views with reference to divorce were erroneous.
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 175 
 
 Such a change of front would be in perfect keeping with your 
 well-known character as a progressive man." 
 
 "But, Matilda 
 
 "Oh, yes, I understand your position thoroughly, sir, and you 
 can spare yourself the trouble of all buts and howevers, for no 
 explanation is necessary! " 
 
 ' ' Just one word, dear. You have certainly 
 
 1 ' That will do, SIT. I suppose you want to make me believe 
 that I misunderstand you; but I have been living with you too 
 many years not to comprehend you perfectly. This is not the 
 first time you have insulted me. On other occasions I have beer, 
 foolish and weak enough to let you persuade me that no harm 
 was intended, but this time I have made no mistake. Your 
 meaning is obvious. You are tired of me. I am getting old 
 and unattractive. I have not " 
 
 Here Mrs. Notion broke down and had a good cry, during 
 the course of which her husband had an opportunity to assure 
 her that he had no intention to reflect upon her in the least, or to 
 hurt her feelings in any way. After much comforting on his 
 part, and many earnest protestations of undying affection, she 
 gradually dried her tears, and the interrupted conversation was 
 resumed. 
 
 ' ' Believe me, my darling, the only point I wished to make 
 was that in many cases the mistresses as well as the servants were 
 to blame for the unsatisfactory manner in which their intercourse 
 is conducted, and I was about to say that your kindness and 
 indulgence, coupled with lack of skill in judging of human 
 nature, perhaps prevented you from training your servants as 
 strictly and thoroughly as you otherwise might have done. I 
 have sometimes been inclined to suspect that as a rule the girls 
 got the start of you in the very beginning, and for the reason 
 that you did not insist from the outset in their according you the 
 respect and consideration which your position deserved." 
 
 "I thought, sir, that your remarks indicated a lack of sym- 
 pathy Avith me in my troubles, and a desire to criticise me 
 unfairly, and contrast me unfavorably with the wives of other 
 men. As you are well aware, Mr. Notion, I never object to just 
 criticism, but I can not endure anything like carping censure, or 
 invidious comparisons between other women and myself. I think 
 as your faithful wife and the mother of your children during all 
 these years, I should be entirely exempt from comments of that
 
 176 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 kind. But let that pass. I have accepted your explanation, 
 and desire you to proceed as though nothing had occurred to 
 break the even thread of your discourse." 
 
 "I was trying to show, my dear, that a large proportion of 
 the unmarried women of this country need not engage in labor 
 unsuited to their sex, and, among other vocations admirably 
 adapted to women, I mentioned that of a domestic servant. It 
 is well, also, to remember that there are many women who belong 
 to wealthy families, and are consequently entirely freed from 
 the necessity of earning their livelihood." 
 
 . "But you must admit, Edward, that a considerable proportion 
 of the women who are crowding into pursuits formerly occupied 
 exclusively by men are driven to it by absolute necessity, and hence 
 that they are not to be blamed for the resulting disturbance of 
 economic and social conditions." 
 
 "No, Matilda, 1 am not prepared lo make any such admission. 
 I have watched this movement with keen interest, and I realized 
 from the first that it was fraught with grave consequences. It 
 has been brought about in less than a generation. Twenty years 
 ago women worked in factories, stores, and private houses. They 
 taught school, engaged in such lines of business as dressmaking 
 and millinery, held quite a number of subordinate government 
 clerkships, and earned money by their needle. But the office 
 work of banks, insurance agencies, brokers, railroads, and other 
 similar places, was done wholly by men. The bookkeepers were 
 all of the male sex. Men were found exclusively in photograph 
 galleries, and the lady telegraph operator was in a hopeless 
 minority. All the professions were a terra incognita to your sex. 
 But since then what a revolution! It has been almost magical 
 in its startling rapidity. It reminds me of the sudden drawing 
 aside of a curtain at the stage, and the resulting change of scene 
 and characters. Now the women are everywhere. They crowd 
 you in the restaurants, the same restaurants where twenty years 
 ago their presence, especially at the time of luncheon, would have 
 attracted comment. They have pressed hard against the means of 
 subsistence of the male waiter, and I thought at one time that he 
 would soon have to join the ranks of the unemployed. 1 begin 
 to think now, though, that he may be able to earn a living by 
 waiting upon the lady patrons of restaurants. I have observed 
 that in the eating-houses generally patronized by ladies the waiters 
 are young men, while in those which gentlemen frequent, pretty 
 women waitresses are in attendance."
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 177 
 
 "Please call them waiters, Edward. We don't like such 
 obsolete words as waitress, actress, poetess, authoress, doctress, etc." 
 
 "And what a change, Matilda, has come over the profession of 
 journalism! Twenty years ago, when I was a scribe, the lady 
 journalist had not appeared upon the scene. Now she is numer- 
 ously represented, and the male reporters have to compete con- 
 stantly with those of your sex. The lady clerk waits upon you 
 in the lawyer's office, and attends to your business in the insurance 
 office, the railroad office, the bank, the photograph gallery, the 
 hotel, and a)l similar establishments. Women are now the 
 cashiers, bookkeepers, and stenographers. They operate all the 
 typewriters, and have completely monopolized the work of tran- 
 scription for phonographic reporters which was done by men 
 twenty years ago. In fact, many of them are court reporters, 
 and they threaten to drive the male stenographer out of business 
 everywhere. They run the telephone offices, the telegraph offices, 
 the candy stores and ice-cream stands, the bakeries, and many of 
 the cigar stands. As yet they have not gained much of a foot- 
 hold in the shoe stores, and the elevator boy still holds the fort. 
 But I expect very soon to see them drive him ignominiously out 
 of his stronghold, und send the shoe clerk to keep him company." 
 
 "I think, Edward, that it would be much more delicate and 
 proper to have lady shoe clerks." 
 
 ' ' If the other women are of your opinion, Matilda, the poor 
 fellow who fits on women's shoes will have to become a tramp; 
 but I sometimes think that most of the women like to have a nice- 
 looking young man try on eight or ten pairs of shoes, and that 
 that is the reason why he still holds his job. But, my dear, 
 don't you sympathize with us in our distress? About the only 
 lines of business we have the monopoly of now are hod-carrying, 
 digging in the streets and sewers, running the street-cars, build- 
 ing houses, and sailing ships. But you have given me warning 
 that we can not hope even to retain this much longer. You 
 remind me that girls act as street-car conductors in Chile, and 
 make a success of it, and I am painfully aware that the women of 
 Germany have demonstrated their ability to do hod-carrying and 
 all kinds of laboring work. So far, mechanics' unions have kept 
 women out of the building trades; but since the typesetting 
 machine has come into vogue, your sisters have invaded the 
 printing offices, and I fear they will soon learn all the other 
 trades. ' ' 
 
 12
 
 178 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 " How can Ave ao it, Ed, when the men won't let us join their 
 unions, or apprentice ourselves as the boys do to learn a trade?" 
 
 " You forget, my dear, that manual training is rapidly heroin- 
 ing a part of the common-school education, and the girls are 
 quietly acquiring a knowledge of mechanical employments which 
 will enable them in a few years to press the boys to the wall. I 
 fear the men generally do not see the drift of this innovation, or 
 its inevitable consequences. If the workingmen had observed it, 
 I suspect that they would have cried out against it ere this. The 
 mischief now is irreparable, however, for the women are begin- 
 ning to assume the elective franchise, and when they commence 
 to vote, our opportunity to protect ourselves will be forever 
 gone. ' ' 
 
 "Surely you speak in jest, Edward." 
 
 "No, indeed, I am in sober earnest. I have pondered over 
 your remarks of the other evening relative to the influence of 
 new inventions upon women's employments, and I agree with you 
 that in a short time the only place for man will be where the 
 women are physically unable to compete with him; and that area 
 will be constantly contracted by labor-saving machinery." 
 
 "You take an extreme view, Edward. Most of the women 
 will not need to work, and you don't suppose they will compete 
 with the men for fun, do you ? ' ' 
 
 "Your question is twofold, Matilda, and requires a twofold 
 answer. In the first place, if this process continues, the num- 
 ber of women who need to work will rapidly increase. It is 
 perfectly obvious that every woman who drives a man out of 
 employment makes it necessary for another woman to find work. 
 If one-half of the women work for fun, the other half, or a 
 large proportion of them, will have to work for bread. Secondly. 
 I really think that thousands of girls do work for fun. They 
 like to show the young men that they are in no whit their infe- 
 riors, that they are perfectly independent, and that they can 
 compete with them on even terms at any time. This gives them 
 a certain sort of advantage, and when a young fellow has the 
 temerity to marry, his wife usually gets the whip hand right at 
 the start. This advantage she easily retains. I tell you, Matilda, 
 that when a man has to compete with women all day, and go 
 home and have another woman boss him at night, his lot is not a 
 verv enviable one. Let us consider the case of a mechanic who 
 marries a young woman who has been accustomed to earn her
 
 riiAS!:s OF Tii;: ^rrxnox. 179 
 
 own living as a clerk, or in some other capacity where she has 
 had to compete with men. Suppo.se he is out of work half the 
 time, or is absolutely unable to find employment at all, and his" 
 wife sneers at him, and reminds him over and over again of 
 the fact that she could earn more herself if she were free from 
 the cares of the household. How do you think a man of any 
 spirit would feel under such circumstances?" 
 
 "But no true woman, Edward, would thus taunt her husband. 
 The loving, faithful wife would say nothing, but would silently 
 go to work and earn the money which the family required, and 
 which her husband was not able to obtain." 
 
 "Granted, my dear, but I am sorry to say that all women are 
 not of that caliber. Still, even in the case winch you suggest, 
 the man's lot would be pitiful, and you can see that he must 
 soon relapse into the position of the housekeeper. His wife can 
 not work all day for wages and do the housework, too. I tell 
 you, Matilda, that when a man can no longer occupy the place 
 of bread-earner, he must soon fall into his true position of house- 
 keeper. ' ' 
 
 "But don't you think, Ned, that women are elevated by 
 their ability to earn a living for themselves; that they become 
 more independent, and can either marry a husband of their 
 choice, or refrain from matrimony altogether? Under the old 
 system, you know, many girls were almost compelled to marry 
 in order to get a home. This was all wrong. It looks no\v as 
 though the bright, talented girl would be able to wait for her 
 equal as a husband; and I am sure that is a good thing." 
 
 "It certainly seems to be a very good thing, Matilda, for a girl 
 to be independent, and yet I feel that there is something unnatural 
 about it. I can not dissociate the idea of femininity from that 
 of weakness, dependence, delicacy, and need of protection. The 
 strength, independence, and general robustness which so many 
 women claim now as the heritage of their sex, strike me as 
 unwomanly, and contrary to the highest female ideals. You will 
 doubtless vote me an old fogy, entirely out of place in this age 
 of change and progress, but the feeling is too deeply ingrained in 
 my nature to be eradicated. Men were formerly proud of the 
 privilege, and the ability of protecting and cherishing their wives, 
 sisters, and daughters; but, if women are to be their physical 
 and mental equals, and are to meet them on a plane of perfect 
 equality as their competitors in every avenue of activity, all
 
 180 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 necessity for protecting and cherishing the so-culled gentler sex- 
 will have ceased to exist. Women heretofore have not waited for 
 "their equals (in the sense in which you use the word) to espouse 
 them in matrimony, but have gladly permitted their affections to 
 center in the man whom they regarded as their superior in 
 wisdom, knowledge, power, and courage." 
 
 "But you would not have them marry their social inferiors, I 
 am sure," said Mrs. Notion; "and that is what I had in mind 
 when I spoke of their waiting for their equals as husbands." 
 
 "And yet I fear, Matilda, that the ability of a woman to 
 compete with men, and to do their work for less wages, will not 
 aid her in mating with a social equal. It is just that process 
 which is rapidly decreasing the number of marriageable men, 
 and, as I assured you on a previous occasion, true men are still 
 sufficiently imbued with the old sentiments to prefer the tender, 
 modest, shrinking woman to the hard, bold, self-reliant one. 
 Besides, Rabbi Ben Azai may be right when he says, 'Go down 
 the ladder when thou marriest a wife; go up when thou choosest 
 a friend." 
 
 "Come, Ned, don't misrepresent or caricature the charming 
 women who to-day as never before are demonstrating their ability 
 to stand beside men as their equals in every department of life. 
 There is no necessary connection between self-reliance and hard- 
 ness, boldness, ^ and coarseness. You would not admit such an 
 inference so far as your own sex is concerned, and would scout 
 the idea that a gentleman, in order to be refined, high-strung, 
 and gentle, would have to forfeit the qualities of strength and 
 daring. Nor will I acknowledge that the female independence 
 of which I spoke is to be acquired only at the expense of the 
 finer traits of womanhood. I am among those who believe that 
 it is just as contemptible for a woman to marry with a mercenary 
 motive as for a man to do so, and I insist that the girls who earn 
 their own living will be less likely to do this than those who feel 
 their helplessness." 
 
 "I can not agree with you in this opinion," replied Mr. Notion. 
 "On the contrary, it would seem to me that the girls who had 
 been brought into rude contact with the world, and who in the 
 fierce struggle for a living had been taught the value of money, 
 would be the most likely to esteem wealth as the chief desider- 
 atum in marriage. It is the romantic, sentimental girls who lay 
 least stress upon the pecuniary phase of matrimony, and I am
 
 INDfSTKl.VL JMIASKS OF THE QUESTION. 181 
 
 sure you will concede that the flowers of sentiment will soon fade 
 and die in the heart of the young woman who is daily engaged 
 in the scramble for bread. But, mind you, while I claim that 
 the woman who competes with men would be most likely to want 
 a rich husband, I am also of the opinion that she would be least 
 likely to get him." 
 
 "True, Edward, for the spoiled darlings of fortune do not 
 generally look for wives among the noble girls who toil for an 
 honorable livelihood. The young millionaires of the country 
 tire more accustomed to mate with the wealthy maidens of their 
 own exclusive circle. But, to change the subject, I wish to 
 remind you that the lady clerk is a distinct improvement in every 
 way upon her male predecessor. I have talked with men who 
 employed young ladies in their offices, and they have assured me 
 that the girls Avere incomparably superior to the young men; that 
 they were neater and cleaner; that they were more polite, more 
 obedient, more reliable, more accurate and skillful in their work; 
 that they had no bad habits, and came to business on Monday 
 mornings in good condition after their Sunday rest, and not jaded 
 and worn by a day of dissipation, as is so frequently the case 
 with young men ; that they never chewed tobacco, nor smoked, nor 
 stole out two or three times a day to get a drink of liquor; and 
 that they Avere more honest, and Avere not exposed to the tempta- 
 tions of male clerks, such as gambling, associating with fast 
 women, etc." 
 
 ' ' I suppose they informed you also, ' ' remarked Mr. Notion, 
 "that the girls Avorked for one-half the salary formerly paid 
 the men." 
 
 ' ' Yes, Edward, but they did not need large salaries, as their 
 habits were inexpensive, and in most cases they lived with their 
 parents. ' ' 
 
 "I am glad to ha\ T e you remind me of that feature of the case, 
 Matilda, for I had Avell-nigh overlooked it. The fact is that 
 multitudes of young women do the work formerly done by men, 
 not because of necessity, but simply to earn spending or pin 
 money. As you said in our last talk, they Avant to buy the 
 innumerable little things which are required to make a woman 
 happy. They want to attend the theater, and, as the young men 
 can not afford to take them there as they used to in former days, 
 they either have to pay their own way or stay at home. They 
 desire to dress expensiA T ely, and haA r e a liking for candy, ice-
 
 182 DoMl.sTir IH'F.I.s. 
 
 cream soda, etc., which is just us fully developed an appetite as 
 that which demands liquor or tobacco. They are fond of costly 
 pel-fumes and toilet articles. Many girls, in addition to these 
 tastes, are literary and artistic, and earnestly desire books, 
 pictures, statuary, bric-a-brac, etc. In order to gratify these 
 tastes they accept any remuneration which is offered, and the 
 result is that the standard of compensation is lowered. In fact, 
 Helen Campbell, and other women who have given these matters 
 much study, express the opinion that women's wages are tending 
 downward rather than upward. Thus you see men are, being 
 exposed to the c;>mpetition of cheap female labor, and their wages 
 are being reduced. Such competition has its inevitable efiects, 
 whether it be that of Chinese, Japanese, imported European 
 laborers, or of charming American girls who wish to procure pin 
 money, and are willing to work for almost any compensation. 
 These girls neither know nor care what the standard of subsistence 
 is, or what their services are really worth; nor do they give a 
 thought to the grave industrial and social evils which result from 
 their apparently harmless efforts to get a little spending money. 
 Most of the men are just as short-sighted, and each fond father 
 exerts himself to the utmost to get his bright daughter a position. 
 Of course the young ladies who become wage-earners as soon as 
 they have finished their education, have neither the time, strength, 
 nor inclination to do housework, and in most cases they heartily 
 dislike it, term it drudgery, slavery, etc., and pride themselves 
 upon their ignorance of it. In their opinion such degrading and 
 menial labor will do well enough tor Chinamen or Japanese, or for 
 ignorant foreign girls, but is wholly unsuited for American ladies, 
 who wear bloomers, ride the bicycle, swim, play lawn-tennis, and 
 talk about literature, science, and philosophy." 
 
 "You. speak with unusual bitterness, Kdward, and vet von 
 have had no personal experience in these matters." 
 
 "Xo, indeed, my dear, and I am truly thankful for it. But 
 I can't help seeing the drift of things, and deploring it. AVhv, 
 if they go on much farther in the same direction, 1 predict that the 
 men will have to organ i/.e for the express purpose of protecting 
 themselves against female cheap labor, in much the same wav as 
 thev have done in the past against the degrading competition of 
 the Chinaman and the imported European!"' 
 
 "But in the ca-; 1 - you mention,'' suggested Mrs. Notion, 
 "legislation was reipired to supplement the labor unions, and by
 
 INDUSTRIAL PIIAsKs OF TI1K gr KsTION. 183 
 
 u parity of reasoning, it would be just as necessary for the settle- 
 ment of this problem." 
 
 "True, Matilda, but I have little hope that such legislation 
 can be obtained, in the event of women securing the ballot. This 
 phu.se of the subject, however, belongs to a separate discussion." 
 
 "But why didn't girls and women come forward in the realm 
 of industry in the past as well as in the present? " asked Mrs. 
 Notion. 
 
 "Simply because they felt too dependent," replied Mr. Notion. 
 "They had not become imbued with the idea of the equality of 
 the sexes. But, as time passed, they gradually grew to believe, in 
 large numbers of instances, that they were the peers of men in 
 every way. As this conviction deepened, they longed more and 
 more eagerly to come boldly out into the industrial arena and 
 challenge man to mortal combat. For a while, however, public 
 opinion kept them back, but every now and then some unusually 
 intrepid woman would press forward, and others would quickly 
 follow her. It was like the wearing of bloomers. When women 
 learned to ride the bicycle, they discovered that the bifurcated 
 garment was absolutely indispensable to their safety and comfort 
 on the wheel. In every locality the lady bicyclists were anxious 
 to don these articles of wearing apparel, but they hesitated, for 
 each felt timid about attracting the notice and braving the ridicule 
 of the public. Finally, a few bold women took the initiative, and 
 multitudes immediately imitated their example." 
 
 "Then, Edward, you account for the great industrial move- 
 ment of women in this country during the past quarter of a 
 century, by ascribing it to their growing consciousness of equality 
 with men." 
 
 "I do, to a very large extent. ' ' 
 
 "Yes," urged Mrs. Notion, "but what was it that gave rise 
 to this feeling of equality and independence? " 
 
 "Its causes, of coui-se, are numerous and complex," replied 
 Mr. Notion. " I should say that the very atmosphere of America 
 would have a tendency in that direction. In a new country, with 
 popular institutions based on the idea of liberty, with an unre- 
 stricted association of the sexes perhaps unparalleled in the history 
 of the world, with a literature saturated with principle's of inde- 
 pendence and equality heredity and environment would combine 
 to embue the women as well as the men with a conviction of their 
 own value and importance. All these things would naturally
 
 184 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 have a potent influence in the direction indicated; but to my 
 mind the principal factor in this movement has been the liberal 
 education of girls. The time was when the sexes were kept apart 
 in childhood, and girls were rarely afforded the opportunity of 
 acquiring a liberal education, but gradually the facilities for 
 female education were increased, until at last girls and boys were 
 placed upon exactly the same scholastic footing. For many yea is 
 past they have been taught, as a rule, in the same schools and 
 colleges. Of course there are numerous exceptions, which we 
 may refer to in some subsequent conversation, but the reat 
 majority of cases have been and are as I state. The girls have 
 discovered that they can learn everything that the boys can, and, 
 what is more, that they can generally outstrip them in the race 
 for knowledge. We all know that the best pupils in all our 
 public schools are mostly girls." 
 
 "Stop right there, Edward, until I ask you if that is not 
 equivalent to an admission on your part that the female intellect 
 is stronger than the male ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Not at all, my dear. It simply shows that girls are more 
 studious than boys, and learn their lessons better for the purposes 
 of recitation. You know as well as I do that the mere ability to 
 memorize lessons, and to pass examinations satisfactorily, does 
 not constitute talent, or indicate great intellectual vigor. AVe 
 are both familiar with instances of men and women who have 
 attained high honors in school and college, and yet have relapsed 
 into hopeless mediocrity when they graduated from the curriculum 
 of the university into the greater one of the world. No, Matilda, 
 the boy is so active, restless, and fond of outdoor sports, that the 
 study of abstract problems, having no immediate or perceptible 
 application to the every-day affairs of life, is irksome to him, and 
 he gets through his school exercises with as little effort as possible. 
 He is building up his physical nature, and it takes him longer to 
 do it than it does the girl, who is more mature and further 
 advanced in every way than he. As a result of these differences 
 in temperament and condition, she studies while he sprints, 
 swims, rows, or rides, and, her mental powers being more devel- 
 oped than his are at the same age, she has for the time being a 
 great advantage. But when he attains a corresponding maturity, 
 and realizes the practical adaptation of the principles taught in 
 the college to the stubborn problems of life, he will grasp the real 
 meaning of lessons once partially ignored, far more powerfully 
 and comprehensively than his erstwhile female schoolmate."
 
 INDUSTRIAL PHASES OF THE QUESTION. 185 
 
 " I see you are incorrigible, Edward, in your pride of sex. 
 But proceed." 
 
 ' ' Just one more thought, Matilda, for I see the hour is late. 
 Xot only are the American girls brighter students than the 
 American boys, but for a generation past the proportion of well- 
 educated girls in this country has far exceeded that of boys. 
 I refer now to the graduates of common schools and high schools. 
 As yet the male graduates of colleges and universities are vastly in 
 the majority, but you have doubtless noticed that, though the two 
 sexes are equally represented in the lowest grades, the girls more 
 and more preponderate as you ascend in the scholastic scale, and 
 long before the grammar school is reached, the boys are in a 
 hopeless minority. As a result, the women of America are better 
 educated on an average than are the men. There are more 
 highly educated men than women, but the fairly well educated 
 and informed women of our laud far outnumber the corresponding 
 class of men. ' ' 
 
 "If I remember aright," said Mrs. Notion, "Bryce recog- 
 nized this fact in his 'American Commonwealth,' although he 
 probably had not discovered the reason. ' ' 
 
 "To this fact, Matilda, I very largely attribute the great 
 movement of women, not only in the trades and arts, but in the 
 learned professions.. Of these latter, however, we had better 
 reserve all discussion until our next chat. ' '
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Discuss the Higher Educa- 
 tion of Women. 
 
 "Woman, sister! there are some things which you do not execute as 
 well as your brother, man; nor ever will. Pardon me, if I doubt 
 whether you vyilv ever produce a great poet from your choir, or a great 
 philosopher, or a great scholar. " Dr <>//iin-f//. 
 
 " Woman's profession demands such very diverse training from the 
 professions of the other sex, that access to universities for men does 
 not meet her most sacred necessities. A university education for women 
 should be as diverse from that of man's as are her duties and responsi- 
 bilities." Catherine K. Beecher. 
 
 "You have been doing most of the talking lately," said Mrs. 
 Notion to her husband, "and I have really not had an oppor- 
 tunity to express my views us fully as I could wish." 
 
 Mr. Notion bowed to his wife in the most deferential manner, 
 and said: "I shall be only too happy to listen to all that you 
 have to say, Matilda, for i have learned that you have always 
 something of interest to communicate when you take the floor, if 
 von will pardon me for putting it in a parliamentary wav." 
 
 "While you have been saying so much," continued Mrs. 
 Notion, "about women wage-workers, and the terrible damage 
 they were doing to the community in many ways, I have been 
 thinking of the wonderful manner in which educational opportuni- 
 ties have presented themselves for girls in our generation, and of 
 how grandly American women have improved them, and titled 
 themselves for brilliant and successful professional careers." 
 
 "That is a phase of the subject, Matilda, which I have not 
 investigated as thoroughly as 1 should have done. I know that 
 vou have, and. as I am deeply interested in everything that 
 relates to women, I shall he both pleased and instructed by what 
 you have to say." 
 
 " Let me preface what 1 state, Edward, by reminding you that 
 in all ages women have proved themselves capable of the most 
 arduous intellectual labors and the most brilliant intellectual 
 
 (18G)
 
 HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 187 
 
 attainments. Nor have they ever failed to realize the transcendent 
 importance of mental culture. Centuries since Elena Lucre/hi 
 Coronaro, a woman of Italy, received a doctor's degree at the 
 University of Padua, and became noted as a poet, musician, 
 mathematician, linguist, and astronomer. Novela d' Andrea 
 occasionally lectured for her father, who occupied the position of 
 professor of law in the University of Bologna. As far hack as 
 1239, Bettisia Gozzidina, LL.D., held a law professor-ship in a 
 great university, and in the fourteenth century Catalina and 
 Novella Calderini lectured on law. Since that time there has 
 been no century which has not been distinguished by talented and 
 scholarly European women. In fact, nearly every century of oui 
 era has been marked by some women of extraordinary ability and 
 learning. In the fourth century Paula, Marcella, Melania, and 
 Eustochium surpassed all other Roman ladies in endowments of 
 the mind. In the fifth century, Elpis, wife of Boetius, distin- 
 guished for her beauty, wit, and learning, composed hymns 
 adopted in the Latin liturgy. In the sixth, Radegundes, queen 
 of France, was a scholar, and read Latin and Greek. In the 
 seventh, Gertrude knew all the Scriptures by heart, and translated 
 them into Greek, and Hilda, a Northumberland abbess, was so 
 highly esteemed in the church that she was repeatedly called to 
 take part in the councils of the bishops. In the eighth, Lioba 
 was as learned as she was beautiful. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Excuse me, Matilda, but, as you put it, the extent of her 
 learning would depend upon the degree of her beauty, and you 
 have not stated that she was really beautiful." 
 
 "Fie, fie, Edward, none of your verbal quibbles! You well 
 know what I mean. She was extremely handsome and very 
 learned, indeed. I hope that is plain enough to suit you. In 
 the ninth century, Ebba, abbess of the convent of Coldingham 
 in Ireland, was celebrated for her ability and scholarship. In 
 the tenth, Adelaide, empress of Germany, was an erudite woman, 
 who ably governed the empire after the death of her son. In the 
 eleventh, Margaret, queen of Scotland, was a woman of rare 
 genius, and ruled her people with justice and wisdom; Rodhia, of 
 Cordova, a Moorish Spaniard, was the author of several volumes 
 on rhetoric; and Sophia, of Hispali, was noted for her oratory 
 and poetry. In the twelth, Hildegardis, of Germany, wrote 
 several books of scientific prophecy, numerous letters to kings and 
 popes, a poem on medicine, and a book of Latin poems. In the
 
 188 DOMKSTIC j>n:i>. 
 
 thirteenth, Isabella, daughter of Louis the Light h, of France, 
 attained a wide celebrity for her beauty, piety, and learning. 
 She was remarkably proficient in Latin. In the fourteenth, 
 Catherine of Sienna wrote books of letters, poems, and religious 
 dissertations. In the fifteenth, Catherine, of Bologna, was a 
 famous miniature painter, and writer of abstruse treatises. In 
 the sixteenth, Mary, queen of England, was extremely learned, 
 and a strong advocate of woman's rights. She made Lady 
 Berkeley a justice of the peace in Gloucestershire, and Lady 
 Rous, a judge for Suffolk." 
 
 "I do not wish to interrupt you," said Mr. Notion, "but I 
 can not resist the inclination to suggest that Mary did not pay 
 much regard to the rights of the learned and brilliant Lady 
 Jane Grey.'"* 
 
 "Oh, we referred sufficiently to that phase of her career in 
 one of our previous talks, Edward, and of course the conduct of 
 Mary in that regard can not be justified. But, to proceed, her 
 sister Elizabeth, afterwards queen, knew Latin, Greek, and 
 French at seventeen years of age, and studied philosophy, rhet- 
 oric, history, divinity, poetry, and music. Elizabeth's rival and 
 final victim, Mary, Queen of Scots, Theresa of Spain, and Mary 
 of Hungary, were also gifted and cultured women of the same 
 century. In the seventeenth, Juliana Morella publicly main- 
 tained a thesis in philosophy, and was profoundly skilled in 
 divinity, music, jurisprudence, and philology. Lucre/.ia Mari- 
 nelli was a sculptor, historian, musician, and accomplished litter- 
 ateur. Mademoiselle de Gournay, the friend of Montaigne, 
 was an author of distinction, and Margaret, queen of Navarre, 
 first wife of Henry the Fourth of France, was also a woman of 
 rare literary attainments. In the last century women of genius 
 and learning were so numerous that I can only stop to mention a 
 few of them. Laura Bassi wrote and spoke Latin with fluency, 
 and was professor in the University of Bologna. Elizabeth 
 Carter was an eminent Greek scholar. Hannah More, earned 
 8150,000 by her literary productions. Madame de Stael was 
 noted as a millionaire, politician, conversationalist, and a.;thor, 
 and Mademoiselle Le/ardiere wrote a work considered by (Jui/.ot 
 to l>e the most instructive then extant on the subject of Roman 
 law. Six other celebrated scientific, women of the same century 
 were Marquise d;i Chatelet, Maria Agnesi, Nicole Ueine Lepante, 
 Caroline Ilersrhel, Sophie ( lermain, and Miss .Mary Somerville.
 
 IirCIIKU JODUCATION OK WOMEN. 189 
 
 Mary Wollstonecroft late in the century wrote a powerful appeal 
 for the recognition ot the intellectual needs and capacities of 
 women, but it was as seed sown before the due time. Of course 
 you are familiar with the sparkling, graceful letters of Lady 
 Mary Wortley Montagu, and have enjoyed the beautiful senti- 
 ments of Mrs. Henmns. In fact, Edward, when I come to the 
 latter part of the world's history, the number of women who have 
 distinguished themselves in various ways is so great that I am 
 embarrassed, and find myself unable to use the varied and exten- 
 sive material at my command, without taking up too much of 
 your time, and, possibly, trespassing upon your patience. Mrs. 
 Sarah J. Hale, in her work published in 1854, gave a list of 
 125 living women of distinction, and to-day the number would 
 run into the thousands. ' ' 
 
 "I assure you, Matilda, that I am much interested, as well as 
 instructed, by what you tell me, for I never tire of hearing of 
 good and great women. I am such a warm admirer of your 
 sex that nothing pleases me more than the record of woman's 
 success." 
 
 ' ' Then let me refer you, Edward, to a few works, some written 
 by men, which will show you what we have accomplished. First 
 let me mention the works of Sarah K. Bolton, entitled respect- 
 ively, 'Girls Who Became Famous,' 'Famous Leaders among 
 Women,' and 'Representative Types of Women.' 'The Child 
 Life and Girlhood of Remarkable Women,' by W. H. D. Adams, 
 is a book which will interest you, and you will find well worth 
 the reading a work by James Parton, entitled 'Noted Women of 
 Europe and America.' Other excellent works on female biog- 
 raphy are: 'Some Eminent AVomen of Our Times,' by Mrs. 
 Henry Fawcett; 'World Famous Women,' by Frank B. Good- 
 rich; 'Cyclopedia of Female Biography/ by II. G. Adams: 
 ' Ladies of the Covenant, ' by Rev. James Anderson ; and ' Our 
 Famous Women,' by twenty Avell-known lady authors. ' Women 
 on the American Frontier,' by William W. Fowler, and 
 'Women of the War,' by Frank Moore, will give you a good 
 idea of the heroic capabilities and achievements of the members 
 of the gentle sex, as you delight to term us." 
 
 "These books are not entirely unfamiliar to me," said Mr. 
 Notion, "but some of them, I confess, I have never had the 
 pleasure of reading, and I shall be glad to do so at the earliest 
 opportunity. ' '
 
 i, ) DOMKSTIC IH'KI.S. 
 
 "And now," remarked Mrs. Notion, "I want to speak briclly 
 on the subject of woman's education, before saying what I have 
 in mind about the manner in which we have distinguished our- 
 selves in the learned professions. Miss Hetty Higginson, of 
 Salem, Massachusetts, was famous as an instructor as far back as 
 1782. In 1783 Miss Lucinda Foote, when only twelve years of 
 age, received a certificate from Ezra Stiles, president of Yale 
 College, to the effect that she had made commendable progres> in 
 Latin, and but for her sex was fully qualified to be received into 
 the Freshman class. She afterwards pursued a full course of 
 studies, with Hebrew added, under that gentleman, subsequent to 
 which she married, and became the mother of ten children." 
 
 "Good former!" exclaimed Mr. Notion. "She put her 
 erudition to a good use, for, as I have said before, I am not 
 among those who think that wives and mothers have no use for 
 higher learning." 
 
 ' ' And yet, Edward, the men generally have not been of your 
 opinion, for it was not until 187!) that the Harvard Annex for 
 women was founded, and Barnard College, a female institution 
 connected with the Columbia College, was organixcd as late as 
 1889. Vassar began its grand Avork of female emancipation 
 from the bonds of ignorance in 1<S<>.~>, with oo() young women. 
 Among its graduates is Maria Mitchell, the well-known astron- 
 omer, and many other illustrious women. "NVellesley College, 
 one of the first co-educational institutions in the country, was 
 founded in 1875. Cornell University, founded in 1868, admitted 
 women to an equality with men in 1872. Bryn Mawr, a JVnn- 
 sylvania college for women, was organized in 1885. Between 
 1870 and 1885 girls were admitted to some of the western col- 
 leges, and I am glad to say in this connection that the University 
 of California was one of the first to extend us recognition. 
 It opened in 1869, and admitted women the following year. 
 The western colleges which opened before 1861 all became 
 co-educational between LS61 and 1871, and all which were 
 founded since 1871, began as co-educational institutions. Out 
 of 212 western colleges, 165 are co-educational, and the 2f> 
 which are devoted to the education of men exclusively, are all 
 sectarian, and are maintained by the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, 
 Episcopal, and Presbyterian Churches." 
 
 "This certainly constitutes a very creditable and gratifying 
 showing for the west, Matilda, and one of which 1 am proud;
 
 HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 191 
 
 but how about the institutions of learning in the eastern states?" 
 "I am sorry to say," answered Mrs. Notion, "that in that 
 section of the country the prejudices of your sex have been harder 
 to overcome, and the recognition of women by colleges and uni- 
 versities has not been as cordial and complete as in the west; but 
 rapid progress has been made in all parts of the country, and 
 to-day the ambitious, intellectual girl has nearly as good an 
 opportunity to become educated as the boy of corresponding 
 mental faculties." 
 
 ' ' Of course, Matilda, much allowance must be made for the 
 reluctance with which conservative men relinquish old habits of 
 thought, and accept such startling innovations as those involved 
 in co-education. The arguments against the admission of women 
 to the higher institutions of learning were about as follows: That 
 the mental inferiority of women to men would be sure to lower 
 the scholastic standard of the colleges; that women by reason of 
 their physical frailty can not endure the strain of persistent 
 mental effort without impairing their health; that their presence 
 in collegiate institutions will tend to deteriorate both sexes, 
 making the men effeminate, and the women masculine; that the 
 association of young men and women will unduly develop the 
 emotional nature of the students, distract their minds from study, 
 and possibly give occasion for scandal; that the intimacies thus 
 formed will lead to premature marriages; that young men dis- 
 approve of the higher education of women, and dislike to com- 
 pete with them, and hence, if the latter are admitted to colleges, 
 will seek in those limited to their own sex the social life which 
 can not be found in a co-educational institution; that a collegiate 
 education not only does not prepare a woman for the domestic 
 relations and duties for which she is designed, but actually unfits 
 her for them ; that colleges were originally intended for men only, 
 and the wills of their founders and benefactors will be violated 
 by the admission of women; that, whatever the real mental 
 capacity and physical ability of women, so fixed is the world's 
 conviction of their inferiority, that colleges admitting them will 
 inevitably forfeit the world's confidence and respect. I have 
 stated these, Matilda, in the order and in almost the exact w*ords 
 that May Wright Sewell gives them in that excellent book, 
 called 'Woman's Work in America,' ' 
 
 "Isn't it really surprising, Edward, that men could ever have 
 so stultified themselves as to use such foolish and frivolous 
 arguments ? ' '
 
 192 DOMESTIC DUKI>S. 
 
 "Some of them," replied Mr. Notion, "were undoubtedly 
 ill-founded, and the results have proved it, but I really think 
 that several are entitled to considerable weight. It is too soon 
 yet to say that the standard of colleges will not be lowered by 
 the admission of women. The proportion of men to women 
 in nearly all the co-educational colleges of which I have any 
 knowledge is still too large to permit such a result to appear. 
 You know my views as to the relative mental strength of the 
 sexes. I think men on the average are superior in intellectual 
 force to women; but between the bright young women and 
 talented young men who go to our institutions of learning, the 
 difference in mentality is probably not great enough to bring 
 about any lowering of college stain Ian Is. I do think, however, 
 that girls are less able physically to bear the strain of long- 
 continued and difficult study than are boys, and I know of quite 
 a number of cases where too persistent mental application on the 
 part of young women has permanently impaired their health." 
 
 "And I know of many instances," exclaimed Mrs. Notion, 
 "where young men have sickened and died in the first year or 
 two of their collegiate course, but I do not think that I would be 
 justified in drawing the conclusion from such exceptional cases 
 that young men are too frail in body to undergo the ordeal of 
 acquiring a university education." 
 
 "No, Matilda, you would not, because the proportion of male 
 university students who are thus cut off is much smaller than 
 that of female students. But, leaving that aside, I do not 
 believe that the association together of men and women in col- 
 leges will have any of the bad effects upon their morals and 
 manners which some thoughtful persons apprehend, or that many 
 premature marriages will result, or that co-educational colleges 
 will become unpopular with young men. But I am afraid that 
 in the majority of instances the higher education has had a 
 tendency to make household duties distasteful to women gradu- 
 ates, and to tempt them into professional pursuits." 
 
 "I thought, Edward, that you were in favor of extending to 
 women every possible educational facility, and of giving them 
 the same opportunities in this direction which men enjoy." 
 
 "So I am, Matilda, and I don't think there is any necessary 
 relation of cause and effect between great mental attainments and 
 an aversion to domestic duties. In fact, I believe, if the course 
 of study pursued by women were arranged with express reference
 
 HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 
 
 to their future as wives and mothers, that no such consequences 
 would ensue. The trouble is that in great co-educational insti- 
 tutions the curriculum is necessarily designed to a large extent 
 for those who intend to fit themselves for a professional career. 
 If women were to attend only female colleges where everything 
 was adapted to the idea that as a rule the graduates would marry 
 and rear families, this objection would be entirely obviated. 
 When it comes to be generally understood that the acquisition of 
 knowledge by women is not for the purpose of enabling them to 
 earn money, but rather to help them to reach their highest possi- 
 bilities as wives and mothers, the course of study at female 
 colleges will naturally adjust itself to this point of view." 
 
 "You forget, Edward, that there are several distinct courses 
 of study at all our great institutions of learning, and that it is 
 possible for the student by judicious selection to pursue her 
 investigations in almost any direction desired, and to familiarize 
 herself with almost any branch of knowledge. I object also to 
 your assumption that girls have no right to acquire an education 
 from the general standpoint of humanity at large, but that they 
 should be taught always and everywhere with special reference to 
 the fact that they are females. No one would be quicker than 
 yourself to resent as impertinent any suggestion that men should 
 be trained and developed with the sole object of adapting them 
 to the proper discharge of their functions as husbands and 
 fathers." 
 
 ' ' I think that their education in that direction is very much 
 neglected, Matilda, and the only reason why I should make any 
 such distinction between the underlying purposes of male and 
 female education, is because the men are to be the bread-winners, 
 and to devote most of their energies to affairs external to the 
 home, so that women may be unhampered and uninterrupted in 
 their domestic duties by the necessity of aiding in the financial 
 support of the family." 
 
 ' ' Let me quote, ' ' said Mrs. Notion, ' ' some of the wise words 
 of James B. Angell, president of the University of Michigan. 
 In 1884 that gentleman wrote: 'Women were admitted here 
 under the pressure of public sentiment, against the wishes of 
 most of the professors; but I think no professor now regrets it, 
 or would favor their exclusion. The way had been well pre- 
 pared. Denominational colleges had for years admitted women; 
 and in the high schools, Avhich are all preparatory schools, it was 
 13
 
 194 DOMESTIC i>n:i.s. 
 
 i 
 
 the universal custom to teach both sexes. Most of the evils 
 feared by those who opposed the admission of women, have not 
 been encountered. We made no solitary modification of our 
 rules or requirements. The women did not become hoidenisli; 
 they did not fail in their studies; they did not break down in 
 health; they have graduated in all departments; they have not 
 been inferior in scholarship to the men ; the careers of our women 
 graduates have been on the whole very satisfactory. They are 
 teachers in many of our best high schools; six or seven are in the 
 Wellesley College faculty.' I would add to this, Edward, the 
 statement that in 1890, 750 women were studying in the co- 
 educational institutions of the south, and in all these colleges 
 the testimony jn favor of co-education is pronounced and 
 emphatic. I would also remind you that, in the nature of tilings, 
 a very small proportion of our girls will ever reach colleges, and 
 that, even if they were to adopt professional careers and decline 
 matrimony, there would be plenty of marriageable material left." 
 "I do not look at the matter in that way, my dear. JSO 
 greater misfortune could happen in this or any other country 
 than to have the most talented, accomplished, and highly gifted 
 women excluded from domestic life. We need just that kind of 
 women in the homes of the land. As wives and mothers they 
 could establish high ideals, and do much to ennoble and exalt 
 womanhood in its loftiest and truest sphere, the home. And I 
 am glad to know that the great stream of tendency to minify {In- 
 differences between the sexes, which manifested itself about !*(>(>, 
 and which has flowed on so steadily and powerfully ever since, is 
 being strongly opposed by large numbers of the best and most 
 sagacious women in the world. Let me refer you in this connec- 
 tion to an article in the Nineteenth Century five or six years 
 ago, signed by the Dowager Lady Stanly, of Alderley, the 
 Duchess of St. Albans, Mrs. Goschen, Mrs. JIuxley, Mrs. Alma 
 Tadema, Mrs. Max Miiller, and many other ladies of distinction. 
 It concludes with the following significant words: ' We are con- 
 vinced that the pursuit of a mere outward equality with men, is 
 for women not only vain but demoralizing. It leads to a total 
 misconception of woman's true dignity and special mission. It 
 tends to personal struggle and rivalry, where the only effort of 
 both great divisions of the human family should be to contribute 
 the characteristic labor and the best gifts of each to the common 
 stock.'"
 
 HKiHKU ICDUCATION <)K WOMEN. I 1 .!.") 
 
 "It is all very well," replied Mrs. Notion, "for ladies 
 occupying their secure and advantageous position to sit serenely 
 and theorize about these things. For them the most perplexing 
 and distressing problems of life are already solved. They are not 
 pinched by want, or forced into industrial pursuits by the pres- 
 sure of stern necessity." 
 
 "Their opinion, then," replied Mr. Notion, "is all the more 
 valuable. Those who are in the thick of the conflict, and whose 
 personal interests are directly involved, are not best qualified to 
 take a fair, unprejudiced view of the situation. They have not 
 the mental perspective or calmness of vision which are required. 
 Mind you, I am not criticising the women who are forced by their 
 necessities to fill positions formerly occupied by men. Nor would 
 I harshly censure even those who enter industrial pursuits without 
 any such compulsion. There are thousands of men who are glad 
 to secure for their daughters positions where they can earn a little 
 pin money, or contribute something to the family exchequer. 
 These fathers do not see the drift of things, and, if they did, each 
 would be likely to make an exception of his own daughter, on the 
 plea that the general community could not be at all affected by 
 the course of a single individual, or that, if his daughter did not 
 accept the employment, some other girl would. I am discussing 
 the general tendencies in operation around us to-day, and their 
 bearing upon the welfare of society at large. But the English 
 ladies whom I have quoted are not alone in their attitude of 
 opposition to the present trend of things. Adele Crepaz, a Ger- 
 man lady, says in a tract entitled 'The Emancipation of 
 Women,' the English translation of which was published in 1893, 
 that this movement of women toward so-called industrial and 
 political equality with men, commenced in 1860." 
 
 "But is she a woman whose opinion is worthy of serious con- 
 sideration?" asked Mrs. Notion. 
 
 "I can only say as to that," responded Mr. Notion, "that 
 Gladstone, who read her tract in the original German, heartily 
 commended its sentiments, and said that she had opened up for 
 him some instructive and entirely new lines of thought. But 
 listen to what she says of American women: 'The woman of the 
 northern states of America is on an average more highly educated 
 than the man. She supplants the man in those careers which of 
 right belong to him by reason of his superior abilities, without 
 making any mark in them herself, estranging herself even further
 
 196 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 from the aim of her natural vocation. She does not grasp the 
 idea of her life's work as woman, but, assuming equal rights with 
 man, forgets the laws of nature, which assign to each sex its 
 several tasks in life. Her independent standing is hot without 
 influence upon her spirit; her heart grows less sensitive to tender 
 emotions, and a marriage of reason is the only one she thinks of. 
 It is well known that the happiest marriages in America are those 
 contracted between American men and German women. The 
 German wife surrounds her husband with affectionate care and 
 solicitude, and devotes herself to making his home life intensely 
 happy and bright; while the American husband, thoroughly 
 appreciating her good qualities, treats her with the greatest con- 
 sidei'ation and deference.' ' 
 
 "You quote this lady's remarkable utterances with apparent 
 approval," said Mrs. Notion. "It strikes me that they are very 
 unfair to the women of America, and you ought to be ashamed of 
 yourself for endorsing any such sentiments. I am not at all 
 surprised, however, at the view she takes of the subject, for the 
 women of Germany as a rule are so oppressed and overawed by 
 the men that they are thoroughly imbued with the idea of their 
 own inferiority, and naturally regard the self-reliance and 
 independence of American women as something dreadful. For 
 instance, Professor Lorenz von Stein, in his work 'Woman 
 from the Standpoint of Political Economy,' says: ' Man desires a 
 being that not only loves but understands him; a being whose 
 heart not only beats for him, but whose hand smooths his brow; a 
 being that, wherever it appears, irradiates peace, rest, on lei', 
 silent control over ikelf and over the thousand trifles that make 
 up his daily life; he desires a being that diffuses over everything 
 that indefinable odor of womanhood which is the vivifying warmth 
 of domestic life.' You will observe, Edward, that this German 
 gentleman speaks of woman as 'it' and 'itself,' evidently deem- 
 ing her unworthy of the personal pronoun 'she.' Bebel, com- 
 menting on this, well says that the ILerr Professor paints woman a> 
 an airy creature, who, though capable of keeping her housekeeper's 
 book balanced, possesses no independent individuality beyond that 
 point, but 'flits about the master of the house, the all-powerful 
 lion, like a gentle zephyr of spring, reads every wish in his t \<<. 
 and with her small, soft hand smooths away the wrinkles which 
 reflections on his own folly have possibly called forth.' ' 
 
 ' ' I think myself, ' ' admitted Mr, Notion, ' ' that von Stein
 
 HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 197 
 
 goes too far in his picture of woman as a mere minister of man." 
 ' ' Perhaps, Edward, you would agree better with Schopenhauer, 
 the celebrated German philosopher, who utters the following 
 words of wisdom concerning my sex : ' Woman is not called to 
 great things. Her characteristics are not active, but passive. 
 She pays her debt to life by the throes of birth, care of the 
 children, subjection to her husband. The most intense utter- 
 ances of volition and sense are denied to her. Her life is des- 
 tined to be less eventful and more trivial than that of man. It 
 is her vocation to nurse and educate children, because she is her- 
 self childish, and remains an overgrown child all her life, a kind 
 of intermediate tiling between the child and the man, who is the 
 only proper human being. Girls should be brought up to habits 
 of domesticity and servility.' ' 
 
 "No," remonstrated Mr. Notion, "I do not concur in any 
 such absurd and brutal sentiments. The man who could write 
 that way, knows nothing about woman, and is totally unworthy 
 of that priceless gift, a good woman's love. With him 'domes- 
 ticity ' and ' servility ' are evidently synonyms, and his allusion 
 to woman as a ' thing ' is grossly insulting to the womanhood of 
 our race. Like you, I resent it, and vote Mr. Schopenhauer a 
 boor. In this connection it is really gratifying to read the com- 
 ments of Miss Agnes Manning upon this so-called philosopher. 
 In her address at the recent Woman's Convention held in San 
 Francisco, she said : ' The modern Germanic woman has had much 
 to endure through that miserable pessimist Schopenhauer. Even 
 in America we are made well acquainted with him by some of 
 our distinguished lecturers, who, while they affect to controvert 
 his ideas, take care to well advertise them. I never hear one of 
 their essays before women's clubs or congresses without thinking, 
 with Shakespeare, that there are those who borrow friendship's 
 tongue to speak their scorn. This wretched slanderer of women 
 did not speak to his own mother or sister for fifteen years, because 
 they would not sign over to him their little property. He kicked 
 a lame dressmaker down long flights of stairs because he said she 
 stood on his landing. It was a lodging-house, and her room also 
 faced this landing. German law, never lenient to a woman, 
 compelled him to pay her an annuity for life for the injuries she 
 sustained. Such was the man whose brutal sentences about 
 women are quoted by men who call themselves scholars and 
 gentlemen. ' '
 
 198 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "I. was really afraid," said Mrs. Notion mischievously, "that 
 you would say amen to the profound observations of the kind and 
 tender Teutonic sage. In refreshing contrast, however, to his 
 views, and those of Adele Crepaz, are those expressed by another 
 German woman at the World's Congress of Representative 
 Women, in 1893. I refer to Lina Morgenstern, who protested 
 against the egotistic position assumed by German men in their 
 relations with women, and their deep-seated conviction that the 
 latter were their inferiors in every way. ' ' 
 
 ' ' And yet, Matilda, I sincerely believe that Adele Crepaz is 
 very close to the truth in all that she says about the true functions 
 of women, and the departure of American women from those 
 functions. Thinking thus, it would certainly be very inconsistent 
 on my part to find fault with her for saying the very things which 
 I have said repeatedly myself. Indeed, I am pleased to find 
 corroboration in such an unexpected quarter." 
 
 "The fact, Edward, that a woman so far forgets her inherent 
 dignity of sex as to encourage men in their outrageous pretensions, 
 proves nothing. Unfortunately, you can find too many such 
 women in America, as well as in Europe. There are some men, 
 however, who are more magnanimous than you and the German 
 professors and philosophers, and who insist that woman should 
 be accorded all the rights and privileges which man enjoys. 
 Perhaps the most distinguished of these noble men was John 
 Stuart Mill, the noted English political economist and philos- 
 opher, who in his great work on the ' Subjection of Woman, ' 
 advocates at length and in the most convincing manner the 
 bestowal upon women of a complete legal, political, and industrial 
 equality with men. In this book, which has been translated into 
 the languages of all civilized nations, he says: ' We have had the 
 morality of submission and the morality of chivalry and gener- 
 osity; the time is now come for the morality of justice.' lie also 
 insists that women's disabilities outside of the home are only 
 clung to in order to maintain their subordination in domestic lite; 
 because the generality of the male sex can not yet tolerate the 
 idea of living with an equal. I think, Edward, that you would 
 do well to study this able and dispassionate work, before express- 
 ing yourself with too great positiveness on a subject of so much 
 importance, for Mr. Mill approaches it from the standpoint of a 
 philosopher, and yet reaches conclusions which are diametrically 
 opposite to yours."
 
 HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 199 
 
 "I am somewhat familiar with his book, Matilda, and I 
 acknowledge that it has attained a wide circulation and a marvel- 
 ous influence, especially with the members of your sex. But it 
 is in no sense a fair statement of the case. It is a special plea, 
 full of false assumptions, palpable misconceptions, and inflamma- 
 tory appeals to the feelings and prejudices of women. It is by 
 all odds the weakest product of Mr. Mill's strong intellect. Nor 
 has it been left unanswered. Several able replies have been made 
 to it, one of which, published by Lippincott & Co., in 1870, 
 brings to light all the fallacies of the self- constituted champion of 
 your sex, and shows the absurdity, inconsistency, and unreason- 
 ableness of Mr. Mill's arguments." 
 
 "Permit me to inquire the name of the author,' ' inquired Mrs. 
 Notion. ' ' He must be a great man, for I am satisfied that no 
 ordinary individual could succeed in accomplishing what you say 
 he has achieved." 
 
 "lam sorry to say," answered Mr. Notion, "that the book 
 is anonymous." 
 
 ' ' That is enough for me, Edward. The arguments of a man 
 who is asl mined to reveal his own personality will carry no weight 
 to my mind." 
 
 ' ' My chief objection, Matilda, to any scheme which aims at 
 equality of the sexes in any other than a moral and spiritual 
 sense, is that it will inevitably tend to minify the differences 
 which have existed between men and women from the beginning, 
 and to which we are all so accustomed." 
 
 "Well," inquired Mrs. Notion, "what harm will that do?" 
 
 "Much, and for this reason," replied Mr. Notion. "' Men and 
 women do not look for resemblances in their mates, but rather for 
 differences. You must admit, if there were no distinctions what- 
 ever between the sexes, except those of their reproductive func- 
 tions, that the tender passion which we call conjugal love would 
 be impossible. Now, I claim that as those differences are 
 accentuated, the love which the opposite sexes bear to each other 
 is proportionately intensified, and that as they are diminished or 
 modified, such affection is weakened in a corresponding degree. 
 It logically follows that, as women fill the places, do the work, 
 and acquire the manners of men, marriages will more and 
 more decrease, and evils will result of such awful character 
 and stupendous magnitude that I shrink from their discussion. 
 If you will pardon me for quoting from another German author,
 
 200 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 I say with Goethe: 'He who by word or deed undermines the 
 very foundation of all civilized society, let him have it out with 
 me; and, if I can not convince him, I will have no more of 
 him. Marriage is the beginning and the acme of all culture.' 
 A dele Crepaz says in this connection, speaking of woman: 'Her 
 equality with man must diminish her womanly attributes hy 
 removing those contrasts which have hitherto attracted the sexes 
 to each other. The husband will no longer find those feminine 
 qualities which he values and needs to perfect his own nature. 
 The wife would become her husband's comrade, but no longer be 
 the loving helpmeet, lavishing her care, her sanctifying devotion 
 upon him. This want of the true womanly attributes is already 
 apparent, as we have said, in the American wife of the day, who 
 is accustomed to receive every attention from her husband as a 
 matter of course, without rendering him any of the affectionate 
 solicitude of a German wife. ' ' 
 
 "But," replied Mrs. Notion, "even if I were to admit your 
 major premise that sex contrasts are the foundation of sex affec- 
 tion, and that the latter will increase or diminish in the same 
 ratio with the former, I do not concede your minor premise that 
 the tendency of the emancipation of women from the thraldom 
 and servility of ages wall be to lessen in any degree their peculiar 
 graces and attractions. On the contrary, I believe that as thev 
 assume their true position as men's equals, their charms will be 
 greatly heightened, and their hold upon the minds as well as the 
 hearts of men will be much stronger than it has ever been in the 
 past. Balzac says: ' A woman that has received a masculine 
 education possesses the most brilliant and fertile qualities with 
 which to secure the happiness of her husband and herself. ' ' 
 
 " But the facts, Matilda, do not bear out either you or Balzac 
 in this assertion. It is well known that business and professional 
 women do not marry, as a rule, and that the domestic life of those 
 who do take unto themselves husbands, is not distinguished for 
 its bliss. There are innumerable women in this country who 
 refuse marriage in order that they may employ their abilities in 
 work of general usefulness. They feel that the narrow area of 
 the home is too restricted for the free play of their powers. This 
 is all wrong. The moral nature of both men and women is at its 
 best in the marriage relation, and women, as well as men, are 
 more likely to be led astray under circumstances of isolation. 
 Dr. Kosa Kerschbauinner, a German lady physician of great
 
 HIGHER, EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 201 
 
 talents, admits in her interesting treatise on female pnysicians, 
 that only a small proportion of woman doctors are married, and 
 she says this is, clearly, 'because the higher education and her 
 independent standing enable a woman to seek and to find her 
 happiness apart from men.' ' 
 
 ' ' But, ' ' said Mrs. Notion, abruptly changing the direction of 
 the conversation, "you will surely acknowledge that where hus- 
 band and wife both engage in professional or business pursuits, 
 there will be at least great financial advantages, and the family 
 income will be largely increased." 
 
 " I do not think," replied Mr. Notion, "that there is anything 
 gained in that respect, for, where women compete on a large 
 scale with men in any sphere of activity, the inevitable result of 
 such competition will be to lower the standard of compensation. 
 But, eliminating that feature, and considering an isolated case of 
 productive industry on the pai*t of both spouses, I am of the 
 opinion that when a woman has professional or other duties out- 
 side of her home, the latter will be conducted on a far more 
 expensive scale. We all know that a prudent, economical wife 
 can carry on her own establishment for a much less sum than any 
 hired housekeeper can. It follows that the wife who devotes her- 
 self actively and wisely to the maintenance of her home, will save 
 as much money as she could ordinarily earn outside of the domes- 
 tic circle. Even John Stuart Mill says that the greatest evil of 
 competition would be if a man and his wife together could only 
 earn as much as the man could formerly do alone; and this I 
 insist would be the logical and necessary outcome of the entry of 
 women generally into the industrial world." 
 
 "I am glad to hear you admit the great pecuniary value of a 
 careful wife's supervision of the household," said Mrs. Notion, 
 "and in this connection I wish to refer to women's clubs and 
 societies, and the good results which are accomplished by women 
 meeting together and exchanging ideas and experiences. These 
 associations are conducted in such a manner as to be extremely 
 beneficial to the members not in any merely selfish or material 
 way, but by enlarging and elevating their conceptions of all that 
 goes to make up a well-rounded, symmetrical womanhood. They 
 meet together to listen to lectures by experts in cooking, dressing, 
 hygiene, the care of children, household sanitation, domestic 
 economics, etc., and in every possible way they try to make 
 themselves better wives and mothers, and more useful members of
 
 202 DOMESTIC DUKl.s. 
 
 society. They also discuss literary and artistic subjects, and 
 interest themselves ill innumerable reformatory measures and 
 agencies for the prevention of vice and crime, and the protection 
 and safeguarding of the youth of the land." 
 
 'I must admit," said Mr. Notion, "that these societies are 
 doing a magnificent work, and that they reflect great credit upon 
 the women who compose them." 
 
 "Especially so," continued Mrs. Notion, "in view of the 
 fact that they are in such marked contrast to your male clubs 
 and societies.- Who ever heard of men meeting together to try 
 to elevate themselves, and make themselves better husbands and 
 fathers? I think I can imagine the treatment which any man 
 would receive who had the hardihood to seriously propose the 
 advisability of the members of his club exchanging ideas, or 
 listening to suggestions from experts who had given the subject 
 special study, as to how they could more intelligently and suc- 
 cessfully perform their duties as husbands and fathers. Such a 
 proposal would be laughed to scorn, and, if persisted in, would 
 subject him who made it to summary expulsion from his club." 
 
 ' ' I confess that there is much force in your remarks, ' ' said 
 Mr. Notion. "Some allowance, however, must be made for the 
 fact that man's functions as husband and father are largely over- 
 shadowed by his professional and business pursuits, lines of 
 activity in which he is compelled to engage almost incessantly 
 as the bread-winner for his family. That I am right in this is 
 further shown by the fact that the women who actively compete 
 with men, and whose energies are chiefly absorbed in earning 
 money, take little more interest in the topics to which you refer 
 than the men themselves. But the principal reason why women's 
 societies are so much more helpful and rational, and so much 
 more in accord with the practical and utilitarian spirit of our age 
 than those of men, is because it is only of recent years that 
 women have organized their clubs and associations. Hence, they 
 are modern in spirit and conduct, and in perfect keeping with the 
 genius of civilized communities. Men, on the other hand, 
 organized themselves into guilds, unions, and secret fraternities 
 many centuries ago, and their organizations received form and 
 impulse from the semi-barbarous state of society which existed in 
 those times." 
 
 "Why, Edward, your idea is a strikingly new one to me, and 
 yet I think you are correct. ' '
 
 HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 203 
 
 ' ' I feel quite sure that I am, Matilda. The fact is that men 
 have gone on from generation to generation, and, finding power- 
 ful societies in existence, have joined them without serious thought 
 as to their real tendencies. They never stop to think that those 
 fraternities were formed in by-gone ages to meet conditions which 
 no longer exist, but feeling within themselves the desire for some 
 sort of societies, they plunge into those which are ready-made 
 and waiting to receive them. Hence it is that the men of to-day 
 are measurably moulded by their semi-civilized predecessors of 
 the long ago, and the strangest part of it is that, instead of being 
 ashamed of the absurdities, puerilities, and meaningless and silly 
 forms and flummeries of their secret orders, they are proud of 
 the fact that those orders are so ancient." 
 
 ' ' Don' t you think, ' ' asked Mrs. Notion, ' ' that men get some 
 benefit from these secret societies ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yes, Matilda, but not enough to repay for the time, energy, 
 and money spent in connection with them. I hope men will soon 
 imitate you good women, and meet together in modern societies, 
 for real self-improvement, and upon a rational basis. ' '
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Discuss the Progress of 
 Women in the Professions. 
 
 " I am ashamed that women are so simple 
 To offer war where they should kneel for peace; 
 Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway, 
 When they are bound to serve, love, and olicy." 
 
 Shakespeare* 
 
 " A woman impudent and mannish grown 
 Is not more loathed than an effeminate man 
 In time of action." 
 
 "I have much, to say," remarked Mrs. Notion, "about 
 woman's achievements in the different professions, and I should 
 like to call your attention to some literary women of our own and 
 perhaps other lands. I can hardly more than mention their 
 names, but even that will remind you of the fact that we. arc 
 capable of the most brilliant attainments in the world of letters. 
 In some of our previous conversations I have referred to quite a 
 number of literary women in different countries and ages, and I 
 now wish more particularly to speak of what American women 
 have accomplished in this direction. One of the first American 
 women to distinguish herself in this field of action was Margaret 
 Fuller, who wrote an able work on ' Woman in the Nineteenth 
 Century.' You have read and reread that wonderful book, 
 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' written by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, 
 but you may not know that 300, 000 copies of it were sold in one 
 year from the date of its first publication, and that eight power 
 presses were kept running day and night to supply the demand. 
 The British Museum now contains 35 complete editions in Eng- 
 lish, and translations of the work exist in at least twenty different 
 languages. 'Robert Elsmere,' written by Mrs. Humphrey 
 Ward, an English lady, was one of the most popular novels ever 
 placed before the reading public, and 200,000 copies were sold in 
 America the first year, for which the author only received $500, 
 as a result of the piracy of American publishers. Women have
 
 PROGRESS IN THE PROFESSIONS. 205 
 
 been writing for Hdr/x'r K since 1850, and for the Atlantic Month/;/ 
 since 1857. Among our noted writers of fiction I may mention: 
 I {use Terry, Mrs. Stoddart, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Lillie Chace 
 Wyman, Sarah Orne Jewett, Margaret Delaud, Mary E. Wil- 
 kius, Constance Fenimore Woolson, Mary Hal leek Foote, Mrs. 
 Frances Hodgson Burnett, Blanche Willis Howard, Mrs. Jack- 
 son, the author of that celebrated book ' Ramona, ' Miss Murfree, 
 under the nom de plume of Charles Egbert Craddock, Louisa M. 
 Alcott, Mi's. Southworth, and Mary Mapes Dodge." 
 
 "They certainly constitute a very notable group of talented 
 women," assented Mr. Notion. 
 
 ' ' Yes, indeed, Edward, and the women poets of America are 
 also worthy of admiration. Chief among them are: Mrs. Fields, 
 Mrs. Spofford, Mrs. Margaret J. Preston, Mrs. Mary Ashley 
 Townsend, Elizabeth Akers Allen, Julia C. R. Dorr, Mrs. 
 Whitney, Mrs. Dodge, Mrs. Moulton, Mrs. Thaxter, Mrs. 
 Mary E. Bradley, Kate Putnam Osgood, Nora Perry, and 
 Mary N. Prescott. Women have also excelled in journalism, 
 and are doing as good work and receiving as large pay as men, 
 so that in that department your argument of cheap female com- 
 petition would not apply." 
 
 ' ' And do I understand you to contend, Matilda, that women 
 authors are at all comparable with the great literary men who 
 have achieved such prodigies in the realm of letters?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Mrs. Notion, "when we consider their dis- 
 advantages, and the almost insuperable difficulties with which 
 they have had to contend, I think they have displayed a genius 
 fully equal to that of the men." 
 
 "Mrs. Annie Nathan Meyer hardly agrees with you in this 
 high estimate of your sex. She says, ' I am perfectly willing to 
 admit that they (women) have produced no genius of the Highest 
 rank the rank of Dante and Shakespeare, and Milton and 
 Goethe.' " 
 
 "It is quite possible," said Mrs. Notion, "that we have not 
 yet equaled the men of surpassing genius whom Mrs. Meyer 
 names, but give us time and opportunity, and we will astound 
 you with our brilliant achievements. Already we have produced 
 Elizabeth Barret Browning, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, or, 
 more properly speaking, Mrs. Lewes, Harriet Martineau, Miss 
 Moloch, and other women who have no living superiors iu the 
 literary field. ' '
 
 206 DOMESTIC 
 
 "I am glad, Matilda, that you are magnanimous enough to 
 place Miss Muloch hi this list, despite her disparaging remarks 
 about women. And, by the way, speaking of Charlotte Bronte, 
 she is credited with saying that ' indisputably, a great, good, 
 handsome man is the first of created beings. ' In this there lurks 
 an admission of the superiority of my aex." 
 
 "That is the way with women, Edward. They are ever 
 ready to exalt and uplift men, but I am sorry to say that usually 
 the men are not willing to reciprocate, and you are no exception 
 to the rule." 
 
 "In this connection, my dear, it is interesting to notice what 
 Alice Wellington Rollins, of New York, in her address before 
 the Women's Congress, says about the manner in which cele- 
 brated men deal with woman: 'Homer rose in reverence as she 
 passed by, humbled by the sense of her power, even when she 
 used it wilfully; Petrarch exalted her; Dante adored her; Henry 
 James studies her; Maupassant thought her wicked but interest- 
 ing; Tennyson tolerated her; Thackeray graciously refused to 
 look beneath the surface of her gentle little heart, when it seemed 
 to be gentle; Scott heroined her; Wordsworth commended her; 
 Byron hated her; Hawthorne admired her; Crawford pities her; 
 Howells photographs her; Goethe was sorry for her; Punch 
 caricatures her; Burns smiled at her; Moore succumbed to her; 
 Dickens laughed at her; Heine married her at last; Tolstoi plants 
 her in sunshine, and Avaters her with his tears, only to tear her 
 up by the roots in the end; Victor Hugo idealizes her; Bourget 
 dissects her; Balzac understood her; but in literature, as in life, 
 no man has ever ignored her; and in literature, as in life, I seek 
 in vain for any man whose opinion of her coidd be characterized 
 by saying simply that he "liked her." There are no platonic 
 friendships in books, as there are none but dangerous ones 
 in life.' ' 
 
 "Thank you for reading that, Edward, for I deem it a 
 remarkably brilliant piece of writing, a wonderful generalization 
 of the attitude which great literary men of all times have 
 assumed toward woman." 
 
 ''As you enjoy it so much," playfully retorted Mr. Notion, 
 "I shall read a little more from the same sparkling address: 
 'Oddly enough, woman has never tried to exalt, or excuse, or 
 wonder at, or caricature, or hate, or photograph, or study, or 
 dissect herself. Even when she tries to paint an ideal woman,
 
 PROOKKSS IN Till-; I'KOFKSSIONS. 207 
 
 she fails lamentably. Her Romolas and Dinahs and Dorothies 
 are horribly cold, and fall infinitely below the incomparable 
 pictures men have drawn of idealized or idolized women.' In 
 another place she says, and I agree with her, that 'woman's 
 place in literature may yet come to be that of a superlatively 
 correct observer of the folly, the chivalry, the weakness, the 
 nobleness of men, as man's place has so long been that of the 
 cleverest, most subtle, most keen, most generous observer of 
 the woman herself.' ' 
 
 "How willing women always are to glorify man, and look up 
 to him in rapt admiration and wonder! The gifted lady whom 
 you quote is a thorough woman in that respect, but I think she 
 carries her reverence for men's ability too far, and I am not 
 prepared to concede, as she does, that woman has utterly failed in 
 depicting herself in fiction. But other phases of the subject 
 await us, and with your permission I shall close my remarks 
 concerning literary women by a brief quotation from Josephine 
 Bates, of Illinois: 'At the feet of literature has sat through the 
 ages its lowly handmaiden, woman, liarcly in the past has her 
 untutored thought found hardihood for utterance, but in her life 
 she lived the dreams her dumb lips might not speak. In every 
 country and in every age man has symboled his highest in her 
 image; she has been ever the guardian of social honor, the 
 anchor of religious faith, the embodiment of conscience and of 
 love. Humbly she has walked, a gentle guide beckoning unto 
 purity, to righteousness, to completeness. ' ' 
 
 "Good, Matilda, very good. I hope she will continue to 
 walk humbly, and to guide gently; but she seems very much 
 inclined lately to ride on the bicycle in preference to walking, 
 and to guide us by the ears, rather than in the gentle manner of 
 the past. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Perhaps that is because your ears are so long, Edward, that 
 they present the most conspicuous objects for seizure." 
 
 "A good joke," laughed Mr. Notion. "I congratulate 
 myself on the possession of a witty wife, and yet women are 
 not witty." 
 
 "There again you are much mistaken, sir. Madame de 
 Stael, Madame de Sevigm', Marguerite de Valois, Madame 
 de Sartory, and many other women whom I could mention, 
 were fully equal to any of your male wits." 
 
 "For instance, Matilda, for instance?"
 
 208 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Well, for instance, to meet your challenge, .Madame de 
 Stael said, 'Fame is for woman only a splendid mourning for 
 happiness. ' One of Marguerite de Valois' epigrams is, ' Hypo- 
 crites are wicked; they hide their defects with so much care that 
 their hearts are poisoned by them.' ' 
 
 ' ' Very neat, ' ' interrupted Mr. Notion with a smile. 
 
 "Listen," chided Mrs. Notion. "Madame de Sartory 
 observes, ' There is nothing more tiresome than the conversation 
 of a lover who has nothing to desire, and nothing to fear.' I 
 suppose that is why husbands are usually such dull company for 
 their wives. But now an epigram from Madame de Scvigiu', 
 and I can proceed. Among other bright and true things uttered 
 by her is this, ' The heart has no wrinkles. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I suppose she is right about it, Matilda, for we men rec< io- 
 nize women as authorities on all matters of the heart, polite 
 society, flattery, etc. For instance, Madame de Bieux, another 
 bright French woman, says, 'Women who have not fine teeth 
 laugh only with their eyes.' Poor woman, she lived more than 
 three centuries ago, and knew nothing about the skill of Ameri- 
 can dentists! Ninon de Lenclos, a woman of whom we have 
 spoken before in these talks, remarks: 'Words really flattering 
 are not those which we prepare, but those which escape us 
 unthinkingly.' Madame Geoffrin said about two centuries since 
 that ' there are three things that women throw away, their time, 
 their money, and their health.' Do you think " 
 
 ' ' Excuse me, Edward, but we have gone far enough in this 
 direction. I am very anxious to say something about female 
 physicians, lawyers, etc., and time is passing so rapidly that 
 I fear the evening will be gone before we can discuss our subject 
 in these important aspects." 
 
 "All right, my dear, I am at your service. Tell me some- 
 thing about the gentle ladies who study anatomy and physiology, 
 who pour over pathology, seek success in surgery, and throw 
 kisses, as it were, at therapeutics. " 
 
 " I shall gladly do so," said Mrs. Notion; "but I had nearly 
 forgotten the lady journalists, of whom you spoke the other even- 
 ing. As they are literary women of a high order of ability, it is 
 fitting that they should be mentioned in this connection, and before 
 taking up the other learned professions, I shall briefly consider 
 them. The time was when women had not the physical strength 
 and hardihood which were required in the reporter of the metro-
 
 PROGRESS IN THE PROFESSIONS. 209 
 
 politan daily. His duties were irksome and often dangerous, 
 and could only be satisfactorily performed by men with a dash of 
 the adventurer in them. Now conditions are radically changed 
 in these respects, and women can do much of the work of the 
 great newspapers with perfect ease and safety. Their steadiness, 
 sobriety, and reliability have made them formidable competitors 
 of the male journalists, and so exacting now are the demands 
 upon the men and women writers of the daily papers that the 
 dissipated, convivial fellows who constituted the rule rather than 
 the exception among reporters twenty years ago, when you were 
 a journalist, have very largely passed away." 
 
 " And so you think," said Mr. Notion, "that women journal- 
 ists are more conscientious, truthful, and loyal to the interests of 
 their employers than the men." 
 
 "I do, sir; and it is these very qualities which have enabled 
 them to force their way to the front against many prejudices and 
 much opposition. Women are more patient and painstaking 
 than men, and are not so prone to substitute the product of their 
 imagination for sober facts. They hold many of the best editorial 
 positions in the country to-day. Celebrated among these women 
 of the pen are Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, of the St. Nicholas 
 Magazine; Mrs. Margaret Songster, of Harper's Bazar; Mrs. 
 Kate Masterson, of the New York Journal; Mrs. Margaret 
 Welch, of the New York Times; Mrs. Mary J. Lincoln, of the 
 American Kitchen Magazine; Miss Cornelia Cunningham Bed- 
 ford, of Table Talk; Miss Mary H. Krout, of the Chicago 
 Inter- Ocean ; Miss Bertha Damaris Knobe, of the Chicago 
 Tribune; Mrs. Margaret Sullivan, Miss Eva Brodlique, and Dr. 
 Julia Holmes Smith, of the Times-Herald; and Mrs. Black, 
 better known as ' Annie Laurie, ' formerly of the San Francisco 
 Examiner." 
 
 ' ' What kind of work is done by these ladies ? ' ' inquired Mr. 
 Notion. 
 
 "The very best, Edward. Most of them have gained wide 
 celebrity and deserved popularity. Mrs. Masterson went to 
 Cuba as a war correspondent; Lily Curry is the leading corre- 
 spondent in Central America; and Anne Morton Lane, Miss 
 Emma Bullett, Miss Grace Carew Sheldon, and Miss Catherine 
 Cole, are doing brilliant work as European correspondents of 
 American papers. Miss Kate Field, now deceased, had a world- 
 wide fame as a journalist. " 
 
 14
 
 210 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Are these gifted ladies domestic in their tastes?" asked Mr. 
 Notion with apparent anxiety. 
 
 "Edward, you really weary me with your constant harping 
 upon that worn-out string. Some of them are, and others are 
 not. Let me tell you once for all that the modern woman wants 
 a husband who appreciates her strength of Avill and tenacity of 
 purpose, and unless he will meet her on the plane of perfect 
 equality, she will none of him." 
 
 "I don't think, Matilda, that she will have any trouble in 
 convincing him of her strength of will." 
 
 "And another thing, Edward; as Kaethe Schirmacher, a 
 German woman whose views are in marked contrast to those of 
 your Adele Crepaz, remarks, the modern woman is getting to be 
 rather easily bored, and her attitude toward your sex generally is 
 more that of indifference than veneration. She does not consider 
 marriage as her inevitable lot, or regard it as every woman's 
 chief vocation. She asks to be looked upon as a person, rather 
 than a mere woman, and insists upon her liberty to choose mar- 
 riage if she is so disposed, and to refuse it if she sees any other 
 way of increasing her happiness. ' ' 
 
 "I for one," exclaimed Mr. Notion, "am heartily in favor 
 of granting her that privilege, and the spinstered, widowed, or 
 otherwise man-unencumbered condition of most of the prominent 
 advocates of women's rights, convinces me that quite a number 
 of other men are of my way of thinking. But this is a digres- 
 sion. Now for the surgeons. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Mary Putnam Jacobi, herself a physician of no mean stand- 
 ing," said Mrs. Notion, "declares that the history of the* move- 
 ment which introduced women into the full practice of medicine, 
 is one of the most interesting of modern times. She divides this 
 history into seven distinct periods: First, the colonial, or that of 
 the exclusively female midwifery, many of whose practitioners 
 are reported to have brought into the world from 1,000 to 
 3,000 infants each; second, the revolutionary, when women were 
 repulsed from the profession in consequence of the influence of 
 European culture and knowledge; third, that of the reaction 
 against male midwives; fourth, the opening of a school of medi- 
 cine for women by Mr. Samuel Gregory in 1848; fifth, the 
 founding of hospitals where women could obtain clinical training, 
 the oldest of which is the New York Infirmary, chartered in 
 1850; sixth, the struggle to obtain for women physicians recog-
 
 rUOGRESS IN THE PROFESSIONS. 211 
 
 nitiou in the profession; seventh, the extension to women of 
 opportunities for study and practice in great hospitals. In 
 1859 the Medical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 
 admitted a woman to its membership. In 1847 Harriet K. 
 Hunt was refused permission to attend lectures at the Harvard 
 Medical School. After the graduation of Elizabeth Blackwell, 
 at Geneva, in 1849, Mrs. Hunt repeated her application, and 
 during the same year she began practicing without a license. 
 Elizabeth Blackwell applied for admission to twelve medical 
 schools, only one of which, that at Geneva, New York, admitted 
 her. She studied two years in Europe after her graduation, 
 visiting the hospitals in London and Paris. Her sister Emily 
 \vas refused admission to the Hobart College, at Geneva, the 
 same institution which had graduated Elizabeth. Rush College, 
 at Chicago, however, allowed her to study there for one year, 
 but was censured by the State Medical Society for so doing, and 
 consequently declined to admit her the second year. She grad- 
 uated at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1852, after which she went to 
 Europe and became a private pupil of Sir James Simpson, of 
 Edinburg. She understood Latin, Greek, French, German, 
 and Italian. Other pioneer women in the medical profession 
 were: Marie Zakzrewska, Ann Preston, Emmeline Cleveland, 
 Sarah Adamson, Mrs. Gleasou, Mrs. Thomas, and her sister, 
 Mrs. Longshore. The last-named lady was the first woman 
 physician to practice in Philadelphia, and her sign was such a 
 curiosity that crowds gathered to look at it. On one occasion a 
 druggist refused to fill her prescription, and was impertinent 
 enough to order her home ' to look after her house and darn her 
 husband's stockings.' So you see, Edward, that the men were 
 very generally opposed to the acquisition by women of medical 
 knowledge, as well as to their making a practical use of such 
 knowledge in the treatment of disease. It was only as the 
 members of your sex were educated up to the new ideas and 
 customs that they became reconciled to them, and gradually grew 
 to believe that there was nothing inherently wrong in them. This 
 opposition was strongest among members of the medical profession, 
 men of much more than ordinary education and intelligence. 
 And yet they were mistaken in their views. Now is it not 
 possible, Edward, that you are just as much mistaken in your 
 opinions as they were in theirs, and that you will see matters in a 
 different light in a few years, and admit that your present ideas 
 were crude and incorrect?"
 
 212 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "You have made quite a long speech, Matilda. Your -ques- 
 tion, however, indicates that you expect an answer, and I will 
 say, No, I do not expect to undergo any such mental transfor- 
 mation as that which you indicate. In the first place, I can not 
 agree with you that these medical men who opposed the admission 
 of women to practice were entirely wrong, or that the practice of 
 medicine by women has yet vindicated all the claims of its 
 advocates. There is still room for honest difference of opinion, 
 and I have grave doubts as to the advisability of encouraging 
 women to become physicians. There are many things about the 
 study and practice of medicine which have a tendency to blunt 
 the fine sensibilities and susceptibilities of your sex, and to 
 impair the delicacy which is one of its chief charms. Still, I 
 am in favor of giving women the opportunity to fit themselves 
 for this and all the other learned professions. I think it is 
 eminently proper that they should have the midwifery practice, 
 and treat diseases which are peculiar to women. If they would 
 confine themselves to that field, I should give them my unqual- 
 ified approval." 
 
 "That last sentence sounds just a little egotistical, Ned. You 
 surely must know that such a thing as you suggest is entirely 
 impracticable. In the very nature of things, women practi- 
 tioners will get as large a clientage as possible, and will not 
 refuse lucrative practice simply because it is not in accordance 
 with the ideas of male theorists like yourself." 
 
 1 ' I know it, Matilda, and for that reason I fear that the good 
 which will undoubtedly come from the obstetrical practice of 
 women physicians will be more than offset by the evil that will 
 result from their participation in general practice. As I said 
 before, there are many things about the medical profession which, 
 if not positively unwomanly, are not compatible with the highest 
 standards of feminine modesty and refinement." 
 
 " What an old fogy you are, to be sure! " replied Mrs. Notion. 
 ' ' You ought to learn something from that ideal man, Professor 
 Griggs, of Stanford Univeivity. He says that we are living in 
 a time of transition, when old ideals which have largely outlived 
 their usefulness, must give way to new and higher ones; that in 
 the evolution of woman differentiation and specialization have 
 made her character and functions permanently different from 
 those of man; that formerly the selective value was placed 
 entirely upon the woman who was willing to lose her own per-
 
 PROGRESS IN THE PROFESSIONS. 213 
 
 sonality in the life of her family; but that uow evolution has 
 taken such an advance as to change the selective basis so that 
 the human ideal tends to integrate in a higher organic unity the 
 ideals of manhood and womanhood, and to require that woman 
 shall be not only sensitive and tender and loving, but strong and 
 capable of some measure of independent life. ' ' 
 
 "How clear and simple that is!" exclaimed Mr. Notion. 
 "What a happy and interesting way he has of putting it! Now, 
 don't you know, I never thought of that before. But and you 
 will pardon the suggestion, Matilda of course you understand 
 just exactly what the good professor means." 
 
 "Well, no, Edward; I shall be candid with you and admit 
 that I do not. While I heartily concur in his conclusions, I do 
 not thoroughly comprehend the different links in his train of 
 reasoning, which is long and somewhat complex. Nor can I 
 assent to what you say about the simplicity of his style. It 
 strikes me as rather technical and involved. I suppose, how- 
 ever, that his ideas are too grand and large to be couched in 
 common English word*. " 
 
 " Just so, " ejaculated Mr. 'Notion; "but, fortunately, another 
 man who lives in the same exalted intellectual sphere as Spencer, 
 Fiske, Huxley, Tyndall, Darwin, Haeckel, Romanes, Drum- 
 inond, Jordan, Le Conte, Griggs, and the other great men who 
 take evolution for dessert three times a day, and put what is left 
 of it under their pillows at night, has seized the cudgels against 
 Professor Griggs, and opposes him with his own weapons 
 something, by the way, which an ordinary mortal like me could 
 not hope to do. I allude to Prof. H. H. Powers, formerly of 
 Stanford University, and also an evolutionist, who says that the 
 social necessity that is laid upon woman is that she shall per- 
 petruite the race under conditions compatible with the social 
 order; that in accordance with this necessity she has assumed 
 certain secondary functions or occupations which are not arbi- 
 trary, but are a part of her adaptation to sex functions, and that 
 any change in the character or tendencies of any number of 
 women which would prevent them, either from incapacity or 
 disinclination, from perpetuating themselves through maternity, 
 would be eliminated for the simple reason that the next generation 
 of women would owe its origin to mothers who represent a dif- 
 ferent type of character and tendency, and one more favorable 
 to the reproductive function. ' '
 
 214 
 
 "I think, Edward, that as you put the ideas of Professor 
 Powers, they are even more difficult of comprehension than those 
 of our champion, Professor Griggs. But I want to say a little 
 more about the movement of medical women in America. 
 Women's hospitals were founded in the different cities in the 
 following chronological order: New York, 1854; Boston and 
 Philadelphia, 1862; Chicago, 1865; San Francisco, 187"); and 
 Minneapolis, 1882. The census of 1880 showed 2,432 women 
 registered as physicians in the United States, and there are new 
 probably 4,000 at the lowest calculation. In 1881 the average 
 income of seventy-six lady physicians was $3,000 per annum. 
 Ten of these earned between $3,000 and $4,000; five between 
 84,000 and $5,000; three between $5,000 and $15,000, and 
 four between $15,000 and $20,000." 
 
 ' ' This is a very interesting subject, Matilda, and I wish we 
 could devote more time to it. The practice of medicine by 
 women is not a new idea, however. Hygeia, the daughter of 
 JEsculapius, was worshiped as the goddess of health, and among 
 the ancient Egyptians the goddess Isis watched over the health of 
 mankind, while Salus and Valetedu, both goddesses, were deemed 
 by the Romans to be the chief benefactresses of the public health 
 and welfare. But the medical calling fell into disrepute among 
 women, and it was not until the foundation of the University of 
 Salermo that female doctors were again heard of. Among these 
 were Tartu la, Abella, Rebald, and Coustantia Calendo, all of 
 whom were celebrated in their day. The following famous 
 women physicians graduated from the University of Bologna: 
 Anatonia Alexandra Gigliani, Maria Pettracina, and her daugh- 
 ter, Zaffira Peretti, and Katharina Passi. Oliva del Sabuco 
 was a distinguished female doctor in Spain. Other celebrated 
 lady practitioners in the olden times were Felicite de Tay, of the 
 University of Montpellier, Anna Volley and Elizabeth Kent, in 
 England, and Anna Man/olini, in Italy, \\ho was given a 
 professorship at Milan, and had honorable distinctions lavished 
 upon her by the Emperor Joseph II." 
 
 "I am delighted, Edward, to see these evidences of your 
 interest in the progress of women, and you seem to know more 
 about my noble sisters in distant countries than in your own 
 land. Consequently, I do not expect to impart any information 
 to you when 1 say that the European universities conferred upon 
 women the right to study medicine, in the following chronological
 
 PROGRESS IX THE PROFESSIONS. 215 
 
 order: Zurich, 1864; Paris, 1868; Berne, 1872; London, 1874; 
 Italy, 1876; Dublin, 1876. In Russia the privilege was granted 
 in 1872, but was subsequently withdrawn. In Germany and 
 Austria women are not permitted to enter the universities. There 
 were recently 70 lady physicians in London, 5 in Edinburg, 
 2 in Dublin, 6 in Italy, 2 in Spain, 4 in Berlin, 700 in Russia, 
 54 of whom are members of the clinical schools and laboratories, 
 and 100 in far-off India." 
 
 "Excuse me for saying it, Matilda, but Karl Vogt, after 
 observing repeatedly the female assistants in the laboratory, says 
 that they are decidedly unskilful as manipulators. Geheimrath 
 Waldeyer, another eminent German medical authority, has also 
 expressed his opposition to the practice of medicine by members 
 of your sex." 
 
 " I do not doubt it, Edward. You could easily make out a 
 formidable list of prominent medical men of the present day who 
 share his views in that respect. But the clock admonishes me 
 that I must hasten. Let us now talk a little while about the 
 ladies of the law. They, like their sisters in the medical pro- 
 fession, have had to fight every inch of their upward way. 
 Although Miss Margaret Brent practiced as an attorney in Mary- 
 land in 1648, no one is recorded as following her example until 
 1869, when Arabella A. Mansfield was admitted to the Iowa bar. 
 About the same time Mrs. Myra Bradwell, of Chicago, was 
 refused admission to practice. Her appeal to the Supreme Court 
 of the United States was unsuccessful, and she went into journal- 
 ism until 1890, when the Supreme Court of Illinois, on its own 
 motion unanimously admitted her to the bar. Mrs. Belva Ann 
 Lockwood was admitted by the Supreme Court of the District of 
 Columbia, in 1873, and three years later was refused admission 
 to the Supreme Court of the United States. If I had time, I 
 could read to you some interesting extracts from the opinion of 
 that and other appellate courts in this connection. It was not 
 until Congress passed appropriate legislation that Mrs. Lockwood 
 was admitted to practice by the highest court in the land. This 
 was in 1879. In one of our previous talks you favored me with 
 an extract from the opinion of Mr. Justice Ryan, of the Supreme 
 Court of Wisconsin, rendered by him in 1875, in connection with 
 the refusal of that court to admit Miss R. Lavinia Goodell to the 
 bar. Among the pioneers in this movement, I may mention: 
 Mary Hall, Lemma Barkaloo, Alta M. Hulett, Ada II. Kopley,
 
 216 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 Clara S. Foltz, and Laura De Force Gordon. These women 
 were all admitted to practice between 1870 and 1882. There 
 are now between 50 and 100 lady lawyers in the United State-." 
 
 "Evidently, Matilda, women have not been as successful in 
 the legal profession as in that of medicine, and I am not at all 
 surprised that such should be the case, for the arguments which 
 can be made in favor of lady physicians do not apply to lady 
 attorneys. Women are almost universally deficient in the 
 qualities which are essential in a good lawyer, and there is no de- 
 mand for their services as practitioners at the bar. As Rousseau 
 truly said: 'The research for abstract and speculative truths, for 
 principles, for axioms in the sciences, for all that tends to 
 generalize ideas, is not the province of women; their studies ought 
 all to refer to practice. ' ' 
 
 "Don't you think, Edward, that women should qualify them- 
 selves to defend, protect, and champion their unfortunate or err- 
 ing sisters in the courts of law? If female instead of male 
 lawyers were to take charge of this class of legal business, the 
 'coarse jest and cruel laugh so proverbial in social iinpurity 
 cases' would soon be things of the past." 
 
 "I think," replied Mr. Notion, "that it would be much 
 better if women would qualify themselves to keep out of such 
 cases. The deserving woman who is unfortunate enough to be 
 involved in some unclean litigation, seldom lacks male defenders, 
 and is rarely subjected to any avoidable humiliation or shame." 
 
 " One of the most interesting cases I know of, Edward, in con- 
 nection with the advent of women into the legal profession, is that 
 of Col. C. K. Pier, of Madison, Wisconsin, who with his wife 
 and their three daughters are widely celebrated as the Pier family 
 of lawyers. They all practice law together. And now a closing 
 Avord about the association of these women of the law. Their 
 first organization was called the 'Equity Club,' and was formed 
 in 1886 by the women students and graduates of the law depart- 
 ment of the University of Michigan. Another association, called 
 ' Woman's International Bar Association,' was organized in 
 1888; and you are of course familiar with the history of the 
 'Portia Club,' in San Francisco." 
 
 "Matilda, what have you to say about women in art, music, 
 science, government, and the pulpit ? ' ' 
 
 "If I had time, Edward, I could say a great deal about them. 
 So far as art is concerned, it is sufficient to refer to Rosa Bonheur,
 
 PROGRESS IN THE PROFESSIONS. 217 
 
 the famous uninml painter, and to say that there are hundreds of 
 bright and successful lady portrait painters in the different parts 
 of this country. In decorative art there are legions of talented 
 \vomen who are earning large compensation." 
 
 "Speaking of Rosa Bouheur," said Mr. Notion, " reminds me 
 of Landseer, her distinguished male rival in the delineation of 
 animals, who, when asked why he did not propose marriage to 
 her, replied that he could never be willing to live with one who 
 had surpassed him in his own department of art." 
 
 ' ' I wonder that he was willing to acknowledge her superiority, ' ' 
 said Mrs. Notion. "Men are generally so conceited that I am 
 not at all surprised that you should consider his case a remark- 
 able one. But in the realm of music, we have won many 
 notable triumphs, and I could name a score of women who have 
 held vast audiences spellbound by their marvelous vocal powers." 
 
 "True, Matilda, but none of the great composers have been 
 women. All the higher oratorios and symphonies, like the great 
 paintings and sculptures, have been the products of men. So, 
 too, in their mastery of musical instruments, men have had no 
 female rivals worthy of the name. And yet in the field of music 
 and art both sexes have enjoyed the privilege of unlimited com- 
 petition during all the ages. Nor should we forget the law in 
 accordance with which energy, vitality, and talent, when sup- 
 pressed in one direction, will manifest themselves in greater force 
 along the lines of freedom from restraint. This being so, female 
 talent, from the mere fact that it was so greatly restricted in other 
 spheres, should have accomplished its grandest achievements in 
 the realms of music and art." 
 
 "Women have not been free in any direction, Edward, and 
 hence your conclusion falls with your premise. In science my 
 sisters are showing their powers in many departments. Miss 
 Margaivtta ] 'aimer and Maria Mitchell are well-known astrono- 
 mers, and the latter received a gold medal from the king of 
 Denmark for her discovery of the comet of 1847. Other dis- 
 tinguished women scientists are Miss Jacobs, of the Massachusetts 
 Institute of Technology, Miss Chevalier, professor of chemistry 
 at the Woman's Medical College of New York, who has per- 
 formed difficult chemical researches on nerve tissue; and Mrs. 
 Wilder, who assists her husband in his laboratory for comparative 
 anatomy, at Ithaca, New York. Philippa Fawcctt not many 
 years since far outstripped all her male competitors at the Cam-
 
 218 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 bridge examinations, and ranked 400 marks above the senior 
 wrangler. Mrs. Franklin, formerly Christine Ladd, was made 
 a fellow in the mathematical department of the Johns Hopkins 
 University, and has done remarkable work in mathematics, 
 logic, and physics; Songa Kowalewski, the gifted young Russian 
 scientist, was appointed to a full professorship at the University 
 of Stockholm in 1884. She died while still young." 
 
 "Possibly her intense mental activity was too much for her 
 physical strength," suggested Mr. Notion. 
 
 ' ' Perhaps so, Edward. If so, she has had innumerable male 
 predecessors. Mrs. Susanna Gage is a microscopist of recognized 
 ability, and iMiss Julia Platt has published the results of her 
 morphological studies, in the Journal of Morphology, and in 
 German anatomical journals. Other noted scientific women are: 
 Dr. Francis Hoggan, Marianne North, and Miss Eleanor A. 
 Ormerod, all Englishwomen. They have won fame in the 
 respective fields of microscopical anatomy, botany, and entomology. 
 Madame Ragotzin, a Russian lady, is deeply versed in the science 
 of Chaldaic and Assyrian inscriptions. I might prolong this list 
 almost indefinitely, but I have said enough to show that women 
 are capable of winning distinction in all departments of science. 
 So far as women in the pulpit are concerned, I need only say 
 that since 1856, when the Universalists recognized their right to 
 preach, they have been rapidly gaining ground, and the latest 
 statistics I have at hand show that lady ministers are distributed 
 as follows among the denominations: Universalists, 36; Uni- 
 tarians, 19;. Free-will Baptists, 26; Congregatioualists, 12. Miss 
 Shaw, who so ably advocated female suffrage in this state in 
 1896, is an ordained minister in the Protestant Methodist Church. 
 So, Edward, what little point there once was in Samuel Johnson's 
 rude jest, is now destroyed. That great man said: 'A woman 
 preacher is like a dog walking on his hind legs; it is not well 
 done, but you are surprised to find it done at all.' But I don't 
 suppose you are in favor of admitting women to the pulpit under 
 any circumstances." 
 
 "There you are mistaken, my dear. If a woman has the 
 requisite gifts and graces, and can give satisfactory evidence that 
 she is called to preach, 1 would be the last one to throw a single 
 obstacle in her way. But, while I would not legislate against 
 women preachers as a class, or make them legally ineligible for 
 the ministry, I am very firmly convinced that only in rare
 
 PIKHiUKSS IN THE PROFESSIONS. 219 
 
 instances are they adapted to this exalted calling, or so situated 
 that they can do such work without neglecting domestic duties. 
 The married woman could hardly do justice to a pulpit and 
 properly attend to her family, and I am opposed to unmarried 
 ministers, be they men or women. Hence, I conclude that as a 
 rule men will be called upon in the future as in the past to do 
 most of the public preaching of the gospel. ' ' 
 
 "Before we quit," said Mrs. Notion, "I want to ask you just 
 one question, and that is, Do you think women should be admitted 
 as delegates to the General Conference of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church?" 
 
 ' ' Certainly I do, Matilda. They constitute a very large pro- 
 portion of the membership of that denomination, do a large share 
 of its religious and charitable work, contribute a large proportion 
 of the money which supports its preachers, presiding elders, 
 bishops, editors, missionaries, etc., and are consequently clearly 
 entitled from every standpoint of justice, right, and expediency, 
 to full participation in the deliberations of the great body which 
 meets once in every quadrennium as the representative of the 
 denomination of which you speak." 
 
 "I am satisfied," exclaimed Mrs. Notion. "That admission 
 covers a multitude of your sins, and I think I shall be able to 
 sleep better to-night because you have made it. ' '
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Discuss Lawlessness as a 
 Marked Characteristic of This Age. 
 
 " The domestic relations precede, and in our present existence are 
 worth more than all our other ties. They give the first throh to the 
 heart, and unseal the deep fountains of its love. Home is the chief 
 school of human virtue. Its responsibilities, joys, sorrows, smiles, tears, 
 hopes, and solicitudes form the chief interests of human life." Channin;/. 
 
 "While the phase of modern life which I now intend to dis- 
 cuss," said Mr. Notion, "will take us somewhat beyond our 
 immediate subject of woman, still in many of its aspects it bears 
 so strongly upon and is so closely related to it that what I have to 
 say will not be out of place. It strikes me that perhaps the most 
 significant symptom of our times is lawlessness. ' ' 
 
 "Do you think, Edward, that there is as much disregard for 
 law now as there was in other ages?" 
 
 "Possibly not, Matilda, for of course there have been times 
 when the checks and restraints which render human society pos- 
 sible, were almost entirely obliterated, and every man was a. law 
 unto himself. This must have been especially true of the ante- 
 diluvians, and was conspicuously the case in the days of the 
 judges of Israel, during most of which storm v period we are 
 assured by Holy "Writ that there was no king in those days, and 
 every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Lawless- 
 ness also characterized the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, 
 and was a marked feature of the middle ages. ]>ut for the past 
 century or two the nations which constitute Christendom have 
 prided themselves, and with some justice, on the law-abiding 
 character of their people; and the conviction lias gradually 
 deepened among tbe inhabitants of civilized lands that they were 
 so habituated to obedience to authority, and that without external 
 compulsion, that among them life, liberty, property, and other 
 acknowledged rights of the individual, were measurably safe. 
 What I maintain is that for several years past the people of 
 Christendom, and especially those of our own land, have been 
 
 (220)
 
 LAWLESSNESS. 221 
 
 losing these admirable 1 characteristics, and rapidly relapsing into 
 lawlessness." 
 
 "Edward, you really surprise me, for this assertion is diamet- 
 rically opposed to the declarations of the pulpit, the press, and 
 the university, as well as to the spirit of our entire literature." 
 
 "I know it, Matilda, and I explain it by the fact that until 
 lately there was a real advance along these lines, but I believe 
 that in recent years this progress has ceased, and that retrogres- 
 sion has taken place. It is very difficult, however, for a people 
 who are deteriorating in any way to realize that fact, for a decline 
 in conduct is always due to a decline in moral standards, and it 
 is quite possible for a race to become demoralized, and yet at the 
 same time to flatter itself with the thought that it is making sub- 
 stantial progress." 
 
 "I do not know as I altogether understand this last proposi- 
 tion, Edward." 
 
 "What I mean, Matilda, is that as the ideals of nations 
 become lower, that very fact makes such nations incapable of 
 perceiving their own decadence, for the margin between their 
 standards and their conduct is no greater than it was when the 
 standards were higher." 
 
 ' ' In what ways does this increase of lawlessness manifest itself? " 
 inquired Mrs. Notion. 
 
 ' ' Their name is legion, ' ' responded Mr. Notion. ' ' First, it 
 finds expression in the family, which I consider the very basis of 
 all society and government. The wife no longer deems herself 
 subject to her husband, or subordinate to him in any way. If 
 he undertakes to assert his authority as the head of the family, 
 she resists him, and unseemly quarrels result." 
 
 "But you well know," expostulated Mrs. Notion, "that, 
 although I consider myself your equal in every way, I recognize 
 the position of headship with which man-made law invests you, 
 and invariably defer to your judgment when any otherwise 
 irreconcilable difference occurs between us." 
 
 "You sometimes do, Matilda, and I have no fault to find with 
 you in that respect. Please remember that my remarks are gen- 
 eral in their character, and that you are always excepted, unless 
 specifically included. Of course there are multitudes of women 
 who still recogni/c this dominance of their husbands, but they con- 
 stitute merely numerous exceptions to the rule, which is as I state 
 it. These quarrels and bickerings cause an estrangement between
 
 222 J>OMKSTIC 1)1 IC1.S. 
 
 the spouses, and as an inevitable result the courts of the land are 
 filled with men and women who seek divorces. In the majority 
 of cases, however, the mismated couples do not attempt to secure 
 a legal separation, but cover up their disagreements as well as 
 possible, and live on in all degrees of misery. Some are so 
 deeply attached that these conflicts are of rare occurrence, and 
 they get along fairly well. Others quarrel and speedily effect a 
 reconciliation, which is soon followed by another quarrel, and so 
 on ad infinitum. In the periods between their feuds they asso- 
 ciate on terms of friendliness and possibly real affection. Others, 
 as the result of a long series of these domestic duels, become 
 permanently estranged, and merely live together for the sake of 
 appearances, or on account of their children. Thus you see, 
 Matilda, as one consequence of the advanced ideas of American 
 women, the homes of the country are being destroyed, and law- 
 lessness is cultivated in the very places \\nere its opposite should 
 be most sedulously and jealously fostered and preserved." 
 
 ' ' I fear, Edward, that you are a little inconsistent in all this, 
 for I distinctly remember you to have stated in one of our 
 talks that a large proportion of American men were ruled by 
 domineering wives." 
 
 "Very true, Matilda, but that does not at all militate against 
 what 1 now maintain. These husbands, though deprived of their 
 proper authority, and brought beneath the rule of a domestic 
 rebel, chafe under the yoke of servitude, and frequently make 
 desperate efforts to recover their lost dominion. But the inev- 
 itable result of this perversion of the natural order of things, is 
 that the children, where there are any, grow up without any 
 respect for either parent, and with feelings of the utmost contempt 
 for any restraint which does not manifest itself in the form of 
 physical force. ' ' 
 
 "Do you mean to say, Edward, that the prevailing disobedi- 
 ence to parents is due to the assertion by married women of their 
 innate equality with their husbands?" 
 
 "Indeed I do," replied Mr. Notion. "When children are 
 reared in an atmosphere of anger, faultfinding, mutual recrimi- 
 nations between husband and wife, and constant contempt on the 
 part of their mother of their father's legitimate and proper 
 authority, they will learn to share her scorn, and will despise and 
 disobey the paternal commands whenever they dare to do so." 
 
 "But how about the mother?" inquired .Mrs. Notion, with 
 some appearance of anxiety.
 
 LAWLESSNESS 223 
 
 ' ' She will be both disliked and despised by her children, for 
 they will instinctively feel that she has forfeited her true womanly 
 position, and intruded herself into a place which she can not fill.. 
 Unless she is unusually strong-minded and imperious, she will 
 completely fail to enforce the obedience of her children, for by 
 destroying their father's natural influence over them, she has 
 deprived herself of that assistance without which the vast majority 
 of mothers are unable to secure the observance of their parental 
 commands." 
 
 ' ' Here I think I see another inconsistency in your argument, ' ' 
 exclaimed Mrs. Notion with an air of triumph. ' ' You are now 
 assuming that the woman who is strong-minded enough to resist 
 all efforts of her husband to assert his authority, is too weak to 
 make her own children mind her. That statement, in my opin- 
 ion, involves a palpable contradiction." 
 
 ' ' From a superficial standpoint I admit that it so appears, ' ' 
 said Mr. Notion, ' ' but it is not by her strength of character that 
 the rebellious wife reverses the legitimate order of things in the 
 family life. She does it by scolding and nagging and abusing 
 the 'partner of her joys,' by cross looks, and hateful glances, by 
 petulance and sulking, by resorting to every mean and petty 
 device to make the poor fellow miserable in his own home. After 
 a hard day's work he seeks welcome, rest, and social converse in 
 the bosom of his family. But he is received coldly and with 
 forbidding aspect. All his attempts to brighten and cheer the 
 home atmosphere are dismal failures. He is criticised and sneered 
 at, and finds himself unable to do anything in a satisfactory 
 manner. His wife gives full vent to her contempt. His children 
 show their scorn for him in the very expression of their faces, and 
 he begins to despise himself. If he be a desperate man , without 
 much regard for his family, he will either quarrel violently with 
 his wife and widen the breach, or leave the house as soon as 
 possible. But if he be of an affectionate, kindly nature he will 
 relinquish his rights in the premises, and, although keenly con- 
 scious that his wife is in fault, he will also realize that she is 
 incapable of making any such admission, and at last he will 
 purchase a short armistice by making humiliating overtures, and 
 acknowledging his guilt, when he well knows himself to be 
 entirely innocent. You see, Matilda, a man is no match for a 
 woman in a game of this kind, and the better and nobler the man 
 the more completely will lie be at her mercy. His very patience
 
 224 DOMESTIC DUKI.-. 
 
 will be proof of her petulance. In the words of Joubert, ' Noth- 
 ing does so much honor to a woman as her patience, and nothing 
 does her so little as the patience of her husband.' ' 
 
 "The Bible says, Edward, that a soft answer ttirneth away 
 wrath, and I see no reason why it would not turn away the wrath 
 of an offended or even an unreasonable woman. It takes two to 
 conduct a quarrel, and you will find it extremely difficult to make 
 me believe that in any case the husband can be as innocent and 
 inoffending, on the one hand, and the wife as thoroughly mali- 
 cious, hateful, and contemptible, on the other, as you would make 
 it appear. Your remarks are also objectionable as indicating a 
 deep-seated prejudice against women generally, and as leaving 
 room for the inference that your own matrimonial experience has 
 been peculiarly unfortunate. I do not think I have been the 
 female fury which you so graphically depict, nor am I willing to 
 believe that you are of that opinion; but, if any one else were to 
 hear your remarks, he would inevitably conclude that I must be 
 one of the worst viragoes that ever disgraced this planet. ' ' 
 
 "If my words have any such implications, Matilda, I am truly 
 sorry I ever uttered them; for, as I have over and over again 
 assured you, my admiration for true and normal womanhood is 
 unbounded, and so far as you are concerned individually, I feel 
 that you are the sweetest, noblest, and most devoted of wives; 
 that you " 
 
 "There, there, Edward, I was not fishing for flattery. Please 
 do not go to extremes in the expression of your appreciation. I 
 do not claim to be a paragon. I merely wished to call your atten- 
 tion to the inferences which were legitimately deducible from your 
 statements. ' ' 
 
 "I am very glad that you did, my dear, for no one can go 
 farther than I in my respect for woman. In her proper sphere, 
 and in the normal exercise of her beautiful virtues, she is the 
 conservator of morality, the guardian angel of the home, and 
 the very mainspring of all that is gentle, loving, and pure in our 
 humanity. It is because of my admiration for your sex, and 
 intense appreciation of its glorious characteristics, that I protest 
 so strenuously against everything which has a tendency to mislead 
 woman, or to seduce her from the only path in which she can 
 attain her highest destiny and greatest usefulness." 
 
 "All right, Edward, you have now put yoursdC right, and I 
 am anxious to have you continue the statement of your views on
 
 LAWLESSNESS. 225 
 
 this interesting subject. But first let me remind you of Fuller's 
 wise advice to husbands: ' First get an absolute conquest over thy- 
 self, and thou wilt easily govern thy wife. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I was trying to show, Matilda, that only in the normally 
 constituted family can the children be imbued with sentiments of 
 reverence and filial love, and that any deviation from the right 
 standard of home government will manifest itself to a greater 
 or less extent in the unruliness and turbulence of sons and 
 daughters. ' ' 
 
 "I am willing to concede, Edward, that if the parents do not 
 respect themselves and treat each other with proper deference, 
 their children will not hold them in affection and veneration, and 
 will manifest a spirit of insubordination. But I do not agree 
 with you as to the husband being a dictator or despot. To my 
 mind the ideal family is not one where the wife and children have 
 to meekly bow to the stern authority of a male monarch, but one 
 where all is love, where the children obey without physical com- 
 pulsion, and where husband and wife live together in peace and 
 unity, bearing and forbearing, willingly sacrificing each to the 
 other, and gladly doing their utmost to promote their mutual 
 comfort, happiness, and welfare." 
 
 "You have put it well, Matilda, and I believe with you that 
 love should be the ruling motive in all the domestic relations. 
 But there must be some central authority, some court of appeal, to 
 whom vexed questions and apparently conflicting interests may be 
 submitted. This governmental head should not be self-assertive, 
 or unnecessarily conspicuous, but, nevertheless, it should and does 
 exist in every well-ordered home.. In families where it is not 
 to be found, there is a sort of domestic chaos, mitigated and 
 ameliorated, it may be, by much affection and self-denial, but 
 always menacing the permanent prosperity and happiness of the 
 home. In fact, the general consciousness that appeal can be made 
 to paternal authority tends very greatly to produce harmony and 
 peace in the family." 
 
 ' 'Another question I want to ask, ' ' said Mrs. Notion, ' ' is, How 
 in the world have you managed to obtain all this information? 
 One would think from the confident manner in which you assert 
 the conditions which exist in American families, that you had 
 full and free access to every home in the land. But, as I happen 
 to know that your opportunities for personal observation of these 
 matters have been quite restricted, I am curious to learn where 
 and how you derive all this knowledge." 
 15
 
 226 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "In the first place, Matilda, I have acquired many of my 
 facts from you." 
 
 "From me!" exclaimed Mrs. Notion with visible surprise. 
 "How do you make that out?" 
 
 ' ' Your opportunities, Matilda, of ascertaining the actual facts 
 with reference to many American families, have been exception- 
 ally good. You have been on terms of intimacy with a large 
 number of good ladies, who have confided in you the secrets of 
 their homes, and, like a dutiful wife, you have placed those secrets 
 in my keeping, in order that they might be doubly secure. As 
 you well know, these revelations have convinced us both that the 
 majority of the people of your acquaintance do not live happily in 
 their homes, and that as a rule the wives chafe under the slightest 
 appearance of domestic restraint, and feel that the duties of the 
 household are tiresome and irksome. ' ' 
 
 ' ' But these cases, Edward, are comparatively few in number, 
 and certainly do not justify you in assuming that they are fairly 
 representative of prevailing conditions in the country generally." 
 
 "Admitted, Matilda, but I have many other sources of infor- 
 mation. The newspapers reveal much of the real domestic 
 life of the people, although I am well aware that all their state- 
 ments must be taking cum grano sails, for in their eager desire to 
 satisfy a vitiated public taste, they greatly color and exaggerate 
 their narratives of marital infelicity. Much is also to be learned 
 from the court records, for in addition to the hundreds of thou- 
 sands of divorce cases which have crowded the calendars of 
 American courts during the past quarter of a century, there is a 
 vast mass of other litigation that throws a powerful light upon 
 existing domestic conditions' For instance, the innumerable 
 \vill contests which vex the probate judges, serve well to indicate 
 the actual history of multitudes of American homes." 
 
 "But there are few, Edward, who have access to all these 
 records." 
 
 ' ' Most of them are public, Matilda, and I have made a 
 thoughtful study of them for years, for I have long been deeply 
 interested in these questions. Nor are our own opportunities of 
 individual observation to be despised. If you will look and 
 listen with the object of ascertaining the relations which exist 
 between the men and women whom you meet at close range in 
 society, or at a longer distance in the theater, lecture- room, church, 
 or other place of public assemblage, you will be astonished at the
 
 LA\VLESSM>-. 227 
 
 revelations which reach you. And beyond all these are even 
 wider opportunities for such investigation. In the streets and 
 public conveyances you will meet thousands of people, who will 
 not be able to wholly conceal from you the secrets of their lives 
 and characters. By watchful attention to tone, expression, 
 glance, and gesture you will gain a deep insight into the manner 
 of liie and disposition of the men and women who pass and repass 
 you daily in the journey of life. You will gradually come to 
 recognize thousands of people with whom you have not a speak- 
 ing acquaintance, and to know something of their nature and 
 conduct And you may rest assured, Matilda, that the woman 
 who bosses her husband at home will assume an air of authority 
 toward him in public, and that the man who lords it over his 
 wife at the fireside, will not be able to so mask his true self as to 
 treat her with due consideration anywhere else." 
 
 "I have noticed," remarked Mrs. Notion, "that when we 
 ride together in a street-car, I can overhear much more of the 
 talk of the other occupants of the car than you can." 
 
 "Yes, your sense of hearing is sharper than mine, and I 
 have gleaned much information of value through the medium 
 of your auditory organs. You, however, have not treasured up 
 the facts of which you thus became cognizant, or considered them 
 in their bearing upon the social problems which we are now 
 discussing. For you they have possessed but a passing interest, 
 and naturally have been soon forgotten. I might narrate a vast 
 number of street incidents which have come to my notice, and 
 which throw light upon our subject, but I forbear. I have 
 frequently seen wives conduct themselves rudely and contemp- 
 tuously toward their husbands in public places. Sometimes they 
 have spoken in angry tones, and on other occasions they have 
 sulked and refused to converse. Kot long since 1 witnessed a 
 colloquy between an elderly gentleman and lady at a railroad 
 station. Their two telescopic satchels lay on the ground beside 
 them, and he ventured the remark that one was a little larger 
 than the other. As a matter of fact they were of equal si/.e, but 
 the contents of one, being greater than those of the other, gave 
 it larger dimensions. She, ignoring this inequality of bulk, 
 sharply contradicted him, and asserted that they were exactly the 
 same six.e. He timidly reiterated his opinion, but she with much 
 firmness and decision repeated that they were of equal dimensions, 
 and silenced him with a single frowning glance."
 
 228 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Well, don't you think she was right in her assertion?" in- 
 quired Mrs. Notion. 
 
 ' ' That is not the point, Matilda. They were both right. 
 The trouble was that they regarded the matter from different 
 standpoints. But I wish briefly to call your attention to other 
 phases of lawlessness, all of which I am sure result from the 
 lawlessness of the home. This spirit manifests itself in the various 
 religious denominations, and the laws of the church are constantly 
 ignored by the great majority of members." 
 
 ' ' Yes, I have noticed that some of the rules of our church are 
 either evaded or disobeyed, but I am sure, Edward, that the 
 ministers and laymen of our denomination carefully observe the 
 great majority of ecclesiastical regulations." 
 
 "Certainly, Matilda, they gladly obey those which meet with 
 their approval. But it is just that tendency of which I complain. 
 That is the very essence of lawlessness. The chief of police 
 decides what ordinances he favors, and rigidly enforces them; the 
 others he permits to pass into a condition of innocuous desuetude, 
 to borrow a euphonistic expression from ex-President Cleveland. 
 A similar policy is pursued by countless other public officials, and 
 as a result, the laws of the country are passing into general con- 
 tempt. Great corporations hire attorneys for the especial purpose 
 of enabling them to break the law with impunity. They pay 
 them yearly retainers, and the poor man who becomes involved 
 in litigation with them has very little chance to succeed, no 
 matter how just Jiis cause, for his wealthy and powerful opponents 
 will take all sorts of unconscionable advantages, and by long- 
 continued delays will so exhaust him that he will either compro- 
 mise for a song, or altogether abandon his cause of action. 
 The large employers of labor violate the laws of the land Avhon, 
 though they have made weekly or monthly contracts with their 
 employees, they suddenly discharge vast numbers of them with- 
 out notice. This is called a lock-out. They are also wilfully 
 defiant of the law when they black-list their servants, and thus 
 conspire together to deprive them of all opportunity of earning a 
 livelihood. It is safe to say that scores of thousands of American 
 workmen have been boycotted in this way by corporations. 
 Many of them are wandering as vagabonds in the land of their 
 birth. Many are criminals because they can not earn their living, 
 and many are only able to obtain employment because they have 
 assumed fictitious names and remove to sections of the country
 
 LAWLESSNESS. 229 
 
 remote from their former homes. The mighty trusts which have 
 sprung up during the past few years are contrary to law, and 
 do violence to well-established legal principles, when they com- 
 bine to limit production in order that their profits may be in- 
 creased at the expense of the helpless consumer." 
 
 "But how about the laboring men of the country, Edward? 
 Are they more sinned against than sinning in these respects ? ' ' 
 
 "I am sorry to say, Matilda, that they, in the majority of 
 cases, are just as ready to disobey the law as are their employers. 
 They so time their strikes as to take their employer unawares, 
 and at the greatest possible disadvantage. They conspire together 
 to destroy his business, and, while they demand a higher wage, 
 they do their utmost to impair his ability to pay them any wage 
 at all. The strike is essentially warfare, and, as is usual when 
 fierce conflicts are waged, the non-combatants have a hard time 
 of it. One of the most noticeable features of most of these 
 struggles between corporations and their servants, is the utter 
 disregard on both sides of the interests and convenience of the 
 general public." 
 
 "I have noticed too, Edward, that the striking workmen 
 often take forcible possession of the property of their employer, 
 and that they do not hesitate to beat or kill the poor fellows who 
 wish to take their vacant places." 
 
 "True, my dear, and all this is rank lawlessness, for no 
 arguments, however specious or ingenious, can justify any set of 
 men in interfering with the right of other men to earn an honest 
 living, to work for any wages that satisfy them, and to accept 
 employment from any one that offers it. But these are only a 
 few of the phases of the prevailing disregard for all restraint. 
 Bands of murderous White Caps in different parts of the country 
 do their dastardly deeds under the cover of darkness, and trample 
 underfoot the most precious rights of American citizens. Angry 
 mobs take the law into their own hands, and wreak their ven- 
 geance upon men whose guilt has not been proved. Several 
 hundred thousand saloon-keepers habitually and wantonly break 
 the laws. These licensed venders of liquid damnation are law- 
 less all the time and everywhere, and, as some one has said, the 
 only way to prevent the saloons from violating legal enactments 
 is to destroy them. And then, let us turn in another direction, 
 and contemplate the crimes against the ballot which are perpe- 
 trated all over the land at every election. Voters are bribed,
 
 230 DOMESTIC DULLS. 
 
 tally lists are stolen, ballots are mutilated or changed, honest 
 citizens are cheated out of their votes by criminals who personate 
 them at the polls, dead men are registered and voted, gangs 
 of political thugs and strikers are colonized and made to vote 
 in close districts; and in numerous other ways the sovereignty of 
 the people is tampered with, and the good citizens of the country 
 are prevented from recording their will. The fact is that nearly 
 every professional politician is a law-breaker. But what can we 
 expect from ordinary men, when the press and pulpit so fre- 
 quently trample underfoot the rights of human beings?" 
 
 "You surprise me, Edward, by this allusion to the pulpit." 
 
 "Of course," explained Mr. Notion, "the majority of our 
 clergymen are not guilty of the practice of which I am about to 
 speak, but I am sorry to say that many preachers vie with the 
 sensational press in their disregard for the reputations and feel- 
 ings of citizens. They are ready at all times to believe any 
 scandalous charges which are brought against public officials 
 or other prominent men, and give them the widest possible pub- 
 licity in their pulpits. This is not only sinful, but is a ilagrant 
 violation of the law, which protects a pel-son's reputation as well 
 as his life and property. I have very little confidence in any 
 man who is always ready to believe any outrageous accusation 
 that may be trumjK'd up against another, especially if that 
 other be a public official who is sworn to obey and enforce the 
 law. It seems to me the presumption that every man is innocent 
 until his guilt is proved, ought to apply with added force to the 
 trusted servants of the people." 
 
 "Now don't be inconsistent, Edward; you have just accused 
 large numbers of public officials of lawless] n .-.-. " 
 
 "Very true, Matilda, but I have made no charges against 
 individuals. I am expressing now my opinion, based on con- 
 siderable evidence, that lawlessness is rite among the officers of 
 the law, as well as among the people at large. The Columbian 
 Exposition at Chicago, in 1893, was kept open on Sundays in 
 wilful violation of the expros conditions of the Congressional 
 grant of money. The law requiring the deportation of eyery 
 Chinaman who failed to register within a certain period, was 
 defied by the large majority of the Chinese residents of the 
 Tinted States, and yel the administ rat i ye branch of the federal 
 government, whose solemn duty it was to enforce the law, abso- 
 lutely refused to do so, and persistently contended that it was
 
 LAWLESSNESS. 231 
 
 unconstitutional, until at last its validity was declared by the 
 highest court in the land. This, too, was lawlessness. One more 
 illustration of this tendency of the age, and I am done. You 
 read of international law, and the libraries of lawyers are full of 
 learned treatises on this subject. And yet I undertake to say 
 that so far as the six leading nations of Europe are concerned, 
 there is no international law which they pretend to observe, other 
 than that which may be enacted from week to week by their 
 lawless will. The only international restraints which any one of 
 these powers recognizes, are the armies and navies of the others. 
 The vital question with each of these ' Christian ' nations is, not 
 what the principles of international law permit, but how much 
 territory can be stolen from some weak country without incurring 
 the hostility of the other great powers. They have carved 
 Africa, and divided most of it among them. They have seized 
 large areas in Asia, and are now dividing China among them- 
 selves. They have appropriated the islands of the Pacific. 
 England shells Cairo and establishes a protectorate over Egypt 
 in the interests of her bondholders. She seizes the custom house 
 of Nicaragua at Corinto, and collects what she claims as an 
 indemnity. ' ' 
 
 "By the way, Edward, did you notice a short time ago how 
 liberal England was with France? She generously gave that 
 republic a large area of land in Asia. It is true that it was the 
 property of another nation, but England had coveted it so long 
 that she regarded it with feelings of proprietorship, and felt that 
 she had made a great sacrifice in relinquishing it to France. 
 But don't you think, Edward, that these heathen lands are better 
 off under the guardianship of the civilized nations of Europe?" 
 
 "Your question is an interesting one," replied Mr. Notion, 
 "but excuse me for saying that it is not germane to our subject. 
 Where principle is involved, we have no business with consider- 
 ations of expediency. The robber may be able and willing to 
 make a much better use of his victim's money than that victim 
 would ever think of doing. Claude Duval stole from the rich 
 and gave to the poor. There are multitudes of children who 
 would be much better off in the families of other persons than 
 with their own parents, and yet those other persons are not 
 justified because of that fact in kidnapping the children." 
 
 "You may be right," said Mrs. Notion doubtfully, "and 
 yet when I reflect upon the vast blessings which have been
 
 232 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 brought to the people of India by British rule, I feel like con- 
 doning the irregular methods by which English dominion of that 
 country was acquired. But before we leave this subject, I wish 
 to ask to what cause you attribute tne restlessness, license, and 
 lawlessness which you claim are so prevalent?" 
 
 "Briefly, Matilda, they have their origin in the family. The 
 unruly spirit of the wife communicates itself to her children, 
 and is propagated by successive waves throughout society. The 
 fact is that the prevailing condition of affairs is remarkably 
 similar to that which existed among the Hebrews in the days of 
 the prophet Isaiah, who, in lamenting the degeneracy of the 
 Jews, said: 'As for my people, children are their oppressors, 
 and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead 
 thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.' 
 Isaiah 3: 12." 
 
 At this point the conversation ceased, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Notion in a quiet and meditative mood began their preparations 
 for retiring.
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Notion Begin to Talk about 
 Woman's Political Rights. 
 
 " Seek to be good, but aim not to be great; 
 A woman's noblest station is retreat; 
 Her fairest virtues fly from public sight." 
 
 Lord Lyttelton. 
 
 "Now," said Mrs. Notion, "we have reached a point in our 
 talks where we can discuss the great question of female suffrage. 
 You have not expressed yourself definitely upon it thus far, but 
 I am afraid from the tenor of your remarks that you will oppose 
 the removal of woman's political disabilities, and I have worked 
 so long and so hard to bring about this grand reform, that it 
 would be a great grief to me to think that my own husband was 
 among those who object to extending to the wives and mothers 
 of the land their natural and inherent political rights." 
 
 " Permit me to suggest," said Mr. Notion, "in order to utilize 
 our time to the best possible advantage in the treatment of this 
 interesting branch of the general subject, that we devote three 
 evenings to it, and so classify the theme that each evening be 
 spent in dealing with one special phase. For instance, how 
 would it do if we were to confine ourselves to-night to the mere 
 statement of the present status of the woman's political rights 
 movement in different parts of the world ? ' ' 
 
 "I think that is a very good idea, Edward." 
 
 "And then," continued Mr. Notion, "you might present your 
 arguments to-morrow evening in favor of woman suffrage, and I 
 could discuss the question from my standpoint in our next talk." 
 
 "I am sure," answered Mrs. Notion, "that that will be an 
 excellent arrangement. And now suppose you begin this even- 
 ing's conversation." 
 
 "As we have seen," said Mr. Notion, "women have no rights 
 worth mentioning outside of the pale of Christendom, and in most 
 Christian countries their rights are quite limited. The Salic law 
 still excludes them from the thrones of Italy, Belgium, Scandi-. 
 
 (233)
 
 234 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 navia, Luxemburg, and Roumauia, and from the highest offices 
 of the republic of France. Among the Germanic races, women 
 sometimes reign, and are admitted to the enjoyment of communal 
 rights." 
 
 "Is there any country in the world," inquired Mrs. Notion, 
 "where women have been admitted to full participation in the 
 elective franchise ? ' ' 
 
 "None that I know of, Matilda. Probably the nearest 
 approach to it outside of the United States, is in the Isle of Man, 
 where, since 1881, the female owners of real estate valued at the 
 annual rental of four pounds, have been admitted as voters for 
 the House of Keys. This is the lower house, and has twenty-four 
 members. ' ' 
 
 " I think," suggested Mrs. Notion, "that this shows a remark- 
 able deference for women, especially in view of the fact that the 
 island has such a masculine name. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, indeed," laughed Mr. Notion. "But, while women 
 have not been successful in securing full participation in political 
 affairs in any country in Europe, they have been accorded a 
 partial recognition, and there is a strong and growing tendency 
 to give them a voice in educational matters, and other questions 
 connected with local self-government. They can vote on local 
 affairs in England and her colonies, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, 
 Russia, Prussia, Saxony, Brunswick, and the rural districts in 
 Austria. They have the school franchise in Norway, and are 
 eligible to school administration in England, Norway, and the 
 capital of Sweden. In England, Sweden, and Finland they can 
 participate in poor-relief administration. In Prussia, Austria, 
 and Russia, except the village assemblies, they can only vote by 
 proxy. In the other countries named they vote in person." 
 
 "At the best," observed Mrs. Notion somewhat sadly, "we 
 receive only a stingy acknowledgment of our rights from the men 
 of any country; but I am glad to say that here in the United 
 States the female suffrage movement is much further advanced 
 than it is anywhere else in the world. In Wyoming we have 
 had full political rights ever since 1870." 
 
 "It was in 1869, my dear, that the Legislature of that territory 
 adopted woman suffrage as a joke, and gave every woman resi- 
 dent of the territory, twenty-one years of age, the right to vote at 
 all elections, and to hold office. The Legislature at its next 
 session passed a bill repealing this law, but the governor vetoed 
 it. In 1890 the territory was admitted as a state, and 'woman
 
 POLITICAL NTATl'S <>!' WOMEN. 235 
 
 suffrage went into the Constitution. To this Congress made no 
 objection, thus admitting that female suffrage was not deemed by 
 that body to be incompatible with the Federal Constitution." 
 
 "We have had the elective franchise in Colorado since 1893," 
 continued Mrs. Notion. "In Kansas we have a large voice in 
 municipal elections, although in 1S!)4, I am sorry to say, a con- 
 stitutional amendment providing for woman suffrage was defeated. 
 The constitution of the new state of Utah accords women com- 
 plete political equality with men. We voted for some time in 
 the territory of Washington, but were deprived of the privilege 
 by a decision of the territorial Supreme Court. ' ' 
 
 "Some form of female suffrage exists in a majority of the 
 states," remarked Mr. Notion. "It is chiefly, however, with 
 reference to educational matters that such is the case. The states 
 in which women have received this partial political recognition 
 are: Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mas- 
 sachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hamp- 
 shire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, 
 South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. 
 It would be interesting to know how far women have availed 
 themselves of these privileges." 
 
 "I am informed," said Mrs. Notion, "that out of 85,000 
 Colorado women who were entitled to vote at the election in 1894, 
 65,000 availed themselves of the opportunity. This is certainly 
 as large a proportion of voters as we find among men." 
 
 ' ' True, Matilda, but in Massachusetts only 22, 204 women took 
 the trouble to go to the polls, although more than 350,000 of 
 them were entitled to do so." 
 
 "It may be, Edward, that they did not care to vote at all, 
 unless they were fully qualified as electors. ' ' 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. Notion, "and it is also possible that the 
 women of the eastern states are more conservative, and hence less 
 inclined to assert themselves politically, than are their sisters of 
 the far west." 
 
 "I am delighted, too," exclaimed Mrs. Notion, "at the 
 unqualified endorsement which woman suffrage has received from 
 some of the leading men of Colorado. For instance, T. M. 
 Patterson, editor of the Denver J\Wv<, says: 'The result of woman 
 suffrage in Colorado is quite up to the expectations of its conserv- 
 ative friends. In Denver and most other cities of the state 
 women have generally voted it is believed more generally than
 
 236 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 tlie men. They mingle in the caucus and at the primaries with 
 men, and it is noticed that since their advent these political func- 
 tions have been far more honest and orderly than of yore. The 
 fact that they have the ballot has secured in Denver a far more 
 rigorous execution of the laws against gambling and other like 
 public delinquencies than was ever before known. On the whole, 
 in my opinion, woman suffrage in Colorado has had a healthful 
 and elevating influence upon the public service and municipal 
 morals generally. Don't understand me that it has cured all the 
 ills afflicting the body politic. It has cured some serious ones, 
 and is rapidly exterminating others.' Albert "W. Mclntire, the 
 governor of Colorado, says: 'So far the objections made to equal 
 suffrage during the campaign preceding the election at which the 
 ballot was given to women, have not been sustained by the facts. 
 The women do take an interest, do enter into the questions under 
 discussion, and do take the trouble to vote. The only danger 
 anticipated, and not yet proven to exist, is that they may be 
 deceived by those having ulterior motives, but professing right- 
 eous and disinterested purposes. They are realizing that it is 
 necessary for them to investigate the facts for themselves, and not 
 to believe all that they are told, especially keeping in mind that 
 in politics, as in other matters, the source must be considered. 
 The correctness of their purpose tends to counteract their inexpe- 
 rience. There are 80,000 women eligible to vote in Colorado, 
 and about 65,000 voted at the last election." 
 
 "You have certainly presented strong testimony in favor of 
 the practical workings of female suffrage." 
 
 "And yet I think, Edward, that the verdict of "William 
 Stapleton, editor of the Denver Republican, is stronger still. He 
 says: * Equal suffrage has been the law in Colorado for nearly 
 three years now, and nothing could induce the intelligent people 
 of this state to revoke that act if they had the power. Women 
 appear to show as much intelligence and to take as deep an 
 interest in political affairs, especially those that affect the general 
 welfare, as men, and their influence is almost entirely cast for 
 right and decency and good government. In all the elections 
 held since the change was made, women have cast more than forty 
 per cent of the total vote, and everybody admits that their pres- 
 ence in politics and at the polls has a purifying and elevating 
 effect on our political methods, and has compelled the nomination 
 and election of a better class of officials than male suffrage ever
 
 POLITICAL STATUS OF WOMEN. 237 
 
 gave us. No evil effects, either to the women themselves, or to 
 our public affairs, are discernible, while the benefits of the equal 
 suffrage law are innumerable.' These gratifying comments by 
 intelligent, fair-minded men upon the operation of the law in 
 Colorado, combined with the willingness of the male citizens of 
 California to sign petitions for female suffrage, and the eagerness 
 with which the Republican, Populist, and Prohibitionist state 
 conventions adopted planks in their platforms cordially endorsing 
 the proposed equal suffrage amendment to the constitution of this 
 state, make me sanguine that, despite the defeat of that amend- 
 ment in the election of 1896, I shall soon be your political peer," 
 if not your domestic equal. ' ' 
 
 "I must admit, Matilda, that female suffrage opens up many 
 startling possibilities. For instance, in Gaylord, a Kansas town 
 of 1,500 inhabitants, the government is entirely conducted by 
 women. ' ' 
 
 ' ' It seems to me that Gaylady would be a more appropriate 
 designation," said Mrs. Notion archly. 
 
 "I promise you, Matilda, that I shall never say again that 
 women are not witty. You have been trying to disprove the 
 assertion ever since I made it. In that town all the municipal 
 business is done by ladies. They surrounded the polls on elec- 
 tion day, and appropriated everything in sight. Mrs. Antoinette 
 L. Haskell, a banker's wife, became the mayor; Miss Florence 
 Headley, an editor, the city clerk; and Mrs. Mary L. Foote 
 filled very gracefully the position of police judge. The husband 
 of this last-named lady had the temerity to be himself a candi- 
 date for this office, and of course he was overwhelmingly defeated. 
 The members of the city council were also women." 
 
 "You haven't told the best of it yet," exclaimed Mrs. Notion 
 gleefully. "Let me tell you that this town is governed with 
 honesty, ability, and economv. There is no corruption or job- 
 bery. The streets are clean and smooth, the sidewalks are wide, 
 the public works are first-class, and there is not a single dollar of 
 municipal indebtedness. The names of the members of the city 
 council, which you omitted to state, are: Mrs. Emma A. Mitchell, 
 Mrs. Esther Johnson, Mrs. Loella Abercrombie, and Mrs. Nancy 
 Wright. You see they are all married ladies, and their husbands 
 are thus well represented." 
 
 "Save your arguments for our next talk," said Mr. Notion. 
 "And now for a brief review of the efforts which have been 
 made to bring about female suffrage."
 
 238 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "I think there must have been some attempt to gain political 
 recognition for Englishwomen in 1739," said Mrs. Notion, "for 
 in that year the Court of King's Bench decided that, if women 
 ever had the right to vote, they had lost it, because, as one of 
 the learned judges of the court said, 'the choice of members of 
 Parliament requires an improved understanding, which women 
 are not supposed to have.' How flattering that was to the 
 mothers and wives of jurists!" 
 
 "John Stuart Mill," continued Mr. Notion, "offered an 
 amendment to the Electoral Reform Bill, in 1807, which 
 extended the- elective franchise to female householders. It was 
 lost by a vote of 196 to 83. The courts were then appealed to 
 upon the ground that the term 'every man' in the bill of that 
 year included 'woman,' under the principle laid down in Lord 
 Brougham's Act, that 'in all acts words importing the masculine 
 gender shall be deemed and taken to include females, unless the 
 contrary be expressly provided. 1 The court rendered a decision 
 adverse to this claim, the main opinion being written by the chief 
 justice. The concurring judges stated that women were not 
 excluded from the suffrage because of intellectual inferiority, but 
 from a desire to promote decorum, and hence it was rather a 
 privilege and an homage paid to the gentle sex." 
 
 "It is here in America that the agitation in favor of woman 
 suffrage has been most persistently conducted," said Mi's. Notion. 
 "In 1847 Antoinette L. Brown and Lucy Stone began making 
 public speeches in favor of the reform. The following year the 
 first Woman's Rights Convention ever held sat at Seneca Falls, 
 New York. It was called by Lucretia Mott and Eli/aheth 
 duly Stanton, and, relative to the demand for political equality 
 made by this body of women, Wendell Phillips said: 'It is the 
 most momentous reform that has yet been launched on the world 
 the first organized protest against the injustice which has brooded 
 over the character and destiny of one-half the human race.' 
 For thirty years past the representatives of this movement have 
 gone to every Congress and petitioned for a sixteenth amendment 
 to the federal constitution, which shall clothe woman with all her 
 political rights. In 1894 a petition for equal suffrage was pre- 
 sented to the New York Constitutional Convention. It was 
 signed by 025,000 persons, more than half of whom were women, 
 and yet the members of that convention refused to incorporate 
 woman suffrage into the document which it framed."
 
 POLITICAL STATUS OF WOMKN. 239 
 
 ' ' Our American courts, Matilda, have also had something to 
 say about this subject. In 1871 the Supreme Court of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia decided that the franchise under the American 
 system was not a natural right, and that women could not vote 
 unless vested Avith the elective franchise by the legislative power. 
 It said: ' The right to vote ought not to be and is not an absolute 
 right. The fact that the practical working of the assumed right 
 would be destructive of civilization, is decisive that the right 
 does not exist.' In 1874 the United States Supreme Court 
 rendered a decision to the same effect, on an appeal by a lady of 
 Missouri." 
 
 "If it is in order, Edward, I should also like to refer to the 
 decisions of different state courts with reference to the domestic 
 status of woman." 
 
 "Why, Matilda, you should feel perfectly free to make any 
 suggestion you wish. ' ' 
 
 "Thank you," replied Mrs. Notion. "In Pennsylvania, in 
 the case of Richards vs. Richards, the court declared that 'it is a 
 sickly sentimentality which holds that a man may not lay hands 
 rudely if need be on his wife. ' The Supreme Court of Missis- 
 sippi, in the case of Bradley vs. The State, asserted that 'a hus- 
 band should confine himself in proper bounds when he sees fit 
 to correct his wife.' In another case the Court of Appeals of 
 New York decided that to give a wife the right to bring an action 
 against her husband for beating her, would be 'contrary to the 
 policy of the law, and destructive of that conjugal union and 
 tranquillity which it has always been the object of the law to 
 guard and protect.' I merely cite these decisions to show you 
 why women are so anxious to wield the law-making power. We 
 want to remove every such vestige of barbarism from the statute- 
 books of the nation." 
 
 "I am afraid, Matilda, that you are beginning to argue the 
 case a little." 
 
 "Oh, no, Edward, I am merely stating facts! And before I 
 forget it, let me quote from the report of an English divorce case 
 in the New York World of February 23, 1883, to show you that 
 the women of that country want to do some legislation as soon as 
 possible. It is as follows: 'Sir James Hannen, in the Probate 
 and Divorce Court at London, has just dismissed the petition for 
 a judicial separation from her husband of Mrs. Latham, on the 
 ground that she was in too much of a hurry to escape from a
 
 240 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 husband who merely beat her, tore off her clothes, threw her 
 down, reviled her, wiped his shoes on her mantle, sat up all 
 night to burn her clothes up, cut off one of her eyebrows, and 
 shaved one side of her head. Sir James was astonished at the 
 woman's impetuosity and petulance, and bade her wait till her 
 husband should put her in danger of serious 'injury to life and 
 limb.'" 
 
 "Do you believe that, Matilda?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed, every word of it. It is hard to tell how far 
 even good men will go in their prejudice against the members of 
 my sex. Mrs". Lilie Devereux Blake, one of the most gifted 
 women in America, tells the following instance in her book 
 called 'Woman's Place To-day:' 'In Nebraska last fall, I stood 
 at the polls on election day, when the men were voting on the 
 constitutional amendment for woman suffrage. A man came in 
 who had lost his right arm in the war. While he lay helpless in 
 the hospital, he was nursed back to life by two women, strangers 
 to him, who devoted themselves to him for humanity's sake, and 
 he said frankly that but for them he should have died. Since 
 his return to his home, crippled, his faithful wife had supported 
 him. And yet this man, who owed his life to Avoman' s charity 
 and his support to Avoman's love, with his one remaining arm 
 and hand cast a ballot against woman suffrage. ' Now, Edward, 
 don't you really think that that was a piece of the basest in- 
 gratitude?" 
 
 ' ' Not necessarily, Matilda. The old veteran was doubtless 
 conscientiously opposed to female suffrage, and probably thought he 
 was doing women a service by voting against the amendment. ' ' 
 
 "The fact of the matter is," said Mrs. Notion with unwonted 
 emphasis, " that women are too cheaply regarded by the majority 
 of men everywhere. This is well illustrated by the following 
 circumstance: Not long since a judge remonstrated with a man 
 for having cruelly beaten another man ; the culprit looked at his 
 victim penitently, and said, 'I am very sorry, judge; you see I 
 was a little drunk, and I thought it was my wife.' If the 
 scoundrel had been standing before a woman judge, he would not 
 have dared to make such an excuse. ' ' 
 
 ' 'And yet, ' ' said Mr. Notion, ' ' I have observed that as a rule 
 men are more kindly disposed toward women than other women 
 are." 
 
 "Another wrong which needs to be righted," said Mrs.
 
 POLITICAL STATUS OF WOMEN. 241 
 
 Notion, "is that of the treatment of female criminals. In the 
 prisons of the large cities no adequate provision is made for their 
 accommodation or proper care. Some years since in New York 
 state, when a bill authorizing the appointment of police matrons 
 in all the large cities was passed by the Legislature, the governor 
 refused to sign it. And yet in London every police station has 
 attached to it a matron, whose duties are to keep the cells tidy, 
 to look after female prisoners, and to search women accused of 
 theft. I might relate many instances showing the crying need of 
 this reform. At Wellsville, New York, a woman was found 
 staggering on the street. She was taken to the station, and some 
 violence was used, as she resisted arrest. Within a few hours 
 she gave birth to a child, on whose body were the bruises made 
 by the policeman's club. In another case a woman was charged 
 with drunkenness, and put in a cell, only to be found dead the 
 next morning with a dead babe beside her. Another woman 
 was found on the street insensible, taken to a station house, and 
 pi ced in a cell for the night. When morning came it was 
 ascertained that she was not drunk, but that her face was covered 
 with bruises, and that she was seriously wounded. Though taken 
 to the hospital and properly treated, these measures came too 
 late, and she died without recovering consciousness." 
 
 ' ' I see, my dear, that you find it exceedingly difficult to re- 
 frain from arguing this question, and in order that you may do 
 so without any embarrassment, I suggest that we bring this little 
 talk to a close, and give you full opportunity to state your views 
 on the subject to-morrow evening. First, however, I should like 
 to quote briefly from the concluding portion of Ostrogorski's 
 excellent work." 
 
 "All right, Edward, but let me read a few lines from Ralph 
 Waldo Emerson's address before the Woman's Rights Convention, 
 at Boston, in 1855, and I shall be pleased to listen to Ostrogorski. 
 He said: 'I do not think it yet appears that women wish this 
 equal share in public affairs. But it is they and not we that are 
 to determine it. Let the laws be purged of every barbarous re- 
 mainder, every barbarous impediment to women. Let the public 
 donations for education be equally shared by them; let them enter 
 a school as freely as a church; let them have and hold and give 
 their property as men do theirs; and in a few years it will easily 
 appear whether they wish a voice in making the laws that are to 
 govern them. If you do refuse them a vote, you will also refuse 
 16
 
 242 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 to tax them; according to our Teutonic principle, No represen- 
 tation, no tax. . . . Let us have the true woman, the 
 adorner, the hospitable, the religious heart, and no lawyer need 
 be called in to write stipulations, the cunning clauses of provision, 
 the strong investitures; for woman moulds the lawgiver and 
 writes the law. . . . Woman should find in man her 
 guardian. Silently she looks for that, and when she finds that he 
 is not, as she instantly does, she betakes her to her own defenses, 
 and does the best she can. But when he is her guardian, fulfilled 
 with all nobleness, knows and accepts his duties as her brother, 
 all goes well for both. The new movement is only a tide shared 
 by the spirits of man and woman ; and you may proceed in the 
 faith that whatever the woman's heart is prompted to desire, the 
 man's mind is simultaneously prompted to accomplish.' ' 
 
 " You have read some wise words from Emerson," said Mr. 
 Notion, "which I had intended to call to your attention. Other 
 sentiments of his strike me as being entirely erroneous. But 
 now for Ostrogorski: 'The legislative movement we have been 
 considering is, doubtless, still distant from its goal; in some 
 respects, indeed, it is only just starting. But, in any case, it is 
 already sufficiently under way to enable us to discern the tend- 
 encies which guide it. Now, in every part of the globe, where 
 we have attempted to follow its course, one such tendency has 
 always been discernible. The legislator refuses obstinately to 
 grant political rights to woman. With one or two insignificant 
 exceptions, woman has nowhere succeeded in obtaining the par- 
 liamentary suffrage. She has, indeed, been more fortunate in 
 respect of local self-government; but the municipal vote granted 
 to her in several countries is by no means a departure from the 
 general attitude of the legislator towards her political rights. 
 While he exhibits such reserve, not to say dislike, 
 towards woman's political claims, the legislator shows himself 
 much more favorably disposed towards her social emancipation, 
 and readier every year to put an end to the state of social 
 inferiority in which she has been kept for centuries by the laws, 
 and, still more, by the influence of popular prejudice. This 
 twofold attitude is nowhere more clearly visible than in the great 
 American democracy of the United States, a society, it is to be 
 remembered, which is free from the traditions and prejudices of 
 the Old AVorld, and renowned for a rather daring spirit that 
 stops at no obstacle, and is not frightened by paradox. The
 
 POLITICAL STATUS OF WOMEN. 243 
 
 Americans are removing the social barriers raised against women; 
 they are admitting them not only to subordinate offices, but to 
 the bar, nay, even to the bar of the highest court in the land. 
 But as soon as political suffrage is demanded for 
 women, the American people become refractory. It is in vain 
 that the 'natural right' argument is invoked. The atomist 
 theory, according to which each human unit is entitled to its 
 arithmetical quoto of political power, is implicitly swept aside by 
 the American people, and formally condemned by its tribunals. ' 
 I think now, Matilda, that we have got the subject in such a 
 shape that you will have a clear field for the presentation of 
 your views."
 
 Mrs. Notion Presents Her Arguments in Favor 
 of Woman Suffrage. 
 
 ' ' Yet when I approach 
 Her loveliness, so absolute she seems, 
 And in herself complete; so well to know 
 Her own, that what she wills to do or say 
 Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best." 
 
 Milton. 
 
 "Before I begin my presentation of the subject, Edward, I 
 want to know just how you stand. You were formerly in favor 
 of woman suffrage, and talked enthusiastically in its behalf, but 
 for the last year or two I have not heard you speak of it. You 
 are so changeable that I am very much afraid you have mod- 
 ified your views upon the subject. ' ' 
 
 "Frankly, Matilda, I have. In my youth I fondly believed 
 that the bestowal of the ballot upon women would prove a 
 panacea for all political and social ills. Later I came to think 
 that no positive good would result from it; that the average 
 woman would vote about the same as the average man ; that the 
 good effects which might flow from the innovation would be fully 
 offset by the evil ones; in other words, that the law of compen- 
 sation would apply; but I thought that, as a matter of right, 
 women were entitled to the political franchise. Now, however, 
 I am of the opinion that neither men nor women have any 
 inherent right to vote, and that the entire question of who shall 
 cast the ballot, resolves itself into one of political expediency. 
 Hence, I am no longer an advocate of female suffrage, except 
 with considerable limitations, which I shall speak of more par- 
 ticularly hereafter." 
 
 "I might have known it!" exclaimed Mrs. Notion. "You 
 are the most changeable person I have ever met, so far as your 
 religious and political opinions are concerned. And yet your 
 habits are strangely fixed, and in matters of every-day life you 
 are stubborn in a high degree. But I have no doubt that you have 
 plenty of plausible arguments with which to justify your change 
 (244)
 
 ARGUMENT FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 245 
 
 of position. One of them I am already familiar with, and that 
 is that you are progressive and candid, and consequently are 
 always willing to admit mistakes, and relinquish erroneous or ill- 
 considered conclusions. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Please proceed with your points in favor of female suffrage, ' ' 
 remonstrated Mr. Notion. 
 
 "In the first place, Edward, I contend that women should be 
 clothed with the elective franchise as a matter of right and 
 justice. It is outrageous to give the ballot to every foreign man 
 who has been here five years, and yet deny it to pure, refined, 
 and intelligent women who were born in the country. There is no 
 good reason why my sons should be permitted to vote at twenty- 
 one years of age, while their mother and sisters are denied the same 
 right. The fact is that the enlightened, patriotic women of the 
 United States are no longer willing to be classed with felons, 
 idiots, lunatics, and persons in their nonage. ' ' 
 
 ' ' But these good women are generally quite adequately repre- 
 sented in a political way by their husbands, sons, and brothers, ' ' 
 suggested Mr. Notion. 
 
 " I deny it, " replied Mrs. Notion with vigor. "If we were 
 fairly represented by our male relatives, they would not relax 
 their exertions for a single moment until they had obtained for us 
 the ballot. No, I have come to the conclusion that the average 
 American male voter does not represent himself when he goes to 
 the polls, let alone his disfranchised woman relatives. With 
 your political bossism, corrupt primaries, bribery of voters, and 
 fraudulent counting, it has come to pass that you are little more 
 than political automata, permitted at long intervals of time to 
 make certain merely mechanical movements with a piece of paper 
 denominated a ballot. But I have much to say, and another 
 reason why women should vote is because taxation without repre- 
 sentation is vicious in principle, and so repugnant to our Amer- 
 ican sense of justice that we once went to war with England in 
 order to put an end to it." 
 
 "If the right to vote were confined to property holders, or 
 were based upon the ownership of property, there would possibly 
 be some reason in your claim," said Mr. Notion. 
 
 "I am not talking about property holders, Edward, but about 
 taxpayers. Every woman in the country is taxed either indi- 
 rectly or directly for the support of the government, and we 
 ought to have a voice as to the manner in which the money thus
 
 246 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 taken from us shall be spent. Condorcet said in this connection 
 in the last century: 'One is legitimately subject only to those 
 taxes for which one has voted, if not personally, at least through 
 the medium of representatives; and from this principle it follows 
 that every woman is entitled to refuse to pay parliamentary taxes. 
 I see no valid reply to such reasoning, at least on the part of 
 widows or unmarried women. ' ' 
 
 " I think, Matilda, that there is some force in the argument in 
 favor of widows and possibly other unmarried women being 
 clothed with some measure of political power." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Mrs. Notion, "would you advocate the 
 ballot for single women, and leave unrepresented the wives and 
 mothers of the land, those who have the greatest interest in see- 
 ing that there is good government ? ' ' 
 
 "I have not said so," answered Mr. Notion cautiously. 
 
 "Very well, sir. I hope you never will. Another reason why 
 we ought to have the ballot, is that we need it for the protection 
 of ourselves and our families. Often, in fact, we need it most 
 for the protection of our husbands themselves. ' ' 
 
 1 ' But you forget, Matilda, that men are the natural protectors 
 of women." 
 
 "I never knew it, Edward, so I couldn't forget it. And, so 
 far as your male protection is concerned, who is it that women 
 fear at night, when they walk on lonely roads? Are they 
 alarmed because of members of their own sex, or on account of 
 their alleged protectors ? ' ' 
 
 "But," said Mr. Notion, "women look to good men for 
 protection against bad ones." 
 
 "I will concede, Edward, that men are often first-class pro- 
 tectors for the women of their own families, but they are not 
 equally reliable as the protectors of women who belong to the 
 families of other men. I tell you, if we had the ballot, we 
 would be treated with much more respect, for I have observed 
 that the elective franchise constitutes about the only claim to 
 deference and consideration which millions of American men 
 possess. But another reason why women should have suffrage, 
 is because they are better than the men. You have said it so 
 often yourself that you can not now deny it. We have been 
 told this so repeatedly by the men that we devoutly believe it. 
 We are convinced that as a sex we are purer, cleaner, more 
 honest, and less extravagant than you men. I don't think we
 
 ARGUMENT FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 247 
 
 spend half as much for dress as you do, and I know we don't 
 throw away a billion dollars annually on liquors, and nearly 
 three-quarters of a billion more for tobacco. ' ' 
 
 "And yet, Matilda, the drink habit among women is 
 increasing. ' ' 
 
 "And no wonder," said Mrs. Notion. "We have no oppor- 
 tunity to put away temptation, to shut up the saloons, to extir- 
 pate the liquor traffic. Give us a chance to get a good, fair blow 
 at the monstrous business, and see how long it will flaunt itself in 
 the face of decency, and bid bold defiance to the law. But 
 another reason, and a more important one, for giving the ballot 
 to women is to enable them to protect their sons. The thought 
 of it brings the tears to my eyes. Every time I pass a saloon I 
 tremble for my own dear boys. Who knows but the day may 
 come when they will stagger out of some drinking place hopeless 
 drunkards. We do entreat you to place us in a position where 
 we can make better laws for the sake of our children, and not 
 only that, but where we will be able to enforce the good laws 
 which are now upon the statute-book. As Lilie Devereux Blake 
 says, ' we can guard them now while they lie in our arms, we can 
 protect them while they toddle at our feet, but when they pass 
 beyond our portals, then what power have we to shield them? 
 Men have opened on every side the doors of places that shall lead 
 our sons aye, and even our daughters down to destruction, 
 and we have no power to close them. It is because we love our 
 children, because for their sakes we would use our influence 
 beyond the home to make the world purer and better, that we are 
 asking for greater liberties to-day.' ' 
 
 ' ' Let me say right here, Matilda, that I am in favor of giving 
 women a vote on all questions affecting the liquor traffic, social 
 purity, education, divorce, and other matters pertaining to local 
 self-government, and hence directly affecting the home." 
 
 "Well," remarked Mrs. Notion, "I am sincerely thankful 
 for even that small measure of recognition. But how comes it 
 that you are willing to go that far?" 
 
 "The fact is, Matilda, that unlimited female suffrage is sure 
 to come. It is only a matter of time. Even now I believe a 
 majority of the men of America are willing to go as far as I have 
 indicated, and to make the concessions which I have named. 
 While I am personally opposed to the complete participation by 
 women in political affairs, I do think that they should have a
 
 248 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 voice in the matters referred to. It is extremely difficult, I 
 admit, to draw the precise line of demarkation, aud to mark 
 definitely the point beyond which women should not go. But, if 
 we proceed slowly and carefully, wisely studying every step of 
 our journey, I think we shall succeed in vesting women with 
 sufficient political power to accomplish the maximum of good and 
 the minimum of evil." 
 
 ' ' You expect, Edward, to get rid of the law of compensation 
 in that Avay. But I am convinced that the task which you have 
 set before yourself is thoroughly impracticable, and that the only 
 way out is to recognize women's rights freely and completely. 
 There are many other reasons, however, why we should have the 
 ballot. As our civilization grows more complex, we are more 
 interdependent, and the homes of the people are more and more 
 closely related. Hence it is that the government necessarily 
 comes in closer contact with each individual home. For instance, 
 our house is connected with hundreds of others by sewers, electric 
 light wires, telephone wires, and water pipes. These are all the 
 subjects of legislation, affecting not only the cost but the quality 
 of service. How absurd and monstrously unjust it is that women, 
 whose lives are chiefly spent at home, and whose happiness is so 
 interwoven and interblended with the affairs of the household, 
 should be prevented from voicing their preferences and effectuat- 
 ing their wishes in these important matters. In fact, I claim that 
 the world is suffering because of the lack of womanly participation 
 in legislation and government. We should have the opportunity 
 to say what kind of pictures and advertisements should be posted 
 upon walls and fences, and to stamp out of existence all that were 
 suggestive, or in anywise immoral and indecent. We should 
 have the privilege of trying our hands at the destruction of the 
 traffic in obscene literature and photographs, and seeing what we 
 could do to protect the girls who are now being decoyed as 
 recruits for the brothel. I am satisfied that the question of pros- 
 titution will never be settled until it is settled by the good women 
 of the land, reenforced in their righteous efforts by the sovereign 
 ballot. Men are not fitted to solve these mighty problems alone. 
 In every department of government women are needed, and all 
 that is done without them is imperfect and incomplete. As 
 Mrs. Blake says, the state is but a larger family, and men are 
 not renowned as good housekeepers. You are probably aware, 
 Ivl ward, what kind of house a Avoman finds when she has left 
 her home for a few days in charge of her husband."
 
 ARGTMKNT KoU WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 249 
 
 ' ' Yes, Matilda, I have learned something about that by disas- 
 trous experience." 
 
 ' ' Well, that is the trouble with the state to-day. You will 
 never have your streets properly cleaned until you give us the 
 supervision of the job, and the roads and sewers and sidewalks 
 are all in bad condition for lack of our superintendence. Please 
 give us, who are the natural housekeepers of the world, a chance 
 to help keep house for the city, the state, and the nation. And, 
 right here, I want to quote from Miss Anna Shaw, that eloquent 
 preacher, that witty speaker, that wise person, that worthy 
 woman. She. says: 'But what is true motherhood? The mother 
 who, instead of walking the floor all night with her fever-stricken 
 baby, because of bad sewerage, bad water, and dirty streets, will 
 go to the ballot-box and vote for clean streets, good sewers, and 
 clean water. When that time comes w T e will have the caucuses 
 at home, and the mother, the father, and the son will caucus for 
 clean laws, against the saloon, the brothel, and the dive. ' You 
 know, Edward, it was Miss Shaw who said that women were 
 tired of going tandem, that they proposed to keep even, and go 
 abreast of man." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Notion dryly, "I remember Miss Shaw, but 
 I do not share your admiration for her. She gave utterance to 
 another sentiment in the same address. This was it: 'And now 
 I want to emphasize a point I made when I was here before, and 
 for which I was severely criticised. It is that the women of this 
 country commit a crime if there is another child born in this 
 country till the law gives protection to that mother and that 
 child.' Now, such talk as that I consider infamous. It is 
 equivalent to a declaration that women ought to stop the repro- 
 duction of the race until woman suffrage is granted, and that, in 
 order to do so, any means is justifiable. " 
 
 "I think, Edward, that you take the lady's remark too 
 seriously." 
 
 "No, Matilda, she says she has been criticised for it before, 
 and takes pains to repeat it, thus showing her deliberate purpose." 
 
 ' ' Right at this point, ' ' said Mrs. Notion, ' ' I want to quote 
 briefly from Elizabeth Cady Station, another woman whom you 
 do not like. She says: 'Woman suffrage means a complete 
 revolution in our government, religion, and social life; a revis- 
 ion of our Constitution, an expurgated edition of our statute laws 
 and codes, civil and criminal. It means equal representation in
 
 250 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 the halls of legislation and in the courts of justice; that woman 
 may be tried by her own peers, by judges and advocates of her 
 own choosing. It means light and sunshine, mercy and peace in 
 our dungeons, jails, and prisons; the bartiarous idea of punish- 
 ment superseded by the divine idea of reformation. It means 
 police matrons in all our station-houses, that young girls when 
 arrested during the night, intoxicated and otherwise helpless, 
 may be under the watchful eye of judicious women, and not left 
 wholly to the mercy of a male police." 
 
 "Yes, and in the same address, Matilda, she makes the follow- 
 ing significant admission: 'It is a singular fact that we have 
 never been able to enlist any large number of women to labor 
 with enthusiasm for their own emancipation.' ' 
 
 ' ' I, too, am astonished that such should be the case, ' ' said 
 Mrs. Notion, " but we have never been able to muster more than 
 7,000 members of our national Woman Suffrage Association. 
 This only goes to show, though, that women have been cowed by 
 centuries of oppression, and that the vast majority of them are 
 incapable of protesting vehemently against injustices which have 
 been made venerable by age. But I wish to call your attention 
 to the fact that women are much better economists than men, and 
 as a rule can purchase goods with better judgment. We are 
 more discriminating buyers than you are, and have a finer eye 
 for quality. These good traits should be utilized by the general 
 public. Women should have at least as much to say as men 
 about the expenditure of the people's money. Give us a trial in 
 this direction, and see if we don't put a stop to the incompetence, 
 wastefulness, and jobbery which now characterize the administra- 
 tion of most public institutions. Let us buy the supplies for the 
 hospitals, almshouses, asylums, jails, and prisons, and the inmates 
 will fare better than they do now, and at much less cost. We 
 would see to it that the superintendents and resident physicians 
 would not live as sumptuously as at present, but we would 
 improve the condition of the poor unfortunates who are now at 
 their mercy. It is a sin and a shame that at public hospitals the 
 physicians should live on the fat of the land, while the sick and 
 maimed under their care are denied the delicacies which their 
 condition requires." 
 
 " It is a shame, Matilda, but I am not prepared to admit that 
 women would do any better, if they were in control." 
 
 "All that we ask for is a trial, Edward. We don't claim to
 
 ARGUMENT FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 251 
 
 be perfect, but we do assert our ability to conduct the public 
 business with reasonable prudence, economy, and honesty; and 
 we are confident that we could keep the public buildings clean, a 
 thing which you have utterly failed in doing, although you 
 employ an army of janitors for that sole purpose. We are also 
 anxious to undertake the task of removing the male statuary, or 
 ' mashers ' as you call them, from the principal streets, where 
 they now eye, ogle, and stare out of countenance every young 
 woman that passes by." 
 
 "If you could accomplish that," said Mr. Notion, "you 
 would earn the undying gratitude of every decent man in 
 America. ' ' 
 
 " Just give us the opportunity, " replied Mrs. Notion. "But 
 the trouble is you men are so accustomed to ruling that you 
 regard this as a man's world, with woman as a mere annex or 
 appendage. When you speak of the people, you do not include 
 the women, but mean only the male people. This is a govern- 
 ment, as one of my sisters has wittily said, of men, for men, 
 and by men." 
 
 "But we are afraid, Matilda, that, if the good women of the 
 country were to go into politics, they Avould be deceived by crafty 
 and designing men. ' ' 
 
 "Well, suppose we were," quickly retorted Mrs. Notion, "we 
 would be no worse off than a vast majority of you men are now. 
 You have told me yourself that the masses of the people, meaning 
 of course the men, were incapable of voting intelligently, or using 
 the elective franchise in such a way as to protect their own inter- 
 ests. I don't claim that the women are much wiser than the 
 men. In other words, ' I' in not denyin' that women is foolish 
 God made 'em to match the men.' The fact is, Edward, that 
 you men have made an admitted failure of governing yourselves, 
 and it is high time that the women should have a chance to try 
 their hand at the game of statesmanship. I hear you saying on 
 every hand that a republican form of government is a failure in 
 all the large cities, and that unless something is done to curb 
 monopoly, the American experiment of the sovereignty of the 
 people, will end in ruin and disaster. Right at this juncture the 
 good women of the country, with a patriotism worthy of your 
 warmest admiration, come forward and ask to be permitted to do 
 their part in saving the country, and preserving for generations 
 unborn the heritage of free institutions."
 
 252 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 "Matilda, you are developing rapidly into an effective stump 
 speaker. If women ever do get a vote, and you run for office, 
 you will be elected, sure." 
 
 "It isn't an office that I want," said Mrs. Notion, "but I am 
 advocating equal justice for both sexes. And right here let me 
 quote again from Miss Shaw: 'If man is downtrodden by the 
 politicians, why does he not rebel? Men admit that in the exist- 
 ing order of political corruption they are denied their rights and 
 are unable to freely govern themselves, and yet they insist on 
 their full right and ability to govern women. Even the wild 
 men of Africa to-day are demanding the right of self-government, 
 and yet there are those who deny it to the educated, cultured 
 women of the United States. ' ' 
 
 "But the trouble is," expostulated Mr. Notion, "that it is 
 not feasible to give the franchise to the educated, cultured women 
 alone. If it is extended to women at all, it will be given to all 
 classes, the ignorant, the vulgar, and the vicious, as well as the 
 refined, intelligent, and virtuous. " 
 
 ' ' I know of no better way of elevating and educating the lower 
 classes of women than to give them the ballot," replied Mrs. 
 Notion. "It will impart to them a dignity and a self-respect 
 which are impossible under existing conditions. ' ' 
 
 ' * I am compelled to differ from you there, too, Matilda, for 
 the possession of the elective franchise has not had that effect upon 
 the men of the country, and why should it upon the women? " 
 
 "The reason is evident, Edward. All human progress has 
 been made by the sexes hand in hand, and man, in attempting to 
 monopolize the business of politics and the science of government, 
 has violated a law of nature, and suffered the inevitable penalty. 
 But, if man and woman associate themselves together in political 
 effort, they will both be benefited and uplifted. Besides, I am 
 sure that Avoinen have more practical common sense than men. 
 We are less inclined to theorize than you are, but we look at 
 things as they are, and make an intelligent and sagacious adapta- 
 tion of means to ends. John Stuart Mill says, in reference to 
 woman: 'Her intuitive perception, her rapid insight into pres- 
 ent facts, her sensibility to the present, the gravitation of her 
 mind to the real and actual, her habitual dealing with things as 
 individuals rather than groups, her greater quickness of appre- 
 hension, preeminently fit her for practice, and render her a very 
 valuable aid in speculation, as a corrective to man, who often
 
 ARGUMENT FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 253 
 
 lets his faculties go astray in regions not peopled with real 
 beings, animate or inanimate, even idealized, but with personified 
 shadows, created by the illusions of metaphysics or by the mere 
 entanglement of words.' And Mr. Buckle, justly celebrated as 
 a philosopher and historian, in his work on the 'Influence of 
 Women in the Progress of Knowledge, ' pays this tribute to my 
 sex: 'That women think quicker than men because they are more 
 deductive than men, is a proposition which all may not relish, 
 and which yet may be proved in a variety of ways. Indeed, 
 nothing could prevent its being universally acknowledged except 
 the fact that the remarkable rapidity with which women think 
 is obscured by that miserable, that contemptible, that prepos- 
 terous system, called their education, by which valuable things 
 are carefully kept from them, and trifling things are carefully 
 taught them until their fine and nimble minds are too often 
 irretrievably ruined. ' ' 
 
 "While I do not entirely agree with these great men in their 
 exalted opinion of the female intellect, I am still willing to con- 
 cede, ' ' said Mr. Notion, ' ' that there is some measure of truth in 
 what they say. Women are more interested in the concrete than 
 in the abstract. They are more creatures of time and sense than 
 are men, and take a more exquisite pleasure in the exercise of 
 their physical senses, which are more highly developed, more 
 finely organized than are those of men. Hence it is that women 
 revel in color, delight in perfume, and go into ecstacies over 
 music. But when it comes to the principles which underly all 
 these phenomena, women have never acquired the mastery over 
 them which men have achieved. This is the reason, I take it, why 
 in music and art women 
 
 "Excuse me, Edward, but we have gone over that ground, 
 and I am anxious to state my views on woman suffrage. As I 
 intimated before, we want the ballot that we may use it to repeal 
 all the unjust, man-made laws which bear so heavily upon us now. 
 We will not be satisfied until the mother has just as large a share. 
 in the control of her children as the father has; until the wife has 
 an equal voice with the husband in the selection of a home, and 
 in the management of the community property; until, in a word, 
 every vestige of unjust legislation is swept from the statute-books. 
 And now I wish to quote from Prof. Edward H. Griggs, . of 
 Stanford University, who well says: 'In a few words, I believe 
 in woman suffrage because any widening of the interests of women
 
 254 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 tends toward better results in marriage and family life. I mean 
 to say, that is the most important reason. The ideal woman to 
 me is the eternal womanly woman, but a woman free from 
 traditional limitations, sympathetic, refined, and loving, but 
 strong, and free, and independent, capable of standing alone, and 
 so worthy of the deepest human relations. ' ' 
 
 "I must say, Matilda, that I think your own arguments are 
 much more logical and convincing than those of Professor Griggs. 
 If he were a fair representative of male reasoning power, and you 
 of female logical ability, I should freely admit the truth of all 
 that Mill and Buckle have to say of woman's mental endowments. 
 Fortunately, however, Professor Powers, until lately of the same 
 university, has furnished an effective antidote to all the loose 
 phrases and glittering generalities of the professor whom you so 
 love to quote. I shall refer hereafter to what Professor Powers 
 says in this connection, but I desire now to show you how incon- 
 sistent Professor Griggs is. He says: 'The human ideal tends 
 to integrate in a higher organic unity the ideals of manhood and 
 womanhood. Sex ideals tend to approach each other, or rather 
 with their expansion the sphere of each tends to overlap and 
 include more of the other. Without losing the positive masculine 
 virtues, we expect a measure of the finer feminine qualities in 
 men; and with no sacrifice of essential womanliness, we wish for 
 more of the positive qualities of character in women.' In almost 
 the same breath the learned professor says, ' Mere likeness between 
 men and women is the last thing to be desired.' He wants men 
 and women to grow more alike, and yet he objects to their 
 likeness. ' ' 
 
 "Talking about woman's sphere reminds me," said Mrs. 
 Notion, "of a remark made by the lamented Mrs. Sarah B. 
 Cooper in addressing the Women's Convention recently held in 
 this city. She said: 'We talk about woman's sphere. She 
 never had a sphere. She has never even had a hemisphere. At 
 best she has had only a cranny or a corner. The attempt of 
 human history has been to carry on the world with half its forces, 
 like an attempt to sail a vessel with half its crew under the 
 hatches. Womanhood as a spiritual force has been subordinated, 
 if not repressed. And yet the Avoman question is half the human 
 question. It is a question that has more to do Avith the evolution 
 of the higher home than all other questions combined. Let us 
 never forget that a complete humanity is at once both masculine 
 and feminine a unity in duality.' '
 
 ARGUMENT FOR WOMAN Sl'FFRAUK. 255 
 
 "All of which means in the last analysis," said Mr. Notion, 
 "that women have worked where their work would most tell, 
 where they alone were qualified to work in the home, while men 
 have acted as their protectors, and bravely engaged in the rude 
 battles of life, in order that the fireside, where woman presided, 
 and children gathered, might be sacred and secure." 
 
 " There you go again, Edward. You will never get over 
 those old fogy ideas of yours. Don't you know that the old- 
 fashioned woman is a creature of the past? As Miss Sarah M. 
 Severance says, 'We have long been tearfully exhorted to be- 
 come like the woman of old. She went in a succession of swoons 
 from the porch to the altar, was revived there for a time by the 
 aid of a bottle of smelling salts, and was then borne out to her 
 carriage in a dead faint, so to embark upon the sea of matrimony.' 
 Most of us now have to get along without carriages, and many of 
 us have learned to wear bloomers and ride the bicycle, while those 
 who are too poor to afford a bicycle, pride themselves on their 
 ability to walk. No, we modern women are not the languishing, 
 lackadaisical, sentimental creatures of the olden time. We ride, 
 swim, fence, shoot, row, play lawn-tennis, and even foot ball, and 
 take pretty good care of ourselves in a crowd. What we want 
 now, and must have, is the right to vote at all elections, and to 
 hold all offices. Now, Edward, I have said my say, and it is 
 your turn. ' '
 
 Mr. Notion Presents His Arguments against 
 Woman Suffrage. 
 
 "A woman's rank 
 
 Lies in the fulness of her womanhood: 
 - Therein alone she is royal." 
 
 George Eliot. 
 
 1 ' The very first thing I wish to say, ' ' began Mr. Notion, ' ' is 
 that there is absolutely no force In the contention that women 
 have a right to the elective franchise. No one has a right to it. 
 It has not been conferred upon that ground. Suffrage is a 
 responsibility and a duty, rather than a right or privilege, which 
 the law-making power imposes upon certain restricted classes of 
 persons, not for their own special benefit, but in the interest of 
 the people at large. The question of who shall cast the ballot, 
 is more one of expediency than of right. The elective franchise 
 is only a means toward an end, and that end is the attainment of 
 justice and equity, the protection of individual citizens in their 
 natural rights, which are well defined in the Declaration of 
 Independence to be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I 
 may go a step farther and say that the mere form of government 
 is also a matter of expediency. Neither monarchy nor republic is 
 right per se and essentially, without regard to existing conditions. 
 These and all other forms of government are methods and expe- 
 dients for the accomplishment of that which is unchangeable 
 and eternal, namely, justice and right. The best government is 
 that which most effectively protects the greatest proportion of its 
 citizens in the enjoyment of their rights. Under certain circum- 
 stances a monarchy might best accomplish this underlying object 
 of all righteous human laws; under others, a republic might be 
 preferable. ' ' 
 
 "Then you don't think we can claim the elective franchise -as 
 a right," said Mrs. Notion. 
 
 " Most assuredly not," replied Mr. Notion. "Listen to what 
 President Martin Kellogg, of the University of California, has to 
 (256)
 
 ARGUMENT AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 257 
 
 say on this point: ' Political rights are not inherent. Political 
 privileges are not necessarily equal. The privilege of suffrage is 
 never absolutely universal; otherwise it would not be a privilege. 
 In the United States it has been extended to many who are man- 
 ifestly unworthy to use it. AVe have come in this country to the 
 painful conclusion that the door has been thrown too wide open, 
 or, rather, the half-door which is labeled 'male.' If we could 
 shut out the ignorant, the worthless, the venal men, and in their 
 place call in high-minded and intelligent women of our commu- 
 nity to strengthen the forces of law and order, of purity, of true 
 and earnest patriotism, were not that a consummation devoutly 
 to be wished ? Let these intelligent, high-minded women persuade 
 us that the time for such an exchange has really come. The 
 whole question is one of the most serious consequence not a 
 theme for easy indifference. It is a broader question than that of 
 political equality between the sexes. So you see, Matilda, that 
 the question is not to be settled by mere declarations of equal 
 rights, or on general principles of freedom, liberty, etc., but that 
 it resolves itself into an inquiry as to the expediency or non- 
 expediency of casting this great responsibility upon the members 
 of your sex. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Ah, ' ' said Mrs. Notion, ' ' I begin to see why you men have 
 taken so long to reach a conclusion in the matter!" 
 
 "And now, Matilda, to get a little nearer the heart of the 
 discussion, I am of the opinion that, if women were to secure all 
 that you ask for them, there would be no substantial alteration in 
 the existing political conditions in this country. The various 
 parties would retain their ascendency in those localities where 
 they now enjoy it, and, while the sum total of votes would be 
 largely increased, there would be no change in the political com- 
 plexion of the different states, or of the nation as a whole." 
 
 "Upon what do you base that opinion? " asked Mrs. Notion. 
 
 ' ' In the first place, it accords with a common-sense view of the 
 situation, for you know as well as I do that most of your lady 
 friends are of the same way of thinking politically as their male 
 relatives; and, secondly, it has been shown by actual results in 
 those localities where the women vote. In Colorado, for instance, 
 the Republican party, or the silver wing of it, has the same major- 
 ity with female suffrage that it possessed without it. ' ' 
 
 "It seems to me," said Mrs. Notion, "that the matter has 
 very little significance, even if you are right in your contention. 
 17
 
 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 We do not pretend that we will defeat any particular party, or 
 reverse existing political conditions, that is, so far as the ascend- 
 ency of any special party is concerned. But we do claim that 
 we will work a revolution in the parties themselves, that we will 
 make them cleaner, purer, and better in every way. The Repub- 
 lican women will accomplish this for their party, and the women 
 of Democratic and Populistic tendencies will bring about the same 
 condition of affairs in their respective organizations. ' ' 
 
 "You say nothing of the Prohibition party, Matilda." 
 
 ' ' When the women vote, ' ' laughed Mrs. Notion, ' ' it will have 
 no cause to exist, for we will put strong prohibition planks in the 
 platforms of all the other parties. ' ' 
 
 "I fear, also," said Mr. Notion, "that the giving of the 
 ballot to women would introduce an element of discord into family 
 life. It is not to be expected that husband and wife would 
 always agree in their political opinions, and where their partisan 
 views were divergent, there would ever be the possibility of antago- 
 nism and strife, especially during the heat of a great campaign like 
 the present one, when party feeling runs high. ' ' 
 
 "Why, Edward, I understood you to say a few moments ago 
 that women would generally be of the same political bent as 
 their male relatives! Isn't it a little inconsistent with that asser- 
 tion for you now to claim that husbands and wives woidd often 
 differ in their politics, and quarrel over their differences ? ' ' 
 
 "I think not," replied Mr. Notion. "I did not say that 
 women would belong to the same party as their husbands. In 
 fact, I have the authority of Miss Susan B. Anthony for saying 
 that women, like men, usually inherit their political proclivities 
 from their parents. I heard her make this statement in address- 
 ing the Populist State Convention at Sacramento, in 1896, and she 
 said it to prove that wives would not vote as their husbands told 
 them to, but would register their own will at the polls. Now, if 
 Miss Anthony be correct in this declaration, it would follow that 
 husbands and waves would frequently become involved in fierce 
 and acrimonious political controversies; and such a state of things 
 would be exceedingly prejudicial to domestic happiness and the 
 permanence of the marriage tie. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Why couldn' t they discuss matters good-naturedly, as we do ?" 
 inquired Mrs. Notion. 
 
 "I am sorry to say, Matilda, that the rank and file of women 
 are not capable of retaining their composure and mental equilib-
 
 ARGUMENT AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 259 
 
 riuin like you. The average woman is not so well balanced or so 
 amiable, and the average man does not brook with patience any 
 pronounced opposition to his pet political opinions. But one of 
 the most serious objections to female suffrage is that it would tend 
 to divert woman from her home duties, which are certainly 
 sufficiently exacting and important to demand her entire atten- 
 tion. As she permitted herself to be more and more withdrawn 
 from her high domestic offices as wife and mother, and to become 
 more and more absorbed in the interests, occupations, and excite- 
 ments of politics, she would become less domestic in her tastes; 
 for I assure you that the quiet routine of home life and the 
 sensational and exciting affairs of politics are absolutely incom- 
 patible with each other. As the woman grew to be more of the 
 politician she would inevitably become less of the wife and 
 mother. ' ' 
 
 "But you assume," said Mrs. Notion, "that the sphere of 
 politics would continue just as it is; that it would not be greatly 
 changed by the introduction of the feminine element. There I 
 think you err greatly. I believe that women would radically 
 alter the present political methods and processes, and that the 
 excitement and corruption which are now so intimately associated 
 with political affairs, would be altogether eliminated by the entry 
 of women into the governmental arena. ' ' 
 
 "On the contrary," replied Mr. Notion, "I believe that with 
 the advent of women, there would be greater political excitement, 
 chicanery, and dishonesty than ever. Men would be more mad- 
 dened by political strife and competition than they are now, and 
 the proverbially dirty pool of politics would be even dirtier than 
 at present." 
 
 "Your belief, Edward, is certainly not very complimentary 
 to the purifying power of virtuous womanhood. You are evi- 
 dently under the impression that we would carry with us into 
 politics all sorts of vices and villainies." 
 
 "No," said Mr. Notion, " but we have had already a slight 
 sample of what unscrupulous women can do in legislative assem- 
 blies. We are somewhat familiar with the wiles and ways of the 
 female lobbyist and political adventuress. She is not a new figure 
 in congressional halls. We have had also some experience with 
 the female office-seeker, and are firmly convinced that 'she has not 
 exerted a purifying influence upon politics. Matilda, you have 
 no idea to what lengths women will often go in order to gain some
 
 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 coveted official position. To speak plainly, they will sometimes 
 sell their virtue for a place." 
 
 "Yes," replied Mrs. Notion, "but the male politician is uie 
 buyer, and if women instead of men had the giving of these 
 places, female virtue would not be the price demanded for them." 
 
 ' ' You assume too much, Matilda, and forget that the women 
 who would have the patronage to bestow, would need first to pro- 
 cure it in the slimy pool of politics. No, I can not bear the 
 thought of any female relative of mine plunging into all this 
 iniquity. If politics be hopelessly corrupt, be it so, but let me 
 solace myself with the thought that, though my country be on 
 the way to destruction, my home is still secure. As has been 
 \vell said, ' we may never know how much the stability of nations 
 depends on keeping one-half of the race free from the periodical 
 madness of party strife, and making it possible for man, after the 
 heat of party, to find peace in the society of wife and daughters, 
 who are calm, and all untouched by the frenzy of the caucus, the 
 convention, and the polls.' And then, you must not forget how 
 peculiarly susceptible women are to great popular excitements. 
 I have referred to that before, and merely remind you of it in 
 this connection." 
 
 "But I denied the assertion when you made it," said Mrs. 
 Notion. 
 
 "True, Matilda. I believe it still, however, and repeat it 
 for what it is worth. Then, again, there is the large increase of 
 the purchasable vote which would immediately result from the 
 concession of the ballot to women. Thousands of the worst 
 women in the state would avail themselves of the opportunity, 
 as venal men now do, to sell their votes to the highest bidder. 
 In many instances the men who now make merchandise of their 
 franchise, would simply increase their income by bartering their 
 wives' votes also." 
 
 "O Edward, I can not believe that the vilest woman in 
 California would so far debase herself as to sell so precious a 
 privilege! No, we have had to fight too hard and wait too long 
 for political recognition, to sell it for a few paltry dollars when 
 it is at last accorded us." 
 
 "And another argument against female suffrage," said Mr. 
 Notion, ' ' is' that women would be in duty bound to hold them- 
 sdves in readiness to join the army and navy, to act as members 
 of the fire department, and to do jury duty, etc."
 
 ARGUMENT AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 2(H 
 
 "I have been waiting for you to say something like that, " 
 exclaimed Mrs. Notion. "I admit that women have their appro- 
 priate part in war as in peace, and we have never shirked it in 
 the past, nor would we in the future. I spoke the other evening 
 more in pleasantry than otherwise, about the prospect of women 
 being able to wage battle as well as men in consequence of 
 the progress of invention. Seriously, however, I do not con- 
 template such a possibility. But in every war we have faithfully 
 responded to the call of the nation for the services of her chil- 
 dren. Both in the Civil and Spanish Wars we made a glorious 
 record. To quote from Mrs. Blake: 'In every town and village, 
 in every home in the land, willing fingers toiled early and late 
 for the soldiers. Women met together to organize their labors, 
 and in sanitary fairs raised $13,000,000, but this was a mere 
 nothing compared to the enormous amount of money's worth 
 that was never computed, and that was sent with constant devo- 
 tion from the homes of the nation to the army. Soldiers who 
 went through these campaigns have said that the comforts 
 supplied by the women saved thousands of lives.' In the 
 hospital and on the battle-field we did noble service, and often 
 risked our lives to bring comfort and hope to the wounded and 
 dying. But for all this we have neither asked nor received any 
 pensions. Mother Bickerdyke, who gave the best four years 
 of her life to the succor of the wounded in the army of the 
 west, was an old woman the last I heard of her, earning her 
 living at the wash-tub, and Clara Barton, Dorothea Dix, and 
 other heroines of the battle-field have been similarly unrewarded. 
 Please do not say anything more about women's inability to 
 perform military service, as an argument against woman suffrage." 
 
 "All right," responded Mr. Notion smilingly, "I promise 
 not to do so. But I am certain that it would be a bad tiling for 
 the women themselves to hold offices, and to come prominently 
 before the public. Somehow celebrity, notoriety, and constant 
 exposure to the public gaze, seem to harden the members of your 
 sex, and impair that femininity which is their greatest charm. 
 As George Eliot, one of your literary heroines, says, 'The 
 happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history.' 
 And then Alphonse Karr declares, putting the idea rather 
 extremely, I admit, 'A woman who writes commits two sins: 
 she increases the number of books, and decreases the number of 
 women. ' ' '
 
 262 DOMixnr nrioi.s. 
 
 "How utterly absurd!" exclaimed Mrs. Notion contemptu- 
 ously. 
 
 "I grant it," replied Mr. Notion, "and yet there is some 
 truth in the assertion, and it is not intended to be taken literally. 
 The women who have attained a world-wide reputation have 
 generally admitted that they had to pay a fearful penalty for 
 their success, and have expressed something like envy for their 
 happier and more obscure sisters. Truly, as Lemennais says, 
 'Woman is a flower that breathes its perfume in the shade only.' 
 And I more than half agree with Goldsmith in the opinion that 
 'the modest virgin, the prudent wife, or the careful matron, are 
 much more serviceable in life than petticoated philosophers, 
 blustering heroines, or virago queens.' Nor do I think that 
 Corneille is to be despised for saying that 'when -'a woman has 
 the gift of silence, she possesses a quality above the vulgar; it is 
 a gift Heaven seldom bestows; without a little miracle it can not 
 be accomplished; and nature suffers violence when Heaven puts a 
 woman in the humor of observing silence.' ' 
 
 "Oh, if that's the case," pouted Mrs. Notion, "I had better 
 keep my mouth shut all the time, and not presume to express an 
 opinion unless I am asked to do so by my lord and master!" 
 
 "Not at all, my dear," said Mr. Notion mildly. "The idea 
 is not that women should be silent, but that they should be 
 capable of being so, and I am sure you possess that gift in a high 
 degree. Corneille undoubtedly had in mind the gossiping, 
 chattering, voluble busybodies who are a disgrace to their sex. 
 and not the refined and discreet lady, who speaks to the purpose, 
 and only when the occasion requires it. I merely quoted his 
 sentiment to point my assertion that the choicest womanly charms 
 grow dim and fade away in the garish light of publicity." 
 
 "But we want the ballot," said Mrs. Notion, "for our own 
 protection, and insist upon our right to hold office as a means 
 toward our social emancipation." 
 
 "Women are no longer in any sort of bondage, Matilda, that 
 they should cry for emancipation. You are not the sla\v> of 
 men. Like us you are largely restrained by your environment, 
 and it is often irksome. In fact, the interests of the sexes are 
 identical. Woman's condition is parallel with that of man, and 
 she is now, and I hope ever will be, his confidant, and the sharer 
 ol his joys and sorrows, rather than his fierce opponent and 
 competitor. You have your own peculiar place to fill, your own
 
 ARGUMENT AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 263 
 
 peculiar work to do, and, as Gail Hamilton remarks, for a woman 
 to attempt a man's work is 'like taking a Damascus blade to 
 hew timber withal.' Mrs. F. C. Croly wisely says: 'It is a 
 great temptation in these days of fresh activities for Avomeu to 
 leave the more confined field of home duty, and take a place 
 among the workers in apparently more extended spheres of use- 
 fulness. But it is, in most instances, a mere exchange of a 
 birthright for a mess of pottage. The glory is very poor very 
 evanescent; the struggles, the pains, the sorrows, the heart- 
 breaks, in full measure; the loss of sweet home associations and 
 memories, very real and very sure. ' I believe with Huxley that 
 ' women will find their place, and it will neither be that which 
 they have held, nor that to which some of them aspire. Nature's 
 old Salic law will not be repealed, and no change of dynasty will 
 be effected. ' This being true, my dear, why should so many of 
 your fair sisterhood bruise their pretty faces against the bars of 
 the inevitable? The. limitations which hedge you in are in no 
 sense artificial, or legislative, but are those of nature. You may 
 obtain the ballot, and doubtless will eventually, but it will surely 
 prove a disappointment, and, though it glitter now, it will turn 
 to dust and ashes in its realization." 
 
 " Victor Hugo says," replied Mrs. Notion, "that, though men 
 have sight, women have insight, and hence I can not accept your 
 gloomy views of the results of woman suffrage. I am sure that 
 our political aspirations are true and good, and in perfect accord 
 Avith those deep principles which make for righteousness and real 
 progress. You are conservative, even timid, and" view with 
 apprehension anything Avhich jars on your customs and habits 
 of thought. But', to my mind, there is nothing inherently or 
 necessarily incongruous in the idea of a Avomanly politician." 
 
 " It is women Avho are conservative," Matilda, and for that I 
 cite no less an authority than Lester F. AVard in his able work, 
 'The Psychic Factors of Civilization.' And as to Avomen in 
 politics, I can conceive of a Avoman politician, but not of 
 a Avomanly one. Nor do I think that the experience of 
 thousands of years should be lightly set aside. You are ask- 
 ing us to go very far indeed into the untried and unknoAvn, Avhen 
 you demand from us the ballot, and you should not complain 
 because Ave enter untrodden paths Avith the utmost caution and 
 reluctance. Why are you not satisfied to be your own SAveet 
 selves, and leave to us men the rude business of political strife ?
 
 264 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 It seems to me that beueatli all this clamor for the ballot, there is 
 a half-unconscious desire on the part of many of the women who 
 insist on suffrage, to imitate men. In this connection I feel like 
 saying, with Theophile Gautier, ' I can not see why women are 
 so desirous of imitating men. I could understand the wish to be 
 a boa-constrictor, a lion, or an elephant; but a man! that sur- 
 passes my comprehension.' ' 
 
 ' ' He evidently has a very poor opinion of his own sex, ' ' said 
 Mrs. Xotion. "In that regard he reminds me of Lady Mary 
 "Wortley Montagu, who said, 'It goes far toward reconciling me 
 to being a woman, when I reflect that I am thus in no danger of 
 ever marrying one.' ' 
 
 "Yes, Matilda, every true man has a high regard for woman- 
 hood, and hence it is that we protest so strenuously against your 
 engaging in any sphere of action which would tend to lower you 
 in our esteem. A\ r e can not bear to have our feminine ideals 
 rudely shattered. While I do not agree with the views presented 
 by Karl Heinzen in his work on ' The Rights of "Women, ' and 
 thoroughly detest its general tone, I can not refrain from quoting 
 briefly from him in this connection. He says: 'We men have 
 nothing to surrender to you women by which you could improve, 
 beautify, and ennoble yourselves; everything good, beautiful, 
 and noble you possess in your truly humane hearts, your fine 
 feeling, and your susceptible minds.' And now, Matilda, I 
 desire to urge another objection to the possession on the part of 
 women of the full elective franchise, and that is that it would 
 injure them* morally. I have tried to show that it would impair 
 your attractiveness, and divest you of your peculiar fascinations. 
 I now claim that there are cogent moral reasons which forbid 
 your engaging extensively in public affairs. As is universally 
 admitted, the pursuit of politics is generally demoralizing, and 
 the man who takes an active part in partisan contests, and 
 becomes a professional politician without succumbing to the temp- 
 tations which beset his kind, is a rare exception to the rule. In 
 the great periodical contests for control of the government, the 
 direction of its policies, and the bestowal of its vast patronage, 
 motives of expediency come prominently to the front, and great 
 principles of public virtue and patriotism are relegated to the 
 rear. The absorbing question in struggles of this kind, is not so 
 much what is right and best for the interests of the great majority 
 of citizens, but what will secure the largest number of votes, and 
 thus be most likely to win at the polls.''
 
 AIHJUMKN'T AGAINST WOMAN" SUFFRAGE. Zv)O 
 
 "I am prepared to admit all this," said Mrs. Notion, "but I 
 fail to see its bearing upon the subject of woman suffrage." 
 
 ' ' Only this, ' ' replied Mr. Notion ; ' ' the constant contem- 
 plation of expediencies, balancing of probabilities, manipulation of 
 prejudices, and avoidance of moral issues, inevitably tend to 
 develop certain qualities which are not highly esteemed in the 
 human character. These are dishonesty, insincerity, untruth- 
 fulness, treachery, and cowardice. I regret exceedingly that it 
 should be the case, but the fact is that these qualities are much 
 more likely to succeed in politics than their opposites. The good 
 men who spurn any moral compromise, and loathe deceit and 
 trickery, rarely receive political consideration, and when they are 
 recognized, it is only to give tone and character to the ticket on 
 which they are placed. They are commonly known as political 
 figureheads, and are generally placed in positions where they will 
 not be able to seriously interfere with the schemes of the bosses. 
 Now is it probable, Matilda, that the entry of women into the 
 field of political controversy and conflict would reverse, or even 
 materially change, these conditions? If not, and I am sure that 
 existing conditions would continue, the good women would be 
 discounted just as largely in politics as are the good men. They 
 would not be able to compete with the flashy, unprincipled, and 
 unscrupulous members of their sex, and a very slight experience 
 would so thoroughly convince them of this fact that they would 
 retire to the privacy of their homes, leaving the women of elastic 
 consciences, showy exterior, and light and easy virtue in posses- 
 sion of the political battle-field. The result would thus be to 
 introduce an additional element of corruption and immorality 
 into the realm of politics, rather than to elevate and purify it. 
 But, doubtless, multitudes of women who constituted the mean 
 between these t\vo extremes, and who were not vile adventuresses, 
 on the one hand, or high-minded, incorruptible matrons, on the 
 other, would engage enthusiastically in politics, and the morals 
 of these would suffer dreadfully. The nominations would still be 
 largely controlled by single individuals, as they now are, and the 
 aspiring female politician who wished to run for office, would be 
 compelled to go to the boss, and beseech his favorable considera- 
 tion. That he would not be governed in his treatment of such a 
 suppliant by motives of the loftiest honor and purity, you may 
 rest assured, and you may also be certain that she would not 
 receive the nomination without making moral concessions to the
 
 266 POMKSTK nri-:i.>. 
 
 boss which would be a full equivalent of any that a male office- 
 seeker could otter." 
 
 "But suppose the bos? was a woman ?" queried Mr*. Notion. 
 
 "I am willing to look at the matter from that standpoint, 
 also," replied Mr. Notion. "We have no right to assume that 
 a female boss would be any better than a male boss, and we aH 
 know that a bad woman is infinitely worse than a bad man; for, 
 to quote from Tennyson, ' Men at most differ as heaven and 
 earth; but women, worst and best, as heaven and hell.' This 
 being the case, I would not be willing to run the slightest ri>k of 
 placing the political control of this or any other community in 
 the hands of an abandoned woman, nor should I think that yon 
 or any other virtuous, pure-minded wife and mother would even 
 tolerate or endure the possibility of such a consummation." 
 
 "I deny, Edward, that bad women are any worse than bad 
 men." 
 
 " I think, Matilda, that I have touched upon that point suffi- 
 ciently already, and even the prospect of having a female !><>" 
 who is no worse than her male predecessor is not so entrancing as 
 to induce me to try the experiment. But the mere effort on the 
 part of women to gain public place, would deteriorate their moral 
 fiber. You admire Madame I)e Stael. Listen to what she says 
 on this point: 'Women's happiness suffers by every kind of per- 
 sonal ambition. When they strive to please solely that they may 
 be loved, when this sweet hope is the only motive of their actions, 
 they are employed more in perfecting than in exhibiting them- 
 selves, more in forming their minds for the happiness of one than 
 the admiration of all; but when they aim at celebrity, their 
 attempts, as well as their successes, destroy that sentiment which, 
 under different names, must always be the destiny of women.' 
 And now, Matilda, permit me to urge another reason why women 
 should not ask for political power. You have, even under present 
 conditions, a controlling voice in every question which concerns 
 and interests the people of the country. As JCmerson remarks. 
 'Men are what their mothers made them,' and hence it is thai 
 the mothers of our nation have it in their power now to so mould 
 and shape the characters and dispositions of their sons as to 
 determine the future of the country for generations to come. 
 You may take it for granted that the men who now hold high 
 the banner of patriotism, who embody all the virtues in their 
 own characters, and who stand erect and unshaken amidst all the
 
 ARGUMENT AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE. ?67 
 
 of temptation and storms of popular excitement, owe 
 their moral greatness to their mothers. If I were inclined to 
 doubt this proposition, the facts which you presented in two of 
 our previous talks about the influence exerted upon great men in 
 all ages by their mothers, would prevent me from doing so. 
 This being true, woman should not abdicate her exalted position, 
 renounce her glorious destiny, or step down from her lofty 
 pedestal, to enter the ignoble strifes of partisan politics. As 
 De Segur tersely puts it, 'Men make laws; women make man- 
 ners.' Let woman, then, continue to occupy the seat of power, 
 and not humiliate and lower herself in the estimation of her sons 
 by engaging in the vulgar scramble for office." 
 
 "Isn't it passing strange," inquired Mrs. Notion, "if we 
 have so potent an influence, and have predetermined the political 
 course of our sons, that they should be so unwilling to grant our 
 request when we ask for equal suffrage ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' In the first place, ' ' replied Mr. Notion, ' ' admitting, for the 
 sake of the argument, that the good women of the country are 
 really anxious to obtain the elective franchise, I insist that their 
 male relatives in denying it to them are not at all inconsistent or 
 unloving. Believing, as they do, that the possession of such a 
 power would be prejudicial to the highest welfare of their sisters, 
 wives, and daughters, they are not only justified in withholding it, 
 but would be recreant to their duty and unfaithful to their trust, 
 if they were to weakly concede it. But, in the second place, I 
 deny that any large proportion of the intelligent, refined, and 
 virtuous women of America really want the ballot. I am con- 
 vinced, on the contrary, that the vast majority of them are 
 heartily opposed to equal suffrage, and sincerely deprecate the 
 constant agitation of the question. The fact that only 7,000 of 
 the women of the United States can be induced to join the 
 National Equal Suffrage organization, proves conclusively to my 
 mind that this is so." 
 
 " It is not to be expected," said Mrs. Notion, "that after long 
 ages of oppression and servitude more or less complete, the great 
 masses of the Avomen of any country would all at once awake to 
 a realization of their rights. In the very nature of things, only 
 the most advanced and most thoughtful of our women appreciate 
 and comprehend the true status of womanhood, and have the 
 courage to believe that unjust prejudices, customs, and laws can 
 be so overcome as to secure to women the inherent political and
 
 268 DOMESTIC DUELS. 
 
 social rights which belong to them as human beings, irrespective 
 of all distinctions of sex, race, color, creed, or nationality." 
 
 "I know, Matilda, that this is a favorite assumption of the 
 advocates of female suffrage, but I deny that they are any more 
 intelligent or thoughtful than a much greater number of women 
 who repudiate all proposals to clothe them with the elective 
 franchise, and who deny to the equal suffragists their assumed 
 authority to act in any sense as their representatives. ' ' 
 
 "I think, Edward, that the argument that women don't want 
 suffrage, is about the weakest of all. I have noticed, however, 
 that it is the favorite plea of our opponents when we have driven 
 them from their other positions. It is their last ditch, so to 
 speak, and I feel rather encouraged than otherwise to hear you 
 advance it, for I take it as an indication that you doubt the 
 validity of your previous arguments, and seek to reeuforce them 
 by this contention." 
 
 ' ' There you err, Matilda ; for I do not attach very much 
 importance to this point, but merely mention it as a patent cir- 
 cumstance which has some bearing upon the discussion. After 
 all, the strongest possible objection to female suffrage is that it 
 would interfere with the great wifely and maternal functions of 
 your sex. And right here, permit me to quote briefly from 
 Prof. H. H. Powers, formerly of the chair of economies, Stan- 
 ford University. He says : ' The social necessity that is laid 
 upon woman is that she shall perpetuate the race under conditions 
 compatible with the social order. Individuals may be excused, 
 and may solve the woman problem for themselves, but their solu- 
 tion will have no permanent social significance. It can not be 
 too frequently or strenuously insisted that the woman question is 
 not solved till it is solved for married women. Any theory which 
 tells a woman to take her choice between marriage and something 
 else, not only does not solve the main problem, but it may even 
 retard its solution. The rights which society can feasibly grant, 
 to women as a class must therefore be such as will not interfere 
 with witelmod and motherhood. Even the privileges granted to 
 exceptional individuals can not safely be such as will tempt any 
 considerable number of desirable women to choose them in pref- 
 erence to marriage. The inevitable result of such a tendency 
 would be the perpetuation of society from inferior stock, and a 
 setback to progress.' ' 
 
 "The professor is at least candid," said Mrs. Notion, "in 
 fact, cruelly and almost brutally so. His position, after all, is
 
 ARGUMENT AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 269 
 
 only a restatement of that of the ancient Greeks. Like them he 
 regards women as mere human machines for breeding purposes, 
 and believes with Demosthenes that ' the married woman is an 
 instrument for the procreation of legitimate children and the 
 management of the household.' I differ radically from that 
 view, and see no better reason for considering the rights and 
 functions of women from that single standpoint than those of 
 men. But, Edward, I am growing weary, and, if you have 
 made all the points you wish, I shall be glad to close our conver- 
 sation. In fact, we have been talking about women so long that 
 I am heartily tired of the subject, and long to talk about other 
 and entirely different topics. For the past week or two my 
 dreams have been about nothing but women, and instead of 
 getting the rest which I so much needed during sleep, I have 
 exhausted myself with ceaseless argumentation on the woman 
 question. How has it been with you? Have you, too, been 
 dreaming over again our evening talks, and drearily and monoto- 
 nously retracing in your sleep the ground we have traversed in 
 our waking hours ? ' ' 
 
 "Not a bit of it," replied Mr. Notion. "Our little chats 
 Lave served rather to make my sleep more profound and refresh- 
 ing. But it will never do to exhaust your mind by keeping it 
 working too long in this one channel of action, and after this we 
 will talk about other things." 
 
 "You are very kind, Edward, but I suppose you will be 
 surer than ever now that men's minds are stronger than those of 
 women." 
 
 "No, darling, not surer, for that could hardly be. Like 
 Plato, I have always believed that women are the same as men in 
 faculty, only less in degree; and with Lamartine, I have thought 
 that ' women have a fiber more in the heart and a cell less in 
 the brain than men. ' ' 
 
 "I am too tired to dispute the proposition," yawned Mrs. 
 Notion, as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "In 
 fact, I feel glad that you are bigger and stronger than I, and that 
 I can lean upon you, and delight in the consciousness that you 
 are able to take care of me when I need to be cared for. There 
 have been times when I differed from Longfellow, but to-night I 
 agree with him that 
 
 " 'As unto the bow the cord is, 
 So unto the man is woman, 
 Though she bends him, she obeys him, 
 Though she draws him, yet she follows, 
 Useless each without the other! ' "
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABORTION, Obligatory in For- 
 mosa, 110. 
 
 Abortions, Prevalence of in Amer- 
 ica, 26-32. 
 
 Advertisements, Indecent, 26. 
 
 Amazons, 104. 
 
 "American Commonwealth," Quo- 
 tation from, 113. 
 
 Anderson, Dr. Elizabeth Gary, 
 Quotations from, 95, 96. 
 
 Anthony, Susan B., 16, 258. 
 
 Antonia Flaxilla, Fidelity of, 80. 
 
 Arnold, Matthew, Quotation from, 
 137. 
 
 Augustine, Quotation from, 109. 
 
 "A Woman's Thoughts about 
 Women," 86. 
 
 gALZAC, Quotation from, 200. 
 Barkaloo, Lemma, 215. 
 
 Barton, Clara, 16. 
 
 Bates, Josephine, Quotation from 
 207. 
 
 Bebel, August, Quotations from, 
 103, 104, 108, 163. 
 
 Beecher, Catherine E., Quotation 
 from, 186. 
 
 Bell, Dr. J., Quotations from, 29. 30. 
 
 Birth-rate, Causes of Its Decrease, 
 22-24. 
 
 Black well, Elizabeth, 211. 
 
 Blackwell, Emily, 211. 
 
 Blake, Mrs. Lilic Devereux, Quo- 
 tations from, 47, 48, 83, 240, 247, 
 261. 
 
 Brown, Antoinette L., 238. 
 
 Boleyn, Anne, Benevolence of, 81. 
 
 Bonheur, Rosa, 216, 217. 
 
 Books about Women, 199. 
 
 Bowles, Rev. Ada C., Quotation 
 
 from, 97. 
 
 Brudwell, Myra, 215. 
 Brent, Margaret, 215. 
 Bronte, Charlotte, Quotation from, 
 
 206. 
 
 Bryce, James, 113. 
 Buckle, Quotation from, 253. 
 Byron, Quotation from, 85. 
 
 CAMPBELL, Helen, Quotations 
 from, 159, 162, 163, 171. 
 
 Carlyle, Quotations from, 75, 141. 
 
 Catherine, Empress of Russia, Gen- 
 erosity of, 81. 
 
 Celto, Quotation from, 72. 
 
 Channing, Quotation from, 220. 
 
 Chase, Marne J., 16. 
 
 Chapman, Maria Weston, 16. 
 
 Child, Lydia Maria, 16. 
 
 Childless Wives, Their Tendency to 
 Become Selfish, 43-45. 
 
 Children, Their Mission, Purpose, 
 and Place in the General Plan, 64. 
 
 Christian Science, 96. 
 
 Churchill, Arabella. 119. 
 
 Church-members, Their Ignorance of 
 Sexual Truths, 34. 
 
 Co-education, Objections to, 191. 
 
 Colleges, Co-education in, 190. 
 
 Columbus, Christopher, 76, 77. 
 
 Comstock, Elizabeth, 16. 
 
 Condorcet, Quotation from, 246. 
 
 Cook, Dr., of Cedar Rapids, Quota- 
 tions from, 28, 29. 
 
 Cooper, Sarah B., Quotation from, 
 254. 
 
 (271)
 
 272 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cope, Mrs. Edward, 16. 
 
 Corneille, Quotation from, 262. 
 
 Council of Macon, 109. 
 
 Countess of Withsdale, Heroism of, 
 78. 
 
 Courtezans, Celebrated Greek, 102. 
 103. 
 
 Courtezans, Celebrated Roman, 104. 
 
 Courts, Their Decisions Relative to 
 
 . Women, 239, 240. 
 
 Crandall, Prudence, 16. 
 
 Crepaz, Adele Quotations from, 195, 
 196, 200. 
 
 Croly, Mrs. F. C., Quotation from, 
 263. 
 
 "Crowning Sin of the Age," Quo- 
 tation from, 30, 31. 
 
 DARLING, Grace, heroism of, 80. 
 Daughters Not Desired in China, 
 110. 
 
 Daughters of Milton, 141. 
 Davis, Pauline W., Quotation from, 
 
 96. 
 
 De Goncourt, Quotation from, 89. 
 De Maistre, Quotation from, 154. 
 Demosthenes, Quotation from, 102. 
 De Quincey, Quotations from, 123, 
 
 186. 
 
 De Segur, Quotation from, 267. 
 de Sevigne, Madame, Quotation 
 
 from, 145. 
 Deterioration of Modern Societv, 
 
 221, 222. 
 
 Dickenson, Anna, 16. 
 Disobedience of Children, 23. 222 
 
 223, 225, 232. 
 
 Disraeli, Quotation from, 77. 
 Divorce Laws in United States, 
 
 Their Unfairness to Husbands, 96, 
 
 97. 
 
 Divorces in China, 110. 
 Divorces in Japan, 110. 
 Divorces, Number of in United 
 
 States, 58. 
 Dix, Dorothea, 16. 
 Domestic Industry, Its Evils, 162. 
 Drink Habit, Its Increase among 
 
 Women, 247. 
 
 Druggists, Temptations- of, 32, 33. 
 Durrant Case, 63, 64. 
 
 FDHOLM, Mrs. Charleton, Quo- 
 ~* tation from, 167, 168. 
 Education of Women, Should Be 
 
 Distinctive, 193. 
 
 Egnatia Maximilla, Fidelity of, 80. 
 Elective Franchise Not a "Natural 
 
 Right, 256. 
 
 Electric Carriages, 145, 146. 
 Electricity, Era of, 152. 
 Elevator, "The, 147. 
 Elizabeth, Queen of England, 75, 
 
 76. 
 "Eliot, George." Quotations from, 
 
 256, 261. 
 Emerson, Ralph Waldo Quotation 
 
 from, 241, 242. 
 Eminent Women, 187-189. 
 Equality of the Sexes, Distinguished 
 
 Women's Objections to, 194. 
 Euripides, Quotations from, 25, 72. 
 
 pAWCETT, Philippa, 217. 
 
 Female Competition, Results of 
 157. 
 
 "Female Offender," The, 72. 
 
 Ferdinand, King of Spain 76 
 
 Fletcher, Alice C., 16. 
 
 Florence Crittenton Homes, 169. 
 
 Foltz, Clara S., 216. 
 
 French Revolution, 69-71. 
 
 Fry, Elizabeth, 16. 
 
 Family, Definitions of, 19, 20. 
 
 Fitch, George L., Quotation from, 
 ol. 
 
 Foote, Lucinda, 190. 
 
 " From Japan to Germany, " Quota- 
 tion from, 166, 167. 
 
 QAGE, Susanna, 218. 
 
 Gall, Quotation from, 82, 83. 
 
 Galpin, Mrs. Kate Tupper, Quota- 
 tion from, 91, 92. 
 
 Gardener, Helen H., Quotation 
 from, 91. 
 
 Garrison, Helen E., 17. 
 
 Gautier, Theophile, 264. 
 
 Gilbert, Linda, 16. 
 
 Girl Car Conductors in Chile 146 
 
 Girls in India, 110, 111. 
 
 Girls, Price of Circassian, 112.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 273 
 
 Girl Students, AVhv Thev Generally 
 
 Excel Boys 184,' 185. 
 (Joctlie, (Quotation from, 200. 
 < inltlsinith, Oliver, Quotation from, 
 
 262. 
 
 Gordon, Laur;t L)e Force, 216. 
 Grew, Mary, 16. 
 Griggs, Edward 11., Quotations from, 
 
 212, 213, 25:;, 254. 
 Grimke, Angelina, 16. 
 Grimke, Sarah, 16. 
 
 J-jALE, Prof., of Chicago, (Quota- 
 tion from, 29. 
 Hale, Sarah J., Cited, 189. 
 Hall, Mary, 215. 
 Hamilton, Gail, (Quotation from, 
 
 263, 
 
 Hanchette, .lane, Bravery of, 81. 
 Heinzen, Karl, 264. 
 IF -my V11I, of England, 75. 
 Higgmson, Betty, 190. 
 " History of Prostitution," by ~W. 
 
 W. Sanger, 105. 
 Hoggan, Frances, 218. 
 Eolley, Sallie, 16. 
 Holloway, Laura C., Quotations 
 
 from, 114, 115, 118, 119, 12H. 
 Home Life, Influence- Which An- 
 
 'i.ixe, 35, 36. 
 
 Home, the Sphere "f Woman, S, 12. 
 Howitt, Mary, (Quotation from, H'>. 
 HU-J.-O. Victor, (Quotation from, 263. 
 Mulct t. A Ha M., 215. 
 Hunt Harriet K., 211. 
 Huxley. (Quotation from, 263. 
 
 JNFAXT1C1DE in Ameriea, 2!), :!1. 
 Infanticide in China, 110. 
 
 Inventions of Women, 148, 1~>1. 
 
 Inventions, Their Benefit to Women, 
 145-153. 
 
 Inventions, Their Far-reaching Ef- 
 fect, 155, 156. 
 
 Isabella, Queen of Spain, 76. 
 
 JACKSON, Helen Hunt, 16. 
 
 Jacohi, Mary Putnam, Cited, 210. 
 Joan of Arc, 74. 
 Joest, W., Quotation from, 166, 167. 
 
 Johnson. Samuel, Quotation from 
 218. 
 
 .1 1 nies, Mary C., 16. 
 
 Josephine, Empress of France, Ami- 
 ability of, 81. 
 
 Joubert, Quotation from, 224. 
 
 Alphonse. Quotation from 
 261. 
 
 Kelley, Abby, 16. 
 Kellogg, Martin, Quotation from, 
 
 256, ^57. 
 
 Kepley, Ada H., 215. 
 Kerscnbaunmer, Dr. Kosa, Quota- 
 
 tion from, 201. 
 Kies, Mary, First Woman Patentee 
 
 in U. 8., 151. 
 Kowalewski, Songa, 218. 
 
 , Christine, 218. 
 
 Lad} r Clerks, Superiority of, 181. 
 Lady .lane Gray, 74. 
 Lamartine, Quotation from, 269. 
 Large Families, Unpopularity "!' 
 
 54. 
 Large Families ////<* Small Ones, 
 
 38-43. 
 
 Lawlessness in Politics, 229, 230. 
 Lawlessness in the Church, 228. 
 Lawlessne>s in the Home, 221-228. 
 Lawlessness in the Pulpit, 230. 
 Lawlc.-sness. \{< Origin in the Fam- 
 
 ily, 232. 
 Lawlessness of Corporations, 228, 
 
 229. 
 
 Lawlessness ,.f Nations, 231, 232. 
 Lawh^-m- of I'ulilic Oilicial.-, '2l'S. 
 Lawlessno- of tlie Liijiior Men, 229. 
 Lawle.-.-nr.-s of tin- I'n->, 230. 
 Lawlessness of AVorkingmen, 229. 
 Lea, Fanny, 16. 
 Lcdyanl, Quotation from, 70, 71. 
 Lemennais, (Quotation tVmn, 262. 
 Lock wood, Bclva Ann, 215. 
 I^ombrosu, Dr., <)untation from, I'l. 
 L<>ngfelluw. Quotation from, 269. 
 Lord BnmghamV Act, 238. 
 Lord Lyttelton, Quotation from, 
 
 233. 
 Love, How It Increases with Exer- 
 
 cise, 43, 44.
 
 274 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 P1ACHINERY, Its Equalizing 
 Tendencies, 146. 152. 
 
 Mackav, Charles, etiolation from, 
 69. 
 
 Madame de Mouchy, Self-sacrifice 
 of, 82. 
 
 Madame de Stael, 266. 
 
 Madame Grimaldi, Courage of, 81. 
 
 Madame Malezoy, Courage of, 81. 
 
 Madame Ragotzin, 218. 
 
 Madame Roland, Courage of, 81. 
 
 Mademoiselle dela Charce, Intrepid- 
 ity of, 81. 
 
 Mademoiselle Delleglace, Filial De- 
 votion of, 82. 
 
 "Maiden Tribute to Modern Bab- 
 ylon," Quotation from, 166. 
 
 Maid of Saragossa, Heroism of, 81. 
 
 Male Housekeepers, 179. 
 
 Mansfield, Arabella A., 215. 
 
 Man, Stronger than Woman, 96. 
 
 Maria Helena Elizabeth, Sister of 
 Louis XVI, Self-sacrifice of, 82. 
 
 Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, 
 Bravery of, 81. 
 
 Marriageable Men, Their Decrease 
 in Number, 180. 
 
 Mary, Queen of England, 75. 
 
 Mary, Queen of Scots, 75. 
 
 Mar-on, Otis T., Quotations from, 57, 
 58, 90. 
 
 Massachusetts, Census of, 31. 
 
 Ma-Milder, Quotation from, 15. 
 
 Mati-mity, Should Always be Vol- 
 untarily Assumed, 53. 
 
 Men's Ideal of Womanhood, 9, 11. 
 
 Men's Inability to Bear Pain, 48. 
 
 Michelet, Quotation from, 96. 
 
 Mill, John Stuart, Quotations from, 
 198, 252, 253. 
 
 Mill, James, 129. 
 
 Milton, Quotations from, 7, 2-1-1. 
 
 Mirabeau, Quotation from, 89. 
 
 Mi Muloch, Quotations from, 86, 
 87, 98. 
 
 Mitchell, Maria, 190, 217. 
 
 Montagu, Mary Wortley, 1H9, 264. 
 
 Montgomery, James, Quotation from, 
 114. 
 
 More, Hannah, 188. 
 
 Motherhood of God, 97. 
 
 Mother of Anthony, 79. 
 
 Mother of Arkwright, 150. 
 
 Mother of Augustine St. Monica, 
 
 109, 135, 136. 137. 
 Mother of Beethoven, 142. 
 Mother of Burton, 142. 
 Mother of Byron, 142. 
 Mother of Carlyle, 140. 
 Mother of Chateaubriand, 142. 
 Mother of Cowper, Ho. 
 Mother of Daniel \\YMer, 134. 
 Mother of Dickens, 139, 140. 
 Mother of Fenelon, 142. 
 Mother of Gambetta, 141. 
 
 Mother of GarfleW, 131-133. 
 
 Mother of Goethe, 140. 
 
 Mother of the Gracchi, 120, 121. 
 
 Mother of Grant, 119. 
 
 Mother of Gray, 142. 
 
 Mother of Humboldt, 140. 
 
 Mother of John Quincv Adams, ML', 
 143. 
 
 Mother of Kant, 141. 
 
 Mother of Lamartine, 1-10. 
 
 Mother of Lincoln, 129-131. 
 
 Mother of Luther, 137, 138. 
 
 Mother of Madame de Stael, 140. 
 
 Mother of Mendelssohn, 142. 
 
 Mother of the Napiers, 121, 122.. 
 
 Mother of Napoleon, lKi-118. 
 
 Mot her of Richard Brinslev Sheridan, 
 140. 
 
 Mother of Kichter, 140. 
 
 Mother of Robert Burns, 141. 
 
 Mother of Samuel Johnson, 141. 
 
 Mother of Schiller, 142. 
 
 Mother of "Stonewall" Jackson, 
 124-126. 
 
 Mother of Thackeray, 1 lo. 
 
 .Mother of Thomson, ML'. 
 
 Mother of Troll. pe, 140. 
 
 Mother of the Wesley.-, i:;s, 1,39. 
 
 Mother of Washington, 115, 116. 
 
 Mother <>f Watt, Ifk). 
 
 Mothers of Inventors, 150. 
 
 Mott, Lucretia, 16, 238. 
 
 Mr. Notion, charged with Incon- 
 stancy, 62. 
 
 Mrs. Jameson, Quotation from, %. 
 
 Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson, Her Heroism 
 and Conjugal Devotion, 82.
 
 INDEX . 
 
 275 
 
 MAPOLEON, Quotations from, 90, 
 
 IK), 117. 
 
 Now Hampshire, Birth Rate in, 30. 
 "Nineteenth Century," Quotation 
 
 from, 194. 
 
 " Noble Deeds of Women," 78. 
 North, Marianne, 218. 
 Nuremberg, Women Hod-carriers of, 
 
 100. 
 
 QRIGEN, Quotation from, 109. 
 
 Ormerod, Eleanor A., 218. 
 Ossoli, .Margaret Fuller, 10. 
 Ostrogonki, Quotation from, 242, 
 
 24:i. 
 Otway, Quotation from, 50. 
 
 pALMER, Margaretta, 217. 
 
 Parasites, Tendency of Childless 
 Wives to Become, 40. 
 
 Paternal Authority, Its Importance 
 225. 
 
 Penal Code of California, 26, 27. 
 
 IV re Lacordaire, Quotation from, 107. 
 
 Phillips, Ann Green, 10. 
 
 Phillips, Wendall, Quotation from, 
 238. 
 
 Physicians, Crimes of, 28. 
 
 Plutt, Julia, 218. 
 
 Pier Family of Lawyers, 216. 
 
 Polyandry , Prevalent in Thibet, Cey- 
 lon, and Parts of Africa, 104. 
 
 Powers, H. H., Quotations from, 213, 
 268. 
 
 Prejudice against Large Families, 18. 
 
 Prevention of Offspring, Its Kvil Ef- 
 fects, 47. 
 
 Prevention of Offspring, When. Jus- 
 tifiable, 50, 51. 
 
 Prior, Margaret, 10. 
 
 Procurers, 165. 
 
 Prominence of Women, Its Signifi- 
 cance, 150. 
 
 Prostitution, 103-169. 
 
 Prostitution, Its Causes, 168, 169. 
 
 Pulpit, Its Criminal Silence, 33. 
 
 Putnam, Caroline F., 16. 
 
 ATHEAN Herpin, Exploit of, 80. 
 
 Reform Different Schemes of, 155. 
 Revolution in the Relations of the 
 Sexes, 175, 176. 
 
 Rollins, Alice Wellington, Quota- 
 tion from, 206, 207. 
 
 Rousseau, Quotations from, 59, 216. 
 
 Ryan, Chief Justice, Quotation from, 
 89, 90. 
 
 "SACERDOTAL Celibacy," 109. 
 Salaman, Malcolm G., Quota- 
 tions from, 60, 61, 62. 
 Salic Law, 233, 234. 
 .Salvation Army, Its Incompatibility 
 
 with Home Life, 34, 35. 
 Sanger, W. W., Cited, 105, 164. 
 "Satan inSociety," Quotations from, 
 
 100, 101, 111, 112. 
 Schopenhauer, Comments upon, 197. 
 Schopenhauer, Quotation from, 197. 
 Science as an Aid to Housekeepers, 
 
 12-14. 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 129. 
 Servant Girls, 173-176. 
 Severance, Sarah M., Quotation from, 
 
 2-55. 
 
 Sex Differences, Attractiveness of,199. 
 Sexual Love, Its Perversion the Clause 
 
 of Divorces, etc., Cl, 52. 
 Sexual Love, Its purpose, 47. 
 Shakespeare, Quotations from, 170, 
 
 204. 
 Shaw, Anna, Quotations from, 249, 
 
 252. 
 
 Sheppard, Margareta, 16. 
 Small Families versus Large Ones, 
 
 38-43. 
 
 Smiles, Samuel, Quotation from, 38. 
 Smith, Sydney, Quotation from, 71. 
 Social Gravitation, 36. 
 Spiritualism, 96. 
 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 249, 250; 
 
 Quotations from, 91, 92, 93, 94; 
 
 Her Advocacy of Woman Suffrage . 
 
 238. 
 
 Starling, Elizabeth, 78. 
 Stoddard, R. H., Quotation from, 
 
 181. 
 
 Stone, Lucy, 16, 238. 
 Stowc. Harriet Beecher, 16, 204. 
 "Subjection of Woman,'' Quotation 
 
 from, 198. 
 "Subjection of Woman," Reply to, 
 
 199. 
 Superstitions, 65-67.
 
 270 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 TAYLOR, Jeremy, Quotation from 
 
 100. 
 
 Telegraph, The, 146. 
 Telephone, The, 146, 147. 
 Tennyson, Quotations from, 128, 170. 
 Tertullian, Quotation from, 108. 
 Thackeray, Quotation from, 123. 
 Thales, Quotation from, 73. 
 Thayer, Oliva Ann, Quotation from, 
 
 97. 
 "The Emancipation of Women," 
 
 Quotations from, 195, 196, 200. 
 " The Mothers of Great Men and 
 
 Women, 1 ' Quotations from, 114, 
 
 115. 
 
 Theosophy, 96. 
 "The Traffic in Girls," Quotation 
 
 from, 167, 168. 
 Typewriter, The, 147. . 
 
 JJTTMAN, Barbara, 150. 
 
 yiKAGOES, 224. 
 
 Von Stein, Lorenz, Quotation 
 
 from, 196. 
 Voters, Frauds against, 229, 230. 
 
 \yARD, Lester ., cited, 263. 
 Ward, Mrs. Humphrey, 204. 
 
 Welcome Children, Their Superior- 
 ity, 54. 
 
 Widows in India, 110, 111. 
 
 Wife of Cromwell, 118. 
 
 Wife of Disraeli, 134, 135. 
 
 Wife of Duke of Ferrara, Courage 
 of, 81. 
 
 Wife of Duke of Marlborough, 118, 
 119. 
 
 Wife of Edward the First, Conjugal 
 Devotion of, 80. 
 
 Wife of Elias How.-. 150. 
 
 Wifeof Helvidius Priscus, Constancy 
 of, 80. 
 
 Wife of Henry the Sixth of England, 
 MIT Geniu.- and Courage, si. 
 
 Wife of Lentulu- Crustellus. Con- 
 stancy of. si i. 
 
 Wife of M:ir-li:il Munich, HeroNm 
 of, 7s. 79. 
 
 Wife of Milton, 77. 
 
 Wife of Robert, Duke of Normandy, 
 Self- sacrifice of, ,SO. 
 
 Wife of Sir Walter Scott, 143. 
 
 Wife of Theodosius the Great, Mag- 
 nanimity of. 79. 
 
 Willard, Francos, 17. 
 
 Wit of Women, 207, 208. 
 
 Wives, Rebelliousness of. 2 - _ )- J, 1-11 . 
 
 Wives of Inventors, 150. 
 
 Wives, Subordination of, 8:1, M. 
 
 Wives, Their Ascendency over Their 
 Husbands in America, !4, !:">. 
 
 \Vollstonecraft, Mary, 189. 
 
 Woman, Extreme in Good and Kvil 
 r>!>, 60 
 
 Woman, Her (Condition in Ancient 
 
 Greece, 102, 103. 
 Woman, Her Condition in Ancient 
 
 Rome, 103, 104. 
 
 Woman, Her 111 Treatment by An- 
 cient Nations. 101. 
 Woman, Her Superiority to Man, ss. 
 Woman. Impressionability of, 63, 64. 
 Woman, Inconstancy of, 59, 62. 
 "Woman in the Pa.-t, Pn-ent and 
 
 Future," 103. 
 Womanly Occupations, 172 
 Woman, Physical Structure of, 56-69. 
 Woman's Bible, Quotations from, 
 
 92, 93. 
 Woman Suffrage, Arguments 
 
 against, 256-268. 
 Woman Suffrage, Ke,-i-"ii- lor, ~24'i 
 
 255. 
 Woman Suffrage, Testimonials to 
 
 Its Value, 236, 237. 
 Woman Suffrage, The Struggle for, 
 
 237, 238. 
 
 Woman, Temperament of, 59. 
 ' Woman, through a Man's Kye 
 
 glasses," 60. 
 Woman's Prominence in Modern 
 
 Religious Movements, !)7. 
 Woman's Recent Invasion of Ne\v 
 
 Industrial Fields, 176, 177. 
 " Woman's Share in Primitive Cul-' 
 
 ture," 57. 
 
 Women as Clerks, etc.. !!). 
 Women Are IJettor Than Mm. I'-H'.. 
 Women, Kminenci' of in the Differ- 
 ent Centuries, 187-1*!'-
 
 INDEX . 
 
 277 
 
 Women in America, Their Monopo- 
 lization of Social Pleasures, 9". 
 
 Women in America, Their Growing 
 Sense of Equality, 183, 184. 
 
 Women in America, Their Superior 
 Intelligence, 185. 
 
 Women in Journalism, 209. 
 
 Women in Literature, 204-207. 
 
 Women in Law, 215, 216. 
 
 Women in Medicine, 210-215. 
 
 Women in Mohammedan Countries, 
 111, 112. 
 
 Women in the Ministry, 218, 219. 
 
 Women Inventors, 148, 149, 150, 151. 
 
 Women, Political Fanaticism of 68- 
 70. 
 
 Women, Political Rights Acquired 
 by, 234-236. 
 
 Women Proportion of Unmarried, 
 157. 
 
 Women, Their Increasing Tendency 
 
 to Drunkenness, 162. 
 Women Workers in Europe, 159. 
 Women Workers, Statistics of, 157, 
 
 158. 
 Women Workers, Their Condition 
 
 in America, 159-162. 
 Women Workers, Their Low Wages, 
 
 158. 
 Women Workers, Motives of Some, 
 
 181, 182. 
 Women's Christian Temperance 
 
 Union, 17. 
 Women's Clubs and Societies, Their 
 
 Superiority to Men's, 201-203. 
 Women's Hospitals, Statistics of, 21 4. 
 Women's World Congress, 32. 
 Working-women in Germany, 105. 
 
 YOUTHFUL Appearing Mothers, 
 17.
 
 
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