mous idea, the permanent union of one woman with one man, is a trustworthy basis upon which to rest the social structure.
The women of whom I am writing disclaim positively that their indifference as to marriage arises from any dissatisfaction with the institution as it now and here exists. They deny also unanimously, and backed by a good deal of proof, that their education (it being understood that they have received the modern college education, or its equivalent) in any way unfits them for the duties of wifehood and maternity, or, primarily, renders these conditions any less attractive to them than to the "domestic" type of women. On the contrary, they hold that their knowledge of physiology makes them better mothers and housekeepers; their knowledge of chemistry makes them better cooks; while, from their training in other natural sciences and in mathematics, they obtain an accuracy and fair-mindedness which is of great value to them in dealing with their children or their employés. In short, they are not afraid to match themselves in practical life with the women for whom Mr. Allen claims a development impossible to the "dulled and spiritless epicene automata" to whom his attack is addressed.
As we approach the close of the discussion, the common sense of the various speakers makes itself strongly felt. They are not theorists, but practical, healthy women, and they do not in the least deceive themselves as to the actual, every-day aspect of this question. But, on the other hand, they stand for the feminine type of which our American prophet and seer wrote thirty years ago:[1] "At this moment I esteem it a chief felicity of this country that it excels in women. A certain awkward consciousness of inferiority in the men may give rise to the new chivalry in behalf of ’woman's rights.' Certainly, let her be as much better placed in the laws and in social forms as the most zealous reformer can ask; but I confide so entirely in her inspiring and musical nature that I believe only herself can show us how she shall be served. The wonderful generosity of her sentiments raises her at times into heroical and godlike regions, and verifies the pictures of Minerva, Juno, or Polymnia; and, by the firmness with which she treads her upward path, she convinces the coarsest calculators that another road exists than that which their feet know." And it is therefore no surprise to find that these women of a later generation are, finally, by the loftiness of their ideas and, as it were, in spite of themselves, lifted above the plane of Mr. Allen's arguments.
They sum up the reasons why they, as individuals, do not marry, in a somewhat formidable array. "We find," they say, "that we are intellectually the equals of the men whom we meet.
- ↑ Emerson, "Essay on Manners."
