there.3 And we hold that all this follows on due consideration, not of one part of the natural constitution of women, but of that constitution as a whole.

What, then (it may of course be asked)-what, then, is the plan of life' which you contend is indicated on 'consideration of the natural constitution of women as a whole' ?

We reply, The plan which the practice of all past ages of human progress has followed, and which the whole tendency of biological teaching at the present day endorses; in few words, the ancient distribution of functions, still obtaining amongst us, which allots the direction and control of public affairs to men, of domestic to women.

Our forefathers knew nothing of biological science. But they knew a great deal about practical life. And so out of the contact of 'mother-wit' with the conditions of existence, this plan by which we still live was worked out-evolved, if you will; not by any set purpose or deliberate intellectual choice, but moulded daily and hourly by the pressure on mind and body in both sexes, of the needs of their being and its circumstances. And now the advance of thought and knowledge in these latter days gives reason and definition to the shaping, more or less instinctive, of human life in the past; it shows that the old distribution of functions is rooted in the unchangeable constitution of human nature, in which the abilities and disabilities of the sexes are mutually correlated.

I am well aware that an easy rejoinder can be made to the considerations which I have been humbly endeavouring to urge. It is, briefly, that nous avons changé tout cela'; that, while in old days physical force counted for three-fourths in human affairs, it is now superseded largely by moral and intellectual; that in the intellectual region women are now equal to men, and in the moral, if anything, superior. Well! it is an idle game, this cutting up of nature into slices, and disputing which sex has the thickest. I revert once more to the unity of feminine nature, as of masculine; and I contend that in all essentials the likenesses and contrasts of the two unities have not changed with the lapse of time, but are unchangeable; that force-energy, if the word is preferred-still rules the world; that

As a concrete instance in support of what I have here advanced, I advert to the spectacle now presented by the leaders of the agitation for women's suffrage. I would speak with all respect for their public spirit, and in particular for their hearty desire to better the lot of the toiling women-workers' of the country. But it is this group of leaders, their words and deeds-the disproportionate strength with which they insist upon some truths, the carelessness with which they shelve and ignore othersit is these clever and eager persons and their ways that seem to us to demonstrate most forcibly the natural, unchangeable incapacity of women for dealing with and deciding in the greater issues of life. Again, certain recent ebullitions of ill-temper and indecorum are doubtless but the follies of a few among many; nevertheless they are symptomatic, they indicate a temperament; they are as straws showing the way the wind would blow in the great gale to be raised when women as a sex shall be added to our electorate.

the masculine human unit is by nature endowed with a larger share of the energy of life than the feminine, and therefore by Divine (or cosmic) right ought to bear rule and prevail. That is, to use more old-fashioned language, men should manage and control the great affairs of life, and decide its main issues. Politics belong to men.

I am now brought to that which is, I cannot but believe, the supreme consideration in the present controversy. It is this: If, according to the passionate desire of a certain section of our countrywomen, the parliamentary suffrage, carrying with it the possession of political power, and entrance on the political arena, be conceded to women, it is plain that the effective supremacy of men in this country's affairs will be at an end—until, indeed, men seize it again, as they probably would, by main force. Till they do so, the decision of the great issues of life will be, as it were, put in commission between the two sexes, with results that no one can measure, but which cannot fail to be disastrous. At best there will be all the evils of a vacillating and unstable policy; in all likelihood there will be graver evils. For it is not to be supposed but that divergences will arise between the two wings of the vast electorate. Serious differences of opinion, of judgment, of feeling, often occur now between the sexes. Two will ride the horse. Which shall sit behind? Is it possible to imagine a more chaotic, a madder state of affairs than would be thus created? And that equally in the family and in the State, for the proposed revolution must inevitably run through the whole relation of the

sexes.

Time would fail me, had I even the ability, to dwell upon the other dangers, the many losses, involved in the fundamental change now. urged upon us. But I regret my lack of time and lack of wit the less, that such losses and dangers have been ably set forth by Miss Stephen. I desire, however, to note two or three points in conclusion.

(1) The important additions in recent times to the sphere of women's activities, the opening to them of new careers undreamt of in the past, together with their excellent fulfilment of the new demands, are often alleged as valid arguments for the concession to them of political powers and functions. But there is not one of the responsible public posts and offices newly open to women that does not come under the category of domesticity-paradoxical though it may seem at first to say so. They are in nature home offices and functions, albeit on the extended scale made necessary by the immense volume and complexity of modern social life. Women-physicians and hospital matrons care for the sick, mistresses of schools and colleges educate children and young people, members of boards of guardians care for the poor; and these are the very functions which from of old have been held appropriate to women. They are purely administrative, and they demand the personal element, the individual

care for individuals, which is the characteristic excellence of women's activity; but for these very reasons they are essentially distinct from political activities, and can furnish no argument for the concession of the latter.

(2) By far the most serious aspect of the claim advanced for women's suffrage is presented by the great meetings, the 'manifestos,' petitions and appeals of thousands of working-women, who urgently demand the franchise, both as their 'right' and as the one thing of prime necessity for bettering their conditions of life. We cannot doubt that great numbers of this class are fully convinced, first that they suffer wrong and loss by lack of the franchise, and next, that its attainment is the only thing that can right them, and that it would be certain to do so. I am not in the least surprised that they should be thus minded, and I regard their endeavour to give effect to their conviction with the greatest sympathy and respect. I do not, I own, believe their demand to be spontaneous; but it is genuine, it is in ready response to the promptings of the able and determined women who lead them, and who, from a very different vantage-ground, direct the campaign in which they are the obedient rank and file. Their own lot is known to be one of the hardest upon earth; they themselves know little beyond it, and it is in no wise blameworthy, but the reverse, that they should seize ardently on an enterprise which, they are taught, will infallibly lighten burthens and increase comforts, in this toilsome world, for themselves and their daughters. But it by no means follows from all this that their claim should and must be conceded; that it is wise and practical, having regard to all the considerations involved; that the volume and unanimity of a class demand should put us upon that which would be literally the most momentous revolution in its affairs that this country could undertake. If, indeed, the impossible were possible; if it could be demonstrated that the only means for any great and lasting betterment of the conditions of life among our toiling women is the concession to them of a vote for Parliament, and, further, that the concession would infallibly effect this betterment; then, indeed, we might be driven to the concession of the vote as a lesser evil than the permanence of the present state of things with working-women. But to say this is to state a platitude. There is no political machinery which can bring about the vast changes we all long for in that vast field; they must come about by changes in the habits of life, in the social conditions, the interaction of various classes throughout the country. If the much longed-for vote were attained, and working-women could dictate to Parliament (which by no means necessarily follows), the result would, according to present appearances, be much hasty and short-sighted legislation, tending to increase the already too frequent ruin of home life and mother's care, as more and more women become bread-winners in place of

idle and self-indulgent or feckless husbands. On the other hand, our earnest hope and belief is that reforms in detail-reasonable redress of grievances and improvement of conditions-can be more wisely and securely carried out under the present and immemorial allotment of functions between the sexes than by upsetting that allotment.

(3) The mistake is often made by the advocates of women's suffrage of supposing that they who oppose it desire that women should hold themselves aloof from any interest in the public affairs of their country. I remember Mrs. Fawcett's eloquently insisting on the meanness of this supposititious programme for imprisonment of the female mind.' But the suffrage party may be assured that no such limitation is proposed or desired by their opponents. The latter, in common with other thinking women throughout the country, earnestly desire that their sex should take, as far as possible, intelligent interest in public affairs, and, further, should be acquainted with the main problems of the day, at least in outline, and more particularly with those bearing on female conditions and female needs. They welcome the exercise, more and more, of consultative and advisory functions, by reasonable and thoughtful women, in the country's concerns; they welcome the presentation of grievances and the suggestion of remedies by those toiling thousands of women upon whom rests so much of the physical burthen of life. But they are convinced that the last word in all these matters ought to rest with men-even as God has made man 'the head of the woman.'

Lastly (if I may presume to give my impressions in that respect), I believe that the great majority of Englishmen would, for their part, hold these views if the question of women's suffrage were fairly and squarely put before them. Miss Stephen suggests a Referendum to women. It would be interesting, but I do not think it ought to be decisive. My whole contention is that the matter is for men to decide, whether by Referendum or by our old-fashioned method of a General Election. If I am right in believing my countrymen are against women's suffrage, I earnestly hope they will have the courage of their convictions, and resist it, no matter with what volume of female voices it may be demanded.

THEO. CHAPMAN.

A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY FEMINISTE

CHRISTINE DE PISAN

CHRISTINE DE PISAN, Italian by birth, French by adoption, may be regarded not merely as a forerunner of true feminism, but also as one of its greatest champions, seeing that, in her judgment of the sexes, she endeavours to hold the scales evenly. Possessed of profound common sense, and of a generous-hearted nature, she is wholly free from that want of fairness in urging woman's claims which is so fatally prejudicial to their just consideration. She stands before us, at the dawn of the fifteenth century, Janus-headed, looking to the past and to the future, a woman typical of a time of transition, on the one hand showing, in her writings, a clinging to old beliefs and mediæval forms, and on the other asserting, in her contact with real life, independence of thought in the discussion of still unsolved questions.

Christine was born at Venice in 1363, where her father, Thomas de Pisan, of Bologna, distinguished for his knowledge of medicine and astrology, had settled on his marriage with a daughter of one of the Councillors of the Republic. When five years of age, she was taken by her mother to Paris, to join her father, who had been summoned thither some time before by the King, Charles the Fifth, to serve as his astrologer. At the end of the fourteenth century astrology played a very real and important part in men's lives. Before wars or journeys were undertaken, or additions to castle or chapel made, or even a new garment put on, the stars were consulted for the propitious day or hour. So deeply was Charles the Fifth imbued with a belief in the efficacy of this occult art, that when he wished to confer some special honour, or to express his gratitude for some service rendered to him or to the State, he sought to enhance his bounty by sending an astrologer as part of his gift. By the time little Christine arrived in Paris, her father had gained the confidence and esteem of the King, and was settled at Court with substantial maintenance. Here she was brought up as a maiden of quality, surrounded by much magnificence, for Charles loved beautiful things, and never stayed his hand to procure them, even when the gratification of his desires