ordinary observer. Possibly, if the selfish conventionalities of ears polite had been ignored, the heart of woman would long ago have responded to the cry of the submerged sisterhood. Possibly, if definitions had been less delicately drawn, the subjects defined would not have been so totally obscured, nor the social evil confused in many worthy persons' minds with the increasing scarcity of servants, or the introduction of rational dress. The danger, however, is too imminent for further trifling. The time of our awakening is at hand, be it rude or otherwise. The average woman, lulled into a false security, thinks all is well with the world. She dreams that every form of slavery is abolished, while, in the darkness, the chains of her sister clang on her doorstep. And when will the dreamer awake? I appeal to her, as one woman to another, to rise and trim her lamp. CONTENTS PART I WOMAN'S PHYSICAL ORGANISATION - The origin of the race— - PAGE 17 The feminine virtues of Christianity-The heathen degradation of women — The liberty of Christ - The consecration of service-The elevation of woman-The Pauline doctrine- The sex-bias of the Churches-Personal purity the standard of Christianity-The ascent of woman-Her greater moral -Woman, the hidden mainspring of action-Woman's powers of assimilation and of perception-Woman's force of will-Woman's patience-Woman's intellectual powers— The influence of heredity-Woman's want of unity- Women, bad citizens-Woman's frailties-The need of moral courage, of combination, of organisation-Impure art - An impure stage - Misdirected energies - Higher The normal superiority of the female in nature-The ascendency dawn of the women's era-Man's dependence on woman- Marriage and intellectuality-The eventual triumph of individuality-The extinction of sex-The harmony of the male and female natures-Love, the great teacher-The high ideal of woman-Women, as divinely-sent messengers -The ideal aim of marriage-Its importance in the per- petuity of the race- The laws of health The superiority of the mother over the wife-The degradation of the wife is counterbalanced by the dignity of the mother -The unquenchable hope of motherhood-The demi-gods of antiquity-The pangs of maternity-The potentialities of motherhood-The future healthy development of the race- Quality, not quantity, the desideratum-Moderation in marital relations-The importance to women of the right of selection-Woman's ambition as regards race-purity-The creative power of the mother-The transmission of hereditary traits of disease, of vicious tendencies-Health and morality -The social evil-The double code of morality-State re- strictions on vice-The duty of mothers-The importance of lactant nourishment-Brain development-Knowledge of physiology necessary-The training of the natural appetites -False modesty—The body the temple of God-The foun- dations of character-The home influence-Great men's The elevation of the single woman in the Christian dispensation -The single woman's function in the Christian economy— Religious orders—French charitable institutions—The single pioneer women of England-The sister as the teacher- Secular education-The religious factor in education-The paucity of genius in the present day-Want of thoroughness -Technical education-Co-education-The sister as the mistress-The sister as the worker-The sister as the nurse -The sister of the brother-The sister of mankind-The indictment of womanhood-The woman taken in adultery- The influence of woman in primitive culture-The folk-lore and |