the tyranny of authority and tradition.  With few insignificant exceptions, girls have been educated either to be drudges, or toys, beneath man; or a sort of angels above him; the highest ideal aimed at oscillating between Claerchen and Beatrice.  The possibility that the ideal of womanhood lies neither in the fair saint, nor in the fair sinner; that the female type of character is neither better nor worse than the male, but only weaker; that women are meant neither to be men’s guides nor their playthings, but their comrades, their fellows and their equals, so far as Nature puts no bar to that equality, does not seem to have entered into the minds of those who have had the conduct of the education of girls.

If the present system of female education stands self-condemned, as inherently absurd; and if that which we have just indicated is the true position of woman, what is the first step towards a better state of things?  We reply, emancipate girls.  Recognise the fact that they share the senses, perceptions, feelings, reasoning powers, emotions, of boys, and that the mind of the average girl is less different from that of the average boy, than the mind of one boy is from that of another; so that whatever argument justifies a given education for all boys, justifies its application to girls as well.  So far from imposing artificial restrictions upon the acquirement of knowledge by women, throw every facility in their way.  Let our Faustinas, if they will, toil through the whole round of

     “Juristerei und Medizin,
     Und leider! auch Philosophie.”

Let us have “sweet girl graduates” by all means.  They will be none the less sweet for a little wisdom; and the “golden hair” will not curl less gracefully outside the head by reason of there being brains within.  Nay, if obvious practical difficulties can be overcome, let those women who feel inclined to do so descend into the gladiatorial arena of life, not merely in the guise of retiariae, as heretofore, but as bold sicariae, breasting the open fray.  Let them, if they so please, become merchants, barristers, politicians.  Let them have a fair field, but let them understand, as the necessary correlative, that they are to have no favour.  Let Nature alone sit above the lists, “rain influence and judge the prize.”

And the result?  For our parts, though loth to prophesy, we believe it will be that of other emancipations.  Women will find their place, and it will neither be that in which they have been held, nor that to which some of them aspire.  Nature’s old salique law will not be repealed, and no change of dynasty will be effected.  The big chests, the massive brains, the vigorous muscles and stout frames, of the best men will carry the day, whenever it is worth their while to contest the prizes of life with the best women.  And the hardship of it is, that the very improvement of the women will lessen their chances.  Better mothers will bring forth better sons, and the impetus gained by the one sex will be transmitted, in the next generation, to the other.  The most Darwinian of theorists will not venture to propound the doctrine, that the physical disabilities under which women have hitherto laboured, in the struggle for existence with men, are likely to be removed by even the most skilfully conducted process of educational selection.