others. Count Mirabeau, for instance, is described by German historians,
von Sybel among them, as one of the greatest lights of the French
Revolution: and now research has revealed the fact that this light was
indebted for the concept of almost all of his speeches to the ready help
of certain scholars, who worked for him in secret, and whom he
understood to utilize. On the other hand, apparitions like those of a
Sappho, a Diotima of the days of Socrates, a Hypatia of Alexander, a
Madame Roland, Madame de Stael, George Sand, etc., deserve the greatest
respect, and eclipse many a male star. The effect of women as mothers of
great men is also known. Woman has achieved all that was possible to her
under the, to her, as a whole, most unfavorable circumstances; all of
which justifies the best hopes for the future. As a matter of fact, only
the second half of the nineteenth century began to smooth the way for
the admission of women in large numbers to the race with men on various
fields; and quite satisfactory are the results attained.

But suppose that, on an average, women are not as capable of higher
development as men, that they cannot grow into geniuses and great
philosophers, was this a criterion for men when, at least according to
the letter of the law, they were placed on a footing of equality with
"geniuses" and "philosophers?" The identical men of learning, who deny
higher aptitudes to woman, are quite inclined to do the same to artisans
and workingmen. When the nobility appeals to its "blue" blood and to
its genealogical tree, these men of learning laugh in derision and shrug
their shoulders; but as against the man of lower rank, they consider
themselves an aristocracy, that owes what it is, not to more favorable
conditions of life, but to its own talent alone. The same men who, on
one field, are among the freest from prejudice, and who hold him lightly
who does not think as liberally as themselves, are, on another
field,--the moment the interests of their rank and class, or their
vanity and self-esteem are concerned--found narrow to the point of
stupidity, and hostile to the point of fanaticism. The men of the upper
classes look down upon the lower; and so does almost the whole sex upon
woman. The majority of men see in woman only an article of profit and
pleasure; to acknowledge her an equal runs against the grain of their
prejudices:--woman must be humble and modest; she must confine herself
exclusively to the h