icular, by the
Jewish marriage system. The legislature of Europe "absorbed much more
of those laws concerning the position of women which belong peculiarly
to an imperfect civilisation. The law relating to married women was
for the most part read by the light, not of Roman, but of Christian
Canon Law, which in no one particular departs so widely from the
enlightened spirit of the Roman jurisprudence than in the view it
takes of the relations of the sexes in marriage." This was in part
inevitable, Sir Henry Maine continues, "since no society which
preserves any tincture of Christian institutions is likely to restore
to married women the personal liberty conferred on them by the middle
Roman law."

It is not possible for me to follow this question further. One thing
is incontrovertibly certain, that woman's position and her freedom can
best be judged by the equity of the moral code in its bearing on the
two sexes. Wherever a different standard of moral conduct is set up
for women from men there is something fundamentally wrong in the
family relationship needing revolutionising. The sexual passions of
men and women must be regulated, first in the interests of the social
body, and next in the interests of the individual. It is the
institution of marriage that secures the first end, and the remedy of
divorce that secures the second. It is the great question for each
civilisation to decide the position of the sexes in relation to these
two necessary institutions. In Rome an unusually enlightened public
feeling decided for the equality of woman with man in the whole
conduct of sexual morality. The legist Ulpian expresses this view when
he writes--"It seems to be very unjust that a man demands chastity
from his wife while he himself shows no example of it."[312] Such deep
understanding of the unity of the sexes is assuredly the finest
testimony to the high status of Roman women.

I have now reached the end of the inquiry set before us at the opening
of this chapter. I am fully aware of the many omissions, probable
misjudgments, and the inadequacy of this brief summary. We have
covered a wide field. This was inevitable. I know that to understand
really the position of woman in any country it is necessary to inquire
into all the customs that have built up its civilisation, and to gain
knowledge upon many points outside the special question of the sexual
relationships. This I have not been able even to attempt to do. I have
thr