gentleman's reply? Did he meet it openly and fairly? Oh, no! but
hear him, and I hope the ladies will pay particular attention,
for the greater part of the reply contains the draught poor,
deluded woman has been accustomed to swallow--Flattery:

"There is no man who owes more than I do to woman. My education
was formed by one whose very recollections at this moment make me
tremble. There is nothing which, for the honor of the sex, I
would not do; the happiness of my life is bound up with it;
mother, wife, daughter, woman, to me have been the oasis of the
desert of life, and, I have to ask myself, would it conduce to
the happiness of society to bring woman more distinctly than she
now is brought, into the arena of politics? Honestly I confess to
you I believe not. I will tell you why. All their influences, if
I may so term it, are gentle influences. In the rude battle and
business of life, we come home to find a nook and shelter of
quiet comfort after the hard and severe, and, I may say, the
sharp ire and the disputes of the House of Commons. I hie me
home, knowing that I shall there find personal solicitude and
anxiety. My head rests upon a bosom throbbing with emotion for
me and our child; and I feel a more hearty man in the cause of my
country, the next day, because of the perfect, soothing, gentle
peace which a mind sullied by politics is unable to feel. Oh! I
can not rob myself of that inexpressible benefit, and therefore I
say, No."

Well, this is certainly a nice little romantic bit of
parliamentary declamation. What a pity that he should give up all
these enjoyments to give woman a vote! Poor man! his happiness
must be balanced on the very verge of a precipice, when the
simple act of depositing a vote by the hand of woman, would
overthrow and destroy it forever. I don't doubt the honorable
gentleman meant what he said, particularly the last part of it,
for such are the views of the unthinking, unreflecting mass of
the public, here as well as there. But like a true politician, he
commenced very patriotically, for the happiness of society, and
finished by describing his own individual interests. His reply is
a curious mixture of truth, political sophistry, false
assumption, and blind selfishness. But he was placed in a
dilemm