which men are unconsciously trained. Give this, and
self-interest will do the rest, aided by that power of conscience and
affection which is certainly not less in them than in men, even if we claim
no more. A young lady of my acquaintance opposed woman suffrage in
conversation on various grounds, one of which was that it would, if
enacted, compel her to read the newspapers, which she greatly disliked.
I pleaded that this was not a fatal objection; since many men voted
"early and often" without reading them, and in fact without knowing
how to read at all. She said, in reply, that this might do for men,
but that women were far more conscientious, and, if they were once
compelled to vote, they would wish to know what they were voting for.
This seemed to me to contain the whole philosophy of the matter; and
I respected the keenness of her suggestion, though it led me to an
opposite conclusion.

INFERIOR TO MAN, AND NEAR TO ANGELS

If it were anywhere the custom to disfranchise persons of superior virtue
because of their virtue, and to present others with the ballot, simply
because they had been in the state prison,--then the exclusion of women
from political rights would be a high compliment, no doubt. But I can find
no record in history of any such legislation, unless so far as it is
contained in the doubtful tradition of the Tuscan city of Pistoia, where
men are said to have been ennobled as a punishment for crime. Among us
crime may often be a covert means of political prominence, but it is not
the ostensible ground; nor are people habitually struck from the
voting-lists for performing some rare and eminent service, such as saving
human life, or reading every word of a presidential message. If a man has
been President of the United States, we do not disfranchise him
thenceforward; if he has been governor, we do not declare him thenceforth
ineligible to the office of United States senator. On the contrary, the
supposed reward of high merit is to give higher civic privileges. Sometimes
these are even forced on unwilling recipients, as when Plymouth Colony in
1633 imposed a fine of twenty pounds on any one who should refuse the
office of governor.

It is utterly contrary to all tradition and precedent, therefore, to
suppose that women have been hitherto disfranchised because of any supposed
superiority. Indeed, the theory is self-annihilating, and has always
involved all supporters in hopeless inconsistency. Thus