st nations, so many and
so different, some would be found where both sexes ruled equally, and
others where the men were ruled by the women, and so educated as to
be inferior to them in talent; but as this has never happened, we are
justified in assuming that women, by nature, have not an equal right
with men, but that they are necessarily obedient to men, and thus it can
never happen that both sexes can equally rule, and still less that men
be ruled by women."

Lewes, in his seventh chapter on Modern Philosophy, thus sums up
Spinoza's teachings and their result. He says:--

"The doctrine of Spinoza was of great importance, if for nothing more
than having brought about the first crisis in modern philosophy. His
doctrine was so clearly stated, and so rigorously deduced from admitted
premises, that he brought philosophy into this dilemma:--

"'Either my premises are correct; and we must admit that every clear
and distinct idea is absolutely true; true not only subjectively, but
objectively.

"'If so, my objection is true;

"'Or my premises are false; the voice of consciousness is not the voice
of truth;

"'And if so, then is my system false, but all philosophy is impossible;
since the only ground of certitude--our consciousness--is pronounced
unstable, our only means of knowing the truth is pronounced
fallacious.'"

"Spinozism or scepticism, choose between them, for you have no other
choice.

"Mankind refused, however, to make a choice. If the principles which
Descartes had established could have no other result than Spinozism, it
was worth while inquiring whether those principles might not themselves
be modified.

"The ground of discussion was shifted, psychology took the place of
ontology. It was Descartes's theory of knowledge which led to Spinozism;
that theory must therefore he examined; that theory becomes the great
subject of discussion. Before deciding upon the merits of any system
which embraced the great questions of creation, the Deity, immortality,
etc., men saw that it was necessary to decide upon the competency of the
human mind to solve such problems. All knowledge must be obtained either
through experience or independent of experience. Knowledge dependent on
experience must necessarily be merely knowledge of _phenomena_. All are
agreed that experience can only be experience of ourselves as modified
by objects. All are agreed that to know things _per se--noumena_--we
must know them through some