the
compass; but unruffled as at the dinner-table, without turning a hair
of her exquisite _chevelure_, she continued gently explaining the
wishes of womankind till she disappeared in a whirlwind of hysteric
masculinity. But in gradually succumbing to the vulgar
misunderstanding, playing up to the caricature, and finally
assimilating to the crude and obsolescent methods of men, the
suffragettes have been throwing away their own peculiar glory, their
characteristic contribution to history and politics. Rosalind in search
of a vote has supplied humanity with a new type who snatched from her
testifyings a grace beyond the reach of Arden. But Rosalind with a
revolver would be merely a reactionary. Hawthorne's Zenobia, who, for
all her emancipation, drowned herself in a fit of amorous jealousy, was
no greater backslider from the true path of woman's advancement. It is
some relief to find that Mrs. Pankhurst's latest program disavows
attacks on human life, limiting itself to destruction of property, and
that the Pethick Lawrences have grown still saner.

There might, indeed, be--for force is not always brute--some excuse
and even admiration for the Terrorist, did the triumph of her cause
appear indefinitely remote, were even that triumph to be brought
perceptibly nearer by forcibly feeding us with horrors. But the
contrary is the case: even the epidemic of crime foreshadowed by Mrs.
Pankhurst could not appreciably delay woman suffrage. It is coming as
fast as human nature and the nature of the Parliamentary machine will
allow. To try to terrorize Mr. Asquith into bringing in a Government
measure is to credit him with a wisdom and a nobility almost divine. No
man is great enough to put himself in the right by admitting he was
wrong. And even if he were great enough to admit it under argument, he
would have to be godlike to admit it under menace. Rather than admit
it, Mr. Asquith has let himself be driven into a position more
ludicrous than perhaps any Prime Minister has occupied. For though he
declares woman suffrage to be "a political disaster of the gravest
kind," he is ready to push it through if the House of Commons wishes,
relying for its rejection upon the House of Lords, which he has
denounced and eviscerated. He is even not unwilling it shall pass if
only the disaster to the country is maximized by Adult Suffrage. It is
not that he loves woman more, but the Tory party less.

All things considered, I am afraid the Su