does not say to the animal, 'I like you; I
will treat you better than your master; will you come with me?' He
steals him, as he would an inanimate thing.

When a man asks a woman to elope with him, he says to her: 'I love you,
I know you love me; leave your husband, who makes you unhappy, and come
with me, who will make you happy.' She reflects, and, through feelings
of despair, of love, of passion, she yields, and answers, 'Yes, I will.'

Now, her resolution may be most reprehensible, her conduct immoral; she
may be a fool, anything you like, but she is not carried off by force.
She acts of her own accord and free will, and is, I imagine, prepared to
meet the consequences of her actions.

I have heard an English magistrate say to a man whose wife was accused
of disorderly conduct: 'You should look after your wife better than you
do, and, in future, I will make you responsible for what she does.
To-day I will impose a fine of ten shillings. If you pay it, I will set
her free.'

Now, this argument would be fairly good if the accused had been a dog. I
should understand a magistrate saying to a man: 'Your dog is a nuisance
and a source of danger to your neighbours; if he causes any more damage,
if I hear again that he has killed your neighbour's cat, eaten his
poultry, or bitten his children, I will hold you responsible, and make
you pay the damages, _plus_ some compensation.' But a wife!--inasmuch
that, mind you, when a woman has committed a murder in England, it is
she who is hanged, not her husband.

I believe that women are quite prepared to accept the responsibility of
their actions. The emancipation of woman should be an accomplished fact
by the declaration that she can do evil as well as good. And I am sure
that if she wants credit for whatever good she does, she is also ready
to accept the consequences of the mischief, to herself or to others,
which she may make.

CHAPTER VI

RAMBLES IN CUPID'S DOMAIN

Love performs daily miracles. It causes people to see with closed eyes,
and to see nothing with open ones.

* * *

Women worship sacrifice to the extent of wishing us to believe (perhaps
they believe it themselves) that, even at the altar of love, they make a
sacrifice. Women in love have an irresistible craving for sacrifice.

* * *

I have heard of women being so much in love as to declare to their
husbands that they would not want a new hat for another month.

* *