asily? Well, if you can, I can't, and if you have
anything to say on the subject I shall be glad to hear it.

Personally, I think the question practically amounts to this: Which
would you rather be, a man or a woman?

Now, this is a question which my readers will find difficulty in
answering, and even in speaking about, with authority, as each of them
has only had the experiences of one sex.

Before answering it, we must indeed talk it over with some very intimate
and trustworthy friends of the other sex, and compare their sentiments
and sensations with our own. We must recall to our minds all the
observations which we have made on the lives of men and women whom we
have known. Let us not follow the example of the woman who would be a
man 'because men are free,' and the man who would be a woman 'because
women are admired,' for the reason that all men are not free, and women
are far from being all admired.

I have interviewed on the subject many men and many women, and I have
found an enormous majority of women who would elect to be men, and only
a very small minority of men who would elect to be women. Conclusion:
most people would elect to be men.

I am a man, and if I were to be born again and asked to make a choice, I
would elect to be a man; but the reason may be that I possess many
failings of which I am aware, and also a few qualities which the most
imperfect of us must necessarily possess who are not absolute objects of
perdition.

For let us say at once that sex suits character.

I love freedom and hate conventionalities; I am a man of action, and
must always be up and doing. I do not believe that I am in any way
tyrannical, yet I like to lead and have my own way. If the position of
first fiddle is engaged, I decline to form part of the orchestra. Most
of these characteristics are failings, perhaps even faults, but I
possess them, and I cannot help possessing them, and they naturally
induce me to prefer being a man.

I have made my confession, let my readers make theirs instead of taking
me to task. I hate to feel protected, to be petted, but I would love to
protect and pet a beloved one, whom I would think weaker than myself. I
am a born fighter, and I don't care for smooth paths, unless I can make
them smooth myself for my own use and also for the use of those who walk
through life by my side.

But, leaving aside personal characteristics which would lead me to elect
to be a man, there are many reaso