on the grandest scale, are instituted by Woman, and entrusted to her sole care and direction. In the Church, her advancement to unprecedented honors and responsibilities, is signal. Several religious bodies permit her to vote, and a few to preach; and the profound interest and agitation which this subject is now creating in all denominations, leave little doubt that her ordination for the Ministry, in most Protestant churches, is a triumph of the near future.

This

And all these things are but the forerunners of Woman's civil and political equality with man. is the goal. Equal suffrage is the climax, the ultimate object of the whole Movement. When this is attained, the final battle is won, and every barrier to her independence and equal rights is removed. She now rises out of her "subject state," where the ages of masculine rule have held her, and stands erect in the sovereignty of her emancipated and enfranchised Womanhood, the peer of man. She enters the Legislative Halls and Cabinets and Courts of the world, to co-operate with him in making laws, administering governments, building States, and directing the destinies of nations and empires.

new.

That such a change in Woman's condition as this is fraught with momentous consequences, both to herself and the world, no one can doubt who will give the subject reflection. The experiment is entirely It is the introduction of an untried yet powerful element into public affairs, which cannot fail to work the most radical changes. It will either be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. The extension of suffrage to additional millions of men would not necessarily produce any particular change

in existing systems, because it adds no new element; it simply augments the quantity of the masculine energy already in operation. But the admission of the feminine mind to a direct and equal share in making and administering the laws and institutions of society, is an experiment we have never yet seen tried; and anything so new, so radical and revolutionary, it is reasonable to expect, will excite in many minds serious apprehensions of evil. Determined opposition is, therefore, to be expected, and, if it be candid and critical, it is entitled to the utmost consideration and respect; it is even to be desired rather than deprecated. Such an opposition is always the ally of truth and reform.

In saying that Woman's direct influence in public affairs is an untried experiment, I do not lose sight of the fact that women have been queens and nominal rulers at the head of vast empires and kingdoms, exhibiting often the rarest judgment and highest executive ability; but their rule has been exceptional, occurring at irregular intervals, here and there, in a long line of kings. They attempted no change in the ancient regime; neither would any have been tolerated; they simply carried out the dominant masculine spirit of the world; and though their personal influence has generally softened and humanized the administration during their temporary reign, the characteristic elements of the feminine life in the nation had no appreciable representation. Queen Victoria is ostensibly at the head of the English people, but the policy that governs her and the British empire, comes not from her own feminine soul, but from the House of Lords, the House of Commons, the Ministry, and the

male half of the nation. Anything like a fair and perfect experiment of Woman's Suffrage, her equal voice and influence with men in making and administering the constitutions and laws of human society, is without example in the history of the world; and hence, we have no experience, as data from which to draw our conclusions, pro or con, as to the probable effect of making such radical changes in government as is quite certain to follow her enfranchisement. We have, it is true, evidence in abundance of the character of her influence in other departments of life, and this is of immense value in helping us to form right conclusions respecting the effect of her exercising functions which are more exclusively civil and polit ical; and for the rest, we are left to the study of Woman herself. And in doing this, it will be necessary to understand the intrinsic characteristics of her nature; not merely the perversions and superficial manifestations of disposition developed under artificial circumstances, and a subject state, but we must fathom. the deeps of Womanhood, and learn what are the actual qualities and tendencies of the feminine soul as distinguished from the masculine; and from a knowledge of these we may determine what elements and forces she will bring with her into the new relations, and be able to decide, with considerable accuracy, their effect upon public affairs.

In my view of the subject, the outlook is most hopeful. I see nothing to fear, nothing to recoil at in this extraordinary promotion of the feminine sex. On the contrary, I am persuaded that it will not only elevate Woman herself, but it will be the means of improving the condition of society to an extent only

equaled by the greatness of the change produced. If it were of man (or woman), it might come to nought, to evil. But that it is of God, that it is a natural outgrowth of the workings of the great law of human progress, and not a "reform against nature," seems evident from the character and universality of its development. It is no common reform, but a mighty peaceful revolution, which carries the world forward, and marks an epoch in its advancement.

In the following pages I shall endeavor to prove from the indubitable principles of Nature and Revelation that the Woman Movement, taken together in all its branches, will culminate in the development of a new and distinct type of civilization, a system of laws and government worthy to be called the DIVINE REPUBLIC. This I hope to make clear, as step by step we proceed through the pages of the book; and when we shall have reached the Conclusion, I confidently trust. that the reader will be able to see, what has long been evident to the author's mind, that Woman is God's chosen instrument on earth to subdue and regenerate a material age, and usher in the reign of the spirit divine.

CHAPTER II.

SEX OF SOUL.

It is impossible to form a clear and full conception of the nature and importance of the Woman Movement, its underlying principles and ultimate design, without considering the differences of sex:

"For Woman is not undeveloped man,

But diverse could we make her as the man,

Sweet love were slain; whose dearest bond is this

Not like to like, but like in difference."

Before we approach the main subject of inquiry, let us endeavor to ascertain in what these distinctions consist; for upon certain marked dissimilarities of character existing between man and Woman, the whole theory of a new civilization rests.

There are ineradicable differences of sex beyond the merely corporeal; differences that inhere in the very constitution of the soul, and no amount of culture and opportunity will ever obliterate them.

The origin of these differences will be found, I believe, in the dual organization of the universe, which is material and spiritual, and the union of these two principles in humanity. We are the offspring of universal nature, so that both sides of this infinite system are represented in us, each having a special exponent in humanity. In man, the material world finds its personal representative; in Woman, the spiritual. Not that the man is wholly material, and the Woman