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diff --git a/old/11672.txt b/old/11672.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f373a59 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11672.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9634 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Short History of Women's Rights, by Eugene A. Hecker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Short History of Women's Rights + From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. With Special Reference + to England and the United States. Second Edition Revised, With + Additions. + + +Author: Eugene A. Hecker + +Release Date: March 22, 2004 [EBook #11672] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SHORT HISTORY OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Wilelmina Malliere and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + +A Short History of Women's Rights + +From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. With Special Reference to +England and the United States + +By Eugene A. Hecker + +_SECOND EDITION REVISED, WITH ADDITIONS_ + + + + +To + +MY MOTHER + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION + + +In this edition a chapter has been added, bringing down to date the +record of the contest for equal suffrage. The summary on pages 175-235 +is now largely obsolete; but it has been retained as instructive +evidence of the rapid progress made during the last four years. + +E.A.H. + +CAMBRIDGE, MASS. _August, 1914_. + + + + +PREFACE + + +While making some researches in the evolution of women's rights, I was +impressed by the fact that no one had ever, as far as I could discover, +attempted to give a succinct account of the matter for English-speaking +nations. Indeed, I do not believe that any writer in any country has +essayed such a task except Laboulaye; and his _Recherches sur la +Condition Civile et Politique des Femmes_, published in 1843, leaves +much to be desired to one who is interested in the subject to-day. + +I have, therefore, made an effort to fill a lack. This purpose has been +strengthened as I have reflected on the great amount of confused +information which is absorbed by those who have no time to make +investigations for themselves. Accordingly, in order to present an +accurate historical review, I have cited my authorities for all +statements regarding which any question could be raised. This is +particularly so in the chapters which deal with the condition of women +under Roman Law, under the early Christian Church, and under Canon Law. +In all these instances I have gone directly to primary sources, have +investigated them myself, and have admitted no secondhand evidence. In +connection with Women's rights in England and in the United States I +have either consulted the statutes or studied the commentaries of +jurists, like Messrs. Pollock and Maitland, whose authority cannot be +doubted. To such I have given the exact references whenever they have +been used. In preparing the chapter on the progress of women's lights in +the United States I derived great assistance from the very exhaustive +_History of Woman Suffrage_, edited by Miss Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Ida +H. Harper, and others to whose unselfish labours we are for ever +indebted. From their volumes I have drawn freely; but I have not given +each specific reference. + +The tabulation of the laws of the several States which I have given +naturally cannot be entirely adequate, because the laws are being +changed constantly. It is often difficult to procure the latest revised +statutes. However, these laws are recent enough to illustrate the +evolution of women's rights. + +Finally, this volume was written in no hope that all readers would agree +with the author, who is zealous in his cause. His purpose will be gained +if he induces the reader to reflect for himself on the problem in the +light of its historical development. + +E.A.H. + +CAMBRIDGE, MASS., 1910. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I + +WOMEN'S RIGHTS UNDER ROMAN LAW, 27 B.C.-527 A.D. + +Originally women were always under guardianship--But under the Empire +the entire equality of the sexes was recognised--Women in +marriage--Their power over their property--Divorce--Women engaged in all +business pursuits--Instances of women suing and pleading in +law--Partiality of the law towards women--Rights of inheritance--Rights +to higher education fully allowed--Provision made for poor children to +be educated--The Vestals--Female slaves--Remarkable growth of +humanitarianism towards slaves under the Empire--Sources + + +CHAPTER II + +WOMEN AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH + +Christ laid down ethical principles but not minute regulations--The +Apostles affected by Jewish and Oriental or Greek conceptions of +women--Examples of these--St. Paul and St. Peter on the position of +women--The Church Fathers elaborated these teachings--Examples of their +contempt for women--Mingled with admiration for particular types of +women--Their views of marriage--Their strictures on unbecoming +dress--Summary of their views and how the status of women was affected +by them--Sources + + +CHAPTER III + +RIGHTS OF WOMEN AS MODIFIED BY THE CHRISTIAN EMPERORS + +Old Roman Law not abrogated suddenly--Divorce--Adultery--Second +marriages--Engagements--Donations between husband and wife--Sundry +enactments on marriage--Inheritance--Guardianship--Bills of Attainder of +Christian Emperors merciless, in contrast to acts of pagan +predecessors--Sources + + +CHAPTER IV + +WOMEN AMONG THE GERMANIC PEOPLES + +A second world force to modify the status of women--Accounts of Caesar +and Tacitus on position of women among Germanic peoples--The written +laws of the barbarians--Guardianship--Marriage--Power of the +husband--Divorce--Adultery--The Church indulgent to +kings--Remarriage--Property rights--Peculiarities of the criminal +law--Minutely-graded fines--Compurgation and ordeals--Innocence tested +by the woman walking over red-hot ploughshares--Women in +slavery--Comparison of position of women under Roman and under Germanic +laws--Influence of theology--Sources + + +CHAPTER V + +DIGRESSION ON THE LATER HISTORY OF ROMAN LAW + +Explanation of the various social and political forces which affected +the position of women in the Middle Ages + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CANON LAW AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH + +Canon law reaffirms the subjection of women--Women and +marriage--Protection to women--Divorce--Cardinal Gibbons on protection +of injured wives by Popes--Catholic Church has no divorce--But it allows +fourteen reasons for declaring marriage null and void and leaving a +husband or wife free to remarry--Some of these explained--Diriment +impediments and dispensations--Historical instances of the Roman +Church's inconsistency--Attitude towards women at present day--Opinions +of Cardinals Gibbon and Moran, and Rev. David Barry and Rev. William +Humphrey--Sources + + +CHAPTER VII + +WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN ENGLAND + +Single women have always had private rights--But males preferred in +inheritance--Examples--Power of parents--Husband and wife--Wife +completely controlled by husband--He could beat her and own all her +property--Recent abrogation of the husband's power--Divorce--Jeremy +Taylor and others on duty of women to bear husband's sins with +meekness--Injustice of the present law of divorce--Rape and the age of +legal consent--Progress of the rights to an education--Women in the +professions--Woman suffrage--Sources + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES + +Examples of the early opposition to women's rights--Age of +consent--Single women--History of agitation for women's +rights--Convention of 1848--Progress after the Civil War--Beginnings of +higher education--First women in medicine--And in law, the ministry, +journalism, and industry--Status of women in all the States in +1910--Sources + + +CHAPTER IX + +GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS + +The five arguments commonly used against equal suffrage--The +theological--The physiological--The social or political--The +intellectual--The moral--Lecky on the nature of women--The old and the +new conception--Thomas on the power of custom--Taboo--All evolution +accompanied by some extravagance--Macaulay on liberty--The double +standard of morality--Co-operation--The proper sphere for a human +being--Discrepancies of wages--Legal evolution in the interpretation of +labour laws--The alarmist view of divorce + + +CHAPTER X + +FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS + +The rapid spread of suffrage throughout the world--Table of suffrage +gains from early times to present date--In national politics in the +United States--Attack on the suffrage parade and colloquy between Mr. +Hobson and Mr. Mann on the subject--Suffrage amendment defeated in the +Senate--Mr. Heflin's remarks in the House--Mr. Falconer +replies--President Wilson refuses to take a stand--Amendment lost--Mr. +Bryan on suffrage--Examples of legislation to protect women passed +recently--The tendency is to complete equality of the sexes--Suffrage in +England--A delayed reform in divorce--Women's rights on the +Continent--Especially in Germany--Schopenhauer's views of women--Further +remarks on the philosophy of suffrage--"Woman's sphere"--Ultimate +results of women entering all businesses and professions--Feminism--The +home is not necessarily every woman's sphere and neither is motherhood +nor is it her congenital duty to make herself attractive to +men--Unreasonableness of gratuitous advice to women and none to +men--What we don't know--Fallacy of the argument that the fall of the +Roman Empire was due to the liberty given to woman--Official organs of +various suffrage societies + + +INDEX + + + + +A Short History of Women's Rights + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WOMEN'S RIGHTS UNDER ROMAN LAW, FROM AUGUSTUS TO JUSTINIAN--27 B.C. TO +527 A.D. + + +[Sidenote: Guardianship.] + +The age of legal capability for the Roman woman was after the twelfth +year, at which period she was permitted to make a will.[1] However, she +was by no means allowed to do so entirely on her own account, but only +under supervision.[2] This superintendence was vested in the father or, +if he was dead, in a guardian[3]; if the woman was married, the power +belonged to the husband. The consent of such supervision, whether of +father, husband, or guardian, was essential, as Ulpian informs us,[4] +under these circumstances: if the woman entered into any legal action, +obligation, or civil contract; if she wished her freedwoman to cohabit +with another's slave; if she desired to free a slave; if she sold any +things _mancipi_, that is, such as estates on Italian soil, houses, +rights of road or aqueduct, slaves, and beasts of burden. Throughout her +life a woman was supposed to remain absolutely under the power[5] of +father, husband, or guardian, and to do nothing without their consent. +In ancient times, indeed, this authority was so great that the father +and husband could, after calling a family council, put the woman to +death without public trial.[6] The reason that women were so subjected +to guardianship was "on account of their unsteadiness of character,"[7] +"the weakness of the sex," and their "ignorance of legal matters."[8] +Under certain circumstances, however, women became _sui iuris_ or +entirely independent: I. By the birth of three children (a freedwoman by +four)[9]; II. By becoming a Vestal Virgin, of whom there were but +six[10]; III. By a formal emancipation, which took place rarely, and +then often only with a view of transferring the power from one guardian +to another.[11] Even when _sui iuris_ a woman could not acquire power +over any one, not even over her own children[12]; for these an agnate--a +male relative on the father's side--was appointed guardian, and the +mother was obliged to render him and her children an account of any +property which she had managed for them.[13] On the other hand, her +children were bound to support her.[14] + +[Sidenote: Digression on the growth of respect for women] + +So much for the laws on the subject. They seem rigorous enough, and in +early times were doubtless executed with strictness. A marked feature, +however, of the Roman character, a peculiarity which at once strikes the +student of their history as compared with that of the Greeks, was their +great respect for the home and the _materfamilias_. The stories of +Lucretia, Cloelia, Virginia, Cornelia, Arria, and the like, familiar to +every Roman schoolboy, must have raised greatly the esteem in which +women were held. As Rome became a world power, the Romans likewise grew +in breadth of view, in equity, and in tolerance. The political +influence wielded by women[15] was as great during the first three +centuries after Christ as it has ever been at any period of the world's +history; and the powers of a Livia, an Agrippina, a Plotina, did not +fail to show pointedly what a woman could do. In the early days of the +Republic women who touched wine were severely punished and male +relatives were accustomed solemnly to kiss them, if haply they might +discover the odour of drink on their breath.[16] Valerius Maximus tells +us that Egnatius Mecenas, a Roman knight, beat his wife to death for +drinking wine.[17] Cato the Censor (234-149 B.C.) dilated with joy on +the fact that a woman could be condemned to death by her husband for +adultery without a public trial, whereas men were allowed any number of +infidelities without censure.[18] The senator Metellus (131 B.C.) +lamented that Nature had made it necessary to have women.[19] + +The boorish cynicism of a Cato and a Metellus--though it never expressed +the real feelings of the majority of Romans--gave way, however, under +the Empire to a generous expression of the equality of the sexes in the +realms of morality and of intellect. "I know what you may say," writes +Seneca to Marcia,[20] "'You have forgotten that you are consoling a +woman; you cite examples of fortitude on the part of men.' But who said +that Nature had acted scurvily with the characters of women and had +contracted their virtues into a narrow sphere? Equal force, believe me, +is possessed by them; equal capability for what is honorable, if they +so wish." The Emperor Marcus Aurelius gratefully recalls that from his +mother he learned piety and generosity, and to refrain not only from +doing ill, but even from thinking it, and simplicity of life, far +removed from the ostentatious display of wealth.[21] The passionate +attachment of men like Quintilian and Pliny to their wives exhibits an +equality based on love that would do honour to the most Christian +households.[22] All Roman historians speak with great admiration of the +many heroic deeds performed by women and are fond of citing conspicuous +examples of conjugal affection.[23] The masterly and sympathetic +delineation of Dido in the _Aeneid_ shows how deeply a Roman could +appreciate the character of a noble woman. In the numerous provisions +for the public education at the state's expense girls were given the +same opportunities and privileges as boys; there were five thousand boys +and girls educated by Trajan alone.[24] + +[Sidenote: Decay of the power or the guardian.] + +Such are a few examples of the growth of respect for women; and we +should naturally conclude that, as time progressed, the unjust laws of +guardianship would no longer be executed to the letter, even though the +hard statutes were not formally expunged. This was the case during the +first three centuries after Christ, as is patent from many sources. It +is to be borne in mind that because a law is on the books, does not mean +necessarily that it is enforced. A law is no stronger than public +opinion. Of this anomaly there are plenty of instances even to-day--the +Blue Laws of Massachusetts, for example. "That women of mature age +should be under guardianship," writes the great jurist Gaius[25] in the +second century, "seems to have no valid reason as foundation. For what +is commonly believed, to the effect that on account of unsteadiness of +character they are generally hoodwinked, and that, therefore, it is +right for them to be governed by the authority of a guardian, seems +rather specious than true. As a matter of fact, women of mature age do +manage their own affairs, and in certain cases the guardian interposes +his authority as a mere formality; frequently, indeed, he is forced by +the supreme judge to lend his authority against his will." Ulpian, too, +hints at the really slight power of the guardian in his day, that is, +the first three decades of the third century. "In the case of male and +female wards under age, the guardians both manage their affairs and +interpose their authority; but in the case of mature women they merely +interpose their authority."[26] The woman had, in practice, become free +to manage her property as she wished; the function of the legal guardian +was simply to see to it that no one should attempt a fraud against her. +Adequately to observe the decay of the vassalage of women, we must +investigate the story of their rights in all its forms; and the position +of women in marriage will next occupy our attention. + +[Sidenote: Women and marriage.] + +As in all Southern countries where women mature early, the Roman girl +usually married young; twelve years were required by custom for her to +reach the marriageable age.[27] In the earlier period a woman was +acquired as wife in three different ways: I. By _coemptio_--a mock sale +to her husband[28]; II. By _confarreatio_--a solemn marriage with +peculiar sacred rites to qualify men and women and their children for +certain priesthoods[29]; III. By _usus_, or acquisition by prescription. +A woman became a man's legal wife by _usus_ if he had lived with her one +full year and if, during that time, she had not been absent from him for +more than three successive nights.[30] + +All these forms, however, had either been abolished by law or had fallen +into desuetude during the second century of our era, as is evident from +Gaius.[31] A man could marry even if not present personally; a woman +could not.[32] The woman's parents or guardians were accustomed to +arrange a match for her,[33] as they still do in many parts of Europe. +Yet the power of the father to coerce his daughter was limited. Her +consent was important. "A marriage cannot exist," remarks Paulus, +"unless all parties consent."[34] Julianus writes also that the daughter +must give her permission[35]; yet the statement of Ulpian which +immediately follows in the Digest shows that she had not complete free +will in the matter: "It is understood that she who does not oppose the +wishes of her father gives consent. But a daughter is allowed to object +only in case her father chooses for her a man of unworthy or disgraceful +character."[36] The son had an advantage here, because he could never be +forced into a marriage against his will.[37] The consent of the father +was always necessary for a valid marriage.[38] He could not by will +compel his daughter to marry a certain person.[39] After she was +married, he still retained power over her, unless she became independent +by the birth of three children; but this was largely to protect her and +represent her in court against her husband if necessity should +arise.[40] A father was not permitted to break up a harmonious[41] +marriage; he could not get back his daughter's dowry without her +consent,[42] nor force her to return to her husband after a divorce[43]; +and he was punished with loss of citizenship if he made a match for a +widowed daughter before the legal time of mourning for her husband had +expired.[44] A daughter passed completely out of the power of her father +only if she became _sui iuris_ by the birth of three children or if she +became a Vestal, or again if she married a special priest of Jupiter +(_Flamen Dialis_), in which case, however, she passed completely into +the power of her husband. Under all circumstances a daughter must not +only show respect for her father, but also furnish him with the +necessaries of life if he needed them.[45] + +[Sidenote: "Breach of Promise."] + +Under the Empire no such thing as a "breach of promise" suit was +permitted, although in the days of the Republic the party who broke a +promise to marry had been liable to a suit for damages.[46] But this had +now disappeared, and either party could break off the betrothal at +pleasure without prejudice.[47] Whatever gifts had been given might be +demanded back.[48] The engagement had to be formally broken off before +either party could enter into marriage or betrothal with another; +otherwise he or she lost civil status.[49] While an engagement lasted, +the man could bring an action for damages against any one who insulted +or injured his fiancee.[50] + +[Sidenote: Husband and Wife.] + +The Roman marriage was a purely civil contract based on consent.[51] The +definition given by the law was a noble one. "Marriage is the union of a +man and a woman and a partnership of all life; a mutual sharing of laws +human and divine."[52] The power of the husband over the wife was called +_manus_; and the wife stood in the same position as a daughter.[53] No +husband was allowed to have a concubine.[54] He was bound to support his +wife adequately, look out for her interests,[55] and strictly to avenge +any insult or injury offered her[56]; any abusive treatment of the wife +by the husband was punished by an action for damages[57]. A wife was +compelled by law to go into solemn mourning for a space of ten months +upon the death of a husband[58]. During the period of mourning she was +to abstain from social banquets, jewels, and crimson and white +garments[59]. If she did not do so, she lost civil status. The emperor +Gordian, in the year 238, remitted these laws so far as solemn clothing +and other external signs of mourning above enumerated were +concerned.[60] But a husband was not compelled to do any legal mourning +for the death of his wife.[61] + +The wife was, as I have said, in the power of her husband. Originally, +no doubt, this power was absolute; the husband could even put his wife +to death without a public trial. But the world was progressing, and that +during the first three centuries after Christ the power of the husband +was reduced in practice to absolute nullity I shall make clear in the +following pages. I shall, accordingly, first investigate the rights of +the wife over her dowry, that is, the right of managing her own +property. + +Even from earliest times it is clear that the wife had complete control +of her dowry. The henpecked husband who is afraid of offending his +wealthy wife is a not uncommon figure in the comedies of Plautus and +Terence; and Cato the Censor growled in his usual amiable manner at the +fact that wives even in his day controlled completely their own +property.[62] The attitude of the Roman law on the subject is clearly +expressed. "It is for the good of the state that women have their +dowries inviolate."[63] "The dowry is always and everywhere a chief +concern; for it is for the public good that dowries be retained for +women, since it is highly necessary that they be dowered in order to +bring forth offspring and replenish the state with children."[64] "It is +just that the income of the dowry belong to the husband; for inasmuch as +it is he who stands the burdens of the married state, it is fair that he +also acquire the interest."[65] "Nevertheless, the dowry belongs to the +woman, even though it is in the goods of the husband."[66] "A husband is +not permitted to alienate his wife's estate against her will."[67] A +wife could use her dowry during marriage to support herself, if +necessary, or her kindred, to buy a suitable estate, to help an exiled +parent, or to assist a needy husband, brother, or sister. The numerous +accounts in various authors of the first three centuries after Christ +confirm the statement that the woman's power over her dowry was +absolute.[68] Then as now, a man might put his property in his wife's +name to escape his creditors,[69]--a useless proceeding, if she had not +had complete control of her own property. + +When the woman died, her dowry, if it had been given by the father (_dos +profecticia_) returned to the latter; but if any one else had given it +(_dos adventicia_), the dowry remained with the husband, unless the +donor had expressly stipulated that it was to be returned to himself at +the woman's death (_dos recepticia_),[70] In the case of a dowry of the +first kind, the husband might retain what he had expended for his +wife's funeral.[71] The dowry was confiscated to the state if the woman +was convicted of lese majeste, violence against the state, or +murder.[72] If she suffered punishment involving loss of civil status +under any other law which did not assess the penalty of confiscation, +the husband acquired the dowry just as if she were dead. Banishment +operated as no impediment; if the woman wished to leave her husband +under these circumstances, her father could recover the dowry.[73] + +A further confirmation of the power of the wife over her property is the +law that prohibited gifts between husband and wife; obviously, a woman +could not be said to have the power of making a gift if she had no right +of property of her own. The object of the law mentioned was to prevent +the husband and wife from receiving any lasting damage to his or her +property by giving of it under the impulse of conjugal affection.[74] +This statute acted powerfully to prevent a husband from wheedling a wife +out of her goods; and in case the latter happened to be of a grasping +disposition the law was a protection to the husband and hence to the +children, his heirs, for whose interests the Roman law constantly +provided. + +Gifts between husband and wife were nevertheless valid under certain +conditions. It was permissible to make a present of clothing and to +bestow various tokens of affection, such as ornaments. The husband could +present his wife with enough money to rebuild a house of hers which had +burned.[75] The Emperor Marcus Aurelius permitted a wife to give her +husband the sum necessary to obtain public office or to become a senator +or knight or to give public games.[76] A gift was also legal if made by +the husband in apprehension that death might soon overtake him; if, for +instance, he was very sick or was setting out to war, or to exile, or on +a dangerous journey.[77] The point in all gifts was, that neither party +should become richer by the donation.[78] + +Some further considerations of the relation of husband and wife will aid +in setting forth the high opinion which Roman law entertained of +marriage and its constant effort to protect the wife as much as +possible. A wife could not be held in a criminal action if she committed +theft against her husband. The various statements of the jurists make +the matter clear. Thus Paulus[79]: "A special action for the recovery of +property removed [_rerum amotarum iudicium_] has been introduced +against her who was a wife, because it has been decided that it is not +possible to bring a criminal action for theft against her [_quid non +placuit cum ea furti agere posse_]. Some--as Nerva Cassius--think she +cannot even commit theft, on the ground that the partnership in life +made her mistress, as it were. Others--like Sabinus and Proculus--hold +that the wife can commit theft, just as a daughter may against her +father, but that there can be no criminal action by established law." +"As a mark of respect to the married state, an action involving disgrace +for the wife is refused."[80] "Therefore she will be held for theft if +she touches the same things after being divorced. So, too, if her slave +commits theft, we can sue her on the charge. But it is possible to bring +an action for theft even against a wife, if she has stolen from him +whose heirs we are or before she married us; nevertheless, as a mark of +respect we say that in each case a formal claim for restitution alone is +admissible, but not an action for theft."[81] "If any one lends help or +advice to a wife who is filching the property of her husband, he shall +be held for theft. If he commits theft with her, he shall be held for +theft, although the woman herself is not held."[82] + +A husband who did not avenge the murder of his wife lost all claims to +her dowry, which was then confiscated to the state; this by order of the +Emperor Severus.[83] + +The laws on adultery are rather more lenient to the woman than to the +man. In the first place, the Roman law insisted that it was unfair for a +husband to demand chastity on the part of his wife if he himself was +guilty of infidelity or did not set her an example of good +conduct,[84]--a maxim which present day lawyers may reflect upon with +profit. A father was permitted to put to death his daughter and her +paramour if she was still in his power and if he caught her in the act +at his own house or that of his son-in-law; otherwise he could not.[85] +He must, however, put both man and woman to death at once, when caught +in the act; to reserve punishment to a later date was unlawful. The +husband was not permitted to kill his wife; he might kill her paramour +if the latter was a man of low estate, such as an actor, slave, or +freedman, or had been convicted on some criminal charge involving loss +of citizenship.[86] The reason that the father was given the power which +was denied the husband was that the latter's resentment would be more +likely to blind his power of judging dispassionately the merits of the +case.[87] If now the husband forgot himself and slew his wife, he was +banished for life if of noble birth, and condemned to perpetual hard +labour if of more humble rank.[88] He must at once divorce a wife guilty +of adultery; otherwise he was punished as a pander, and that meant loss +of citizenship.[89] Women convicted of adultery were, when not put to +death, punished by the loss of half their dowry, a third part of their +other goods, and relegation to an island; guilty men suffered the loss +of half of their possessions and similar relegation to an island; but +the guilty parties were never confined in the same place.[90] We have +mention also in several writers of some curious and vicious punishments +that might be inflicted on men guilty of adultery.[91] + +Now, all this seems rigorous enough; but, as I have already remarked, we +must beware of imagining that a statute is enforced simply because it +stands in the code. As a matter of fact, public sentiment had grown so +humane in the first three centuries after Christ that it did not for a +moment tolerate that a father should kill his daughter, no matter how +guilty she was; and in all our records of that period no instance +occurs. As to husbands, we have repeated complaints in the literature of +the day that they had grown so complaisant towards erring wives that +they could not be induced to prosecute them.[92] A typical instance is +related by Pliny.[93] Pliny was summoned by the Emperor Trajan to attend +a council where, among other cases, that of a certain Gallitta was +discussed. She had married a military tribune and had committed adultery +with a common captain (_centurio_). Trajan sent the captain into exile. +The husband took no measures against his wife, but went on living with +her. Only by coercion was he finally induced to prosecute. Pliny informs +us that the guilty woman had to be condemned, even against the will of +her accuser. + +A woman guilty of incest received no punishment, but the guilty man was +deported to an island.[94] If the incest involved adultery, the woman +was of course held on that charge. + +[Sidenote: Divorce] + +We come now to a matter where the growing freedom of women reached its +highest point--the matter of divorce. Here again we have to note the +progress of toleration and humanitarianism. In the early days of the +Republic the family tie was rarely severed. Valerius Maximus tells +us[95] of a quaint custom of the olden days, to the effect that +"whenever any quarrel arose between husband and wife, they would proceed +to the chapel of the goddess Viriplaca ["Reconciler of Husbands"], which +is on the Palatine, and there they would mutually express their +feelings; then, laying aside their anger, they returned home +reconciled." During these days a woman could never herself take the +initiative in divorce; the husband was all-powerful. The first divorce +of which we have any record took place in the year 231 B.C., when +Spurius Carvilius Ruga put away his wife for sterility. Public opinion +censured him severely for it "because people thought that not even the +desire for children ought to have been preferred to conjugal fidelity +and affection."[96] As the Empire extended and Rome became more worldly +and corrupt, the reasons for divorce became more trivial. Sempronius +Sophus divorced his wife because she had attended some public games +without his knowledge.[97] Cicero, who was a lofty moralist--on +paper,--put away his wife Terentia in order to marry a rich young ward +and get her money if he could. Maecenas, the great prime-minister of +Augustus, sent away and took back his wife repeatedly at +caprice--perhaps he believed that variety is the spice of life. But +during all this time the husband alone could annul marriage.[98] + +Gradually, however, the status of women changed and they were given +greater and greater liberty. Inasmuch as Roman marriage was a civil +contract based on consent, strict justice had to allow that on this +basis either party to the contract might annul the marriage at his or +her pleasure. The result was that during the first three centuries after +Christ the wife had absolute freedom to take the initiative and send her +husband a divorce whenever and for whatever reason she wished. The +proof of this fact is positively established not only from the +statements of the jurists, but also from numberless accounts in the +other writers of the day.[99] Divorce became, at least among the higher +strata of society, extraordinarily frequent. That a lady of the Upper +Four Hundred should have been content with only one husband was deemed +worthy of special mention on her tomb; the word _univira_ (a woman of +one husband) may still be read on certain inscriptions. The satirists +are fond of dwelling on the license allowed to women in the case of +divorce. Martial, for instance,[100] says that one Theselina married ten +husbands in one month. Still, allowing for the natural exaggeration of +satirists, we are yet reasonably sure that divorce had reached great +heights in the upper classes. Whether it was as bad among the middle +classes is very improbable. There was one kind of marriage which, +originally at least, did not admit of dissolution.[101] This was the +solemn marriage by _confarreatio_, already described, which qualified +the husband and wife for the special priesthood of Jupiter. Women soon +grew to value their freedom too highly to enter it; as early as 23 A.D. +the Senate had to relax some of the rigour of the old laws on the matter +as a special inducement for women to consent to enter this union.[102] + +We may now observe what became of the wife's property after divorce and +what her rights were under such circumstances. If it was the husband who +had taken the initiative and had sent his wife a divorce, and if the +divorce was not the fault of the woman, she at once had an action in law +for complete recovery of her dowry; on her own responsibility if she was +_sui iuris_, otherwise with the help of her father.[103] But even the +woman still under guardianship could act by herself if her father was +too sick or infirm or if she had no other agent to act for her.[104] For +the offence of adultery a husband had to pay back the dowry at once; for +lesser guilt he might return it in instalments at intervals of six +months.[105] If, now, the divorce was clearly the fault of the woman, +her husband could retain certain parts of the dowry in these +proportions: for adultery, a sixth part for each of the children up to +one half of the whole; for lighter offences, an eighth part; if the +husband had gone to expense or had incurred civil obligations for his +wife's benefit or if she had removed any of his property, he could +recover the amount.[106] + +A year and six months must elapse after a divorce before the woman was +allowed to marry again.[107] If at the time of the divorce she was +pregnant, her husband was obliged to support her offspring, provided +that within thirty days after the separation she informed him of her +condition.[108] She could sue her former husband for damages if he +insulted her.[109] Whether the children should stay with the mother or +father was left to the discretion of the judge.[110] + +[Sidenote: Property rights of widows and single women.] + +The married woman had, as I have shown, complete disposal of her own +property. Let us see next what rights those women had over their +possessions who were widows or spinsters. + +Roman Law constantly strove to protect the children and laid it down as +a maxim that the property of their parents belonged to them.[111] A +widow could not therefore, except by special permission from the +emperor,[112] be the legal guardian of her children, but must ask the +court to appoint one upon the death of her husband.[113] This was to +prevent possible mismanagement and because "to undertake the legal +defence of others is the office of men."[114] But she was permitted to +assume complete charge of her children's property during their minority +and enjoy the usufruct; only she must render an account of the goods +when the children arrived at maturity.[115] We have many instances of +women who managed their children's patrimony and did it exceedingly +well. "You managed our patrimony in such wise," writes Seneca to his +mother,[116] "that you exerted yourself as if it were yours and yet +abstained from it as if it belonged to others."[117] Agricola, +father-in-law of Tacitus, had such confidence in his wife's business +ability that he made her co-heir with his daughter and the Emperor +Domitian.[118] A mother could get an injunction to restrain extravagance +on the part of her children.[119] Women could not adopt.[120] + +Married women, spinsters, and widows had as much freedom as men in +disposing of property by will. If there were children, the Roman law put +certain limitations on the testator's powers, whether man or woman. By +the Falcidian Law no one was allowed to divert more than three fourths +of his estate from his (or her) natural heirs.[121] But for any adequate +cause a woman could disinherit her children completely; and there are +many instances of this extant both in the Law Books and in the +literature of the day.[122] + +Single women had grown absolutely unshackled and even their guardians +had become a mere formality, as the words of Gaius, already quoted (page +8) prove. That they had complete disposal of their property is proved +furthermore by the numerous complaints in Roman authors about the +sycophants who flattered and toadied the wealthy ladies with an eye to +being remembered in their wills.[123] For it is evident that if these +women had not had the power freely to dispose of their own property, +there would have been no point in paying them such assiduous court. The +legal age of maturity was now twenty-five for both male and female. + +[Sidenote: Women engaged in business pursuits.] + +Women engaged freely in all business pursuits. We find them in all kinds +of retail trade and commerce,[124] as members of guilds,[125] in +medicin[126] innkeeping,[127] in vaudevil[128]; there were even +female barbers[129] and charioteer[130]. Examples of women who toiled +for a living with their own hands are indeed very old, as the widow, +described by Homer, who worked for a scanty wage to support her +fatherless children, or the wreathmaker, mentioned by Aristophanes.[131] +But such was the case only with women of the lower classes; the lady of +high birth acted through her agents.[132] + +[Sidenote: The right of women to sue.] + +When so many women were engaged in business, occasions for lawsuits +would naturally arise; we shall see next what power the woman had to +sue. It was a standing maxim of the law that a woman by herself could +not conduct a case in court.[133] She had to act through her agent, if +she was independent, otherwise through her guardian. The supreme judge +at Rome and the governor in a province assigned an attorney to those who +had no agent or guardian.[134] But in this case again custom and the law +were at variance. Various considerations will make it clear that women +who sued had, in practice, complete disposal of the matter. I.--A woman +who was still under the power of her father must, according to law, sue +with him as her agent or appoint an agent to act with him. Nevertheless, +a father could do nothing without the consent of his daughter.[135] +Obviously, then, so far as the power of the father was concerned, a +woman had practically the management of her suit. II.--The husband had +no power. If he tried to browbeat her as to what to do, she could send +him a divorce, a privilege which she had at her beck and call, as we +have seen; and then she could force him to give her any guardian she +wanted.[136] III.--That the authority of other guardians was in practice +a mere formality, I have already proved (pp. 7 and 8). + +From these considerations it is clear that the woman's wishes were +supreme in the conduct of any suit. Moreover, the law expressly states +that women may appoint whatever attorneys or agents they desire, without +asking the consent of their legal guardians[137]; and thus they were at +liberty to select a man who would manage things as they might direct. +There were cases where even the strict letter of the law permitted women +to lay an action on their own responsibility alone: if, when a suit for +recovery of dowry was brought, the father was absent or hindered by +infirmities[138]; if the woman sued or was sued to get or render an +account of property managed in trust[139]; to avenge the death of a +parent or children, or of patron or patroness and their children[140]; +to lay bare any matter pertaining to the public grain supply[141]; and +to disclose cases of treason.[142] + +[Sidenote: Instances of women pleading in public and suing.] + +We read of many cases of women pleading publicly and bringing suit. +Indeed, according to Juvenal--who is, however, a pessimist by +profession--the ladies found legal proceedings so interesting that +bringing suit became a passion with them as strong as it had once been +among the Athenians. Thus Juvenal[143]: "There is almost no case in +which a woman wouldn't bring suit. Manilia prosecutes, when she isn't a +defendant. They draw up briefs quite by themselves, and are ready to +cite principles and authorities to Celsus [a celebrated lawyer of that +time]." Of pleading in public one of the celebrated instances was that +of Hortensia, daughter of the great orator Quintus Hortensius, Cicero's +rival. On an occasion when matrons had been burdened with heavy taxes +and none of their husbands would fight the measure, Hortensia pleaded +the case publicly with great success. All writers speak of her action +and the eloquence of her speech with great admiration.[144] We hear also +of a certain Gaia Afrania, wife of a Senator; she always conducted her +case herself before the supreme judge, "not because there was any lack +of lawyers," adds her respectable and scandalised historian,[145] "but +because she had more than enough of impudence." + +Quintilian mentions several cases of women being sued[146]; Pliny tells +how he acted as attorney for some[147]; and the Law Books will supply +any one curious in the matter with abundant examples.[148] A quotation +from Pliny[149] will give an idea of the kind of suit a woman might +bring, and the great interest aroused thereby: "Attia Viriola, a woman +of illustrious birth and married to a former supreme judge, was +disinherited by her eighty-year-old father within eleven days after he +had brought Attia a stepmother. Attia was trying to regain her share of +her father's estate. One hundred and eighty jurors sat in judgment. The +tribunal was crowded, and from the higher part of the court both men and +women strained over the railings in their eagerness to hear (which was +difficult), and to see (which was easy)." + +[Sidenote: Partiality of the law to women.] + +There were many legal qualifications designed to help women evade the +strict letter of the law when this, if enforced absolutely, would work +injustice. Ignorance of the law, if there was no criminal offence +involving good morals, was particularly accepted in the case of women +"on account of the weakness of the sex."[150] A typical instance of the +growth of the desire to help women, protect them as much as possible, +and stretch the laws in their favour, may be taken from the senatorial +decree known as the Senatus Consultum Velleianum.[151] This was an order +forbidding females to become sureties or defendants for any one in a +contract. But at the end of the first century of our era the Senate +voted that the law be emended to help women and to give them special +privileges in every class of contract. "We must praise the +farsightedness of that illustrious order," comments the great jurist +Ulpian,[152] "because it brought aid to women on account of the weakness +of the sex, exposed, as it is, to many mishaps of this sort." + +[Sidenote: Rights of women to inherit.] + +The rights of women to inherit under Roman law deserve some mention. +Here again we may note a steady growth of justice. Some general examples +will make this clearer, before I treat of the specific powers of +inheritance. I.--In the year 169 B.C. the Tribune Quintus Voconius Saxa +had a law passed which restricted greatly the rights of women to +inherit.[153] According to Dio[154] no woman was, by this statute, +permitted to receive more than 25,000 sesterces--1250 dollars. In the +second century after Christ, this law had fallen into complete +desuetude.[155] II.--By the Falcidian Law, passed in the latter part of +the first century B.C., no citizen was allowed to divert more than three +fourths of his estate from his natural heirs.[156] The Romans felt +strongly against any man who disinherited his children without very good +reason; the will of such a parent was called _inofficiosum_, "made +without a proper feeling of duty," and the disinherited children had an +action at law to recover their proper share.[157] A daughter was +considered a natural heir no less than a son and had equal privileges in +succession[158]; and so women were bound to receive some inheritance at +least. III.--It is a sad commentary on Christian rulers that for many +ages they allowed the crimes of the father to be visited upon his +children and by their bills of attainder confiscated to the state the +goods of condemned offenders. Now, the Roman law stated positively that +"the crime or punishment of a father can inflict no stigma on his +child."[159] So far as the goods of the father were concerned, the +property of three kinds of criminals escheated to the crown: (1) those +who committed suicide while under indictment for some crime,[160] (2) +forgers,[161] (3) those guilty of high treason[162]. Yet it seems +reasonable to doubt whether these laws were very often carried out +strictly to the letter. For example, the law did indeed hold that the +estate of a party guilty of treason was confiscated to the state[163]; +but even here it was expressly ordained that the goods of the condemned +man's freedmen be reserved for his children.[164] Moreover, in actual +practice we can find few instances where the law was executed in its +literal severity even under the worst tyrants. It was Julius Caesar who +first set the splendid example of allowing to the children of his dead +foes full enjoyment of their patrimonies.[165] Succeeding emperors +followed the precedent.[166] Tyrants like Tiberius and Nero, strangely +enough, in a majority of cases overruled the Senate when it proposed to +confiscate the goods of those condemned for treason, and allowed the +children a large part or all of the paternal estate.[167] Hadrian gave +the children of proscribed offenders the twelfth part of their father's +goods.[168] Antoninus Pius gave them all.[169] There was a strong public +feeling against bills of attainder and this sentiment is voiced by all +writers of the Empire. The law forbade wives to suffer any loss for any +fault of their husbands.[170] + +Since we have now noticed that women could inherit any amount, that they +were bound to receive something under their fathers' wills, and that the +guilt of their kin could inflict no prejudice upon them in the way of +bills of attainder involving physical injury or civil status and, in +practice, little loss so far as inheriting property was concerned, we +may pass to a contemplation of the specific legal rights of inheritance +of women. + +If women were to be disinherited, it was sufficient to mention them in +an aggregate; but males must be mentioned specifically.[171] If, +however, they were disinherited in an aggregate (_inter ceteros_), some +legacy had to be left them that they might not seem to have been passed +over through forgetfulness.[172] I shall not concern myself particularly +with testate succession, because here obviously the will of the testator +could dispose as he wished, except in so far as he was limited by the +Falcidian Law. The matter of intestate succession may well claim our +attention; for therein we shall see what powers of inheritance were +given the female sex. The general principles are explained by Gaius +(iii, 1-38); and these principles followed, in the main, the law as laid +down in the Twelve Tables (451 B.C.). According to these, the estates of +those who died intestate belonged first of all to the children who were +in the power of the deceased at the time of his death; there was no +distinction of sex; the daughters were entitled to precisely the same +amount as the sons.[173] If the children of the testator had died, the +grandson or granddaughter _through the son_ succeeded; or the +great-grandson or great-granddaughter through the _grandson_. If a son +a daughter were alive, as well as grandsons and granddaughters through +the _son_, they were all equally called to the estate. The estate was +not divided per capita, but among families as a whole; for example, if +of two sons one only was alive, but the other had left children, the +testator's surviving son received one half of the patrimony and his +grandchildren through his other son the other half, to be divided among +them severally. If, then, there were six grandchildren, each received +one twelfth of the estate. + +Here the powers of women to inherit stopped. Beyond the tie of +_consanguinitas_, that is, that of daughter to father, or granddaughter +through a _son_, the female line must at once turn aside, and had no +powers; the estate descended to the _agnati_, that is, male relatives on +the father's side. Hence a mother was shut out by a brother of the +deceased or by that brother's children. If there were no _agnati_, the +goods were given to the _gentiles_, male relatives of the clan bearing +the same name. In fact, under this regime we may say that of the female +line the daughter alone was sure of inheriting something. + +In the days of the Empire some attempts were made to be more just. It +was enacted[174] that all the children should be called to the estate, +whether they had been under the power of the testator at the time of his +death or not; and female relatives were now allowed to come in for +their share "in the third degree," that is, if there was neither a child +or an agnate surviving. This was not much of an improvement; and the +principle of agnate succession is the only point in which Roman law +failed to give to women those equal rights which it allowed them in +other cases. + +[Sidenote: Protection of property of children.] + +There is no point on which Roman law laid more stress than that the +children, both male and female, were to be constantly protected and must +receive their legal share of their father's or mother's goods. After a +husband's divorce or death his wife could, indeed, enjoy possession of +the property and the usufruct; but the principal had to be conserved +intact for the children until they arrived at maturity. In the same way +a father was obliged to keep untouched for the children whatever had +been left them by the mother on her decease[175]; and he must also leave +them that part, at least, of his own property prescribed by the +Falcidian Law. A case--and it was common enough in real life--such as +that described by Dickens in _David Copperfield_, where, by the English +law, a second husband acquired absolute right over his wife's property +and shut out her son, would have been impossible under Roman law. +Neither husband nor wife could succeed to one another's intestate estate +absolutely unless there were no children, parents, or other relatives +living.[176] + +[Sidenote: Punishment of crimes against women.] + +Rape of a woman was punished by death; accessories to the crime merited +the same penalty.[177] Indecent exposure before a virgin met with +punishment out of course.[178] Kidnapping was penalised by hard labour +in the mines or by crucifixion in the case of those of humble birth, and +by confiscation of half the goods and by perpetual exile in the case of +a noble.[179] Temporary exile was visited upon those guilty of abortion +themselves[180]; if it was caused through the agency of another, the +agent, even though he or she did so without evil intent, was punished by +hard labour in the mines, if of humble birth, and by relegation to an +island and confiscation of part of their goods, if of noble rank.[181] +If the victim died, the person who caused the abortion was put to +death.[182] + +[Sidenote: Rights of women to an education.] + +The rights of women to an education were not questioned. That Sulpicia +could publish amatory poems in honour of her husband and receive +eulogies from writers like Martial[183] shows that she and ladies like +her occupied somewhat the same position as Olympia Morata and Tarquinia +Molza later in Italy during the Renaissance, or like some of the +celebrated Frenchwomen, such as Madame de Stael. Seneca addresses a +_Dialogue on Consolation_ to one Marcia; such an idea would have made +the hair of any Athenian gentleman in the time of Socrates stand on end. +Aspasia was obliged to be a courtesan in order to become educated and to +frequent cultivated society[184]; Sulpicia was a noble matron in good +standing. The world had not stood still since Socrates had requested +some one to take Xanthippe home, lest he be burdened by her sympathy in +his last moments. Pains were taken that the Roman girl of wealth should +have special tutors.[185] "Pompeius Saturninus recently read me some +letters," writes Pliny[186] to one of his correspondents, "which he +insisted had been written by his wife. I believed that Plautus or +Terence was being read in prose. Whether they are really his wife's, as +he maintains; or his own, which he denies; he deserves equal honour, +either because he composes them, or because he has made his wife, whom +he married when a mere girl, so learned and polished." The enthusiasm of +the ladies for literature is attested by Persius.[187] + +According to Juvenal, who, as an orthodox satirist, was not fond of the +weaker sex, women sometimes became over-educated. He growls as +follows[188]: "That woman is a worse nuisance than usual who, as soon as +she goes to bed, praises Vergil; makes excuses for doomed Dido; pits +bards against one another and compares them; and weighs Homer and Maro +in the balance. Teachers of literature give way, professors are +vanquished, the whole mob is hushed, and no lawyer or auctioneer will +speak, nor any other woman." The prospect of a learned wife filled the +orthodox Roman with peculiar horror.[189] No Roman woman ever became a +public professor as did Hypatia or, ages later, Bitisia Gozzadina, who, +in the thirteenth century, became doctor of canon and civil law at the +University of Bologna. + +I have been speaking of women of the wealthier classes; but the poor +were not neglected. As far back as the time of the Twelve Tables--450 +B.C.--parents of moderate means were accustomed to club together and +hire a schoolroom and a teacher who would instruct the children, girls +no less than boys, in at least the proverbial three R's. Virginia was on +her way to such a school when she encountered the passionate gaze of +Appius Claudius. Such grammar schools, which boys and girls attended +together, flourished under the Empire as they had under the +Republic.[190] They were not connected with the state, being supported +by the contributions of individual parents. To the end we cannot say +that there was a definite scheme of public education for girls at the +state's expense as there was for boys.[191] Still, the emperors did +something. Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and +Alexander Severus, for example, regularly supplied girls and boys with +education at public expense[192]; under Trajan there were 5000 children +so honoured. Public-spirited citizens were also accustomed to contribute +liberally to the same cause; Pliny on one occasion[193] gave the +equivalent of $25,000 for the support and instruction of indigent boys +and girls. + +[Sidenote: The Vestals.] + +It may not be out of place to speak briefly of the Vestal Virgins, the +six priestesses of Vesta, who are the only instances in pagan antiquity +of anything like the nuns of the Christians. The Vestals took a vow of +perpetual chastity.[194] They passed completely out of the power of +their parents and became entirely independent. They could not receive +the inheritance of any person who died intestate, and no one could +become heir to a Vestal who died intestate. They were allowed to be +witnesses in court in public trials, a privilege denied other women. +Peculiar honour was accorded them and they were regularly appointed the +custodians of the wills of the emperors.[195] + +[Sidenote: Female slaves.] + +The position of women in slavery merits some attention, in view of the +huge multitudes that were held in bondage. Roman law acknowledged no +legal rights on the part of slaves[196]. The master had absolute power +of life and death.[197] They were exposed to every whim of master or +mistress without redress.[198] If some one other than their owner harmed +them they might obtain satisfaction through their master and for his +benefit; but the penalty for the aggressor was only pecuniary.[199] A +slave's evidence was never admitted except under torture.[200] If a +master was killed, every slave of his household and even his freedmen +and freedwomen were put to torture, although the culprit may already +have been discovered, in order to ascertain the instigator of the plot +and his remotest accessories.[201] + +The earlier history of Rome leaves no doubt that before the Republic +fell these laws were carried out with inhuman severity. With the +growth of Rome into a world power and the consequent rise of +humanitarianism[202] a strong public feeling against gratuitous cruelty +towards slaves sprang up. This may be illustrated by an event which +happened in the reign of Nero, in the year 58, when a riot ensued out of +sympathy for some slaves who had been condemned _en masse_ after their +master had been assassinated by one of them.[203] Measures were +gradually introduced for alleviating the hardships and cruelties of +slavery. Claudius (41-54 A.D.) ordained[204] that since sick and infirm +slaves were being exposed on an island in the Tiber sacred to +Aesculapius, because their masters did not wish to bother about +attending them, all those who were so exposed were to be set free if +they recovered and never to be returned into the power of their masters; +and if any owner preferred to put a slave to death rather than expose +him, he was to be held for murder. Gentlemen began to speak with +contempt of a master or mistress who maltreated slaves.[205] Hadrian +(117-138 A.D.) modified the old laws to a remarkable degree: he forbade +slaves to be put to death by their masters and commanded them to be +tried by regularly appointed judges; he brought it about that a slave, +whether male or female, was not to be sold to a slave-dealer or trainer +for public shows without due cause; he did away with _ergastula_ or +workhouses, in which slaves guilty of offences were forced to work off +their penalties in chains and were confined to filthy dungeons; and he +modified the law previously existing to the extent that if a master was +killed in his own house, the inquisition by torture could not be +extended to the whole household, but to those only who, by proximity to +the deed, could have noticed it.[206] Gaius observes[207] that for +slaves to be in complete subjection to masters who have power of life +and death is an institution common to all nations, "But at this time," +he continues, "it is permitted neither to Roman citizens nor any other +men who are under the sway of the Roman people to vent their wrath +against slaves beyond measure and without reason. In fact, by a decree +of the sainted Antoninus (138-161 A.D.) a master who without cause kills +his slave is ordered to be held no less than he who kills another's +slave.[208] An excessive severity on the part of masters is also checked +by a constitution of the same prince. On being consulted by certain +governors about those slaves who rush for refuge to the shrines of the +gods or the statues of emperors, he ordered that if the cruelty of +masters seemed intolerable they should be compelled to sell their +slaves." Severus ordained that the city prefect should prevent slaves +from being prostituted[209]. Aurelian gave his slaves who had +transgressed to be heard according to the laws by public judges[210]. +Tacitus procured a decree that slaves were not to be put to +inquisitorial torture in a case affecting a master's life, not even if +the charge was high treason[211]. So much for the laws that mitigated +slavery under the Empire. They were not ideal; but they would in more +respects than one compare favourably with the similar legislation that +was in force, prior to the Civil War, in the American Slave States. + + +SOURCES + +I. Iurisprudentiae Anteiustinianae quae Supersunt. ed. Ph. Eduardus +Huschke. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1886 (fifth edition). + +II. Codex Iustinianus. Recensuit Paulus Krueger. Berolini apud +Weidmannos, 1877. + +Corpus Iuris Civilis: Institutiones recognovit Paulus Krueger; Digesta +recognovit Theodorus Mommsen. Berolini apud Weidmannos, 1882. + +Novellae: Corpus Iuris Civilis. Volumen Tertium recognovit Rudolfus +Schoell; Opus Schoellii morte interceptum absolvit G. Kroll. Berolini +apud Weidmannos, 1895. + +III. The Fragments of the Perpetual Edict of Salvius Julianus. Edited by +Bryan Walken Cambridge University Press. 1877. + +IV. Pomponii de Origine Iuris Fragmentum: recognovit Fridericus +Osannus. Gissae, apud Io. Rickerum, 1848. + +V. Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Consilio et Auctoritate Academiae +Litterarum Regiae Borussicae editum. Berolini apud Georgium Reimerum +(begun in 1863). + +VI. Valerii Maximi Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium Libri Novem: cum +Iulii Paridis et Ianvarii Nepotiani Epitomis: iterum recensuit Carolus +Kempf. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1888. + +VII. Cassii Dionis Cocceiani Rerum Romanarum libri octaginta: ab +Immanuele Bekkero Recogniti. Lipsiae, apud Weidmannos, 1849. + +VIII. C. Suetoni Tranquilli quae Supersunt Omnia: recensuit Carolus L. +Roth. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1898. + +IX. A. Persii Flacci, D. Iunii Iuvenalis, Sulpiciae Saturae; recognovit +Otto Iahn. Editio altera curam agente Francisco Buecheler. Berolini, +apud Weidmannos, 1886. + +X. Eutropi Breviarium ab Urbe Condita: recognovit Franciscus Ruehl. +Lipsiae (Teubner), 1897. + +XI. Herodiani ab Excessu Divi Marci libri octo: ab Immanuele Bekkero +recogniti. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1855. + +XII. A. Gellii Noctium Atticarum libri XX: edidit Carolus Hosius. +Lipsiae (Teubner), 1903. + +XIII. Petronii Saturae et Liber Priapeorum: quartum edidit Franciscus +Buecheler: adiectae sunt Varronis et Senecae Saturae similesque +Reliquiae. Berolini, apud Weidmannos, 1904. + +XIV. M. Valerii Martialis Epigrammaton libri: recognovit Walther +Gilbert. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1896. + +XV. Cornelii Taciti Libri qui Supersunt: quartum recognovit Carolus +Halm. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1901. + +XVI. C. Vellei Paterculi ex Historiae Romanae libris duobus quae +supersunt: edidit Carolus Halm. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1876. + +XVII. L. Annaei Senecae Opera quae Supersunt: recognovit Fridericus +Haase. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1898. + +XVIII. Athenaei Naucratitae Deipnosophistaro libri XV: recensuit +Georgius Kaibel. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1887. + +XIX. Lucii Apulei Metamorphoseon libri XI. Apologia et Florida. +Recensuit J. van der Vliet. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1897. + +XX. C. Plini Caecili Secundi Epistularum libri novem. Epistularum ad +Traianum liber. Panegyricus. Recognovit C.F.W. Mueller. Lipsiae +(Teubner), 1903. + +XXI. Scriptores Historiae Augustae: edidit Hermannus Peter. Lipsiae +(Teubner), 1888. + +XXII. M. Fabii Quintiliani Institutionis Oratoriae libri XII: recensuit +Eduardus Bonnell. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1905. + +XXIII. Marci Antonini Commentariorum libri XII: iterum recensuit Ioannes +Stich. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1903. + +XXIV. C. Plinii Secundi Naturalis Historiae libri XXXVII: recognovit +Ludovicus Ianus. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1854. + +XXV. XII Panegyrici Latini: recensuit Aemilius Baehrens. Lipsiae +(Teubner), 1874. + +XXVI. Plutarchi Scripta Moralia, Graece et Latine: Parisiis, editore +Ambrosio F. Didot, 1841. + +Plutarchi Vitae Parallelae: iterum recognovit Carolus Sintennis. Lipsiae +(Teubner), 1884. + +XXVII. Ammiani Marcellini Rerum Gestarum libri qui supersunt: recensuit +V. Gardthausen. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1875. + +XXVIII. Poetae Latini Minores: recensuit Aemilius Baehrens. Lipsiae +(Teubner), 1883. + +NOTES: + +[1] Paulus, iii, 4_a_, 1. + +[2] Ulpian, Tit., xx, 16. Gaius, ii, 112. + +[ 3: Male relatives on the father's side--agnati--were guardians +in such cases; these failing, the judge of the supreme court (praetor) +assigned one. See Ulpian, Tit., xi, 3, 4, and 24. Gaius, i, 185, and +iii, 10. Libertae (freedwomen) took as guardians their former masters.] + +[4] Ulpian, Tit., xi, 27. + +[5] The power of the father was called _potestas_; that of the husband, +_manus_. + +[6] Aulus Gellius, x, 23. Cf. Suetonius, _Tiberius_, 35. + +[7] Gaius, i, 144. + +[8] Ulpian, Tit., xi, I. + +[9] Ulpian, Tit., xi, 28a. Gaius, i, 194. Paulus, iv, 9, 1-9. + +[10] Gaius, i, 145. Ulpian, Tit., x, 5. + +[11] Gaius, i, 137. For an example see Pliny, _Letters_, viii, 18. Cf. +Spartianus. _Didius Iulianus_, 8: filiam suam, potitus imperio, dato +patrimonio, emancipaverat. See also Dio, 73, 7 (Xiphilin). + +If emancipated children insulted or injured their parents, they lost +their independence--Codex, 8, 49 (50), 1. + +[12] Ulpian, Tit., viii, 7_a_. + +[13] Paulus, i, 4, 4; Mater, quae filiorum suorum rebus intervenit, +actione negotiorum gestorum et ipsis et eorum tutoribus tenebitur. + +[14] Ulpian in Dig., 25, 3, 5. + +[15] For Livia's great influence over Augustus see Seneca, _de +Clementia_, i, 9, 6. Tacitus, _Annals_, i, 3, 4, and 5, and ii, 34. Dio, +55, 14-21, and 56, 47. + +Agrippina dominated Claudius--Tacitus, _Annals_, xii, 37. Dio, 60, 33. +Caenis, the concubine of Vespasian, amassed great wealth and sold public +offices right and left--Dio, 65, 14. Plotina, wife of Trajan, engineered +Hadrian's succession--Eutropius, viii, 6. Dio, 69, I. A concubine formed +the conspiracy which overthrew Commodus--Herodian, i, 16-17. The +plotting of Maesa put Heliogabalus on the throne--Capitolinus, +_Macrinus_, 9-10. Alexander Severus was ruled by his mother +Mammaea--Lampridius, _Alex. Severus_, 14; Herodian, vi, i, i and 9. +Gallienus invited women to his cabinet meetings--Trebellius Pollio, +Gallienus, 16. The wives of governors took such a strenuous part in +politics and army matters that it caused the Senate grave concern--see +examples in Tacitus, Annals, in, 33 and 34, and iv, 20; also i, 69, and +ii, 55; id. _Hist_., iii, 69. Vellcius Paterculus, ii, 74 (Fulvia). + +Of course, no woman ever had a right to vote; but neither did anybody +else, since the Roman government had become an absolute despotism. The +first woman on the throne was Pulcheria, who, in 450 A.D., was +proclaimed Empress of the East, succeeding her brother, Theodosius II. +But she soon took a husband and made him Emperor. She had been +practically sole ruler since 414. + +[16] Plutarch, _Roman Questions_, 6. Aulus Gellius, x, 23. Athenaeus, x, +56. + +[17] Valerius Maximus, vi, 3, 9. For this he was not even blamed, but +rather received praise for the excellent example. + +[18] Aulus Gellius, x, 23. A woman in the _Menaechmi_ of Plautus, iv, 6, +1, complains justly of this double standard of morality: + +Nam si vir scortum duxit clam uxorem suam, Id si rescivit uxor, impune +est viro. Uxor viro si clam domo egressa est foras, Viro fit causa, +exigitur matrimonio. Utinam lex esset cadem quae uxori est viro! + +[19] Aulus Gellius, i, 6. + +[20] De Consolatione ad Marciam, xvi, 1. + +[21] _Commentaries_, A, [Greek: gamma]. + +[22] Quintilian, _Instit. Orat_., vi, 1, 5. Pliny, _Letters_, vi, 4 and +7, and vii, 5. + +[23] Great admiration expressed for Paulina, wife of Seneca, who opened +her veins to accompany her husband in death--Tacitus, _Annals_, xv, 63, +64. Story of Arria and Paetus--Pliny, _Letters_, iii, 16. Martial, i, +13. The famous instance of Epponina, under Vespasian, and her attachment +to her condemned husband--Tacitus, _Hist_., iv, 67. Tacitus mentions +that many ladies accompanied their husbands to exile and +death--_Annals_, xvi, 10, 11. Numerous instances are related by Pliny of +tender and happy marriages, terminated only by death--see, e.g., +_Letters_, viii, 5. Pliny the elder tells how M. Lepidus died of regret +for his wife after being divorced from her--_N.H._, vii, 36. Valerius +Maximus devotes a whole chapter to Conjugal Love--iv, 6. But the best +examples of deep affection are seen in tomb inscriptions--e.g., CIL i, +1103, viii, 8123, ii, 3596, v, 1, 3496, v, 2, 7066, x, 8192, vi, 3, +15696, 15317, and 17690. Man and wife are often represented with arms +thrown about one another's shoulders to signify that they were united in +death as in life. The poet Statius remarks that "to love a wife when she +is living is pleasure; to love her when dead, a solemn duty" (Silvae, in +prooemio). Yet some theologians would have us believe that conjugal love +and fidelity is an invention of Christianity. + +[24] Pliny, _Panegyricus_, 26. For other instances see Capitolinus, +_Anton. Pius_, 8; Lampridius, _Alex. Severus_, 57; Spartianus, Hadrian, +7, 8, 9; Capitolinus, _M. Anton. Phil_., 11. + +[25] Gaius, i, 190. + +[26] Ulpian, Tit. xi, 25. Cf. Frag, iur Rom. Vatic. (Huschke, 325): Divi +Diocletianus et Constantius Aureliae Pontiae: Actor rei forum sequi +debet et mulier quoque facere procuratorem _sine tutoris auctoritate non +prohibetur_. So Papinian, lib. xv, Responsorum (Huschke, 327). I shall +discuss these matters at greater length when I treat of women and the +management of their property. + +[27] Dio, 54, 16. Pomponius in Dig., 23, 2, 4. + +[28] Gaius, i, 113. + +[29] Ulpian, Tit., ix, 1: Farreo convenit uxor in manum certis verbis et +testibus X praesentibus et sollemni sacrificio facto, in quo panis +quoque farreus adhibetur. Cf. Gaius, i, 112. + +[30] Aulus Gellius, iii, 2, 12. Gaius, i, 111. + +[31] Gaius, i, 110 and 111. + +[32] Paulus, ii, xix, 8. + +[33] Pliny, _Letters_, i, 14, will furnish an example; cf. id. vi, 26, +to Servianus: Gaudeo et gratulor, quod Fusco Salinatori filiam tuam +destinasti. Note the way in which Julius Caesar arranged a match for his +daughter--Suetonius, _Divus Julius_, 21. + +[34] Paulus in Dig., 23, 2, 2: Nuptiae consistere non possunt, nisi +consentiunt omnes, id est, qui coeunt quorumque in potestate sunt. + +[35] Julianus in Dig., 23, 1, 11. + +[36] Ulpian in Dig., 23, 1, 12. + +[37] Paulus in Dig., 23, 1, 13. Terentius Clemens in Dig., 23, 2, 21. + +[38] Paulus, ii, 19, 2. + +[39] Ulpian, 24, 17. + +[40] Cf. Ulpian, Tit., vi, 6: Divortio facto, si quidem sui juris sit +muller, ipsa habet rei uxoriae actionem, id est, dotis repetitionem; +quodsi in potestate patris sit, pater adiuncta filiae persona habet +actionem. + +The technical recognition of the father's power was still strong. Cf. +Pliny, _Panegyricus_, 38: Tu quidem, Caesar ... intuitus, opinor, vim +legemque naturae, quae semper in dicione parentum esse liberos iussit. +The same writer, on requesting Trajan to give citizenship to the +children of a certain freedman, is careful to add the specification that +they are to remain in their father's power--see Pliny to Trajan, xi +(vi). + +[41] Paulus, vi, 15. Codex, v, 4, 11, and 17, 5. + +[42] Paulus, in Dig., 23, 3, 28. Codex, v, 13, 1, and 18, 1. + +[43] Codex, v, 17, 5. + +[44] Salvius Julianus: Frag. Perp. Ed.: Pars Prima, vii--under "De is +qui notantur infamia." + +[45] Codex, 8, 46 (47), 5. + +[46] Aulus Gellius, iv, 4. + +[47] Juvenal, vi, 200-203. Gaius in Dig., 24, 2, 2. Ulpian, ibid., 23, +I, 10. Codex, v, 17, 2, and v, I, I. + +[48] Codex, v, 3, 2. + +[49] Dig., 3, 2, 1. + +[50] Ulpian in Dig., 47, 10, 24. + +[51] Cf. Alexander Severus in Codex, viii, 38, 2: Libera matrimonia esse +antiquitus placuit, etc. Also Codex, v, 4, 8 and 14. + +[52] Modestinus in Dig., xxiii, 2, 1. + +[53] Gaius, ii, 159. + +[54] Paulus, ii, xx, 1. + +[55] Note the rescript of Alexander Severus to a certain Aquila (Codex, +ii, 18, 13): Quod in uxorem tuam aegram erogasti, non a socero repetere, +sed adfectioni tuae debes expendere. + +[56] See, e.g., Dig., 47, 10, and Ulpian, ibid., 48, 14, 27. + +[57] Cf. Gaius, i, 141: In summa admonendi sumus, adversus eos, quos in +mancipio habemus, nihil nobis contumeliose facere licere; alioquin +iniuriarum (actione) tenebimur. + +[58] Paulus, i, 21, 13. + +[59] Paulus, i, 21, 14. + +[60] Codex, ii, 11, 15 + +[61] Paulus in Dig., iii, 2, 9. + +[62] Aulus Gellius, xvii, 6, speech of Cato: Principio vobis mulier +magnam dotem adtulit; tum magnam pecuniam recipit, quam in viri +potestatem non committit, ean pecuniam viro mutuam dat; postea, ubi +irata facta est, servum recepticum sectari atque flagitare virum iubet. + +[63] Paulus in Dig., 23, 3, 2. + +[64] Pomponius in Dig., 24, 3, 1. + +[65] Ulpian in Dig., 23, 3, 7. + +[66] Tryfoninus in Dig., 23, 3, 75. + +[67] Gaius, ii, 63. Paulus, ii, 21b. + +[68] E.g. Juvenal, vi, 136-141. Martial, viii, 12. + +[69] Apuleius _Apologia_, 523: Pleraque tamen rei familiaris in nomen +uxoris callidissima fraude confert, etc.; id., 545, 546 proves further +the power of the wife: ea condicione factam conjunctionem, si nullis a +me susceptis liberis vita demigrasset, ut dos omnis, etc.--evidently the +woman was dictating the disposal of her dowry. + +[70] Ulpian, Tit., vi, 3, 4, and 5. Codex, v, 18, 4. + +[71] Ulpian in Dig., xi, 7, 16; ibid., Papinian, 17; ibid, Julianus, 18. +Paulus, i, xxi, 11. + +[72] Ulpian in Dig., 48, 20, 3. + +[73] Ulpian in Dig., 48, 20, 5. + +[74] Ulpian in Dig., 24, 1, 1: Moribus apud nos receptum est, ne inter +virum et uxorem donationes valerent, hoc autem receptum est, ne mutuo +amore invicem spoliarentur, donationibus non temperantes, sed profusa +erga se facilitate. + +[75] Paulus in Dig., 24, 1, 14. + +[76] Gaius in Dig., 24, 1, 42; ibid., Licinius Rufus, 41; Ulpian, Tit. +vii, 1. Martial, vii, 64--et post hoc dominae munere factus eques. + +[77] Paulus, ii, xxiii, 1. + +[78] Cf. Paulus, ii, xxiii, 2. + +[79] Paulus in Dig., 25, 2, 1. Codex, v, 21, 2. + +[80] Gaius in Dig., 25, 2, 2. + +[81] Paulus in Dig., 25, 2, 3. + +[82] Ulpian in Dig., 47, 2, 52. The respect shown for family relations +may be seen also from the fact that a son could _complain--de facto +matris queri_--if he believed that his mother had brought in +supposititious offspring to defraud him of some of his inheritance; but +he was strictly forbidden to bring her into court with a public and +criminal action--Macer in Dig., 48, 2, 11: _sed ream eam lege Cornelia +facere permissum ei non est_. + +[83] Ulpian in Dig., 48, 14, 27. + +[84] Ulpian in Dig., 48, 5, 14 (13): Iudex adulterii ante oculos habere +debet et inquirere, an maritus pudice vivens mulieri quoque bonos mores +colendi auctor fuerit periniquum enim videtur esse, ut pudicitiam vir ab +uxore exigat, quam ipse non exhibeat. Cf. Seneca, _Ep_., 94: Scis +improbum esse qui ab uxore pudicitiam exigit, ipse alienarum corruptor +uxorum. Scis ut illi nil cum adultero, sic nihil tibi esse debere cum +pellice. Antoninus Pius gave a husband a bill for adultery against his +wife "Provided it is established that by your life you give her an +example of fidelity. It would be unjust that a husband should demand a +fidelity which he does not himself keep"--quoted by St. Augustine, de +Conj. Adult., ii, ch. 8. In view of these explicit statements it is +difficult to see what the Church Father Lactantius meant by asserting +(_de Vero Cultu_, 23): Non enim, sicut iuris publici ratio est, sola +mulier adultera est, quae habet alium; maritus autem, etiamsi plures +habeat, a crimine adulterii solutus est. Perhaps this deliberate +distortion of the truth was another one of the libels against pagan Rome +of which the pious Fathers are so fond "for the good of the Church." + +[85] Papinian in Dig., 48, 5, 21 (20); ibid., Ulpian, 24 (23). Paulus, +ii, xxvi. + +[86] Macer in Dig., 48, 5, 25 (24). + +[87] Papinian in Dig., 48, 5, 23 (22). + +[88] Papinian in Dig., 48, 5, 39 (38); ibid., Marcianus, 48, 8, 1. + +[89] Paulus, ii, xxvi. Macer in Dig., 48, 5, 25 (24), ibid., Ulpian, 48, +5, 30 (29). + +[90] Paulus, ii, xxvi. + +[91] Juvenal, x. 317; quosdam moechos et mugilis intrat. Cf. Catullus, +15, 19. + +[92] See, e.g., Capitolinus, _Anton_. _Pius_, 3. Spartianus, _Sept. +Severus_, 18, Pliny, _Panegyricus_, 83: multis illustribus dedecori fuit +aut inconsultius uxor assumpta aut retenta patientius, etc. + +[93] Pliny, _Letters_, vi, 31. + +[94] Paulus, ii, xxvi, 15. + +[95] Valerius Maximus, ii, 1, 6. + +[96] Aulus Gellius, xvii, 21, 44. Valerius Maximus, ii, 1, 4. Plutarch, +_Roman Questions_, 14. + +[97] Valerius Maximus, vi, 3, 12. + +[98] "If you should catch your wife in adultery, you would put her to +death with impunity; she, on her part, would not dare to touch you with +her finger; and it is not right that she should"--Speech of Cato the +Censor, quoted by Aulus Gellius, x, 23. + +[99] E.g., Marcellus in Dig., 24, 3, 38: Maevia Titio repudium misit, +etc.; ibid., Africanus, 24, 3, 34: Titia divortium a Seio fecit, etc. +Martial, x, 41: Mense novo lani veterem, Proculeia, maritum Deseris, +atque iubes res sibi habere suas. Apuleius, _Apologia_, 547: utramvis +habens culpam mulier, quae aut tam intolerabilis fuit ut repudiaretur +aut tam insolens ut repudiaret. + +_Novellae_, 140, 1: Antiquitus quidem licebat sine periculo tales [i.e., +those of incompatible temperament] ab invicem separari secundum communem +voluntatem et consensum. + +[100] Martial, vi, 7. + +[101] Aulus Gellius, x, 15: Matrimonium flaminis nisi morte dirimi ius +non est. + +[102] Tacitus, _Annals_, iv, 16. + +[103] Ulpian, vi, 6; id. in Dig., 24, 3, 2. Pauli fragmentam in Boethii +commentario ad Topica, 2, 4, 19. + +[104] Paulus in Dig. ii,3, 41. + +[105] Ulpian, vi, 13. + +[106] Ulpian, vi, 9-17, and vii, 2-3. Pauli frag, in Boethii comm. ad +Top., ii, 4, 19. + +[107] Ulpian, xiv: feminis lex Iulia a morte viri anni tribuit +vacationem, a divortio sex mensum; lex autem Papia a morte viri biennii, +a repudio anni et sex mensum. + +[108] Ulpian in Dig., 25, 3, 1. Paulus, ii, xxiv, 5. + +[109] Ulpian in Dig., 25, 4, 8. + +[110] Codex, v, 24, 1. + +[111] Codex, vi, 60, 1: Res, quae ex matris successione fuerint ad +filios devolutae, ita sint in parentum potestate, ut fruendi dumtaxat +habeant facultatem, dominio videlicet carum ad liberos pertinente. + +[112] Neratius in Dig., 26, 1, 18. + +[113] Codex, v, 35, 1. + +[114] Codex, ii, 12, 18: alienam suscipere defensionem virile officium +est ... filio itaque tuo, si pupillus est, tutorem pete. + +[115] Ulpian, Tit. viii, 7_a_. Paulus, i, 4, 4. + +[116] _ad Helviam matrem de consol_., xiv, 3. + +[117] Other instances of women trustees will be found in Apuleius, +_Apologia_ 516; Paulus in Dig; iii, 5,23 (24): avia nepotis sui negotia +gessit, etc.; ibid., Marcellus, 46, 3, 48: Titia cum propter dotem bona +mariti possideret, omnia pro domina egit, reditus exegit, etc. + +[118] Tacitus, _Agricola_, 43. + +[119] Frag. iur. Rom. Vat., 282. + +[120] Ulpian, viii, 7a. + +[121] Gaius, ii, 227. Digest, 35, 2. + +[122] E.g. Pliny, _Letters_, v, 1. Codex, iii, 28, 19; id., iii, 28, 28. +Cf. Codex, iii, 29, I, and 29, 7; and Paulus in Dig., v, 2, 19. Note the +extreme anxiety of the son of Prudentilla about her money as given by +Apuleius, _Apologia_, 517. The estate of a mother who died intestate +went to her children, not to her husband; the latter could only enjoy +the interest until they arrived at maturity--Codex, vi, 60, 1; +Modestinus in Dig., 38, 17, 4. + +[123] E.g., Juvenal, iv, 18-21. Pliny, _Letters_, ii, 20. + +[124] Digest, xiv, 1 and 3 and 8--on the actio exercitoria and +institoria. Cf. Codex, iv, 25, 4: et si a muliere magister navis +praepositus fuerit, etc. + +[125] CIL, xiv, 326. + +[126] Martial, xi, 71. Apuleius, _Metam_., v, 10. Soranus, i, 1, ch. 1 +and 2. Galen, vii, 414 (cf. xiii, 341). + +[127] E.g. Suetonius, _Nero_, 27. + +[128] Carmina Priapea, 18 and 27. Ulpian, xiii, 1. The Roman drama had +now degenerated into mere vaudeville, mostly lascivious dancing. +Senators and their children were forbidden to marry any woman who had +herself or whose father or mother had been on the stage. + +[129] Martial, ii, 17, 1. + +[130] Petronius, _Sat_., 45: Titus noster ... habet et mulierem +essedariam. This would not be strange, when we reflect that under +Domitian noble ladies even fought in the arena. + +[131] _Thesmophoriazusae_, 443-459. + +[132] See Cicero, _pro Caecina_, 5, for an account of these business +agents for women. + +[133] Paulus, ii, xi; id. in Dig., 16, 1, 1; Aulus Gellius, v, 19; +Pomponius in Dig., 48, 2, 1: non est permissum mulieri publico iudicio +quemquam reum facere. + +[134] Ulpian in Dig., 1, 16, 9. Salvius Julianus, Pars Prima, vi: si non +habebunt advocatum, ego dabo. Alexander Severus (222-235 A.D.) gave +pensions to those advocates in the provinces who pleaded free of +charge--Lampridius, _Alex. Severus_, 44. + +[135] Cf. Paulus in Dig., 23, 3, 28. Codex, v, 13, 1, and 18, 1. Ulpian +in Dig., iii, 3, 8. + +[136] Gaius, i, 137. + +[137] Frag. iur. Rom. Vat., 325; id., 327 (from Papinian): mulieres +quoque et sine tutoris auctoritate procuratorem facere posse. + +[138] Ulpian in Dig., iii, 3, 8; ibid., Paulus, iii, 3, 41. + +[139] Ulpian in Dig., iii, 5, 3. + +[140] Pomponius in Dig., 48, 2, 1; ibid., Papinian, 48, 2, 2--who adds +that she could also do so in a case regarding the will of a mother or +father's freedman. + +[141] Marcianus in Dig., 48, 2, 13. + +[142] Papinian in Dig., 48, 4, 8. + +[143] Juvenal, vi, 242--245. + +[144] Valerius Maximus, viii, 3, 3. Appian, _B.C._, iv, 32 ff. +Quintilian, i, 1, 6. + +[145] Valerius Maximus, viii, 3, 2. + +[146] Quintilian, ix, 2, 20 and 34. + +[147] E.g., Pliny _Letters_, i, 5, and iv, 17. + +[148] E.g., Huschke, pp. 796, 797, 803, 807, 809, 810, 856, 857, 858. Or +instances such as that mentioned in Digest, 48, 2, 18, where a sister +brings an action to prove her brother's will a forgery. + +[149] Pliny, _Letters_, vi, 33. + +[150] Paulus in Dig., 22, 6, 9. + +[151] Fully treated in Dig., 16, 1, and Paulus, ii, xi. + +[152] Ulpian in Dig., 16, 1, 2. + +[153] Aulus Gellius, xvii, 6. St. Augustine, de Civit. Dei, iii, 21: nam +tunc, id est inter secundum et postremum bellum Carthaginiense, lata est +etiam illa lex Voconis, ne quis heredem feminam faceret, nec unicam +filiam. + +[154] Dio, 56, 10. + +[155] Aulus Gellius, xx, 1, 23. According to Dio, 56, 10, it was +Augustus who in the year 9 A.D. gave women permission to inherit any +amount. + +[156] Fully treated in Dig., 35, 2. Also in Gaius, ii, 227, and Paulus, +iii, viii, 1-3, and iv, 3, 3, and 5 and 6. + +[157] Paulus, iv, Tit. v, 1. Cases in which "Complaints of Undutiful +Will" were the issue will be found, e.g., in Codex, iii, 28, 1 and 19 +and 28; id., iii, 29, 1 and 7. + +[158] Ulpian in Dig., 38, 16, 1: suos heredes accipere debemus filios +filias sive naturales sive adoptivos. Instances of daughters being left +heiresses of whole estates may be found, e.g., in Dig., 28, 2, 19: cum +quidam filiam ex asse heredem scripsisset filioque, quem in potestate +habebat, decem legasset, etc. Or the example mentioned by Scaevola in +Dig., 41, 9, 3: Duae filiae intestato patri heres exstiterunt, etc. + +[159] Callistratus in Dig., 48, 19, 26: crimen vel poena paterna nullam +maculam filio infligere potest. namque unusquisque ex suo admisso sorti +subicitur nec alieni criminis successor constituitur; idque divi fratres +Hierapolitanis rescripserunt. "Nothing is more unjust," writes Seneca +(de Ira, ii, 34, 3), "than that any one should become the heir of the +odium excited by his father." + +[160] Paulus, v, xii, 1. + +[161] Paulus, v, xii, 12. + +[162] Ulpian in Dig., 48, 4, 11. + +[163] Ulpian in Dig., 48, 4, 11. + +[164] Hermogenianus in Dig., 48, 4, 9. + +[165] Sulla had not only deprived the children of the proscribed of all +their estates, but had also debarred them from aspiring to any political +office--see Velleius Paterculus, ii, 28. + +[166] For examples of the clemency of Augustus see Suetonius, _div. +Aug._, 33 and 51 and 67; Seneca, _de Ira_, iii, 23, 4 ff., and 40, 2; +Velleius Paterculus, ii, 86, 87. + +[167] For Tiberius see, e.g., Tacitus, _Annals_, iv--case of Silius; +id., _Annals_, iii, 17, 18--case of Piso. For Nero, note Tacitus, +_Annals_, xiii, 43--case of Publius Suilius. Clemency of Claudius +mentioned in Dio, 60, 15, 16; of Vitellius in Tacitus, _Hist_., ii, 62. + +[168] Spartianus, _Had._, 18. + +[169] Capitolinus, _Anton. Pius_, 7. See also the anecdote of Aurelian +in Vopiscus, _Aurelian_, 23. + +[170] Codex, iv, 12, 2, rescript of Diocletian: ob maritorum culpam +uxores inquietari leges vetant. proinde rationalis noster, si res quae a +fisco occupatae sunt dominii tui esse probaveris, ius publicum sequetur. + +[171] Gaius, ii, 129 and 132. + +[172] Gaius, ii, 132. + +[173] Codex, iii, 36, 11: Inter filios ac filias bona intestatorum +parentium pro virilibus portionibus aequo iure dividi oportere explorati +iuris est. + +[174] Gaius, iii, 25-31. + +[175] See, e.g., Codex, vi, 60, i: Res, quae ex matris successione +fuerint ad filios devolutae, ita sint in parentum potestate, ut fruendi +dumtaxat habeant facultatem, dominio videlicet eorum ad liberos +pertinente. + +[176] For all this, see Codex, v, 9, 5, and vi, 18, q. + +[177] Paulus, v, 4, 14, who adds that exile was the penalty if the crime +had not been completely carried out. It would seem also that ravished +women had the option of deciding whether their seducers should marry +them or be put to death--see the _vitiatarum electiones_ as mentioned by +Tacitus, _Dial. de Orat_., 35. According to Ruffus, 40, a soldier who +did violence to a girl had his nostrils cut off, besides being forced to +give the injured woman a third part of his goods: militi, qui puellae +vim adtulerit et stupraverit, nares abscinduntur, data puellae tertia +militis facultatum parte. + +[178] Paulus, v, 4, 21. + +[179] By the lex Fabia. Paulus, v, 30 B. Digest, 48, 15; 17, 2, 51. + +[180] Ulpian in Dig., 48, 8, 8; ibid., Tryphoninus, 48, 19, 39. + +[181] Paulus, v, 23, 14; id. in Dig., 48, 19, 38. + +[182] Paulus, supra cit. + +[183] Martial, x, 35, and x, 38. + +[184] Sappho, Telesilla, and Corinna belong to an earlier period, when +the Oriental idea of seclusion for women had not yet become firmly fixed +in Greece. Women like Agallis of Corcyra, who wrote on grammar +(Athenaeus, i, 25) and lived in a much later age, doubtless belonged to +the _hetaerae_ class. + +[185] See, e.g., Pliny, _Letters_, v, 16. + +[186] Pliny, _Letters_, i, 16. + +[187] Persius, i, 4-5: Ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem +praetulerint? "Are you afraid that Polydamas and the Trojan Ladies will +prefer Labeo to me?" The _Trojan Ladies_, of course, stand for the +aristocratic classes, Colonial Dames, so to speak, who were fond of +tracing their descent back to Troy just as Americans like to discover +that their ancestors came over in the _Mayflower_. + +[188] Juvenal, vi, 434-440. + +[189] Cf. Martial, ii, 90: sit mihi verna satur, sit non doctissima +coniunx. + +[190] The famous verses of Martial: + +Quid tibi nobiscum, ludi scelerate magister? Invisum pueris +virginibusque caput! + +[191] Vespasian (69-79 A.D.) started free public education by appointing +Quintilian Professor of Rhetoric subsidised by the state. Succeeding +emperors enlarged upon it; but especially Alexander Severus (222-235 +A.D.), who instituted salaries for teachers of rhetoric, literature, +medicine, mechanics, and architecture in Rome and the provinces, and had +poor boys attend the lectures free of charge--see Lampridius, _Alex. +Severus_, 44. + +[192] Pliny, _Paneg._, 26. Spartianus, _Hadrian_, 7, 8-9. Capitolinus, +_Anton. Pius 8_; id. _M. Anton. Phil._ II. Lampridius, _Alex_. +_Severus_, 57. + +[193] Pliny, _Letters_, vii, 18. The sum was 500,000 sesterces. + +[194] Any infringement of this vow was punished by burial alive--for +instances, see Suetonius, _Domitian_, 8; Herodian, iv, 6, 4: Pliny, +_Letters_ iv, 11; Dio, 77, 16 (Xiphilin). Their paramours were beaten to +death. + +[195] A full account of the Vestals will be found in Aulus Gellius, i, +12. + +[196] Quintilian, vii, 3, 27: ad servum nulla lex pertinet. On the rare +instances when a slave could inform against his master in a public +court, see Hermogenianus in Dig., v, 1, 53. + +[197] Gaius, i, 52 ff. + +[198] Gaius, iii, 222. Cf. Juvenal vi, 219-223, and 474-495. + +[199] Gaius, iii, 222. Salvius Julianus, Pars Secunda, xv. Aulus +Gellius, xx, i. + +[200] Paulus, v, 16. + +[201] Paulus, iii, v, 5 ff. Pliny, _Letters_, viii, 14. Tacitus, +_Annals_ xiii, 32. + +[202] Valerius Maximus, vi, 8, in a chapter entitled _de fide servorum_ +speaks with great admiration of instances of fidelity on the part of +slaves. Seneca ate with his--_Epist_. 47, 13. Martial laments the death +of a favourite slave girl--v, 34 and 37. Dio (62, 27--Xiphilin) notes +the heroic conduct of Epicharis, a freedwoman, who was included in a +conspiracy against Nero; but she revealed none of its secrets, though +tortured in every way by Tigellinus. The pages of Pliny are full of the +spirit of kindliness to slaves. + +[203] See Tacitus, _Annals_, xiv, 42 ff. + +[204] Suetonius, _Claudius_, 25. Dio, 60, 29 (Xiphilin). + +[205] Sec, e.g., Seneca, _de Clem_., i,18, 1 and 2--especially the +anecdote of Vedius Pollio (mentioned also by Dio, 54, 23). + +The interesting letter of Pliny, viii, 16; and cf. iii, 14, and v, 19. +Juvenai, vi, 219-223. + +[206] Spartianus, _Hadrian_, 18. + +[207] Gaius, i, 52 ff. Cf. Ulpian in Dig., 1, 12, 1 and 8. + +[208] The punishment for this was pecuniary damages equal to twice the +highest value of a slave during the year in which he was killed. + +[209] Ulpian in Dig., i., 12, 8: hoc quoque officium praefecto urbi a +divo Severo datum est, ut mancipia tueatur ne prostituantur. + +[210] Vopiscus, _Aurelian_, 49 + +[211] Vopiscus, _Tacitus_, 9. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WOMEN AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH + + +Meanwhile a new world force, destined to overthrow the old order of +things, was growing slowly to maturity and spreading out its might until +eventually it fought its way to preeminence. I have traced the rights of +women under the regime of pagan Rome; I shall inquire next into the +position of women under Christianity. We must first note the attitude of +the early Christians towards women in general; for that attitude will +naturally be reflected in any laws made after the Church has become +supreme and is combined with and directs the State. That will demand a +special chapter on Canon Law; but in the present chapter I propose to +show how women were regarded by the Christians in the centuries which +were the formative period of the Church. + +The direct words of Christ so far as they relate to women and as we have +them in the Gospels concern themselves wholly to bring about purity in +the relation of the sexes. "Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt +not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on +a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in +his heart."[212] His commands on the subject of divorce are positive and +unequivocal: "It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let +him give her a writing of divorcement; but I say unto you, that every +one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, +maketh her an adultress; and whosoever shall marry her when she is put +away, committeth adultery."[213] Christ was content to lay down great +ethical principles, not minute regulations. Of any inferiority on the +part of women he says nothing, nor does be concern himself with giving +any directions about their social or legal rights. He blessed the +marriage at Cana; and to the woman taken in adultery he showed his usual +clemency. For the rest, his relations with women have an atmosphere of +rare sympathy, gentleness, and charm. + +But as soon as we leave the Gospels and read the Apostles we are in a +different sphere. The Apostles were for the most part men of humble +position, and their whole lives were directed by inherited beliefs which +were distinctly Jewish and Oriental or Greek; not Western. In the Orient +woman has from the dawn of history to the present day occupied a +position exceedingly low. Indeed, in Mohammedan countries she is +regarded merely as a tool for the man's sensual passions and she is not +allowed to have even a soul. In Greece women were confined to their +houses, were uneducated, and had few public rights and less moral +latitude; their husbands had unlimited license.[214] The Jewish ideal is +by no means a lofty one and cannot for a moment compare with the honour +accorded the Roman matron under the Empire. According to _Genesis_ a +woman is the cause of all the woes of mankind. _Ecclesiasticus_ declares +that the badness of men is better than the goodness of women.[215] In +_Leviticus_[216] we read that the period of purification customary +after the birth of a child is to be twice as long in the case of a +female as in a male. The inferiority of women was strongly felt; and +this conception would be doubly operative on men of humble station who +never travelled, who had received little education, and whose ideas were +naturally bounded by the horizon of their native localities. We are to +remember also that the East is the home of asceticism, a conviction +alien to the Western mind. There is no parallel in Western Europe to St. +Simeon Stylites. + +We would, therefore, expect to find in the teachings of the Apostles an +expression of Jewish, i.e., Eastern ideals on the subject of women; and +we do so find them. Following the express commands of Christ, they +exhorted to sexual purity and reiterated his injunctions on the matter +of divorce. They went much farther and began to legislate on more minute +details. Paul allows second marriages to women[217]; but thinks it +better for a widow to remain as she is.[218] It is better to marry than +to burn; yet would he prefer that men and women should remain in +celibacy.[219] The power of the father to arrange a marriage for his +daughter was, under Roman law, limited by her consent; but the words of +Paul make it clear that it was now to be a Christian precept that a +father could determine on his own responsibility whether his daughter +should remain a virgin.[220] Wives are to be in subjection to their +husbands, and "let the wife see that she fear her husband."[221] Woman +is the weaker vessel[222]; she is to be silent in church; if she desires +to learn anything, she should ask her husband at home.[223] Furthermore: +"I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to +be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not +beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression; +but she shall be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith +and love and sanctification with sobriety."[224] The apparel of women +also evoked legislation from the Apostles. Women were to pray with their +heads veiled "for the man is not of the woman, but the woman for the +man."[225] Jewels, precious metal, and costly garments were unbecoming +the modest woman.[226] + +In this early stage of Christianity we may already distinguish three +conceptions that were quite foreign to the Roman jurist: I. The +inferiority and weakness of women was evident from the time of Eve and +it was an act of God that punished all womankind for Eve's +transgression. Woman had been man's evil genius. II. She was to be +submissive to father or husband and not bring her will in opposition to +theirs. III. She must not be prominent in public, she must consider her +conduct and apparel minutely, and she was exhorted to remain a virgin, +as being thus in a more exalted position. At the same time insistence +was placed on the fact that a virgin, wife, and widow must be given due +honour and respect, must be provided for, and allowed her share in +taking part in those interests of the community which were considered +her sphere. + +If, now, we examine the writings of the Church Fathers, we shall see +these ideas elaborated with all the vehemence of religious zeal. + +The general opinions of the Fathers regarding women present a curious +mixture. They are fond of descanting on the fact that woman is +responsible for all the woes of mankind and that her very presence is +dangerous. At the same time they pay glowing tribute to women in +particular. St. Jerome held that women were naturally weaker, physically +and morally, than men.[227] The same saint proves that all evils spring +from women[228]; and in another passage he opines that marriage is +indeed a lottery and the vices of women are too great to make it worth +while.[229] "The sex is practiced in deceiving," observes St. +Maximus.[230] St. Augustine disputes subtly whether woman is the image +of God as well as man. He says no, and proves it thus[231]: The Apostle +commands that a man should not veil his head, because he is the image of +God; but the woman must veil hers, according to the same Apostle; +therefore the woman is not the image of God. "For this reason, again," +continues the Saint, "the Apostle says 'A woman is not permitted to +teach, nor to have dominion over her husband.'" Bishop Marbodius calls +woman a "pleasant evil, at once a honeycomb and a poison" and indicts +the sex,[232] something on the order of Juvenal or Jonathan Swift, by +citing the cases of Eve, the daughters of Lot, Delilah, Herodias, +Clytemnestra, and Progne. The way in which women were regarded as at +once a blessing and a curse is well illustrated also in a distich of +Sedulius: "A woman alone has been responsible for opening the gates of +death; a woman alone has been the cause of a return to life."[233] + +That women should be in subjection, in accordance with the dictum of +Paul, the Church Fathers assert emphatically. "How can it be said of a +woman that she is the image of God," exclaims St. Augustine,[234] "when +it is evident that she is subject to the rule of her husband and has no +authority! Why, she can not teach, nor be a witness, nor give security, +nor act in court; how much the more can she not govern!" Women are +commanded again and again not to perform any of the functions of men and +to yield a ready and unquestioning obedience to their husbands.[235] +The Fathers also insist that marriage without a paternal parent's +consent is fornication.[236] + +Marriage was looked upon as a necessary evil, permitted, indeed, as a +concession to the weakness of mankind, but to be avoided if possible. +"Celibacy is to be preferred to marriage," says St. Augustine.[237] +"Celibacy is the life of the angels," remarks St. Ambrose.[238] +"Celibacy is a spiritual kind of marriage," according to St. +Optatus.[239] "Happy he," says Tertullia[240] "who lives like Paul!" +The same saint paints a lugubrious picture of marriage and the "bitter +pleasure of children" (_liberorum amarissima voluptate_) who are burdens +and just as likely as not will turn out criminals. "Why did the Lord cry +woe unto those that are pregnant and give suck, unless it was to call +attention to the fact that children will be a hindrance on the day of +judgment?"[241] When such views were entertained of marriage, it need +not seem remarkable that Tertullian and St. Paul of Nolan, like Tolstoy +to-day, discovered the blessings of a celibate life after they were +married and ran away from their wives.[242] Jerome finds marriage useful +chiefly because it produces virgins.[243] + +As for second marriages, the Montanist and the Novatian sects condemned +them absolutely, on the ground that if God has removed a wife or husband +he has thereby signified his will to end the marrying of the parties; +Tertullian calls second marriage a species of prostitution.[244]Jerome +expresses the more tolerant and orthodox view: "What then? Do we condemn +second marriages? Not at all; but we praise single ones. Do we cast the +twice-married from the Church? Far from it; but we exhort the +once-married to continence. In Noah's ark there were not only clean, but +also unclean animals."[245] + +As the Fathers were very well aware of the subtle influence of dress on +the sexual passions, we have a vast number of minute regulations +directing virgins, matrons, and widows to be clothed simply and without +ornament; virgins were to be veiled.[246] Tertullian, with that keen +logic of which the Church has always been proud in her sons, argues that +inasmuch as God has not made crimson or green sheep it does not behoove +women to wear colours that He has not produced in animals +naturally.[247] St. Augustine forbids nuns to bathe more than once a +month, unless under extreme necessity.[248] + +As soon as the Church begins to exercise an influence upon law, we shall +expect to see the legal position of women changed in accordance with +certain general principles outlined above, viz: I. That inasmuch as Adam +was formed before Eve and as women are the weaker vessels, they should +confine themselves to those duties only which society has, from time +immemorial, assigned them as their peculiar sphere. II. They should be +meek, and not oppose father or husband; and to these they should go for +advice on all matters. III. All license, such as the Roman woman's right +of taking the initiative in a divorce, must never be tolerated. IV. They +should never transgress the bounds of strictest decorum in conduct and +dress, lest they seduce men; and they must never be conspicuous in +public or attempt to perform public functions. V. They are to be given +due honour and are to be cared for properly. + +The legal rights of women would be affected, moreover, by a difference +in the spirit of the law. The Roman jurist derived his whole sanction +from reason and never allowed religious considerations, as such, to +influence him when legislating on women. He recognised that laws are not +immutable, but must be changed to fit the growth of equity and +tolerance. No previous authority was valid to him if reason suggested +that the authority's dictum had outlived its usefulness and must be +adapted to larger ideas. It never occurred to him to make the +inferiority of woman an act of God. On the other hand, the Church +referred everything to one unchanging authoritative source, the Gospels +and the writings of the Apostles; faith and authority took the place of +reason; and any attempt to question the injunctions of the Bible was +regarded as an act of impiety, to be punished accordingly. And as the +various regulations about women had now a divine sanction, the +permanence of these convictions was doubly assured. + +SOURCES + +I. The Bible. + +II. Patrologia Latina: edidit J.P. Migne. Parisiis. 221 volumes +(finished 1864). + +NOTES: + +[212] _Matthew_ 5, 27 ff. + +[213] _Matthew_ 5, 31 ff.; id. 19, 3 ff. _Mark_ 10, 2-12. _Luke_ 16, 18. + +[214] Plutarch lived in the second century A.D.; but he has inherited +the Greek point of view and advises a wife to bear with meekness the +infidelities of the husband--see _Praecep. Coniug_., 16. His words are +often curiously similar to those of the Apostles, e.g., _Coniug. +Praecep_., 33: "The husband shall rule the wife not as if master of a +chattel, but as the soul does the body." Id. 37: "Wives who are sensible +will be silent when their husbands are angry and vent their passion; +when their husbands are silent, then let them speak to them and mollify +them." However, like the Apostles, he enjoins upon husbands to honour +their wives; his essay on the "Virtues of Women"--[Greek: gynaikon +aretai]--is an affectionate tribute to their worth. + +Some of the respectable Puritan gentlemen at Rome also held that a wife +be content to be a humble admirer of her husband (e.g., Pliny, _Paneg_., +83, hoc efficiebat, quod mariti minores erant ... nam uxori sufficit +obsequii gloria, etc.). But Roman law insisted that what was morally +right for the man was equally so for the woman; just as it compelled a +husband himself to observe chastity, if he expected it from his wife. + +[215] _Ecclesiasticus_ 42, 14. + +[216] _Leviticus_ xii, 1-5. + +[217] _Romans_ 7, 2-4. + +[218] _Corinthians_ i, 7, 39. + +[219] _Corinthians_ i, 7, 1 ff. + +[220] _Corinthians_ i, 7, 37. + +[221] _Ephesians_ 5, 22 and 33. + +[222] _Peter_ i, 3, 7. + +[223] _Corinthians_ i, 14, 34. + +[224] _Timothy_ i, 2, 12-15. + +[225] _Corinthians_ i, II, 8. + +[226] _Timothy_ i, 2, 9. _Peter_ i, 3. + +[227] Abelard, Ep., 9, in vol. 178, p. 325, of Migne: Beatus Hieronymus +... tanto magis necessarium amorem huius studii (i.e. the Scriptures) +censuit, quanto eas naturaliter infirmiriores et carne debiliores esse +conspexit. Cf. St. Paul of Nolan, _Letters_, 23, Sec. 135--Migne 61, p. +273: Hi enim (i.e. evil spirits) petulantius infirmiora vasa pertentant, +sicut non Adam, sed Evam coluber aggressus est. + +[228] Adversus Iovianum, i, 48--Migne, vol. 23, p. 278. + +[229] Adversus Iovianum, i, 28--Migne, vol. 23, pp. 249-250: Qui enim +ducit uxorem, in ambiguo est, utrum odiosam an amabilem ducat. Si +odiosam duxerit, ferri non potest. Si amabilem, amor illius inferno et +arenti terrae et incendio comparatur. He quotes the Old Testament, +especially _Pr_. 30, 16, to support his views. + +[230] S. Maximi Episcopi Taurinensis--Homilia 53, I--Migne, vol. 57, p. +350. + +[231] Augustinus: _Quaest. ex vet. Test_., 21: an mulier imago Dei sit +... unde et Apostolus, Vir quidem, inquit, non debet velare caput, cum +sit imago et gloria Dei; mulier autem, inquit, velet caput. Quare? Quia +non est imago Dei. Unde denuo dicit Apostolus: Mulieri autem docere non +permittitur, neque dominari in virum. Migne, vol. 35, p. 2228. + +[232] Migne, vol. 171, pp. 1698-1699: + +Femina dulce malum, pariter favus atque venenum, Melle linens gladium +cor confodit et sapientum. Quis suasit primo vetitum gustare parenti? +Femina. Quis patrem natas vitiare coegit? Femina. Quis fortem spoliatum +crine peremit? Femina. Quis iusti sacrum caput ense recidit? +Femina.--etc., ad lib. + +However, in another poem he acknowledges that there is nothing more +beautiful than a good woman: + +In cunctis quae dante Deo concessa videntur Usibus humanis, nil +pulchrius esse putamus, Nil melius muliere bona, etc. + +[233] Migne, vol. 80, p. 307. The sentiment is more fully developed in +another poem--Migne, vol. 80, p. 307: + +Femina causa fuit humanae perditionis; Qua reparatur homo, femina causa +fuit. Femina causa fuit cur homo ruit a paradiso; Qua redit ad vitam, +femina causa fuit. Femina prima parens exosa, maligna, superba; Femina +virgo parens casta, benigna, pia. + +[234] _Quaest. ex vet. Test_., 45; Migne, vol. 35, p. 2244. + +[235] E.g., Tertullian, _de virg. vel_., 9. St. Paul of Nolan, letter +23, Sec. 135--Migne, 61, p. 273. Id., letter 26, vol. 61, p. 732 of Migne. +Cf. Augustine, letter 262, Sec. 5--Migne, 33, p. 1079. + +[236] Basilius, _ad Amphil_., c.42: Matrimonia sine iis, qui potestatem +habent, fornicationes sunt. + +Ambrose says: Honorantur parentes Rebeccae muneribus, consulitur puella +non de sponsalibus, illa enim expectat iudicium parentum; non est enim +virginalis pudoris eligere maritum. + +[237] Virginitas praeferenda coniugio--August., vol. 44, p. 142 of +Migne. The Council of Trent, eleven centuries later, in its +twenty-fourth session, re-echoed this sentiment and anathematised any +one who should deny it. + +[238] Migne, vol. 16, p. 342. + +[239] Id., II, p. 1074. + +[240] Tertullian _ad uxorem_, i, 3. + +[241] Id. _ad uxorem_, i, 5. See also Gregory of Nyassa, _de Virg_., +iii, on the evils of matrimony. + +[242] v. Tertullian, _ad uxorem_. For Paul of Nolan, see Migne, vol. 61, +p. 22. + +[243] Laudo nuptias, laudo coniugium, sed quia mihi virgines generant. + +[244] _Ad uxorem_, i, 7 and 9: non aliud dicendum erit secundum +matrimonium quam species stupri. + +[245] Jerome, _Epist_., 123. See also id., _Epistola de viduitate +servanda_, Migne 22, p. 550, and the _Epist. de monogamia_, Migne, 22, +p. 1046. Ambrose, _de viduis liber unus_, Migne, 16, p. 234. Cf. Alanus +de Insulis in Migne, vol. 210, p. 194: Vidua ad secundas nuptias non +transeat. + +[246] See, e.g., St. Cyprian, _de habitu virginum_. Tertullian, _de +virginibus velandis_ and _de cultu feminarum_. Treatises on the way +widows should dress were written, among others, by St. Paul of Nolan, +_Epist_. 23, Sec.Sec. 133-135--Migne 61; Augustine, St. Fulgentius Rusp., St. +Paulinus Aquil., and St. Petrus Damianus. + +[247] _De cultu feminarum_, i, 8. + +[248] Lavacrum etiam corporum ususque balneorum non sit assiduus, sed eo +quo solet intervallo temporis tribuatur, hoc est, semel in mense. Nisi +infirmitatis necessitas cogat, corpus saepius non lavandum--Augustine, +_de monialibus_, Migne, vol. 33, page 963. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +RIGHTS OF WOMEN AS MODIFIED BY THE CHRISTIAN EMPERORS + + +Christianity became the state religion under Constantine, who issued the +Edict of Milan, giving toleration to the Christians, in the year 313. +The emperors from Constantine through Justinian (527-565) modified the +various laws pertaining to the rights of women in various ways. To the +enactments of Justinian, who caused the whole body of the Roman law to +be collected, I intend to give special attention. We must not, as yet, +expect to find the strict views of the Church Fathers carried out in any +severe degree. On the contrary the old Roman law was still so powerful +that it was for the most part beyond the control of ecclesiasts. +Justinian was an ardent admirer of it and could not escape from its +prevailing spirit. Canon law had not yet developed. When the old Roman +civilisation in Italy has succumbed completely to its barbarian +conquerors; when the East has been definitely sundered from the West; +when the Church has risen supreme, has won temporal power, and has +developed canon law into a force equal to the civil law,--then finally +we shall expect to see the legal rights of women changed in accordance +with two new world forces--the Roman Catholic Church and the Germanic +nations. I shall now discuss legislation having to do with my subject +under the Christian emperors from Constantine (306-337) through the +reign of Justinian (527-565). + +[Sidenote: Divorce: rescript of Theodosius and Valentian.] + +The power of husband and wife to divorce at will and for any cause, +which we have seen obtained under the old Roman law, was confined to +certain causes only by Theodosius and Valentinian (449 A.D.). These +emperors asserted vigorously that[249] the dissolution of the marriage +tie should be made more difficult, especially out of regard to the +children. Pursuant to this idea the power of divorce was given for the +following reasons alone: adultery, murder, treason, sacrilege, robbery; +unchaste conduct of a husband with a woman not his wife and vice-versa; +if a wife attended public games without her husband's permission; and +extreme physical violence of either party. A woman who sent her husband +a bill of divorce for any other reason forfeited her dowry and all +ante-nuptial gifts and could not marry again for five years, under +penalty of losing all civil rights. Her property accrued to her husband +to be kept in trust for the children. + +[Sidenote: Justinian on divorce] + +Justinian made more minute regulations on the subject of divorce. To the +valid causes for divorce as laid down by Theodosius and Valentinian he +added impotence; if a separation was obtained on this ground, the +husband might retain ante-nuptial gifts.[250] Abortion committed by the +wife or bathing with other men than her husband or inveigling other men +to be her paramours--these offences on the part of the wife gave her +husband the right of divorce.[251] Captivity of either party for a +prolonged period of time was always a valid reason. Justinian added +also[252] that a man who dismissed his wife without any of the legal +causes mentioned above existing or who was himself guilty of any of +these offences must give to his wife one fourth of his property up to a +sum not to exceed one hundred _librae_ of gold, if he owned property +worth four hundred _librae_ or more; if he had less, one fourth of all +he possessed was forfeit. The same penalties held for the wife who +presumed to dismiss her husband without the offences legally recognised +existing. The forfeited money was at the free disposal of the blameless +party if there were no children; these being extant, the property must +be preserved intact for their inheritance and merely the usufruct could +be enjoyed by the trustees. A woman who secured a divorce through a +fault of her husband had always to wait at least a year before marrying +again _propter seminis confusionem_.[253] + +[Sidenote: Justin revokes decrees of Justinian.] + +Justin, the nephew and successor of Justinian, reaffirmed the right to +divorce by mutual consent, thus abrogating the laws of his +predecessors.[254] Justinian had ordained that if husband and wife +separated by mutual consent, they were to be forced to spend the rest of +their lives in a convent and forfeit to it one third of their +goods.[255] Justin, then, made the pious efforts of his uncle naught. +Nothing can more clearly illustrate than his decree how small a power +the Church still possessed to mould the tenor of the law; for such a +thing as divorce by mutual consent, without any necessary reason, was a +serious misdemeanour in the eyes of the Church Fathers, who passed upon +it their severest censures. + +[Sidenote: Adultery.] + +On the subject of adultery Justinian enacted that if the husband was the +guilty party, the dowry and marriage donations must be given his wife; +but the rest of his property accrued to his relatives, both in ascending +and descending lines, to the third degree; these failing, his goods +were confiscated to the royal purse.[256] A woman guilty of adultery was +at once sent to a monastery. After a space of two years her husband +could take her back again, if he so wished, without prejudice. If he did +not so desire, or if he died, the woman was shorn and forced to spend +the rest of her life in a nunnery; two thirds of her property were given +to her relatives in descending line, the other third to the monastery; +if there were no descendants, ascendants got one third and the monastery +two thirds; relatives failing, the monastery took all; and in all cases +goods inserted in the dowry contract were to be kept for the +husband.[257] + +[Sidenote: Second marriages.] +[Sidenote: Strict laws of Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius.] + +The legislation of the earlier Christian emperors on second marriages +reflects the various feelings of the Church Fathers on the subject. +Under the old law, people could marry as often as they wished without +any penalties.[258] But we have seen that among some of the Churchmen +second marriages were held in peculiar abhorrence, and third nuptials +were regarded as a hideous sin; while the orthodox clergy, like St. +Augustine and St. Jerome, permitted second and third marriages, but +damned them with faint praise and urged Christians to be content with +one venture. Public opinion, custom, and the influence of the old Roman +law were too powerful to allow Christian monarchs to become fanatical on +the subject[259]; but certain stricter regulations were introduced by +the pious Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, in the years 380, 381, +and 382.[260] As under the old laws any widow who married again before +the legal time of mourning--a year--had expired, became infamous and +lost both cast and all claims to the goods of her deceased husband. She +was furthermore not permitted to give a second husband more than one +third of her property nor leave him more than one third by will; and she +could receive no intestate succession beyond the third degree. A woman +who proceeded to a second marriage after the legal period of mourning, +must make over at once to the children of the first marriage all the +property which her former husband had given or left to her. As to her +own personal property, she was allowed to possess it and enjoy the +income while she lived, but not to alienate it or leave it by will to +any one except the children of the first marriage. As I have before +remarked, Roman law constantly had the interest of the children at +heart.[261] If there was no issue of the first marriage, then the woman +had free control. A mother acquired full right--as the old Senatus +consultum Tertullianum had decreed--to the property of a son or daughter +who died childless[262]; but if she married a second time, and her son +or daughter died without leaving children or grandchildren, she was +expelled from all succession and distant relatives acquired the +property.[263] + +[Sidenote: Justinian moderates these laws to a great degree.] + +Justinian changed these enactments to a pronounced degree. "We are not +making laws that are too bitter against women who marry a second time," +he remarks,[264] "and we do not want to lead them, in consequence of +such action, to the harsh necessity, unworthy of our age, of abstaining +from a chaste second marriage and descending to illegitimate +connections." He ordained, therefore, that the law mentioned above be +annulled and that mothers should have absolutely unrestricted rights of +inheritance to a deceased child's property along with the latter's +brothers and sisters; and second marriage was never to create any +prejudice.[265] In the earlier part of his reign Justinian also forbade +husband or wife to leave one another property under the stipulation that +the surviving partner must not marry again[266]; but later, when his +zeal for reform had become more pronounced and fanatical, he revoked +this and gave the conditioned party the option either of enjoying the +property by remaining unmarried or of forfeiting it by a second +union.[267] + +[Sidenote: Breaking of engagements.] + +Constantine ordained,[268] in the year 336, that if an engagement was +broken by the death of one of the contracting parties and if the +_osculum_[269] had taken place, half of whatever donations had been +given was to be handed over to the surviving party and half to the heirs +of the deceased; but if the solemn _osculum_ had not yet taken place, +all gifts went to the heirs of the deceased. There was also a law that +if either party broke the engagement to enter monastic life, the man who +did so lost all that he had given by way of earnest money for the +marriage contract (_arrarum nomine_); if it was the woman who took the +initiative, she was compelled to return twice the amount of any sums she +had received. This was changed by Justinian, who enacted that those who +broke an engagement to enter monastic life should merely return or +receive whatever donations had been made.[270] Constantine and his +successors abrogated the old time Julian laws, which had inflicted +certain penalties--such as limited rights of inheritance--on men and +women who did not marry.[271] + +[Sidenote: Changes in the law of gifts.] + +I have already pointed out that gifts between husband and wife were +illegal and I have explained the reasons. Justinian allowed the husband +to make donations to his wife, in such wise, however, that all chance of +intent to defraud might be absent.[272] He ordained also that if husband +or wife left the married state to embrace a celibate life, each party +was to keep his or her own property as per marriage contract or as each +would legitimately in the case of the other's death.[273] If any one, +after vowing the monastic life, returned to the world, his or her goods +were forfeit to the monastery which he or she had left.[274] + +[Sidenote: Various enactments on marriage.] + +The consent of the father or, if he was dead, of near relatives was +emphatically declared necessary by the Christian emperors for a marriage +and the woman had practically no will of her own although, if several +suitors were proposed to her, she might be requested to name which one +she preferred.[275] Marriage with a Jew was treated as adultery.[276] +Women who belonged to heretical sects were to have no privileges.[277] +Justinus and Justinian abrogated the old law which forbade senators to +marry freedwomen or any woman who had herself or whose parents had +followed the stage. Actresses were now permitted, on giving up their +profession, to claim all the rights of other free women; and a senator +could marry such or even a freedwoman without prejudice.[278] + +[Sidenote: Changes in the laws of inheritance.] + +Under the old law, as we have seen, a son and a daughter had equal +rights to intestate succession; but beyond the relationship of daughter +to father or sister to brother women had no rights to intestate +succession unless there were no agnates, that is, male relatives on the +father's side. Thus, an aunt would not be called to the estate of a +nephew who died childless, but the uncle was regularly admitted. So, +too, a nephew was admitted to the intestate succession of an uncle, who +died without issue, but the niece was shut out. All this was changed by +Justinian, who gave women the same rights of inheritance as men under +such conditions.[279] If the children were unorthodox, they were to have +absolutely no share of either parent's goods.[280] + +[Sidenote: Women as guardians.] + +[Sidenote: In suits.] + +The Christian emperors permitted widows to be guardians over their +children if they promised on oath not to marry again and gave security +against fraud.[281] Justinian forbade women to act by themselves in any +legal matters.[282] + +[Sidenote: Bills of attainder.] + +Arcadius and Honorius (397 A.D.) enacted some particularly savage bills +of attainder, which were in painful contrast to the clemency of their +pagan predecessors. Those guilty of high treason were decapitated and +their goods escheated to the crown. "To the sons of such a man [i.e., +one condemned for high treason]," write these amiable Christians,[283] +"we allow their lives out of special royal mercy--for they ought really +to be put to death along with their fathers--but they are to receive no +inheritances. Let them be paupers forever; let the infamy of their +father ever follow them; they may never aspire to office; in their +lasting poverty let death be a relief and life a punishment. Finally, +any one who tries to intercede for these with us is also to be +infamous."[284] However, to the daughters of the condemned these +emperors graciously granted one fourth of their mother's but not any of +their father's goods. In the case of crimes other than high treason the +children or grandchildren were allowed one half of the estate.[285] +Constantine decreed that a wife's property was not to be affected by the +condemnation of her husband.[286] + +[Sidenote: Rape.] + +Ravishers of women, even of slaves and freedwomen, were punished by +Justinian with death; but in the case of freeborn women only did the +property of the guilty man and his abettors become forfeit to the +outraged victim. A woman no longer had the privilege of demanding her +assailant in marriage.[287] + + +SOURCES + +Roman Law as cited in Chapter I, especially the _Novellae_ of Justinian. + +NOTES: + +[249] Codex, v, 17, 8 contains this rescript in full. + +[250] Codex, v, 17, 10. + +[251] Codex, v, 17, 11. + +[252] Id. + +[253] Novellae, 22, 18. + +[254] Novellae, 140, 1: Antiquitus quidem licebat sine periculo tales +(i.e., those of incompatible temperament) ab invicem separari secundum +communem voluntatem et consensum hoc agentes, sicut et plurimae tunc +leges extarent hoc dicentes et _bona gratia_ sic procedentem solutionem +nuptiarum patria vocitantes voce. Postea vero divae memoriae nostro +patri.... legem sancivit prohibens cum consensu coniugia solvi.... Haec +igitur aliena nostris iudicantes temporibus in praesenti sacram +constituimus legem, per quam sancimus licere ut antiquitus consensu +coniugum solutiones nuptiarum fieri. + +[255] Novellae, 134, 11. + +[256] Novellae, 134, 10. + +[257] Novellae, 134, 10. + +[258] Novellae, 22 (praefatio): Antiquitas equidem non satis aliquid de +prioribus aut secundis perserutabatur nuptiis, sed licebat et patribus +et matribus et ad plures venire nuptias et lucro nullo privari, et causa +erat in simplicitate confusa. + +[259] The language of some of them is pretty strong, however--matre iam +secundis nuptiis _funestata_--Codex, v, 9, 3 (Gratian, Valentinian, +Theodosius). + +[260] For these see Codex, v, 9, 1 and 2 and 3. + +[261] Cf. Codex, v, 9, 4. Nos enim hac lege id praecipue custodiendum +esse decrevimus, ut ex quocumque coniugio suscepti filii patrum suorum +sponsalicias retineant facilitates. + +[262] Codex, vi, 56, 5. + +[263] Novellae, ii, 3: ex absurditate legis, licet praemoriantur filii +omnes, non relinquentes filios aut nepotes, nihilominus supplicium +manet, et non succedit eis mater, sed expellitur ab eorum inhumane +successione ... sed succedunt quidem illis aliqui ex longa cognatione. + +[264] Novellae, ii, 3. + +[265] Novellae ii, 3. + +[266] Codex, vi, 40, 2 and 3. + +[267] Novellae, 22, 44: unde sancimus, si quis prohibuerit ad aliud +venire matrimonium, etc. + +[268] Codex, v, 3, 16. + +[269] The _osculum_ was a sort of "donation on account of marriage" made +on the day of the formal engagement. + +[270] Codex, i, 3, 54 (56). + +[271] Codex, viii, 57 (58), I and 2. Cf. Codex, viii, 58 (59), 1 and 2. + +[272] Codex, v, 3, 10. + +[273] Codex, i, 3, 54 (56). Gregory of Tours informs us that according +to the Council of Nicaea--325 A.D.--a wife who left her husband, to whom +she was happily married, to enter a nunnery incurred excommunication. He +means probably: if she went without her husband's consent. Greg. 9, 33: +Tunc ego accedens ad monasterium canonum Nicaenorum decreta relegi, in +quibus continetur: quia si quae reliquerit virum et thorum, in quo bene +vexit, spreverit, dicens quia non sit ei portio in illa caelestis regni +gloria qui fuerit coniugio copulatus, anathema sit. (Note of editor: +Videtur esse canon 14 concilii Grangensis, quod concilium veteres +Nicaeno subiungere solebant; idque indicat titulus in veteribus +scriptis.) + +[274] Codex, i, 3, 54 (56). + +[275] Codex, v, 4, 20, and 5, 18. + +[276] Codex, i, 9, 6. + +[277] Novellae, cix, 1. + +[278] Codex, v, 4, 23 and 28. + +[279] Codex, vi, 58, 14. + +[280] Codex, i, 5, 19. + +[281] Codex, v, 35, 2 and 3. + +[282] Codex, ii, 55, 6. + +[283] Codex, ix, 8, 5. + +[284] This law was evidently lasting, for it is quoted with approval by +Pope Innocent III, in the year 1199--see Friedberg, _Corpus Iuris +Canonici_, vol. ii, p. 782. + +[285] Codex, ix, 49, 10. + +[286] Codex, v, 16, 24. + +[287] For all these enactments see Codex, i, 3, 53 (54), and ix, 13. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +WOMEN AMONG THE GERMANIC PEOPLES + + +A second world force had now come into its own. The new power was the +Germanic peoples, those wandering tribes who, after shattering the Roman +Empire, were destined to form the modern nations of Europe and to find +in Christianity the religion most admirably adapted to fill their +spiritual needs and shape their ideals. In the year 476 the barbarian +Odoacer ascended the throne of the Caesars. He still pretended to govern +by virtue of the authority delegated to him by Zeno, emperor at +Constantinople; but the rupture between East and West was becoming final +and after the reign of Justinian (527-565) it was practically complete. +Henceforth the eastern empire had little or nothing to do with western +Europe and subsisted as an independent monarchy until Constantinople was +taken by the Turks in 1453. I shall not concern myself with it any +longer. + +In western Europe, then, new races with new ideals were forming the +nations that to-day are England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and +Austria. It is interesting to note what some of these barbarians +thought about women and what place they assigned them. + +[Sidenote: Julius Caesar's account.] + +Our earliest authorities on the subject are Julius Caesar and Tacitus. +Caesar informs us[288] that among the Gauls marriage was a well +recognized institution. The husband contributed of his own goods the +same amount that his wife brought by way of dowry; the combined property +and its income were enjoyed on equal terms by husband and wife. If +husband or wife died, all the property became the possession of the +surviving partner. Yet the husband had full power of life and death over +his wife as over his children; and if, upon the decease of a noble, +there were suspicions regarding the manner of his death, his wife was +put to inquisitorial torture and was burnt at the stake when adjudged +guilty of murder. Among the Germans women seem to have been held in +somewhat greater respect. German matrons were esteemed as prophetesses +and no battle was entered upon unless they had first consulted the lots +and given assurance that the fight would be successful.[289] As for the +British, who were not a Germanic people, Caesar says that they practiced +polygamy and near relatives were accustomed to have wives in +common.[290] + +[Sidenote: The account of Tacitus.] + +Tacitus wrote a century and a half after Julius Caesar when the tribes +had become better known the Romans; hence we get from him more detailed +information. From him we learn that both the Sitones--a people of +northern Germany--and the British often bestowed the royal power on +women, a circumstance which aroused the strong contempt of Tacitus, who +was in this respect of a conservative mind.[291] The Romans had, indeed, +good reason to remember with sorrow the valiant Boadicea, queen of the +Britons.[292] Regarding the Germans Tacitus wrote a whole book in which +he idealises that nation as a contrast to the lax morality of civilised +Rome, much as Rousseau in the eighteenth century extolled the virtues of +savages in a state of nature. What Tacitus says in regard to lofty +morals we shall do well to take with a pinch of salt; but we may with +more safety trust his accuracy when he depicts national customs. From +Tacitus we learn that the Germans believed something divine resided in +women[293]; hence their respect for them as prophetesses.[294] One +Velaeda by her soothsaying ruled the tribe of Bructeri completely[295] +and was regarded as a goddess,[296] as were many others.[297] The German +warrior fought his best that he might protect and please his wife.[298] +The standard of conjugal fidelity was strict[299]; men were content with +one wife, although high nobles were sometimes allowed several wives as +an increase to the family prestige.[300] The dowry was brought not by +the wife to the husband, but to the wife by the husband--evidently a +survival of the custom of wife purchase; but the wife was accustomed to +present her husband with arms and the accoutrements of war.[301] She was +reminded that she took her husband for better and worse, to be a +faithful partner in joy and sorrow until death.[302] A woman guilty of +adultery was shorn and her husband drove her naked through the village +with blows.[303] + +[Sidenote: The written laws of the barbarians.] + +We see, then, that by no means all of these barbarian nations had the +same standards in regard to women. Of written laws there were none as +yet. But contact with the civilisation of Rome had its effect; and when +Goths, Burgundians, Franks, and Lombards had founded new states on the +ruins of the western Roman Empire, the national laws of the Germanic +tribes began to be collected and put into writing at the close of the +fifth century. Between the fifth and the ninth centuries we get the +Visigothic, Burgundian, Salic, Ripuarian, Alemannic, Lombardian, +Bavarian, Frisian, Saxon, and Thuringian law books. They are written in +medieval Latin and are not elaborated on a scientific basis. Three +distinct influences are to be seen in them: (1) native race customs, +ideals, and traditions; (2) Christianity; (3) the Roman civil law, which +was felt more or less in all, but especially in the case of the +Visigoths; as was natural, since this people had been brought into +closest touch with Rome. Inasmuch as the barbarians allowed all peoples +conquered by them to be tried under their own laws, the old Roman civil +law was still potent in all its strength in cases affecting a Roman. Let +us endeavour to glean what we can from the barbarian codes on the matter +of women's rights. + +[Sidenote: Guardianship.] + +The woman was always to be under guardianship among the Germanic peoples +and could never be independent under any conditions. Perhaps we should +rather call the power (_mundium_) wielded by father, brother, husband, +or other male relative a protectorate; for in those early days among +rude peoples any legal action might involve fighting to prove the merits +of one's case, and the woman would therefore constantly need a champion +to assert her rights in the lists. Thus the woman was under the +perpetual guardianship of a male relative and must do nothing without +his consent, under penalty of losing her property.[304] Her guardian +arranged her marriage for her as he wished, provided only that he chose +a free man for her husband[305]; if the woman, whether virgin or widow, +married without his consent, she lost all power to inherit the goods of +her relatives[306]; and her husband was forced to pay to her kin a +recompense amounting to 600 _solidi_ among the Saxons, 186 among the +Burgundians.[307] + +[Sidenote: Marriage.] + +The feeling of caste was very strong; a woman must not marry below her +station.[308] By a law of the Visigoths she who tried to marry her own +slave was to be burned alive[309]; if she attempted it with another's +bondman, she merited one hundred lashes.[310] The dowry was a fixed +institution as among the Romans; but the bridegroom regularly paid a +large sum to the father or guardian of the woman. This _wittemon_ was +regarded as the price paid for the parental authority (_mundium_) and +amounted among the Saxons to 300 _solidi_.[311] As a matter of fact this +custom practically amounted to the intended husband giving the dowry to +his future wife. The husband was also allowed to present his wife with a +donation (_morgengabe_) on the morning after the wedding; the amount +was limited by King Liutprand to not more than one fourth of all his +goods.[312] Breaking an engagement after the solemn betrothal had been +entered into was a serious business. The Visigoths refused to allow one +party to break an engagement without the consent of the other; and if a +woman, being already engaged, went over to another man without her +parent's or fiance's leave, both she and the man who took her were +handed over as slaves to the original fiance.[313] The other barbarians +were content to inflict a money fine for breach of promise.[314] + +[Sidenote: Power of the husband.] + +The woman on marrying passed into the power of her husband "according to +the Sacred Scriptures," and the husband thereupon acquired the lordship +of all her property.[315] The law still protected the wife in some ways. +The Visigoths gave the father the right of demanding and preserving for +his daughter her dowry.[316] The Ripuarians ordained that whatever the +husband had given his wife by written agreement must remain +inviolate.[317] King Liutprand made the presence of two or three of the +woman's male relatives necessary at any sale involving her goods, to see +to it that her consent to the sale had not been forced.[318] + +[Sidenote: Divorce.] + +On the subject of divorce the regulations of the several peoples are +various; but the commands of the New Testament are alike strongly felt +in all; and we may expect to find divorce limited by severe +restrictions.[319] The Burgundians allowed it only for adultery or grave +crimes, such as violating tombs. If a wife presumed to dismiss her +husband for any other cause, she was put to death (_necetur in luto_); +to a husband who sent his wife a divorce without these specific reasons +existing the law was more indulgent, allowing him to preserve his life +by paying to his injured wife twice the amount that he had originally +given her parents for her, and twelve _solidi_ in addition; and in case +he attempted to prove her guilty of one of the charges mentioned above +and she was adjudged innocent, he forfeited all his goods to her and was +forced to leave his home.[320] The Visigoths were equally strict; the +husband who dismissed his wife on insufficient legal grounds lost all +power over her and must return all her goods; his own must be preserved +for the children; if there were none, the wife acquired his property. A +woman who married a divorced man while his first wife was living, was +condemned for adultery and accordingly handed over to the first wife to +be disposed of as the latter wished; exile, stripes, and slavery were +the lot of a man who took another wife while his first partner was still +alive.[321] The Alemanni and the Bavarians, who were more remote from +Italy and hence from the Church, were influenced more by their own +customs and allowed a pecuniary recompense to take the place of the +harsher enactments.[322] + +[Sidenote: Adultery.] + +Adultery was not only a legal cause for divorce, but also a grave crime. +All the barbarian peoples are agreed in so regarding it, but their +penalties vary according as they were more or less affected by proximity +to Italy, where the power of the Church was naturally strongest. The +Ripuarians, the Bavarians, and the Alemanni preferred a money fine +ranging from fifty to two hundred _solidi_.[323] Among the Visigoths +the guilty party was usually bound over in servitude to the injured +person to be disposed of as the latter wished.[324] Sometimes the law +was harsher to women than to men; thus, according to a decree of +Liutprand,[325] a husband who told his wife to commit adultery or who +did so himself paid a mulct of fifty _solidi_ to the wife's male +relatives; but if the wife consented to or hid the deed, she was put to +death. The laws all agree that the killing of adulterers taken in the +act could not be regarded as murder. + +[Sidenote: The Church indulgent toward kings.] + +It is always to be remembered that although the statutes were severe +enough, yet during this period, as indeed throughout all history, they +were defied with impunity. Charlemagne, for example, the most Christian +monarch, had a large number of concubines and divorced a wife who did +not please him; yet his biographer Einhard, pious monk as he was, has no +word of censure for his monarch's irregularities[326]; and policy +prevented the Church from thundering at a king who so valiantly crushed +the heretics, her enemies. Bishop Gregory of Tours tells us without a +hint of being shocked that Clothacharius, King of the Franks, had many +concubines.[327] Concubinage was, in fact, the regular thing.[328] But +neither in that age, nor later in the case of Louis XIV, nor in our own +day in the case of Leopold of Belgium has the Church had a word of +reproach for monarchs who broke with impunity moral laws on which she +claims always to have insisted without compromise. + +[Sidenote: Remarriage.] + +In accordance with the commands of Scripture neither the divorced man +nor the divorced woman could marry again during the lifetime of the +other party. To do so was to commit adultery, for which the usual +penalties went into effect. + +[Sidenote: Property rights and powers.] + +A woman's property would consist of any or all of these: + +I. Her share of the property of parents or brothers and sisters. + +II. Her dowry and whatever nuptial donations (_morgengabe_) her husband +had given her, and whatever she had earned together with her husband. + +There could be no account of single women's property or disposal of what +they earned, because in the half-civilised state of things which then +obtained there was no such thing as women engaging in business; indeed, +not even men of any pretension did so; war was their work. The unmarried +woman was content to sit by the fire and spin under the guardianship +and support of a male relative. Often she would enter a convent. + +I shall first discuss the laws of inheritance as affecting women, in +order to note what property she was allowed to acquire. In this +connection it is well to bear in mind a difference between Roman and +Germanic law. The former viewed an inheritance as consisting always of a +totality of all goods, whether of money, land, movables, cattle, dress, +or what not. But among the Germanic peoples land, money, ornaments, and +the like were regarded as so many distinct articles of inheritance, to +some of which women might have legal claims of succession, but not +necessarily to all. This is most emphatically shown in the case of land. +Of all the barbarian peoples, the Ripuarians alone allowed women the +right to succeed to land.[329] Among other nations a daughter or sister +or mother, whoever happened to be the nearest heir, would get the money, +slaves, etc., but the nearest _male_ kin would get the land.[330] Only +if male kin were lacking to the fifth degree--an improbable +contingency--did alodial inheritance "pass from the lance to the +spindle."[331] In respect to all other things a daughter was co-heir +with a son to the estate of a father or mother. According to the Salic +and Ripuarian law this would be one order of succession[332]: + + I. Children of the deceased. + II. These failing, surviving mother or father +of deceased. + III. These failing, brother or sister of deceased. + IV. These failing, sister of mother of deceased. + V. These failing, sister of father of deceased. + VI. These failing, male relatives on father's side. + +It will be observed that in such a succession these laws are more +partial to women relatives than the Roman law; an aunt, for example, is +called before an uncle. An uncle would certainly exclude an aunt under +the Roman law; but most of the Germanic codes allowed them an equal +succession.[333] Nevertheless, when women did inherit under the former, +they acquired the land also. Moreover, the woman among the Germanic +nations must always be under guardianship; and whereas under the Empire +the power of the guardian was in practice reduced to nullity, as I have +shown, among the barbarians it was extremely powerful, because to assert +one's rights often involved fighting in the lists to determine the +judgment of God. It was a settled conviction among the Germanic peoples +that God would give the victory to the rightful claimant. As women could +not fight, a champion or guardian was a necessity. This was not true in +Roman courts, which preferred to settle litigation by juristic reasoning +and believed, like Napoleon, that God, when appealed to in a fight, was +generally on the side of the party who had the better artillery. + +Children inherited not only the estate but also the friendships and +enmities of their fathers, which it was their duty to take up. +Hereditary feuds were a usual thing.[334] King Liutprand ordaine[335] +however, that if a daughter alone survived, the feud was to be brought +to an end and an agreement effected. + +Some of the nations seem to have provided that children must not be +disinherited except for very strong reasons; for example, the law of the +Visigoths[336] forbids more than one third of their estate being +alienated by mother or father, grandmother or grandfather. The Alemanni +permitted a free man to leave all his property to the Church and his +heirs had no redress[337]; but the Bavarians compelled him before +entering monastic life to distribute among his children their +proportionate parts.[338] + +[Sidenote: Property of the married woman.] + +We may pass now to the property rights of the married woman. The +relation of her husband to the dowry I have already explained. The dowry +was conceived as being ultimately for the children; only when there were +no children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren did the woman have +licence to dispose of the dowry as she wished: this was the law among +the Visigoths.[339] The dowry, then, was to revert to the children or +grandchildren at the death of the wife; if there were none such, to the +parents or relatives who had given her in marriage; these failing, it +escheated to the Crown--so according to Rotharis.[340] By the laws of +the Visigoths[341] when the wife died, her husband continued in charge +of the property; but, as under the Roman law, he had to preserve it +entire for the children, though he might enjoy the usufruct. When a son +or daughter married, their father must at once give them their share of +their mother's goods, although he could still receive the income of one +third of the portion. If son or daughter did not marry, they received +one half their share on becoming twenty years of age; their father might +claim the interest of the other half while he lived; but at his death he +must leave it to them. When a woman left no children, her father or +nearest male kin usually demanded the dowry back.[342] + +When the husband died, his estate did not go to wife, but to his +children or other relatives.[343] If however, any property had been +earned by the joint labour of husband and wife, the latter had a right +to one half among the Westfalians; to one third among the Ripuarians; to +nothing among the Ostfalians.[344] Children remained in the power of +their mother if she so desired and provided she remained a widow. A +mother usually had the enjoyment of her dowry until her death, when she +must leave it to her children or to the donor or nearest relative.[345] +If the husband died without issue, some nations allowed the wife a +certain succession to her husband's goods, provided that she did not +marry again. Thus, the Burgundians gave her under such conditions one +third of her husband's estate to be left to his heirs, however, at her +death.[346] The Bavarians, too, under the same conditions allowed her +one half of her husband's goods[347] and even if there was issue, +granted her the right to the interest of as much as one child +received.[348] + +A widow who married again lost the privilege of guardianship over her +children, who thereupon passed to a male relative of the first husband. +As to the dowry of the prior union the woman must make it over at once +to her children according to some laws or, according to others, might +receive the usufruct during life and leave it to the children of the +first marriage at her death. Any right to the property of her first +husband she of course lost.[349] When there was no issue of the first +marriage then the dowry and nuptial donations could usually follow her +to a second union. + +[Sidenote: Criminal law pertaining to women.] + +Criminal law among these half civilised nations could not but be a crude +affair. Their civilisation was in a state of flux, and immediate +practical convenience was the only guide. They were content to fix the +penalties for such outrages as murder, rape, insult, assault, and the +like in money; the Visigoths alone were more stringent in a case of +rape, adding 200 lashes and slavery to the ravisher of a free woman who +had accomplished his purpose.[350] Some enactments which may well strike +us as peculiar deserve notice. For example, among the Saxons the theft +of a horse or an ox or anything worth three _solidi_ merited death; but +murder was atoned for by pecuniary damages.[351] Among the Burgundians, +if a man stole horses or cattle and his wife did not at once disclose +the deed, she and her children who were over fourteen were bound over in +slavery to the outraged party "because it hath often been ascertained, +that these women are the confederates of their husbands in crime."[352] + +The most minute regulations prevailed on the subject of injury to women. +Under the Salic law[353] for instance, if a free man struck a free women +on the fingers or hand, he had to pay fifteen _solidi_; if he struck her +arm, thirty _solidi_; if above her elbow, thirty-five _solidi_; if he +hit her breast, forty-five _solidi_. The penalties for murdering a free +woman were also elaborated on the basis of her value to the state as a +bearer of children. By the same Salic law[354] injury to a pregnant +woman resulting in her death merited a fine of seven hundred _solidi_; +but two hundred was deemed sufficient for murder of one after her time +for bearing children had passed. Similarly, for killing a free woman +after she had begun to have children the transgressor paid six hundred +_solidi_; but for murdering an unmarried freeborn girl only two hundred. +The murder of a free woman was punished usually by a fine (_wergeld_) +equal to twice the amount demanded for a free man "because," as the law +of the Bavarians has it,[355] "a woman can not defend herself with arms. +But if, in the boldness of her heart (per audaciam cordis sui), she +shall have resisted and fought like a man, there shall not be a double +penalty, but only the recompense usual for a man [160 _solidi_]." Fines +were not paid to the state, but to the injuried parties or, if these did +not survive, to the nearest kin. If the fine could not be paid, then +might death be meted to the guilty.[356] + +Another peculiar feature of the Germanic law was the appeal to God to +decide a moot point by various ordeals. For example, by the laws of the +Angles and Werini, if a woman was accused of murdering her husband, she +would ask a male relative to assert her innocence by a solemn oath[357] +or, if necessary, by fighting for her as her champion in the lists. God +was supposed to give the victory to the champion who defended an +innocent party. If she could find no champion, she was permitted to +walk barefoot over nine red-hot ploughshares[358]; and if she was +innocent, God would not, of course, allow her to suffer any injury in +the act. + +[Sidenote: Women in slavery.] + +Perhaps a word on the status of women in slavery among the Germanic +nations will not be out of place. The new nations looked upon a slave as +a chattel, much as the Romans did. If a wrong was done a slave woman, +her master received a recompense from the aggressor, but she did not, +for to hold property was denied her. But we may well believe that the +great value which the Church put on chastity and conjugal fidelity +rendered the slave woman less exposed to the brutal passions of her lord +than had been the case under the Empire. Thus, by a law of King +Liutprand, a master who committed adultery with the wife of a slave was +compelled to free both[359]; and the Visigot[360] inflicted fifty +lashes and a fine of twenty _solidi_ upon the man who used violence to +another man's slave woman. + +On comparing the position of women under Roman law and under the +Germanic nations, as we have observed them thus far, we should note +first of all that under the latter women benefited chiefly by the +insistence of the Church on the value of chastity in both sexes. That +in those days the passions of men were difficult to restrain in practice +does not invalidate the real service done the world by the ideal that +was insisted upon,[361] an ideal which was certainly not held in pagan +antiquity except by a few great minds. Although the social position of +woman was thus improved, the character of the age and the sentiments of +the Bible which I have already quoted made her status far inferior to +her condition under Roman law so far as her legal rights were concerned. +In a period[362] when the assertion of one's rights constantly demanded +fighting, the woman was forced to rely on the male to champion her; the +Church, in accordance with the dicta of the Apostles, encouraged and +indeed commanded her to confine herself to the duties of the household, +to leave legal matters to men, and to be guided by their advice; and +thus she was prevented from asserting herself out of regard for the +strong public opinion on the subject, which was quite alien to the +sentiments of the old Roman law. Henceforward also we are to have law +based on old customs and _theology_,[363] not on practical convenience +or scientific reasoning. + + +SOURCES + +I. Corpus Iuris Germanici Antiqui: edidit Ferd. Walter. +Berolini--impensis G. Reimeri, 1824. 3 vols. + +II. C. Iulii Caesaris Commentarii de Bello Gallico: recognovit Geo. +Long. Novi Eboraci apud Harperos Fratres. 1883 + +III. Cornelii Taciti libri qui supersunt: quartum recognovit Carolus +Halm. Lipsiae (Teubner), 1901. + +IV. Sancti Georgii Florentii Gregorii, Episcopi Turonensis, Historiae +Ecclesiasticae Francorum libri decem: edidit J. Guadet et N.R. Taranne. +Parisiis, apud Julium Renouard et Socios, 1838. + +V. Iordanis de Origine Actibusque Getorum: edidit Alfred Holder. +Freiburg und Tubingen; Verlagsbuchhandlung von J. C.B. Mohr. + +VI. Widukindi Rerum Gestarum Saxonicarum libri tres. Accedit libellus de +Origine Gentis Suevorum. Editio quarta: post Georgium Waitz recognovit +Karolus A. Kehr. Hannoverae et Lipsiae Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, +1904. + +VII. Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia: recognovit Jacobus Haury. +Lipsiae. (Teubner). 1905. + +VIII. Einhardi Vita Karoli Magni. Editio quinta. Post G.H. Perte +recensuit G. Waitz. Hannoverae et Lipsiae, 1905. + +IX. Pauli Historia Langobardorum: edidit Georg Waitz. Hannoverae, +impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1878. + +NOTES: + +[288] _de Bell. Gall_., vi, 19. + +[289] Id., i, 50. + +[290] Id., v, 14. + +[291] _Agricola_, 16. _Germania_, 45: Suionibus Sitonum gentes +continuantur. Cetera similes, uno differunt, quod femina dominatur; in +tantum non modo a libertate, sed etiam a servitute degenerant. No woman +ever reigned alone as queen of the Roman Empire until 450 A.D., when +Pulcheria, sister of Theodosius II, ascended the throne of the East; but +she soon took the senator Marcian in marriage and made him king. + +[292] _Agricola_, 16. + +[293] _Germania_, 8. + +[294] Procopius, _de bello Vandalico_, ii, 8, observes the same thing +among the Maurousians, or Moors, in northern Africa: [Greek: andra gar +manteuesthai en to ethnei touto ou themis, alla gunaikes sphisi katochoi +hek de tinos lerourgias ginomenai prolegousi ta esomena, ton palai +chresterion oudenos esson.] + +[295] Tacitus, _Hist_., iv, 61, and v, 24. + +[296] Id., _Germania_, 8. + +[297] Ibid., 8. + +[298] Ibid., 7. + +[299] Ibid., 17. + +[300] Ibid. + +[301] Ibid., 18. + +[302] Ibid., 18 and 19. + +[303] Ibid., 19. + +[304] Liutprand, i, 5: Si filiae aut sorores contra voluntatem patris +aut fratris egerint, potestatem habet pater aut frater iudicandi res +suas quomodo aut qualiter voluerit. + +[305] Leges Liutprandi, vi, 119: si quis filiam suam aut sororem alii +sponsare voluerit, habeat potestatem dandi cui voluerit, libero tamen +homini. Lex Wisigothorum, iii, 1, 7 and 8. + +[306] Leges Liutprandi, vi, 119. Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, x, 2: si +libera femina sine voluntate patris aut tutoris cuilibet nupserit, +perdat omnem substantiam quam habuit vel habere debuit. Reply of a +bishop quoted by Gregory of Tours, 9, 33: quia sine consilio parentum +eam coniugio copulasti, non erit uxor tua. But the law of the Visigoths +(iii, i, 8, and 2,8) merely deprived her of succession to the estate of +her parents. + +[307] Lex Saxonum, vi, 2: Si autem sine voluntate parentum, puella tamen +consentiente, ducta fuerit (uxorem ducturus) bis ccc solidos parentibus +eius componat. Lex Burgundionum: _Add_., 14. cf. Edictum Rotharis, 188: +si puella libera aut vidua sine voluntate parentum ad maritum +ambulaverit, liberum tamen, tunc maritus, qui eam acceperit uxorem, +componat pro anagrip solidos XX et propter faidam alios XX. + +[308] By a law of the Alemanni (_Tit_., 57), if two sisters were +heiresses to a father's estate and one married a vassal (_colonus_) of +the King or Church and the other became the wife of a free man equal to +her in rank, the latter only was allowed to hold her father's land, +although the rest of the goods were divided equally. + +[309] Lex Wisigothorum, iii, 2, 2. + +[310] Ibid., iii, 2, 3. + +[311] Lex Saxonum, vi, I: uxorem ducturus CCC solidos det parentibus +eius. See also the lex Burgundionum, 66, I and 2 and 3. In the case of a +widow who married again the gift of the husband was called _reiphe_ or +_reippus_ and very solemn ceremonies belonged to the giving of it +according to the Salic law, _Tit_., 47: si, ut fieri adsolet, homo +moriens viduam dimiserit et cam quis in coniugium voluerit accipere, +antequam eam accipiat Tunginus aut Centenarius Mallum indicent, et in +ipso Mallo scutum habere debet, et tres homines vel caussas mandare. Et +tunc ille, qui viduam accipere vult, cum tribus testibus qui adprobare +debent, tres solidos aeque pensantes, et denarium habere debet, etc. + +[312] Leges Liutprandi, ii, 1. + +[313] Lex Wisigothorum, iii, 1, 2 and 3, and iii, 6, 3. + +[314] E.g., 62 _solidi_ by the Salic law, _Tit_., 70. See also Lex +Baiuvariorum, _Tit_., vii, 15 and 16 and 17. Lex Alemannorum, 52, i; 53; +54. + +[315] Lex Burgundionum, _Add. primum_, xiii: quaecumque mulier Burgundia +vel Romana voluntate sua ad maritum ambulaverit, iubemus ut maritus ipse +de facultate ipsius mulieris, sicut in eam habet potestatem, ita et de +rebus suis habeat. + +Lex Wisigothorum, iv, 2, 15: Vir qui uxorem suam secundum sacram +scripturam habet in potestate, similiter et in servis suis potestatem +habebit, et omnia quae cum servis uxoris suae vel suis in expeditione +acquisivit, in sua potestate permaneant. + +[316] Lex Wisigothorum, iii, Tit. i, 6. + +[317] Lex Ripuariorum, 37, 1. + +[318] Leges Liutprandi, iv, 4. + +[319] That is, for the common people. Kings have always had a little way +of doing as they pleased. See the anecdote of King Cusupald in Paulus' +_Hist. Langobard_, i, 21: secunda autem (sc. filia Wacchonis) dicta est +Walderada, quae sociata est Cusupald, alio regi Francorum, quam ipse +odio habens uni ex suis, qui dicebatur Garipald, in coniugium tradidit. + +[320] For all this see Lex Burgundionum, 34, 1-4. + +[321] For all these, see Lex Wisigothorum, iii, 6, 1 and 2. + +[322] Capitula Addita ad Legem Alemannorum, 30. Lex Baiuvariorum, vii, +14. + +[323] Lex Ripuariorum, _Tit_., 35. Lex Baiuvariorum, vii. Lex +Alemannorum, 51, 1. + +[324] Lex Wisigothorum, iii, 6, 1 and 2, and iii, 4, 1. + +[325] Leges Liutprandi, vi, 130. + +[326] Einhard, _Vita Kar. Mag_., 17: Deinde cum matris hortatu filiam +Desiderii regis Langobardorum duxisset uxorem, incertum qua de causa, +post annum eam repudiavit et Hildigardam de gente Suaborum praecipuae +nobilitatis feminam in matrimonium duxit ... Habuit et alias tres filias +... duas de Fastrada uxore ... tertiam de concubina quadam ... defuncta +Fastrada ... tres habuit concubinas. + +[327] Gregory of Tours, 4, 3. + +[328] The concubines of Theodoric--Jordanes, _de orig. acti busque +Get._, 58. Huga, king of the Franks, had a filium quem ex concubina +genuit--Widukind, _Res Gest. Sax._, i, 9. + +[329] Lex Ripuariorum, _Til_., 48. Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, vi--_de +alodibus_, 1: hereditatem defuncti filius, non filia suscipiat. Salic +Law, _Tit_., 62: _de alodis_, 6: de terra vero Salica in mulierem nulla +portio hereditatis transit, sed hoc virilis sexus adquirat, hoc est, +filii in ipsa hereditate succedunt. Lex Saxonum, vii, 1: Pater aut mater +defuncti filio, non filiae hereditatem relinquit. + +[330] Cf. Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, vi: _de alodibus_. + +[331] Ibid., vi, 8: post quintam autem (sc. generationem) filia ex toto, +sive de patris sive de matris parte, in hereditatem succedat, et tunc +demum hereditas ad fusum a lancea transeat. + +[332] Lex Salica, _Tit._, 62. Lex Ripuariorum, _Tit._, 56. + +[333] Cf. Lex Wisigothorum, iv, 2, 7 and 9. + +[334] Tacitus, _Germania_, 21. + +[335] Legis Liutprandi, ii, 7. + +[336] Lex Wisigothorum, iv, 5, I. + +[337] Lex Alemannorum, _Tit._, i. + +[338] Lex Baiuvariorum, _Tit._, i. + +[339] Lex Wisigothorum, iv, 2, 20. + +[340] Edictum Rotharis, i, 121. + +[341] Lex Wisigothorum, iv, 2, 13. + +[342] Cf. Capitula addita ad legem Alemannorum, 29. Lex Saxonum, viii, +2. + +[343] Cf. lex Wisigothorum, iv, 2, 11: maritus et uxor tunc sibi +hereditario iure succedant, quando mulla affinitas usque ad septimum +gradum de propinquis eorum vel parentibus inveniri poterit. See also Lex +Burgundionum, 14, 1. + +[344] Lex Saxonum, ix. Lex Ripuariorum, 37, 2. + +[345] Lex Saxonum, viii. Lex Wisigothorum, iv, 3, 3. Lex Burgundionum +85, 1, and 62, 1. + +[346] Lex Burgundionum, 42, 1; 62, 1; 74, 1. + +[347] Lex Baiuvariorum, xiv, 9, 1. + +[348] Ibid., xiv, 6. + +[349] For all this, see Lex Burgundionum, 24 and 62 and 74. Lex +Wisigothorum, iv, Tit. 3. Lex Baiuvariorum, 14. Lex Alemannorum, 55 and +56. + +[350] Lex Wisigothorum, iii, 3, 1. + +[351] Lex Saxonum, iv. In the early days when the Great West of the +United States was just being opened up and when society there was in a +very crude state, a horse thief was regularly hanged; but murder was +hardly a fault. + +[352] Lex Burgundionum, 47, 1 and 2. The guilty man was put to death. + +[353] Lex Salica, _Tit._, 23. + +[354] Id, _Tit._, 28. + +[355] Lex Baiuvariorum, _Tit._, xiii, 2. + +[356] Cf. lex Salica, _Tit._, 61--a very curious account of formalities +to be observed in such a case. + +[357] It was deemed sufficient for a male relative, say, the father, to +assert the innocence of the woman under solemn oath: for it was thought +that he would be unwilling to do this if he knew the woman was guilty +and so incur eternal Hell-fire as a punishment for perjury. An example +of this solemn ceremony is told interestingly by Gregory of Tours, 5, +33. A woman at Paris was charged by her husband's relatives with +adultery and was demanded to be put to death. Her father took a solemn +oath that she was innocent. Far from being content with this, the +husband's kin began a fight and the matter ended in a wholesale butchery +at the church of St. Dionysius. + +[358] Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, xiv: aut si campionem non habuerit, +ipsa ad novem vomeres ignitos examinanda mittatur. + +[359] Leges Liutprandi, vi, 140. + +[360] Lex Wisigothorum, iii, 4, 16. + +[361] See the interesting story of the girl who slew Duke Amalo, as +narrated by Gregory of Tours, 9, 27. + +[362] The bloody nature of the times is depicted naively by Gregory, +Bishop of Tours, who wrote the history of the Franks. See, e.g., the +stories of Ingeltrudis, Rigunthis, Waddo, Amalo, etc., in Book 9. +Gregory was born in 539. + +[363] _Corpus Iuris Canonici_ (Friedberg), vol. i, p. 1, _Distinctio +Prima_: ius naturae est quod in lege et _evangelio_ continetur. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DIGRESSION OF THE LATER HISTORY OF ROMAN LAW + + +With Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor by the Pope in the year 800, +began the definite union of Church and State and the Church's temporal +power. Henceforth for seven centuries, until the Reformation, we shall +have to reckon with canon law as a supreme force in determining the +question of the position of women. A brief survey of the later history +of the old Roman Law will not be out of place in order to note what +influence, if any, it continued to exert down the ages. + +The body of the Roman law, compiled by order of Justinian (527-565 +A.D.), was intended primarily for the eastern empire; but when, in the +year 535, the Emperor conquered the western Goths, who then ruled Italy, +he ordered his laws taught in the school of jurisprudence at Rome and +practiced in the courts. I have already remarked that the barbarians who +overran Italy allowed the vanquished the right to be judged in most +cases by their own code. But the splendid fabric of the Roman law was +too elaborate a system to win the attentive study of a rude people; the +Church had its own canons, the people their own ancestral customs; and +until the twelfth century no development of the Roman Civil Code took +place. Finally, during the twelfth century, the great school at Bologna +renewed the study with vigour, and Italy at the present day derives the +basic principles of its civil law from the Corpus of Justinian. +Practically the same story holds true of France,[364] of Spain, and of +the Netherlands, all of whom have been influenced particularly by the +great jurists of the sixteenth century who were simply carrying further +the torch that had been lit so enthusiastically at Bologna in the +twelfth century. + +As to Germany,[365] when that unhappy country had been separated from +France and Italy after the Treaty of Verdun in 843, Carlovingian law and +the ancient German law books fell into disuse. The law again rested on +unwritten customs, on the decisions of the judges and their assessors, +and on agreements of the interested parties (feudal services and +tenures). Not till the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was any record +made of the rules of law which had arisen; many laws of cities on +various matters and in various provinces were recorded by public +authority; and thus originated the so-called law books of the Middle +Ages, the private labours of experienced men, who set forth the legal +principles which were recognised in all Germany, or at least in certain +parts of it. There were no law schools as yet, and scientific +compilation of German law was not even thought of. After the University +of Bologna had revived the study of Roman law in Italy, the Italian +universities attracted the German youth, who on their return would +labour to introduce what they had learned. Their efforts were seconded +by the clergy, through the close connection with canon law which was in +force in Germany. German emperors and territorial lords also favoured +Roman law because they saw how well suited it was to absolutism; they +liked to engage jurists trained in Italy, especially if they were +doctors of both canon and Roman law. Nor did the German people object. +From the fourteenth century many schools of jurisprudence were +established on Italian models. + +At present, the law of Justinian has only such force as is received by +usage or as it has acquired by recognition. I. The Roman law forms in +Germany the principal law in some branches, that is, it is in so far its +basis that the German law is only an addition or modification of it. In +other branches it is only supplementary, that is, it is merely +subsidiary to the German law. II. Only the glossed parts and passages of +Justinian's law collection have binding force in Germany. + +III. Only those glossed passages are binding which contain the latest +rule of law. Consequently the historical materials contained in them, +though always of great importance for discovering the latest law, have +not binding force. IV. Those precepts of the Roman law which relate to +Roman manners and institutions unknown in Germany are inapplicable here, +though glossed. V. The Roman law has but slight application to such +objects and transactions as were unknown to the Romans and are of purely +Germanic origin. VI. With the limitations above enumerated the Roman law +has been adopted as a whole and not in detached parts. + +In England Roman law has had practically no effect. In the year 1149 a +Lombard jurist, Vacarius, lectured on it at Oxford; but there were no +results. Canon law is, of course, a force to be reckoned with in Britain +as on the Continent. + +Before we enter the question of women's rights during the Middle Ages, +we must take a general survey of the character of that period; for +obviously we cannot understand its legislation without some idea of the +background of social, political, and intellectual life. In the first +place, then, the Church was everywhere triumphant and its ideals +governed legislation completely on such matters as marriage. The civil +law of Rome, as drawn up first by the epitomisers and later studied more +carefully at Bologna, served to indicate general principles in cases to +which canon law did not apply; but there was little jurisdiction in +which the powers ecclesiastical could not contrive to take a hand. At +the same time Germanic ideals and customs continued a powerful force. +For a long time after the partition of the vast empire of Charlemagne +government was in a state of chaos and transition from which eventually +the various distinct states arose. A struggle between kings and nobles +for supremacy dragged along for many generations; and as during that +contest each feudal lord was master in his own domain, there was no +consistent code of laws for all countries or, indeed, for the same +country. Yet the character of the age determined in a general way the +spirit that dictated all laws. Society rested on a military and +aristocratic basis, and when the ability to wield arms is essential to +maintain one's rights, the position of women will be affected by that +fact. Beginning with the twelfth century city life began to exert a +political influence; and this, again, did not fail to have an effect on +the status of women. Of any participation of women in intellectual life +there could be no question until the Renaissance, although we do meet +here and there with isolated exceptions, a few ladies of high degree +like Roswitha of Gandersheim and Hadwig, Duchess of Swabia, niece of +Otto the Great, and Heloise. The learning was exclusively scholastic, +and from any share in that women were barred. When people are kept in +ignorance, there is less inducement for them to believe that they have +any rights or to assert them if they do think so. + +We shall do well to bear in mind, in noting the laws relative to women, +that theory is one thing and practice quite another. Hence, although the +doctrines of the Church on various matters touching the female sex were +characterised by the greatest purity, we shall see that in practice they +were not strictly executed. Religion does in fact play a less +considerable part in regulating the daily acts of men than theologians +are inclined to believe. If anything proves this, it is the history of +that foulest stain on Christian nations--prostitution. We might expect +that since the Roman Catholic Church insists so on chastity the level of +this virtue would certainly be higher in countries which are almost +exclusively Catholic, like Spain and Italy, than in Protestant lands; +but no one who has ever travelled in Spain or Italy fails to recognise +that the conduct of men is as lamentably low in these as in England, +Germany, or the United States. + +With this brief introduction I shall proceed next to explain the +position of women under the canon law, a code which affected all +countries of Europe equally until the Reformation; and in connection +with this I shall give some idea of the attitude of the Roman Catholic +Church towards women and women's rights at the present day. + +NOTES: + +[364] French customary law began to be written in the thirteenth century +and was greatly affected by the Roman law. + +[365] The succeeding paragraphs are a summary of the account by the +learned Professor Mackeldey, who has investigated Roman law with the +most minute diligence. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CANON LAW AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH + + +[Sidenote: The canon law reaffirms the subjection of women.] + +The canon law reaffirms woman's subjection to man in no uncertain terms. +The wife must be submissive and obedient to her husband.[366] She must +never, under penalty of excommunication, cut off her hair, because "God +has given it to her as a veil and as a sign of her subjection."[367] A +woman who assumed men's garments was accursed[368]; it will be +remembered that the breaking of this law was one of the charges which +brought Joan of Arc to the stake. However learned and holy, woman must +never presume to teach men publicly.[369] She was not allowed to bring a +criminal action except in cases of high treason or to avenge the death +of near relatives.[370] Parents could dedicate a daughter to God while +she was yet an infant; and this parental vow bound her to the nunnery +when she was mature, whether she was willing or not.[371] Virgins or +widows who had once consecrated themselves to God might not marry under +pain of excommunication.[372] Parents could not prevent a daughter from +taking vows, if she so wished, after she had attained the age of +twelve.[373] + +[Sidenote: Woman and marriage under canon law.] + +The most important effect of the canon law was on marriage, which was +now a sacrament and had its sanction not in the laws of men, but in the +express decrees of God. Hence even engagements acquired a sacred +character unknown to the Roman law; and when a betrothal had once been +entered into, it could be broken only in case one or both of the +contracting parties desired to enter a monastery.[374] Free consent of +both man and woman was necessary for matrimony.[375] There must also be +a dowry and a public ceremony.[376] The legitimate wife is thus +defined[377]: "A chaste virgin, betrothed in chastity, dowered according +to law, given to her betrothed by her parents, and received from the +hands of the bridesmaids (_a paranimphis accipienda_); she is to be +taken according to the laws and the Gospel and the marriage ceremony +must be public; all the days of her life--unless by consent for brief +periods to devote to worship--she is never to be separated from her +husband; for the cause of adultery she is to be dismissed, but while she +lives her husband may marry no other." The blessing of the priest was +necessary. About every form connected with the marriage service the +Church threw its halo of mystery and symbol to emphasise the sacred +character of the union. Thus[378]: "Women are veiled during the marriage +ceremony for this reason, that they may know they are lowly and in +subjection to their husbands.... A ring is given by the bridegroom to +his betrothed either as a sign of mutual love or rather that their +hearts may be bound together by this pledge. For this reason, too, the +ring is worn on the fourth finger, because there is a certain vein in +that finger which they say reaches to the heart." + +[Sidenote: Clandestine marriages.] + +Clandestine marriages were forbidden,[379] but the Church always +presumed everything it could in favour of marriage and its +indissolubility. Thus, Gratian remarks[380]: "Clandestine marriages are, +to be sure, contrary to law; nevertheless, they can not be dissolved." +The reason for forbidding them was perfectly reasonable: one party might +change his or her mind and there would be no positive proof that a +marriage had taken place, so that a grave injury might be inflicted on +an innocent partner by an unscrupulous one who desired to dissolve the +union.[381] Yet the marriage by consent alone without any of the +ceremonies or the blessing of the priest was perfectly valid, though not +"according to law" (_legitimum_), and could not be dissolved.[382] Not +until the great Council of Trent in 1563 was this changed. At that time +all marriages were declared invalid unless they had been contracted in +the presence of a priest and two or three witnesses.[383] + +[Sidenote: Protection to women.] + +The Church is seen in its fairest light in its provisions to protect the +wife from sexual brutality on the part of her husband, and it deserves +high praise for its stand on such matters.[384] Various other laws show +the same regard for the interests of women. A man who was entering +priestly office could not cast off his wife and leave her destitute, but +must provide living and raiment for her.[385] Neither husband nor wife +could embrace the celibate life nor devote themselves to continence +without the consent of the other.[386] A man who cohabited with a woman +as his concubine, even though she was of servile condition or +questionable character, could not dismiss her and marry another saving +for adultery.[387] Slaves were now allowed to contract marriages and +masters were not permitted to dissolve them.[388] + +[Sidenote: Divorce.] + +It has always been and still is the boast of the Roman Catholic Church +that it has been the supreme protector of women on account of its stand +on divorce. Says Cardinal Gibbons[389]: "Christian wives and mothers, +what gratitude you owe to the Catholic Church for the honorable position +you now hold in society! If you are no longer regarded as the slave, but +the equal, of your husbands; if you are no longer the toy of his +caprice, and liable to be discarded at any moment; but if you are +recognised as the mistress and queen of your household, you owe your +emancipation to the Church. You are especially indebted for your liberty +to the Popes who rose up in all the majesty of their spiritual power to +vindicate the rights of injured wives against the lustful tyranny of +their husbands." In view of such a claim I may be justified in entering +a somewhat more detailed account of this subject. + +On the subject of divorce the Roman Catholic Church took the decided +position which it continues to maintain at the present day. Marriage +when entered upon under all the conditions demanded by the Church for a +valid union is indissoluble.[390] A separation "from bed and board" +(_quoad thorum seu quoad cohabitationem_) is allowed for various causes, +such as excessive cruelty, for a determinate or an indeterminate period; +but there is no absolute divorce even for adultery. For this cause a +separation may, indeed, take place, but the bond of matrimony is not +dissolved thereby and neither the innocent nor the guilty party may +marry again during the lifetime of the other partner. + +All this seems very rigorous. It is true that the Roman Catholic Church +does not permit "divorce." But it allows fourteen cases where a marriage +can be declared absolutely null and void, as if it had never existed; +and in these cases the man or woman may marry again. To say that the +Roman Church does not allow divorce is, therefore, playing upon words. +The instruments used to render its strict theory ineffective are +"diriment impediments" and "dispensations." + +By the doctrine of "diriment impediments" the Pope or a duly constituted +representative can declare that a marriage has been null and void from +the very beginning because of some impediment defined in the canon law. +Canon IV of the twenty-fourth session of the Council of Trent +anathematises anyone who shall say that the Church cannot constitute +impediments dissolving marriage, or that she has erred in constituting +them. The impediments which can annul marriage are described in the +official Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. vii, pages 697-698. Among them are +impuberty and impotency. Then there is "disparity of worship," which +renders void the marriage of a Christian--that is, a Roman Catholic, +with an infidel,--that is, one who is unbaptised. Marriage of a Roman +Catholic with a baptised non-Catholic constitutes a "relative" +impediment and needs a special dispensation and provisoes, such as a +guarantee to bring up the children in the Roman faith to give it +validity. Another impediment is based on the presumption of want of +consent, "the nullity being caused by a defect of consent." "This +defect," says the Catholic Encyclopedia, "may arise from the intellect +or the will; hence we have two classes. Arising from the intellect we +have: insanity; and total ignorance, even if in confuso of what marriage +is (this ignorance, however, is not presumed to exist after the age of +puberty has been reached); and lastly error, where the consent is not +given to what was not intended. Arising from the will, a defect of +consent may be caused through deceit or dissimulation, when one +expresses exteriorly a consent that does not really exist; or from +constraint imposed by an unjust external force, which causes the consent +not to be free." Consanguinity and affinity are diriment impediments. +Consanguinity "prohibits all marriages in the direct ascending or +descending line in infinitum, and in the collateral line to the fourth +degree or fourth generation." Affinity "establishes a bond of +relationship between each of the married parties and the blood relations +of the other, and forbids marriage between them to the fourth degree. +Such is the case when the marriage springs from conjugal relations; but +as canon law considers affinity to spring also from illicit intercourse, +there is an illicit affinity which annuls marriage to the second degree +only." Then there is "spiritual relationship"; for example, the marriage +of one who stood as sponsor in confirmation with a parent of the child +is null and void. + +Under the canon law, even more resources are open for the man who is +tired of his wife; by the doctrine, namely, of "spiritual fornication." +Adultery is, of course, recognised as the cause that admits a +separation. But the canon law remarks that idolatry and all harmful +superstition--by which is meant any doctrine that does not agree with +that of the Church--is fornication; that avarice is also idolatry and +hence fornication; that in fact no vice can be separated from idolatry +and hence all vices can be classed as fornication; so that if a husband +only tried a little bit, he could without much trouble find some "vice" +in his wife that would entitle him to a separation.[391] + +When all these fail, recourse can be had to a dispensation. The Church +reserves the right to give dispensations for all impediments. Canon III +of the twenty-fourth session of Trent says: "If anyone shall say, that +only those degrees of consanguinity and affinity which are set down in +_Leviticus_ [xviii, 6 ff.] can hinder matrimony from being contracted, +and dissolve it when contracted; and that the Church can not dispense in +some of those degrees, or ordain that others may hinder and dissolve it; +let him be anathema." + +[Sidenote: Inheritance] + +The minute and far-fetched subtleties which the Roman Church has +employed in the interpretation of these relationships make escape from +the marital tie feasible for the man who is eager to disencumber himself +of his life's partner. The man of limited means will have a hard time of +it. The great and wealthy have been able at all periods, by working one +or more of these doctrines, to reduce the theory of the Roman Church to +nullity in practice. Napoleon had his marriage to Josephine annulled on +the ground that he had never intended to enter into a religious marriage +with her, although the day before the ceremony he had had the union +secretly blessed by Cardinal Fesch. On the basis of this avowed lack of +intent, his marriage with Josephine was declared null and void, and he +was free to marry Louisa. A plea along the same lines is being worked by +the Count de Castellane now. Louis XII, having fallen in love with Anne +of Brittany, suddenly discovered that his wife was his fourth cousin, +that she was deformed, and that her father had been his godfather; and +for this the Pope gave him a dispensation and his legitimate wife was +sent away. The Pope did not thunder against Louis XIV for committing +adultery with women like Louise de la Valliere and Madame de Montespan. +It is certainly true that in the case of Philip Augustus of France and +Henry VIII of England the Pope did protect injured wives; but both these +monarchs were questioning the Vatican's autocracy. The matrimonial +relations of John of England, Philip's contemporary, were more corrupt +than those of the French king; but, while the Pope chastised John for +his defiance of his political autonomy, he did not excommunicate him on +any ground of morality. The statement of Cardinal Gibbons is not +entirely in accordance with history; he does not take all facts into +consideration, as is also true of his complacent assumption that outside +of the Roman Church no economic forces and no individuals have had any +effect in elevating the moral and economic status of women. + +Questions such as those of inheritance belong properly to civil law; +but the canon law claimed to be heard in any case into which any +spiritual interest could be foisted. Thus in the year 1199 Innocent III +enacted that children of heretics be deprived of all their offending +parents' goods "since in many cases even according to divine decree +children are punished in this world on account of their parents."[392] + +[Sidenote: General attitude towards women at the present day] + +The attitude of the Roman Catholic Church towards women's rights at the +present day is practically the same as it has been for eighteen +centuries. It still insists on the subjection of the woman to the man, +and it is bitterly hostile to woman suffrage. This position is so well +illustrated by an article of the Rev. David Barry in the Roman Catholic +paper, the Dublin _Irish Ecclesiastical Review_, that I cannot do better +than quote some of it. "It seems plain enough," he says, "that allowing +women the right of suffrage is incompatible with the high Catholic ideal +of the unity of domestic life. Even those who do not hold the high and +rigid ideal of the unity of the family that the Catholic Church clings +to must recognise some authority in the family, as in every other +society. Is this authority the conjoint privilege of husband and wife? +If so, which of them is to yield, if a difference of opinion arises? +Surely the most uncompromising suffragette must admit that the wife +ought to give way in such a case. That is to say, every one will admit +that the wife's domestic authority is subordinate to that of her +husband. But is she to be accorded an autonomy in outside affairs that +is denied her in the home? Her authority is subject to her husband's in +domestic matters--her special sphere; is it to be considered co-ordinate +with his in regulating the affairs of the State? Furthermore, there is +an argument that applies universally, even in the case of those women +who are not subject to the care and protection of a husband, and even, I +do not hesitate to say, where the matters to be decided on would come +specially within their cognisance, and where their judgment would, +therefore, be more reliable than that of men. It is this, that in the +noise and turmoil of party politics, or in the narrow, but rancorous +arena of local factions, it must needs fare ill with what may be called +the passive virtues of humility, patience, meekness, forbearance, and +self-repression. These are looked on by the Church as the special +prerogative and endowment of the female soul ... But these virtues would +soon become sullied and tarnished in the dust and turmoil of a contested +election; and their absence would soon be disagreeably in evidence in +the character of women, who are, at the same time, almost +constitutionally debarred from preeminence in the more robust virtues +for which the soul of man is specially adapted." + +Cardinal Gibbons, in a letter to the National League for the Civic +Education of Women--an anti-suffrage organisation--said that "woman +suffrage, if realised, would be the death-blow of domestic life and +happiness" (Nov. 2, 1909). + +Rev. William Humphrey, S.J., in his _Christian Marriage_, chap. 16, +remarks that woman is "the subordinate equal of man"--whatever that +means. + +A few Roman Catholic prelates, like Cardinal Moran, have advocated equal +suffrage, but they are in the minority. The Pope has not yet definitely +stated the position of the Church; individual Catholics are free to take +any side they wish, as it is not a matter of faith; but the tendency of +Roman Catholicism is against votes for women. + + + +SOURCES + +I. Corpus Iuris Canonici: recognovit Aemilius Friedberg. Lipsiae +(Tauchnitz) Pars Prior, 1879. Pars Secunda, 1881. + +II. Sacrosanctum Concilium Tridentinum, additis Declarationibus +Cardinalium, Concilii Interpretum, ex ultima recognitione Joannis +Gallemart, etc. Coloniae Agrippinae, apud Franciscum Metternich, +Bibliopolam. MDCCXXVII. + +III. The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, Robert Appleton Company. +(Published with the _Imprimatur_ of Archbishop Parley.) + +IV. Various articles by Catholic prelates, due references to which are +given as they occur. + +NOTES: + +[366] Augustine quoted by Gratian, _Causa_, 33, _Quaest_. 5, chapters +12-16--Friedberg, i, pp. 1254, 1255. Ambrose and Jerome on the same +matter, ibid., _c_. 15 and 17, Friedberg, i, p. 1255. Gratian, _Causa_ +30, _Quaest_. 5, _c_. 7--Friedberg, i, p. 1106: Feminae dum maritantur, +ideo velantur, ut noverint se semper viris suis subditas esse et +humiles. + +[367] Gratian, _Distinctio_, 30, _c_. 2--Friedberg, i, p. 107: Quecumque +mulier, religioni iudicans convenire, comam sibi amputaverit quam Deus +ad velamen eius et ad memoriam subiectionis illi dedit, tanquam +resolvens ius subiectionis, anathema sit. Cf. Gratian, _Causa_, 15, +_Quaest_. 3--Friedberg, i, p. 750. + +[368] Gratian, _Dist_., 30, _c_. 6, Friedberg, i, p. 108. See also +_Deuteronomy_ xxii, 5. + +[369] Gratian, _Dist_., 23, _c_. 29--Friedberg, i, p. 86: Mulier, +quamvis docta et sancta, viros in conventu docere non praesumat. + +[370] Id., _Causa_, 15, _Quaest_. 3--Friedberg, i, p. 750. + +[371] Id., _Causa_, 20, _Quaest_. 1, _c_. 2--Friedberg, i, pp. 843-844, +quoting Gregory to Augustine, the Bishop of the Angles: Addidistis +adhuc, quod si pater vel mater filium filiamve intra septa monasterii in +infantiae annis sub regulari tradiderunt disciplina, utrum liceat eis, +postquam ad pubertatis inoleverint annos, egredi, et matrimonio +copulari. Hoe omnino devitamus, quia nefas est ut oblatis a parentibus +Deo filiis voluptatis frena relaxentur. Id., _c_. 4--Fried., i, p. 844: +quoting Isidore--quicumque a parentibus propriis in monasterio fuerit +delegatus, noverit se ibi perpetuo mansurum. Nam Anna Samuel puerum suum +natum et ablactatum Deo pietate obtulit. Id., _c_. 7--Fried., i, pp. +844-845. + +[372] Gratian, _Dist_., 27, _c_. 4 et 9, and _Dist_., 28, _c_. +12--Friedberg, i, pp. 99 and 104. Id., _Causa_, 27, _Quaest_. 1, _c_. 1 +and 7--Friedberg, i, pp. 1047 and 1O50. + +[373] Gratian, _Causa_, 20, _Quaest_. 2, _c_. 2--Friedberg, i, pp. +847-848. + +[374] Cf. Council of Trent, Session 24, "On the Sacrament of Matrimony," +_Canon_ 6: "If anyone shall say that matrimony contracted but not +consummated is not dissolved by the solemn profession of religion by one +of the parties married: let him be anathema." + +Gratian, _Causa_, 27, _Quaest_. ii, _c_. 28--Fried., i, p. 1071. Id., +_c_. 46, 47, 50, 51--Fried., i, pp. 1076, 1077, 1078. + +[375] Gratian, _Causa_, 30, _Quaest_. 2--Fried., i, p. 1100: Ubi non est +consensus utriusque, non est coniugium. Ergo qui pueris dant puellas in +cunabulis et e converso, nihil faciunt, nisi uterque puerorum postquam +venerit ad tempus discretionis consentiat, etiamsi pater et mater hoc +fecerint et voluerint. Id. _Causa_, 31, _Quaest_. 2--Fried., i, +1112-1114: sine libera voluntate nulla est copulanda alicui. + +[376] Gratian, _Causa_, 30, _Quaest_. 5, _c_. 6--Friedberg, i, p. 1106: +Nullum sine dote fiat coniugium; iuxta possibilitatem fiat dos, nee sine +publicis nuptiis quisquam nubere vel uxorem ducere praesumat. + +[377] Gratian, _Causa_, 30, _Quaest_. 5, _c_. 4--Friedberg, i, p. 1105. + +[378] Gratian, _Causa_, 30, _Quaest_. 5, _c_. 7--Friedberg, i, p. 1106. + +[379] Id., _c_. 1--Friedberg, i, p. 1104. + +[380] Id., _c_. 8--Friedberg, i, p. 1107. + +[381] Gratian, _Causa_, 30, _Quaest_. 5, _c_. 9--Friedberg, i, p. 1107. + +[382] Gratian, _Causa, 28, _Quaest_. i, _c_. 17--Friedberg, i, p. 1089: +illorum vero coniugia, qui contemptis omnibus illis solempnitatibus solo +affectu aliquam sibi in coniugem copulant, huiuscemodi coniugium non +legitimum, sed ratum tantummodo esse creditur. + +[383] Sessio xxiv, cap. i--De Reformatione Matrimonii. + +[384] See Gratian, _Dist_., v, _c_. 4--Friedberg, i, p. 8, e.g., ... ita +ut morte lex sacra feriat, si quis vir ad menstruam mulierem accedat. + +[385] Gratian, _Dist_., 31, _c_. 11--Friedberg, i, p. 114. + +[386] Gratian, _Causa_, 27, _Quaest_. 2, _c_. 18-22, and +24-26--Friedberg i, pp. 1067-1070. + +[387] Gratian, _Dist_., 34, c. 4--Friedberg, i, p. 126. Id., _Causa_, +29, _Quaest_. 1--Friedberg, i, p. 1092. Id., _Causa_, 29, _Quaest_. 2, +c. 2. + +[388] Id., _Causa_, 29, _Quaest_. 2, c. 1 and 8. + +[389] "Divorce," by James Cardinal Gibbons, in the _Century_, May, 1909. + +[390] For this and what immediately follows see _Session_ 24 of the +Council of Trent "On the Sacrament of Matrimony" and also the Catholic +Encyclopedia under "Divorce." + +[391] Gratian, _Causa_ 28, _Quaest_. i, c. 5--Friedberg, i, pp. +1080-1081. Licite dimittitur uxor que virum suum cogere querit ad malum. +Idolatria, quam secuntur infideles, et quelibet noxia superstitio +fornicatio est. Dominus autem permisit causa fornicationis uxorem +dimitti. Sed quia dimisit et non iussit, dedit Apostolo locum monendi, +ut qui voluerit non dimittat uxorem infidelem, quo sic fortassis possit +fidelis fieri. Si infidelitas fornicatio est, et idolatria infidelitas, +et avaritia idolatria, non est dubitandum et avaritiam fornicationem +esse. Quis ergo iam quamlibet illicitam concupiscentiam potest recte a +fornicationis genere separate, si avaritia fornicatio est? + +[392] Friedberg, ii, pp. 782 and 783: Quum enim secundum legitimas +sanctiones, etc. + +Lea, in his _History of Confession and Indulgences_, ii, p. 87, quotes +Zanchini, _Tract. de Haeret., cap. 33_, to the effect that goods of a +heretic were confiscated and disabilities inflicted on two generations +of descendants. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +HISTORY OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN ENGLAND + + +Since I have now given a brief summary of the canon law, which until the +Reformation marked the general principles that guided the laws of all +Europe on the subject of women, I propose next to consider more +particularly the history of women's rights in England; for the +institutions of England, being the basis of our own, will necessarily be +more pertinent to us than those of Continental countries, to which I +shall not devote more than a passing comment here and there. My inquiry +will naturally fall into certain well-defined parts. The status of the +unmarried woman is different from that of her married sister and will, +accordingly, demand separate consideration. The rights of women, again, +are to be viewed both from the legal and the social standpoint. Their +legal rights include those of a private nature, such as the disposal of +property, and public rights, such as suffrage, sitting on a jury, or +holding office. Under social rights are included the right to an +education, to earn a living, and the like. Let us glance first at the +history of the legal rights of single women. + +[Sidenote: Single women: Pollock and Maitland i, pp. 482-485.] + +From very early times the law has continued to put the single woman of +mature age on practically a par with men so far as private single rights +are concerned. She could hold land, make a will or contract, could sue +and be sued, all of her own initiative; she needed no guardian. She +could herself, if a widow, be guardian of her own children. + +[Sidenote: Pollock and Maitland, ii, 260-313. Blackstone, ii, ch. 13.] + +In the case of inheritance, however, women have to within extremely +recent times been treated less generously than men. The male sex has +been preferred in an inheritance; males excluded females of equal +degree; or, in the words of Blackstone: "In collateral inheritances the +male stock shall be preferred to the female; that is, kindred derived +from the blood of the male ancestors, however remote, shall be admitted +before those from the blood of the female, however near; unless where +the lands have, in fact, descended from a female. Thus the relations on +the father's side are admitted _in infinitum_ before those on the +mother's side are admitted at all." Blackstone justly remarks that this +harsh enactment of the laws of England was quite unknown to the Roman +law "wherein brethren and sisters were allowed to succeed to equal +portions of the inheritance." As an example, suppose we look for the +heir of John Stiles, deceased. The order of succession would be: + +I. The eldest son, Matthew Stiles, or his issue. + +II. If his line is extinct, then Gilbert Stiles and the other sons, +respectively, in order of birth, or their issue. + +III. In default of these, all the daughters together, Margarite and +Charlotte Stiles, or their issue. + +IV. On the failure of the descendants of John Stiles himself, the issue +of Geoffrey and Lucy Stiles, his parents, is called in, viz.: first, +Francis Stiles, the eldest brother of the whole blood, or his issue. + +V. Then Oliver Stiles, and the other whole brothers, respectively, in +order of birth, or their issue. + +VI. Then the sisters of the whole blood all together, Bridget and Alice +Stiles, or their issue. + +And so on. It will be noted that females of equal degree inherited +together; and that a daughter excluded a brother of the dead man. Men +themselves, if younger sons, have suffered what seems to us a grave +injustice in the prevalence of the right of primogeniture, whereby, if +there are two or more males in equal degree, the eldest only can +inherit. This law might work for the benefit of certain females; thus, +the daughter, granddaughter, or great-granddaughter of an eldest son +will succeed before the younger son. + +To public rights, such as sitting on a jury[393] or holding offices of +state, women never were admitted; that is a question that has become +prominent only in the twentieth century and will demand consideration in +its proper place. + +[Sidenote: Power of Parents.] + +Unlike the Roman law, English law allows parents to disinherit children +completely, if they so desire, without being under any compulsion to +leave them a part of their goods. As to legal power over children, the +mother, as such, is entitled to none, says Blackstone,[394] but only to +reverence and respect. Now, however, by the statute 2 and 3 Vict., c. +54, commonly called _Talfourd's Act_, an order may be made on petition +to the court of chancery giving mothers access to their children and, if +such children are within the age of seven years, for delivery of them to +their mother until they attain that age. But no woman who has been +convicted of adultery is entitled to the benefit of the act. The father +has legal power up to the time when his children come of age; then it +ceases. Until that time, his consent is necessary to a valid marriage; +he may receive the profit of a child's estate, but only as guardian or +trustee, and must render an account when the child attains his majority; +and he may have the benefit of his children's labour while they live +with him. + +[Sidenote: Husband and wife. Pollock and Maitland, ii, 399-436. +Blackstone, i, ch 15. Bryce, pp. 818-830.] + +We are ready now to observe the status of women in marriage. The +question of their legal rights in this relation offers the most +illuminating insight into their conditions in the various epochs of +history. Matrimony is a state over which the Church has always asserted +special jurisdiction. By the middle of the twelfth century it was law in +England that to it belonged this prerogative. The ecclesiastical court, +for example, pronounced in a given case whether there had been a valid +marriage or not; the temporal court took this decision as one of the +bases for determining a matter of inheritance, whether a woman was +entitled to dower, and the like. The general precepts laid down by canon +law in the case of a wife have already been noted. These rules need now +to be supplemented by an account of the position of women in marriage +under the common law. + +Under the older common law the husband was very much lord of all he +surveyed and even more. An old enactment thus describes a husband's +duty[395]: "He shall treat and _govern_ the aforesaid A well and +decently, and shall not inflict nor cause to be inflicted any injury +upon the aforesaid A except in so far as he may lawfully and reasonably +do so in accordance with _the right of a husband to correct and chastise +his wife_." Blackstone, who wrote in 1763, has this to say on the +husband's power to chastise his wife: "The husband also, by the old law, +might give his wife moderate correction. For, as he is to answer for her +misbehaviour, the law thought it reasonable to intrust him with this +power of restraining her, by domestic chastisement, in the same +moderation that a man is allowed to correct his apprentices or children, +for whom the master or parent is also liable in some cases to answer. +But this power of correction was confined within reasonable bounds, and +the husband was prohibited from using any violence to his wife _aliter +quam ad, virum, ex causa regiminis et castigationis uxoris suae, licite +et rationabiliter pertinet_.[396] The civil law gave the husband the +same, or a larger, authority over his wife; allowing him for some +misdemeanours _flagellis et fustibus acriter verberare uxorem_ [to give +his wife a severe beating with whips and clubs]; for others, only +_modicam castigationem adhibere_ [to apply moderate correction]. But +with us in the politer reign of Charles the Second, this power of +correction began to be doubted; and a wife may now have security of the +peace against her husband, or, in return, a husband against his wife. +Yet the lower rank of people, who were always fond of the old common +law, still claim and exert their ancient privilege; and the courts of +law will still permit a husband to restrain a wife of her liberty, in +case of any gross misbehaviour." Doubtless what Mr. Weller, Sr., +describes as the "amiable weakness" of wife-beating was not necessarily +confined to the "lower rank." For instance, some of the courtly +gentlemen of the reign of Queen Anne were probably not averse to +exercising their old-time prerogative. Says Sir Richard Steele +(_Spectator_, 479): "I can not deny but there are Perverse Jades that +fall to Men's Lots, with whom it requires more than common Proficiency +in Philosophy to be able to live. When these are joined to men of warm +Spirits, without Temper or Learning, they are frequently corrected with +Stripes; but one of our famous Lawyers is of opinion, That this ought to +be used sparingly." The law was, indeed, even worse than might appear +from the words of Blackstone. The wife who feared unreasonable violence +could, to be sure, bind her husband to keep the peace; but she had no +action against him. A husband who killed his wife was guilty of murder, +but the wife who slew her husband was adjudged guilty of petty treason; +and whereas the man would be merely drawn and hanged, the woman, until +the reign of George III, was drawn and burnt alive.[397] + +The right of a husband to restrain a wife's liberty may not be said to +have become completely obsolete until the case of _Reg. v. Jackson in +1891_.[398] Wife-beating is still a flagrantly common offence in +England. + +[Sidenote: Wife's property in marriage.] + +Turning now to the question of the wife's property in marriage, we shall +be forced to believe that Blackstone was an optimist of unusual +magnitude when he wrote that the female sex was "so great a favourite of +the laws of England." Not to weary the reader by minute details, I +cannot do better than give Messrs. Pollock and Maitland's excellent +summary of the final shape taken by the common law--a glaring piece of +injustice, worthy of careful reading, and in complete accord with +Apostolic injunctions: "I. In the lands of which the wife is tenant in +fee, whether they belonged to her at the date of the marriage or came to +her during the marriage, the husband has an estate which will endure +during the marriage, and this he can alienate without her concurrence. +If a child is born of the marriage, thenceforth the husband as 'tenant +by courtesy' has an estate which will endure for the whole of his life, +and this he can alienate without the wife's concurrence. The husband by +himself has no greater power of alienation than is here stated; he +cannot confer an estate which will endure after the end of the marriage +or (as the case may be) after his own death. The wife has during the +marriage no power to alienate her land without her husband's +concurrence. The only process by which the fee can be alienated is a +_fine_ to which both husband and wife are parties and to which she gives +her assent after a separate examination. + +"II. A widow is entitled to enjoy for her life under the name of dower +one third of any land of which the husband was seised in fee at any time +during the marriage. The result of this is that during the marriage the +husband cannot alienate his own land so as to bar his wife's right of +dower, unless this is done with her concurrence, and her concurrence is +ineffectual unless the conveyance is made by _fine_." [This +inconvenience for an unscrupulous husband was evaded in modern +conveyancy by a device of extreme ingenuity finally perfected only in +the eighteenth century. Professor James Bryce remarks (p. 820): "As this +right (i.e., the right of dower) interfered with the husband's power of +freely disposing of his own land, the lawyers at once set about to find +means of evading it, and found these partly in legal processes by which +the wife, her consent being ascertained by the courts, parted with her +right, partly by an ingenious device whereby lands could be conveyed to +a husband without the right of dower attaching to them, partly by giving +the wife a so-called jointure which barred her claim."] + +"III. Our law institutes no community, even of movables, between husband +and wife. Whatever movables the wife has at the date of the marriage +become the husband's, and the husband is entitled to take possession of +and thereby to make his own whatever movables she becomes entitled to +during the marriage, and without her concurrence he can sue for all +debts that are due her. On his death, however, she becomes entitled to +all movables and debts that are outstanding, or (as the phrase goes) +have not been 'reduced into possession.' What the husband gets +possession of is simply his; he can freely dispose of it _inter vivos_ +or by will. In the main, for this purpose as for other purposes, a 'term +of years' is treated as a chattel, but under an exceptional rule the +husband, though he can alienate his wife's 'chattel real' _inter vivos_, +cannot dispose of it by his will. If he has not alienated it _inter +vivos_, it will be hers if she survives him. If he survives her, he is +entitled to her 'chattels real' and is also entitled to be made the +administrator of her estate. In that capacity he has a right to whatever +movables or debts have not yet been 'reduced into possession' and, when +the debts have been paid, he keeps these goods as his own. If she dies +in his lifetime, she can have no other intestate successor. Without his +consent she can make no will, and any consent that he may have given is +revocable at any time before the will is proved. + +"IV. Our common law--but we have seen that this rule is not very +old--assured no share of the husband's personality to the widow. He can, +even by his will, give all of it away from her except her necessary +clothes, and with that exception his creditors can take all of it. A +further exception, of which there is not much to be read, is made of +jewels, trinkets, and ornaments of the person, under the name of +paraphernalia. The husband may sell or give these away in his lifetime, +and even after his death they may be taken for his debts; but he cannot +give them away by will. If the husband dies during the wife's life and +dies intestate she is entitled to a third, or, if there be no living +descendant of the husband, to one half of his personality [but see the +note of Bryce, above]. But this is a case of pure intestate succession; +she only has a share of what is left after payment of her husband's +debts. + +"V. During the marriage the husband is in effect liable to the whole +extent of his property for debts incurred or wrongs committed by his +wife before the marriage, also for wrongs committed during the marriage. +The action is against him and her as co-defendants. If the marriage is +dissolved by his death, she is liable, his estate is not. If the +marriage is dissolved by her death, he is liable as her administrator, +but only to the extent of the property which he takes in that +character." [Mr. Ashton, in his very interesting book, p. 31, quotes a +peculiar note from a Parish Register in the reign of Queen Anne to this +effect: "John Bridmore and Anne Sellwood, both of Chiltern all Saints, +were married October 17, 1714. The aforesaid Anne Sellwood was married +in her Smock, without any clothes or headgier on." "This is not +uncommon," remarks Mr. Ashton, "the object being, according to a vulgar +error, to exempt the husband from the payment of any debts his wife may +have contracted in her ante-nuptial condition. This error seems to have +been founded on a misconception of the law, as it is laid down 'the +husband is liable for the wife's debts, because he acquires an absolute +interest in the personal estate of his wife.' An unlearned person from +this might conclude, and not unreasonably, that if his wife had no +estate whatever he could not incur any liability."] + +"VI. During the marriage the wife cannot contract on her own behalf. She +can contract as her husband's agent and has a certain power of pledging +his credit in the purchase of necessaries. At the end of the Middle Ages +it is very doubtful how far this power is to be explained by an 'implied +agency.' The tendency of more recent times has been to allow her no +power that cannot be thus explained, except in the exceptional case of +desertion." + +A perusal of these laws shows that they are immensely inferior to the +Roman law, which not only gave the wife full control of her property, +but protected her from coercion and bullying on the part of the husband. +The amendment of these injustices has been very recent indeed. +Successive statutes in 1870, 1874, and 1882[399] finally abrogated the +law which gave the husband full ownership of his wife's property by the +mere act of marriage. Beginning with the year 1857, too, enlightenment +in England had progressed to such a remarkable degree that certain acts +were passed forbidding a husband to seize his wife's earnings and +neglect her[400]; and she was actually allowed to keep her own wages +after the desertion of her lord. Before that time he might desert his +wife repeatedly, and return from time to time to take away her earnings +and sell everything she had acquired. An act in 1886 (_49 and 50 Vict., +c. 52_) gave magistrates the power to order a husband to pay his wife a +weekly sum, not exceeding two pounds, for her support and that of the +children if it appeared to the magistrates that the deserting husband +had the means of maintaining her, but was unwilling to do so. Still, +the husband can at any time terminate his desertion and force his wife +to take him back on penalty of losing all rights to such maintenance. +There was frantic opposition to all of these revolutionary enactments +and many prophets arose crying woe; but the acts finally passed and +England still lives. + +[Sidenote: Divorce. Authorities as above; and Howard, ii, 3-117.] + +Until the Reformation divorce was regulated by the canon law in +accordance with the principles which I have explained. After the +Reformation the matter at once assumed a different aspect because all +Protestants agreed in denying that marriage is a sacrament. Scotland in +this as in other respects has been more liberal than England; as early +as 1573 desertion as well as adultery had become grounds for divorce. +But in England the force of the canon law continued. In Blackstone's day +there were still, as under the canon law, only two kinds of separation. +Complete dissolution of the marriage tie (_a vinculo matrimonii_) took +place only on a declaration of the Ecclesiastical Court that on account +of some canonical impediment, like consanguinity, the marriage was null +and void from the beginning. Separation "from bed and board" (_a mensa +et thoro_) simply gave the parties permission no longer to live together +and was allowed for adultery or some other grave offences, like +intolerable cruelty or a chronic disease. However, some time before +Blackstone's day it had become the habit to get a dissolution of +marriage _a vinculo matrimonii_ for adultery by Act of Parliament; but +the legal process was so tedious, minute, and expensive that only the +very rich could afford the luxury.[401] In the case of a separation _a +mensa et thoro_ alimony was allowed the wife for her support out of her +husband's estate at the discretion of the ecclesiastical judges. + +The initiative in divorce by Act of Parliament was usually taken by the +husband; not until 1801 did a woman have the temerity so to assert her +rights. The fact is, ever since the dawn of history society has, with +its usual double standard of morality for men and women, insisted that +while the husband must never tolerate infidelity on the part of the +wife, the wife should bear with meekness the adulteries of her husband. +Plutarch in his _Conjugal Precepts_ so advises a wife; and this pious +frame of mind has continued down the centuries to the present day. +Devout old Jeremy Taylor in his _Holy Living_--a book which is read by +few, but praised by many--thus counsels the suffering wife[402]: "But +if, after all the fair deportments and innocent chaste compliances, the +husband be morose and ungentle, let the wife discourse thus: 'If, while +I do my duty, my husband neglects me, what will he do if I neglect him?' +And if she thinks to be separated by reason of her husband's unchaste +life, let her consider that the man will be incurably ruined, and her +rivals could wish nothing more than that they might possess him alone." +Dr. Samuel Johnson ably seconded the holy Jeremy's advice by declaring +that there is a boundless difference between the infidelity of the man +and that of the woman. In the husband's case "the man imposes no +bastards upon his wife." Therefore, "wise married women don't trouble +themselves about infidelity in their husbands."[403] Until very recent +times not only men but also women have been unanimous in counselling +abject submission to and humble adoration of the husband. A single +example out of hundreds will serve excellently as a pattern. In 1821 a +"Lady of Distinction" writes to a "Relation Shortly after Her Marriage" +as follows[404]: "The most perfect and implicit faith in the superiority +of a husband's judgment, and the most absolute obedience to his desires, +is not only the conduct that will insure the greatest success, but will +give the most entire satisfaction. It will take from you a thousand +cares, which would have answered to no purpose; it will relieve you from +a weight of thought that would be very painful, and in no way +profitable.... It has its origin in reason, in justice, in nature, and +in the law of God.... I have told you how you may, and how people who +are married do, get a likeness of countenance; and in that I have done +it. You will understand me, that by often looking at your husband's +face, by smiling on the occasions on which he does, by frowning on those +things which make him frown, and by viewing all things in the light in +which you perceive he does, you will acquire that likeness of +countenance which it is an honour to possess, because it is a testimony +of love.... When your temper and your thoughts are formed upon those of +your husband, according to the plan which I have laid down, you will +perceive that you have no will, no pleasure, but what is also his. This +is the character the wife of prudence would be apt to assume; she would +make herself the mirror, to show, unaltered, and without aggravation, +diminution, or distortion, the thoughts, the sentiments, and the +resolutions of her husband. She would have no particular design, no +opinion, no thought, no passion, no approbation, no dislike, but what +should be conformable to his own judgment ... I would have her judgment +seem the reflecting mirror to his determination; and her form the shadow +of his body, conforming itself to his several positions, and following +it in all its movements ... I would not have you silent; nay, when +trifles are the subject, talk as much as any of them; but distinguish +when the discourse turns upon things of importance." + +It is not strange, therefore, that no woman protested publicly against +a husband's infidelity until 1801. Up to 1840 there were but three cases +of a woman's taking the initiative in divorce, namely, in 1801, 1831, +and 1840; and in each case the man's adultery was aggravated by other +offences. In two other suits the Lords rejected the petition of the +wife, although the misconduct of the husband was clearly proved. But +redress was still by the elaborate machinery of Act of Parliament and +hence a luxury only for the wealthy until 1857, when a special Court for +Divorce and Matrimonial Causes was established.[405] Nevertheless, the +law as it stands to-day is not of a character to excite admiration or to +prove the existence of the proverbial "British Fair Play." A husband can +obtain a divorce upon proof of his wife's infidelity; but the wife can +get it only by proving, in addition to the husband's adultery, either +that it was aggravated by bigamy or incest or that it was accompanied by +cruelty or by two years' desertion. Misconduct by the husband bars him +from obtaining a divorce. The court is empowered to regulate at its +discretion the property rights of divorced people and the custody of the +children.[406] All attempts have failed to make the law recognise that +the misconduct of the husband shall be regarded equally as culpable as +the wife's. + +[Sidenote: Rape and the age of legal consent.] + +We may pause a moment to glance at the provisions made by the criminal +law for protecting women. The offence that most closely touches women is +rape. The punishment of this in Blackstone's day was death[407]; but in +the next century the death penalty was repealed and transportation for +life substituted.[408] The saddest blot on a presumably Christian +civilisation connected with this matter is the so-called "age of legal +consent." Under the older Common Law this was _ten_ or _twelve;_ in 1885 +it was _thirteen_, at which period a girl was supposed to be at an age +to know what she was doing. But in the year 1885 Mr. Stead told the +London public very plainly those hideous truths about crimes against +young girls which everybody knew very well had been going on for +centuries, but which no one ever before had dared to assert. The result +was that Parliament raised the "age of legal consent" to sixteen, where +it now stands.[409] The idea that any girl of this age is sufficiently +mature to know what she is doing by consenting to the lust of scoundrels +is a fine commentary on the acuteness of the legal intellect and the +high moral convictions of legislators. + +[Sidenote: Women's rights to an education.] + +The rights of women to a higher education is distinctly a movement of +the last half of the nineteenth century. It is true that throughout +history there are many examples of remarkably well-educated women--Lady +Jane Grey, for example, or Queen Elizabeth, or Olympia Morata, in Italy, +she who in the golden period of the Renaissance became a professor at +sixteen and wrote dialogues in Greek after the manner of Plato. But on +looking closely into these instances we shall find first that these +ladies were of noble rank and only thanks to their lofty position had +access to knowledge; and secondly that they stand out as isolated +cases--the great masses of women never dreamed beyond the traditional +Kleider, Kueche, Kinder, and Kirche. That an elementary education, +consisting of reading, writing, and simple arithmetic, was offered them +freely by hospital, monastery, and the like schools even as early as +Chaucer--this we know; nevertheless, beyond that they were not supposed +to aspire. So very recently, indeed, have women secured the rights to a +higher education that many thousands to-day can easily recall the +intensely bitter attacks which were directed against colleges like +Wellesley and Bryn Mawr in their inception. Until the middle of the +nineteenth century the whole education--what there was of it--of a girl +was arranged primarily with a view to capture a husband and, once having +him secure, to be his loving slave, to dwell with adoring rapture on his +superior learning, and to be humbly grateful if her liege deigned from +time to time to throw his spouse some scraps of knowledge which might be +safely administered without danger of making her think for herself. +These facts no one can well deny; but a few instances of prevalent +opinion, in addition to those which I have already quoted, will afford +the amusement of concrete examples. + +Mrs. Chapone, in the eighteenth century, advised her niece to avoid the +study of classics and science lest she "excite envy in one sex and +jealousy in the other." Lady Mary Wortley Montagu laments thus: "There +is hardly a creature in the world more despicable and more liable to +universal ridicule than a learned woman," and "folly is reckoned so much +our proper sphere, we are sooner pardoned any excesses of that than the +least pretensions to reading and good sense." Pursuant to the prevailing +sentiment on the education of women, the subjects which they studied and +the books which they were allowed to read were carefully regulated. As +to their reading, it was confined to romantic tales whereof the +exceeding insipidity could not awaken any symptom of intelligence. Lyly +dedicated his _Euphues_ to the "Ladies and Gentlewomen of England" and +Sidney's _Arcadia_ owed its vast success to its female readers. + +The subjects studied followed the orthodox views. Beginning with the +reign of Queen Anne boarding-schools for girls became very numerous. At +these schools "young Gentlewomen" were "soberly educated" and "taught +all sorts of learning fit for young Gentlewomen." The "learning fit for +young Gentlewomen" comprised "the Needle, Dancing, and the French +tongue; a little Music on the Harpsichord or Spinet, to read, write, and +cast accounts in a small way." Dancing was the all-important study, +since this was the surest route to their Promised Land, matrimony. The +study of French consisted in learning parrot-like a modicum of that +language pronounced according to the fancy of the speaker. As, however, +the young beau probably did not know any more himself, the end justified +the means. Studies like history, when pursued, were taken in +homoeopathic doses from small compendiums; and it was adequate to know +that Charlemagne lived somewhere in Europe about a thousand or so years +ago. Yet even this was rather advanced work and exposed the woman to be +damned by the report that she was educated. Ability to cook was not +despised and pastry schools were not uncommon. Thus in the time of +Queen Anne appears this: "To all Young Ladies: at Edw. Kidder's Pastry +School in little Lincoln's Inn Fields are taught all Sorts of Pastry and +Cookery, Dutch hollow works, and Butter Works," etc. + +At last in the first decades of the nineteenth century the civilised +world began slowly to take some thought of women's higher education and +to wake up to the fact that because a certain system has been in vogue +since created man does not necessarily mean that it is the right one; a +very heretical and revolutionary idea, which has always been and still +is ably opposed by that great host of people who have steadily +maintained that when men and women once begin to think for themselves +society must inevitably run to ruin. In 1843 there was established a +certain Governesses' Benevolent Institution. This was in its inception a +society to afford relief to governesses, i.e., women engaged in +tutoring, who might be temporarily in straits, and to raise annuities +for those who were past doing work. Obviously this would suggest the +question of what a competent governess was; and this in turn led to the +demand for a diploma as a warrant of efficiency. That called attention +to the extreme ignorance of the members of the profession; and it was +soon felt that classes of instruction were needed. A sum of money was +accordingly collected in 1846 and given the Institution for that +purpose. Some eminent professors of King's College volunteered to +lecture; and so, on a small scale to be sure, began what is now Queen's +College, the first college for women in England, incorporated by Royal +Charter in 1853. In 1849 Bedford College for women had been founded in +London through the unselfish labours of Mrs. Reid; but it did not +receive its charter until 1869. Within a decade Cheltenham, Girton, +Newnham, and other colleges for women had arisen. Eight of the ten men's +universities of Great Britain now allow examinations and degrees to +women also; Oxford and Cambridge do not. + +[Sidenote: Women in the professions.] + +Since then women's right to any higher education which they may wish to +embrace has been permanently assured. As early as 1868 Edinburgh opened +its courses in pharmacy to women. In 1895 there were already 264 duly +qualified female physicians in Great Britain. In many schools they are +allowed to study with men, as at the College of Physicians and Surgeons +at Edinburgh; there are four medical schools for women only. We find +women now actively engaged in agriculture, apiculture, poultry-keeping, +horticulture; in library work and indexing; in stenography; in all +trades and professions. The year 1893 witnessed the first appointment of +women as factory inspectors, two being chosen that year in London and in +Glasgow. Nottingham had chosen women as sanitary inspectors in 1892. +Thus in about two decades woman has advanced farther than in the +combined ages which preceded. Before these very modern movements we may +say that the stage was the only profession which had offered them any +opportunity of earning their living in a dignified way. It seems that a +Mrs. Coleman, in 1656, was the first female to act on the stage in +England; before that, all female parts had been taken by boys or young +men. A Mrs. Sanderson played Desdemona in 1660 at the Clare Market +Theatre. In 1661, as we may see from Pepys' _Diary_ (Feb. 12, 1661), an +actress was still a novelty; but within a few decades there were already +many famous ones. + +[Sidenote: Woman suffrage in England] + +We have seen that now woman has obtained practically all rights on a par +with men. There are still grave injustices, as in divorce; but the +battle is substantially won. One right still remains for her to win, the +right, namely, to vote, not merely on issues such as education--this +privilege she has had for some time--but on all political questions; and +connected with this is the right to hold political office. We may +fittingly close this chapter by a review of the history of the agitation +for woman suffrage. + +In the year 1797 Charles Fox remarked: "It has never been suggested in +all the theories and projects of the most absurd speculation, that it +would be advisable to extend the elective suffrage to the female sex." +Yet five years before Mary Wollstonecraft had published her _Vindication +of the Rights of Women_. Presently the writings of Harriet Martineau +upon political economy proved that women could really think on politics. + +We may say that the general public first began to think seriously on the +matter after the epoch-making Reform Act of 1832. This celebrated +measure admitted L10 householders to the right to vote and carefully +excluded females; yet it marked a new era in the awakening of civic +consciousness: women had taken active part in the attendant campaigns; +and the very fact that "male persons" needed now to be so specifically +designated in the bill, whereas hitherto "persons" and "freeholders" had +been deemed sufficient, attests the recognition of a new factor in +political life. + +In 1865 John Stuart Mill was elected to Parliament. That able thinker +had written on _The Subjection of Women_ and was ready to champion their +rights. A petition was prepared under the direction of women like Mrs. +Bodichon and Miss Davies; and in 1867 Mill proposed in Parliament that +the word _man_ be omitted from the People's Bill and _person_ +substituted. The amendment was rejected, 196 to 83. + +Nevertheless, the agitation was continued. The next year constitutional +lawyers like Mr. Chisholm Anstey decided that women might be legally +entitled to vote; and 5000 of them applied to be registered. In a test +case brought before the Court of Common Pleas the verdict was adverse, +on the ground that it was contrary to usage for women to vote. The +fight went on. Mr. Jacob Bright in 1870 introduced a "Bill to Remove the +Electoral Disabilities of Women" and lost. In 1884 Mr. William Woodall +tried again; he lost also, largely through the efforts of Gladstone; and +the same statesman was instrumental in killing another bill in 1892, +when Mr. A.J. Balfour urged its passage. + +At the present day women in England cannot vote on great questions of +universal state policy nor can they hold great offices of state. Yet +their gains have been enormous, as I shall next demonstrate; and in this +connection I shall also glance briefly at their vast strides in the +colonies. + +In 1850 Ontario gave all women school suffrage. In 1867 New South Wales +gave them municipal suffrage. In 1869 England granted municipal suffrage +to single women and widows; Victoria gave it to all women, married or +single. In England in 1870 the Education Act, by which school boards +were created, gave women the same rights as men, both as regards +electing and being elected. In 1871 West Australia gave them municipal +suffrage; in 1878 New Zealand gave school suffrage. In 1880 South +Australia gave municipal suffrage. In 1881 widows and single women +obtained municipal suffrage in Scotland and Parliamentary suffrage on +the Isle of Man. Municipal suffrage was given by Ontario and Tasmania in +1884 and by New Zealand and New Brunswick in 1886; by Nova Scotia and +Manitoba in 1887. In 1888 England gave women county suffrage and British +Columbia and the North-West Territory gave them municipal suffrage. In +1889 county suffrage was given the women of Scotland and municipal +suffrage to single women and widows in the Province of Quebec. In 1893 +New Zealand gave full suffrage. In 1894 parish and district suffrage was +given in England to women married and single, with power to elect and to +be elected to parish and district councils. In 1895 South Australia gave +full state suffrage to all women. In 1898 the women of Ireland were +given the right to vote for all officers except members of Parliament. +In 1900 West Australia granted full state suffrage to all. In 1902 full +national suffrage was given all the women in federated Australia and +full state suffrage to those of New South Wales. In 1903 Tasmania gave +full state suffrage; in 1905 Queensland did the same; in 1908 Victoria +followed. In 1907 England made women eligible as mayors, aldermen, and +county and town councillors. In London, for example, at the present time +women can vote for the 28 borough councils and 31 boards of guardians of +the London City Council; they can also be themselves elected to these; +be members of the central unemployed body or of the 23 district +committees, and can be co-opted to all other bodies, like the local +pension committees. Women can be aldermen of the Council; and there is +nothing to prevent one from holding even the office of chairman. + +At the present moment the cause of woman suffrage in England is being +furthered chiefly by two organizations which differ in methods. The +National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies has adopted the +"constitutional" or peaceful policy; but the National Women's Social and +Political Union is "militant" and coercive. + +SOURCES + +I. The English Statutes. Published by Authority during the Various +Reigns. + +II. Studies in History and Jurisprudence: by James Bryce. Oxford +University Press, 1901. Pages 782-859 on "Marriage and Divorce." + +III. History of English Law: by Frederick Pollock and Frederic Maitland. +2 vols. Cambridge University Press, 1898--second edition. + +IV. Commentaries on the Laws of England: by Sir William Blackstone. With +notes selected from the editions of Archbold, Christian, Coleridge, +etc., and additional notes by George Sharswood, of the University of +Pennsylvania. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1860--Childs and Peterson, 602 Arch +Street. + +V. A History of Matrimonial Institutions, chiefly in England and the +United States: by George Elliott Howard. 4 vols. The University of +Chicago Press, 1904. + +VI. Social England: edited by H.D. Traill. 6 vols. G.P. Putnam's Sons, +1901. + +VII. Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, taken from original +sources: by John Ashton. London, Chatto and Windus, 1897. + +VIII. The Renaissance of Girls' Education in England: by Alice Zimmern. +London, A.D. Innes and Co., 1898. + +IX. Progress in Women's Education in the British Empire: edited by the +Countess of Warwick. Being the Report of the Education Section, +Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897. Longmans, Green, & Co., 1898. + +X. Current Literature from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, +references to which are noted as they occur. + +NOTES: + +[393] If a woman sentenced to execution declared she was pregnant, a +jury of twelve matrons could be appointed on a writ _de venire +inspiciendo_ to determine the truth of the matter; for she could not be +executed if the infant was alive in the womb. The same jury determined +the case of a widow who feigned herself with child in order to exclude +the next heir and when she was suspected of trying to palm off a +supposititious birth. But from all other jury duties women have always +been excluded "on account of the weakness of the sex"--_propter defectum +sexus_. + +[394] Blackstone, i, ch. 16. + +[395] Reg. Brev. Orig., f. 89: quod ipse praefatam A bene et honeste +tractabit et gubernabit, ac damnum vel malum aliquod eidem A de corpore +suo, aliter quam ad virum suum ex causa regiminis et castigationis +uxoris suae licite et rationabiliter pertinet, non faciet nec fieri +procurabit. + +[396] "Except in so far as he may lawfully and reasonably do so in order +to correct and chastise his wife." + +[397] The learned commentator Christian adds a few more cases where +formerly the criminal law was harshly prejudiced against women. Thus: +"By the Common Law, all women were denied the benefit of clergy; and +till the 3 and 4 _W. and M_., c. 9 [William and Mary] they received +sentence of death and might have been executed for the first offence in +simple larceny, bigamy, manslaughter, etc., however learned they were, +merely because their sex precluded the possibility of their taking holy +orders; though a man who could read was for the same crime subject only +to burning in the hand and a few months' imprisonment." + +[398] I Q.B. p. 671--in the Court of Appeal. + +[399] _Married Women's Property Act_, 45 and 46 V., c. 75--Aug. 18, +1882. + +[400] Note this incident, from the _Westminister Review_, October, 1856: +"A lady whose husband had been unsuccessful in business established +herself as a milliner in Manchester. After some years of toil she +realised sufficient for the family to live upon comfortably, the husband +having done nothing meanwhile. They lived for a time in easy +circumstances after she gave up business and then the husband died, +_bequeathing all his wife's earnings to his own illegitimate children_. +At the age of 62 she was compelled, in order to gain her bread, to +return to business." + +[401] For a full account of the elaborate machinery see Chitty's note to +Blackstone, vol. i, p. 441, of Sharswood's edition. + +[402] _Holy Living, ch. 3, section I: Rules for Married Persons._ + +[403] Boswell, vii, 288. Perhaps if the venerable Samuel had had the +statistics of venereal disease given by adulterous husbands to wives and +children he might not have been so sure of his contention. + +[404] Quoted by Professor Thomas in the _American Magazine_, July, 1909. + +[405] See 20 and 21 V., c. 85--Aug. 28. 1857. + +[406] See 7 Edw., c. 12--Aug. 9, 1907--Matrimonial Causes Act, which +also gives the court discretion in alimony. + +[407] Blackstone, iv, ch. 15. + +[408] 4 _and_ 5 _V., c._ 56, _s._ 3. + +[409] The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, 48 _and_ 49 _V. c._ 69, +section 5: "Any person who (1) unlawfully and carnally knows or attempts +to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any girl being of or above the age +of thirteen years and under the age of sixteen, or (2) unlawfully and +carnally knows or attempts to have carnal knowledge of any female idiot +or imbecile woman or girl under circumstances which do not amount to +rape, but which prove that the offender knew at the time of the +commission of the offence that the woman or girl was an idiot or +imbecile, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof +shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any +term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour." Section 4: +"Any one who unlawfully and carnally knows any girl under the age of +thirteen shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be +liable to be kept in penal servitude for life." Any one who merely +attempts it can be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with +or without hard labour. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES + + +It has been my aim, in this short history of the growth of women's +rights, to depict for the most part the strictly legal aspect of the +matter; but from time to time I have interposed some typical +illustration of public opinion, in order to bring into greater +prominence the ferment that was going on or the misery which existed +behind the scenes. A history of legal processes might otherwise, from +the coldness of the laws, give few hints of the conflicts of human +passion which combined to set those processes in motion. Before I +present the history of the progress of women's rights in the United +States, I shall place before the reader some extracts which are typical +and truly representative of the opposition which from the beginning of +the agitation to the present day has voiced itself in all ranks of life. +Let the reader bear carefully in mind that from 1837 to the beginning of +the twentieth century such abuse as that which I shall quote as typical +was hurled from ten thousand throats of men and women unceasingly; that +Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, and Mrs. Gage were hissed, insulted, and +offered physical violence by mobs in New York[410] and Boston to an +extent inconceivable in this age; and that the marvellously unselfish +labour of such women as these whom I have mentioned and of men like +Wendell Phillips is alone responsible for the improvement in the legal +status of women, which I propose to trace in detail. Some expressions of +the popular attitude follow: + +[Sidenote: Examples of opposition to women's rights.] + +From a speech of the Rev. Knox-Little at the Church of St. Clements in +Philadelphia in 1880: "God made himself to be born of a woman to +sanctify the virtue of endurance; loving submission is an attribute of a +woman; men are logical, but women, lacking this quality, have an +intricacy of thought. There are those who think women can be taught +logic; this is a mistake. They can never by any power of education +arrive at the same mental status as that enjoyed by men, but they have a +quickness of apprehension, which is usually called leaping at +conclusions, that is astonishing. There, then, we have distinctive +traits of a woman, namely, endurance, loving submission, and quickness +of apprehension. Wifehood is the crowning glory of a woman. In it she is +bound for all time. To her husband she owes the duty of unqualified +obedience. There is no crime which a man can commit which justifies his +wife in leaving him or applying for that monstrous thing, divorce. It +is her duty to subject herself to him always, and no crime that he can +commit can justify her lack of obedience. If he be a bad or wicked man, +she may gently remonstrate with him, but refuse him never. Let divorce +be anathema; curse it; curse this accursed thing, divorce; curse it, +curse it! Think of the blessedness of having children. I am the father +of many children and there have been those who have ventured to pity me. +'Keep your pity for yourself,' I have replied, 'they never cost me a +single pang.' In this matter let woman exercise that endurance and +loving submission which, with intricacy of thought, are their only +characteristics." + +From the Philadelphia _Public Ledger and Daily Transcript_, July 20, +1848: "Our Philadelphia ladies not only possess beauty, but they are +celebrated for discretion, modesty, and unfeigned diffidence, as well as +wit, vivacity, and good nature. Who ever heard of a Philadelphia lady +setting up for a reformer or standing out for woman's rights, or +assisting to _man_ the election grounds [_sic_], raise a regiment, +command a legion, or address a jury? Our ladies glow with a higher +ambition. They soar to rule the hearts of their worshippers, and secure +obedience by the sceptre of affection.... But all women are not as +reasonable as ours of Philadelphia. The Boston ladies contend for the +rights of women. The New York girls aspire to mount the rostrum, to do +all the voting, and, we suppose, all the fighting, too.... Our +Philadelphia girls object to fighting and holding office. They prefer +the baby-jumper to the study of Coke and Lyttleton, and the ball-room to +the Palo Alto battle. They object to having a George Sand for President +of the United States; a Corinna for Governor; a Fanny Wright for Mayor; +or a Mrs. Partington for Postmaster.... Women have enough influence over +human affairs without being politicians.... A woman is nobody. A wife is +everything. A pretty girl is equal to ten thousand men, and a mother is, +next to God, all powerful.... The ladies of Philadelphia, therefore, +under the influence of the most 'sober second thoughts' are resolved to +maintain their rights as Wives, Belles, Virgins, and Mothers, and not as +Women." + +From the "Editor's Table" of _Harper's New Monthly Magazine_, November, +1853: "Woman's Rights, or the movement that goes under that name, may +seem to some too trifling in itself and too much connected with +ludicrous associations to be made the subject of serious arguments. If +nothing else, however, should give it consequence, it would demand our +earnest attention from its intimate connection with all the radical and +infidel movements of the day. A strange affinity seems to bind them all +together.... But not to dwell on this remarkable connection--the claim +of 'woman's rights' presents not only the common radical notion which +underlies the whole class, but also a peculiar enormity of its own; in +some respects more boldly infidel, or defiant both of nature and +revelation, than that which characterises any kindred measure. It is +avowedly opposed to the most time-honoured proprieties of social life; +it is opposed to nature; it is opposed to revelation.... This unblushing +female Socialism defies alike apostles and prophets. In this respect no +kindred movement is so decidedly infidel, so rancorously and avowedly +anti-biblical. + +"It is equally opposed to nature and the established order of society +founded upon it. We do not intend to go into any physiological argument. +There is one broad striking fact in the constitution of the human +species which ought to set the question at rest for ever. This is the +fact of maternity.... From this there arise, in the first place, +physical impediments which, during the best part of the female life, are +absolutely insurmountable, except at a sacrifice of almost everything +that distinguishes the civilized human from the animal, or beastly, and +savage state. As a secondary, yet inevitably resulting consequence, +there come domestic and social hindrances which still more completely +draw the line between the male and female duties.... Every attempt to +break through them, therefore, must be pronounced as unnatural as it is +irreligious and profane.... The most serious importance of this modern +'woman's rights' doctrine is derived from its direct bearing upon the +marriage institution. The blindest must see that such a change as is +proposed in the relations and life of the sexes cannot leave either +marriage or the family in their present state. It must vitally affect, +and in time wholly sever, that oneness which has ever been at the +foundation of the marriage idea, from the primitive declaration in +Genesis to the latest decision of the common law. This idea gone--and it +is totally at war with the modern theory of 'woman's rights'--marriage +is reduced to the nature of a contract simply.... That which has no +higher sanction than the will of the contracting parties, must, of +course, be at any time revocable by the same authority that first +created it. That which makes no change in the personal relations, the +personal rights, the personal duties, is not the holy marriage _union_, +but the unholy _alliance_ of concubinage." + +In a speech of Senator George G. Vest, of Missouri, in the United States +Senate, January 25, 1887, these: "I now propose to read from a pamphlet +sent to me by a lady.... She says to her own sex: 'After all, men work +for women; or, if they think they do not, it would leave them but sorry +satisfaction to abandon them to such existence as they could arrange +without us.' + +"Oh, how true that is, how true!" + +In 1890 a bill was introduced in the New York Senate to lower the "age +of consent"--the age at which a girl may legally consent to sexual +intercourse--from 16 to 14. It failed. In 1892 the brothel keepers tried +again in the Assembly. The bill was about to be carried by universal +consent when the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, feeling the +importance of the measure, called for the individual yeas and nays, in +order that the constituents of the representatives might know how their +legislators voted. The bill thereupon collapsed. In 1889 a motion was +made in the Kansas Senate to lower the age of consent from 18 to _12_. +But the public heard of it; protests flowed in; and under the pressure +of these the law was allowed to remain as it was. + +Such are some typical examples of the warfare of the opposition to all +that pertains to advancing the status of women. As I review the progress +of their rights, let the reader recollect that this opposition was +always present, violent, loud, and often scurrilous. + +In tracing the history of women's rights in the United States my plan +will be this: I shall first give a general review of the various +movements connected with the subject; and I shall then lay before the +reader a series of tables, wherein may be seen at a glance the status of +women to-day in the various States. + +[Sidenote: Single women.] + +[Sidenote: History of agitation for women's rights.] + +In our country, as in England, single women have at all times had +practically the same legal rights as men; but by no means the same +political, social, educational, or professional privileges; as will +appear more conclusively later on. + +We may say that the history of the agitation for women's rights began +with the visit of Frances Wright to the United States in 1820. Frances +Wright was a Scotchwoman, born at Dundee in 1797, and early exhibited a +keen intellect on all the subjects which concern political and social +reform. For several years after 1820 she resided here and strove to make +men and women think anew on old traditional beliefs--more particularly +on theology, slavery, and the social degradation of women. The venomous +denunciations of press and pulpit attested the success of her efforts. +In 1832 Lydia Maria Child published her _History of Woman_, a resume of +the status of women; and this was followed by numerous works and +articles, such as Margaret Fuller's, _The Great Lawsuit, or Man vs. +Woman: Woman vs. Man_, and Eliza Farnham's _Woman and her Era_. Various +women lectured; such as Ernestine L. Rose--a Polish woman, banished for +asserting her liberty. The question of women's rights received a +powerful impetus at this period from the vast number of women who were +engaged in the anti-slavery agitation. Any research into the validity of +slavery perforce led the investigators to inquire into the justice of +the enforced status of women; and the two causes were early united. +Women like Angelina and Sarah Grimke and Lucretia Mott were pioneers in +numerous anti-slavery conventions. But as soon as they dared to address +meetings in which men were present, a tempest was precipitated; and in +1840, at the annual meeting of the Anti-Slavery Association, the men +refused to serve on any committee in which any woman had a part; +although it had been largely the contributions of women which were +sustaining the cause. Affairs reached a climax in London, in 1840, at +the World's Anti-Slavery Convention. Delegates from all anti-slavery +organisations were invited to take part; and several American societies +sent women to represent them. These ladies were promptly denied any +share in the proceedings by the English members, thanks mainly to the +opposition of the clergy, who recollected with pious satisfaction that +St. Paul permitted not a woman to teach. Thereupon Lucretia Mott and +Elizabeth Cady Stanton determined to hold a women's rights convention as +soon as they returned to America; and thus a World's Anti-Slavery +Convention begat an issue equally large. + +Accordingly, the first Women's Rights Convention was held at Seneca +Falls, New York, July 19-20, 1848. It was organised by _divorced wives, +childless women, and sour old maids_, the gallant newspapers declared; +that is, by Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mrs. Lucretia Mott, Mrs. +McClintock, and other fearless women, who not only lived the purest and +most unselfish of domestic lives, but brought up many children besides. +Great crowds attended. A _Declaration of Sentiments_ was moved and +adopted; and as this exhibits the temper of the convention and +illustrates the then prevailing status of women very clearly, I shall +quote it: + +DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS + +"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one +portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a +position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one +to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent +respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the +causes which impel them to such a course. + +"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are +created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain +inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit +of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, +deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever +any form of government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the +right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to +insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation +on such principles, and organising its powers in such form, as to them +shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, +indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be +changed for light or transient causes; and accordingly all experience +hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are +sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which +they were accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, +pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them +under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, +and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the +patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now +the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which +they are entitled. + +"The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and +usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the +establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts +be submitted to a candid world. + +"He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the +elective franchise. + +"He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she +had no voice. + +"He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant +and degraded men--both natives and foreigners. + +"Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective +franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of +legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides. + +"He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. + +"He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she +earns. + +"He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit +many crimes with impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her +husband. In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise +obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her +master--the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to +administer chastisement. + +"He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper +causes, and, in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the +children shall be given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of +women--the law in all cases going upon a false supposition of the +supremacy of man, and giving all power into his hands. + +"After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single, and +the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which +recognises her only when her property can be made profitable to it. + +"He has monopolised nearly all the profitable employments, and from +those she is permitted to follow she receives but a scanty remuneration. +He closes against her all the avenues of wealth and distinction which he +considers most honourable to himself. As a teacher of theology, +medicine, or law, she is not known. + +"He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, +all colleges being closed against her. + +"He allows her in church, as well as state, but a subordinate position, +claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and, +with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of +the church. + +"He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a +different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies +which exclude women from society are not only tolerated, but deemed of +little account in man. + +"He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his +right to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her +conscience and to her God. + +"He has endeavoured, in every way that he could, to destroy her +confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make +her willing to lead a dependent and abject life. + +"Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one half the people of +this country, their social and religious degradation; in view of the +unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves +aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred +rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights +and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States. + +"In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small +amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall +use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We +shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State and National +legislatures, and endeavour to enlist the pulpit and press in our +behalf. We hope this Convention will be followed by a series of +Conventions embracing every part of the country." + +Such was the defiance of the Women's Rights Convention in 1848; other +conventions were held, as at Rochester, in 1853, and at Albany in 1854; +the movement extended quickly to other States and touched the quick of +public opinion. It bore its first good fruits in New York in 1848, when +the Property Bill was passed. This law, amended in 1860, and entitled +"An Act Concerning the Rights and Liabilities of Husband and Wife" +(March 20, 1860), emancipated completely the wife, gave her full control +of her own property, allowed her to engage in all civil contracts or +business on her own responsibility, rendered her joint guardian of her +children with her husband, and granted both husband and wife a one-third +share of one another's property in case of the decease of either +partner. + +Thus New York became the pioneer. The movement spread, as I have +mentioned, with amazing rapidity; but it was not so uniformly +successful. Conventions were held, for example, in Ohio, at Salem, +April 19-20, 1850; at Akron, May 28-29, 1851; at Massillon on May 27, +1852. Nevertheless, in 1857, the Legislature of Ohio passed a bill +enacting that no married man should dispose of any personal property +without having first obtained the consent of his wife; the wife was +empowered, in case of a violation of this law, to commence a civil suit +in her own name for the recovery of the property; and any married woman +whose husband deserted her or neglected to provide for his family was to +be entitled to his wages and to those of her minor children. A bill to +extend suffrage to women was defeated, by a vote of 44 to 44; the +petition praying for its enactment had received 10,000 signatures. + +The course of events as it has been described in New York and Ohio, is +practically the same in the case of the other States. The Civil War +relegated these issues to a secondary place; but during that momentous +conflict the heroism of Clara Barton on the battlefield and of thousands +of women like her paved the way for a reassertion of the rights of woman +in the light of her unquestioned exertions and unselfish labours for her +country in its crisis. After the war, attention began to be concentrated +more on the right to _vote_. By the Fourteenth Amendment the franchise +was at once given to negroes; but the insertion of the word _male_ +effectually barred any national recognition of woman's right to vote. A +vigorous effort was made by the suffrage leaders to have _male_ +stricken from the amendment; but the effort was futile. Legislators +thought that the black man's vote ought to be secured first; as the _New +York Tribune_ (Dec. 12, 1866) puts it snugly: "We want to see the ballot +put in the hands of the black without one day's delay added to the long +postponement of his just claim. When that is done, we shall be ready to +take up the next question" (i.e., woman's rights). + +The first Women's Rights Convention after the Civil War had been held in +New York City, May 10, 1866, and had presented an address to Congress. +Such was the dauntless courage of the leaders, that Mrs. Stanton offered +herself as a candidate for Congress at the November elections, in order +to test the constitutional rights of a woman to run for office. She +received twenty-four votes. + +Six years later, on November I, 1872, Miss Susan B. Anthony did a far +more Audacious thing. She went to the polls and asked to be registered. +The two Republican members of the board were won over by her exposition +of the Fourteenth Amendment and agreed to receive her name, against the +advice of their Democratic colleague and a United States supervisor. +Following Miss Anthony's example, some fifty other women of Rochester +registered. Fourteen voted and were at once arrested under the +enforcement act of Congress of May 31, 1870 (_section_ 19). The case of +Miss Anthony was argued, ably by her attorney; but she was adjudged +guilty. A _nolle prosequi_ was entered for the women who voted with her. + +Immediately after the decision in her case, the inspectors who had +registered the women were put on trial because they "did knowingly and +willfully register as a voter of said District one Susan B. Anthony, +she, said Susan B. Anthony, then and there not being entitled to be +registered as a voter of said District in that she, said Susan B. +Anthony, was then and there a person of the female sex, contrary to the +form of the statute of the United States of America in such case made +and provided, and against the peace of the United States of America and +their dignity." The defendants were ordered to pay each a fine of +twenty-five dollars and the costs of the prosecution; but the sentence +was revoked and an unconditional pardon given them by President Grant, +in an order dated March 3, 1874. Miss Anthony was forced to pay her +fine, in spite of an appeal to Congress. + +Such were the stirring times when the agitation for women's rights was +first brought to the fore as a national issue. Within a few years, +various States, like New York and Kansas, put the question of equal +suffrage for women before its voters; they in general rejected the +measure. At present there are four States which give women complete +suffrage and right to vote on all questions with the same privileges as +men, viz., Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), and Idaho +(1896). In 1838 Kentucky gave school suffrage to widows with children +of school age; in 1861 Kansas gave it to all women. School suffrage was +granted all women in 1875 by Michigan and Minnesota, in 1876 by +Colorado, in 1878 by New Hampshire and Oregon, in 1879 by Massachusetts, +in 1880 by New York and Vermont, in 1883 by Nebraska, in 1887 by North +and South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, and New Jersey. Kansas gave +municipal suffrage in 1887; and Montana gave tax-paying women the right +to vote upon all questions submitted to the tax-payers. In 1891 Illinois +granted school suffrage, as did Connecticut in 1893. Iowa gave bond +suffrage in 1894. In 1898 Minnesota gave women the right to vote for +library trustees, Delaware gave school suffrage to tax-paying women, and +Louisiana gave tax-paying women the right to vote upon all questions +submitted to the tax-payers. Wisconsin gave school suffrage in 1900. In +1901 New York gave tax-paying women in all towns and villages of the +State the right to vote on questions of local taxation; and the Kansas +Legislature voted down almost unanimously a proposal to repeal municipal +suffrage. In 1903 Kansas gave bond suffrage; and in 1907 the new State +of Oklahoma continued school suffrage. In 1908 Michigan gave all women +who pay taxes the right to vote upon questions of local taxation and the +granting of franchises. + +The history of the "age of legal consent" has an importance which +through prudery and a wilful ignorance of facts the public has never +fully realised. I shall have considerable to say of it later. It will +suffice for the moment to remark that until the decade preceding 1898 +the old Common Law period of ten, sometimes twelve, years was the basis +of "age of consent" legislation in most States and in the Territories +under the jurisdiction of the national government. In 1885 the age in +Delaware was _seven_. + +[Sidenote: Age of Legal consent.] + +[Sidenote: The beginnings of higher education for women.] + +The Puritans, burning with an unquenchable zeal for liberty, fled to +America in order to build a land of freedom and strike off the +shackles of despotism. After they were comfortably settled, they +forthwith proceeded, with fine humour, to expel mistress Anne Hutchinson +for venturing to speak in public, to hang superfluous old women for +being witches, and to refuse women the right to an education. In 1684, +when a question arose about admitting girls to the Hopkins School of New +Haven, it was decided that "all girls be excluded as improper and +inconsistent with such a grammar school as ye law enjoins and as in the +Designs of this settlement." "But," remarks Professor Thomas, "certain +small girls whose manners seem to have been neglected and who had the +natural curiosity of their sex, sat on the schoolhouse steps and heard +the boys recite, or learned to read and construe sentences from their +brothers at home, and were occasionally admitted to school." + +In the course of the next century the world moved a little; and in +1789, when the public school system was established in Boston, girls +were admitted from April to October; but until 1825 they were allowed to +attend primary schools only. In 1790 Gloucester voted that "two hours, +or a proportional part of that time, be devoted to the instruction of +females." In 1793 Plymouth accorded girls one hour of instruction daily. + +The first female seminary in the United States was opened by the +Moravians in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1749. It was unique. In 1803, +of 48 academies or higher schools fitting for college in Massachusetts, +only three were for girls, although a few others admitted both boys and +girls. + +The first instance of government aid for the systematic education of +women occurred in New York, in 1819. This was due to the influence of a +remarkable woman. Mrs. Emma Willard had begun teaching in Connecticut +and by extraordinary diligence mastered not only the usual subjects of +the curriculum, but in addition botany, chemistry, mineralogy, +astronomy, and the higher mathematics. She had, moreover, striven always +to introduce new subjects and new methods into her school, and with such +success that Governor Clinton, of New York, invited her to that State +and procured her a government subsidy. Her school was established first +at Watervliet, but soon moved to Troy. This seminary was the first +girls' school in which the higher mathematics formed a part of the +course; and the first public examination of a girl in geometry, in 1829, +raised a storm of ridicule and indignation--the clergy, as usual, +prophesying the speedy dissolution of all family bonds and therefore, as +they continued with remorseless logic, of the state itself. But Mrs. +Willard continued her ways in spite of clerical disapproval and +by-and-by projected a system of normal schools for the higher education +of teachers, and even suggested women as superintendents of public +schools. New York survived and does not even remember the names of the +patriots who fought a lonely woman so valiantly. + +The first female seminary to approach college rank was Mt. Holyoke, +which was opened by Mary Lyon at South Hadley, Mass., in 1836. Vassar, +the next, dates from 1865; and Radcliffe, the much-abused "Harvard +Annex," was instituted in 1879. These were the first colleges +exclusively for women. Oberlin College had from its foundation, in 1833, +admitted men and women on equal terms; although it took pains to express +its hearty disapproval of those women who, after graduation, had the +temerity to advocate political rights for women--rights which that same +Oberlin insisted should be given the negro at once. In 1858, when Sarah +Burger and other women applied for admission to the University of +Michigan, their request was refused. + +[Sidenote: First women in medicine.] + +It was hard enough for women to assert their rights to a higher +education; to enter a profession was almost impossible. Nevertheless, +it was done. The pioneer in medicine was Harriet K. Hunt who practised +in Boston from 1822 to 1872 without a diploma; but in 1853 the Woman's +Medical College of Pennsylvania conferred upon her the degree of Doctor +of Medicine. The first woman to receive a diploma from a college after +completing the regular course was Elizabeth Blackwell, who attained that +distinction at Geneva, New York, in 1848. The first adequate woman's +medical institution was Miss Blackwell's New York Infirmary, chartered +in 1854. In 1863, Dr. Zakrzewska, in co-operation with Lucy Goddard and +Ednah D. Cheney, established the New England Hospital for Women and +Children, which aimed to provide women the medical aid of competent +physicians of their own sex, to assist educated women in the practical +study of medicine, and to train nurses for the care of the sick.[411] + +[Sidenote: In law.] + +In law, it would seem that Mistress Brut practised in Baltimore as early +as 1647; but after her the first woman lawyer in the United States was +Arabella A. Mansfield, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. She was admitted to the +bar in 1864. By 1879 women were allowed to plead before the Supreme +Court of the United States.[412] + +[Sidenote: In the ministry.] + +Coming now to the consideration of the ministry, the first woman to +attempt to assert a right to that profession was Anne Hutchinson, of +Boston, in 1634. She was promptly banished. Among the Friends and the +Shakers women like Lucretia Mott and Anne Lee preached; and among the +primitive Methodists and similar bodies women were always permitted to +exhort; but the first regularly ordained woman in the United States +appears to have been Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, of the +Congregational Church who was ordained in 1852. In 1864 Rev. Olympia +Brown settled as pastor of the parish at Weymouth Landing, in +Massachusetts; and the Legislature acknowledged marriages solemnised by +women as legal. Phebe Hanaford, Mary H. Graves, and Lorenza Haynes were +the first Massachusetts women to be ordained preachers of the Gospel; +the latter was at one time chaplain of the Maine House of +Representatives. The best known woman in the ministry at the present day +is Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, a Methodist minister, president of the +National American Woman's Suffrage Association.[413] + +[Sidenote: As newspaper editors.] + +Women have from very early times been exceedingly active in newspaper +work. Anna Franklin printed the first newspaper in Rhode Island, in +1732; she was made official printer to the colony. When the founder of +the _Mercury_, of Philadelphia, died in 1742, his widow, Mrs. Cornelia +Bradford, carried it on for many years with great success, just as Mrs. +Zenger continued the _New York Weekly Journal_--the second newspaper +started in New York--for years after the death of her husband. Anna K. +Greene established the _Maryland Gazette_, the first paper in that +colony, in 1767. Penelope Russell printed _The Censor_ in Boston, in +1771. In fact, there was hardly a colony in which women were not +actively engaged in printing. After the Revolution they were still more +active. Mrs. Anne Royal edited _The Huntress_ for a quarter of a +century. Margaret Fuller ran _The Dial_, in Boston, in 1840 and numbered +Emerson and William Channing among her contributors. From 1840 to 1849 +the mill girls of Lowell edited the _Lowell Offering_. These are but a +few examples of what women have done in newspaper work. How very +influential they are to-day every one knows who is familiar with the +articles and editorial work appearing in newspapers and magazines; and +that women are very zealous reporters many people can attest with +considerable vigour.[414] + +[Sidenote: Women in industry.] + +The enormous part which women now play in industry and in all economic +production is a concomitant of the factory system, specialised industry, +and all that makes a highly elaborated and complex society. Before the +introduction of machine industry, and in the simple society of the +colonial days, women were no less a highly important factor in economic +production; but not as wage earners. Their importance lay in the fact +that spinning, weaving, brewing, cheese and butter making, and the like +were matters attended to by each household to supply its own wants; and +this was considered the peculiar sphere of the housewife. In 1840 +Harriet Martineau found only seven employments open to women in the +United States, viz., teaching, needlework, keeping boarders, working in +cotton mills and in book binderies, type-setting, and household service. + +I shall now present a series of fifty tables, by means of which the +reader may see at a glance the status of women in all the States to-day. +For convenience, I shall arrange the views alphabetically. + + +TABLES SHOWING THE PRESENT STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +The right of "dower," as used in these tables, refers to the widow's +right, under the Common Law, to the possession, for her life-time, of +one third of the real estate of which her husband was possessed in +fee-simple during the marriage. + +"Curtesy" is the right of the husband after his wife's death to the life +use of his wife's real estate, sometimes dependent on the birth of +children, sometimes not; and usually the absolute right to her whole +personal estate. + +It must be remembered that the enforcement Of certain laws, +particularly in regard to child labour, is extremely lax in many States. +It will be noted also that an unscrupulous employer could find loopholes +in some of the statutes. The reader can observe these things for himself +in his particular State. + + + +_Alabama_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14. + +POPULATION: Male 916,764; female 911,933. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and has full control of own +property; but she cannot mortgage her real and personal property or +alienate it without husband's consent. Married women may execute will +without concurrence of husband and may bar latter's right of curtesy. +Husband may appoint guardian for children by will; but wife has custody +of them until they are fourteen. If a wife commits a crime in +partnership with her husband she cannot be punished (except for murder +and treason). Husband is not required by law to support the family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce is granted for incurable impotence, adultery, +desertion for two years, imprisonment for two years or more, crimes +against nature, habitual drunkenness after marriage; in favour of +husband if wife was pregnant at time of marriage without his knowledge +or agency, in favour of wife for physical violence on part of husband +endangering life or health, or when there is reasonable apprehension of +such violence. + +Limited divorce is granted for cruelty in either of the parties or any +other cause which would justify absolute divorce, if the party desires +only a divorce from bed and board. + +LABOUR LAWS: Women not allowed to work in mines. Children under 12 not +permitted to work in any factory. All employers of women must provide +seats and must allow women to rest when not actively engaged. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: There +is no suffrage. Women not eligible for any elective office; they may be +notaries public. There are 18 women in the ministry, 12 journalists, 1 +dentist, 3 lawyers, 16 doctors, 3 professors, 2 bankers, 5 saloon +keepers, 4 commercial travellers, 11 carpenters, etc. + + +_Arizona_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 17. + +POPULATION: Male 71,795; female 51,136. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. Wife has control of +property which she had before marriage. Wife may contract debts for +necessaries for herself and children upon credit of husband. She may sue +and be sued and make contracts in her own name as regards her separate +property, but must sue jointly with husband for personal injuries, and +damages recovered are community property and in his control. Father is +legal guardian of minor children; at his death mother becomes guardian +as long as she remains unmarried. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for excesses, cruelty, or outrage, adultery, +impotence, conviction for a felony, desertion for one year, neglect of +husband to provide for one year, habitual intemperance; in favour of +husband if wife was pregnant at time of marriage without his knowledge +or agency. + +There is no limited divorce; but when the husband wilfully abandons his +wife, she can maintain an action against him for permanent maintenance +and support. + +LABOUR LAWS: No woman or minor may work or give any exhibition in a +saloon. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +21 years old or more who are mothers or guardians of a child of school +age are eligible to the office of school trustee and may vote for such +officers. There are 12 women in the ministry, 1 dentist, 2 journalists, +4 lawyers, 4 doctors, 628 saloon keepers, 2 bankers, etc. + + + +_Arkansas_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 675,312; female 636,252. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower exists, but not +curtesy. Wife may sell or transfer her separate real estate without +husband's consent. Father is legal guardian of children, but cannot +apprentice them or create testamentary guardianship for them without +wife's consent. At husband's death wife may be guardian of persons of +children, but not of their property, unless derived from her. + +DIVORCE: Absolute or limited divorce for impotence, wilful desertion for +a year, when husband or wife had a former wife or husband living at the +time of the marriage sought to be set aside, conviction for felony or +other infamous crime, habitual drunkenness for one year, intolerable +indignities, and adultery subsequent to marriage. + +LABOUR LAWS: Labour contracts of married women, approved by their +husbands, are legal and binding. No woman may work in a mine. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. 13 women are ministers, 6 journalists, 9 lawyers, 39 doctors, +3 professors, 3 saloon keepers, 9 commercial travellers, etc. + + + +_California_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 820,531; female 664,522. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Wife may dispose of +separate property without husband's consent. In torts of a personal +nature she must sue jointly with her husband. Husband is guardian of +minor children; wife becomes so at his death. Husband must provide for +family. If husband has no property or is disabled, wife must support him +and the family out of her property or earnings. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful +desertion for one year, wilful neglect for one year, habitual +intemperance for one year, conviction for felony. + +There are no statutory provisions for limited divorce. But when the wife +has any cause for action as provided in the code, she may, without +applying for a divorce, maintain an action against her husband for +permanent support and maintenance of herself or of herself and children. + +LABOUR LAWS: Sex shall be no disqualification for entering any business, +vocation, or profession. Children under 16 may not be let out for +acrobatic performances or any exhibition endangering life or morals. Any +one who sends a minor under the age of 18 to a saloon, gambling house, +or brothel, is guilty of a misdemeanour. One day of rest each week must +be given all employees. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. May be elected school trustees. May be notaries public. There +are 201 women in the ministry, 52 dentists, 116 journalists, 60 lawyers, +522 doctors, 8 professors, 129 saloon keepers, 9 bankers, 23 commercial +travellers, etc. + + +_Colorado_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 295,332; female 244,368. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. No assignment of wages by +a married man is valid without the consent of his wife. Neither dower +nor curtesy obtains. Husband and wife have same rights in making wills. +Wife can sue and be sued as if unmarried. She is joint guardian of +children with husband and has equal powers. Husband must support family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for impotence, when husband or wife had a wife +or husband living at time of marriage, adultery subsequent to marriage, +wilful desertion for one year, cruelty (including the infliction of +mental suffering as well as physical violence), neglect to provide for +one year, habitual drunkenness for one year, conviction for felony. + +There is no limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: Eight hours the usual day's work. Children under 12 may not +work in mines; none under 14 may exhibit in saloons, variety theatres, +or any place endangering morals. No female help may be sent to any place +of bad repute. Children under 14 may not be employed in mills or +factories. No woman may work underground in a mine. All employers of +women must provide seats. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Full +suffrage. Women are eligible to all offices; 10 have served in the +Legislature. There are 39 women in the ministry, 23 dentists, 28 +journalists, 17 lawyers, 172 doctors, 4 professors, 17 saloon keepers, +12 bankers, 8 commercial travellers, etc. + + +_Connecticut_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 454,294; female 454,126. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. No dower or curtesy. +Survivor gets one third of property. Wife controls own property. Wife +and husband joint guardians of children with equal powers. Husband must +support family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for adultery, fraudulent contract, wilful +desertion for three years with total neglect of duty, seven years' +absence when absent party is not heard from during that period, habitual +intemperance, intolerable cruelty, sentence to imprisonment for life, +any infamous crime involving a violation of conjugal duty and punishable +by imprisonment. + +There is no limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 12 may give exhibition endangering limbs or +morals. Employers of females may not send them to any place of bad +repute. Eight hours is a day's work. Women employees must have seats to +rest. No woman shall be forced to labour more than ten hours a day. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: +Women have school suffrage and may be elected school trustees. There are +45 women in the ministry, 6 dentists, 122 doctors, 1 professor, 28 +saloon keepers, 4 bankers, 13 commercial travellers, 14 carpenters, etc. + + +_Delaware_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 94,158; female 90,577. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. If there is a child or +lawful issue of a child living, widow has a life interest in one third +of the real estate and one third absolutely of the personal property. If +there is no child nor the descendant of a child living, widow has a life +interest in one half of the real estate and one half absolutely of the +personal estate. If there are neither descendants nor kin of husband, +she gets the entire real estate for her life, and all the personal +estate absolutely. Father is legal guardian of children and he alone may +appoint a guardian at his death. Husband must support family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for adultery, desertion for three years, +habitual drunkenness, impotence, extreme cruelty, conviction for felony, +procurement of marriage by fraud for want of age, wilful neglect to +provide for three years. + +Limited divorce may be decreed, in the discretion of the court, for the +last two causes mentioned. + +LABOUR LAWS: All female employees must be provided with seats. Sunday +labour forbidden. No minor under 15 may be let out for any gymnastic or +other exhibition endangering body or morals. Separate lunch, wash-rooms, +etc., for all women employees; the rooms must be kept reasonably heated. +Using indecent or profane language towards a female employee is a +misdemeanour. The governor must appoint a _female_ factory inspector who +shall see that these laws are enforced. Children under 14 may not work +in mills and factories; and no child under 16 shall be forced to labour +more than nine hours daily. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +in Milford, Townsend, Wyoming, and Newark who pay a property tax may +vote for Town Commissioners. All such women in the State may vote for +school trustees. There are 4 women in the ministry, 3 dentists, 1 +journalist, 1 lawyer, 7 doctors, 8 saloon keepers, 1 commercial +traveller, 2 carpenters, etc. + + +_District of Columbia_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT; 16. + +POPULATION: Male 132,004; female 146,714. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and property, may be sued +and sue, carry on business, etc., as if unmarried. Husband and wife are +equal guardians of children. Husband must furnish reasonable support if +he have property. Both dower and curtesy obtain. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for bigamy, insanity at time of marriage, +impotence, adultery habitual drunkenness for three years, cruel +treatment endangering life or health. + +Limited divorce for drunkenness, cruelty, and desertion. + +In case of absolute divorce, only the innocent party may remarry; but +the divorced parties may marry each other again. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 14 may be let out for any public exhibition +endangering body or morals. Seats must be provided for women employees. +Employment agencies must not send applicants to places of bad repute. +Children under 14 may not be employed in any factory, hotel, etc.; but +judge of juvenile court may give dispensation to child between 12 and +14. No girl under 16 may be bootblack or sell papers or any other wares +publicly. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women may be notaries public and members of Board of +Education. 17 women in the ministry, 7 dentists, 38 journalists, 23 +lawyers, 56 doctors, 18 saloon keepers, 1 banker, 7 commercial +travellers, 2 carpenters, etc. + + +_Florida_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16 (but 10 practically, as penalty above 10 is +insignificant). + +POPULATION: Male 275,246; female 253,296. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and owns separate estate; +but cannot transfer her real or personal property without husband's +consent. Dower prevails, but not curtesy. Wife may make a will as if +unmarried. Husband is legal guardian of children. Husband must support +family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for impotence, where the parties are within +the degrees prohibited by the law, adultery, bigamy, extreme cruelty, +habitual indulgence in violent and ungovernable temper, habitual +intemperance, desertion for one year, if husband or wife has obtained a +divorce elsewhere and if the applicant has been a citizen of Florida for +two years. + +There is no limited divorce. But the wife may claim alimony, without +applying for a divorce, for any of these causes except bigamy. + +LABOUR LAWS: Ten hours legal day's work. Employers of women must provide +seats. No child under 14 may be let out for any public exhibition +endangering body or morals. Sunday labour forbidden. No child under 12 +may be employed in any factory, or any place where intoxicating liquor +is sold; and no child under 12 may labour more than nine hours a day. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women may be notaries public. 19 women in the ministry, 1 +dentist, 9 journalists, 4 lawyers, 21 doctors, 1 banker, 3 commercial +travellers, 6 carpenters, etc. + + +_Georgia_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 10. + +POPULATION: Male 1,103,201; female 1,113,130. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and own property. Dower +prevails, but not curtesy. Husband is legal guardian of children and at +his death may appoint a guardian to the exclusion of his wife. Husband +must support family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for intermarriage within the prohibited +degrees of consanguinity and affinity, mental incapacity at time of +marriage, impotence at time of marriage, force, menace, duress, or fraud +in obtaining marriage, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage unknown to +husband, adultery, wilful desertion for three years, conviction for an +offence involving imprisonment for two years or longer. + +Absolute or limited divorce for cruelty or habitual intoxication. +Limited divorce for any ground held sufficient in English courts prior +to May 4, 1784. + +LABOUR LAWS: No boss or other superior in any factory shall inflict +corporal punishment on minor labourers. Seats must be provided for +female employees. Sunday labour forbidden. No minors may be employed in +barrooms. To let out children for gymnastic exhibition or any indecent +exhibition is a misdemeanour. Children under 12 may not work in +factories. No child under 14 may work between 7 P.M. and 6 A.M. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. 33 women in the ministry, 2 dentists, 37 journalists, 6 +lawyers, 43 doctors, 4 professors, 2 saloon keepers, 4 bankers, 9 +commercial travellers, 10 carpenters, etc. + + +_Idaho_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 93,367; female 68,405. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. Wife can secure +control of own property only by going into court and showing that her +husband is mismanaging it. Husband is legal guardian of the children. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful +desertion for one year, wilful neglect for one year, habitual +intemperance for one year, conviction of felony, permanent insanity. + +There is no limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. Children under 14 may not work in mine, +factory, hotel, or be messenger; no child under 16 shall work more than +nine hours per day; nor be let out for any exhibition or vocation which +endangers health or morals; nor ever be sent to any immoral resort or +serve or handle intoxicating liquors. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Full +suffrage. Women are eligible to all offices. 7 women are in the +ministry, 4 journalists, 2 lawyers, 15 doctors, 1 saloon keeper, 1 +commercial traveller, 1 carpenter, etc. + + +_Illinois_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 2,472,782; female 2,348,768. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower prevails. Wife has +full disposal of property, can sue, etc., as if unmarried. Wife and +husband are equal guardians of children. Wife is entitled to support +suited to her condition in life; husband is entitled to same support out +of her individual property. They are jointly liable for family expenses. + +DIVORCE: Absolute divorce for impotence, bigamy, adultery, wilful +desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness for two years, attempt to +murder, extreme and repeated cruelty, conviction for felony or other +infamous crime. + +No limited divorce; but married women living separate through no fault +of their own have an action in equity for reasonable maintenance, if +they so desire. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No minor shall be allowed to sell +indecent literature, etc., nor be let out as acrobat or mendicant or for +any immoral occupation. Eight hours a legal day's work. No person shall +be debarred from any occupation or profession on account of sex; but +females shall not be required to work on streets or roads or serve on +juries. No child under 14 to be employed in any place where intoxicating +liquors are sold or in factory or bowling alley; and shall not labour +more than eight hours. No child under 16 shall engage in occupations +dangerous to life or morals; and no female under 16 shall engage in any +employment which requires her to stand constantly. Seats must be +provided for all female employees. No woman shall work more than ten +hours a day in stores and factories. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have school suffrage and are eligible to all school offices and can be +notaries public. There are 292 women in the ministry, 117 dentists, 240 +journalists, 113 lawyers, 820 doctors, 31 professors, 196 saloon +keepers, 8 bankers, 101 commercial travellers, 24 carpenters, etc. + + +_Indiana_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Males 1,285,404; females 1,231,058. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. No dower or curtesy. Wife +may sue in her own name for injuries, etc. Neither husband nor wife can +alienate their separate real estate without each other's consent. A wife +can act as executor or administrator of an estate only with her +husband's consent. No married woman can become a surety for any person. +Husband is guardian of children. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotency, desertion for two years, +cruel and inhuman treatment, habitual drunkenness, neglect of husband to +provide for two years, conviction of an infamous crime. + +Limited divorce for adultery, desertion or neglect for six months, +habitual cruelty or constant strife, gross and wanton neglect of +conjugal duty for six months. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 12 may work in a mine. Children under 15 may +not be let out for acrobatic or any immoral exhibition or to work in any +place where liquor is sold. Seats must be provided for female employees. +Eight hours a legal day's work. No female under 18 may work more than +ten hours a day in any factory, laundry, renovating works, bakery, or +printing office; no woman shall be employed in any factory between 10 +P.M. and 6 A.M. Suitable dressing rooms must be provided and not less +than sixty minutes given for the noonday meal. Sweatshops under strict +supervision of a State inspector. No woman may work in a mine. No Sunday +labour. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women may be notaries public. 130 women in the ministry, 34 +dentists, 79 journalists, 40 lawyers, 195 doctors, 6 professors, 27 +saloon keepers, 2 bankers, 44 commercial travellers, 7 carpenters, etc. + + +_Indian Territory_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 208,952; female 183,108. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. Dower is in force +and curtesy. Woman controls separate estate absolutely in practice; for +though at common law any money or property given her husband for +investment becomes his, by statute it does not. Husband and wife are +equal guardians of children. + +DIVORCE: Absolute or limited for impotence, wilful desertion for one +year, bigamy, conviction for felony or other infamous crime, habitual +drunkenness for one year, cruel treatment endangering life, intolerable +indignities, adultery, incurable insanity subsequent to marriage. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION; INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. 6 women in ministry, 1 dentist, 4 journalists, 13 doctors, 4 +professors, 1 banker, etc. + + +_Iowa_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 15. + +POPULATION: Male 1,156,849; female 1,075,004. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Any assignment of wages +must have written consent of both husband and wife. No dower or curtesy; +surviving husband or wife is entitled to one third in fee simple of both +real and personal estate of other at his or her death. Wife controls own +property, can sue, etc., as if single. Husband and wife are equal +guardians of children. Support and education of family is chargeable +equally on husband's and wife's property. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, wilful desertion for two years, +conviction of felony after marriage, habitual drunkenness, inhuman +treatment endangering life, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage by +another man, unless the husband have an illegitimate child living +unknown to wife. + +No limited divorce. + +Annulment for prohibited degrees, impotence, bigamy, insanity or idiocy +at time of marriage. + +LABOUR LAWS: No female may be employed in any place where intoxicating +liquors are sold; Seats must be provided for female employees. Children +under 16 not to assist in operating dangerous machinery. No Sunday +labour. No person under 14 may work in a factory, mine, laundry, +slaughter-house, store where more than eight persons are employed; no +child under 16 shall be employed in any vocation endangering life or +morals, nor shall work more than ten hours a day. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have bond suffrage and can vote on increase of taxes. They may serve as +school trustees and superintendents. 117 women in ministry, 52 dentists, +74 journalists, 53 lawyers, 260 doctors, 27 professors, 8 saloon +keepers, 11 bankers, 34 commercial travellers, 7 carpenters, etc. + + +_Kansas_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 768,716; female 701,779. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Husband and wife are equal +guardians of children. Wife controls her separate property, can sue, +etc., as if unmarried. Neither husband nor wife can convey or encumber +real estate without consent of other; nor dispose by will of more than +one half of the separate property without other's consent. If there are +no children, the surviving husband or wife takes all the property, real +and personal; if there are children, one half. Husband must support +family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for bigamy, desertion for one year, adultery, +impotency, when wife at time of marriage was pregnant by another than +her husband, extreme cruelty, fraudulent contract, habitual +drunkenness, gross neglect of duty, conviction and imprisonment for +felony subsequent to marriage. + +No limited divorce; but wife may obtain alimony without divorce for any +causes above mentioned. + +LABOUR LAWS: People employing children under 14 in acrobatic or +mendicant occupations are guilty of a misdemeanour. No Sunday labour. +Seats must be provided for female employees. No child under 14 may work +in coal mine, nor in any factory or packing house. No child under 16 may +work at any occupation endangering body or morals. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have municipal, school, and bond suffrage. 63 women in ministry, 21 +dentists, 39 journalists, 43 lawyers, 190 doctors, 21 professors, 9 +saloon keepers, 7 bankers, 20 commercial travellers, 19 carpenters, etc. + + +_Kentucky_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 12. + +POPULATION: Male 1,090,227; female 1,056,947. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. Curtesy and dower +are equalised. After the death of either husband or wife, the survivor +is given a life interest in one third of the realty of the deceased and +an absolute estate in one half of the personalty. Wife controls her +personal property, but cannot dispose of real estate without husband's +consent; the husband can convey real estate without his wife's +signature, but it is subject to her dower. Husband is legal guardian of +children. He must furnish support according to his condition, but if he +has only his wages there is no law to punish him for non-support. + +DIVORCE: Absolute to both husband and wife for impotence or inability to +copulate and for living apart for five consecutive years without any +cohabitation. Also to the party not in fault for desertion for one year, +adultery, condemnation for felony, concealment of any loathsome disease +at time of marriage or contracting it afterwards, force, duress, or +fraud in obtaining marriage, uniting with any creed or religious society +requiring a renunciation of the marriage covenant or forbidding husband +and wife to cohabit. To the wife, when not in like fault, for confirmed +drunkenness of husband leading to neglect to provide, habitual behaviour +by husband for six months indicating aversion to wife and causing her +unhappiness, physical injury or attempt at it. To the husband for wife's +pregnancy at time of marriage unknown to him, adultery of wife, or such +conduct as proves her to be unchaste without proof of adultery, and +habitual drunkenness of wife. + +Limited divorce for any of these causes or any other cause as the court +may deem sufficient. + +LABOUR LAWS: Forbidden to let or employ any children under 16 in any +acrobatic or mendicant or immoral occupations. No Sunday labour. No +child under 14 shall work in factory, mill, or mine unless said child +shall have no other means of support. No child under 16 shall work more +than ten hours per day. Seats and suitable dressing-rooms must be +provided for female employees. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: In +the country districts any widow having a child of school age and any +widow or spinster having a ward of school age may vote for school +trustees and school taxes. In Louisville, five third-class, and twenty +or more fourth-class cities no woman has any vote. Women may be notaries +public. 39 women in ministry, 4 dentists, 21 journalists, 16 lawyers, 98 +doctors, 5 professors, 35 saloon keepers, 3 bankers, 20 commercial +travellers, 9 carpenters, etc. + + +_Louisiana_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 694,733; female 686,892. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. Wife cannot appear +in court without her husband's consent, and needs this consent in all +matters connected with her separate estate. She may make her will +without the authority of her husband. No woman can be a witness to a +testament. No married woman can be executor without husband's consent. +The dowry is given to the husband, for him to enjoy as long as the +marriage shall last. Husband is legal guardian of children. + +DIVORCE: Absolute or limited for adultery, condemnation to an infamous +punishment, habitual and intolerable intemperance, insupportable excess +or outrages, public defamation on the part of one of the married persons +toward the other, desertion, attempted murder, proof of guilt of husband +or wife who has fled from justice when charged with an infamous offence. + +LABOUR LAWS: No female to be employed in any place where liquor is sold. +No Sunday labour. No child under 15 to engage in any acrobatic or +theatrical public exhibition. Seats must be provided for female +employees, who are also to have at least thirty minutes for lunch. No +girl under 14 may be employed in any mill or factory; and no woman shall +be worked more than ten hours a day. Seats, suitable dressing-rooms, and +stairs must be provided. An inspector, male or female, is appointed. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: +Tax-paying women can vote on all questions of taxation. 14 women in +ministry, 4 dentists, 21 journalists, 8 lawyers, 25 doctors, 16 +professors, 31 saloon keepers, 2 bankers, 18 commercial travellers, 9 +carpenters, etc. + + +_Maine_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 350,995; female 343,471. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and has full control of +separate property. Wife and husband are equal guardians of children. If +there is no will, the interest of the husband or wife in the real estate +of the other is the same--one third absolutely, if there is issue +living, one half if there is no issue, the whole if there is neither +issue nor kindred. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, extreme cruelty, desertion +for three years, gross and confirmed habits of Intoxication whether from +liquors or drugs, cruel and abusive treatment, wilful neglect to +provide. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: Ten hours a day the legal limit for female employees. No +child under 14 may work in a factory. No Sunday labour. No child under +16 may be employed in any acrobatic, mendicant, immoral, or dangerous +occupation. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women can be justices of the peace, town clerks, and registers +of probate. They cannot be notaries public. 39 women in ministry, 4 +dentists, 33 journalists, 4 lawyers, 67 doctors, 1 professor, 3 bankers, +5 carpenters, etc. + + +_Maryland_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 589,275; female 598,769. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. No assignment of wages to +be made without consent of both husband and wife. Wife controls separate +property absolutely. Inheritance of property is the same for widow and +widower. Husband is legal guardian of children and must support family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, any cause which by the laws of the +State renders a marriage null and void _ab initio_, adultery, desertion +for three years, illicit sexual intercourse _of the woman before_ +marriage unknown to husband (_but the wife cannot obtain a divorce from +her husband if he has been guilty of such an offence_). Limited divorce +for cruelty, excessively vicious conduct, or desertion. In all cases +where an absolute divorce is granted for adultery or abandonment, the +court may decree that the guilty party shall not contract marriage with +any other person during the lifetime of the other party. Annulment is +given for bigamy or marriage within the prohibited degrees of +consanguinity and affinity. + +LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. No Sunday +labour. No child under 14 may be employed in any mendicant or acrobatic +occupation. No child under 8 may be employed in peddling. Women may not +be waitresses in any place where liquor is sold. Children under 12 may +not be employed in any business except in the counties, from June 1 to +Oct. 15, Ten hours a legal day's work. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women serve as notaries public. 35 women in ministry, 6 +dentists, 23 journalists, 6 lawyers, 87 doctors, 4 professors, 2 +bankers, 13 commercial travellers, 10 carpenters, etc. + + +_Massachusetts_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 1,367,474; female 1,437,872. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and has control of her +separate property subject only to the husband's interests. She can be +executor, make contracts, etc., as if unmarried. The husband is legal +guardian of minor children; he may dispose of them and may appoint a +guardian at his death. Husband must support family. In distributing the +estate, no distinction is made between real and personal property. The +surviving husband or wife takes one third, if deceased leaves children +or their descendants; 5000 dollars and one half of the remaining estate +if the deceased leaves no issue; and the whole, if deceased leaves no +kin. This is taken absolutely and not for life. Curtesy and dower exist; +but the old-time curtesy is cut down to a life-interest in one third, +the same as dower; and in order to be entitled to dower or curtesy, the +surviving husband or wife must elect to take it in preference to the +above provisions. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotency, utter desertion for three +years, gross and confirmed habits of intoxication, cruel and abusive +treatment, wilful neglect to provide, sentence to imprisonment for five +years. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. Ten hours a legal day's work. No woman to +labour between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M. in any manufacturing establishment, +nor between 6 P.M. and 6 A.M. in any textile works. No child under 14 +and no illiterate under 16 and over 14 may be employed in any factory or +mercantile establishment. No child under 14 may be employed between 7 +P.M. and 6 A.M., or during the time when the public schools are in +session. Seats must be provided for females. No woman or young person +shall be required to work more than six hours without thirty minutes for +lunch. No child under 15 may engage in any gymnastic or theatrical +exhibition. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have school suffrage. They may be justices of the peace. 188 women in +ministry, 38 dentists, 180 journalists, 47 lawyers, 729 doctors, 38 +professors, 8 saloon keepers, 3 bankers, 73 commercial travellers, 31 +carpenters, etc. + + +_Michigan_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 1,248,905; female 1,172,077. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. Dower prevails, but +not curtesy. When the wife has separate real estate, she controls it as +if single. The husband cannot give full title to his real estate unless +the wife joins so as to cut off her dower. Father is guardian of the +children. Husband must support. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, imprisonment for three years, +desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness, if husband or wife has +obtained a divorce in another State. + +Limited or absolute divorce at the discretion of the court for extreme +cruelty, desertion for two years, neglect to provide. + +LABOUR LAWS: No female may be employed in any place where liquor is +sold. Seats must be provided for female employees. Ten hours a legal +day's work. No Sunday labour. No child under 16 may take part in any +acrobatic or mendicant or dangerous or immoral occupation, nor shall any +minor be given obscene literature to sell. No female under 21 may be +employed in any occupation endangering life, health, or morals. At least +forty-five minutes must be allowed for lunch. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: All +women who pay taxes may vote upon questions of local taxation and the +granting of franchises. Parents and guardians have also school suffrage. +Women serve as notaries public. 105 women in ministry, 17 dentists, 81 +journalists, 27 lawyers, 270 doctors, 26 professors, 23 saloon keepers, +13 bankers, 53 commercial travellers, 32 carpenters, etc. + + +_Minnesota_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 932,490; female 818,904. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings, but cannot convey or +encumber her separate real estate without husband's consent. No dower or +curtesy. If either husband or wife die intestate, the survivor, if there +is issue living, is entitled to the homestead for life and one third of +the rest of the estate in fee simple. If there are no descendants, the +entire estate goes absolutely to the survivor. Husband is guardian of +children and must support family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotency, cruel and inhuman treatment, +sentence to imprisonment after marriage, wilful desertion for one year, +habitual drunkenness for one year. + +Limited divorce--to wife only--for cruel and inhuman treatment, on part +of husband, or such conduct as may make it unsafe and improper for her +to cohabit with him, desertion and neglect to provide. + +LABOUR LAWS: Children between 8 and 18 must be sent to school during +whole period schools are in session, except in cases of unusual poverty. +Ten hours a legal day's work. Seats must be provided for female +employees. No Sunday labour. No child under 18 may engage in any +occupation between 6 P.M. and 7 A.M.; nor in any mendicant, acrobatic, +immoral, or dangerous business. No child under 14 may work in factory or +mine. A _female_ factory inspector must be appointed. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have school suffrage and may vote for library trustees. 80 women in +ministry, 18 dentists, 75 journalists, 21 lawyers, 199 doctors, 16 +professors, 17 saloon keepers, 10 bankers, 46 commercial travellers, 8 +carpenters, etc. + + +_Mississippi_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 10. + +POPULATION: Male 781,451; female 769,819. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. He manages her +separate property, but must give an account of it annually. No dower or +curtesy. If husband or wife dies intestate, the entire estate goes to +the survivor; if there is issue, surviving husband or wife has a child's +share of the estate. Each has equal rights in making a will. Father is +legal guardian of children, but cannot deprive mother of custody of +their persons. Husband must support. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for marriage within prohibited degrees, natural +impotence, adultery, sentence to the penitentiary, wilful desertion for +two years, habitual drunkenness or excessive use of drugs, habitually +cruel treatment, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage unknown to +husband, bigamy, insanity, or idiocy when party applying did not know of +it. + +No limited divorce. The court may decree that the guilty party must not +marry again. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. There are no other laws. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: A +woman as a free-holder or lease-holder may vote at a county election to +decide as to the adoption or non-adoption of a law permitting stock to +run at large. If a widow and the head of a family, she may vote on +leasing certain portions of land in the township which are set apart for +school purposes. Widows in country districts may also vote for school +trustees. Women cannot be notaries public. 13 women in ministry, 2 +dentists, 19 journalists, 4 lawyers, 16 doctors, 3 professors, 1 saloon +keeper, 3 bankers, 9 commercial travellers, 13 carpenters, etc. + + +_Missouri_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 1,595,710; female 1,510,955. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Her separate property is +liable for debts contracted by the husband for necessaries for the +family. Wife can sue and be sued, make contracts, etc., in her own name. +She may hold real property under three different tenures: an equitable +separate estate created by certain technical words in the conveyance, +and this she can dispose of without husband's consent; a legal separate +estate, which she cannot convey without his joinder; and a common law +estate in fee, of which the husband is entitled to the rents and +profits. Dower and curtesy prevail. Husband is guardian of children and +must support. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, bigamy, adultery, desertion for one +year, conviction for felony or infamous crime, habitual drunkenness for +one year, cruel treatment endangering life or intolerable indignities, +vagrancy of husband, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage unknown to +husband. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. No woman may +be employed in any place where liquor is served except wife, daughter, +mother, or sister of owner. No child under 14 to engage in any +acrobatic, mendicant, dangerous, or immoral occupation. No Sunday +labour. No female may work underground in a mine. Children between 8 and +14 must go to school. No child under 14 may work in any theatre, concert +hall, factory; but this applies only to cities with 10,000 or more +inhabitants, No female may labour more than 54 hours a week. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women may be notaries public. 138 women in ministry, 32 +dentists, 87 journalists, 61 lawyers, 303 doctors, 17 professors, 44 +saloon keepers, 30 bankers, 37 commercial travellers, 15 carpenters, +etc. + + +_Montana_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 149,842; female 93,487. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. There is dower, but not +curtesy. Wife controls separate property. Husband is guardian of +children and must furnish support; but wife must help, if necessary. Her +personal property is subject to debts incurred for family expenses. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion, +wilful neglect, habitual intemperance, conviction of felony. + +No limited divorce; but wife may have an action for permanent +maintenance, at discretion of court, even though absolute divorce is +denied. + +LABOUR LAWS: Children under 16 may not be employed in mines. Children +between 8 and 14 must go to school. No child under 16 may take part in +any acrobatic, mendicant, or wandering occupation. No Sunday labour. No +child under 16 may work in mill, factory, railroad, in any place where +machinery is operated, or in any messenger company. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +may vote for school trustees. Those owning property may vote on all +questions submitted to tax-payers. They cannot be notaries public. 22 +women in ministry, 3 dentists, 6 journalists, 3 lawyers, 16 doctors, 7 +saloon keepers, 2 commercial travellers, 2 carpenters, etc. + + +_Nebraska_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 564,592; female 501,708. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property. Both +dower and curtesy prevail; but wife can mortgage or sell her real estate +without husband's consent and without regard for his right of curtesy. +He can do the same with his separate property, but subject to her dower. +Husband and wife are equal guardians of the children. Husband must +provide; but wife's separate property can be levied on for necessaries +furnished the family, if husband has no property. Wife is not "next of +kin" and cannot sue, for example, for damages to a minor child, even +though she is divorced and has custody of children. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, imprisonment for three +years, desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness, imprisonment for +life, extreme cruelty, neglect to provide. + +Limited divorce also for last three causes. Annulment for bigamy, when +one party is white and other has one fourth or more negro blood, +insanity or idiocy at time of marriage, consanguinity, obtaining +marriage by fraud or force, when there has been no subsequent +cohabitation. + +LABOUR LAWS: Children must go to school between 7 and 15. Ten hours a +legal day's labour. Sunday labour forbidden. Females to be employed +between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. Seats must be provided. No child under 14 may +be employed in any place where liquor is sold, factory, hotel, laundry, +messenger work. No child under 14 may be employed at all during school +term. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +who are mothers of children of school age or who are assessed on real or +personal property have school suffrage; but they cannot vote for State +or county superintendents or county supervisors. Women act as notaries +public. 95 women in ministry, 16 dentists, 35 journalists, 23 lawyers, +134 doctors, 11 professors, 10 saloon keepers, 15 commercial travellers, +12 carpenters, etc. + + +_Nevada_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14. + +POPULATION: Male 25,603; female 16,732. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. She may control her +separate property, if a list of it is filed with the county recorder, +but unless it is kept constantly inventoried and recorded, it becomes +community property. The community property, both real and personal, is +under absolute control of husband and at wife's death it all belongs to +him. On death of the husband, wife is entitled to half of it. A wife's +earnings are hers if her husband has allowed her to appropriate them to +her own use, when they are regarded as a gift from him to her. Husband +is legal guardian of children. Husband must provide; but there is no +penalty if he does not. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, adultery since marriage remaining +unforgiven, wilful desertion for one year, conviction for felony or +infamous crime, habitual drunkenness which incapacitates party from +contributing his or her share to support of family, extreme cruelty, +wilful neglect to provide for one year. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: There are none dealing with women and children. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women cannot serve as notaries public. 2 women in ministry, 4 +dentists, 1 journalist, 1 lawyer, 6 doctors, 5 saloon keepers. + + +_New Hampshire_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 205,379; female 206,209. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. +Wife can sue and be sued and make contracts without husband's consent. +Husband is legal guardian of children, and must provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, adultery, extreme cruelty, imprisonment +for one year, treatment seriously injuring health or endangering reason, +absence for three years without being heard from, habitual drunkenness +for three years, joining any religious sect which believes relation of +husband and wife unlawful, desertion for three years with neglect to +provide. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 12 may be employed in any factory, nor any +child under 14 while schools are in session. Nine hours and forty +minutes the legal limit for female labour per day. No child under 14 +shall engage in any acrobatic exhibition or in the selling of obscene +literature. No Sunday labour. Seats must be provided for female +employees. No female may sell or serve liquor. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS. Women +have school suffrage. They may be notaries public. 25 women in ministry, +3 dentists, 12 journalists, 2 lawyers, 61 doctors, 3 professors, 9 +saloon keepers 6 commercial travellers, 5 carpenters, etc. + + +_New Jersey_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 941,760; female 941,909. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. +She has full disposal of her personal property by will; but must get +husband's consent to convey or encumber her separate estate. Husband is +guardian of children. Husband must furnish support; but wife must +contribute, if he is unable. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for bigamy, marriage within prohibited degrees, +adultery, wilful desertion for two years, impotence. + +Limited divorce for extreme cruelty. + +In case of desertion and neglect to provide, wife has an action for +support. + +LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. Hours for +labour must be from 7 A.M. to 12 M. and from 1 P.M. to 6 P.M., except in +fruit canning and glass factories. Sunday labour forbidden. No child +under 18 may engage in any acrobatic, immoral, or mendicant occupation. +No child under 15 may engage in any vocation unless he or she shall have +attended school within twelve months immediately preceding. No child +under 14 may work in a factory. No female employee shall be sent to any +place of bad repute. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: +Women in villages and country districts have school suffrage. They may +be notaries public. 87 women in ministry, 19 dentists, 45 journalists, +23 lawyers, 176 doctors, 4 professors, 208 saloon keepers, 4 bankers, 11 +commercial travellers, 12 carpenters, etc. + + +_New Mexico_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14. + +POPULATION: Male 104,228; female 91,082. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Curtesy prevails. Neither +husband nor wife can convey real property without consent of other. +Husband is legal guardian of children, but is not required by law to +support the family. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, cruel treatment, desertion, impotency, +neglect to provide, habitual drunkenness, conviction for felony and +imprisonment subsequent to marriage, pregnancy of wife at time of +marriage unknown to husband. + +No limited divorce. But when husband and wife have permanently +separated, wife has an action for support. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. There are no other laws relating to women +and children. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women may be notaries public. 10 women in ministry, 2 +dentists, 5 doctors, 3 professors, 2 saloon keepers, 1 commercial +traveller, 3 carpenters, etc. + + +_New York_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. (Trials may be held privately, and it is +almost impossible to secure a conviction.) + +POPULATION: Male 3,614,780; female 3,654,114. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. +Wife holds separate property free from control of husband. Both husband +and wife can make wills without knowledge or consent of other. Wife can +mortgage or convey her whole estate without husband's consent; he can do +this with his personal property; but not with his real estate. Husband +and wife are equal guardians of the children. Husband must provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery only. + +Limited for cruelty, conduct rendering cohabitation unsafe or improper, +desertion, neglect to provide. + +Court refuses to allow party guilty of adultery to marry again, but may +modify this after five years if conduct of defendant has been uniformly +good. Adultery is now a crime in New York. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 16 may take part in any acrobatic, +mendicant, theatrical, wandering, dangerous, or immoral occupation. +Children must attend school between 8 and 16. No child under 14 may be +employed in any occupation during school term. Eight hours a day's work. +Seats must be provided for female employees. No child under 14 may work +in a factory. Female labour is confined between 6 A.M. and 9 P.M., and +must not exceed 10 hours. No girl under 16 shall sell papers or +periodicals in any public place. Female employment agencies may not send +applicant to any place of bad repute. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: +Tax-paying women in towns and villages may vote on questions of local +taxation. Parents and widows with children have school suffrage in towns +and villages. Women may be notaries public. 511 women in ministry, 108 +dentists, 365 journalists, 124 lawyers, 103 commercial travellers, 925 +doctors, 49 professors, 348 saloon keepers, 81 bankers, 84 carpenters, +etc. + + +_North Carolina_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14. + +POPULATION: Male 938,677; female 955,133. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. +Wife controls separate property. Wife is not bound by a contract unless +husband joins in writing. In actions against her he must be served with +the suit. Wife cannot be sole trader without husband's written consent. +Husband is legal guardian of children, and must provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, pregnancy of wife at time of +marriage unknown to husband. + +Limited for desertion, turning partner maliciously out of doors, cruel +treatment endangering life, intolerable indignities, habitual +drunkenness. + +Wife has an action for separate maintenance if husband neglects to +provide or is a drunkard or spendthrift. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 12 may be employed in +factory, except oyster canning concerns which pay for opening oysters by +the bushel. No person under 18 shall be required to labour more than 66 +hours per week. No child under 12 shall work in a mine. No boy or girl +under 14 shall work in a factory between 8 P.M. and 5 A.M. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women cannot be notaries public. 25 women in ministry, 6 +journalists, 22 doctors, 2 professors, 2 saloon keepers, 3 bankers, 4 +commercial travellers, 6 carpenters, etc. + + +_North Dakota_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 177,493; female 141,653. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property +absolutely. Dower and curtesy do not prevail; if husband or wife dies +intestate, survivor takes one half of the estate, if there is only one +child living or the lawful issue of one child; if there are more, +survivor gets one third. If husband is unable to support family, wife +must maintain him and the children. Husband is guardian of children. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion for +one year, wilful neglect for one year, habitual intemperance for one +year, conviction of felony. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: Children under 12 may not work in mines, factories, or +workshops. Children must go to school between 8 and 14, unless they have +already been taught adequately and poverty compels them to work. No +Sunday labour. No woman under 18 shall labour more then ten hours per +day. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have school suffrage and are eligible to all school offices. They may be +notaries public. 15 women in ministry, 5 dentists, 2 journalists, 6 +lawyers, 15 doctors, 1 professor, 1 commercial traveller, 4 carpenters, +etc. + + +_Ohio_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 2,102,655; female 2,054,890. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings, but wife controls +separate property. Either husband or wife on the death of the other is +entitled to one third of the real estate for life. Husband is legal +guardian of children, and must provide; but if he is unable, wife must +assist. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for bigamy, desertion for three years, adultery, +impotence, extreme cruelty, fraudulent contract, any gross neglect of +duty, habitual drunkenness for three years, imprisonment in +penitentiary, procurement of divorce in another State. No limited +divorce; but wife has an action for alimony without divorce for +adultery, any gross neglect of duty, desertion, separation on account of +ill treatment by husband, habitual drunkenness, sentence and +imprisonment in penitentiary. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 14 may work in a mine. Children must go to +school between 8 and 14. Seats and suitable toilet rooms must be +provided for female employees. No child under 14 may be employed in any +establishment or take part in any acrobatic, mendicant, dangerous, or +immoral vocation. Hours for girls under 18 confined between 6 A.M. and 7 +P.M., nor may they work more than ten hours per day. No Sunday labour. +No labour agency shall send any female to an immoral resort. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +may vote for members of boards of education, but not for State +commissioner nor on bonds and appropriations. They cannot be notaries. +206 women in ministry, 40 dentists, 151 journalists, 66 lawyers, 451 +doctors, 26 professors, 337 saloon keepers, 15 bankers, 62 commercial +travellers, 31 carpenters, etc. + + +_Oklahoma_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 214,359; female 182,972. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property +absolutely. If husband or wife dies intestate, leaving one child or +lawful issue of child, survivor receives one third of the estate; +otherwise one half. If there are no kin, survivor takes all. Husband is +guardian of children, and is expected to provide; but law assigns no +penalty if he does not. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for bigamy, desertion for one year, impotence, +pregnancy of wife at time of marriage by other than husband, extreme +cruelty, fraudulent contract, habitual drunkenness, gross neglect of +duty, conviction and imprisonment for felony after marriage. + +Wife may have an action for separate maintenance for any of these causes +without applying for divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No children under 15 may be employed in any occupation +injurious to body or morals. No Sunday labour. Ten hours per day legal +labour for children under 14. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: +Women may vote for school trustees. They may be notaries public. 29 +women in ministry, 1 dentist, 5 journalists, 5 lawyers, 26 doctors, 1 +professor, 4 commercial travellers, 3 carpenters, etc. + + +_Oregon_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 232,985; female 183,972. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. By registering as a sole +trader, she can carry on business in her own name. Civil disabilities +are same for husband and wife except as to voting and holding office. If +husband or wife dies intestate, and there are no descendants living, +survivor takes whole estate. If there is issue living, the widow +receives one half of husband's real estate and one half of his personal +property. The widower takes a life interest in all the wife's real +estate, whether there are children or not and all her personal property +absolutely if there are no descendants living; otherwise one half. +Husband and wife are equal guardians of children. Husband must provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotency, adultery, conviction for felony, +habitual drunkenness for one year, wilful desertion for one year, cruel +treatment or indignities making life burdensome. + +No limited divorce. Annulment if either party is one fourth negro or +Mongolian blood. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 14 shall work in factory, +mill, mine, telegraph, telephone, or public messenger service; and no +child under 14 shall be employed at all during school session. +Attendance at school compulsory between 8 and 14. Hours of work for +children under 16 to be confined between 7 A.M. and 6 P.M. Seats must be +provided for female employees. Ten hours a day the legal limit for +female labour. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +having property in school districts have school suffrage and may be +elected school trustees. They may be notaries. 40 women in ministry, 15 +dentists, 17 journalists, 8 lawyers, 82 doctors, 7 professors, 5 saloon +keepers, 10 bankers, 18 commercial travellers, 7 carpenters, etc. + + +_Pennsylvania_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 3,204,541; female 3,097,574. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. +Wife cannot mortgage separate estate without husband's consent; cannot +sue or be sued or contract without his consent; and in order to carry on +business in her own name must secure special permission from the court. +Husband is legal guardian of children, and must provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, bigamy, adultery, desertion for two +years, cruelty or intolerable indignities, marriage within prohibited +degrees of consanguinity or affinity, fraud, conviction for felony for +more than two years, lunacy for ten years. + +Limited divorce for desertion, turning wife out of doors, cruelty, +adultery. + +LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. Employment of +females in mines forbidden. Children under 18 may not engage in any +mendicant occupations; those under 15 may not exhibit in any place where +liquor is sold nor take part in any acrobatic or immoral vocation. +Sunday labour forbidden. No female may work in bakery or macaroni or +other establishment more than twelve hours per day. Children must go to +school between 8 and 16. No child under 16 may work in any anthracite +coal mine. No child under 14 shall be employed in any establishment. One +hour must be allowed for lunch. No employment bureau shall send any +female to an immoral resort. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. 290 women in ministry, 73 dentists, 125 journalists, 73 +lawyers, 601 doctors, 38 professors, 183 saloon keepers, 17 bankers, 44 +commercial travellers, 40 carpenters, etc. + + +_Rhode Island_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 210,516; female 218,040. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate estate, +subject to husband's right to curtesy. Curtesy and dower both prevail. +Husband is legal guardian of children and must provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute or limited for marriages originally void by law, +conviction for crime involving loss of civil status, when either party +may be presumed to be naturally dead from absence, etc., impotence, +adultery, desertion for any time at discretion of court, continued +drunkenness, neglect to provide, any gross misbehaviour. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 13 may be employed except during vacation. +No child under 15 may be employed unless he or she has school +certificate. No child under 14 to work in factory. Hours of labour for +children under 16 confined between 6 A.M. and 8 P.M. Seats must be +provided for all female employees. No child under 16 shall be employed +in any acrobatic, mendicant, dangerous, or immoral occupation. Hours for +female labour confined to ten. Sunday labour forbidden. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. 24 women in ministry, 5 dentists, 7 journalists, 3 lawyers, 56 +doctors, 2 saloon keepers, 5 commercial travellers, 6 carpenters, etc. + + +_South Carolina_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14. + +POPULATION: Male 664,895; female 675,421. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate estate +absolutely. Dower prevails, but not curtesy. Husband is legal guardian +of children, and is required to provide, but law as it stands offers +many loopholes. + +DIVORCE: There are no divorce laws in South Carolina. + +LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. Sunday labour +forbidden. No child under 12 to work in factory, mill, or textile +establishment, except in cases of extreme poverty duly attested; all +such labour to be confined between 6 A.M. and 8 P.M. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women cannot be notaries. 17 women in ministry, 1 dentist, 6 +journalists, 3 lawyers, 17 doctors, 13 professors, 3 saloon keepers, 2 +commercial travellers, 13 carpenters, etc. + + +_South Dakota_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Male 216,164; female 185,406. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and controls separate +estate. Joint real estate can be conveyed only by signature of both +husband and wife, but husband can dispose of joint personal property +without wife's consent. In order to control her separate property, wife +must keep it recorded in the office of the county register. No dower +and no curtesy. Survivor gets one half of estate, if there is one child +or issue of child; otherwise one third; unless there are neither +children nor kin, when survivor takes all. On the death of an unmarried +child, father inherits all its property. If he is dead and there are no +other children, mother succeeds; but if there are brothers and sisters, +she inherits a child's share. Husband is guardian and must support; but +if he is infirm, wife must do so. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion or +neglect or habitual intemperance for one year, conviction of felony. + +No limited divorce. + +Party guilty of adultery cannot marry any other, except the innocent +party, until death of latter. + +LABOUR LAWS: Sunday labour forbidden. No woman under 18 may labour more +than ten hours a day. No child under 15 may work in mine, hotel, +laundry, factory, elevator, bowling alley, or any place where liquor is +sold. No child under 15 shall be employed at all while schools are in +session. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +can vote for school trustees. They may be notaries. 29 women in +ministry, 3 dentists, 4 journalists, 12 lawyers, 24 doctors, 7 +professors, 3 saloon keepers, 3 commercial travellers, etc. + + +_Tennessee_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 1,021,224; female 999,392. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings, and wife can do +nothing with her separate estate without his consent. Dower and curtesy +prevail. Husband has right to all rents and profits of wife's estate. No +law requires husband to provide. Husband is guardian of children. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, bigamy, adultery, desertion for two +years, conviction for felony, attempted murder, pregnancy of woman at +time of marriage without knowledge of husband, habitual drunkenness. + +Limited for wife only for cruel treatment by husband or intolerable +indignities, and desertion or refusal to provide. + +Party guilty of adultery cannot marry person with whom adultery has been +committed during life of former partner. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 14 may be employed in +factory, workshop, or mine. Seats must be provided for female employees. +Hours for labour of women confined to 60 per week. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. 30 women in ministry, 1 dentist, 19 journalists, 14 lawyers, +48 doctors, 9 professors, 6 saloon keepers, 4 bankers, 16 commercial +travellers, 6 carpenters, etc. + + +_Texas_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 15. + +POPULATION: Male 1,578,900; female 1,469,810. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings and wife can do +nothing with her separate property without his consent. No dower or +curtesy. Husband and wife succeed equally to each other's estate. +Husband is guardian of children and may be required to provide out of +his wife's estate. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for excesses or outrages; in favour of husband when +wife is taken in adultery or has deserted him for three years; in favour +of wife, if husband has deserted her for three years or has abandoned +her and lives in adultery with another woman. In favour of either +husband or wife on conviction for felony. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 12 may be employed in any +establishment using machinery. No females shall be employed in any place +where liquor is sold except immediate members of owner's family. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women can be notaries. 50 women in ministry, 12 dentists, 51 +journalists, 17 lawyers, 100 doctors, 3 professors, 26 saloon keepers, +18 bankers, 29 commercial travellers, 12 carpenters, etc. + + +_Utah_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 141,687; female 135,062. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. No dower or curtesy. +Husband and wife succeed equally to each other's estate at death. Woman +controls separate estate absolutely. Husband is legal guardian of +children. There is no penalty for non-support. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, adultery, desertion for one year, +neglect to provide, habitual drunkenness, conviction of felony, cruel +treatment causing bodily injury or mental distress, permanent insanity. + +No limited divorce; but wife has an action for separate maintenance in +case of desertion or neglect to provide on part of husband. + +LABOUR LAWS: No females may work in mines. No Sunday labour. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Full +suffrage; therefore all offices are open to women. 20 women in ministry, +5 dentists, 7 journalists, 1 lawyer, 34 doctors, 2 saloon keepers, 1 +banker, 3 commercial travellers, 1 carpenter, etc. + + +_Vermont_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16. + +POPULATION: Males 175,138; females 168,503. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and controls separate +property. No dower or curtesy. Husband and wife have same powers of +mutual inheritance, except that widower does not take his wife's +personal property. Husband is guardian of children and must support. + +DIVORCE: Absolute or limited for adultery, sentence to hard labour, +intolerable severity, desertion for three years, neglect to provide, +absence for seven years without being heard from. + +LABOUR LAWS: No child under 16 to be employed after 8 P.M. No child +under 12 may work in mill, factory, railroad, quarry, or messenger +service. No female shall be employed in barrooms. No Sunday labour. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have school suffrage. They may be notaries. 17 women in ministry, 3 +dentists, 15 journalists, 21 doctors, 1 professor, 2 saloon keepers, 11 +commercial travellers, 3 carpenters, etc. + + +_Virginia_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14. + +POPULATION: Male 925,897; female 928,287. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property +absolutely. Dower and curtesy prevail. Husband is guardian of children +and must support. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, sentence to penitentiary, +conviction of an infamous offence prior to marriage without knowledge of +other party, desertion for three years, pregnancy of wife at time of +marriage or previous prostitution without knowledge of husband. + +Limited for cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, desertion. + +LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. Hours of +female labour confined to ten. No child under 12 may work in factory or +mine; no child under 14 shall work between 6 P.M. and 7 A.M. No child +under 14 shall be hired for any mendicant, acrobatic, dangerous, or +immoral occupation. No Sunday labour. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL, AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. 37 women in ministry, 1 dentist, 12 journalists, 7 lawyers, 32 +doctors, 20 professors, 19 saloon keepers, 13 commercial travellers, 9 +carpenters, etc. + + +_Washington_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 304,178; female 213,925. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and controls separate +estate; but control of community property is vested absolutely in the +husband; this includes everything acquired after marriage by the joint +or separate efforts of either. Husband and wife have equal rights of +inheritance to one another's estate; but are not equal guardians of the +children, as husband can exclude wife by will. Support of the family is +chargeable upon the property of both husband or wife, or either of them. +No dower or curtesy. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for any cause deemed by court sufficient, when court +is satisfied that parties can no longer live together, fraudulent +contract, adultery, impotence, desertion for one year, cruel treatment, +habitual drunkenness, neglect to provide, imprisonment. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No female may be employed in a mine. Every profession and +occupation open to women, but they may not hold public office. No Sunday +labour. Females shall not be employed in any place where liquor is sold. +Seats must be provided for female employees. Hours limited to ten. No +child under 14 shall labour in factory, mill, or workshop except at +discretion of juvenile judge. Children must go to school between 8 and +15. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have school and bond suffrage, but cannot vote for State or county +superintendents. 38 women in ministry, 7 dentists, 13 journalists, 13 +lawyers, 62 doctors, 3 professors, 8 saloon keepers, 1 banker, 8 +commercial travellers, etc. + + +_West Virginia_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14. + +POPULATION: Male 499,242; female 459,558. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings, but cannot sell or +encumber her separate property without husband's consent. Husband is +legal guardian and must provide. Dower and curtesy prevail. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, imprisonment in penitentiary, +conviction of an infamous offence before marriage, desertion for three +years, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage or prostitution before +without knowledge of husband, in favour of wife when husband was +notoriously a licentious person before marriage without her knowledge. + +Limited for cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt, desertion, +habitual drunkenness. + +LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 12 may work in factory or +mill and no child under 14 shall be employed during school session. No +child under 15 may be employed in any mendicant, acrobatic, immoral, or +dangerous occupation, nor in any place where liquor is sold. Seats must +be provided for female employees. No female may work in mine. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No +suffrage. Women cannot be notaries. 26 women in ministry, 4 dentists, 4 +journalists, 4 lawyers, 18 doctors, 4 professors, 9 saloon keepers, 2 +bankers, 3 commercial travellers, 2 carpenters, etc. + + +_Wisconsin_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. + +POPULATION: Male 1,067,562; female 1,001,480. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Assignment of wages of +husband must have wife's written consent. Wife controls separate +property absolutely. Dower and curtesy prevail. Husband is guardian of +children and must provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, adultery, sentence to imprisonment for +three years prior to marriage. Limited or absolute for desertion for one +year, cruelty, habitual drunkenness, neglect to provide, conduct of +husband rendering it improper or unsafe for wife to live with him. + +LABOUR LAWS: Female labour confined to eight hours per day. No child +under 14 may work in factory, workshop, bowling alley, or mine. Children +between 14 and 16 must get permission from juvenile judge. No child +under 16 shall be employed on dangerous machinery. None under 14 shall +take part in theatrical or circus exhibition as musician unless +accompanied on tours by parent or guardian. Authorities shall in all +cases determine whether occupation is dangerous or immoral for children +under 14. No Sunday labour. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women +have school suffrage. They may be notaries. 65 women in ministry, 24 +dentists, 32 journalists, 23 lawyers, 154 doctors, 12 professors, 143 +saloon keepers, 2 bankers, 27 commercial travellers, 9 carpenters, etc. + + +_Wyoming_ + +AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 21. + +POPULATION: Male 58,184; female 34,347. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property +absolutely. Neither dower nor curtesy prevail. Husband and wife have +same rights of mutual inheritance. Husband is legal guardian of +children, but there is no penalty if he does not provide. + +DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, conviction for felony, +desertion for one year, habitual drunkenness, extreme cruelty, neglect +to provide for one year, intolerable indignities, vagrancy of husband, +conviction of felony prior to marriage unknown to other party, pregnancy +of wife at time of marriage unknown to husband. + +No limited divorce. + +LABOUR LAWS: No female shall work in mine. Acrobatic, mendicant, +dangerous, or immoral occupations forbidden to children under 14. No +Sunday labour. Seats must be provided for female employees. + +SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Full +suffrage. Women are eligible for all offices. 2 women in ministry, 2 +journalists, 12 doctors, 1 professor, no saloon keepers, lawyers, or +dentists, 2 carpenters, etc. + + +In studying these tables, it should be remembered that new laws are +being made constantly; and that the census of 1910 will give figures +which as soon as they appear must supersede those of 1900. + + +SOURCES + +I. The Statutes of the Several States, from earliest times to the +present day. Published by Authority. + +II. All newspapers and periodicals. + +III. The Census Reports, especially the various separate reports such as +that on "Marriage and Divorce"; and the Reports of the Commissioner of +Labour. + +IV. The History of Woman Suffrage: edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, +Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Ida Husted Harper, 4 vols. +[First two published by Fowler and Wells, New York, 1881 and 1882; last +two by Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, 1887 and 1902.] + +V. The Encyclopedia of Social Reforms: edited by William D.P. Bliss, +with the Co-operation of many Specialists. Funk and Wagnalls, New York +and London, 1898. + + +NOTES: + +[410] See, for example, the account in the _New York Tribune_, Sept. 8, +9, and 12, 1853, of what happened at the Women's Rights Convention at +that time. + +[411] In 1900 there were 7399 female physicians and surgeons in the +United States, and 808 female dentists. + +[412] In 1900 there were 1049 women lawyers in the United States. The +above statements are from Bliss, _Encyc_., p. 1291. + +[413] In 1900 there were 3405 women clergy in the United States. + +[414] In 1900 there were 2193 women journalists in the United States. +This does not, of course, include women reporters and the like. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS + + +It is twenty-three centuries since Plato gave to the world his +magnificent treatise on the State. The dream of the Greek philosopher of +equal rights for all intelligent citizens, among whom he includes women, +has in large part been realised; but much is yet wanting to bring +society to the standard of the Ideal Republic. In not a few States of +the world the conditions affecting property rights are inequitable; in +all but very few States woman is still barred from the field of politics +and from the legitimate rights of citizenship; and the day seems far +distant when the States possessing a representative government will be +prepared to accept the woman citizen as eligible for administrative +positions. + +It will, therefore, be my purpose in this chapter first to consider five +of the most serious objections to the granting of equal suffrage, that +is to say, to the concession to women of full citizens' rights under the +law. It will be found that these objections are based on a presumed +inferiority of women to men in various respects. I shall give +consideration next in order to the question of the inferiority or +superiority of one sex over the other. In view, furthermore, of the new +ferment in thought in modern society, it will be useful to analyse +certain habits of mind and to indicate the necessity for a readjustment +of old beliefs in the light of recent evolution. I shall conclude my +history with a suggestion for definite reforms which, I believe, must be +brought about, whether equal suffrage is granted or not, before women +can attain their maximum of efficiency. + +The opposition to the granting of equal suffrage is, as I have said, +based mainly upon five classes of contentions: + + I. The theological. + II. The physiological. +III. The social or political. + IV. The intellectual. + V. The moral. + +A consideration and an analysis of these five classes of objections will +constitute a summary of the relations of woman to the community, and may +also serve as a guide or suggestion to the possibility of a legitimate +development, in the near future, of her rights as a citizen. + +I. The theological argument is based upon the distinctly evil conception +of woman, presented in _Genesis_, as the cause of misery in this world +and upon the subordinate position assigned to her by Paul and Peter. +Christ himself has left us no teachings on the subject. The Hebrew and +Oriental creed of woman's sphere permeated the West as Christianity +expanded and forced to extinction the Roman principle of equality. Only +within fifty years, has the female sex regained the rights enjoyed by +women under the law of the Empire seventeen centuries ago. The Apostolic +theory of complete subordination gained strength with each succeeding +age. I have already cited instances of ecclesiastical vehemence. As a +final example I may recall that when, early in the nineteenth century, +chloroform was first used to help women in childbirth, a number of +Protestant divines denounced the practice as a sin against the Creator, +who had expressly commanded that woman should bring forth in sorrow and +tribulation. Yet times have so far changed within two decades that the +theological argument is practically obsolete among Protestants, although +it is still influential in the Roman Catholic Church, which holds fast +to the doctrine laid down by the Apostles. We may say, however, that of +all the objections, the theological has, in practice, the least weight +among the bulk of the population. The word _obey_ in the clerical +formula _love, honour, and obey_ provokes a smile. + +II. The physiological argument is more powerful. Its supporters assert +that the constitution of woman is too delicate, too finely wrought to +compete with man in his chosen fields. The physiological argument makes +its appearance most persistently in the statement that woman should have +no vote because she could not defend her property or her country in +time of war. In reply to this some partisans of equal suffrage have +thought it necessary to prove that women are physically equal in all +respects to men. But the issues between nations which in the centuries +past it had been believed could be adjusted only by war, by being fought +out (not, of course, to any logical conclusion, but to a result which +showed simply that one party was stronger than the other), are now, in +the great majority of cases, determined by the more reasonable, the more +civilised, method of arbitration. + +As a matter of fact, the cause of woman's rights will suffer no harm by +a frank admission that women are not, in general, the peers of men in +brute force. The very nature of the female sex, subjected, as it is, to +functional strains from which the male is free, is sufficient to +invalidate such a claim. A refutation of the physiological objection to +equal suffrage is, however, not hard to find. Even in war, as it is +practised to-day, physical force is of little significance compared with +strategy which is a product of the intellect. In a naval battle for +instance, ships no longer engage at close range, where it is possible +for the crew of one to board the opposing ship and engage in hand to +hand conflict with the enemy; machinery turns the guns and even loads +them; the whole fight is simply a contest between trained gunners, who +must depend for success on cool mathematical computation. + +Nevertheless, it is true that under stress or the need of making a +livelihood women in many instances do show physical endurance equal to +that of men. Women who are expert ballet dancers and those who are +skilled acrobats can hardly be termed physiological weaklings. In +Berlin, you may see women staggering along with huge loads on their +backs; in Munich, women are street-cleaners and hod-carriers; on the +island of Capri, the trunk of the tourist is lifted by two men onto the +shoulder of a woman, who carries it up the steep road to the village. In +this country many women are forced to do hard bodily labour ten hours a +day in sweat-shops. In all countries and in all ages there have been +examples of women who, disguised as men, have fought side by side with +the male and with equal efficiency. The case of Joan of Arc will at once +occur to the reader; and those who are curious about this subject may, +by consulting the records of our Civil War, find exciting material in +the story of "Belle Boyd," "Frank Miller," and "Major Cushman."[415] + +Doubtless women are stronger physically than they were a half-century +ago, when it was considered unladylike to exercise. If you will read the +novels of that time, you will find that the heroine faints on the +slightest provocation or weeps copiously, like Amelia in _Vanity Fair_, +whenever the situation demands a grain of will-power or of +common-sense. But to-day women seldom faint or weep in literature; they +play tennis or row. When, in 1844, Pauline Wright Davis lectured on +physiology before women in America and displayed the manikin, some of +her auditors dropped their veils, some ran from the room, and some +actually became unconscious, because their sense of delicacy was put to +so sharp a test. + +It should be borne in mind, in connection with the contention that the +privileges of a citizen ought to be accorded only to those persons who +are physically capable of helping to defend the community by force, that +no such principle is applied in fixing the existing qualifications for +male citizenship. A large number of the voters of every community are, +on the ground either of advanced years or of invalidism, physically +disqualified for service as soldiers, sailors, or policemen. This group +of citizens includes a very large proportion of the thinking power of +the community. No intelligently directed state would, however, be +prepared to deprive itself of the counsels, of the active political +co-operation, and of the service from time to time in the responsibility +of office, of men of the type of Gladstone (at the age of seventy-five), +of John Stuart Mill (always a physical weakling), of Washington (serving +as President after he was sixty), on the ground that these citizens were +no longer capable of carrying muskets in the ranks. + +Any classification of citizens, any privileges extended to voters, +ought, of course, to be arrived at on a consistent and impartial +principle. + +Further, under the conditions obtaining in this twentieth century, +governments, whether of nations, of states, or of cities, are carried on +not by force but by opinion. In the earlier history of mankind, each +family was called upon to maintain its existence by physical force. The +families the members of which (female as well as male) were not strong +enough to fight for their existence were crushed out. Par into the later +centuries, issues between individuals were adjusted by the decision of +arms. Up to within a very recent date, it may be admitted that issues +between nations could be settled only by war. It is, however, at this +time the accepted principle of representative government in all +communities that matters of policy are determined by the expression of +opinion, that is by means of the votes given by the majority of its +citizens. It is by intelligence and not by brute force that the world is +now being ruled, and with the growth of intelligence and a better +understanding of the principles of government, it is in order not only +on the grounds of justice but for the best interests of the state to +widen the foundations of representative government, so as to make +available for voting and for official responsibilities all the +intelligence that is comprised within the community. This is in my +judgment the most conclusive reply to the objection that the physical +weakness of woman unfits her for citizenship. + +III. According to the social or political argument, if woman is given +equal rights with man, the basis of family life, and hence the +foundation of the state itself, is undermined, as a house divided +against itself cannot stand. It is said that (1) there must be some one +authority in a household and that this should be the man; (2) woman will +neglect the home if she is left free to enter politics or a profession; +(3) politics will degrade her; (4) when independent and self-asserting +she will lose her influence over man; and (5) most women do not want to +vote or to enter politics. + +It is astonishing with what vehemence men will base arguments on pure +theory and speculation, while they wilfully close their eyes to any +facts which may contradict their assumptions. It is inconceivable to a +certain type of mind that a husband and wife can differ on political +questions and may yet maintain an even harmony, while their love abates +not one whit. In the four States where women vote--Wyoming, Colorado, +Utah, and Idaho--there is no more divorce than in other States; and any +one who has travelled in these communities can attest that no domestic +unhappiness results from the suffrage. Nor does it in New Zealand. + +It is said that there must be some one supreme authority; but this +depends on the view taken of marriage. Under the old Common Law, the +personality of the wife was merged completely in that of her husband; +marriage was an absolute despotism. Under the Canon Law, woman is man's +obedient and unquestioning subject; marriage is a benevolent despotism. +To-day people are more inclined to look upon matrimony as a partnership +of equal duties, rights, and privileges. + +Sophocles argued in one of his tragedies that children belong entirely +to the father, that the mother can assert no valid claim for anything. +Lawyers have found this logic excellent; and the records are full of +instances of children being taken from a hard-working mother in order to +be handed over to a drunken father who wants their wages for his +support. It is no longer so in most states. Civilisation has advanced so +far, that the pains of bringing forth and raising children are +acknowledged to give the mother a right almost equal to that of the +father to determine all that concerns the child. There is some reason, +therefore, for believing that she should have a voice also in passing +upon laws which may make or undo for ever the welfare of the boys and +girls for whom she struggles during the years that they are growing to +manhood and womanhood. Men are for the greater part so engrossed in +business that on certain questions they are far less competent to be +"authorities" than women. Against stupid pedagogy, against red-tape, +against the policy that morality must never interfere with business +principles, against civic dirtiness, against brothel and saloon, women +are more active than men, because they see more clearly how vitally the +interests of their children are affected by these evil conditions. +Wherever women vote, these questions are to the fore. + +Closely connected with the "one authority" argument is the old +contention, so often resorted to and relied upon, that women, if they +are permitted to vote, will neglect the home, and that, if the +professions are opened to them, they will find these too absorbingly +attractive. Much weight should, however, be given to the great power of +the domestic instinct implanted in the nature of woman. In the States +where women vote and are eligible for political offices, there are fewer +unmarried women in proportion to the population than in States where +they have no such rights. The great leaders of the woman suffrage +movement from Mrs. Stanton to Mrs. Snowden have in their home circle led +lives as beautiful and have raised families as large and as well +equipped morally and intellectually as those who are content to sit by +the fire and spin. + +Thus far I have argued from the orthodox view, that matrimony ought to +be the goal of every woman's ambition. But if a woman wishes to remain +single and devote herself exclusively to the realisation of some ideal, +it is hard to see why she should not. Men who take this course are +eulogised for their noble self-sacrifice in immolating themselves for +the advancement of the cause of civilisation; women who do precisely the +same thing are sometimes unthinkingly spoken of in terms of contempt or +with that complacent pity which is far worse. It is difficult for us to +realise adequately what talented women like Rosa Bonheur had to undergo +because of this curious attitude of humanity. + +"The home is woman's sphere." This shibboleth is the logical result of +the attitude mentioned. Doubtless, the home is woman's sphere; but the +home includes all that pertains to it--city, politics and taxes, laws +relating to the protection of minors, municipal rottenness which may +corrupt children, schools and playgrounds and museums which may educate +them. Few doctrines have been productive of more pain than the "woman's +sphere" argument. It is this which has, for a thousand years, made the +unmarried woman, the _Old Maid_, the butt of the contemptible jibes of +Christian society, whereof you will find no parallel in pagan antiquity. +Dramatic writers have held her up to ridicule on the stage on account of +the peculiarities of character which are naturally acquired when a +person is isolated from participation in the activities of life. It is +the doctrine which has made women glad to marry drunkards and rakes, to +bring forth children tainted with the sins of their fathers, and to +suffer hell on earth rather than incur the ridicule of the Christian +gentleman who may, without incurring the protest of society, remain +unmarried and sow an unlimited quantity of wild oats. It is this +doctrine which was indirectly responsible for the hanging and burning of +eccentric old women on the charge that they were witches. As men found a +divine sanction for keeping women in subjection, so in those days of +superstition did they blaspheme their Creator by digging out of the Old +Testament, as a justification for their brutality, the text, "Thou shalt +not suffer a witch to live." + +"Politics will degrade women"--this naive confession that politics are +rotten is a fairly strong argument that some good influence is needed to +make them cleaner. Generally speaking, it is difficult to imagine how +politics could be made any worse. If a woman cannot go to the polls or +hold office without being insulted by rowdies, her vote will be potent +to elect officials who should be able to secure for the community a +standard of reasonable civilisation. There is no case in which more +sentimentality is wasted. Lovely woman is urged not to allow her beauty, +her gentleness, her tender submissiveness to become the butt of the +lounger at the street corner; and in most instances lovely woman, like +the celebrated Maitre Corbeau, is cajoled effectively. Meanwhile the +brothel and the sweat-shop continue on their prosperous way. By a +curious inconsistency, man will permit woman to help him out of a +political dilemma and will then suavely remark that suffrage will +degrade her. + +During the Civil War, Anna Dickinson by her remarkable lecture +entitled, "The National Crisis" saved New Hampshire and Connecticut for +the Republicans; Anna Carroll not only gave such a crushing rejoinder to +Breckinridge's secession speech that the government printed and +distributed it, but she also, as is now generally believed, planned the +campaign which led to the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson and opened +the Mississippi to Vicksburg. How many men realise these facts? + +The theory that politics degrade women will not find much support in +such States as Colorado and Wyoming. Here, where equal suffrage obtains, +women have been treated with uniform courtesy at the polls; they have +even been elected to legislatures with no diminution of their +womanliness; and the House of Wyoming long ago made a special resolution +of its approval of equal rights and attested the beneficial results that +have followed the extension of the suffrage to women.[416] Judge Lindsey +of Colorado has said that his election, and consequent power to work out +his great reforms in juvenile delinquency, was due to the backing of +women at a time when men, for "business reasons," were averse to extend +their aid. "No one would dare to propose its repeal [i.e., the repeal of +equal suffrage], and if left to the men of the State any proposition to +revoke the rights bestowed on women would be overwhelmingly defeated." +Experience in Colorado and elsewhere has shown that any important moral +issue will bring out the women voters in great force; but after election +they are content to resume their domestic duties; and they have shown no +great desire for political office.[417] + +Before I leave the discussion as to whether politics degrade women, it +will not be out of place to consider the question whether certain women +may not, if they have a vote, degrade politics. Of such women there are +two classes--the immoral and the merely ignorant. As to the former, much +fear has been expressed that they would be the very agents for +unscrupulous politicians to use at the polls. Exact data on this matter +are not available. I shall content myself with quoting a statement by +Mrs. Ida Husted Harper[418]: + +"That 'immoral' class," said Mrs. Harper, "is a bogey that has never +materialised in States where women have the suffrage. Those women don't +vote. Indeed, Denver's experience has been interesting in that respect. +When equal suffrage was first granted, women of that class were +compelled by the police to register. It was a question of doing as the +police said, of course, or being arrested. The women did not want to +vote. They don't go under their real names; they have no fixed +residence, and so on. Anyway, the last thing they wanted was to be +registered voters. + +"But the corrupt political element needed their vote, and were after it, +through the police. These women actually appealed to a large woman's +political club to use its influence to keep the police from forcing them +to register. A committee was appointed; it was found that the story was +true; coercion was stopped, and the women's vote turned out the chief of +police who attempted it. There is now no coercion, and this class simply +pays no attention to politics at all." + +The doubling of the number of ignorant voters by giving all women alike +the ballot would be a more serious affair. A remedy for that, however, +lies in making an educational test a necessary qualification for all +voters. In this connection the remarks of Mr. G.H. Putnam are +suggestive[419]: "If I were a citizen of Massachusetts or of any State +which, like Massachusetts, possesses such educational qualification, I +should be an active worker for the cause of equal suffrage. As a citizen +of New York who has during the last fifty years done his share of work +in the attempt to improve municipal conditions, I am forced to the +conclusion that it will be wiser to endure for a further period the +inconsistency, the stupidity, and the injustice of the disfranchisement +of thousands of intelligent women voters rather than to accept the +burden of an increase in the mass of unintelligent voters. The first +step toward 'equal suffrage' will, in my judgment, be a fight for an +educational qualification for all voters." + +Those who maintain that when women are independent and self-asserting, +they will lose their influence over men, assume that we view things +to-day as they did a century ago and that the thoughts of men are not +widened with the progress of the suns. The woman who can share the +aspirations, the thoughts, the complete life of a man, who can +understand his work thoroughly and support him with the sympathy born of +perfect comprehension, will exert a far vaster influence over him than +the milk-and-water ideal who was advised "to smile when her husband +smiled, to frown when he frowned, and to be discreetly silent when the +conversation turned on subjects of importance." It is a good thing for +women to be self-asserting and independent. There is and always has been +a class of men who, like Mr. Murdstone, are amenable to justice and +reason only when they know that their proposed victim can at any time +break the chains with which they would bind her. + +This brings us to the last of the social or political arguments, viz., +"Most women do not want to vote."[420] Precisely the same argument has +been used by slave owners from time immemorial--the slaves do not wish +to be free. As Professor Thomas writes[421]: "Certainly the negroes of +Virginia did not greatly desire freedom before the idea was developed by +agitation from the outside, and many of them resented this outside +interference. 'In general, in the whole western Sahara desert, slaves +are as much astonished to be told that their relation to their owners is +wrong and that they ought to break it, as boys amongst us would be to be +told that their relation to their fathers was wrong and ought to be +broken.' And it is reported from eastern Borneo that a white man could +hire no natives for wages. 'They thought it degrading to work for wages, +but if he would buy them, they would work for him.'" It is akin to the +old contention of despots that when their subjects are fit for freedom, +they will make them free; but nobody has ever seen such a time. + +Reform of evil conditions does not come from below; leaders with visions +of the future must point the way. I once heard of a very respectable +lady of Boston who exclaimed indignantly against certain proposed +changes in child labour laws in North Carolina, where she owned shares +in a cotton mill. She maintained that the children who worked at the +looms ten hours a day expressed no discontent; it kept them off the +streets; and the operators, in the kindness of their hearts, had +actually had the looms made especially to accommodate conveniently the +diminutive size of the little workers. Some people might, with great +profit to themselves, read Plato's superb allegory of the men in the +cave. + +The fact that various women's associations have been instituted in +opposition to the extension of woman suffrage--as in Boston and New +York--is no argument for depriving all women of the franchise. If the +women who compose these societies do not care to vote, they do not need +to; but they have no right to deprive of their rights those who do so +desire. It is said that good women will not go to the polls; yet there +are in every large city hundreds of respectable males who disdain to +vote. A woman is more likely to have a sense of duty to vote than a man. +It is the old cry, "Don't disturb the old order of things. If you make +us think for ourselves, we shall be so unhappy." So Galileo was brought +to trial, so Anne Hutchinson was banished; and so persecuted they the +prophets before them. + +IV. Another argument that is made much of is the intellectual +inferiority of woman. For ages women were allowed nor higher education +than reading, writing, and simple arithmetic, often not even these; yet +Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Sand, George Eliot, Harriet +Martineau, Jane Austen, and some scores of others did work which showed +them to be the peers of any minds of their day. And if no woman can +justly claim to have attained an eminence such as that of Shakespeare in +letters or of Darwin in science, we may question whether Shakespeare +would have been Shakespeare or Darwin Darwin if the society which +surrounded them had insisted that it was a sin for them to use their +minds and that they should not presume to meddle with knowledge. When a +girl for the first time in America took a public examination in +geometry, in 1829, men wagged their heads gravely and prophesied the +speedy dissolution of family and state. + +To the list of women whose service for their fellows would have been +lost if the old-time barriers had been maintained, may be added the name +of the late Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi. Mary Putnam secured her preliminary +medical education in the early '60's, and found herself keenly troubled +and dissatisfied at the inadequacy of the facilities extended to women +for the study of medicine. She insisted that if women practitioners were +to be, as she expressed it, "turned loose" upon the community with +license to practise, they should, not only as a matter of justice to +themselves but of protection for the women and children whose lives they +would have in their hands, be properly qualified. + +At the time in question, the medical profession took the ground that +women might enjoy the benefit of a little medical education but they +were denied the facilities for any thorough training or for any research +work. Mary Putnam secured her graduate degree from the great medical +school of the University of Paris, being the first woman who had been +admitted to the school since the fourteenth century. Returning after six +years of thorough training, she did much during the remaining years of +her life to secure and to maintain for women physicians the highest +possible standard of training and of practice. It was natural that with +this experience of the requirement of equal facilities for women in her +own work, she should always have been a believer in the extension of +equal facilities for any citizen's work for which, after experience, +women might be found qualified. She was, therefore, an ardent advocate +of equal suffrage. + +One needs but recall the admirable intellectual work of women to-day to +wonder at the imbecility of those who assert that women are +intellectually the inferiors of men. Madame Curie in science, Miss +Tarbell in political and economic history, Miss Jane Addams in +sociological writings and practice, the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw in the +ministry, Mrs. Hetty Green in business, are a few examples of women +whose mental ability ought to bring a blush to the Old Guard. Mrs. +Harriman and Mrs. Sage, who manage properties of many millions, are +denied the privilege of voting in regard to the expenditure of their +taxes; but every ignorant immigrant can cast a vote, thanks to the +doctrine that the political acumen of a man, however degraded, is +superior to that of a woman, however great her genius--an admirable +obedience to the saw in Ecclesiasticus that the badness of men is better +than the goodness of women. Let me quote again from Professor Thomas: +"The men have said that women are not intelligent enough to vote, but +the women have replied that more of honesty than of intelligence is +needed in politics at present, and that women certainly do not represent +the most ignorant portion of the population. They claim that voting is a +relatively simple matter anyway, that political freedom 'is nothing but +the control of those who do make politics their business by those who do +not,' and that they have enough intelligence 'to decide whether they are +properly governed, and whom they will be governed by.' They point out +also that already, without the ballot, they are instructing men how to +vote and teaching them how to run a city; that women have to journey to +the legislature at every session to instruct members and committees at +legislative hearings, and that it is absurd that women who are capable +of instructing men how to vote should not be allowed to vote themselves. +To the suggestion that they would vote like their husbands and that so +there would be no change in the political situation, women admit that +they would sometimes vote like their husbands, because their husbands +sometimes vote right; but ex-Chief-Justice Fisher of Wyoming says: 'When +the Republicans nominate a bad man and the Democrats a good one, the +Republican women do not hesitate a moment to "scratch" the bad and +substitute the good. It is just so with the Democrats; hence we almost +always have a mixture of office-holders. I have seen the effects of +female suffrage, and, instead of being a means of encouragement to fraud +and corruption, it tends greatly to purify elections and to promote +better government.' Now, 'scratching' is the most difficult feature of +the art of voting, and if women have mastered this, they are doing very +well. Furthermore, the English suffragettes have completely +outgeneralled the professional politicians. They discovered that no +cause can get recognition in politics unless it is brought to the +attention, and that John Bull in particular will not begin to pay +attention 'until, you stand on your head to talk to him.' They regretted +to do this, but in doing it they secured the attention and interest of +all England. They then followed a relentless policy of opposing the +election of any candidate of the party in power. The Liberal men had +been playing with the Liberal women, promising support and then laughing +the matter off. But they are now reduced to an appeal to the maternal +instinct of the women. They say it is unloving of them to oppose their +own kind. Politics is a poor game, but this is politics." + +V. The last objection I would call the _moral_. It embraces such +arguments as, that woman is too impulsive, too easily swayed by her +emotions to hold responsible positions, that the world is very evil and +slippery, and that she must therefore constantly have man to protect +her--a pious duty, which he avows solemnly it has ever been his special +delight to perform. The preceding pages are a commentary on the manner +in which man has discharged this duty. In Delaware, for instance, the +age of legal consent was until 1889 seven years. The institution of +Chivalry, to take another example, is usually praised for the high +estimation and protection it secured for women; yet any one who has read +its literature knows that, in practice, it did nothing of the sort. The +noble lord who was so gallant to his lady love--who, by the way, was +frequently the wife of another man--had very little scruple about +seducing a maid of low degree. The same gallantry is conspicuous in the +Letters of Lord Chesterfield, beneath whose unctuous courtesy the beast +of sensuality is always leering. + +In the past the main function of woman outside of the rearing of +children has been to satisfy the carnal appetite of man, to prepare his +food, to minister to his physical comfort; she was barred from +participation in the intellectual. In order to hold her to these bonds a +Divine Sanction was sought. The Mohammedan found it in the Koran; the +Christian, in the Bible--just as slavery was justified repeatedly from +the story of Ham, just as the Stuarts and the Bourbons believed firmly +that they were the special favourites of God. + +Strangely enough, men who are so sensitive about the moral welfare of +women will visit a dance hall where women are degraded nightly, and will +allow their daughters to marry "reformed" rakes. Men will not permit any +mention of sexual matters in their homes, and will let their children +get their information on the street; and all for the very simple reason +that they are afraid the truth will hurt, will make people think. Men +have been remarkably sensitive about having women speak in public for +their rights; but they watch with zest a woman screaming nonsense on the +stage. + +It is quite possible that many women are swayed too easily by their +emotions. We must recollect, however, that for some thousands of years +woman has been carefully drilled to believe that she is an emotional +creature. If a dozen people conspire to tell a man that he is looking +badly, it is not unlikely that he will feel ill. Certainly Florence +Nightingale and Clara Barton exhibited no lack of firmness on the +shambles of battlefields; and there are few men living who cannot recall +instances of women who have, in the face of disaster and evil fortune, +shown a steady perseverance and will-power in earning a living for +themselves and their children that men have not surpassed. + +Having in the preceding pages considered the five capital objections to +the concession of equal suffrage, I shall now, in accordance with my +plan, say something of the much-mooted question of the superiority or +inferiority of one sex to the other. It might be concluded from the +foregoing account that I see little difference in the aptitudes and +powers of the sexes physically, morally, or intellectually. That does +not necessarily follow. It is possible to conceive of each sex as the +complement of the other; and between complements there can be no +question either of superiority or of inferiority. The great historian of +European Morals has analysed the constitutional differences of the sexes +as he conceived them; and I may quote his remarks as pertinent to my +theme. Lecky writes as follows[422]: + +"Physically, men have the indisputable superiority in strength, and +women in beauty. Intellectually, a certain inferiority of the female sex +can hardly be denied when we remember how almost exclusively the +foremost places in every department of science, literature, and art have +been occupied by men, how infinitesimally small is the number of women +who have shown in any form the very highest order of genius, how many of +the greatest men have achieved their greatness in defiance of the most +adverse circumstances, and how completely women have failed in obtaining +the first position, even in music or painting, for the cultivation of +which their circumstances would appear most propitious. It is as +impossible to find a female Raphael, or a female Handel, as a female +Shakespeare or Newton. Women are intellectually more desultory and +volatile than men; they are more occupied with particular instances than +with general principles; they judge rather by intuitive perceptions than +by deliberate reasoning or past experience. They are, however, usually +superior to men in nimbleness and rapidity of thought, and in the gift +of tact or the power of seizing speedily and faithfully the finer +inflections of feeling, and they have therefore often attained very +great eminence as conversationalists, as letter-writers, as actresses, +and as novelists. + +"Morally, the general superiority of women over men is, I think, +unquestionable. If we take the somewhat coarse and inadequate criterion +of police statistics, we find that, while the male and female +populations are nearly the same in number, the crimes committed by men +are usually rather more than five times as numerous as those committed +by women; and although it may be justly observed that men, as the +stronger sex, and the sex upon whom the burden of supporting the family +is thrown, have more temptations than women, it must be remembered, on +the other hand, that extreme poverty which verges upon starvation is +most common among women, whose means of livelihood are most restricted, +and whose earnings are smallest and most precarious. Self-sacrifice is +the most conspicuous element of a virtuous and religious character, and +it is certainly far less common among men than among women, whose whole +lives are usually spent in yielding to the will and consulting the +pleasures of another. There are two great departments of virtue: the +impulsive, or that which springs spontaneously from the emotions, and +the deliberative, or that which is performed in obedience to the sense +of duty; and in both of these I imagine women are superior to men. Their +sensibility is greater, they are more chaste both in thought and act, +more tender to the erring, more compassionate to the suffering, more +affectionate to all about them.... In active courage women are inferior +to men. In the courage of endurance they are commonly their +superiors.... In the ethic of intellect they are decidedly inferior. To +repeat an expression I have already employed, women very rarely love +truth, though they love passionately what they call 'the truth' or +opinions they have received from others, and hate vehemently those who +differ from them. They are little capable of impartiality or doubt; +their thinking is chiefly a mode of feeling; though very generous in +their acts, they are rarely generous in their opinions.... They are less +capable than men of perceiving qualifying circumstances, of admitting +the existence of elements of good in systems to which they are opposed, +of distinguishing the personal character of an opponent from the +opinions he maintains. Men lean most to justice, and women to mercy. Men +are most addicted to intemperance and brutality, women to frivolity and +jealousy. Men excel in energy, self-reliance, perseverance, and +magnanimity, women in humility, gentleness, modesty, and endurance.... +Their religious or devotional realisations are incontestably more +vivid.... But though more intense, the sympathies of women are commonly +less wide than those of men. Their imaginations individualise more, +their affections are, in consequence, concentrated rather on leaders +than on causes.... In politics, their enthusiasm is more naturally +loyalty than patriotism. In history, they are even more inclined than +men to dwell exclusively upon biographical incidents or characteristics +as distinguished from the march of general causes." + +Experience, by which alone mankind has ever learned or can learn, will +show how far the characteristics enumerated by Lecky are innate and how +far they have been acquired in the course of ages by certain habits of +belief and education. + +The securing of citizens' rights for woman will of necessity depend on +the attitude of society. There may be numerous laws for her relief on +the statute books; but if society frowns on her appearance in court, it +will be only in exceptional cases that she will appeal to the courts. To +one who is familiar with the records of daily life a hundred years ago +there is little doubt that conjugal infidelity on the part of the +husband was more flagrant then than it is to-day; but there were +infinitely fewer divorces. The reason for this is simply that public +sentiment on the subject has changed. A century ago, a divorced woman +could do nothing; the wife was exhorted to bear her husband's faults +with meekness; and the expansion of industry had not yet opened to her +that opportunity of making her own living which she now possesses in a +hundred ways. Women were entirely dependent on men; and the men knew it. +To-day they are not so sure. + +The old conception of woman's position was subjection, based on mental +and physical inferiority and supported by Biblical arguments. The newer +conception is that of a complement, in which neither inferiority nor +superiority finds place. The old conception was based, like every +institution of the times, on fear. Men were warned against heresy by +being reminded of the tortures of hell fire; against crime by appealing +to their dread of the gallows. Between the death of Anne and the reign +of George III one hundred and eighty-eight capital offences were added +to the penal code; and crime at once increased to an amazing degree. In +a system that is founded on fear, when once that fear is removed--as it +inevitably will be with the growth of enlightenment--there remains no +basis of action, no incentive to good. It has been tried for centuries +and has yielded only Star Chambers and Spanish Inquisitions. It is time +that we try a new method. An appeal to the sense of _fair play_, an +appeal to the sense of duty and of natural affection may yield +immeasurably superior results. It has been my experience and personal +observation that the standard of honour in our non-sectarian schools, +where the _fair play_ spirit is most insisted on, is vastly greater than +it was in the old sectarian institutions where boys were told morning, +noon, and night that they would go to hell if they did not behave. + +The new spirit is not going to be accepted at once by society. There +must first be some wailing and much gnashing of teeth; and the monster, +custom, which all sense doth eat, will still for a time be antagonistic +as it has been in the past. "In no society has life ever been completely +controlled by the reason," remarks Professor Thomas, "but mainly by the +instincts and the habits and the customs growing out of these. Speaking +in a general way, it may be said that all conduct both of men and +animals tends to be right rather than wrong. They do not know why they +behave in such and such ways, but their ancestors behaved in those ways +and survival is the guaranty that the behaviour was good. We must admit +that within the scope of their lives the animals behave with almost +unerring propriety. Their behaviour is simple and unvarying, but they +make fewer mistakes than ourselves. The difficulty in their condition +is, that having little power of changing their behaviour they have +little chance of improvement. Now, in human societies, and already among +gregarious animals, one of the main conditions of survival was common +sentiment and behaviour. So long as defence of life and preying on +outsiders were main concerns of society, unanimity and conformity had +the same value which still attaches to military discipline in warfare +and to team work in our sports. Morality therefore became identified +with uniformity. It was actually better to work upon some system, +however bad, than to work on none at all, and early society had no place +for the dissenter. Changes did take place, for man had the power of +communicating his experiences through speech and the same power of +imitation which we show in the adoption of fashions, but these changes +took place with almost imperceptible slowness, or if they did not, +those who proposed them were considered sinners and punished with death +or obloquy. + +"And it has never made any difference how bad the existing order of +things might be. Those who attempted to reform it were always viewed +with suspicion. Consequently our practices usually run some decades or +centuries behind our theories and history is even full of cases where +the theory was thoroughly dead from the standpoint of reason before it +began to do its work in society. A determined attitude of resistance to +change may therefore be classed almost with the instincts, for it is not +a response to the reason alone, but is very powerfully bound up with the +emotions which have their seat in the spinal cord. + +"It is true that this adhesion to custom is more absolute and +astonishing in the lower races and in the less educated classes, but it +would be difficult to point out a single case in history where a new +doctrine has not been met with bitter resistance. We justly regard +learning and freedom of thought and investigation as precious, and we +popularly think of Luther and the Reformation as standing at the +beginning of the movement toward these, but Luther himself had no faith +in 'the light of reason' and he hated as heartily as any papal dogmatist +the 'new learning' of Erasmus and Hutten.... We are even forced to +realise that the law of habit continues to do its perfect work in a +strangely resentful or apathetic manner even when there is no moral +issue at stake.... Up to the year 1816, the best device for the +application of electricity to telegraphy had involved a separate wire +for each letter of the alphabet, but in that year Francis Ronalds +constructed a successful line making use of a single wire. Realising the +importance of his invention, he attempted to get the British government +to take it up, but was informed that 'telegraphs of any kind are now +wholly unnecessary, and no other than the one in use will be adopted.'" + +The reader will doubtless be able to add from his own experience and +observation examples which will support Professor Thomas's admirable +account of the power of custom. Among many barbarous tribes certain +foods, like eggs, are _taboo_; no one knows why they should not be +eaten; but tradition says their use produces bad results, and one who +presumes to taste them is put to death. To-day, we believe ourselves +rather highly civilised; but the least observation of society must +compel us to acknowledge that _taboo_ is still a vital power in a +multitude of matters. + +There is a still more forcible opposition to a recasting of the status +of women by those men who have beheld no complete regeneration of +society through the extension of the franchise in four of our States. +Curiously oblivious of the fact that partial regeneration through the +instrumentality of women is something attained, they take this as a +working argument for the uselessness of extending the suffrage. They +point to other evils that have followed and tell you that if this is the +result of the emancipation of women, they will have none of it. For +example, there can be no doubt that one may see from time to time the +pseudo-intellectual woman. She affects an interest in literature, +attends lectures on Browning and Emerson, shows an academic interest in +slum work, and presents, on the whole, a selfishness or an egotism which +repels. There never has been a revolution in society, however beneficial +eventually, which did not bring at least some evil in its train. I +cannot do better in this connection than to quote Lord Macaulay's +splendid words (from the essay on Milton): "If it were possible that a +people, brought up under an intolerant and arbitrary system, could +subvert that system without acts of cruelty and folly, half the +objections to despotic power would be removed. We should, in that case, +be compelled to acknowledge that it at least produces no pernicious +effects on the intellectual and moral character of a people. We deplore +the outrages which accompany revolutions. But the more violent the +outrages, the more assured we feel that a revolution was necessary. The +violence of these outrages will always be proportioned to the ferocity +and ignorance of the people; and the ferocity and ignorance of the +people will be proportioned to the oppression and degradation under +which they have been accustomed to live. Thus it was in our civil war. +The rulers in the church and state reaped only what they had sown. They +had prohibited free discussion--they had done their best to keep the +people unacquainted with their duties and their rights. The retribution +was just and natural. If they suffered from popular ignorance, it was +because they had themselves taken away the key to knowledge. If they +were assailed with blind fury, it was because they had exacted an +equally blind submission. + +"It is the character of such revolutions that we always see the worst of +them at first. Till men have been for some time free, they know not how +to use their freedom. The natives of wine-countries are always sober. In +climates where wine is a rarity, intemperance abounds. A newly-liberated +people may be compared to a northern army encamped on the Rhine or the +Xeres. It is said that when soldiers in such a situation first find +themselves able to indulge without restraint in such a rare and +expensive luxury, nothing is to be seen but intoxication. Soon, however, +plenty teaches discretion; and after wine has been for a few months +their daily fare, they become more temperate than they had ever been in +their own country. In the same manner, the final and permanent fruits of +liberty are wisdom, moderation, and mercy. Its immediate effects are +often atrocious crimes, conflicting errors, skepticism on points the +most clear, dogmatism on points the most mysterious. It is just at this +crisis that its enemies love to exhibit it. They pull down the +scaffolding from the half-finished edifice; they point to the flying +dust, the falling bricks, the comfortless rooms, the frightful +irregularity of the whole appearance; and then ask in scorn where the +promised splendour and comfort are to be found? If such miserable +sophisms were to prevail, there never would be a good house or a good +government in the world.... There is only one cure for the evils which +newly acquired freedom produces--and that cure is freedom. When a +prisoner leaves his cell, he cannot bear the light of day--he is unable +to discriminate colours or to recognise faces. But the remedy is not to +remand him into his dungeon, but to accustom him to the rays of the sun. +The blaze of truth and liberty may at first dazzle and bewilder nations +which have become half-blind in the house of bondage. But let them gaze +on, and they will soon be able to bear it. In a few years men learn to +reason. The extreme violence of opinion subsides. Hostile theories +correct each other. The scattered elements of truth cease to conflict, +and begin to coalesce. And at length a system of justice and order is +educed out of the chaos. + +"Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it down as a +self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are +fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old +story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learnt to swim. +If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in +slavery, they may indeed wait for ever." + +The speedy dissolution of family and state was prophesied by men when +first a girl took a public examination in geometry; whenever women have +been given complete control of their own property; when they have been +received into the professions and industries; and now in like manner +people dread the condition of things that they imagine might follow if +women are given the right to vote and to hold office. We may well +believe, with Lecky, that there are "certain eternal moral landmarks +which never can be removed." But no matter what our views may be of the +destinies, characteristics, functions, or limitations of the sex, +certain reforms are indispensable before woman and, through her, family +life can reach their highest development. Of these reforms I shall speak +briefly and with them close my history. + +I. The double standard of morality for the sexes must gradually be +abolished.[423] Of all the sad commentaries on Christian nations none +is so pathetic or so tragical as the fact that for nineteen centuries +men have been tacitly and openly allowed, at least before marriage, +unrestrained liberty to indulge in sexual vice and intemperance, while +one false step on the part of the woman has condemned her to social +obloquy and, frequently, to a life on the street. This strange system, a +blasphemy against the Christ who suffered death in order to purify the +earth, has had its defenders not merely among the uneducated who do not +think, but even among the most acute intellects. The philosopher Hume +justifies it by commenting on the vastly greater consequences attendant +on vice in women than in men; divines like Jeremy Taylor have encouraged +it by urging women meekly to bear the sins of their husbands. This +subject is one of the great _taboos_ in modern society. Let me exhort +the reader to go to any physician and get from him the statistics of +gonorrhea and syphilis which he has met in his practice; let him learn +of the children born blind and of wives rendered invalid for life +because their husbands once sowed a crop of wild oats with the sanction +of society; let him read the Report of the Committee of Fifteen in New +York (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1902) on _The Social Evil_, the records of the +Watch and Ward Society in Boston, or the recent report of the special +jury in New York which investigated the "White Slave Traffic."[424] + +The plain facts are not pleasant. A system which has been in vogue from +the beginning of history cannot be changed in a decade; but the desired +state of things will be more speedily achieved and immediate good will +be accomplished by three reforms which may be begun at once--have begun, +in fact. In the first place, the "age of legal consent" should be +uniformly twenty-one. In most States to-day it is fourteen or +sixteen.[425] To the ordinary mind it is a self-evident proposition that +a girl of those ages, the slippery period of puberty, can but seldom +realise what she is doing when she submits herself to the lust of +scoundrels. But the minds of legislators pass understanding; and when, a +few years ago, a woman in the Legislature of Colorado proposed to have +the age of consent raised from sixteen to twenty-one, such a storm of +protest came from her male colleagues that the measure had to be +abandoned. In the second place the public should be made better +acquainted with the facts of prostitution. When people once realise +thoroughly what sickness and social ulcers result from the presence in +the city of New York of 100,000 debauched women (and the estimate is +conservative)--when they begin to reflect that their children must grow +up in such surroundings, then perhaps they will question the expediency +of the double standard of morality and will insist that what is wrong +for a woman is wrong for a man. It is a fact, to be borne carefully in +mind, that the vast majority of prostitutes begin their career below the +age of _eighteen_ and usually at the instigation of adult _men_, who +take advantage of their ignorance or of their poverty. If the miserable +Thaw trial did nothing else, it at least once more called public +attention to conditions which every intelligent man knows have existed +for years. Something can also be done by statute. New York has made +adultery a crime; and the State of Washington requires a physical +examination of the parties before marriage. In the third place, +physicians should take more pains to educate men to the knowledge that a +continent life is not a detriment to health--the contrary belief being +more widely spread than is usually suspected. + +II. In the training of women, care should be taken to impress upon them +that they are not toys or spoiled children, but fellow-citizens, devoted +to the common task of advancing the ideals of the nation to their goal. + + The woman's cause is man's; they rise or sink + Together, dwarf'd or godlike, bond or free: + If she be small, slight-natured, miserable, + How shall men grow? + +TENNYSON, _The Princess_. + + A Being breathing thoughtful breath, + A Traveller between life and death; + The reason firm, the temperate will, + Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill; + A perfect Woman, nobly planned, + To warn, to comfort, and command; + And yet a Spirit still, and bright + With something of an angel light. + +WORDSWORTH. + +Towards a higher conception of their duties, women are steadily +advancing. It often happens that the history of words will give a hint +of the progress of civilisation. Such a story is told by the use of +_lady_ and _woman_. Not many decades ago the use of the word _woman_ in +referring to respectable members of the sex was interpreted as a lack of +courtesy. To-day, women prefer to be called _women_. + +III. Women should be given the full right to enter any profession or +business which they may desire. As John Stuart Mill says: + +"The proper sphere for any human being is the highest sphere that being +is capable of attaining; and this cannot be ascertained without complete +liberty of choice." + +"We are, as always, in a period of transition," remarks Mr. +Bjoerkman,[426] "the old forms are falling away from us on every side. +Concerning the new ones we are still uncertain and divided. Whether +woman shall vote or not, is not the main issue. She will do so sooner or +later if it suits her. No, the imperative question confronting us is +this: What are we to do that her life once more may be full and useful +as it used to be? That question cannot be answered by anybody but +herself. Furthermore, it can only be answered on the basis of actual +experience. And urged onward by her never-failing power of intuition, +woman has for once taken to experimenting. She has, if you please, +become temporarily catabolic. But it means merely that she is seeking +for new means to fulfil her nature, not for ways of violating it. And +the best thing--nay, the only thing--man can do to help her is to stand +aside and keep his faith, both in her and in life. Whether it be the +franchise, or the running of railroads, or public offices, that her +eager hands and still more eager soul should happen to reach out for, he +must give her free way. All she wants is to find herself, and for this +purpose she must try everything that once was foreign to her being: the +trial over, she will instinctively and unfailingly pick out the right +new things to do, and will do them." + +The opening up of professions and industries to woman has been of +incalculable benefit to her. Of old the unmarried woman could do little +except sit by the fire and spin or make clothing for the South Sea +Islanders. Her limited activities caused a corresponding influence on +her character. People who have nothing to do will naturally find an +outlet for their superfluous energy in gossip and all the petty things +of life; if isolated from a share in what the world is doing, they will +no less naturally develop eccentricities of character and will grow old +prematurely. To-day, by being allowed a part in civic and national +movements, women can "get out of themselves"--a powerful therapeutic +agent. Mrs. Ella Young, a woman of sixty, was last year made +Superintendent of the great Public School System of Chicago. Fraeulein +Anna Heinrichsdorff is the first woman in Germany to get an engineer's +diploma, very recently bestowed upon her; an "excellent" mark was given +Fraeulein Heinrichsdorff in every part of her examination by the Berlin +Polytechnic Institute. Miss Jean Gordon, the only factory inspector in +Louisiana, is at present waging a strong fight against the attempt to +exempt "first-class" theatres from the child-labour law. Mrs. Nellie +Upham, of Colorado, is President and General Manager of the Gold Divide +Mining, Milling, and Tunnel Company of Colorado and directs 300 workmen. +These are a few examples out of some thousands of what woman is +doing.[427] And yet there are men who do not believe she should do +anything but wash dishes and scrub. + +Much more serious is the glaring discrepancy in the wages paid to men +and to women. For doing precisely the same work as a man and often doing +it better, woman receives a much lower wage. The reasons are several +and specious. We are told that men have families to support, that women +do not have such expensive tastes as men, that they are incapable of +doing as much as men, that by granting them equal wages one of the +inducements to marry is removed. These arguments are generally used with +the greatest gravity by bachelors. If men have families to support, +women by the hundreds support brothers and sisters and weak parents. +That they are incapable of doing as much sounds unconvincing to one who +has seen the work of sweat-shops. The argument that men have more +expensive tastes to satisfy is too feeble to deserve attention. Finally, +when men argue that women should be forced to marry by giving them +smaller wages, they are simply reverting to the time-honoured idea that +the goal of every women's ambition should be fixed as matrimony. If the +low wages of women produced no further consequence, one might dismiss +the matter as not of essential importance; but inadequate pay has been +found too frequently to be a direct cause of prostitution. No girl can +well keep body and soul together on four dollars a week and some +business managers have been known to inform their women employees with +frankness that a "gentleman friend" is a necessary adjunct to a limited +income. + +The women who suffer most from low wages are probably the teachers in +our primary schools. They start usually on a salary of about three +hundred and fifty dollars a year. For this each teacher performs all the +minute labour and bears all the nervous strain of instructing sixty +pupils six and a half hours a day and of correcting dozens of papers far +into the night. And when crime increases or the pupils are not +universally successful in business, the school teacher has the added +pleasure of getting blamed for it, being told that she ought to have +trained them better. These facts lend some colour to Mark Twain's sage +reflection that God at first made idiots--that was for practice; then +he made school boards. + +One of the most interesting examples of recent evolution in the +industrial status of women is the decision of the Supreme Court of +Illinois in the so-called Ritchie Case. The last Legislature of Illinois +passed a law limiting to ten hours the working day of women in factories +and stores. Now, as far back as 1893, the Legislature had passed a +similar law limiting woman's labour to _eight_ hours; but the Supreme +Court in 1895 declared it unconstitutional on the ground that it was an +arbitrary and unreasonable interference with the right of women to +contract for the sale of their labour. When, therefore, this year a +ten-hour bill was tried, W.C. Ritchie, who had secured the nullification +of the act of 1893, again protested. The decision of the Court, rendered +April 21, 1910, is an excellent proof of the great advance made within +two decades in the position of women. Reversing completely its judgment +of 1895, the Court left far behind it mere technicalities of law and +found a sanction for its change of front in the experience of humanity +and of common sense. These are its conclusions: + +"It is known to all men, and of what we know as men we cannot profess to +be ignorant as judges: + +"That woman's physical structure and the performance of maternal +functions place her at a great disadvantage in the battle of life. + +"That while a man can work for more than ten hours a day without injury +to himself, a woman, especially when the burdens of motherhood are upon +her, cannot. + +"That while a man can work standing upon his feet for more than ten +hours a day, day after day, without injury to himself, a woman cannot. + +"That to require a woman to stand upon her feet for more than ten hours +in any one day and to perform severe manual labour while thus standing +has the effect of impairing her health. + +"And as weakly and sickly women cannot be the mothers of vigorous +children, it is of the greatest importance to the public that the State +take such measures as may be necessary to protect its women from the +consequences produced by long-continued manual labour in those +occupations which tend to break them down physically. + +"It would seem obvious, therefore, that legislation which limits the +number of hours which women shall be permitted to work to ten hours in a +single day in such employments as are carried on in mechanical +establishments, factories, and laundries would tend to preserve the +health of women and assure the production of vigorous offspring by them +and would conduce directly to the health, morals, and general welfare of +the public, and that such legislation would fall clearly within the +police powers of the State." + +IV. All phenomena that concern family life should be carefully studied +and their bearing on the state ascertained as exactly as possible. +There is no subject, for example, from which such wild conclusions are +drawn as the matter of divorce. The average moralist, but more +particularly the clergy, seeing the fairly astonishing increase in +divorce during the last decade, jump to the conclusion that family life +is decadent and immorality flagrantly on the increase. They point to the +indubitable fact that a century ago divorces were insignificant in +number; and they infer that morality was then on a much higher level +than it is now. Such alarmists neglect certain elementary facts. The +flippant manner in which marriage is treated by the Restoration +dramatists and by novelists of the 18th century, the callous sexual +morality revealed in diaries and in the conversations of men like +Johnson alone are sufficient to suggest the need of a readjustment of +one's view regarding the standard of morality in the past. A century ago +it was the duty of a gentleman to drink to excess; and it was presumed +that a guest had not enjoyed his dinner unless he was at least +comfortably the worse for liquor. This view of drunkenness is admirably +depicted in Dickens's _Pickwick Papers_, where intoxication is treated +throughout as something merely humorous. + +There were just as many unhappy marriages formerly in proportion to the +population as there are to-day; but the wife was held effectually from +application for a divorce not only by rigid laws but by the sentiment of +society, which ostracised a divorced woman, and furthermore by her lack +of means and of opportunity for earning an independent livelihood. +To-day women are not inclined to tolerate a husband who is brutal or +debauched. Alarmists make a mistake when they place too much emphasis on +the seeming triviality of the reasons, justifying their course, which +wives advance when applying for a separation. For example, the phrase +"incompatibility of temperament" is in a great number of cases merely a +euphemism for something much worse. The clergy will counsel a woman to +bear with what they call Christian resignation a husband addicted to +drink or scarred by the diseases that are a consequence of sin. +Abstractly considered, this may conceivably be good advice. But viewed +in a common-sense way it is the duty of a woman to reflect on the +consequences of conceiving children from such a man; and the researches +of physicians will furnish her with incontrovertible facts regarding the +impaired health of the offspring of such a union. A law which would +permit of no divorce under such conditions, instead of benefiting the +state, would injure it in its most vital asset--healthy children, the +coming citizens. Doubtless the divorce laws in many States are too lax. +But sweeping generalities based on theory will not remedy matters. +Divorce may simply be a symptom, not a disease; a revolt against unjust +conditions; and the way to do away with divorce or reduce the frequency +of it is to remedy the evil social conditions which, in a great many +instances, are responsible. + +The fact is, the institution of marriage is going through a crisis. The +old view that marriage is a complete merging of the wife in the husband +and that the latter is absolute monarch of his home is being questioned. +When a man with this idea and a woman with a far different one marry, +there is likely to be a clash. Marriage as a real partnership based on +equality of goods and of interests finds an increasing number of +advocates. There is great reason to believe that the issue will be only +for the good and that from doubt and revolt a more enduring ideal will +arise, based on a sure foundation of perfect understanding. + +NOTES: + +[415] See an excellent article on "The American Woman" by Miss Ida M. +Tarbell, in the _American Magazine_ for April, 1910. + +[416] In 1893. "Be it resolved by the Second Legislature of the State of +Wyoming: + +"That the possession and exercise of suffrage by the women of Wyoming +for the past quarter of a century has wrought no harm and has done great +good in many ways; that it has largely aided in banishing crime, +pauperism, and vice from this State, and that without any violent and +oppressive legislation," etc. + +[417] Women in Colorado have been of greatest service in establishing +the following laws: + +1--Establishing a State Home for dependent children, three of the five +members of the board to be women. + +2--Requiring that at least three of the six members of the county +visitors shall be women. + +3--Making mothers joint guardians of their children with the fathers. + +4--Raising the age of protection for girls to 18 years. + +5--Establishing a State Industrial School for girls. There had long been +one for boys, but the women could not get one for girls until they had +the vote. + +6--Removing the emblems from the Australian ballots. This is a little, +indirect step toward educational qualifications for voting. + +7--Establishing the indeterminate sentence for prisoners. + +8--Requiring one physician on the board of the Insane Asylum to be a +woman. + +9--Establishing truant schools. + +10--Making better provision for the care of the feeble-minded. + +11--For tree preservation. + +12--For the inspection of private eleemosynary institutions by the State +Board of Charities. + +13--Various steps toward prevention of cruelty to animals. + +14--Providing that foreign life and accident insurance companies, when +sued, must pay the costs. + +15--Establishing a juvenile court. + +16--Making education compulsory for all children between the ages of 8 +and 16, except those who are ill or those who are 14 and have completed +the eighth grade, or those whose parents need their help and support. + +17--Making the mother and father joint heirs of a deceased child. + +18--Providing for union high schools. + +19--Establishing a State travelling library commission. + +20--Providing that any person employing a child under 14 in any mine, +mill, or factory be punished by imprisonment in addition to a fine. + +21--Requiring the joint signature of the husband and wife to a mortgage +of a homestead. + +22--Forbidding the insuring of the lives of children under 10. + +23--Forbidding children of 16 or under to work more than six hours a day +in any mill, factory, or other occupation that may be unhealthful. + +24--Making it a criminal offence to contribute to the delinquency of +children--the parental responsibility act. + +25--Making it a misdemeanour to fail to support aged or infirm parents. + +26--Providing that no woman shall work more than eight hours a day at +work requiring her to be on her feet. + +27--Restricting the time for shooting doves. + +28--Abolishing the binding out of girls committed to the Industrial +School until the age of 21. + +29--A pure food law in harmony with the national law. + +[418] In the _Boston Herald_ for June 4, 1910. + +[419] Quoted in the _New York Times_ of Jan. 9, 1910. + +[420] See, for example, Lyman Abbott in the _Outlook_ for Feb. 19, 1910. + +[421] _American Magazine_, July, 1909. + +[422] _History of European Morals_, vol. ii, pp. 379 and following. New +York, D. Appleton & Co., 1869. + +[423] Note, for example, that in Maryland a man can get a divorce if his +wife has had sexual intercourse before marriage; _but a wife cannot get +a divorce from her husband if he has been guilty of the same thing_. In +Texas, adultery on the part of the wife entitles the husband to a +divorce; but the wife can obtain divorce from her husband only if he has +_abandoned_ her and _lived_ in adultery with another woman. + +[424] On Jan. 12, 1910, a bill was introduced in the House of +Representatives to check the "White Slave Traffic" by providing a +penalty of ten years' imprisonment and a fine of five thousand dollars +for any one who engages in it. + +[425] In some it is even lower; _ten_ in Georgia and Mississippi for +example. + +[426] In _Collier's Weekly_, Feb. 5, 1910. + +[427] Note what the officers of the Chicago Juvenile Protective +Association, many of whom are women, accomplished in 1909-1910. These +women are fighting the agencies which make for juvenile crime mostly and +each officer has a specified "beat" to patrol. Last year their work +amounted to the following: + +Complaints of selling liquors to minors investigated 295 +Complaints of selling tobacco to minors investigated 52 +Complaints of selling obscene postcards investigated 49 +Complaints of poolrooms investigated 203 +Complaints of dance halls investigated 92 +Five and ten cent theatres visited 1,013 +Penny arcades visited 67 +Saloons visited 735 +Relief visits 174 +Cases referred to relief organisations 374 +Legal aid cases referred 105 +Referred to Visiting Nurses' Association 7 +Housing cases referred 51 +Applications for work referred 264 +Placed in hospitals 103 +Sent to dispensaries 192 +Children placed in homes 240 +Slot machines removed 223 +Work found for men 57 +Work found for women 81 +Work found for boys 84 +Work found for girls 90 +Visits to ice-cream parlors 356 +Visits to candy stores 805 + +VISITS TO COURTS + +Juvenile 451 +Municipal 1,809 +Criminal 211 +County 86 +Grand Jury 26 +Conferences with state or city officials 1,244 + +PROSECUTIONS + +Cases of abandonment 99 +Assault and battery 8 +Contributing to delinquency and dependency of children 232 +Crimes against children 12 +Disorderly conduct 141 +Immoral dancing 4 +Intoxicating liquors 33 +Juvenile Court cases 78 +Larceny 4 +Tobacco 10 +Sale of cocaine 4 +Other cases 110 +Total prosecutions 738 + +RESULTS +Convictions 311 +Settled out of court 100 +Nolle pros, or nonsuit 52 +Dismissed 93 +Acquittals 50 +Pending 92 + ----- +Total complaints received 5,047 + + + +CHAPTER X + +FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS + + +In the four years intervening since this book was first written, the +progress of equal rights for women has been so rapid that the summary on +pages 175-235 is now largely obsolete; but it is useful for comparison. +In the United States at present (August, 1914), Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, +Idaho, Washington, California, Oregon, Kansas, Arizona, and Alaska have +granted full suffrage to women. In the following States the voters will +pass upon the question in the autumn of 1914: Montana, Nevada, North +Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio, the last three by +initiative petition. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Iowa, New York, and +Massachusetts a constitutional amendment for equal suffrage has passed +one legislature and must pass another before being submitted to the +people. The advance has been world-wide. Thus, in 1910 the Gaekwar of +Baroda in India allowed the women of his dominions a vote in municipal +elections, and Bosnia bestowed the parliamentary suffrage on women who +owned a certain amount of real estate; Norway in 1913 and Iceland in +1914 were won to full suffrage. The following table presents a +convenient historical summary of the progress in political rights: + +On July 2, 1776, two days before the Declaration of Independence was +signed, New Jersey, in her first State constitution, en-franchised the +women by changing the words of her provincial charter from "Male +freeholders worth L50" to "_all inhabitants_ worth L50," and for 31 +years the women of that State voted. + +GAINS IN EQUAL SUFFRAGE + +Eighty years ago women could not vote anywhere, except to a very limited +extent in Sweden and in a few other places in the Old World. + +TIME PLACE KIND OF SUFFRAGE + +1838 Kentucky School suffrage to widows with children + of school age. +1850 Ontario School suffrage, women married and + single. +1861 Kansas School suffrage. +1867 New South Wales Municipal suffrage. +1869 England Municipal suffrage, single women and + widows. + Victoria Municipal suffrage, married and single + women. + Wyoming Full suffrage. +1871 West Australia Municipal suffrage. +1875 Michigan School suffrage. + Minnesota Do. +1876 Colorado Do. +1877 New Zealand Do. +1878 New Hampshire Do. + Oregon Do. +1879 Massachusetts Do. +1880 New York Do. + Vermont Do. + South Australia Municipal suffrage. +1881 Scotland Municipal suffrage to the single women + and widows. + Isle of Man Parliamentary suffrage. +1883 Nebraska School suffrage. +1884 Ontario Municipal suffrage. + Tasmania Do. +1886 New Zealand Do. + New Brunswick Do. +1887 Kansas Do. + Nova Scotia Do. + Manitoba Do. + North Dakota School suffrage. + South Dakota Do. + + +TIME PLACE KIND OF SUFFRAGE + +1887 Montana . . . . . . . School suffrage + Arizona . . . . . . . Do. + New Jersey . . . . . Do. + Montana . . . . . . . Tax-paying suffrage. +1888 England . . . . . . . County suffrage. + British Columbia. . . Municipal Suffrage. + Northwest Territory . Do. +1889 Scotland. . . . . . . County suffrage. + Province of Quebec. . Municipal suffrage, single women and + widows. +1891 Illinois. . . . . . . School suffrage. +1893 Connecticut . . . . . Do. + Colorado. . . . . . . Full suffrage. + New Zealand . . . . . Do. +1894 Ohio. . . . . . . . . School suffrage. + Iowa. . . . . . . . . Bond suffrage. + England . . . . . . . Parish and district suffrage, married and + single women. +1895 South Australia . . . Full State suffrage. +1896 Utah. . . . . . . . . Full suffrage. + Idaho . . . . . . . . Do. +1898 Ireland . . . . . . . All offices except members of Parliament. + Minnesota . . . . . . Library trustees. + Delaware. . . . . . . School suffrage to tax-paying women. + France. . . . . . . . Women engaged in commerce can vote + for judges of the tribunal of commerce. + Louisiana . . . . . . Tax-paying suffrage. +1900 Wisconsin . . . . . . School suffrage. + West Australia. . . . Full State suffrage. +1901 New York. . . . . . . Tax-paying suffrage; local taxation in + all towns and villages of the State. + Norway. . . . . . . . Municipal suffrage. +1902 Australia . . . . . . Full suffrage. + New South Wales . . . Full State suffrage. +1903 Kansas. . . . . . . . Bond suffrage. + Tasmania. . . . . . . Full State suffrage. +1905 Queensland. . . . . . Do. +1906 Finland . . . . . . . Full suffrage; eligible for all offices. +1907 Norway. . . . . . . . Full parliamentary suffrage to the 300,000 + women who already had municipal + suffrage. + Sweden. . . . . . . . Eligible to municipal offices. + Denmark . . . . . . . Can vote for members of boards of public + charities and serve on such boards. + England . . . . . . . Eligible as mayors, aldermen, and county + and town councilors. + Oklahoma. . . . . . . New State continued school suffrage for + women. +1908 Michigan. . . . . . . Taxpayers to vote on question of local + taxation and granting of franchises. + Denmark . . . . . . . Women who are taxpayers or wives of + taxpayers vote for all offices except + members of Parliament. + Victoria. . . . . . . Full State suffrage. +1909 Belgium . . . . . . . Can vote for members of the conseils + des prudhommes, and also eligible. + Province of Voralberg Single women and widows paying taxes + (Austrian Tyrol) were given a vote. + Ginter Park, VA . . . Tax-paying women, a vote on all + municipal questions. +1910 Washington. . . . . . Full suffrage. + New Mexico. . . . . . School suffrage. + + +TIME PLACE KIND OF SUFFRAGE + +1910 Norway. . . . . . . . Municipal suffrage made universal. + Three-fifths of the women had it + before. + Bosnia. . . . . . . . Parliamentary vote to women owning a + certain amount of real estate. + Diet of the Crown . . Suffrage to the women of its capital city + Prince of Krain Laibach. + (Austria) + India (Gaekwar of . . Women in his dominions vote in municipal + Baroda) elections. + Wurttemberg . . . . . Women engaged in agriculture vote for + Kingdom of members of the chamber of agriculture; + also eligible. + New York. . . . . . . Women in all towns, villages and + third-class cities vote on bonding + propositions. +1911 California. . . . . . Full suffrage. + Honduras. . . . . . . Municipal suffrage in capital city, Belize. + Iceland . . . . . . . Parliamentary suffrage for women over + 25 years. +1912 Oregon. . . . . . . . Full suffrage. + Arizona . . . . . . . Do. + Kansas. . . . . . . . Do. +1913 Alaska. . . . . . . . Do. + Norway. . . . . . . . Do. + Illinois. . . . . . . Suffrage for statutory officials + (including presidential electors and + municipal officers). +1914 Iceland . . . . . . . Full suffrage. + +In the United States the struggle for the franchise has entered national +politics, a sure sign of its widening scope. The demand for equal +suffrage was embodied in the platform of the Progressive Party in +August, 1912. This marks an advance over Col. Roosevelt's earlier view, +expressed in the _Outlook_ of February 3, 1912, when he said: "I believe +in woman's suffrage wherever the women want it. Where they do not want +it, the suffrage should not be forced upon them." When the new +administration assumed office in March, 1913, the friends of suffrage +worked to secure a constitutional amendment which should make votes for +women universal in the United States. The inauguration ceremonies were +marred by an attack of hoodlums on the suffrage contingent of the +parade. Mr. Hobson in the House denounced the outrage and mentioned the +case of a young lady, the daughter of one of his friends, who was +insulted by a ruffian who climbed upon the float where she was. Mr. +Mann, the Republican minority leader, remarked in reply that her +daughter ought to have been at home. Commenting on this dialogue, +_Collier's Weekly_ of April 5, 1913, recalled the boast inscribed by +Rameses III of Egypt on his monuments, twelve hundred years before +Christ: "To unprotected women there is freedom to wander through the +whole country wheresoever they list without apprehending danger." If one +works this out chronologically, said the editor, Mr. Mann belongs +somewhere back in the Stone Age. In the Senate an active committee on +woman suffrage was formed under the chairmanship of Mr. Thomas, of +Colorado. The vote on the proposed new amendment was taken in the Senate +on March 19, 1914, and it was rejected,[428] 35 to 34, two-thirds being +necessary before the measure could be submitted to the States for +ratification. In the House Mr. Underwood, Democratic minority leader, +took the stand that suffrage was purely a State issue. Mr. Heflin of +Alabama was particularly vigorous in denunciation of votes for women. He +said[429]: + +"I do not believe that there is a red-blooded man in the world who in +his heart really believes in woman suffrage. I think that every man who +favours it ought to be made to wear a dress. Talk about taxation without +representation! Do you say that the young man who is of age does not +represent his mother? Do you say that the young man who pledges at the +altar to love, cherish, and protect his wife, does not represent her and +his children when he votes? When the Christ of God came into this world +to die for the sins of humanity, did he not die for all, males and +females? What sort of foolish stuff are you trying to inject into this +tariff debate?... There are trusts and monopolies of every kind, and +these little feminine fellows are crawling around here talking about +woman suffrage. I have seen them here in this Capitol. The suffragette +and a little henpecked fellow crawling along beside her; that is her +husband. She is a suffragette, and he is a mortal suffering yet." + +Mr. Falconer of Washington rose in reply. He remarked:[430] + +"I want to observe that the mental operation of the average woman in the +State of Washington, as compared to the ossified brain operation of the +gentleman from Alabama, would make him look like a mangy kitten in a +tiger fight. The average woman in the State of Washington knows more +about social economics and political economy in one minute than the +gentleman from Alabama has demonstrated to the members of this House +that he knows in five minutes." + +On February 2, 1914, a delegation of women called upon President Wilson +to ascertain his views. The President refused to commit himself. He was +not at liberty, he said, to urge upon Congress policies which had not +the endorsement of his party's platform; and as the representative of +his party he was under obligations not to promulgate or intimate his +individual convictions. On February 3, 1914, the Democrats of the House +in caucus, pursuant to a resolution of Mr. Heflin, refused to create a +woman suffrage committee. So the constitutional amendment was quite +lost. In the following July Mr. Bryan suddenly issued a strong appeal +for equal suffrage in the _Commoner_. Among his arguments were these: + +"As man and woman are co-tenants of the earth and must work out their +destiny together, the presumption is on the side of equality of +treatment in all that pertains to their joint life and its +opportunities. The burden of proof is on those who claim for one an +advantage over the other in determining the conditions under which both +shall live. This claim has not been established in the matter of +suffrage. On the contrary, the objections raised to woman suffrage +appear to me to be invalid, while the arguments advanced in support of +the proposition are, in my judgment, convincing." + +"Without minimising other arguments advanced in support of the extending +of suffrage to woman, I place the emphasis upon the mother's right to a +voice in molding the environment which shall surround her children--an +environment which operates powerfully in determining whether her +offspring will crown her latter years with joy or 'bring down her gray +hairs in sorrow to the grave.' + +"For a time I was imprest by the suggestion that the question should be +left to the women to decide--a majority to determine whether the +franchise should be extended to woman; but I find myself less and less +disposed to indorse this test.... Why should any mother be denied the +use of the franchise to safeguard the welfare of her child merely +because another mother may not view her duty in the same light?" + +The change in the status of women has been significant not only in the +political field, but also in every other direction. A brief survey of +the legislation of various States in the past year, 1913, reveals the +manifold measures already adopted for the further protection of women +and indicates the trend of laws in the near future. Acts were passed in +Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, and Ohio to punish the seduction +of girls and women for commercialised vice, the laws being known as +"White Slave Acts"; laws for the abatement of disorderly houses were +passed in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington; +Oregon decreed that male applicants for a marriage license must produce +a physician's certificate showing freedom from certain diseases; and it +authorised the sterilisation of habitual criminals and degenerates. The +necessity of inculcating chastity in the newer generation, whether +through the teaching of sex hygiene in the schools or in some other +form, was widely discussed throughout the country. Mothers' pensions +were granted by fourteen States; minimum wage boards were established by +three; and three passed laws for the punishment of family desertion, in +such wise that the family of the offender should receive a certain daily +sum from the State while he worked off his sentence. Tennessee removed +the disability of married women arising from coverture. Ten States +further limited the hours of labour for women in certain industries, the +tendency being to fix the limit at fifty-four or fifty-eight hours a +week with a maximum of nine or ten in any one day. The hours of labour +of children and the age at which they are allowed to work were largely +restricted. A National Children's Bureau, under the charge of Miss Julia +Lathrope, has been created at Washington; and Mrs. J. Borden Harriman +was appointed to the Industrial Relations Commission. The minuteness and +thoroughness of modern legislation for the protection of women may be +realised by noting that in 1913 alone New York passed laws that no girl +under sixteen shall in any city of the first, second, or third class +sell newspapers or magazines or shine shoes in any street or public +place; that separate wash rooms and dressing rooms must be provided in +factories where more than ten women are employed; that whenever an +employer requires a physical examination, the employee, if a female, can +demand a physician of her own sex; that the manufacture or repair for a +factory of any article of food, dolls' clothing, and children's apparel +in a tenement house be prohibited except by special permit of the Labor +Commission; that the State Industrial Board be authorised to make +special rules and regulations for dangerous employments; and that the +employment of women in canning establishments be strictly limited +according to prescribed hours. + +The unmistakable trend of legislation in the United States is towards +complete equality of the sexes in all moral, social, industrial, +professional, and political activities. + +In England the House of Commons rejected parliamentary suffrage for +women. Incensed at the repeated chicanery of politicians who +alternately made and evaded their promises, a group of suffragettes +known as the "militants" resorted to open violence. When arrested for +damaging property, they went on a "hunger strike," refusing all +nourishment. This greatly embarrassed the government, which in 1913 +devised the so-called "Cat and Mouse Act," whereby those who are in +desperate straits through their refusal to eat are released temporarily +and conditionally, but can be rearrested summarily for failure to comply +with the terms of their parole. The weakness in the attitude of the +militant suffragettes is their senseless destruction of all kinds of +property and the constant danger to which they subject innocent people +by their outrages. If they would confine themselves to making life +unpleasant for those who have so often broken their pledges, they could +stand on surer ground. The English are commonly regarded as an orderly +people, especially by themselves. Nevertheless, it is true that hardly +any great reform has been achieved in England without violence. The men +of England did not secure the abolition of the "rotten-borough" system +and extensive manhood suffrage until, in 1831, they smashed the windows +of the Duke of Wellington's house, burned the castle of the Duke of +Newcastle, and destroyed the Bishop's palace at Bristol. In 1839 at +Newport twenty chartists were shot in an attempt to seize the town; they +were attempting to secure reforms like the abolition of property +qualifications for members of Parliament. The English obtained the +permanent tenure of their "immemorial rights" only by beheading one king +and banishing another. In our own country, the Boston Tea Party was a +typical "militant outrage," generally regarded as a fine piece of +patriotism. If the tradition of England is such that violence must be a +preliminary to all final persuasion, perhaps censure of the militants +can find some mitigation in that fact. Some things move very slowly in +England. In 1909 a commission was appointed to consider reform in +divorce. Under the English law a husband can secure a divorce for +infidelity, but a woman must, in addition to adultery, prove aggravated +cruelty. This is humorously called "British fair play." In November, +1912, the majority of the commission recommended that this inequality be +removed and that the sexes be placed on an equal footing; and that in +addition to infidelity, now the only cause for divorce allowed, complete +separation be also granted for desertion for three years, incurable +insanity, and incurable habitual drunkenness. The majority, nine +commissioners, found that the present stringent restrictions and +costliness of divorce are productive of immorality and illicit +relations, particularly among the poorer classes. The majority report +was opposed by the three minority members, the Archbishop of York, Sir +William Anson, and Sir Lewis Dibdin, representing the Established +Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. Thus far, Parliament +has not yet acted and the old law is still in force. + +On the Continent, with the exception of a few places like Finland, the +movement for equal suffrage, while earnestly pressed by a few, is not +yet concentrated. Women have won their rights to higher education and +are admitted to the universities. They can usually enter business and +most of the professions. Inequities of civil rights are gradually being +swept away. For example, in Germany a married woman has complete control +of her property, but only if she specifically provided for it in the +marriage contract; many German women are ignorant that they possess such +a right. The Germans may be divided into two classes: the caste which +rules, largely Prussian, militaristic, and bureaucratic; and that which, +although desirous of more republican institutions and potentially +capable of liberal views, is constrained to obey the first or ruling +class. This upper class is not friendly to the modern women's-rights +movement. Perhaps it has read too much Schopenhauer. This amiable +philosopher, whose own mother could not endure living with him, has this +to say of women[431]: + +"A woman who is perfectly truthful and does not dissemble, is perhaps an +impossibility. In a court of justice women are more often found guilty +of perjury than men.... Women are directly adapted to act as the nurses +and educators of our early childhood, for the simple reason that they +themselves are childish, foolish, and shortsighted.... Women are and +remain, taken altogether, the most thorough and incurable Philistines; +and because of the extremely absurd arrangement which allows them to +share the position and title of their husbands they are a constant +stimulus to his ignoble ambitions.... Where are there any real +monogamists? We all live, at any rate for a time, and the majority of us +always, in polygamy.... It is men who make the money, and not women; +therefore women are neither justified in having unconditional possession +of it nor capable of administering it.... That woman is by nature +intended to obey, is shown by the fact that every woman who is placed in +the unnatural position of absolute independence at once attaches herself +to some kind of man, by whom she is controlled and governed; that is +because she requires a master. If she is young, the man is a lover; if +she is old, a priest." + +Essentially the opinion of Schopenhauer is that of the Prussian ruling +class to-day. It is indisputable that in Germany, as elsewhere on the +Continent, chastity in men outside of marriage is not expected, nor is +the wife allowed to inquire into her husband's past. The bureaucratic +German expects his wife to attend to his domestic comforts; he does not +consult her in politics. The natural result when the masculine element +has not counterchecks is bullying and coarseness. To find the +coarseness, the reader can consult the stories in papers like the +_Berliner Tageblatt_ and much of the current drama; to observe the +bullying, he will have to see it for himself, if he doubts it. This is +not an indictment of the whole German people; it is an indictment of the +militaristic-bureaucratic ruling class, which, persuaded of its divine +inspiration and intolerant of criticism,[432] has plunged the country +into a devastating war. It is not unlikely that the end of the conflict +will mark also the overthrow of the Hohenzollern dynasty. The spirit of +the Germans of 1848, who labored unsuccessfully to make their country a +republic, may awake again and realise its dreams. In concluding this +chapter, I wish to enlarge somewhat upon the philosophy of suffrage as +exhibited in the preceding chapter. The "woman's sphere" argument is +still being worked overtime by anti-suffrage societies, whose members +rather inconsistently leave their "sphere," the home, to harangue in +public and buttonhole legislators to vote against the franchise for +women. "A woman's place," says the sage Hennessy, "is in th' home, +darning her husband's childher. I mean----" "I know what ye mean," says +Mr. Dooley. "'Tis a favrite argument iv mine whin I can't think iv +annything to say." A century ago, the home was the woman's sphere. +To-day the man has deliberately dragged her out of it to work for him in +factory and store because he can secure her labor more cheaply than that +of men and is, besides, safer in abusing her when she has no direct +voice in legislation. Are the manufacturers willing to send their +1,300,000 female employees back to their "sphere"? If they are not, but +desire their labor, they ought in fairness to allow them the privileges +of workmen--that is, of citizens, participating actively in the +political, social, and economic development of the country. + +As women enter more largely into every profession and business, certain +results will inevitably follow. We shall see first of all what pursuits +are particularly adapted to them and which ones are not. It has already +become apparent that as telephone and typewriter operators women, as a +class, are better fitted than men. They have, in general, greater +patience for details and quickness of perception in these fields. +Similarly, in architecture some have already achieved conspicuous +success. One who has observed the insufficient closet space in modern +apartments and kitchenettes with the icebox in front of the stove, is +inclined to wish that male architects would consult their mothers or +wives more freely. In law and medicine results are not yet clear. We +shall presently possess more extensive data in all fields for surer +conclusions. + +A second result may be, that many women, instead of leaving the home, +will be forced back into it. This movement will be accelerated if the +granting of equal pay for equal work and a universal application of the +minimum wage take place. There are a great number of positions, +especially those where personality is not a vital factor, where +employers will prefer women when they can pay them less; but if they +must give equal pay, they will choose men. Hence the tendency of the +movements mentioned is to throw certain classes of women back into the +home. The home of the future, however, will have lost much of the +drudgery and monotony once associated with it. The ingenious +labor-saving devices, like the breadmixer, the fireless cooker, the +vacuum cleaner, and the electric iron, the propagation of scientific +knowledge in the rearing of children, and wider outlets for outside +interests, will tend to make domestic life an exact science, a +profession as important and attractive as any other. + +The home is not necessarily every woman's sphere and neither is +motherhood. Neither is it every woman's congenital duty to make herself +attractive to men. The "woman's pages" of newspapers, filled with +gratuitous advice on these subjects, never tell men that their duty is +fatherhood or that they should make themselves attractive or that their +sphere is also the home. Until these one-sided points of view are +adjusted to a more reasonable basis, we shall not reach an +understanding. They are as unjust as the farmer who ploughs with a steam +plow and lets his wife cart water from a distant well instead of +providing convenient plumbing. + +Women who are fitted for motherhood and have a talent for it can enter +it with advantage. There is a talent for motherhood exactly as there is +for other things. Other women have genius which can be of greatest +service to the community in other ways. They should have opportunity to +find their sphere. If this is "Feminism," it is also simple justice. One +reason that we are at sea in some of the problems of the women's-rights +movement, is that the history of women has been mainly written by men. +The question of motherhood, the sexual life of women, and the position +of women as it has been or is likely to be affected by their sexual +characteristics, must be more exactly ascertained before definite +conclusions can be reached. At present there is too much that we don't +know. We need more scientific investigations of the type of Mr. Havelock +Ellis's admirable _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_[433] and less of +pseudo-scientific lucubrations like Otto Weininger's _Sex and +Character_. When human society has rid itself of the bogies and +nightmares, superstitions and prejudices, which have borne upon it with +crushing force, it will be in a better position to construct an ideal +system of government. Meanwhile experiments are and must be made. Woman +suffrage is not necessarily a reform; it is a necessary step in +evolution. + +One venerable bogey I wish to dispose of before I close. It is that the +Roman Empire was ruined and collapsed because the increasing liberty +given to women and the equality granted the sexes under the Empire +produced immorality that destroyed the State. The trouble with Rome was +that it failed to grasp the fundamentals of economic law. Slavery, the +concentration of land in a few hands, and the theory that all taxation +has for its end the enriching of a select few, were the fallacies which, +in the last analysis, caused the collapse of the Roman Empire. The +luxury, immorality, and race-suicide which are popularly conceived to +have been the immediate causes of Rome's decline and fall, were in +reality the logical results, the inevitable attendant phenomena of a +political system based on a false hypothesis. For when wealth was +concentrated in a few hands, when there was no all-embracing popular +education, all incentives to thrift, to private initiative, and hence to +the development of the sturdy moral qualities which thrift and +initiative cause and are the product of, were stifled. A nation can +reach its maximum power only when, through the harmonious cooperation +of all its parts, the initiative and talents of every individual have +free scope, untrammeled by special privilege, to reach that sphere for +which nature has designed him or her. + +NOTE: The official organ of the National American Woman Suffrage +Association is _The Woman's Journal_, published weekly. The headquarters +are at 505 Fifth Avenue, New York City. + +England has two organisations which differ in methods. The National +Union of Women's Suffrage Societies has adopted the constitutional or +peaceful policy; it publishes _The Common Cause_, a weekly, at 2 Robert +Street, Adelphi, W.C., London. The "militant" branch of suffragettes +forms the National Women's Social and Political Union, and its weekly +paper is _Votes for Women_, Lincoln's Inn House, Kingsway, W.C. + +The International Woman Suffrage Alliance issues the _Jus Suffragii_ +monthly at 62 Kruiskade, Rotterdam. + +A good source from which to obtain the present status of women in Europe +is the _Englishwoman's Year Book and Directory for 1914_, published by +Adam and Charles Black. + +NOTES: + +[428] Twenty-six senators did not vote. The question of negro suffrage +complicated the matter with Southern senators. Mr. Williams of +Mississippi wished to limit the franchise to "white citizens"; but his +amendment was voted down. The list of senators voting for and against +the woman suffrage amendment appears on page 5472 of the Congressional +Record, March 19, 1914. The debate is contained in pages 5454-5472. +Senator Tillman of South Carolina inserted a vicious attack on northern +women by the late Albert Bledsoe, who advised them to "cut their hair +short, and their petticoats, too, and enter a la bloomer the ring of +political prizefighters." Bledsoe's article will be found in the Record, +July 28, 1913, 3115-3119. + +[429] Record, May 6, 1913, 1221-1222. + +[430] Record, May 6, 1913, 1222. + +[431] Essays of Schopenhauer. Translated by Mrs. Rudolf Dircks Pages +64-79. + +[432] Any criticism of the Kaiser leads to arrest. The most vigorous +checks to Bourbon rule come from the Socialists, who in 1912 polled +4,250,300 votes. But as the Kaiser, as King of Prussia, controls a +majority of votes in the Bundesrath, or Federal Council, can dissolve +the Reichstag, or House of Representatives, at any time with the consent +of the Bundesrath, has sole power to appoint the chancellor, and is lord +supreme of the army and navy, anything like real popular government is +far off. + +[433] Philadelphia, 1906. The F.A. Davis Company. + + + + +INDEX + +A + +Adultery, under Roman Law, + laws modified by Justinian, + among Germanic peoples, + see also under various States. + +Age of Consent, under English Law, + in the United States, + see also under various States. + +Alabama, + +Apostles, teachings about women, + +Arizona, + +Arkansas, + +Attainder, bills of, in Roman Empire, + laws of Arcadius, Honorius, and Constantine, + of Pope Innocent III. + + +B + +Breach of Promise, under Roman Law, + modification by Constantine, + by Justinian, + +Business, woman in, under Roman Empire, + in England, + in the United States + see also under each State + + +C + +California, + +Chastisement, right of husband to chastise wife under English Law, + +Christ, teachings about women, + +Colorado, + +Connecticut, + +Consent of women to marriage, under Roman Law, + opinions of Church Fathers, + enactments of Christian Emperors, + +Crimes against women, under Roman Law, + among Germanic peoples, + under English Law, + +Curtesy, defined, + under English Law, + see also under various States. + +Custom, power of, + + +D + +Delaware, + +Discrepancy in wages paid to women, + +District of Columbia, + +Divorce, under Roman Law; + modified by Theodosius and Valentinian; + by Justinian; + by Justin; + among Germanic peoples; + under Canon Law; + under English Law; + general considerations; + see also under various States. +Double standard of morality +Dower, defined; + right of, in English Law; + see also under different States. +Dowry, under Roman Law; + among ancient Gauls; + among Germanic peoples + + +E + +Education, rights of women to an, + under Roman Empire; + in England; + in the United States + + +F + +Fathers of the Church, their commands concerning women +Florida + + +G + +Georgia +Gifts between husband and wife, under Roman Law; + changes by Justinian +Guardian, decay of power of, under Roman Law +Guardians, women as, under Roman Law; + laws modified by Justinian; + see also under various States. +Guardianship under Roman Law; + among Germanic peoples, + + +H + +Husband and wife, under Roman Law; + among Germanic peoples; + under Canon Law; + under English Law; + see also under various States + + +I + +Idaho +Illinois; + Ritchie case, +Indian Territory +Indiana +Inheritance rights of women, under Roman Law; + modified by Justinian; + among Germanic peoples; + under English Law +Intellectual inferiority of women, argument discussed +Iowa + + +J + +Jewish ideas about women + +K + +Kansas +Kentucky + + +L + +Lecky, analysis of character of women +Louisiana + +M + +Macaulay on the effects of freedom +Maine +Marriage, women in, under Roman Law; + opinions of Church Fathers; + among ancient Gauls and Germans; + among Germanic peoples; + under Canon Law; + under English Law; + modern changes in views of; + see also under various States. +Maryland +Massachusetts +Michigan +Minnesota +Mississippi +Missouri +Montana +Moral argument against suffrage + + +N + +Nebraska +Nevada +New Hampshire +New Jersey +New Mexico +New York +North Carolina +North Dakota + + +O + +Ohio +Oklahoma +Old Maid, treatment of, by Christians +Oregon + + +P + +Partiality of Roman Law to women +Pennsylvania +Physiological argument against suffrage +Political or social argument against suffrage +Power of father, under Roman Law; + under early Christians; + among Germanic peoples; + under English Law +Professions, women in, in England; + in United States, and see under + various States; + need of opening all, to women +Property rights of married women, under Roman Law; + among Germanic peoples; + under English Law; + of widows and single women, under Roman Law; + among Germanic peoples; + under English +Law, + in the United States, +Protection of property of children under Roman Law, + + +R + +Respect for women, among Romans, + among ancient Germans, +Rhode Island, +Ritchie case in Illinois, +Roman Catholic Church, attitude to women, + + +S + +Second marriages, opinions of Church Fathers concerning, + Legislation of Christian Emperors, +Slaves, women, under Roman Law, + among Germanic peoples, + under Canon Law, +South Carolina, +South Dakota, +Suffrage, woman, in England, + in the United States, + see also under various States. +Suits, women engaging in, under Roman Law, + + +T + +Tennessee, +Texas, +Theological argument against women's rights, +Training of women for higher ideals, + + +U + +Utah, + + +V + +Vermont, +Vestal Virgins, +Virginia, + + +W + +Washington, +West Virginia, +Wisconsin, +Women: see under _Divorce, Dowry, Marriage, Husband and Wife_, etc. +Wyoming, + + + + +INDEX TO SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER + +A + +Advance of equal suffrage, chronological tables, +Amendment, constitutional, for suffrage; + rejected by Senate; + and by House + +B + +Bryan, favours suffrage + +C + +Cat and Mouse Act + +D + +Divorce, proposals for reform defeated in England + +E + +Europe, general status of women's rights in + +F + +Falconer, Congressman, reply to Heflin +Feminism + +G + +Germany, position of women in + +H + +Heflin, Congressman, speech on suffrage + +J + +Journals, official, of various women's organisations + +L + +Legislation, most recent examples of, for protection of + women + +M + +Mann, Congressman, remarks on suffrage parade +Militant suffragettes + +R + +Roman Empire, assumption that its fall was due to liberty allowed women +Roosevelt, opinion on suffrage + +S + +Schopenhauer, remarks on nature of women +Sphere, woman's sphere argument + +T + +Tendencies and results of women's rights movement + +W + +Wilson, President, position on suffrage + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Short History of Women's Rights +by Eugene A. 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