The first reject the religious organization of Comte, and are in reality nothing but the children of modern Philosophy, and very estimable adversaries of that nebulous thing which is called Metaphysics. We could not therefore have them in sight in this article; so, let not M. Littré and his honorable friends frown in reading us: we are about to find fault only with the high priest and his priesthood. The doctrine of Comte concerning woman being connected with the whole of his religious system, let us first say a word about this system. _There is no God; there is no soul_: the object of our adoration should be Humanity, represented by the best of our species.... There are three social elements: woman, priest, and man. Woman is the moral providence, the guardian of morals. Had it not been for the wholly mystical love, I willingly believe, that Comte had for Madame Clotilde de Vaux, it is probable that woman would not have been the _moral Providence_; thanks to this love, she is nothing less than this. We will see that neither is she anything more. Of a nature superior to that of man (in the opinion of Comte), she is nevertheless subject to him, in consequence of a philosophical paradox which we need not refute here. The function of woman is to render man _moral_; a task which she can perform well only in private life; all social and sacerdotal functions are therefore interdicted her. She should be _preserved from labor_, should renounce dowry and inheritance; man is charged with maintaining her; daughter, she is supported by her father or her brothers; wife, by her husband; widow, by her sons. In default of her natural maintainers, the state, _on the requisition of the priesthood_, provides for her wants. Marriage is instituted for the perfecting of the married couple, above all, for that of the man: the reproduction of the species has so little to do with its end, that the progress of science permits us to hope that, some day, woman will be able _alone_ to reproduce humanity, so as to realize and to generalize the hypothesis of the Virgin Mother. Then it will be possible to regulate human production, by entrusting to none but the most deserving women the task of conceiving children and bringing them into the world, especially members of the priesthood. Divorce is not permitted, and widowhood is eternal for both sexes. Such, in brief, is the Comtist doctrine concerning woman, marriage and procreation. As the reader might suspect us of malicious exaggeration, we entreat him to read attentively the following pages, emanating from the pen of the originator of the system.