Women have begun to speak for themselves, and to speak clearly—with no uncertain sound. No new elucidation of the 1867 Charter has taken place except one very remarkable one. “If a woman’s name were to get on an _election list by mistake_, and she afterwards tenders her vote, that vote must be accepted” (_see_ “Warren on Election Law”). The humour of the remark is great. As by the mistakes of some men women lost their rights, by a further masculine mistake they may regain them. Is this what it imports? If not, what? The 1868 Decision threw back civilisation theoretically 2000 years. But it necessitated opposition. One clear sign of this effect was given in 1869 when Mr. Jacob Bright moved a resolution in the House that women should vote in Municipal affairs, and it was adopted almost without discussion. The Bill was modified, but reconfirmed in 1882. The right has been exercised by women since that time without any overturning of the social fabric. In 1870 the vote for the School Board, and eligibility thereto, was conferred upon them. Ancient rights allowed them to vote for Poor Law Guardians; and in 1888 they were allowed to vote for County Councillors. In 1893 they were made electors, and eligible for election on Parish District Councils. Many Bills have been passed in their favour through the toil and energy of devoted women, and the co-operation of broad-minded men. =The Married Women’s Property Acts= of 1870 and of 1882 have secured the earnings of industrious wives from the clutches of grasping or drunken husbands to a certain degree. A slight improvement has taken place in regard to the Custody of Infant Children. The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1884 took a step in the right direction, though sadly crippled by its overriding conditions. (_See_ Mrs. Fawcett’s pamphlet on “The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1884.”) Various other moral Bills have showed the woman’s spirit working behind the scenes in favour of justice and mercy and chastity. And the famous Clitheroe case, in 1891, which sent back the Judge, through lack of Precedent, to the original Statutes to find a decision as to the imprisonment of a wife, bewildered the populace, and reduced the demand for wife-kicking boots. Public Conscience is beginning to be awakened to the errors of its judgments in regard to women. The disproportionate awards of punishment to those who steal food when hungry, and those who maltreat their wives through tyranny, do not so often now arouse the indignation of those who read the Law Reports in newspapers. Yet the tide has not been uniform in its motion. It is the way of waves to retire before and after a rise.