“But the first ray had struck home at last—the battle had at last begun. Each side had to prepare for the long fight, in which the atom of humanity turned the scale of equal-balanced powers. And so because woman was the first to receive what man could not understand it came about that he looked down on her, and treated her with contempt as a household drudge and worse. It was but another little jest of the great powers of Evil, turning all good to their own account, and instead of woman becoming the acknowledged influence to lead man to higher things, she sank under the stronger power of Evil for the most part, and delivered up the tiny ray of light to him—second-hand as it were, like the Apple in the Garden. It was but natural. The strongest gained and the weak went to the wall. “But gradually, as century followed century in endless routine, the change began to show itself. True, every weapon of ours was met by a counter weapon from our brother spirits, yet slowly, inch by inch, the great fight was fought, the mystery unfolded. “And at last intellect broke on cunning. Intellect is not a gift of ours. It comes from the other side. It was forced on them by us, though, since they did not give it till it could act as a slur to our teaching. Wisdom they have never given; it comes from us alone. Still for all that our progress was slow and uncertain. In the first place, we could not tell what had attracted humanity to us, because in structure they were but little different from the other animals—at one time not at all. It took long ages to solve the riddle, and it occupied the undivided attention of some of our wisest spirits.