“Go through the whole category of those attributes whose superior development makes woman the flower of the earth. You will find not one which has developed on its own account owing to some mysterious chemistry of being peculiar to Woman,—all have developed from the common soil of humanity, owing to the superior conditions for their development in women. “And the chief of those conditions has been Protection. The old conditions come up again. The man when he was hunting and killing beasts for his wife and children, and fighting for their existence, never imagined that he was by his labours founding Art and Poetry. He was. He was giving their germs conditions to grow in. Love, tenderness, gentleness, affection, morality: all were there in the cave with the woman. She suckled them with her children; she trained them in their growth with kisses—and slaps. They were the man’s no less than the woman’s, common to both their natures, but he left them in the cave with her to take care of, while he went hunting. “Conditions have made woman what she is: the best and most beautiful thing in the world. And now Feminists want to change those conditions, just as Socialists want to change the conditions affecting man. “Both strike at the Home.” [Sidenote: Feminism] “‘Woman must have a freer life.’ “‘To evolve her genius, woman has but one need—Freedom.’ “‘She must be free to form her own ideas and morals.’ “‘Woman must reorganize the mind and soul of humanity, for man has disintegrated it.’ “Those are some of the teachings of the Apostles of Feminism. I take them from the work of a clever American woman, and they are a fair statement of the case for Feminism. “To the first I give an unqualified assent. “Freedom, within limits, is the basic condition of growth. “But what does the Feminist mean by Freedom? “The third dictum answers that. “‘She must be free to form her own ideas and morals.’ “One would fancy from that that ‘woman’ was an animal capable of evolving ideas and a moral code different from man. Since woman is just the same human animal, we may put this aside, and ask again what the Feminist means. “She asks, in fact, that women may be free to change their morals (we shall leave the talk about ideas aside for the present) in any way they please. “Now, morals cannot be changed in a horizontal direction. It’s up, or down, or stationary. Any change in morals is for the better or for the worse. “Does the Feminist ask for freedom to change her morals for the better? She has perfect freedom to do that; most men will applaud her, and most women, too. “Does she ask for freedom to change her morals for the worse? “If she is making that demand, let her frankly avow that what she wants is license, not freedom. “There is a lot of difference between the two. “I am not arguing to get the Feminist in a hole, but simply to clear the ground of brambles.