“Yes, but the world’s philosophy is no longer the enduring stoicism of a Spartan, nor is it the calm acceptance of human frailty of a Marcus Aurelius; it is a cynical acquiescence in the general depravity of the over-fed and over-clothed worshippers of Mammon, who smile at their neighbour’s weaknesses, hoping that he in turn will shut his eyes to their foibles. Philosophy is your capital which pays you back heavy dividends.” “How bitter you are, my dear girl. You are too young to think or speak like that; and you cannot lay down any such rule of conduct. Of course I know that things are awkward at present, and that the future is not pleasant to contemplate; and it grieves me to the quick that my child should be in close contact with the vulgarity of life.” “Do not worry yourself, mother; I am seeing life for the first time, and it is very beautiful. Society is as far removed from true life as the sun is from the moon. You fashionable mothers have a strange way of bringing up your children. As the Chinese tortured their women’s toes to prevent their running away, so you cramped our youthful minds, obliterated our organ of perception and twisted our judgment so as to make us incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. You showed us little pictures encircled in trivial frames, and told us that these were the sights we had to view for the rest of our lives. We put questions to you about the people with whom you surrounded us in our infancy, but you answered scornfully, that they were our inferiors whom we need not consider. Later on, the same game of mystification went on with our teachers whom we had to treat only as educational cramming machines. When we developed into women, the bandages were swathed more tightly round our expanding brains, and we were then informed, at the most perplexing cross-roads of our lives, that no decent girl inquired into any social problems: a tub, a game of golf, and the admission into the smart set were all-sufficient to assuage feminine yearning. If, as often happened, the hygienic and worldly remedies failed to cure the patient, the whole was dismissed in these words: ‘A lady does not mention such things!’ This was the prologue to matrimony! When you, the mothers of Society, had brought your victims safely to the stake, you turned your eyes up to heaven and begged for God’s blessing, which you deserved less than the devil’s benediction, for in your culpable and wilful ignorance you were playing a ghastly trick in sending out defenceless beings into an arena of wild beasts. Do you believe that your drawing-room philosophy will be of any use to the victims of your social wisdom? No, your philosophy thrives on champagne and truffles, not on the understanding of human passions. How often has a girl brought to the conjugal market a young heart and a healthy constitution, to close a bargain with a cynical flesh dealer; and very soon had to learn how to