That is not the fact. Without appealing to the obvious arguments, we wish for no other proof of the women’s good intentions than their very manifest desire not to carry their separation from their husbands beyond a certain point. They did mean to render their bonds lighter, and even elastic. But, as we have already seen, they defended the institution of marriage and affectionately tended their husbands in sickness; and it is certain that they had no wish to lose them. Divorce originated in the masculine countries. It appeared a step in advance, because hitherto public opinion had shown itself singularly cruel in regard to separated wives. There was neither pity nor justice for them. The husband had no shame in deserting his wife, and it was always she who was blamed. To put a stop to separations, the Senate of Venice, evidently convinced that as men they were not there for nothing, prescribed in 1543 a system which was simplicity itself. All separated women were metaphorically to be buried in a heap; they were forced to wear a special costume like lepers, and were forbidden access to any public place. The clergy revolted. In the end, the august Senate contented itself with a milder punishment; it placed the unfortunate women under the surveillance, not of the state police, but of their ex-husbands. But a time came when the Venetian measures no longer appeared feasible, and then in the countries where men ruled opinion it was generally admitted that woman, being a secondary creature, needed an owner and employer. Instead of trampling upon her when she found herself without a master, they deigned to do her so much justice as to provide her with a new lord. Calvin, generous soul, permitted her, in case of proved desertion, to take another mate. In the Roman countries, deserted wives were objects of compassion. But marriage remained indissoluble; there was no remarriage; and a woman in a country where women were a force had nothing to gain by placing herself in a false position. All that Roman charity could do was to throw open houses of refuge where she might find a retreat in honour and solitude. The true way of getting rid of a husband was to keep him. Nor did the women, even the more philosophic of them, find any substantial advantage in being widows.