THE RELATIONS OF WOMEN TO GRIME. 13 



and that the single and married female criminals exist in nearly equal 

 proportions, we can reach but one conclusion, that marriage exists as 

 a restraining influence against crime more strongly among men than 

 women. I think this result is opposed to the preconceived opinion of 

 the majority, of the effect of marriage upon women. Marriage for 

 women has ever been regarded as a preliminary condition to reform. 

 This is the result of the sentimentalism which has entered into the 

 solution of many social problems. Marriage is not unmixed good. 

 Lecky says of it, that " beautiful affections which had before been 

 latent are evoked in some particular forms of union, while other 

 forms of union are particularly fitted to deaden the affections, and 

 pervert the character." ' Woman's keenly emotional nature is well 

 disposed to be exalted or depraved by marriage. It seems hardly 

 possible to reach the true causes of the nearly negative results of mar- 

 riage upon the morality of women by a study of the character of this 

 sex alone. In women, rather than men, are mirrored the lights and 

 shadows of society. Mentally she is the plastic material which takes 

 its form from the protean phases of life around her. She is spiritually 

 the resultant of her moral atmosphere. I believe these influences are 

 more potent in forming her character than man's, from the nature of 

 her dependent circumstances. With man's opportunity for objective 

 life, he can remove himself, partly at least, from the moral surround- 

 ings ; and by identifying himself both bodily and mentally with labor, 

 which has for its object, usually, something to be attained in the 

 future, he has loop-holes to escape from impressions received from 

 others, which with a more subjective life would result in introspec- 

 tion, by which the mind is familiarized with the criminal idea. 



From the same source we may gain additional facts as to the- nega- 

 tive effect of marriage upon the morality of women. In the tables re- 

 ferred to, involving in the aggregate an excess of males over females 

 of about two to one, we find the number of widowed females over 

 males in the same social state to be nearly double. It is impossible 

 to state specifically the nature of the crimes involved in this excess ; 

 but it probably represents, in a great measure, offenses against prop- 

 erty. The social condition of widowhood in the average woman is 

 not conducive of morality ; and yet we have already shown that act- 

 ual mari'iage is attended with nearly negative results. From this we 

 may gain an idea of the extent to which women are the victims of cir- 

 cumstances at the beginning of their criminal career. The figures we 

 have been analyzing represent crime in a great city. Under this con- 

 dition, the excess in the number of widows represents probably cases 

 of complete destitution. The fact that this excess of widows had no 

 means of coping with this difficulty, except by a resort to crime against 

 property, renders the conclusion safe that not only marriage had not 

 developed in them a condition favorable to morality, but had actually 



Loc. cit.^ vol. ii., p. 369. 



