540 feOARb of AORiCULTURfi. 



of Idisiiioss, iiothiiig ol' politics, little ol' books. Her activities Were all 

 necessarily within a circle circumscribed and dwarfing. The purely do- 

 mestic life h.ul its charms, of course, but it was one-sided. With the 

 invention of labor-savins machinery and the wholesale manufacture of 

 many things which were formerly produced in the home, woman's nature 

 Was forced to turn away from its exclusive and single channel to a widei' 

 one, with various ))i-anclies; and, as a necessary incident to this ti'ausi- 

 liou. it may be that domesticity has been slighted. But the advancement 

 of women in intellectual and moral strength, even if it necessitate a check 

 on the increase of population, is not to be regretted. If they should make 

 further strides towards a still more advanced position, and it should work 

 to the serious detriment of domestic life as it ought to be, it must simply 

 l)e accepted as an incident of the transition from the old order to the new. 

 When, as a result of the new freedom given to women, real evils shall 

 appear, as they may, they will necessarily correct themselves, for reforms 

 do not go backwards, and we shall reach the condition of Avomanhood in 

 society as it ought to be. Then, too, Ave shall have the Ideal home, and it 

 Avill be a better, and a Avider, and a not less loving home than Ave had in 

 the old daj's. The full development of man or woman can never be fatal 

 to the affections; they will assert themselves always. So argues Critic 

 No. 2, AA'ho also deserves attention and consideration. 



The critic Avho accepts the transformation of the hearth as a fortunate 

 circumstance, and rejoices in the ncAv conditions, asks us to go back for a 

 moment to the good old days before there was any change, when the 

 white-capped grandmother is supposed to have flourished, a large family 

 was the great desideratum in a Avell-regulated household, and the home 

 was in its so-called palmiest daJ^ 



Rousseau, whose Emile created a great sensation a little more than a 

 hundred years ago, on account of his advanced ideas on a number of 

 questions, Avrote that men should be active and strong, women passive 

 and weak. "It is necessary that Ave should have both the power and the 

 will, and that the other should make little resistance." This being estab- 

 lished, it folloAvs that Avoman is expressly formed to please man. The 

 man ought to please in his turn, but "his great merit is in his power, and 

 he pleases merely because he is strong." This reformer proceeds thus: 

 "Every daughter ought to be of the same religion as her mother, and 

 every wife of the same religion as her husband; for, though such religion 

 should be false, that docility Avhich induces the mother and daughter to 

 submit takes aAvay, in the sight of God, the criminality of their error. 

 As authority ought to regulate the religion of the women, it is not so 

 needful to explain to them the reasons for their belief, as to lay down pre- 

 cisely the tenets they are to believe.' 



Although such a Avoman might make a beautiful looking grandmother, 

 we can not imagine her conducting the affairs of home in any very satis- 

 factory w\iy. She certainly could never be reproached for being mascu- 



