18 MARRIAGE AND HEREDITY 



public to enter a word of protest. Eacine had to 

 proceed upon different lines. His Andromache is 

 a prisoner also, but an honoured one. Pyrrhus loves 

 her, but he is discreet and respectful in his attentions, 

 and shrinks from the thought of outraging her sense 

 of delicacy. And to the French Andromache this 

 submissiveness on the part of her conqueror appears 

 perfectly natural. Had Eacine followed his Greek 

 model, and allowed Pyrrhus to exercise the rights 

 of a master over his female slave, he would have 

 raised a storm of indignation among his audience. 

 The unchivalrous character of the Greeks is further 

 exemplified in their treatment of the passion of 

 jealousy. The growth of jealousy among a people 

 is a sign of increasing esteem for the female sex. 

 We do not mean the jealousy which prompts the 

 lower animals to fight for the possession of their 

 females, but that higher sentiment which concerns 

 itself with a woman's honour. Among the lowest races 

 jealousy of this stamp is unknown. There is always 

 some progress made when female virtue is guarded by 

 bolts and bars and veils and a rigorous surveillance, but 

 it is only in the most advanced communities that men 

 are scrupulous about the fidelity of women, and at the 

 same time willing to trust to their sense of duty. 



