The Merry Past 



becomes part of herself or modifies her natural bent, 

 for in her innermost consciousness she knows that 

 her real mission lies in another sphere. Not un- 

 naturally, perhaps, she feels something akin to con- 

 tempt for everything unconnected with the supremely 

 important work of producing and tending the next 

 generation. 



The Anglo-Saxon campaign in favour of absolute 

 equality between the sexes ignores certain physical 

 disqualifications by which women must ever be handi- 

 capped, it also deliberately flouts the lessons of 

 biology which, as regards morality, do nothing to assist 

 such a cause. Woman is different from rather than 

 inferior to man, who can seldom grasp her outlook 

 upon life, generally of a most vague and impracticable 

 kind. 



In spite of these considerations it can hardly be 

 said with justice that woman is incapable -of serious 

 mental effort, or reasonably urged that she should not 

 be accorded the benefits of a good education which, 

 undoubtedly (if nothing else), renders her a more 

 agreeable companion from a purely hedonistic point 

 of view. 



Man, probably more than woman, is the gainer by 

 female education, which is strikingly demonstrated 

 in the case of Orientals, who, as is well known, in- 

 finitely prefer the society of European women, when 

 they can get it, to that of their own native wives, who, 

 in most cases, have only their own uncultured wits 

 upon which to rely. It should, however, be clearly 

 understood that feminine education, contrary to 



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