382 LITERARY PAPERS 



attention to our "democratic institutions" resting avowedly 

 on the "inherent right of every one to have a voice in the gov- 

 ernment." He points to the statement with which our De- 

 claration of Independence commences, "that all men are 

 created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with 

 certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, 

 and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure these rights, gov- 

 ernments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 

 from the consent of the governed." And he does not imagine 

 that any "American democrat will evade the force of these 

 expressions by the dishonest or ignorant subterfuge that men, 

 in the memorable document, does not stand for human beings, 

 but for one sex only and that 'the governed' whose con- 

 sent is affirmed to be the only source of just power is meant 

 for that half of mankind only, who in relation to the others, 

 have hitherto assumed the character of governors." 



It is unnecessary to go into the arguments for and against 

 woman's intellectual equality here. They have been discussed 

 during past years threadbare. I will quote only a few words 

 more from Mill on this theme; he has been speaking of the 

 deleterious effects of forcing women into careers which are 

 devoted to trivial details, to the exclusion of combining with 

 them other activities or professions ; he adds : 



"Not to be misunderstood, it is necessary that we should 

 distinctly disclaim the belief that women are even now in- 

 ferior in intellect to men. There are women who are the 

 equals in intellect of any men who ever lived; and, compar- 

 ing ordinary women with ordinary men, the varied though 

 petty details which compose the occupation of women call 

 forth probably as much of mental ability as the uniform rou- 

 tine of the pursuits which are the habitual occupations of a 

 large majority of men." 



Whitman's words, to which I referred in this connection, are 

 these (he is speaking of democracy and its ideals of women) : - 



"The idea of the women of America (extricated from this 

 daze, this fossil and unhealthy air which hangs about the word 

 lady), develop'd, raised to become the robust equals, workers 

 and it may be even practical and political deciders with the 



