WOMAN'S LONG STRUGGLE 81 



some clever woman to prove that there was no difference in 

 the intellectual power of the two sexes that, if there was 

 a difference, it was in favor of the gentler sex. There is 

 quite a large number of such works in Italian ; and it must 

 be said that the women always met the arguments of their 

 adversaries in a manner that does them the greatest credit. 



It was probably because of their insistence on the equal- 

 ity of the sexes, as well as because of their achievements in 

 every department of mental activity, that the educated 

 women of Italy enjoyed so many privileges denied their 

 sisters in other parts of Europe. Thus, in addition to 

 being treated as the equals of men in the universities, they 

 met them on an equal footing in the art, literary and scien- 

 tific societies and academies, in the proceedings of which 

 they always exhibited an active and enthusiastic interest. 

 In these reunions the women gained strength of mind and 

 independence of character from the men, while the men 

 imbibed refinement and gentleness from the women. Com- 

 pare this condition with the systematic exclusion of women 

 from similar societies in other countries even in this twen- 

 tieth century of ours and one of the not least potent rea- 

 sons for the intellectual supremacy of the women of Italy 

 will be apparent. 



Next after Italy, France was the country in which, dur- 

 ing the post-Renaissance period, women enjoyed the great- 

 est advantages of mental development. But we look in 

 vain, even during the age of Louis XIV, for that flowering 

 of the female intellect that, at the same period, rendered 

 the daughters of Italy so famous. It is true that there was 

 a certain number of learned women in France during the 

 seventeenth century, and notably during the golden age of 

 Louis XIV, for during this period the traditions of the 

 Renaissance were perpetuated and there was still a lin- 

 gering love of letters, at least among certain classes of the 

 aristocracy. 



Prominent among those who attracted attention for their 



