FOOTNOTES

Yet, I think, we are failing to attack the real cause, and unless we do attack it there, right at the beginning, we shall go on as we usually do, experimenting in this way and in that, doing one thing and leaving another undone, and we shall only tinker and fuss and then wonder why we fail. Blind and fools! we fail, and shall go on failing, because we do not educate our girls and act in life in such a way as will encourage motherhood.

I have put out my idea: I have tried to be as explicit aspossible in suggesting the remedy. I am conscious now of opposition that will be raised. I shall be told that my plan, which seems so simple, of educating girls to be women is not practicable. And then I shall be reminded of the immense surplus of women in this country who are unable to marry and live a full and healthy life—a surplus large before the war, enormously greater now.[107]

Let me state at once that I am very far indeed from forgetting this great host of enforced celibate women. I have spoken more than once in my book about them, and I am not now concerned with their position. What I want is to save the future. Many girls and women to-day are finding their work and the fresh excitements of independence sufficient to gladden life. They do not claim pity; yet this satisfaction that women are feeling is the danger that threatens the future. It is just because these women, whose desires will be fixed on work and away from motherhood, must be here among us, in every place, especially in our schools and in our factories—everywhere in contact with youth—that I am pleading with all the power that I have for a quite changed training for the young girls of the coming generation of women. I fear greatly the influence that I believe must grow up if industrial values of what is good in life are unchecked, and the desire of women is turned more from motherhood and the life that matters to the outside details of existence.

Life must be re-shaped, and the first step is the perception of an idea. We want belief, for life must have a structure—the scaffolding on which we may build. And each individual woman among us may not be trusted tomake her own structure—to convey and carry whatever it may be that she desires. Such selfishness makes any permanent building impossible. That is why in this generation we have lost our ideal.

The previous age fixed its attention on the reform of injustice in the outward relations of men and women, on the regulation of capital and labour, on the equality of the sexes and the improvement of the conditions of life—efforts which culminated naturally in socialism. My work is one dealing essentially with an attitude towards life. I would protest against the want of respect for the ultimate emotional aspects of life, the love of man for woman and of woman for her child—a want of respect which makes it impossible to tell a young girl openly the reason why she must not over-exert herself at the time of her monthly periods. I confess to little patience with this effort to escape sex. Everything connected with birth and maternity has to be hidden and mentioned only in whispers. We have forced the attention of girls away from motherhood, fixing their desires on work and independence. Obedient and inexperienced, they have followed our guiding. We have taught them to regard the physical attraction which they ought to feel towards men asnot nice, thereby associating in their young minds all sexual feelings without distinction asnot nice. We have left them ignorant that sex feelings may be good or bad according to their associations. Harmful emotional repression has been inevitable, with a result in the after years of distaste for motherhood and passionate marriage. We have made love unclean and separated it from their lives. And, where love is not, all else is barren. I must speak strongly, for very great is the evil we are countenancing.

The attitude of woman herself is the deep secret of this question; and by attitude I mean something more than the desire of the individual girl or woman, I mean the collective spirit in which life is approached. That is where we have been wanting. We, the mothers and teachers of this last generation of women, have failed to grasp life and all that it means.

What we have most dreaded in education is sex. We can control this attitude only in our schools. Emancipation can come through a regaining of consciousness. Get this right—let our girls feel that their educationbecause they are womenis the most important work of the nation, more, not less important, than is the education of their brothers, and the rest will follow.

We have by our whole attitude shown the most coarse lack of understanding of the needs of girls. Instruction has been the sole effort of our schools. This has hampered the perfection of life. Our daughters have but accepted and abandoned their bodies and their souls to the rollers of that crushing machine we have called education.

All of us are responsible, for our thoughts and our desires affect the universe and our neighbours. Neither can any repentance that may come late, nor any wailings of dismay, stop the consequences of our sinning follies.

I cannot lay too much stress on this sense of women’s desire, for it is this that will direct action in the future. If we cannot have a fundamental change of desire, a fresh view of what is a sane, complete and profitable life; if we cannot cease from our fears of sex; if we cannot alter the ideals we place before girls and work a revolution in the practice of our education, we shall do no good. There will be endless talk of advancement—of higher motherhood, ofeconomic emancipation and freedom in marriage; there will also be continued tinkering legislation, with many timid experiments in mother-training and child-rearing, and underneath the spirit of motherhood will be dying, dying all the time.

But the unbeliever will cry out: All this is utterly impossible; this is the old clog and degradation for women, limiting her to the single function of her sex. My answer is this. Even so it was from the beginning of time. Nature has so planned it, fixing the maternal instinct deep in the mother, and claiming from her the payment that must be given. Woman can only bow before the Throne of Life. She is entrusted with life’s supreme mission, that of transmitting the sacred torch of life to future generations. She belongs not to herself but to posterity. She must not squander her gift. She must store her energy that she may give life to her child.

Woman, all-containing, universal—how should she be limited to herself? This is my deepest belief.

Woman is the giver, the interpreter. Freedom for her never can be identified with self-assertion. Great elementary truths to-day have acquired an intensified significance. Oppression stretches like a rod over the earth, the world is ploughed with swords and reaped in blood. The echoes of slaughter reach from land to land. The cataclysm, with its immense appeal to terror and love and hate and pity, has acted to stir us profoundly and quicken our response to the emotional aspects of life. Old prejudices are rooted up; institutions are in the melting-pot. A people habitually resistant to emotion, we have been awakened to reality. I cannot doubt that we shall profit. We were occupied in intellectual pleasures and energies, butnow our souls have been harrowed. This is the great opportunity if we have the will to use it.

Fear has been in us the folly irredeemable, planted like seeds of the wild weeds among our wheat. Even in our childhood doubt has slept with us in our cradles, as verily we have been conceived in sin, being born without passionate joy. And this disharmony has followed us up and down in the home; doubt was our schoolfellow, ever following our steps in our work and in our play, until fear has become our perpetual companion. I see the past, the present and the future existing all at once before me, and I know that as soon as fear is conquered redemption is ready.

Then no longer will the blessings of the Psalmist be changed by our faithless folly into cursing, but again the wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of the house and the children like olive plants around the table. Behold, thus shall the woman and the man be blessed together, and they shall see good all the days of their life.

But this regeneration will come only through the creation of our wills. Without unceasing desire nothing can be done. Desire is action. If you leave off desiring salvation you are lost.

I tell you no virtue can be found apart from our desires. Life is the struggle everlasting, unceasing sacrifice, constant aspiration.

What is the secret, if it is not Love?

The spirit of Life is Love triumphant, the immortal force which incites the struggle, makes glad the sacrifice, which stirs the desire to achieve. And the law of Love is as easy to state as it is difficult to apply: it is the transforming of the will which says “mine” into the will whichsays “thine.” It is a law that can be comprehended only by living it.

I shall be called old-fashioned. Yet, perhaps, after all, I see further, deeper, and more surely than those who call me so.

The union of the man and the woman cleaving to each other can be the wonder of life. Marriage should be a blessing of the senses, a kindling of the spirit, a mutual surrender, and a new creation.

Creation is not accomplished; it is continuous and unceasing, and in its work every living thing has its share, destroying and creating.

What is it that I desire? What is it that I expect? What is the change of whose coming I feel as assured as of the rising of to-morrow’s sun?

I look for a regeneration of woman’s instincts through consciousness. She, who has conquered the world, will then renounce the world. The old corruption will be swept away. Woman is the keeper of redemption; it is her work to lead man back to the gate of his being.

We are waiting in pain for the new liberation. Love alters everything, it melts the whole world and makes it afresh. Love is the sun of our spirits and the wind.

Is there, indeed, this glad hope of things changing? Changing? They have got to change. The weeds of our mistakes have so grown up that they are choking us. Yes, whether from inside or from out, I do not know yet, but there is change and awakening coming. Motherhood will triumph. Life is going to be made new before long.

FOOTNOTES[1]The Position of Women in Primitive Society.[2]See note at the end of the chapter.[3]The number recorded as killed up to November 9, 1914, was 109,723.[4]H. G. Wells,Mankind in the Making, p. 88.[5]The towns with the highest percentages are as follow: Morley 31, Chadderton 32, Bacup 38, Stockton 34, Liverpool 38, Salford 32, Stockport 39, Mansfield 49.[6]These quotations are taken from theReport of the Board of Education, p. 70.[7]Night work in the textile trades was prohibited for women by the factory legislation of 1844. The custom disappeared gradually in Great Britain and other countries. Then it was finally banished by international agreement from twelve European countries at the International Conference of Bonn, 1906.[8]The three systems of employment adopted are as follows—One shift of 13-14 hours (the overtime system);Two shifts of 12 hours;Three shifts of 8 hours.The report strongly recommends the universal adoption of the 8-hour shift system.[9]SeeThe Truth about Woman(pp. 247-270), where this difference between the sexes is treated from a different point of view.[10]“The Insects’ Homer,” by Maurice Maeterlinck,Fortnightly Review, October 1912.[11]Fabre, “The Leaf Cutters,”English Review, March 1915.[12]These cases are taken from Pycraft,The Infancy of Animals, and the different works of Fabre,Social Life in the Insect World,The Life and Love of the Insect,Insect Life, etc.[13]See article by J. Arthur Thomson inThe New Statesman, November 1915.[14]Not all the scarabees live to see the adult growth of their children. This is done, as Fabre’s observations have established by theSpanish Coprisand some related dung-beetles, which are unique among non-social insects, inasmuch as the mother survives to see the emergence and complete metamorphosis of the family for whom she and her husband have so unremittingly toiled.[15]In this connection the reader is recommended to consult C. Lloyd-Morgan’s works, in particularAnimal Life and Intelligence. See also the interesting remarks on “De L’Amour Maternal,” inSociétés Animales, by Alfred Espinas, pp. 172-180.[16]See Espinas,Des Sociétés Animales, especially Chapter V, “Société domestique paternelle,” pp. 236et seq.[17]These cases, as well as many others in this and in the next chapter, are taken from Pycraft’sInfancy of Animals. I would wish to record my indebtedness to this fascinating book. To prevent continuous reference notes, wherever it is not otherwise stated, the reader will know the cases I quote have been taken from Mr. Pycraft’s book.[18]The reader is referred to a small book by St. George Mivart,The Common Frog.[19]I quote from Mr. Pycraft’s account of this incident,Infancy of Animals, p. 193.[20]Pycraft gives a short account of their habits,ibid., pp. 200-206.[21]Problems of Sex, by J. A. Thomson and Prof. Geddes, p. 20.[22]Pycraft,The Infancy of Animals, pp. 215-216; G. J. Romanes,Animal Intelligence, pp. 243-245, 246-247; J. A. Thomson and Prof. Geddes,Problems of Sex, p. 20.[23]Animal Intelligence, p. 242.[24]Pycraft. These cases, with those that follow, are again taken fromThe Infancy of Animals, pp. 217-219.[25]Animal Intelligence, p. 242.[26]Romanes refers toSilliman’s American Journal, February 1872.[27]These cases would seem to contradict the statement made on p. 82 that small families occur when the young are protected by the parents. I cannot explain this exception. But what I have stated about the dependence of the birth rate on the amount of parental care is commonly true. In this connection I would quote Mr. Pycraft (Infancy of Animals, p. 214): “A careful survey of the facts shows us that the production of large numbers of eggs and young produces the same result as obtained where but few eggs are laid, and are either carefully guarded by the parents or are specially protected by some other means.”[28]Quoted by St. George Mivart.[29]Pycraft,ibid., p. 218. The story of this excellent father and also several of the other cases given are taken from Yarrell,Brit. Fishes, 2nd edit., ii. p. 436.[30]J. Lewis Bonhote,British Birds, pp. 314-315. See alsoThe Truth about Woman, pp. 107, 249, 265.[31]P. Chalmers-Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 70, 109, 157.[32]Several examples are mentioned inDarwinism, p. 281. Wallace, however, brings them forward in quite a different connection to prove his theory of the protective duller colours of the female birds.[33]P. 136et seq.[34]See p. 221, which is evidence that, perhaps, may be held to give some corroboration.[35]An interesting account of the family qualities of birds is given by Espinas inDes Sociétés Animales, pp. 234-292.[36]P. C. Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 157, 158. See also about the ostrich,The Truth about Woman, p. 94.[37]This is done to my knowledge by the male wood-pigeon, missel-thrush, blue-martin, buzzard, stone curlew, curlew, dottrel, sand-piper, common gull, black-coated gull, kittiwake, razorbill, puffin, stormy petrel, great blue heron and black vulture. There are probably good fathers among other species whose names I have missed.[38]Pycraft,Infancy of Animals, p. 62.[39]Pycraft,Infancy of Animals, pp. 77-78.[40]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 160-162. Pycraft,Infancy of Animals, pp. 63, 68, 70, 71, 75, 76.[41]The scene was witnessed by Miss Turner. I take my account from Mr. Pycraft, who quotes from Miss Turner.[42]Mr. Eliot Howard calls attention to this remarkable conduct in his fascinating book on theBritish Warblers.[43]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 149-150, 159.[44]For a much fuller account of these bad fathers among birds seeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 90, 104-111, where explanation is attempted. See alsoThe Position of Woman in Primitive Society(American title,The Age of Mother-Power), p. 63.[45]J. G. Millais,Natural History of British Ducks, p. 8.[46]The habits of the penguins were first noted by the late Dr. Ed. A. Wilson, the distinguished naturalist of theDiscoveryExpedition, and on his death his work was ably carried on by the Staff Surgeon, Murray Levick. He has come nearer to the life of the penguin than any other discoverer. SeeNatural History of the Adélie Penguins. Also article inThe New Statesman, April 17, 1915.[47]The lowliest living mammals, the duck-billed mole and the anteater of Australia, still lay eggs, which they retain within their bodies until nearly ready to hatch.[48]This case is recorded by Mr. Chalmers Mitchell inThe Childhood of Animals, the fascinating book from which I have gained so much assistance.[49]SeeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 102-114, alsoThe Position of Woman in Primitive Society, the theme of which book follows and develops this theory.[50]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, p. 225.[51]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 164, 166, 225.[52]Letourneau,The Evolution of Marriage, p. 32.[53]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 170-171.[54]Espinas,Soc. Animales, pp. 120et seq.The reader should consult this work on the three stages of domestic societies: “the society conjugal, the society maternal, and the society paternal.”[55]Letourneau,Evolution of Marriage, p. 327.[56]In this connection seeThe Truth about Womanpp. 110-111.[57]Darwin,Descent of Man, p. 443.[58]Espinas,Soc. Animales. See the introductory and concluding chapters of this admirable book.[59]Havelock Ellis,Psychology of Sex, vol. vi. p. 422.[60]J. C. Houtzeau,Facultés mentales des animaux, vol. ii. p. 394. This work should be consulted, in particular, for the comparison it gives of the mental faculties of the animals with those of man.[61]Darwin,Descent of Man, p. 399.[62]Letourneau,Evolution of Marriage, p. 33. See alsoThe Truth about Woman, p. 109 andThe Position of Woman in Primitive Society.[63]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, p. 171et seq.; p. 176.[64]English title,The Position of Woman in Primitive Society: A Study of Matriarchy.[65]I am not giving any references in support of the statements made in this chapter. The reader is referred toThe Age of Mother-Power.[66]The Age of Mother-Power.[67]I would wish to say here that I did not consider this question sufficiently when I wroteThe Age of Mother-Power. I was, perhaps, carried away by the advantages to women of the maternal system of reckoning descent. Such a system could be preserved only under the conditions of the communal clan. This necessitated the absorption of the individual family, which must consist of father, mother and children. I hold this to be a greater evil than the wrongs—great as those wrongs undoubtedly were—that came in family relationships with the re-establishment of the patriarchal home.[68]The reader is referred to a new book on feminism that has come into my hands while reading the proofs of this chapter,Towards a Sane Feminism, by Wilma Meikle. The book is instructive as expressing the views of the younger suffragists. Note especially the three chapters, “Simplifying Sex Problems,” “How to be Moral though Married,” and “Between the Home and the Labour Market.” One short sentence I quote which clearly shows the opinions held by the writer, “The truth is that Motherhood is one of the most casual of all relationships and one of the shortest-lived.” Any comment from me on this smart folly is unnecessary.[69]The quotation is taken from the well-known book of Mrs. Perkins Gilman, who gave the earliest expression to this false view of what is good for the child.[70]Years of Childhood, by Serge Aksakoff, trans. by J. D. Duff.[71]See note on p. 155.[72]These were the numbers given in the debate in Parliament, April 4, 1916, at the time of writing this chapter. They will be much, much larger before my book is finished and published.[73]For a full description of these early experiments in communal dwellings seeThe Age of Mother-Power, pp. 48, 103-131, 151.[74]See p. 112.[75]See p. 119.[76]SeeThe Age of Mother-Power, pp. 127, 173, 178, 177-180.[77]See Iwan Bloch,Sexual History of our Times, p. 196, who quotes from Josef Kohler.[78]See pp. 229-254.[79]The reader is referred to the chapter on “Divorce” inThe Truth about Woman, pp. 352-359. I may, perhaps, also state my intention of devoting my next book entirely to the urgent question of Divorce Reform. For this reason I have said very little about the subject in this work.[80]See pp. 229-254.[81]See p. 347.[82]The reader is referred to the chapter on “Reproductive Differences” in an instructive little book,Preparation for Marriage, by Walter Heape.[83]See p. 339.[84]SeeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 326-328. Also article in theEnglish Review, September 1913, republished as a small book in America under the titleWomen and Morality.[85]The Truth about Woman, p. 191.[86]See p. 51.[87]This estimate of the number of Women War Workers is given by Sir Leo Chiozza Money.[88]See p. 155.[89]Sir Leo Chiozza Money, in an article inTit Bits(October 21, 1916), “Women’s Share in Winning the War,” says, “Assuming peace to come by the end of 1917, the country will probably contain about two millions more women than men of marriageable age.”[90]I am here in agreement with Mr. H. G. Wells’ forecast, “What is Coming?” See his essay onWomen and the War, already referred to, p. 167.[91]On this question seeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 372, 373. An article by Mr. W. L. George, “Women after the War,” appeared in theEnglish Reviewof December 1. Mr. George gives some very interesting statistics as to the disproportion between the numbers of the two sexes, treating the question from a very new point of view. He shows that the number of unmarried men in England and Wales at the last census so greatly outnumbered the extra women that there were “nearly three men for every superfluous woman!”[92]I related this incident first inThe Truth about Woman, p. 347.[93]Very interesting statistics in this connection are given in an admirable monograph by Dr. Max Marcuse,Uneheliche Mütter(Berlin, 1907, vol. xxvii. of theDocuments of Great Towns, edited by Hans Ostwald).Marriagesper 1000.Illegitimate birthsper 1000.18768.58.618778.08.718787.78.718797.58.8Taken fromJahrbuch für das deutsche Reich. This table clearly shows a steady increase in the illegitimate birth-rate in direct proportion to the decline in the number of marriages.In Bavaria, again, up to the year 1868, the parishes (Gemeinden) held a power of veto over all wage-earners desiring to marry. In 1868 most of these restrictions were abolished, and at once the illegitimate births dropped 12.6 per cent.[94]The reader is referred to the chapter on “Prostitution” inThe Truth about Woman.[95]By theAffiliation Order Act, 1914, two important changes in the law were gained (see p. 276), but little has been done in comparison with the wise changes made in other States.[96]In this connection the reader is referred to a statement made in theReport of the Royal Commission of Venereal Diseases(p. 17), with regard to “the high prevalence of syphilis among unmarried mothers.” An examination made by Dr. Mott as to the presence of syphilis in poor unmarried and working-class married women found that among the former 27.6 per cent. of the mothers were infected, while for the married the percentage was as low as 6.6. The Report states: “The tests in the above cases were carefully carried out, and the results, although based on too few cases to justify sweeping generalisations, must be regarded as extremely significant.” See also the next chapter, “The Dangers of Sexual Diseases.”[97]Feminism in Germany and Scandinavia, by Katharine Anthony. This interesting little book gives a full account of the splendid Norwegian bill, as well as considerable information on other matters connected with the unmarried mother.[98]By theAffiliation Order Act of 1914, two important changes in the law were gained—(1) The compulsory interval of six days (a period which gave the man opportunity to escape) between the summons and the appearance in court of the putative father was abolished.(2) The amount of the affiliation order was made payable through an official of the court (formerly it was left to the woman to collect the money), who has power, with the consent of the woman, to take action in case of non-payment.[99]The Truth about Woman, pp. 359-374.[100]In proof of this, see the letters from the Mothers of the Co-operative Guild quoted on pp. 40-44.[101]The Education Committee of the London County Council, for instance, have just agreed that in spite of the Report on Venereal Diseases and with its recommendation to schools to give sexual instruction, they would in no case advise teachers to give class instruction on such matters, but, at the same time, they advise teachers to give such instruction privately to “individual” pupils.[102]“Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory,”The Infantile Sexuality, p. 38. Eng. trans., New York, 1910.[103]See p. 100. Also p. 222. For further information on this subject, the reader is referred to the works of Mr. Walter Heape, especiallySex AntagonismandPreparation for Marriage.[104]See pp. 185 and 298.[105]See pp. 100-102.[106]This is the opinion of Stanley Hall, whose wise work onAdolescenceshould be read by all mothers. In this connection he beautifully writes: “In this way the girl will be anchored in time to what is really the essential thing, viz. reproduction and the carrying beneath her heart and then bearing children, which are the hope of the world.”[107]I find it estimated that by the end of 1917, of the persons aged from fifteen to forty-four in the United Kingdom, the females will exceed the males by nearly two millions.

[1]The Position of Women in Primitive Society.

[2]See note at the end of the chapter.

[3]The number recorded as killed up to November 9, 1914, was 109,723.

[4]H. G. Wells,Mankind in the Making, p. 88.

[5]The towns with the highest percentages are as follow: Morley 31, Chadderton 32, Bacup 38, Stockton 34, Liverpool 38, Salford 32, Stockport 39, Mansfield 49.

[6]These quotations are taken from theReport of the Board of Education, p. 70.

[7]Night work in the textile trades was prohibited for women by the factory legislation of 1844. The custom disappeared gradually in Great Britain and other countries. Then it was finally banished by international agreement from twelve European countries at the International Conference of Bonn, 1906.

[8]The three systems of employment adopted are as follows—One shift of 13-14 hours (the overtime system);Two shifts of 12 hours;Three shifts of 8 hours.The report strongly recommends the universal adoption of the 8-hour shift system.

[8]The three systems of employment adopted are as follows—

The report strongly recommends the universal adoption of the 8-hour shift system.

[9]SeeThe Truth about Woman(pp. 247-270), where this difference between the sexes is treated from a different point of view.

[10]“The Insects’ Homer,” by Maurice Maeterlinck,Fortnightly Review, October 1912.

[11]Fabre, “The Leaf Cutters,”English Review, March 1915.

[12]These cases are taken from Pycraft,The Infancy of Animals, and the different works of Fabre,Social Life in the Insect World,The Life and Love of the Insect,Insect Life, etc.

[13]See article by J. Arthur Thomson inThe New Statesman, November 1915.

[14]Not all the scarabees live to see the adult growth of their children. This is done, as Fabre’s observations have established by theSpanish Coprisand some related dung-beetles, which are unique among non-social insects, inasmuch as the mother survives to see the emergence and complete metamorphosis of the family for whom she and her husband have so unremittingly toiled.

[15]In this connection the reader is recommended to consult C. Lloyd-Morgan’s works, in particularAnimal Life and Intelligence. See also the interesting remarks on “De L’Amour Maternal,” inSociétés Animales, by Alfred Espinas, pp. 172-180.

[16]See Espinas,Des Sociétés Animales, especially Chapter V, “Société domestique paternelle,” pp. 236et seq.

[17]These cases, as well as many others in this and in the next chapter, are taken from Pycraft’sInfancy of Animals. I would wish to record my indebtedness to this fascinating book. To prevent continuous reference notes, wherever it is not otherwise stated, the reader will know the cases I quote have been taken from Mr. Pycraft’s book.

[18]The reader is referred to a small book by St. George Mivart,The Common Frog.

[19]I quote from Mr. Pycraft’s account of this incident,Infancy of Animals, p. 193.

[20]Pycraft gives a short account of their habits,ibid., pp. 200-206.

[21]Problems of Sex, by J. A. Thomson and Prof. Geddes, p. 20.

[22]Pycraft,The Infancy of Animals, pp. 215-216; G. J. Romanes,Animal Intelligence, pp. 243-245, 246-247; J. A. Thomson and Prof. Geddes,Problems of Sex, p. 20.

[23]Animal Intelligence, p. 242.

[24]Pycraft. These cases, with those that follow, are again taken fromThe Infancy of Animals, pp. 217-219.

[25]Animal Intelligence, p. 242.

[26]Romanes refers toSilliman’s American Journal, February 1872.

[27]These cases would seem to contradict the statement made on p. 82 that small families occur when the young are protected by the parents. I cannot explain this exception. But what I have stated about the dependence of the birth rate on the amount of parental care is commonly true. In this connection I would quote Mr. Pycraft (Infancy of Animals, p. 214): “A careful survey of the facts shows us that the production of large numbers of eggs and young produces the same result as obtained where but few eggs are laid, and are either carefully guarded by the parents or are specially protected by some other means.”

[28]Quoted by St. George Mivart.

[29]Pycraft,ibid., p. 218. The story of this excellent father and also several of the other cases given are taken from Yarrell,Brit. Fishes, 2nd edit., ii. p. 436.

[30]J. Lewis Bonhote,British Birds, pp. 314-315. See alsoThe Truth about Woman, pp. 107, 249, 265.

[31]P. Chalmers-Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 70, 109, 157.

[32]Several examples are mentioned inDarwinism, p. 281. Wallace, however, brings them forward in quite a different connection to prove his theory of the protective duller colours of the female birds.

[33]P. 136et seq.

[34]See p. 221, which is evidence that, perhaps, may be held to give some corroboration.

[35]An interesting account of the family qualities of birds is given by Espinas inDes Sociétés Animales, pp. 234-292.

[36]P. C. Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 157, 158. See also about the ostrich,The Truth about Woman, p. 94.

[37]This is done to my knowledge by the male wood-pigeon, missel-thrush, blue-martin, buzzard, stone curlew, curlew, dottrel, sand-piper, common gull, black-coated gull, kittiwake, razorbill, puffin, stormy petrel, great blue heron and black vulture. There are probably good fathers among other species whose names I have missed.

[38]Pycraft,Infancy of Animals, p. 62.

[39]Pycraft,Infancy of Animals, pp. 77-78.

[40]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 160-162. Pycraft,Infancy of Animals, pp. 63, 68, 70, 71, 75, 76.

[41]The scene was witnessed by Miss Turner. I take my account from Mr. Pycraft, who quotes from Miss Turner.

[42]Mr. Eliot Howard calls attention to this remarkable conduct in his fascinating book on theBritish Warblers.

[43]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 149-150, 159.

[44]For a much fuller account of these bad fathers among birds seeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 90, 104-111, where explanation is attempted. See alsoThe Position of Woman in Primitive Society(American title,The Age of Mother-Power), p. 63.

[45]J. G. Millais,Natural History of British Ducks, p. 8.

[46]The habits of the penguins were first noted by the late Dr. Ed. A. Wilson, the distinguished naturalist of theDiscoveryExpedition, and on his death his work was ably carried on by the Staff Surgeon, Murray Levick. He has come nearer to the life of the penguin than any other discoverer. SeeNatural History of the Adélie Penguins. Also article inThe New Statesman, April 17, 1915.

[47]The lowliest living mammals, the duck-billed mole and the anteater of Australia, still lay eggs, which they retain within their bodies until nearly ready to hatch.

[48]This case is recorded by Mr. Chalmers Mitchell inThe Childhood of Animals, the fascinating book from which I have gained so much assistance.

[49]SeeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 102-114, alsoThe Position of Woman in Primitive Society, the theme of which book follows and develops this theory.

[50]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, p. 225.

[51]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 164, 166, 225.

[52]Letourneau,The Evolution of Marriage, p. 32.

[53]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, pp. 170-171.

[54]Espinas,Soc. Animales, pp. 120et seq.The reader should consult this work on the three stages of domestic societies: “the society conjugal, the society maternal, and the society paternal.”

[55]Letourneau,Evolution of Marriage, p. 327.

[56]In this connection seeThe Truth about Womanpp. 110-111.

[57]Darwin,Descent of Man, p. 443.

[58]Espinas,Soc. Animales. See the introductory and concluding chapters of this admirable book.

[59]Havelock Ellis,Psychology of Sex, vol. vi. p. 422.

[60]J. C. Houtzeau,Facultés mentales des animaux, vol. ii. p. 394. This work should be consulted, in particular, for the comparison it gives of the mental faculties of the animals with those of man.

[61]Darwin,Descent of Man, p. 399.

[62]Letourneau,Evolution of Marriage, p. 33. See alsoThe Truth about Woman, p. 109 andThe Position of Woman in Primitive Society.

[63]Mitchell,Childhood of Animals, p. 171et seq.; p. 176.

[64]English title,The Position of Woman in Primitive Society: A Study of Matriarchy.

[65]I am not giving any references in support of the statements made in this chapter. The reader is referred toThe Age of Mother-Power.

[66]The Age of Mother-Power.

[67]I would wish to say here that I did not consider this question sufficiently when I wroteThe Age of Mother-Power. I was, perhaps, carried away by the advantages to women of the maternal system of reckoning descent. Such a system could be preserved only under the conditions of the communal clan. This necessitated the absorption of the individual family, which must consist of father, mother and children. I hold this to be a greater evil than the wrongs—great as those wrongs undoubtedly were—that came in family relationships with the re-establishment of the patriarchal home.

[68]The reader is referred to a new book on feminism that has come into my hands while reading the proofs of this chapter,Towards a Sane Feminism, by Wilma Meikle. The book is instructive as expressing the views of the younger suffragists. Note especially the three chapters, “Simplifying Sex Problems,” “How to be Moral though Married,” and “Between the Home and the Labour Market.” One short sentence I quote which clearly shows the opinions held by the writer, “The truth is that Motherhood is one of the most casual of all relationships and one of the shortest-lived.” Any comment from me on this smart folly is unnecessary.

[69]The quotation is taken from the well-known book of Mrs. Perkins Gilman, who gave the earliest expression to this false view of what is good for the child.

[70]Years of Childhood, by Serge Aksakoff, trans. by J. D. Duff.

[71]See note on p. 155.

[72]These were the numbers given in the debate in Parliament, April 4, 1916, at the time of writing this chapter. They will be much, much larger before my book is finished and published.

[73]For a full description of these early experiments in communal dwellings seeThe Age of Mother-Power, pp. 48, 103-131, 151.

[74]See p. 112.

[75]See p. 119.

[76]SeeThe Age of Mother-Power, pp. 127, 173, 178, 177-180.

[77]See Iwan Bloch,Sexual History of our Times, p. 196, who quotes from Josef Kohler.

[78]See pp. 229-254.

[79]The reader is referred to the chapter on “Divorce” inThe Truth about Woman, pp. 352-359. I may, perhaps, also state my intention of devoting my next book entirely to the urgent question of Divorce Reform. For this reason I have said very little about the subject in this work.

[80]See pp. 229-254.

[81]See p. 347.

[82]The reader is referred to the chapter on “Reproductive Differences” in an instructive little book,Preparation for Marriage, by Walter Heape.

[83]See p. 339.

[84]SeeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 326-328. Also article in theEnglish Review, September 1913, republished as a small book in America under the titleWomen and Morality.

[85]The Truth about Woman, p. 191.

[86]See p. 51.

[87]This estimate of the number of Women War Workers is given by Sir Leo Chiozza Money.

[88]See p. 155.

[89]Sir Leo Chiozza Money, in an article inTit Bits(October 21, 1916), “Women’s Share in Winning the War,” says, “Assuming peace to come by the end of 1917, the country will probably contain about two millions more women than men of marriageable age.”

[90]I am here in agreement with Mr. H. G. Wells’ forecast, “What is Coming?” See his essay onWomen and the War, already referred to, p. 167.

[91]On this question seeThe Truth about Woman, pp. 372, 373. An article by Mr. W. L. George, “Women after the War,” appeared in theEnglish Reviewof December 1. Mr. George gives some very interesting statistics as to the disproportion between the numbers of the two sexes, treating the question from a very new point of view. He shows that the number of unmarried men in England and Wales at the last census so greatly outnumbered the extra women that there were “nearly three men for every superfluous woman!”

[92]I related this incident first inThe Truth about Woman, p. 347.

[93]Very interesting statistics in this connection are given in an admirable monograph by Dr. Max Marcuse,Uneheliche Mütter(Berlin, 1907, vol. xxvii. of theDocuments of Great Towns, edited by Hans Ostwald).Marriagesper 1000.Illegitimate birthsper 1000.18768.58.618778.08.718787.78.718797.58.8Taken fromJahrbuch für das deutsche Reich. This table clearly shows a steady increase in the illegitimate birth-rate in direct proportion to the decline in the number of marriages.In Bavaria, again, up to the year 1868, the parishes (Gemeinden) held a power of veto over all wage-earners desiring to marry. In 1868 most of these restrictions were abolished, and at once the illegitimate births dropped 12.6 per cent.

Taken fromJahrbuch für das deutsche Reich. This table clearly shows a steady increase in the illegitimate birth-rate in direct proportion to the decline in the number of marriages.

In Bavaria, again, up to the year 1868, the parishes (Gemeinden) held a power of veto over all wage-earners desiring to marry. In 1868 most of these restrictions were abolished, and at once the illegitimate births dropped 12.6 per cent.

[94]The reader is referred to the chapter on “Prostitution” inThe Truth about Woman.

[95]By theAffiliation Order Act, 1914, two important changes in the law were gained (see p. 276), but little has been done in comparison with the wise changes made in other States.

[96]In this connection the reader is referred to a statement made in theReport of the Royal Commission of Venereal Diseases(p. 17), with regard to “the high prevalence of syphilis among unmarried mothers.” An examination made by Dr. Mott as to the presence of syphilis in poor unmarried and working-class married women found that among the former 27.6 per cent. of the mothers were infected, while for the married the percentage was as low as 6.6. The Report states: “The tests in the above cases were carefully carried out, and the results, although based on too few cases to justify sweeping generalisations, must be regarded as extremely significant.” See also the next chapter, “The Dangers of Sexual Diseases.”

[97]Feminism in Germany and Scandinavia, by Katharine Anthony. This interesting little book gives a full account of the splendid Norwegian bill, as well as considerable information on other matters connected with the unmarried mother.

[98]By theAffiliation Order Act of 1914, two important changes in the law were gained—(1) The compulsory interval of six days (a period which gave the man opportunity to escape) between the summons and the appearance in court of the putative father was abolished.(2) The amount of the affiliation order was made payable through an official of the court (formerly it was left to the woman to collect the money), who has power, with the consent of the woman, to take action in case of non-payment.

[98]By theAffiliation Order Act of 1914, two important changes in the law were gained—

(1) The compulsory interval of six days (a period which gave the man opportunity to escape) between the summons and the appearance in court of the putative father was abolished.

(2) The amount of the affiliation order was made payable through an official of the court (formerly it was left to the woman to collect the money), who has power, with the consent of the woman, to take action in case of non-payment.

[99]The Truth about Woman, pp. 359-374.

[100]In proof of this, see the letters from the Mothers of the Co-operative Guild quoted on pp. 40-44.

[101]The Education Committee of the London County Council, for instance, have just agreed that in spite of the Report on Venereal Diseases and with its recommendation to schools to give sexual instruction, they would in no case advise teachers to give class instruction on such matters, but, at the same time, they advise teachers to give such instruction privately to “individual” pupils.

[102]“Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory,”The Infantile Sexuality, p. 38. Eng. trans., New York, 1910.

[103]See p. 100. Also p. 222. For further information on this subject, the reader is referred to the works of Mr. Walter Heape, especiallySex AntagonismandPreparation for Marriage.

[104]See pp. 185 and 298.

[105]See pp. 100-102.

[106]This is the opinion of Stanley Hall, whose wise work onAdolescenceshould be read by all mothers. In this connection he beautifully writes: “In this way the girl will be anchored in time to what is really the essential thing, viz. reproduction and the carrying beneath her heart and then bearing children, which are the hope of the world.”

[107]I find it estimated that by the end of 1917, of the persons aged from fifteen to forty-four in the United Kingdom, the females will exceed the males by nearly two millions.

N.B.—This bibliography is intended as a guide to the student; it is merely representative, not in any part exhaustive. The books to which reference is made are marked with an asterisk, those of special importance with two asterisks.

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