INTRODUCTION. "What a strange thing is man, and what a stranger Is woman!"--Byron. be I HAVE called this book "Men and Women," because, although much that is said relative to the one sex may applicable to the other, yet there are some respects in which they differ. "Sex is fully ascertained to be a matter of development. All beings are, at one stage of the embryotic progress, female; a certain number of them are afterwards advanced to be of the more powerful sex." Human nature is applicable to men and women, and in speaking of humanity in general the two sexes are intended to be referred to; but the registration appeal argued in 1868 on the Act of 1867, was decided on the word " Man." "It was held that that word was not used to distinguish mankind from beasts or angels, but to distinguish men from women.' women. The above quotation is applicable alike to men and "It needs a shrewd man to know another. But did that man ever live who thoroughly knew a woman?" What puzzles we are to each other, and how little the one sex understands the other, is proved by the lives spoiled by ill-assorted couples in matrimonial and business partnerships. As regards husband and wife, Mr. John Morley has said truly that "The painful element in companionship is not difference of opinion, but difference of temperament." So it is in business partnerships; how many concerns fail because the partners' temperaments are not in accord-each rubs the other the wrong way, and draws out the worst instead of the best parts of their natures. Observe and reflect, and you will find that it is "Temper, not trouble, makes the misery of most men's and women's lives." Experience is useless unless by its aid we avoid the errors of those who have preceded us in life's journey. If it be true "That man individually is an enigma, but in the mass a mathematical problem," is it not our duty to study men and women more than has been done, so as to make the lives of the majority more comfortable and happy than they have been, through neglect of the ordinary laws of prudence and reflection? I am aware that it is impossible to say what any particular man or woman may do before they depart to join the majority; but if the statistics of disease, crime, &c., enable us to predict that so many out of every 1,000 born will be afflicted with certain diseases, commit various kinds of crime, and die before they reach a certain age; it is sufficient evidence to prove that these results are due to certain causes, and if the causes were modified or removed, the effects would be gradually lessened, and, if the remedial processes be steadily persisted in, must be ultimately removed. The altered position of women is a subject that requires the most careful consideration-she claims rights, and responsibilities hitherto denied her. She is not content to lead indirectly by her home influence, but wants to take an active part in life's struggles. Women now ask to take those positions in life as bread-earners, as electors and as representatives locally, and inferentially imperially, that only men have hitherto occupied. Although there were many disabilities that needed removal, particularly those relating to property and a wife's earnings, I cannot but view with misgiving many of the other claims put forward on behalf of "Women's rights." Her strength lies in her weakness, her power for good or evil in her home influence, in her increased knowledge of man's body and brain, that they may develop their children, physically and mentally, to the extent of their capacity. The following is from the "Supplement to the Fortyfifth Annual Report of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, &c.," published in 1885 |