ary gift, without regard to sex. Whatever may be individual
opinion as to woman's prerogative in this respect, there can be no
manner of doubt but that the advance in the status of woman which was
marked by the Society of Friends was a real contribution to the times
and a gift of permanent value to the English women in general. Those
women who claimed the right to preach were as ready to suffer on
behalf of their ministry. They were scourged, and ill treated in
every possible way; Bridewell Prison opened to receive many within its
gloomy interior; but they remained steadfast to the cardinal articles
of their belief, declaring: "As we dare not encourage any ministry but
that which we believe to spring from the influence of the Holy Spirit,
so neither dare we to attempt to restrain this ministry to persons
of any condition in life, or to the male sex alone; but as male and
female are one in Christ, we hold it proper that such of the female
sex as we believe to be imbued with a right qualification of the
ministry should exercise their gifts for the general edification of
the Church."

Having considered the conditions which existed during the period of
the Commonwealth in England, and particularly the rise of the Puritan
spirit and its dominance, as related to the women of the times, it
now remains to bring this period into connection with that of the
Restoration, which offers to it such a strong contrast. It is not
conceivable that, if the Puritan leaven had so thoroughly permeated
the mass of the English people as appeared to be the case upon the
surface of English society, there would have been so sudden and
radical a reaction upon the return of Charles II. from his long
sojourn abroad. That so many who cried "crucify him" should now be
found with "all hail" upon their lips, that women who had assumed
the Puritan twang and pious demeanor should throw off their assumed
character and stand out in their true light under the glare of a
court that was brilliant with revelry, is evidence of the futility of
attempting to force ideals and standards upon a people who have not
been gradually developed to the attainment of the qualities which they
are commanded to assume.

Even those women who could not abide the insufferable weight of
piety which spread over the period frequently found it politic not to
antagonize that which formed the very atmosphere they had to breathe;
but these women were not shameless profligates because th