t, as the consequences of a finer organization, in
a protected and sheltered position. That state of society will always
be the most rational, the soundest, the happiest, where each sex
conscientiously discharges its own duties, without intruding on those
of the other.

It is true that the world has often seen individual women called by the
manifest will of Providence to positions of the highest authority, to
the thrones of rulers and sovereigns. And many of these women have
discharged those duties with great intellectual ability and great
success. It is rather the fashion now among literary men to depreciate
Queen Elizabeth and her government. But it is clear that, whatever may
have been her errors--and no doubt they were grave--she still appears
in the roll of history as one of the best sovereigns not only of her
own house, but of all the dynasties of England. Certainly she was in
every way a better and a more successful ruler than her own father or
her own brother-in-law, and better also than the Stuarts who filled her
throne at a later day. Catherine of Russia, though most unworthy as a
woman, had a force of intellectual ability quite beyond dispute, and
which made itself felt in every department of her government. Isabella
I. of Spain gave proof of legislative and executive ability of the very
highest order; she was not only one of the purest and noblest, but
also, considering the age to which she belonged, and the obstacles in
her way, one of the most skillful sovereigns the world has ever seen.
Her nature was full of clear intelligence, with the highest moral and
physical courage. She was in every way a better ruler than her own
husband, to whom she proved nevertheless an admirable wife, acting
independently only where clear principle was at stake. The two greet
errors of her reign, the introduction of the Inquisition and the
banishment of the Jews, must be charged to the confessor rather than to
the Queen, and these were errors in which her husband was as closely
involved as herself. On the other hand, some of the best reforms of her
reign originated in her own mind, and were practically carried out
under her own close personal supervision. Many other skillful female
rulers might be named. And it is not only in civilized life and in
Christendom that woman has shown herself wise in governing; even among
the wildest savage tribes they have appeared, occasionally, as leaders
and rulers. This is a singular fact. It