glory of his
unfallen manhood, as he requires her to come to him in the beauty of her
spotless maidenhood; then, when these things begin to be, will not God's
order slowly evolve itself out of our disorder, and the man will become
the head of the woman, to guard her from all that makes her unfit to be
the mother of the race, and the woman will be the heart of the man, to
inspire him with all noble purpose? As we stand by this great
world-sepulchre of corruption our unbelieving heart can only exclaim:
"It stinketh." But the Christ meets us with the words, "Said I not unto
thee that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?"
That which has been sown in human weakness must be raised in divine
power; that which has been sown in deep dishonor must be raised in
glory. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, even the
self-giving manhood of Him who is the Prince of Passion and the Lord of
Love, the manhood lifted into God.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 40: In this chapter I have quoted some passages from an
article of mine, "The Apocalypse of Evil," which appeared in the
_Contemporary Review_, and received the strong commendation of Dr.
Lightfoot, then Bishop of Durham. Many of the thoughts I owe to my
friend, James Hinton, to whom my obligations on this subject are
absolute.]

[Footnote 41: We must be careful, however, in urging this difficulty, to
remember Dr. Martineau's teaching, which I have given in the third
chapter, and bear in mind that the evil here is due to man's disorder,
and not to Nature's order. In the animal world the reproductive
instincts work out as orderly results as all other natural instincts,
and are no stronger than is necessary for the preservation of the race.]

CONCLUSION

And it is this great upward movement, lifting man to a higher level,
which is given into the hands of us women, touching, as it does, all the
great trusts of our womanhood. What are we women going to do in the face
of such vast issues for good or evil?

Undoubtedly we stand at the parting of the ways. In England undoubtedly
the old high traditions of English society have, at least in what is
called the "Upper Ten," been lowered and vulgarized. Our literature is
no longer as clean and wholesome as it was. The greater freedom that
women enjoy has not always been put to high uses. And all around us in
both countries the old order is changing, and the new order is not yet
born. Old positions are beco