n, you ought not to have broken sister's pretty dolly; it wasn't half
so nice as your own little carriage and ponies. Why didn't you play with
them? Boys should be gentlemen. Emma is only a little girl;" with a tone
emphatic of inferiority upon the word girl. "Little boys should never
stoop to play with girl's toys." Later on, where a girl's enjoyment is
in a measure provided for in connection with her brother, he is made
almost invariably the purse-bearer. What she has is of his generosity.
Girls must be yielding, submissive, and dependent, as becomes their sex.
Boys may be overbearing or rough; it is a sign of a manly spirit to be
so.

Thus arrogance and injustice is fostered in the boy, and a sense of
wrong begotten in the girl; the one is degraded in her own eyes, and in
the eyes of her brother; the other is elevated above his just level in
his own eyes and his sister's; and heart-burning and jealousies
engendered that often last through life. A girl may hardly choose her
own husband. Her father, brother, or some friend will introduce some
eligible party. She is an undutiful girl if--when he honors her by
asking her hand--she do not thankfully consent. To the credit of
humanity be it said, that girls have more liberty of choice in this
respect than they had formerly. There is still room for improvement. The
sooner match-making and match-makers die out, the better for the world.
If man or woman make a mistake in marrying unfortunately, and in
consequence suffer unhappiness, let those more fortunately situated,
pity and be kind to the sufferer; but let none incur the responsibility
of having made such a match.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote K: By recent legislation in Ontario, she is deprived of her
right of dower in wild lands.]

CHAPTER VII.

Woman and Legislation.

What rights, it may be asked, ought women to have accorded to them which
they do not now enjoy according to law? From what rights does custom
debar them? We claim that women, being held equally responsible to the
law with men, are as well entitled to have a voice in making that law.
It is a fundamental principle of all governments, not despotic, that
"taxation without representation" is a gross infringement upon the civil
rights of the subject or citizen. When, in spite of the disadvantages
under which women labor, they have, by unflagging industry and prudent
management, acquired real estate, their property is taxed according to
the same rule by