ely, lest the
letters fall into wrong hands. In no way may she reveal her love, the
proudest treasure in her life, but must hide it like a thing of shame.

"My poor child," I would say to such a woman, if I might, "remember that
the hard test comes when things go wrong, when money fails, when beauty
fades. Suppose your beloved falls ill. You cannot go to him, speak to
him, minister to him on his bed of pain, though your heart is breaking.
Even if he is dying, you can only wait ... wait in anguish of soul for
some cold or covert message. You have no rights at his side that the
family respect--_his_ family. Who are you? Are you his wife? No! Then
you are nothing, less than nothing; you are the temptress, _the
mistress_! You love him? Bah! Can such a woman love?"

Miss G---- once acknowledged to me that while she has enjoyed the
companionship of superior men whom she would never have known but for
her moral laxity, yet she has paid a heavy price here, since she no
longer values the acquaintance of men in her own sphere of life. From
two such men (excellent, average men) she has received offers of
marriage that she refused because their society no longer satisfied her
after that of others more brilliant and highly placed; but she might
easily have been happy with one of these two, had not her ideals been
raised to a level beyond her legitimate attainment.

I might present other difficulties that must be faced by a woman who
says she is tired of the old standards of virtue and will live her life
as a man lives his, but I need not detail these difficulties. In her
deepest soul every woman knows that the thought of a wayward existence
is abhorrent to her better nature. She hates the double standard, she
knows it has worked only evil in the world--it is a debasement of all
that is noblest, a betrayal of all that is most beautiful. _The double
standard has done more harm to the human race than all the wars of
history._

Women know this, but they are afraid to speak out, they are afraid to
fight for their ideals, and passing years find men clinging to hideous
sex privileges--one law of morality for men and another law for women.

I believe that American women could change all this, they could abolish
the wicked double standard, as they have abolished saloons and houses of
degradation, if they would face the facts of life instead of ignoring
them. It is merely a matter of courage and organization. Suppose a
hundred women in a