y of educating the sexes
together to perfect both, and of making children sleep at home,
that they may learn to love home; yet to make private ties support,
instead of smothering, public affections, they should be sent to
school to mix with a number of equals, for only by the jostlings of
equality can we form a just opinion of ourselves....

"... The conclusion which I wish to draw is obvious: make women
rational creatures and free citizens, and they will quickly become
good wives and mothers; that is, if men do not neglect the duties
of husbands and fathers."

This is no place to enter into a discussion as to whether Mary
Wollstonecraft's theories were right or wrong. National education and
co-education are still subjects of controversy. But even those who object
most strongly to her conclusions must admit that they were the logical
results of her premises. Equality! was her battle-cry. All men and women
are equal inasmuch as they are human. Her scheme is the only possible one
by which this fundamental equality can be maintained. It covers the whole
ground, too, by its recognition of the secondary distinctions of rank and
sex, and the necessary division of labor. Mary was not a communist in her
social philosophy. She knew such differences must always exist, and she
allowed for them.

In the remaining chapter she cites instances of folly generated by
women's ignorance, and makes reflections upon the probable improvement to
be produced by a revolution in female manners. Some of the evils with
which she deals are trifling, as, for example, the prevailing mania for
mesmerism and fortune-telling. Others are serious, as, for instance, the
incapacity of ignorant women to rear children. But all which are of real
weight have already been more than amply discussed. She here merely
repeats herself, and these last pages are of little or no consequence.

A plainness of speech, amounting in some places to coarseness, and a
deeply religious tone, are to many modern readers the most curious
features of the book. A just estimate of it could not be formed if these
two facts were overlooked. A century ago men and women were much more
straightforward in their speech than we are to-day. They were not
squeamish. In real life Amelias listened to raillery from Squire Westerns
not a whit more refined than Fielding's good country gentlemen.
Therefore, when it came to serious discussions for moral