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Once, after a lecture in England, I received the card of a young
American lady who wished to speak to me. She came and brought in her
mother, and also a man, who all the time stood in the rear. When we
parted, she left, followed by her mother. Then I discovered the man,
who said to me most meekly, 'I'm the father.' Poor dear man! he looked
so small as he emerged from the background!

I cannot help thinking that there exists in some American women a
little mild contempt for that poor creature that is called a man.

And how is that in a country where the women receive such delightful,
and, for that matter, well-deserved attentions at the hands of the men,
and that throughout the length and breadth of the country?

Well, I think the educational system of America explains the
phenomenon.

In Europe the sexes are kept apart in youth--I mean at school, and, in
France especially, young boys and young girls entertain for one another
very strange feelings, most of them founded on ignorance.

In Europe even now the education received by girls cannot be compared
to the education received by boys. That's being changed now--some say
improved. H'm! we shall see.

It was not a long time ago that, in England and in France, when a girl
could read, write, add, and subtract, name the capitals of Europe, and
play 'The Maiden's Prayer' on the piano, her education was finished;
she was prepared for the world and ready for her husband--and her
neighbours.

Very often I have been invited to be present at the distribution of
prizes in large English public schools and colleges. When I was in a
girls' school, I never once failed to hear those poor girls told, and
by men, too, that practically the only thing they should think about
was to prepare to become one day good wives and good mothers.

I have been many times present at the distribution of prizes in boys'
schools in England, and I know that I never heard those boys told that
now and then they might think of preparing to become one day decent
fathers and tolerable husbands.

In America things are different. In every grade of educational life,
among the masses of the people, boys and girls are educated together,
side by side; on each bench a boy, a girl, a boy, a girl.

Now, the official statistics of the Education Department declare that
in every State of the Union the number of diplomas and certificates
obtained by girls is larger than t