amily relations might be disturbed, for although such
a fear might be justified by considerations of particular circumstances
and localities, it could not fairly be entertained in an inquiry into
the nature of men and States in general. For experience frequently
convinces us that just where law has imposed no fetters, morality most
surely binds; the idea of external coercion is one entirely foreign to
an institution which, like marriage, reposes only on inclination and an
inward sense of duty; and the results of such coercive institutions do
not at all correspond to the intentions in which they originate."

[50] Such register should, as Bertillon rightly insisted, be of the most
complete description--setting forth all the anthropological traits of
the contracting parties--so that the characteristics of a human group at
any time and place may be studied and compared. Registration of this
kind would, beside its more obvious convenience, form an almost
indispensable guide to the higher evolution of the race. I may here add
that I have assumed, perhaps too rashly, that the natural tendency among
civilized men and women is towards a monogamic and more or less
permanent union; preceded, it may be in most individuals, by a more
restless period of experiment. Undoubtedly, many variations will arise
in the future, leading to more complex relationships. Such variations
cannot be foreseen, and when they arise they will still have to prove
their stability and their advantage to the race.

[51] As among geese, and, occasionally, it is said, among elephants.

III

THE NEW ASPECT OF THE WOMAN'S MOVEMENT

Eighteenth-Century France--Pioneers of the Woman's Movement--The
Growth of the Woman's Suffrage Movement--The Militant Activities of
the Suffragettes--Their Services and Disservices to the
Cause--Advantages of Women's Suffrage--Sex Questions in
Germany--Bebel--The Woman's Rights Movement in Germany--The
Development of Sexual Science in Germany--the Movement for the
Protection of Motherhood--Ellen Key--The Question of
Illegitimacy--Eugenics--Women as Law-makers in the Home.

I

The modern conception of the political equality of women with men, we
have seen, arose in France in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Its way was prepared by the philosophic thinkers of the _Encyclopedie_,
and the idea was definitely formulated by some of the finest minds of
the age, notably by Con