in many regions it could be contracted by married men
(R. Altamira, _Historia de Espana y de la Civilazacion Espanola_, Vol.
I, pp. 644 et seq.).

[66] "La femme libre," in quest of whom the young Saint-Simonians
preached a crusade, must be a woman of reflection and intellect who,
having meditated on the fate of her "sisters," knowing the wants of
women, and having sounded those feminine capacities which man has never
completely penetrated, shall give forth the confession of her sex,
without restriction or reserve, in such a manner as to furnish the
indispensable elements for formulating the rights and duties of woman.
Saint Simon had asked Madame de Stael to undertake this role, but she
failed to respond. When George Sand published her first novels, one
Gueroult was commissioned to ascertain if the author of _Lelia_ would
undertake this important service. He found a badly dressed woman who was
using her talents to gain a living, but was by no means anxious to
become the high priestess of a new religion. Even after his
disappointment Enfantin looked eagerly forward to the publication of
George Sand's _Histoire de ma Vie_, hoping that at last the great
revelation was coming, and he was again disillusioned. But before this
Emile Barrault had arisen and declared that in the East, in the solitude
of the harem, "la femme libre" would be found in the person of some
odalisque. The "mission of the mother" was formed, and with Barrault at
the head it set out for Constantinople. All were dressed in white as an
indication of the vow of chastity they had taken before leaving Paris,
and on the road they begged in the name of the Mother. They arrived at
Constantinople and preached the faith of Saint-Simon to the Turks in
French. But "la femme libre" seemed as far off as ever, and they
resolved to go to Rotourma in Oceana, there to establish the religion of
Saint-Simon and a perfect Government which might serve as a model to the
States of Europe. First, however, they felt it a duty to make certain
that the Mother was not hiding somewhere in Russia, and they went
therefore to Odessa, but the Governor, who was wanting in sympathy,
speedily turned them out, and having realized that Rotourma was some
distance off, the mission broke up, most of the members going to Egypt
to rejoin Enfantin, whom the Arabs, struck by his beauty, had called
_Abu-l-dhunieh_, the Father of the World. (This account of the movement
is based on that given by Max