sually become thoroughly habituated to their unfreedom,
and continue to feed from the hand.

Custom lies upon them with a weight
Heavy as frost and deep almost as life.

The usual reasoning as to the ability of women also overlooks the fact
that many women are larger and stronger than many men, and some
of them possessed of tremendous energy, will, wit, endurance, and
sagacity. This type appears in all classes of society, but more
frequently in the lower classes and among peasants, both because the
natural qualities are less glozed over there by aristocratic custom,
and because these classes are bred truer to nature. Unfortunately, the
attention of the women of these classes is limited to very immediate
concerns; but, on the other hand, they present the true qualities of
the female type, and few, I believe, will deny that the peasant woman
described below would shine in intellectual walks if fate had called
her there:

Mother was a large, stout, full-blooded woman of great
strength. She could not read or write, and yet she was well
thought of. There are all sorts of educations, and though
reading and writing are very well in their way, they would not
have done mother any good. She had the sort of education
that was needed in her work. Nobody knew more about raising
vegetables, ducks, chickens and pigeons than she did. There
were some among the neighbors who could read and write and so
thought themselves above mother, but when they went to market
they found their mistake. Her peas, beans, cauliflower,
cabbages, pumpkins, melons, potatoes, beets, and onions sold
for the highest price of any, and that ought to show whose
education was the best, because it is the highest education
that produces the finest work.

Mother used to take me frequently to the market.... The market
women were a big, rough, fat, jolly set, who did not know
what sickness was, and it might have been well for me if I had
stayed among them and grown up like mother. One time in the
market-place I saw a totally different set of women. It was
about 8 o'clock in the morning, when some people began
to shout: "Here come the rich Americans! Now we will sell
things!" We saw a large party of travelers coming through the
crowd. They looked very queer. Their clothes seemed queer,
as they were so different from ours. They wore leather boots
instead of wood