men was a dreamer, rather than a calm and impartial
investigator. Founding his main theory on assumptions, he asks us to
accept these as historical facts. Much of his work and his belief in
women must be regarded as the rhapsodies of a poet. And yet, it is the
poet who finds the truth. The poetic spirit is, in one sense, the most
practical of all. Bachofen saw the fact of mother-power, though not
_why_ it was the fact, and he enfolded his arguments in a garment of
pure fiction.

To disengage from his learned book, _Das Mutterrecht_,[8] his theory
of the origin of the Matriarchate is no easy task. There is, for one
thing, such bewildering contradiction and confusion in the material
used. Then the interpretation of the mythical tales, so freely
intermingled everywhere, is often strained--prompted by a poetic
imagination which snatches at every kind of allegory. Often the views
expressed are inconsistent with each other, the arguments and proofs
are disconnected, while many of the details are hopelessly obscure and
confused. Yet it seems to me possible to recognise the idea which
brings into unity the mass of his work--the spirit, as it were, that
breathes into it its life. It may be found in the clear appreciation
of the superstitious and mystical element in primitive man, and their
close interweaving with the sexual life. As I understand Herr
Bachofen, the sex-act was the means which first opened up ways to
great heights, but also to great depths.

[8] Prof. Giraud-Teulon's _La Mere chez certains Peuples de
l'Antiquite_ is founded on the introduction to _Das
Mutterrecht_. This little book of fascinating reading is the
best and easiest way of studying Bachofen's theory.

Bachofen strongly insists on the religious element in all early human
thought. He believes that the development of the primitive community
only advanced by means of religious ideas.

"Religion," he says, "is the only efficient lever of all
civilisation. Each elevation and depression of human life
has its origin in a movement which begins in this supreme
department."[9]

[9] _Das Mutterrecht_, Intro., p. xiii.

The authority for this belief is sought in religious myths.

"Mythical tradition appears to be the faithful
interpretation of the progress of the law of life, at a time
when the foundations of the historical development of the
ancient world were laid; it reveals the original mode o