which founds the family first on the brute-force of the
male. Mother-right has been discredited chiefly, as far as I have been
able to find, because it is impossible to accept, at this early
period, sexual conditions of the friendly ownership of women, entirely
opposed to what was the probable nature of brute man. At this stage
the eldest male in the family would be the ruler, and he would claim
sexual rights over all the women in the group. Bachofen postulates a
revolt of women to establish marriage. We have seen that such a
supposition, in the form in which he puts it, is without any credible
foundation. Yet, it is part of my theory that there was a revolt of
women, or rather a combination of the mothers of the group, which led
to a change in the direction of sexual regulation and order. But the
causes of such revolt, and the way in which it was accomplished, were,
in my opinion, entirely different from those which Bachofen supposes.
The arguments in support of my view will be given in the next two
chapters.

CHAPTER III

DIFFICULTIES AND OBJECTIONS: AN ATTEMPT TO RECONCILE MOTHER-RIGHT WITH
THE PATRIARCHAL THEORY.

The foundation of the Patriarchal theory is the jealous sexual nature
of the male. This is important; indeed profoundly significant. The
strongest argument against promiscuity is to be gained from what we
know of this factor of jealousy in the sexual relationships.

"The season of love is the season of battle," says Darwin. Such was
the law passed on to man from millions of his ancestral lovers. The
action of this law[29] may be observed at its fiercest intensity among
man's pre-human ancestors. Courtship without combat is rare among all
male quadrupeds, and special offensive and defensive weapons for use
in these love-fights are found; for this is the sex-tragedy of the
natural world, the love-tale red-written in blood.

[29] The reader is referred to _The Truth about Woman_, pp.
87-114. In the courtships and perfect love marriages of many
birds we find jealous combats replaced by the peaceful
charming of the female by the male.

This factor of sexual jealousy--the conflict of the male for
possession of the female--has not been held in sufficient account by
those who regard promiscuity as being the earliest stage in the sexual
relationships. That jealousy is still a powerful agent even in the
most civilised races is a fact on which it is unnecessary to dwell.
This being so,