Roi et Reine--"RIGHT-doers;" they differ but from the Lady and Lord,
in that their power is supreme over the mind as over the person--
that they not only feed and clothe, but direct and teach. And
whether consciously or not, you must be, in many a heart, enthroned:
there is no putting by that crown; queens you must always be:
queens to your lovers; queens to your husbands and your sons; queens
of higher mystery to the world beyond, which bows itself, and will
for ever bow, before the myrtle crown and the stainless sceptre of
womanhood. But, alas! you are too often idle and careless queens,
grasping at majesty in the least things, while you abdicate it in
the greatest; and leaving misrule and violence to work their will
among men, in defiance of the power which, holding straight in gift
from the Prince of all Peace, the wicked among you betray, and the
good forget.

"Prince of Peace." Note that name. When kings rule in that name,
and nobles, and the judges of the earth, they also, in their narrow
place, and mortal measure, receive the power of it. There are no
other rulers than they; other rule than theirs is but MISrule; they
who govern verily "Dei Gratia" are all princes, yes, or princesses
of Peace. There is not a war in the world, no, nor an injustice,
but you women are answerable for it; not in that you have provoked,
but in that you have not hindered. Men, by their nature, are prone
to fight; they will fight for any cause, or for none. It is for you
to choose their cause for them, and to forbid them when there is no
cause. There is no suffering, no injustice, no misery, in the
earth, but the guilt of it lies with you. Men can bear the sight of
it, but you should not be able to bear it. Men may tread it down
without sympathy in their own struggle; but men are feeble in
sympathy, and contracted in hope; it is you only who can feel the