Hence, to instruct woman is to instruct man; to elevate her
character is to raise his own; to enlarge her mental freedom is to
extend and secure that of the whole community. For Nations are
but the outcomes of Homes, and Peoples of Mothers.

But while it is certain that the character of a nation will be
elevated by the enlightenment and refinement of woman, it is much
more than doubtful whether any advantage is to be derived from her
entering into competition with man in the rough work of business
and polities. Women can no more do men's special work in the
world than men can do women's. And wherever woman has been
withdrawn from her home and family to enter upon other work, the
result has been socially disastrous. Indeed, the efforts of some
of the best philanthropists have of late years been devoted to
withdrawing women from toiling alongside of men in coalpits,
factories, nailshops, and brickyards.

It is still not uncommon in the North for the husbands to be idle
at home, while the mothers and daughters are working in the
factory; the result being, in many cases, an entire subversion of
family order, of domestic discipline, and of home rule. (21) And
for many years past, in Paris, that state of things has been
reached which some women desire to effect amongst ourselves. The
women there mainly attend to business--serving the BOUTIQUE, or
presiding at the COMPTOIR--while the men lounge about the
Boulevards. But the result has only been homelessness,
degeneracy, and family and social decay.

Nor is there any reason to believe that the elevation and