The curse pronounced on woman is inserted in an unfriendly spirit to
justify her degradation and subjection to man. With obedience to the
laws of health, diet, dress, and exercise, the period of maternity
should be one of added vigor in both body and mind, a perfectly natural
operation should not be attended with suffering. By the observance of
physical and psychical laws the supposed curse can be easily
transformed into a blessing. Some churchmen speak of maternity as a
disability, and then chant the Magnificat in all their cathedrals round
the globe. Through all life's shifting scenes, the mother of the race
has been the greatest factor in civilization.

We hear the opinion often expressed, that woman always has, and always
will be in subjection. Neither assertion is true. She enjoyed unlimited
individual freedom for many centuries, and the events of the present
day all point to her speedy emancipation. Scientists now give 85,000
years for the growth of the race. They assign 60,000 to savagism,
20,000 to barbarism, and 5,000 to civilization. Recent historians tell
us that for centuries woman reigned supreme. That period was called the
Matriarchate. Then man seized the reins of government, and we are now
under the Patriarchate. But we see on all sides new forces gathering,
and woman is already abreast with man in art, science, literature, and
government. The next dynasty, in which both will reign as equals, will
be the Amphiarchate, which is close at hand.

Psychologists tell us of a sixth sense now in process of development,
by which we can read each other's mind and communicate without speech.
The Tempter might have had that sense, as he evidently read the minds
of both the creature and the Creator, if we are to take this account
as literally true, as Adam Clarke advises.