in a moment laid prostrate. Then it is, sir, that woman's moral courage, endurance, and fortitude, shine out the most. She sustains, she cheers, she encourages, she soothes the other; nerves him by her example, invigorates him by her tenderness, and directs him by gentle counsel and affectionate encouragement, to put his shoulder to the wheel of his broken fortune, and restore himself to the position he has lost.

"O, woman! in our hours of ease,
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel, thou!"

Sir, gentlemen have boasted of their Alexanders and their Napoleons; but I can point them to a spectacle which sends a warmer thrill to the heart than the contemplation of Alexander crossing the Gran'icus, or of Napoleon heading the impetuous onset across the bridge of Lodi. I behold a woman quitting the comforts of an affluent home in England, and standing by the bedside of wounded and plague-stricken soldiers in the hospitals of Constantinople. Sir, if that was not courage, it was something nobler, braver, more divine; and the name of Florence Nightingale (interruption of loud applause) - the name of Florence Nightingale, I say, sir, is to my mind crowned with a halo more luminous and admirable than any false glare that surrounds the fame of any conqueror or man-slayer that ever spread desolation through a land.

Sir, let me quote one other instance. When that illustrious French woman and true friend of liberty, Madam Ro-land', in the bloody times of the French Revolution, for the crime of holding adverse political opinions, was dragged to the scaffold by (Heaven save the mark!)-by men alas, sir! men— -she, a pure, heroic, lovely, and innocent woman there sat by her side in the victims' cart a man, a stranger, also a prisoner, and, like her, cn his way to the guillotine. But, sir, the man wept bitterly with anguish and dismay; while the woman was calm, composed, intrepid. She devoted her last moments to cheering and comforting her male companion. She even made him smile. She seemed to forget her own great wrongs and sufferings in encouraging him. She saw his head fall under the guillotine, and then, stepping lightly up to the scaffold, she uttered those immortal words addressed to the statue of Liberty "O! Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!"—and told the executioner (the man, sir!) to do his duty. The next moment the fair head of this young, fearless, and highly-gifted woman was severed

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from the body, and men stood by to applaud the infernal act. Sir, let us hear no more, after this, of woman's inferiority to man in fortitude, courage, endurance, and all that ennobles humanity. (Applause.)

Twelfth Speaker. Mr. Chairman, I can not help thinking that some of the last speakers have wandered a little from the true subject before us. The question was "Are the Mental Capacities of the Sexes equal?" and the speakers are now hotly discussing whether the sexes are morally equal, with which point I submit we have nothing to do. To bring back the discussion, therefore, to its proper track, I beg to repeat that which has been yet unanswered, namely, That as the male sex have produced the more remarkable evidences of mental power, the palm of mental superiority is evidently theirs. (Hear! hear!) Much has been said during this debate, but no one has disproved this assertion, or denied the deduction from it: till cause is shown, therefore, why the verdict should not be in favor of the male sex, I submit that we have the right to demand it. (Applause.)

Thirteenth Speaker. Sir, the last speaker has, in a taunting manner, challenged us to deny his assertion, and to disprove his argument. I will do both - at least, attempt to do so and I trust I shall succeed in convincing my bold friend that he has not quite so good a cause as he thinks. (Applause.) In the first place, sir, I will not admit that mental superiority does not involve moral. It is my conviction that it does. I maintain it, sir, there is something wanting in the intellectual mechanism of that man who, while he can write brilliant poetry, or discourse eloquently on philosophical subjects, is morally deficient and

unsound.

But, I will not admit that the female sex is outdone by the male. True, the one sex has produced a Shakspeare, a Milton, and a Byron; but the other has a Sappho, a Barbauld, a Hemans, and a Sigourney. I will not, however, pursue the intellectual comparison, for it would be an endless one. (Applause.) But suppose I were to grant what the last speaker claimed, namely, that the female sex has achieved less than the male- what then? I can show that woman's education has been neglected: if, then, woman has not possessed the advantages conferred upon the other sex, how can you say that she is not naturally man's equal? Till this is answered, nothing has been proved. (Applause.)

Sir, as bearing upon this subject, and eloquently embodying my own views, let me quote, if my memory will allow me, a little poem by Ebenezer Elliott:

"What highest prize hath woman won in science or in art?

What mightiest work, by woman done, boasts city, field, or mart?

She hath no Raphael!' Painting saith; No Newton!' Learning cries;

Show us her Steamship! her Macbeth! her thought-won victories!'

"Wait, boastful man! though worthy are thy deeds, when thou art true,
Things worthier still, and holier far, our sister yet will do;
For this the worth of woman shows, on every peopled shore, -
That still as man in wisdom grows, he honors her the more.

"O! not for wealth, or fame, or power, hath man's meek angel striven,
But, silent as the growing flower, to make of earth a heaven!
And in her garden of the sun heaven's brightest rose shall bloom;
For woman's best is unbegun! her advent yet to come!"

Fourteenth Speaker. Sir, I think that an answer may very easily be given to the objections raised by the last speaker. Great stress has been laid upon the fact that education has not been extended to woman, and therefore, it is said, she is not equal to man. The fact, then, of her inferiority is admitted; and now let us look at the excuse. I think it a very shallow one, sir. Was Shakspeare educated? Was Burns educated? Was James Watt educated? Was Benjamin Franklin educated? Henry Clay educated? No! They achieved their greatness in spite of the disadvantages of their position; and this, sir, genius will always do. Nothing can keep it down; it is superior to all human obstacles, and will mount. It is for want of genius, therefore, not for want of education, that woman has remained behind in the mental race. (Applause.)

Was

-from

Fifteenth Speaker. Mr. Chairman, in spite of the learned and cloquent speeches of the ladies' champions, I am still inclined to vote with the Opener. I think my conclusion rests on good authority. We find, from Scripture history, that man was created first, and that woman was formed from a part of man— a rib, in fact. Now, I would humbly submit, that as man was first formed, he was intended to be superior to woman; and that woman, being made from a part of man only, can not be looked upon as his equal. We find, too, in Scripture, that woman is constantly told to obey man; and I contend that this would not be the case, were she not inferior. (Applause.)

Besides, sir, as it has been ably argued, her duties do not require such great intellect as man's. Now, nature never gives unnecessary strength; and as woman is not called upon to use great mental power, we may be sure she does not possess it.

Sixteenth Speaker. Sir, it seems to me that the remarks of the last speaker may be easily shown to be most inconclusive and inconsistent. In the first place: he says, that as Adam was

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created before Eve, Adam was intended to be superior. I think, sir, that this argument is singularly unhappy. Why, we read that the birds, beasts, and fishes, were created before Adam; and, if my friend's logic were sound, Adam must have been inferior to the said birds, beasts, and fishes, in consequence: an argument, as I take it, not quite supported by fact. (Laughter and applause.) Sir, so far as we can judge, the most important creatures seem to have been formed last, and therefore Eve must, according to that, be not inferior, but superior, to Adam. Then, as to the argument about the rib. Why, what was Adam formed out of? The dust of the earth. Now, it seems to me that a living rib is a much more dignified thing to be made out of than the lifeless dust of the ground: and if so, my friend's argument turns against himself rather than against the ladies.

I heard the gentleman say, too- and I confess I heard it with some impatience - that woman's sphere does not require so much intellect as man's. Where he got such an argument, I can not imagine; and I think it by no means creditable either to his taste or to his discernment. Who has to rear the infant mind? to tend and instruct the growing child? to teach it truth, and goodness, and piety? Not impetuous, impatient man, but enduring, gentle, and considerate woman. What more important or more difficult task could mortal undertake? It requires the noblest intellect to teach a child, and that intellect being required in woman, I feel sure that she possesses it. Although, then, I own that there are great and inborn differences between the intellectual capacities of the sexes, I can not for an instant imagine that the one is, in the aggregate, at all inferior to the other. (Loud applause. - A pause ensues.)

The Chairman rises and says: If no other gentleman is inclined to speak, I will put the question.

Sixteenth Speaker. Perhaps our worthy Chairman would like to offer a few observations.

(The Chairman then temporarily vacates the chair.)

Chairman. Gentlemen, the subject has interested me so much, that I will act on my friend's suggestion, and venture upon a few remarks. I have reflected calmly and dispassionately upon the question before us, whilst I have been listening to the speeches made by my friends around me; and although I own that I was at first inclined to vote in the affirmative of this question, I am not ashamed to say that my views have undergone a material alteration during the debate, and that I have now made up my mind to defend and vote for the ladies. (Applause.)

In the first place, I think we are necessarily unfair judges: we are interested in the verdict, and therefore ought not to sit upon the judgment-seat. It gratifies our pride to think that we are superior to the other sex; and reflection upon this point has convinced me, that upon the ground of good taste and modesty alone, we ought at once to give up the point, and admit woman's claims to be at least equal to our own.

Reason also moves me to adopt the same conclusion. I concede, at once, that there are great differences between the capacities of the sexes; but not greater than between various races of our own sex. The roving savage is inferior to the studious philosopher. Why? Because he has not been educated. So with woman. When you can show me that woman has received the same advantages as man, and has not then equaled him, why, then I will vote against her; but not till then. (Applause.)

In conclusion, I would say, that as the Creator formed woman to be a help meet for man, I can not believe that she was made inferior. She was given to him as a companion and friend, not as a slave and servant; and I think that we are displaying great arrogance and presumption, as well as a contemptuous depreciation of the Creator's best gifts, if we declare and decide that she who adorns and beautifies and delights our existence is inferior to ourselves in that intelligence which became a part of man's soul when God breathed into him the breath of life! (Loud and continued applause.)

(The Chairman resumes his seat, and then says, Will the opener of this debate have the goodness to reply?)

ago I

I

The Opener (in reply). Mr. Chairman, You have called on me to reply. Now, I beg at once, and frankly, to say, that I, like you, have undergone conviction during this debate, and that I mean to vote against the proposition which a short time recommended. (Loud cries of Hear! hear! and applause.) I was misled by appearances. I looked into history; but I did not examine it correctly, I looked at the surface only. saw great deeds, and I saw that men had performed them; but I did not estimate what had been done silently. I forgot to ask myself how much of the good these men wrought was owing to the wisdom and goodness taught to them in their infancy by their mothers. So with philosophy; so with science. The glitter caught me, and I fear I lost the substancc. (Applause.)

I am not sorry, however, that I introduced the question. It has changed those who were wrong, it has confirmed those who were right, and it has caused all to think. Let me hope that all who spoke on my side of the question arc, like their leader, con