The doubt and anxiety which people feel with regard to the probable fate of the children under freer conditions, ought to be transferred to their present state. If only for their sakes, the present marriage system stands condemned.

The very existence of a large proportion of our children is a wrong to them and to their mothers; the continued union of their parents is another wrong, and the popular mode of training, dependent on existing ideals, is yet a third.

Under a freer system, the responsibility of parents would be more deeply felt than it can possibly be at present, when a human creature is turned loose upon the world as one might turn out a horse to grass. Freedom, more than anything else, fosters the sense of responsibility. The very housemaid ceases to feel responsible if her mistress watches her every minute of the day.

It is remarkable that even the one function to which a whole sex is asked to devote itself is, and must be, under the old order, very badly performed. Among men we have had division of labour; among women such a thing has scarcely existed. We give the heads of our pins into the hands of specialists; the future race may be looked after by unqualified amateurs.