Page:The evolution of marriage and of the family ... (IA evolutionofmarri00letorich).pdf/205

 Upon the whole, in every country and in every time, woman, organically weaker than man, has been more or less enslaved by him, unless in the case where legislation has allowed her to use an artificial force to serve her as a shield. This fictitious force, before which virile brutality has lowered its flag, has been money, wherever the laws regulating succession have permitted women to raise themselves to the dignity of proprietors.

A similar lesson will be given us by the study of the monogamic régime among the white races of Asia and of Europe. There also we shall see riches serve woman as a defensive, and sometimes even offensive weapon, against the severity of laws and customs.