ENGLAND UNDER PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1216, 28 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

ENGLAND UNDER PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT.

The anonymous author of The Revolt of '\ Man (W, Blackwood and Sons) has given us a very smartly-written fable on one of the. fashionable cries of the day, in which humor; is mixed in a pleasant way with truth and. nature, The scene is laid in England some ■ three centuries in advance of the present ! 'time, The old order has given place to the! new, It is woman who rules, and man wlio obeys, l . The monarchy has been-replaced by a gymeorratical republic, The old religion has been abolished; the new faith has for its objeob and centre the Perfect Woman, whose'image in marble is enshrined in tho place where used to be the throne in tho House of Peeresses! Men have ceased to 'have any political rights, and live only for tlie pleasure aud benefit of the ruling sex, A few advanced women there are, however, who, amidst great l obloquy, insist on the rights of the subject sex, Their champion is Constance, 'Countess of Carlyon, a young beauty of feminine proclivities, who at the' beginning of the story is Prime Minister of England. Her great rival is the Duchess of Dunstaiiburgh, an unbending advocate of things as they are-aged G5, the widow of three husbands. In vain does Constance attempt tointroduco her reform, giving to men! •some share in the educational establishments of the country, and protecting their earnings against their wives, In vain does she descant upon "the long hours during which; men have to toil in solitude and silence, 'of thrf many cases in whichthey'have Jo' do* housework and attend to the'babies iJ! 'well ? as to do their long day's work," She is ; shrieked down by the Tory opposition, and 'there is a Ministerial crisis—a thing which' occurs about once in every, six weeks.. Among the' advisers of the Countess of! Carlyon is Professor'lngleby, "'the forentostj intellect in England, " who keeps a husband] in secret' at the University, Whioh husband; turns out to be a bishop/the solerepresenta-l tive of the old religion. Professor Ingleby is; the leader of'the revolt, the chief 'instrii-i ments in which are Edward, Earl of Chester, I and some young men of his own'age-'and! rank, The Earl Of Chester is the lineal dea*'

to London, '■ They are joined by the men of !the villages, who at'fil'st; caii hardly believe .the joyful news that they are in future' to receive their wages in'full, instead of their wives, 11 Men looked at each other and :wbndered, To be paid, instead of seeing 'your wife paid, proved—as nothing else ;could—the strength • and reality of the rebellion." The little army of insurgents gradually swells into larger proportions,- It marches gallantly with drums beating and colorsflying through the. country, followed by the men's sweethearts, who are amazed and delighted at the unwonted spectacle, The 'rumor of the-rising reaches London, whure all is 1 trouble and excitement. A Cabinet Council is • hurriedly summoned,' Ac this time tho only force 'at the disposal of the Government iB the body of warders from the gaols, who are .themselves drawn from, the vilest of mankind, besides'the household troops; 3000 strong. ifPhe convict guard is "called out and hastily armed Arriving at Newmarket Heath, the rebels, now 5000 strong, are met'by a deputation of two sisters in the early Preaching Order, who preach to'them in-vain/ They are-only laughed'at, and sent back 'with ignominy, and with their nice dresses all torn to rags, The crisis deepens, The rebels 'are encamped on the heights of Hampstead, iwhile the convict guard, 10,000 strong, are mustored in Hyde-park. The Countess of Carlyon goes off in disguise to warn her lover of his impending fate; but she is only laughed afrfor her fears, There is no fighting after all, but a troop -of -young women, ithe sweethearts of the:rebels,isteal into,the camp lat Hyde-park by night, and create a panic among the convict guard, who'all run away, leaving their arms behind them,, The household troops are then ordered out,'but it is ! found that 'their -wives have hidden '.away their splendid boots, audwithout theirsboots i'they are unable to.mount andito fights/The , end of it is that' Edward, Earl of Chester, marches into -London-amidst.the-.acclama-tions of the: people and is crowded King: of ■England, The old faith is restored, :;The 'image of the :woman is demolished, ■and the world: goes as it did before. And'so ends the book of: the revolt of,man, .with a ! moral for men and women,-77ie Argus,