Please be aware that this is a text first published in 1875 which positions itself against Female Suffrage in the UK. It is essential to consider the book within the historical context in which it was written. In his book Goldwin Smith fires a virulent shot into Mr. Forsyth's Bill, and indeed into any Bill for establishing Female Suffrage. Goldwin Smith was originally an advocate for the Revolution and he has seen the Women's movement in America, where it has been far more successful than in the UK, and yet he disapproves the proposal with vehemence… The argument that weighs most for Goldwin Smith is the incalculable danger of disturbing the tacit concordat on which the relations between the sexes repose. By virtue of that concordat women get more privileges and fewer burdens, while men take more rights and burdens for themselves.

Goldwin Smith (August 13, 1823 – June 7, 1910) was a British historian and journalist, active in the United Kingdom and Canada.