Neith Boyce

“ For this automaton had the shape of a woman, with cheeks blushing as if with real blood, and eyes as soft as if a real feminine soul dwelt behind them. And she possessed also all those little feminine arts and wiles that are so entirely without significance that they can easily be performed mechanically. Where the brain of a real woman would have been, the automaton had a sort of clockwork that responded to certain stimuli and produced speech closely resembling at times rational argument. ”

“ It will hardly be believed that a man of ordinary mental powers could be long deceived into thinking this automaton a real human being of flesh and blood. But so it happened, and such a man actually fell in love with the beautiful shell of this creature, and became so maddened that he devoted his life to prove that, far from being incapable of the feelings of even the meanest woman, she was in reality able to understand and reciprocate the loftiest and most delicate emotion. ”

“ You won't think of the thousand times you have hurt me, and without meaning to—that's the sting. Well—it's over now. Don't make another man love you, Millicent—you're a natural celibate. You'll get over my going very soon, especially as old Banford won't be able to bother you as much without me. You only lose a lover that you don't want, but the Cause loses an enemy! ”

“ In vain were his ardent protestations of love interrupted by the mechanical speech of the pseudo-woman, which would exclaim, “Votes for Women!” even in the midst of the most impassioned appeals of the lover. ”

“ This was all very well, but Millicent herself had been trying for nearly a year to organize a men's league; and, as has been said, she was held to have inspired Hector Frye's ardor for equal suffrage. Over their teacups, the sisters permitted themselves some criticism of their young leader. It was well to be wrapped up in the Cause, as Millicent proclaimed herself to be, but her behavior to Mr. Frye really gave some color to, for example, the Times' favorite charge that feminism meant the destruction of the feminine. ”

“ The creators of this ingenious imitation named it “The New Woman,” and proclaimed that in sufficient numbers it would do away with many of the emotional ills and disorders incident to the old régime; as much of the work of the world, and particularly the advancement of women, could be performed by such contrivances much better than by ordinary women subject to low human affections. And, in fact, this automaton demonstrated satisfactorily that a great reform in human institutions can be carried on without either a heart or a brain ”

“ I have often felt like smashing everything you were working for, and it was a perfectly legitimate feeling. I often felt like a solemn ass when I wrote the kind of thing you liked, and it was a great pleasure to me to show myself up publicly as such. ”

“ The Sentinel, conservative and respectable, warmly advocated the franchise for women. Its editor was a brilliant young man named Hector Frye, supposed to be betrothed to Arden's leading female suffragist, Miss Millicent James. Gossip said that Millicent would marry Mr. Frye when the women's bill should pass the legislature. At any rate, she was given credit for securing Mr. Frye's aid in the battle for equal rights. And it was he personally who had carried over the Sentinel, which had previously wavered on the fence, and had made Votes for Women a dignified public issue in Arden. ”

“ The automaton, naturally unmoved by this occurrence, still pursues a successful career. And it is believed that if enough of such disinterested workers can be secured, the triumph of the cause will not be long delayed.
Millicent read and reread this article. She had sufficient self-control not to betray its effect on her. She continued to turn over the pages of the Times; then chatted with various delegates for half an hour or so ”