in some manner, I know not how, may find their way to the minds of humanity in Some Dimension, and may stir up a race of rebels who shall refuse to be confined to limited Dimensionality.
That is the hope of my brighter moments. Alas, it is not always so. Heavily weights on me at times the burdensome reflection that I cannot honestly say I am confident as to the exact shape of the once-seen, oft-regretted Cube; and in my nightly visions the mysterious precept, "Upward, not Northward," haunts me like a soul-devouring Sphinx. It is part of the martyrdom which I endure for the cause of Truth that there are seasons of mental weakness, when Cubes and Spheres flit away into the background of scarce-possible existences; when the Land of Three Dimensions seems almost as visionary as the Land of One or None; nay, when even this hard wall that bars me from my freedom, these very tablets on which I am writing, and all the substantial realities of Flatland itself, appear no better than the offspring of a diseased imagination, or the baseless fabric of a dream.
Gloriana; The Revolution Of 1900
By Florence Dixie.
TO ALL WOMEN
AND SUCH HONOURABLE, UPRIGHT, AND COURAGEOUS MEN
As, regardless of Custom and Prejudice, Narrow-mindedness and Long–Established Wrong, will bravely assert and uphold the Laws of Justice, of Nature, and of Right; I dedicate the following pages, with the hope that a straightforward inspection of the evils abiding Society, will lead to their demolition in the only way possible—namely, by giving to Women equal rights with Men, Not till then will Society be purified, wrongdoing punished, or Man start forward along that road which shall lead to Perfection.
Preface.
“Thus we were told in words Divine
That there were truths men could not bear
E’en from the lips of Christ to hear.
These have now slowly been unfurled,
But still to a reluctant world.
“Prophets will yet arise to teach
Truths which the schoolmen fail to reach,
Which priestly doctrine still would hide.
And worldly votaries deride,
And statesmen fain would set aside.”
I MAKE no apology for this preface. It may be unusual but then the book it deals with is unusual. There is but one object in “Gloriana.” It is to speak of evils which do exist, to study facts which it is a crime to neglect, to sketch an artificial position—the creation of laws false to Nature— unparalleled for injustice and hardship.
Many critics, like the rest of humanity, are apt to be unfair. They take up a book, and when they find that it does not accord with their sentiments, they attempt to wreck it by ridicule and petty, spiteful criticism. They forget to ask themselves, “Why is this book written?” They altogether omit to go to the root of the Author’s purpose; and the result is, that false testimony is often borne against principles which, though drastic, are pure, which, though sharp as the surgeon’s knife, are yet humane; for it is genuine sympathy with humanity that arouses them.
There is no romance worth reading, which has not the solid foundation of truth to support it; there is no excuse for the existence of romance, unless it fixes thought on that truth which underlies it. Gloriana may be a romance, a dream; but in the first instance, it is inextricably interwoven with truth, in the second instance, dreams the work of the brain are species of thought, and thought is an attribute of God. Therefore is it God’s creation.
There may be some, who reading “Gloriana,” will feel shocked, and be apt to misjudge the author. There are others who will understand, appreciate, and sympathise. There are yet others, who hating truth, will receive it with gibes and sneers; there are many, who delighting in the evil which it fain would banish, will resent it as an unpardonable attempt against their liberties. An onslaught on public opinion is very like leading a Forlorn Hope. The leader knows full well that death lies in the breach, yet that leader knows also, that great results may spring from the death which is therefore readily sought and faced. “Gloriana” pleads woman’s cause, pleads for her freedom, for the just acknowledgment of her rights. It pleads that her equal humanity with man shall be recognised, and therefore that her claim to share what he has arrogated to himself, shall be considered. “Gloriana,” pleads that in woman’s degradation man shall no longer be debased, that in her elevation he shall be upraised and ennobled. The reader of its pages will observe the Author’s conviction, everywhere expressed, that Nature ordains the close companionship not division of the sexes, and that it is opposition to Nature which produces jealousy, intrigue, and unhealthy rivalry.
“Gloriana” is written with no antagonism to man. Just the contrary. The Author’s best and truest friends, with few exceptions, have been and are men. But the Author will never recognise man’s glory and welfare in woman’s degradation.
“And hark! a voice with accents clear
Is raised, which all are forced to hear.
’Tis woman’s voice, for ages hushed,
Pleading the cause of woman crushed;
Pleading the cause of purity,
Of freedom, honour, equity,
Of all the lost and the forlorn,
Of all for whom the Christ was born.”
If, therefore, the following story should help men to be generous and just, should awaken the sluggards amongst women to a sense of their Position, and should thus lead to a rapid Revolution it will not have been written in vain.
The Author.
Maremna’s Dream.
Introduction to Gloriana;
Or, A Dream of the Revolution of 1900.
A ROSE-RED sunset,
Mingling its radiance with the purple heath,
Flooding the silver lake with blushing light.
Dyeing the ocean grey a crimson hue.
Streaking the paling sky with rosy shafts;
Clinging to Nature with a ling’ring kiss.
Ere it shall vanish from a drowsy earth,
To rouse in new-deck’d cloak of shining gold
A waking world far o’er the ocean’s wave.
Maremna sleeps,
Close cushion’d in the heather’s warm embrace;
The rose-red sunset plays around her form—
A graceful, girlish figure, lithe and fair,
Small, slim, yet firmly knit with Nature’s power—
Unfetter’d Nature! which will not be bound
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