Lady Astor
WOMEN IN POLITICS
April9，1922
My entrance into the House of Commons was not，as some thought，in the nature of a revolution.Itwas an evolution.My husband was the one whostarted me off on this downward path—from thefireside to public life.If I have helped the cause ofwomen he is the one to thank，not me.
A woman in the House of Commons！It was almost enough to have broken up the House.Idon't blame them—it was equally hard on thewoman as it was on them.A pioneer may be a pic－turesque figure，but they are often rather lonelyones.I must say for the House of Commons，theybore their shock with dauntless decency.No bodyof men could have been kinder and fairer to a“pi-rate”than they were.When you hear people overhere trying to run down England，please rememberthat England was the first large country to give thevote to women and that the men of England wel-comed an American born woman in the House witha fairness and a justice which，at least，this womannever will forget.
Women and politics—some women have al－ways been in politics，and have not done badly，ei- ther.It was when we had the Lancastrian Kingsthat it was said that the Kings were made Kings byact of Parliament—they did rule by means of Par－liament.Then Henry VIII，that old scalawag，ac-cepted the principles of the Lancastrians to rule byParliament，but he wanted the principle in an en－tirely different way.He made Parliament the en－gine of his will：he pressed or frightened it into do－ing anything he wished.Under his guidance Parlia－ment defied and crushed all other powers，spiritu-ally and temporally，and he did things which noKing or Parliament ever attempted to do—thingsunheard of and terrible.
Then Elizabeth came along.It is true shescolded her Parliament for meddling with matterswith which，in her opinion，they had no concern，and more than once soundly rated the Speaker ofher Commons，but she never carried her quarrelstoo far，and was able to end her disputes by someclever compromise；in other words，she never letParliament down，and that is what I don't believeany wise woman will do in spite of the fears ofsome of the men.
Now，why are we in politics？What is it allabout？Something much bigger than ourselves.Schopenhauer was wrong in nearly everything hewrote about women—and he wrote a lot，but hewas right in one thing.He said，in speaking ofwomen，“the race is to her more than the individu- al，”and I belive that it is true.I feel somehow wedo care about the race as a whole，our very naturemakes us take a forward vision；there is no reasonwhy women should look back—mercifully we haveno political past；we have all the mistakes of sexlegislation with its appalling failures to guide us.
We should know what to avoid，it is no useblaming the men—we made them what they are—and now it is up to us to try and make ourselves—the makers of men—a little more responsible in thefuture.We realize that no one sex can governalone.I believe that one of the reasons why civi－lization has failed so lamentably is that it has had aone－sided government.Don't let us make the mis－take of ever allowing that to happen again.
I can conceive of nothing worse than man-governed world except a woman－governed world—but I can see the combination of the two going for- ward and making civilization more worthy of thename of civilization based on Christianity，notforce.A civilization based on justice.and mercy.Ifeel men have a greater sense of justice and we ofmercy.They must borrow our mercy and we mustuse their justice.We are new brooms；let us seethat we sweep the right rooms.
阿斯特夫人
婦女從政
1922年4月9日
我進(jìn)入下議院，并不像某些人認(rèn)為的那樣具有革命的性質(zhì)。這是一種進(jìn)化。我的丈夫，是他促使我走上這條道路——從家務(wù)走向公務(wù)。要說(shuō)我?guī)椭藡D女事業(yè)的話，值得感謝的人是他，而不是我。一個(gè)婦女進(jìn)了下議院！這幾乎足以震動(dòng)下議院。我并不責(zé)備他們——這件事使婦女和他們一樣極為難堪。先驅(qū)者也許光彩照人，但他們通常頗為孤獨(dú)。我必須為下議院說(shuō)上幾句，他們無(wú)所畏懼、寬容大度地經(jīng)受住了自己的震驚。沒(méi)有一個(gè)男人能夠比他們更善良、更公正地對(duì)待一個(gè)“侵犯專利權(quán)者” 了。當(dāng)你們聽(tīng)到有人在這兒試圖貶低英國(guó)，那么請(qǐng)記住，英國(guó)是第一個(gè)賦予婦女以選舉權(quán)的大國(guó)，英國(guó)男人以公正的態(tài)度，歡迎一個(gè)在美國(guó)出生的婦女進(jìn)入下議院。對(duì)此，至少這位婦女將永志不忘。
婦女和政治——一些婦女終生從政，而且還干得不賴。在我國(guó)的蘭加斯特王朝時(shí)期，聽(tīng)說(shuō)國(guó)王之所以能成為國(guó)王是由于議會(huì)的作用——國(guó)王是借助議會(huì)來(lái)實(shí)施統(tǒng)治的。后來(lái)，亨利八世那個(gè)老惡棍接受了蘭加斯特王朝的由議會(huì)實(shí)行統(tǒng)治的原則，但是他需要的原則樣式截然不同。他將議會(huì)變成了他個(gè)人意志的工具：他壓迫并恐嚇議會(huì)完全按照他的意志行事。在他的授意下，議會(huì)暫時(shí)在精神上對(duì)抗并壓倒了其他所有的權(quán)力機(jī)構(gòu)。他的所作所為沒(méi)有一位國(guó)王或一個(gè)議會(huì)敢于嘗試——聞所未聞，糟糕透頂。
接著，伊麗莎白登基。確實(shí)，她曾責(zé)備議會(huì)多管閑事，她認(rèn)為這些事情同議會(huì)無(wú)關(guān)。她不止一次嚴(yán)厲地批評(píng)她的下議院議長(zhǎng)，但是她的爭(zhēng)吵從不過(guò)分，她能運(yùn)用明智的讓步了結(jié)爭(zhēng)執(zhí)。換句話說(shuō)，她從不讓議會(huì)下不了臺(tái)。這就是我相信沒(méi)有一個(gè)明智的婦女會(huì)無(wú)視某些男人的疑慮而我行我素的原因。
那么，我們?yōu)楹我獜恼?？從政意義何在？其意義遠(yuǎn)比我們自身更重要。叔本華有關(guān)婦女的所有論述差不多都是錯(cuò)誤的——他寫得很多，但有一點(diǎn)他是正確的。他在談到婦女時(shí)說(shuō)，“對(duì)她來(lái)說(shuō)，人類比個(gè)人更重要”，我相信這是千真萬(wàn)確的。我覺(jué)得，由于某種原因，我們確實(shí)關(guān)心整個(gè)人類。我們特有的本性使我們向前看；婦女沒(méi)有理由要往后看——幸運(yùn)的是我們沒(méi)有參與政治的經(jīng)歷；我們有的只是性別立法的錯(cuò)誤，這種立法根本談不上指導(dǎo)我們的行動(dòng)。
我們應(yīng)該懂得要避免什么。一味責(zé)備男人徒勞無(wú)益——是我們塑造了他們?，F(xiàn)在，我們理應(yīng)努力使我們自己——男人的塑造者們?cè)趯?lái)?yè)?dān)負(fù)更多一些的責(zé)任。我們認(rèn)識(shí)到無(wú)論是男性或女性都無(wú)法單獨(dú)進(jìn)行統(tǒng)治。我相信，文明之所以淪落到如此可悲的地步，原因之一就是政府內(nèi)只有一種性別。我們不允許再重蹈覆轍了。
我可以想象沒(méi)有比一個(gè)由男人統(tǒng)治的世界或者一個(gè)由婦女統(tǒng)治的世界更糟糕的了——但我可以看到兩者攜手并進(jìn)，并且使建筑在基督教精神而不是勢(shì)力基礎(chǔ)上的文明更加名副其實(shí)。文明是建立在公正和仁慈基礎(chǔ)上的。我覺(jué)得男人有更強(qiáng)的正義感，而我們婦女有更強(qiáng)的仁慈感。他們應(yīng)當(dāng)采用我們的仁慈，我們應(yīng)當(dāng)采用他們的正義。我們就像是剛上任的新官，讓我們共同管好這個(gè)世界。
WOMEN IN POLITICS
April9，1922
My entrance into the House of Commons was not，as some thought，in the nature of a revolution.Itwas an evolution.My husband was the one whostarted me off on this downward path—from thefireside to public life.If I have helped the cause ofwomen he is the one to thank，not me.
A woman in the House of Commons！It was almost enough to have broken up the House.Idon't blame them—it was equally hard on thewoman as it was on them.A pioneer may be a pic－turesque figure，but they are often rather lonelyones.I must say for the House of Commons，theybore their shock with dauntless decency.No bodyof men could have been kinder and fairer to a“pi-rate”than they were.When you hear people overhere trying to run down England，please rememberthat England was the first large country to give thevote to women and that the men of England wel-comed an American born woman in the House witha fairness and a justice which，at least，this womannever will forget.
Women and politics—some women have al－ways been in politics，and have not done badly，ei- ther.It was when we had the Lancastrian Kingsthat it was said that the Kings were made Kings byact of Parliament—they did rule by means of Par－liament.Then Henry VIII，that old scalawag，ac-cepted the principles of the Lancastrians to rule byParliament，but he wanted the principle in an en－tirely different way.He made Parliament the en－gine of his will：he pressed or frightened it into do－ing anything he wished.Under his guidance Parlia－ment defied and crushed all other powers，spiritu-ally and temporally，and he did things which noKing or Parliament ever attempted to do—thingsunheard of and terrible.
Then Elizabeth came along.It is true shescolded her Parliament for meddling with matterswith which，in her opinion，they had no concern，and more than once soundly rated the Speaker ofher Commons，but she never carried her quarrelstoo far，and was able to end her disputes by someclever compromise；in other words，she never letParliament down，and that is what I don't believeany wise woman will do in spite of the fears ofsome of the men.
Now，why are we in politics？What is it allabout？Something much bigger than ourselves.Schopenhauer was wrong in nearly everything hewrote about women—and he wrote a lot，but hewas right in one thing.He said，in speaking ofwomen，“the race is to her more than the individu- al，”and I belive that it is true.I feel somehow wedo care about the race as a whole，our very naturemakes us take a forward vision；there is no reasonwhy women should look back—mercifully we haveno political past；we have all the mistakes of sexlegislation with its appalling failures to guide us.
We should know what to avoid，it is no useblaming the men—we made them what they are—and now it is up to us to try and make ourselves—the makers of men—a little more responsible in thefuture.We realize that no one sex can governalone.I believe that one of the reasons why civi－lization has failed so lamentably is that it has had aone－sided government.Don't let us make the mis－take of ever allowing that to happen again.
I can conceive of nothing worse than man-governed world except a woman－governed world—but I can see the combination of the two going for- ward and making civilization more worthy of thename of civilization based on Christianity，notforce.A civilization based on justice.and mercy.Ifeel men have a greater sense of justice and we ofmercy.They must borrow our mercy and we mustuse their justice.We are new brooms；let us seethat we sweep the right rooms.
阿斯特夫人
婦女從政
1922年4月9日
我進(jìn)入下議院，并不像某些人認(rèn)為的那樣具有革命的性質(zhì)。這是一種進(jìn)化。我的丈夫，是他促使我走上這條道路——從家務(wù)走向公務(wù)。要說(shuō)我?guī)椭藡D女事業(yè)的話，值得感謝的人是他，而不是我。一個(gè)婦女進(jìn)了下議院！這幾乎足以震動(dòng)下議院。我并不責(zé)備他們——這件事使婦女和他們一樣極為難堪。先驅(qū)者也許光彩照人，但他們通常頗為孤獨(dú)。我必須為下議院說(shuō)上幾句，他們無(wú)所畏懼、寬容大度地經(jīng)受住了自己的震驚。沒(méi)有一個(gè)男人能夠比他們更善良、更公正地對(duì)待一個(gè)“侵犯專利權(quán)者” 了。當(dāng)你們聽(tīng)到有人在這兒試圖貶低英國(guó)，那么請(qǐng)記住，英國(guó)是第一個(gè)賦予婦女以選舉權(quán)的大國(guó)，英國(guó)男人以公正的態(tài)度，歡迎一個(gè)在美國(guó)出生的婦女進(jìn)入下議院。對(duì)此，至少這位婦女將永志不忘。
婦女和政治——一些婦女終生從政，而且還干得不賴。在我國(guó)的蘭加斯特王朝時(shí)期，聽(tīng)說(shuō)國(guó)王之所以能成為國(guó)王是由于議會(huì)的作用——國(guó)王是借助議會(huì)來(lái)實(shí)施統(tǒng)治的。后來(lái)，亨利八世那個(gè)老惡棍接受了蘭加斯特王朝的由議會(huì)實(shí)行統(tǒng)治的原則，但是他需要的原則樣式截然不同。他將議會(huì)變成了他個(gè)人意志的工具：他壓迫并恐嚇議會(huì)完全按照他的意志行事。在他的授意下，議會(huì)暫時(shí)在精神上對(duì)抗并壓倒了其他所有的權(quán)力機(jī)構(gòu)。他的所作所為沒(méi)有一位國(guó)王或一個(gè)議會(huì)敢于嘗試——聞所未聞，糟糕透頂。
接著，伊麗莎白登基。確實(shí)，她曾責(zé)備議會(huì)多管閑事，她認(rèn)為這些事情同議會(huì)無(wú)關(guān)。她不止一次嚴(yán)厲地批評(píng)她的下議院議長(zhǎng)，但是她的爭(zhēng)吵從不過(guò)分，她能運(yùn)用明智的讓步了結(jié)爭(zhēng)執(zhí)。換句話說(shuō)，她從不讓議會(huì)下不了臺(tái)。這就是我相信沒(méi)有一個(gè)明智的婦女會(huì)無(wú)視某些男人的疑慮而我行我素的原因。
那么，我們?yōu)楹我獜恼?？從政意義何在？其意義遠(yuǎn)比我們自身更重要。叔本華有關(guān)婦女的所有論述差不多都是錯(cuò)誤的——他寫得很多，但有一點(diǎn)他是正確的。他在談到婦女時(shí)說(shuō)，“對(duì)她來(lái)說(shuō)，人類比個(gè)人更重要”，我相信這是千真萬(wàn)確的。我覺(jué)得，由于某種原因，我們確實(shí)關(guān)心整個(gè)人類。我們特有的本性使我們向前看；婦女沒(méi)有理由要往后看——幸運(yùn)的是我們沒(méi)有參與政治的經(jīng)歷；我們有的只是性別立法的錯(cuò)誤，這種立法根本談不上指導(dǎo)我們的行動(dòng)。
我們應(yīng)該懂得要避免什么。一味責(zé)備男人徒勞無(wú)益——是我們塑造了他們?，F(xiàn)在，我們理應(yīng)努力使我們自己——男人的塑造者們?cè)趯?lái)?yè)?dān)負(fù)更多一些的責(zé)任。我們認(rèn)識(shí)到無(wú)論是男性或女性都無(wú)法單獨(dú)進(jìn)行統(tǒng)治。我相信，文明之所以淪落到如此可悲的地步，原因之一就是政府內(nèi)只有一種性別。我們不允許再重蹈覆轍了。
我可以想象沒(méi)有比一個(gè)由男人統(tǒng)治的世界或者一個(gè)由婦女統(tǒng)治的世界更糟糕的了——但我可以看到兩者攜手并進(jìn)，并且使建筑在基督教精神而不是勢(shì)力基礎(chǔ)上的文明更加名副其實(shí)。文明是建立在公正和仁慈基礎(chǔ)上的。我覺(jué)得男人有更強(qiáng)的正義感，而我們婦女有更強(qiáng)的仁慈感。他們應(yīng)當(dāng)采用我們的仁慈，我們應(yīng)當(dāng)采用他們的正義。我們就像是剛上任的新官，讓我們共同管好這個(gè)世界。