“Who are these Suffragetae?” asked the Emperor. “Since I came back from my Pannonian expedition I have heard of nothing else but their excesses and demonstrations.”

“They are a political sect of very recent origin, and their aim seems to be to get a big share of political authority into their hands. The means they are taking to convince us of their fitness to help in making and administering the laws consist of wild indulgence in tumult, destruction, and defiance of all authority. They have already damaged some of the most historically valuable of our public treasures, which can never be replaced.”

“Is it possible that the sex which we hold in such honour and for which we feel such admiration can produce such hordes of Furies?” asked the Emperor.

“It takes all sorts to make a sex,” observed the Master of the Ceremonies, who possessed a certain amount of worldly wisdom; “also,” he continued anxiously, “it takes very little to upset a gala programme.”