Conjugal fidelity was disregarded; maternity was held in reproach; family and home were alike corrupted.

Domestic purity no longer bound society together.

France was motherless; the children broke loose; and the Revolution burst forth, "amidst the yells and the fierce violence of women." [1120] But the terrible lesson was disregarded, and again and again France has grievously suffered from the want of that discipline, obedience, self-control, and self-respect which can only be truly learnt at home.
It is said that the Third Napoleon attributed the recent powerlessness of France, which left her helpless and bleeding at the feet of her conquerors, to the frivolity and lack of principle of the people, as well as to their love of pleasure--which, however, it must be confessed, he himself did not a little to foster.

It would thus seem that the discipline which France still needs to learn, if she would be good and great, is that indicated by the First Napoleon--home education by good mothers.
The influence of woman is the same everywhere.

Her condition influences the morals, manners, and character of the people in all countries.
Where she is debased, society is debased; where she is morally pure and enlightened, society will be proportionately elevated.
Hence, to instruct woman is to instruct man; to elevate her character is to raise his own; to enlarge her mental freedom is to extend and secure that of the whole community.