A large part of the present anxiety to improve the education of girls and women is also due to the conviction that the political disabilities of women will not be maintained.
The assertion of failure coming from such persons does not mean that Mr. Mill failed to promote the practical success of those objects the advocacy of which forms the chief feature of his political writings.
If, however, the success of a politician is to be measured by the degree in which he is able personally to influence the course of politics, and attach to himself a school of political thought, then Mr. Mill, in the best meaning of the words, has succeeded.
What is true of Mr. Mill's influence on the women's-suffrage question is true also of the other political movements in which he took an active interest.
Of the influence of Mr. Mill's personal character on those who were his political associates, it is difficult to speak too warmly.