Ours is the old, old story of every uprising race or class or order. The work of elevation must be wrought by ourselves or not at all.

She was the author of a number of books and essays including The Intuitive Theory of Morals (1855) On the Pursuits of Women (1863) Cities of the Past (1864) Criminals Idiots Women and Minors (1869) Darwinism in Morals (1871) and Scientific Spirit of the Age (1888). Frances Power Cobbe (4 December 1822 – 5 April 1904) was an Irish writer social reformer anti-vivisection activist and leading suffragette.