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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences
+1815-1897, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897
+
+Author: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+Release Date: April 10, 2004 [EBook #11982]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Grenet and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Elizabeth Cady Stanton]
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE
+
+REMINISCENCES 1815-1897
+
+
+ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
+
+
+
+"Social science affirms that woman's place in society marks the level of
+civilization."
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME TO
+
+SUSAN B. ANTHONY,
+
+MY STEADFAST FRIEND FOR HALF A CENTURY.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I. CHILDHOOD
+II. SCHOOL DAYS
+III. GIRLHOOD
+IV. LIFE AT PETERBORO
+V. OUR WEDDING JOURNEY
+VI. HOMEWARD BOUND
+VII. MOTHERHOOD
+VIII. BOSTON AND CHELSEA
+IX. THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION
+X. SUSAN B. ANTHONY
+XI. SUSAN B. ANTHONY (_Continued_)
+XII. MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE
+XIII. REFORMS AND MOBS
+XIV. VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
+XV. WOMEN AS PATRIOTS
+XVI. PIONEER LIFE IN KANSAS--OUR NEWSPAPER "THE
+REVOLUTION"
+XVII. LYCEUMS AND LECTURERS
+XVIII. WESTWARD HO!
+XIX. THE SPIRIT OF '76
+XX. WRITING "THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE"
+XXI. IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
+XXII. REFORMS AND REFORMERS IN GREAT BRITAIN
+XXIII. WOMAN AND THEOLOGY
+XXIV. ENGLAND AND FRANCE REVISITED
+XXV. THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN
+XXVI. MY LAST VISIT TO ENGLAND
+XXVII. SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLASS OF 1832--THE
+WOMAN'S BIBLE
+XXVIII. MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY
+INDEX OF NAMES
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF PORTRAITS.
+
+The Author, _Frontispiece_
+Margaret Livingston Cady
+Judge Daniel Cady
+Henry Brewster Stanton
+The Author and Daughter
+The Author and Son
+Susan B. Anthony
+Elizabeth Smith Miller
+Children and Grandchildren
+The Author, Mrs. Blatch, and Nora
+The Author, Mrs. Lawrence, and Robert Livingston Stanton
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CHILDHOOD.
+
+
+The psychical growth of a child is not influenced by days and years, but
+by the impressions passing events make on its mind. What may prove a
+sudden awakening to one, giving an impulse in a certain direction that
+may last for years, may make no impression on another. People wonder why
+the children of the same family differ so widely, though they have had
+the same domestic discipline, the same school and church teaching, and
+have grown up under the same influences and with the same environments.
+As well wonder why lilies and lilacs in the same latitude are not all
+alike in color and equally fragrant. Children differ as widely as these
+in the primal elements of their physical and psychical life.
+
+Who can estimate the power of antenatal influences, or the child's
+surroundings in its earliest years, the effect of some passing word or
+sight on one, that makes no impression on another? The unhappiness of
+one child under a certain home discipline is not inconsistent with the
+content of another under this same discipline. One, yearning for broader
+freedom, is in a chronic condition of rebellion; the other, more easily
+satisfied, quietly accepts the situation. Everything is seen from a
+different standpoint; everything takes its color from the mind of the
+beholder.
+
+I am moved to recall what I can of my early days, what I thought and
+felt, that grown people may have a better understanding of children and
+do more for their happiness and development. I see so much tyranny
+exercised over children, even by well-disposed parents, and in so many
+varied forms,--a tyranny to which these parents are themselves
+insensible,--that I desire to paint my joys and sorrows in as vivid
+colors as possible, in the hope that I may do something to defend the
+weak from the strong. People never dream of all that is going on in the
+little heads of the young, for few adults are given to introspection,
+and those who are incapable of recalling their own feelings under
+restraint and disappointment can have no appreciation of the sufferings
+of children who can neither describe nor analyze what they feel. In
+defending themselves against injustice they are as helpless as dumb
+animals. What is insignificant to their elders is often to them a source
+of great joy or sorrow.
+
+With several generations of vigorous, enterprising ancestors behind me,
+I commenced the struggle of life under favorable circumstances on the
+12th day of November, 1815, the same year that my father, Daniel Cady, a
+distinguished lawyer and judge in the State of New York, was elected to
+Congress. Perhaps the excitement of a political campaign, in which my
+mother took the deepest interest, may have had an influence on my
+prenatal life and given me the strong desire that I have always felt to
+participate in the rights and duties of government.
+
+My father was a man of firm character and unimpeachable integrity, and
+yet sensitive and modest to a painful degree. There were but two places
+in which he felt at ease--in the courthouse and at his own fireside.
+Though gentle and tender, he had such a dignified repose and reserve of
+manner that, as children, we regarded him with fear rather than
+affection.
+
+My mother, Margaret Livingston, a tall, queenly looking woman, was
+courageous, self-reliant, and at her ease under all circumstances and in
+all places. She was the daughter of Colonel James Livingston, who took
+an active part in the War of the Revolution.
+
+Colonel Livingston was stationed at West Point when Arnold made the
+attempt to betray that stronghold into the hands of the enemy. In the
+absence of General Washington and his superior officer, he took the
+responsibility of firing into the _Vulture_, a suspicious looking
+British vessel that lay at anchor near the opposite bank of the Hudson
+River. It was a fatal shot for André, the British spy, with whom Arnold
+was then consummating his treason. Hit between wind and water, the
+vessel spread her sails and hastened down the river, leaving André, with
+his papers, to be captured while Arnold made his escape through the
+lines, before his treason was suspected.
+
+On General Washington's return to West Point, he sent for my grandfather
+and reprimanded him for acting in so important a matter without orders,
+thereby making himself liable to court-martial; but, after fully
+impressing the young officer with the danger of such self-sufficiency on
+ordinary occasions, he admitted that a most fortunate shot had been sent
+into the _Vulture_, "for," he said, "we are in no condition just now to
+defend ourselves against the British forces in New York, and the
+capture of this spy has saved us."
+
+My mother had the military idea of government, but her children, like
+their grandfather, were disposed to assume the responsibility of their
+own actions; thus the ancestral traits in mother and children modified,
+in a measure, the dangerous tendencies in each.
+
+Our parents were as kind, indulgent, and considerate as the Puritan
+ideas of those days permitted, but fear, rather than love, of God and
+parents alike, predominated. Add to this our timidity in our intercourse
+with servants and teachers, our dread of the ever present devil, and the
+reader will see that, under such conditions, nothing but strong
+self-will and a good share of hope and mirthfulness could have saved an
+ordinary child from becoming a mere nullity.
+
+The first event engraved on my memory was the birth of a sister when I
+was four years old. It was a cold morning in January when the brawny
+Scotch nurse carried me to see the little stranger, whose advent was a
+matter of intense interest to me for many weeks after. The large,
+pleasant room with the white curtains and bright wood fire on the
+hearth, where panada, catnip, and all kinds of little messes which we
+were allowed to taste were kept warm, was the center of attraction for
+the older children. I heard so many friends remark, "What a pity it is
+she's a girl!" that I felt a kind of compassion for the little baby.
+True, our family consisted of five girls and only one boy, but I did not
+understand at that time that girls were considered an inferior order of
+beings.
+
+To form some idea of my surroundings at this time, imagine a two-story
+white frame house with a hall through the middle, rooms on either side,
+and a large back building with grounds on the side and rear, which
+joined the garden of our good Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Simon
+Hosack, of whom I shall have more to say in another chapter. Our
+favorite resorts in the house were the garret and cellar. In the former
+were barrels of hickory nuts, and, on a long shelf, large cakes of maple
+sugar and all kinds of dried herbs and sweet flag; spinning wheels, a
+number of small white cotton bags filled with bundles, marked in ink,
+"silk," "cotton," "flannel," "calico," etc., as well as ancient
+masculine and feminine costumes. Here we would crack the nuts, nibble
+the sharp edges of the maple sugar, chew some favorite herb, play ball
+with the bags, whirl the old spinning wheels, dress up in our ancestors'
+clothes, and take a bird's-eye view of the surrounding country from an
+enticing scuttle hole. This was forbidden ground; but, nevertheless, we
+often went there on the sly, which only made the little escapades more
+enjoyable.
+
+The cellar of our house was filled, in winter, with barrels of apples,
+vegetables, salt meats, cider, butter, pounding barrels, washtubs, etc.,
+offering admirable nooks for playing hide and seek. Two tallow candles
+threw a faint light over the scene on certain occasions. This cellar was
+on a level with a large kitchen where we played blind man's buff and
+other games when the day's work was done. These two rooms are the center
+of many of the merriest memories of my childhood days.
+
+I can recall three colored men, Abraham, Peter, and Jacob, who acted as
+menservants in our youth. In turn they would sometimes play on the banjo
+for us to dance, taking real enjoyment in our games. They are all at
+rest now with "Old Uncle Ned in the place where the good niggers go."
+Our nurses, Lockey Danford, Polly Bell, Mary Dunn, and Cornelia
+Nickeloy--peace to their ashes--were the only shadows on the gayety of
+these winter evenings; for their chief delight was to hurry us off to
+bed, that they might receive their beaux or make short calls in the
+neighborhood. My memory of them is mingled with no sentiment of
+gratitude or affection. In expressing their opinion of us in after
+years, they said we were a very troublesome, obstinate, disobedient set
+of children. I have no doubt we were in constant rebellion against their
+petty tyranny. Abraham, Peter, and Jacob viewed us in a different light,
+and I have the most pleasant recollections of their kind services.
+
+In the winter, outside the house, we had the snow with which to build
+statues and make forts, and huge piles of wood covered with ice, which
+we called the Alps, so difficult were they of ascent and descent. There
+we would climb up and down by the hour, if not interrupted, which,
+however, was generally the case. It always seemed to me that, in the
+height of our enthusiasm, we were invariably summoned to some
+disagreeable duty, which would appear to show that thus early I keenly
+enjoyed outdoor life. Theodore Tilton has thus described the place where
+I was born: "Birthplace is secondary parentage, and transmits character.
+Johnstown was more famous half a century ago than since; for then,
+though small, it was a marked intellectual center; and now, though
+large, it is an unmarked manufacturing town. Before the birth of
+Elizabeth Cady it was the vice-ducal seat of Sir William Johnson, the
+famous English negotiator with the Indians. During her girlhood it was
+an arena for the intellectual wrestlings of Kent, Tompkins, Spencer,
+Elisha Williams, and Abraham Van Vechten, who, as lawyers, were among
+the chiefest of their time. It is now devoted mainly to the fabrication
+of steel springs and buckskin gloves. So, like Wordsworth's early star,
+it has faded into the light of common day. But Johnstown retains one of
+its ancient splendors--a glory still fresh as at the foundation of the
+world. Standing on its hills, one looks off upon a country of enameled
+meadow lands, that melt away southward toward the Mohawk, and northward
+to the base of those grand mountains which are 'God's monument over the
+grave of John Brown.'"
+
+Harold Frederic's novel, "In the Valley," contains many descriptions of
+this region that are true to nature, as I remember the Mohawk Valley,
+for I first knew it not so many years after the scenes which he lays
+there. Before I was old enough to take in the glory of this scenery and
+its classic associations, Johnstown was to me a gloomy-looking town. The
+middle of the streets was paved with large cobblestones, over which the
+farmer's wagons rattled from morning till night, while the sidewalks
+were paved with very small cobblestones, over which we carefully picked
+our way, so that free and graceful walking was out of the question. The
+streets were lined with solemn poplar trees, from which small yellow
+worms were continually dangling down. Next to the Prince of Darkness, I
+feared these worms. They were harmless, but the sight of one made me
+tremble. So many people shared in this feeling that the poplars were all
+cut down and elms planted in their stead. The Johnstown academy and
+churches were large square buildings, painted white, surrounded by these
+same sombre poplars, each edifice having a doleful bell which seemed to
+be ever tolling for school, funerals, church, or prayer meetings. Next
+to the worms, those clanging bells filled me with the utmost dread; they
+seemed like so many warnings of an eternal future. Visions of the
+Inferno were strongly impressed on my childish imagination. It was
+thought, in those days, that firm faith in hell and the devil was the
+greatest help to virtue. It certainly made me very unhappy whenever my
+mind dwelt on such teachings, and I have always had my doubts of the
+virtue that is based on the fear of punishment.
+
+Perhaps I may be pardoned a word devoted to my appearance in those days.
+I have been told that I was a plump little girl, with very fair skin,
+rosy cheeks, good features, dark-brown hair, and laughing blue eyes. A
+student in my father's office, the late Henry Bayard of Delaware (an
+uncle of our recent Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Thomas F.
+Bayard), told me one day, after conning my features carefully, that I
+had one defect which he could remedy. "Your eyebrows should be darker
+and heavier," said he, "and if you will let me shave them once or twice,
+you will be much improved." I consented, and, slight as my eyebrows
+were, they seemed to have had some expression, for the loss of them had
+a most singular effect on my appearance. Everybody, including even the
+operator, laughed at my odd-looking face, and I was in the depths of
+humiliation during the period while my eyebrows were growing out again.
+It is scarcely necessary for me to add that I never allowed the young
+man to repeat the experiment, although strongly urged to do so.
+
+I cannot recall how or when I conquered the alphabet, words in three
+letters, the multiplication table, the points of the compass, the
+chicken pox, whooping cough, measles, and scarlet fever. All these
+unhappy incidents of childhood left but little impression on my mind. I
+have, however, most pleasant memories of the good spinster, Maria Yost,
+who patiently taught three generations of children the rudiments of the
+English language, and introduced us to the pictures in "Murray's
+Spelling-book," where Old Father Time, with his scythe, and the farmer
+stoning the boys in his apple trees, gave rise in my mind to many
+serious reflections. Miss Yost was plump and rosy, with fair hair, and
+had a merry twinkle in her blue eyes, and she took us by very easy
+stages through the old-fashioned school-books. The interesting Readers
+children now have were unknown sixty years ago. We did not reach the
+temple of knowledge by the flowery paths of ease in which our
+descendants now walk.
+
+I still have a perfect vision of myself and sisters, as we stood up in
+the classes, with our toes at the cracks in the floor, all dressed alike
+in bright red flannel, black alpaca aprons, and, around the neck, a
+starched ruffle that, through a lack of skill on the part of either the
+laundress or the nurse who sewed them in, proved a constant source of
+discomfort to us. I have since seen full-grown men, under slighter
+provocation than we endured, jerk off a collar, tear it in two, and
+throw it to the winds, chased by the most soul-harrowing expletives. But
+we were sternly rebuked for complaining, and if we ventured to introduce
+our little fingers between the delicate skin and the irritating linen,
+our hands were slapped and the ruffle readjusted a degree closer. Our
+Sunday dresses were relieved with a black sprig and white aprons. We had
+red cloaks, red hoods, red mittens, and red stockings. For one's self to
+be all in red six months of the year was bad enough, but to have this
+costume multiplied by three was indeed monotonous. I had such an
+aversion to that color that I used to rebel regularly at the beginning
+of each season when new dresses were purchased, until we finally passed
+into an exquisite shade of blue. No words could do justice to my dislike
+of those red dresses. My grandfather's detestation of the British
+redcoats must have descended to me. My childhood's antipathy to wearing
+red enabled me later to comprehend the feelings of a little niece, who
+hated everything pea green, because she had once heard the saying, "neat
+but not gaudy, as the devil said when he painted his tail pea green." So
+when a friend brought her a cravat of that color she threw it on the
+floor and burst into tears, saying, "I could not wear that, for it is
+the color of the devil's tail." I sympathized with the child and had it
+changed for the hue she liked. Although we cannot always understand the
+ground for children's preferences, it is often well to heed them.
+
+I am told that I was pensively looking out of the nursery window one
+day, when Mary Dunn, the Scotch nurse, who was something of a
+philosopher, and a stern Presbyterian, said: "Child, what are you
+thinking about; are you planning some new form of mischief?" "No, Mary,"
+I replied, "I was wondering why it was that everything we like to do is
+a sin, and that everything we dislike is commanded by God or someone on
+earth. I am so tired of that everlasting no! no! no! At school, at home,
+everywhere it is _no_! Even at church all the commandments begin 'Thou
+shalt not.' I suppose God will say 'no' to all we like in the next
+world, just as you do here." Mary was dreadfully shocked at my
+dissatisfaction with the things of time and prospective eternity, and
+exhorted me to cultivate the virtues of obedience and humility.
+
+I well remember the despair I felt in those years, as I took in the
+whole situation, over the constant cribbing and crippling of a child's
+life. I suppose I found fit language in which to express my thoughts,
+for Mary Dunn told me, years after, how our discussion roused my sister
+Margaret, who was an attentive listener. I must have set forth our
+wrongs in clear, unmistakable terms; for Margaret exclaimed one day, "I
+tell you what to do. Hereafter let us act as we choose, without asking."
+"Then," said I, "we shall be punished." "Suppose we are," said she, "we
+shall have had our fun at any rate, and that is better than to mind the
+everlasting 'no' and not have any fun at all." Her logic seemed
+unanswerable, so together we gradually acted on her suggestions. Having
+less imagination than I, she took a common-sense view of life and
+suffered nothing from anticipation of troubles, while my sorrows were
+intensified fourfold by innumerable apprehensions of possible
+exigencies.
+
+Our nursery, a large room over a back building, had three barred windows
+reaching nearly to the floor. Two of these opened on a gently slanting
+roof over a veranda. In our night robes, on warm summer evenings we
+could, by dint of skillful twisting and compressing, get out between the
+bars, and there, snugly braced against the house, we would sit and enjoy
+the moon and stars and what sounds might reach us from the streets,
+while the nurse, gossiping at the back door, imagined we were safely
+asleep.
+
+I have a confused memory of being often under punishment for what, in
+those days, were called "tantrums." I suppose they were really
+justifiable acts of rebellion against the tyranny of those in authority.
+I have often listened since, with real satisfaction, to what some of our
+friends had to say of the high-handed manner in which sister Margaret
+and I defied all the transient orders and strict rules laid down for our
+guidance. If we had observed them we might as well have been embalmed as
+mummies, for all the pleasure and freedom we should have had in our
+childhood. As very little was then done for the amusement of children,
+happy were those who _conscientiously_ took the liberty of amusing
+themselves.
+
+One charming feature of our village was a stream of water, called the
+Cayadutta, which ran through the north end, in which it was our delight
+to walk on the broad slate stones when the water was low, in order to
+pick up pretty pebbles. These joys were also forbidden, though indulged
+in as opportunity afforded, especially as sister Margaret's philosophy
+was found to work successfully and we had finally risen above our
+infantile fear of punishment.
+
+Much of my freedom at this time was due to this sister, who afterward
+became the wife of Colonel Duncan McMartin of Iowa. I can see her now,
+hat in hand, her long curls flying in the wind, her nose slightly
+retroussé, her large dark eyes flashing with glee, and her small
+straight mouth so expressive of determination. Though two years my
+junior, she was larger and stronger than I and more fearless and
+self-reliant. She was always ready to start when any pleasure offered,
+and, if I hesitated, she would give me a jerk and say, emphatically:
+"Oh, come along!" and away we went.
+
+About this time we entered the Johnstown Academy, where we made the
+acquaintance of the daughters of the hotel keeper and the county
+sheriff. They were a few years my senior, but, as I was ahead of them in
+all my studies, the difference of age was somewhat equalized and we
+became fast friends. This acquaintance opened to us two new sources of
+enjoyment--the freedom of the hotel during "court week" (a great event
+in village life) and the exploration of the county jail. Our Scotch
+nurse had told us so many thrilling tales of castles, prisons, and
+dungeons in the Old World that, to see the great keys and iron doors,
+the handcuffs and chains, and the prisoners in their cells seemed like a
+veritable visit to Mary's native land. We made frequent visits to the
+jail and became deeply concerned about the fate of the prisoners, who
+were greatly pleased with our expressions of sympathy and our gifts of
+cake and candy. In time we became interested in the trials and sentences
+of prisoners, and would go to the courthouse and listen to the
+proceedings. Sometimes we would slip into the hotel where the judges and
+lawyers dined, and help our little friend wait on table. The rushing of
+servants to and fro, the calling of guests, the scolding of servants in
+the kitchen, the banging of doors, the general hubbub, the noise and
+clatter, were all idealized by me into one of those royal festivals Mary
+so often described. To be allowed to carry plates of bread and butter,
+pie and cheese I counted a high privilege. But more especially I enjoyed
+listening to the conversations in regard to the probable fate of our
+friends the prisoners in the jail. On one occasion I projected a few
+remarks into a conversation between two lawyers, when one of them turned
+abruptly to me and said, "Child, you'd better attend to your business;
+bring me a glass of water." I replied indignantly, "I am not a servant;
+I am here for fun."
+
+In all these escapades we were followed by Peter, black as coal and six
+feet in height. It seems to me now that his chief business was to
+discover our whereabouts, get us home to dinner, and take us back to
+school. Fortunately he was overflowing with curiosity and not averse to
+lingering a while where anything of interest was to be seen or heard,
+and, as we were deemed perfectly safe under his care, no questions were
+asked when we got to the house, if we had been with him. He had a long
+head and, through his diplomacy, we escaped much disagreeable
+surveillance. Peter was very fond of attending court. All the lawyers
+knew him, and wherever Peter went, the three little girls in his charge
+went, too. Thus, with constant visits to the jail, courthouse, and my
+father's office, I gleaned some idea of the danger of violating the law.
+
+The great events of the year were the Christmas holidays, the Fourth of
+July, and "general training," as the review of the county militia was
+then called. The winter gala days are associated, in my memory, with
+hanging up stockings and with turkeys, mince pies, sweet cider, and
+sleighrides by moonlight. My earliest recollections of those happy days,
+when schools were closed, books laid aside, and unusual liberties
+allowed, center in that large cellar kitchen to which I have already
+referred. There we spent many winter evenings in uninterrupted
+enjoyment. A large fireplace with huge logs shed warmth and cheerfulness
+around. In one corner sat Peter sawing his violin, while our youthful
+neighbors danced with us and played blindman's buff almost every evening
+during the vacation. The most interesting character in this game was a
+black boy called Jacob (Peter's lieutenant), who made things lively for
+us by always keeping one eye open--a wise precaution to guard himself
+from danger, and to keep us on the jump. Hickory nuts, sweet cider, and
+_olie-koeks_ (a Dutch name for a fried cake with raisins inside) were
+our refreshments when there came a lull in the fun.
+
+As St. Nicholas was supposed to come down the chimney, our stockings
+were pinned on a broomstick, laid across two chairs in front of the
+fireplace. We retired on Christmas Eve with the most pleasing
+anticipations of what would be in our stockings next morning. The
+thermometer in that latitude was often twenty degrees below zero, yet,
+bright and early, we would run downstairs in our bare feet over the cold
+floors to carry stockings, broom, etc., to the nursery. The gorgeous
+presents that St. Nicholas now distributes show that he, too, has been
+growing up with the country. The boys and girls of 1897 will laugh when
+they hear of the contents of our stockings in 1823. There was a little
+paper of candy, one of raisins, another, of nuts, a red apple, an
+_olie-koek_, and a bright silver quarter of a dollar in the toe. If a
+child had been guilty of any erratic performances during the year, which
+was often my case, a long stick would protrude from the stocking; if
+particularly good, an illustrated catechism or the New Testament would
+appear, showing that the St. Nicholas of that time held decided views
+on discipline and ethics.
+
+During the day we would take a drive over the snow-clad hills and
+valleys in a long red lumber sleigh. All the children it could hold made
+the forests echo with their songs and laughter. The sleigh bells and
+Peter's fine tenor voice added to the chorus seemed to chant, as we
+passed, "Merry Christmas" to the farmers' children and to all we met on
+the highway.
+
+Returning home, we were allowed, as a great Christmas treat, to watch
+all Peter's preparations for dinner. Attired in a white apron and
+turban, holding in his hand a tin candlestick the size of a dinner
+plate, containing a tallow candle, with stately step he marched into the
+spacious cellar, with Jacob and three little girls dressed in red
+flannel at his heels. As the farmers paid the interest on their
+mortgages in barrels of pork, headcheese, poultry, eggs, and cider, the
+cellars were well crowded for the winter, making the master of an
+establishment quite indifferent to all questions of finance. We heard
+nothing in those days of greenbacks, silver coinage, or a gold basis.
+Laden with vegetables, butter, eggs, and a magnificent turkey, Peter and
+his followers returned to the kitchen. There, seated on a big ironing
+table, we watched the dressing and roasting of the bird in a tin oven in
+front of the fire. Jacob peeled the vegetables, we all sang, and Peter
+told us marvelous stories. For tea he made flapjacks, baked in a pan
+with a long handle, which he turned by throwing the cake up and
+skillfully catching it descending.
+
+Peter was a devout Episcopalian and took great pleasure in helping the
+young people decorate the church. He would take us with him and show us
+how to make evergreen wreaths. Like Mary's lamb, where'er he went we
+were sure to go. His love for us was unbounded and fully returned. He
+was the only being, visible or invisible, of whom we had no fear. We
+would go to divine service with Peter, Christmas morning and sit with
+him by the door, in what was called "the negro pew." He was the only
+colored member of the church and, after all the other communicants had
+taken the sacrament, he went alone to the altar. Dressed in a new suit
+of blue with gilt buttons, he looked like a prince, as, with head erect,
+he walked up the aisle, the grandest specimen of manhood in the whole
+congregation; and yet so strong was prejudice against color in 1823 that
+no one would kneel beside him. On leaving us, on one of these occasions,
+Peter told us all to sit still until he returned; but, no sooner had he
+started, than the youngest of us slowly followed after him and seated
+herself close beside him. As he came back, holding the child by the
+hand, what a lesson it must have been to that prejudiced congregation!
+The first time we entered the church together the sexton opened a white
+man's pew for us, telling Peter to leave the Judge's children there.
+"Oh," he said, "they will not stay there without me." But, as he could
+not enter, we instinctively followed him to the negro pew.
+
+Our next great fête was on the anniversary of the birthday of our
+Republic. The festivities were numerous and protracted, beginning then,
+as now, at midnight with bonfires and cannon; while the day was ushered
+in with the ringing of bells, tremendous cannonading, and a continuous
+popping of fire-crackers and torpedoes. Then a procession of soldiers
+and citizens marched through the town, an oration was delivered, the
+Declaration of Independence read, and a great dinner given in the open
+air under the trees in the grounds of the old courthouse. Each toast was
+announced with the booming of cannon. On these occasions Peter was in
+his element, and showed us whatever he considered worth seeing; but I
+cannot say that I enjoyed very much either "general training" or the
+Fourth of July, for, in addition to my fear of cannon and torpedoes, my
+sympathies were deeply touched by the sadness of our cook, whose drunken
+father always cut antics in the streets on gala days, the central figure
+in all the sports of the boys, much to the mortification of his worthy
+daughter. She wept bitterly over her father's public exhibition of
+himself, and told me in what a condition he would come home to his
+family at night. I would gladly have stayed in with her all day, but the
+fear of being called a coward compelled me to go through those trying
+ordeals. As my nerves were all on the surface, no words can describe
+what I suffered with those explosions, great and small, and my fears
+lest King George and his minions should reappear among us. I thought
+that, if he had done all the dreadful things stated in the Declaration
+of '76, he might come again, burn our houses, and drive us all into the
+street. Sir William Johnson's mansion of solid masonry, gloomy and
+threatening, still stood in our neighborhood. I had seen the marks of
+the Indian's tomahawk on the balustrades and heard of the bloody deeds
+there enacted. For all the calamities of the nation I believed King
+George responsible. At home and at school we were educated to hate the
+English. When we remember that, every Fourth of July, the Declaration
+was read with emphasis, and the orator of the day rounded all his
+glowing periods with denunciations of the mother country, we need not
+wonder at the national hatred of everything English. Our patriotism in
+those early days was measured by our dislike of Great Britain.
+
+In September occurred the great event, the review of the county militia,
+popularly called "Training Day." Then everybody went to the race course
+to see the troops and buy what the farmers had brought in their wagons.
+There was a peculiar kind of gingerbread and molasses candy to which we
+were treated on those occasions, associated in my mind to this day with
+military reviews and standing armies.
+
+Other pleasures were, roaming in the forests and sailing on the mill
+pond. One day, when there were no boys at hand and several girls were
+impatiently waiting for a sail on a raft, my sister and I volunteered to
+man the expedition. We always acted on the assumption that what we had
+seen done, we could do. Accordingly we all jumped on the raft, loosened
+it from its moorings, and away we went with the current. Navigation on
+that mill pond was performed with long poles, but, unfortunately, we
+could not lift the poles, and we soon saw we were drifting toward the
+dam. But we had the presence of mind to sit down and hold fast to the
+raft. Fortunately, we went over right side up and gracefully glided down
+the stream, until rescued by the ever watchful Peter. I did not hear the
+last of that voyage for a long time. I was called the captain of the
+expedition, and one of the boys wrote a composition, which he read in
+school, describing the adventure and emphasizing the ignorance of the
+laws of navigation shown by the officers in command. I shed tears many
+times over that performance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SCHOOL DAYS.
+
+
+When I was eleven years old, two events occurred which changed
+considerably the current of my life. My only brother, who had just
+graduated from Union College, came home to die. A young man of great
+talent and promise, he was the pride of my father's heart. We early felt
+that this son filled a larger place in our father's affections and
+future plans than the five daughters together. Well do I remember how
+tenderly he watched my brother in his last illness, the sighs and tears
+he gave vent to as he slowly walked up and down the hall, and, when the
+last sad moment came, and we were all assembled to say farewell in the
+silent chamber of death, how broken were his utterances as he knelt and
+prayed for comfort and support. I still recall, too, going into the
+large darkened parlor to see my brother, and finding the casket,
+mirrors, and pictures all draped in white, and my father seated by his
+side, pale and immovable. As he took no notice of me, after standing a
+long while, I climbed upon his knee, when he mechanically put his arm
+about me and, with my head resting against his beating heart, we both
+sat in silence, he thinking of the wreck of all his hopes in the loss of
+a dear son, and I wondering what could be said or done to fill the void
+in his breast. At length he heaved a deep sigh and said: "Oh, my
+daughter, I wish you were a boy!" Throwing my arms about his neck, I
+replied: "I will try to be all my brother was."
+
+[Illustration: MARGARET LIVINGSTON CADY.] [Illustration: JUDGE DANIEL
+CADY.] Then and there I resolved that I would not give so much time as
+heretofore to play, but would study and strive to be at the head of all
+my classes and thus delight my father's heart. All that day and far into
+the night I pondered the problem of boyhood. I thought that the chief
+thing to be done in order to equal boys was to be learned and
+courageous. So I decided to study Greek and learn to manage a horse.
+Having formed this conclusion I fell asleep. My resolutions, unlike many
+such made at night, did not vanish with the coming light. I arose early
+and hastened to put them into execution. They were resolutions never to
+be forgotten--destined to mold my character anew. As soon as I was
+dressed I hastened to our good pastor, Rev. Simon Hosack, who was always
+early at work in his garden.
+
+"Doctor," said I, "which do you like best, boys or girls?"
+
+"Why, girls, to be sure; I would not give you for all the boys in
+Christendom."
+
+"My father," I replied, "prefers boys; he wishes I was one, and I intend
+to be as near like one as possible. I am going to ride on horseback and
+study Greek. Will you give me a Greek lesson now, doctor? I want to
+begin at once."
+
+"Yes, child," said he, throwing down his hoe, "come into my library and
+we will begin without delay."
+
+He entered fully into the feeling of suffering and sorrow which took
+possession of me when I discovered that a girl weighed less in the scale
+of being than a boy, and he praised my determination to prove the
+contrary. The old grammar which he had studied in the University of
+Glasgow was soon in my hands, and the Greek article was learned before
+breakfast.
+
+Then came the sad pageantry of death, the weeping of friends, the dark
+rooms, the ghostly stillness, the exhortation to the living to prepare
+for death, the solemn prayer, the mournful chant, the funeral cortège,
+the solemn, tolling bell, the burial. How I suffered during those sad
+days! What strange undefined fears of the unknown took possession of me!
+For months afterward, at the twilight hour, I went with my father to the
+new-made grave. Near it stood two tall poplar trees, against one of
+which I leaned, while my father threw himself on the grave, with
+outstretched arms, as if to embrace his child. At last the frosts and
+storms of November came and threw a chilling barrier between the living
+and the dead, and we went there no more.
+
+During all this time I kept up my lessons at the parsonage and made
+rapid progress. I surprised even my teacher, who thought me capable of
+doing anything. I learned to drive, and to leap a fence and ditch on
+horseback. I taxed every power, hoping some day to hear my father say:
+"Well, a girl is as good as a boy, after all." But he never said it.
+When the doctor came over to spend the evening with us, I would whisper
+in his ear: "Tell my father how fast I get on," and he would tell him,
+and was lavish in his praises. But my father only paced the room,
+sighed, and showed that he wished I were a boy; and I, not knowing why
+he felt thus, would hide my tears of vexation on the doctor's shoulder.
+
+Soon after this I began to study Latin, Greek, and mathematics with a
+class of boys in the Academy, many of whom were much older than I. For
+three years one boy kept his place at the head of the class, and I
+always stood next. Two prizes were offered in Greek. I strove for one
+and took the second. How well I remember my joy in receiving that prize.
+There was no sentiment of ambition, rivalry, or triumph over my
+companions, nor feeling of satisfaction in receiving this honor in the
+presence of those assembled on the day of the exhibition. One thought
+alone filled my mind. "Now," said I, "my father will be satisfied with
+me." So, as soon as we were dismissed, I ran down the hill, rushed
+breathless into his office, laid the new Greek Testament, which was my
+prize, on his table and exclaimed: "There, I got it!" He took up the
+book, asked me some questions about the class, the teachers, the
+spectators, and, evidently pleased, handed it back to me. Then, while I
+stood looking and waiting for him to say something which would show that
+he recognized the equality of the daughter with the son, he kissed me on
+the forehead and exclaimed, with a sigh, "Ah, you should have been a
+boy!"
+
+My joy was turned to sadness. I ran to my good doctor. He chased my
+bitter tears away, and soothed me with unbounded praises and visions of
+future success. He was then confined to the house with his last illness.
+He asked me that day if I would like to have, when he was gone, the old
+lexicon, Testament, and grammar that we had so often thumbed together.
+"Yes, but I would rather have you stay," I replied, "for what can I do
+when you are gone?" "Oh," said he tenderly, "I shall not be gone; my
+spirit will still be with you, watching you in all life's struggles."
+Noble, generous friend! He had but little on earth to bequeath to
+anyone, but when the last scene in his life was ended, and his will was
+opened, sure enough there was a clause saying: "My Greek lexicon,
+Testament, and grammar, and four volumes of Scott's commentaries, I will
+to Elizabeth Cady." I never look at these books without a feeling of
+thankfulness that in childhood I was blessed with such a friend and
+teacher.
+
+I can truly say, after an experience of seventy years, that all the
+cares and anxieties, the trials and disappointments of my whole life,
+are light, when balanced with my sufferings in childhood and youth from
+the theological dogmas which I sincerely believed, and the gloom
+connected with everything associated with the name of religion, the
+church, the parsonage, the graveyard, and the solemn, tolling bell.
+Everything connected with death was then rendered inexpressibly
+dolorous. The body, covered with a black pall, was borne on the
+shoulders of men; the mourners were in crape and walked with bowed
+heads, while the neighbors who had tears to shed, did so copiously and
+summoned up their saddest facial expressions. At the grave came the
+sober warnings to the living and sometimes frightful prophesies as to
+the state of the dead. All this pageantry of woe and visions of the
+unknown land beyond the tomb, often haunted my midnight dreams and
+shadowed the sunshine of my days. The parsonage, with its bare walls and
+floors, its shriveled mistress and her blind sister, more like ghostly
+shadows than human flesh and blood; the two black servants, racked with
+rheumatism and odoriferous with a pungent oil they used in the vain hope
+of making their weary limbs more supple; the aged parson buried in his
+library in the midst of musty books and papers--all this only added to
+the gloom of my surroundings. The church, which was bare, with no
+furnace to warm us, no organ to gladden our hearts, no choir to lead our
+songs of praise in harmony, was sadly lacking in all attractions for the
+youthful mind. The preacher, shut up in an octagonal box high above our
+heads, gave us sermons over an hour long, and the chorister, in a
+similar box below him, intoned line after line of David's Psalms, while,
+like a flock of sheep at the heels of their shepherd, the congregation,
+without regard to time or tune, straggled after their leader.
+
+Years later, the introduction of stoves, a violoncello, Wesley's hymns,
+and a choir split the church in twain. These old Scotch Presbyterians
+were opposed to all innovations that would afford their people paths of
+flowery ease on the road to Heaven. So, when the thermometer was twenty
+degrees below zero on the Johnstown Hills, four hundred feet above the
+Mohawk Valley, we trudged along through the snow, foot-stoves in hand,
+to the cold hospitalities of the "Lord's House," there to be chilled to
+the very core by listening to sermons on "predestination,"
+"justification by faith," and "eternal damnation."
+
+To be restless, or to fall asleep under such solemn circumstances was a
+sure evidence of total depravity, and of the machinations of the devil
+striving to turn one's heart from God and his ordinances. As I was
+guilty of these shortcomings and many more, I early believed myself a
+veritable child of the Evil One, and suffered endless fears lest he
+should come some night and claim me as his own. To me he was a personal,
+ever-present reality, crouching in a dark corner of the nursery. Ah! how
+many times I have stolen out of bed, and sat shivering on the stairs,
+where the hall lamp and the sound of voices from the parlor would, in a
+measure, mitigate my terror. Thanks to a vigorous constitution and
+overflowing animal spirits, I was able to endure for years the strain of
+these depressing influences, until my reasoning powers and common sense
+triumphed at last over my imagination. The memory of my own suffering
+has prevented me from ever shadowing one young soul with any of the
+superstitions of the Christian religion. But there have been many
+changes, even in my native town, since those dark days. Our old church
+was turned into a mitten factory, and the pleasant hum of machinery and
+the glad faces of men and women have chased the evil spirits to their
+hiding places. One finds at Johnstown now, beautiful churches,
+ornamented cemeteries, and cheerful men and women, quite emancipated
+from the nonsense and terrors of the old theologies.
+
+An important event in our family circle was the marriage of my oldest
+sister, Tryphena, to Edward Bayard of Wilmington, Delaware. He was a
+graduate of Union College, a classmate of my brother, and frequently
+visited at my father's house. At the end of his college course, he came
+with his brother Henry to study law in Johnstown. A quiet, retired
+little village was thought to be a good place in which to sequester
+young men bent on completing their education, as they were there safe
+from the temptations and distracting influences of large cities. In
+addition to this consideration, my father's reputation made his office a
+desirable resort for students, who, furthermore, not only improved their
+opportunities by reading Blackstone, Kent, and Story, but also by making
+love to the Judge's daughters. We thus had the advantage of many
+pleasant acquaintances from the leading families in the country, and, in
+this way, it was that four of the sisters eventually selected most
+worthy husbands.
+
+Though only twenty-one years of age when married, Edward Bayard was a
+tall, fully developed man, remarkably fine looking, with cultivated
+literary taste and a profound knowledge of human nature. Warm and
+affectionate, generous to a fault in giving and serving, he was soon a
+great favorite in the family, and gradually filled the void made in all
+our hearts by the loss of the brother and son.
+
+My father was so fully occupied with the duties of his profession, which
+often called him from home, and my mother so weary with the cares of a
+large family, having had ten children, though only five survived at this
+time, that they were quite willing to shift their burdens to younger
+shoulders. Our eldest sister and her husband, therefore, soon became our
+counselors and advisers. They selected our clothing, books, schools,
+acquaintances, and directed our reading and amusements. Thus the reins
+of domestic government, little by little, passed into their hands, and
+the family arrangements were in a manner greatly improved in favor of
+greater liberty for the children.
+
+The advent of Edward and Henry Bayard was an inestimable blessing to us.
+With them came an era of picnics, birthday parties, and endless
+amusements; the buying of pictures, fairy books, musical instruments and
+ponies, and frequent excursions with parties on horseback. Fresh from
+college, they made our lessons in Latin, Greek, and mathematics so easy
+that we studied with real pleasure and had more leisure for play. Henry
+Bayard's chief pleasures were walking, riding, and playing all manner of
+games, from jack-straws to chess, with the three younger sisters, and we
+have often said that the three years he passed in Johnstown were the
+most delightful of our girlhood.
+
+Immediately after the death of my brother, a journey was planned to
+visit our grandmother Cady, who lived in Canaan, Columbia County, about
+twenty miles from Albany. My two younger sisters and myself had never
+been outside of our own county before, and the very thought of a journey
+roused our enthusiasm to the highest pitch. On a bright day in September
+we started, packed in two carriages. We were wild with delight as we
+drove down the Mohawk Valley, with its beautiful river and its many
+bridges and ferryboats. When we reached Schenectady, the first city we
+had ever seen, we stopped to dine at the old Given's Hotel, where we
+broke loose from all the moorings of propriety on beholding the paper on
+the dining-room wall, illustrating in brilliant colors the great events
+in sacred history. There were the Patriarchs, with flowing beards and in
+gorgeous attire; Abraham, offering up Isaac; Joseph, with his coat of
+many colors, thrown into a pit by his brethren; Noah's ark on an ocean
+of waters; Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; Rebecca at the well, and
+Moses in the bulrushes. All these distinguished personages were familiar
+to us, and to see them here for the first time in living colors, made
+silence and eating impossible. We dashed around the room, calling to
+each other: "Oh, Kate, look here!" "Oh, Madge, look there!" "See little
+Moses!" "See the angels on Jacob's ladder!" Our exclamations could not
+be kept within bounds. The guests were amused beyond description, while
+my mother and elder sisters were equally mortified; but Mr. Bayard, who
+appreciated our childish surprise and delight, smiled and said: "I'll
+take them around and show them the pictures, and then they will be able
+to dine," which we finally did.
+
+On our way to Albany we were forced to listen to no end of dissertations
+on manners, and severe criticisms on our behavior at the hotel, but we
+were too happy and astonished with all we saw to take a subjective view
+of ourselves. Even Peter in his new livery, who had not seen much more
+than we had, while looking out of the corners of his eyes, maintained a
+quiet dignity and conjured us "not to act as if we had just come out of
+the woods and had never seen anything before." However, there are
+conditions in the child soul in which repression is impossible, when the
+mind takes in nothing but its own enjoyment, and when even the sense of
+hearing is lost in that of sight. The whole party awoke to that fact at
+last. Children are not actors. We never had experienced anything like
+this journey, and how could we help being surprised and delighted?
+
+When we drove into Albany, the first large city we had ever visited, we
+exclaimed, "Why, it's general training, here!" We had acquired our ideas
+of crowds from our country militia reviews. Fortunately, there was no
+pictorial wall paper in the old City Hotel. But the decree had gone
+forth that, on the remainder of the journey, our meals would be served
+in a private room, with Peter to wait on us. This seemed like going back
+to the nursery days and was very humiliating. But eating, even there,
+was difficult, as we could hear the band from the old museum, and, as
+our windows opened on the street, the continual panorama of people and
+carriages passing by was quite as enticing as the Bible scenes in
+Schenectady. In the evening we walked around to see the city lighted, to
+look into the shop windows, and to visit the museum. The next morning we
+started for Canaan, our enthusiasm still unabated, though strong hopes
+were expressed that we would be toned down with the fatigues of the
+first day's journey.
+
+The large farm with its cattle, sheep, hens, ducks, turkeys, and geese;
+its creamery, looms, and spinning wheel; its fruits and vegetables; the
+drives among the grand old hills; the blessed old grandmother, and the
+many aunts, uncles, and cousins to kiss, all this kept us still in a
+whirlpool of excitement. Our joy bubbled over of itself; it was beyond
+our control. After spending a delightful week at Canaan, we departed,
+with an addition to our party, much to Peter's disgust, of a bright,
+coal-black boy of fifteen summers. Peter kept grumbling that he had
+children enough to look after already, but, as the boy was handsome and
+intelligent, could read, write, play on the jewsharp and banjo, sing,
+dance, and stand on his head, we were charmed with this new-found
+treasure, who proved later to be a great family blessing. We were less
+vivacious on the return trip. Whether this was due to Peter's untiring
+efforts to keep us within bounds, or whether the novelty of the journey
+was in a measure gone, it is difficult to determine, but we evidently
+were not so buoyant and were duly complimented on our good behavior.
+
+When we reached home and told our village companions what we had seen in
+our extensive travels (just seventy miles from home) they were filled
+with wonder, and we became heroines in their estimation. After this we
+took frequent journeys to Saratoga, the Northern Lakes, Utica, and
+Peterboro, but were never again so entirely swept from our feet as with
+the biblical illustrations in the dining room of the old Given's Hotel.
+
+As my father's office joined the house, I spent there much of my time,
+when out of school, listening to the clients stating their cases,
+talking with the students, and reading the laws in regard to woman. In
+our Scotch neighborhood many men still retained the old feudal ideas of
+women and property. Fathers, at their death, would will the bulk of
+their property to the eldest son, with the proviso that the mother was
+to have a home with him. Hence it was not unusual for the mother, who
+had brought all the property into the family, to be made an unhappy
+dependent on the bounty of an uncongenial daughter-in-law and a
+dissipated son. The tears and complaints of the women who came to my
+father for legal advice touched my heart and early drew my attention to
+the injustice and cruelty of the laws. As the practice of the law was my
+father's business, I could not exactly understand why he could not
+alleviate the sufferings of these women. So, in order to enlighten me,
+he would take down his books and show me the inexorable statutes. The
+students, observing my interest, would amuse themselves by reading to me
+all the worst laws they could find, over which I would laugh and cry by
+turns. One Christmas morning I went into the office to show them, among
+other of my presents, a new coral necklace and bracelets. They all
+admired the jewelry and then began to tease me with hypothetical cases
+of future ownership. "Now," said Henry Bayard, "if in due time you
+should be my wife, those ornaments would be mine; I could take them and
+lock them up, and you could never wear them except with my permission. I
+could even exchange them for a box of cigars, and you could watch them
+evaporate in smoke."
+
+With this constant bantering from students and the sad complaints of the
+women, my mind was sorely perplexed. So when, from time to time, my
+attention was called to these odious laws, I would mark them with a
+pencil, and becoming more and more convinced of the necessity of taking
+some active measures against these unjust provisions, I resolved to
+seize the first opportunity, when alone in the office, to cut every one
+of them out of the books; supposing my father and his library were the
+beginning and the end of the law. However, this mutilation of his
+volumes was never accomplished, for dear old Flora Campbell, to whom I
+confided my plan for the amelioration of the wrongs of my unhappy sex,
+warned my father of what I proposed to do. Without letting me know that
+he had discovered my secret, he explained to me one evening how laws
+were made, the large number of lawyers and libraries there were all over
+the State, and that if his library should burn up it would make no
+difference in woman's condition. "When you are grown up, and able to
+prepare a speech," said he, "you must go down to Albany and talk to the
+legislators; tell them all you have seen in this office--the sufferings
+of these Scotchwomen, robbed of their inheritance and left dependent on
+their unworthy sons, and, if you can persuade them to pass new laws, the
+old ones will be a dead letter." Thus was the future object of my life
+foreshadowed and my duty plainly outlined by him who was most opposed
+to my public career when, in due time, I entered upon it.
+
+Until I was sixteen years old, I was a faithful student in the Johnstown
+Academy with a class of boys. Though I was the only girl in the higher
+classes of mathematics and the languages, yet, in our plays, all the
+girls and boys mingled freely together. In running races, sliding
+downhill, and snowballing, we made no distinction of sex. True, the boys
+would carry the school books and pull the sleighs up hill for their
+favorite girls, but equality was the general basis of our school
+relations. I dare say the boys did not make their snowballs quite so
+hard when pelting the girls, nor wash their faces with the same
+vehemence as they did each other's, but there was no public evidence of
+partiality. However, if any boy was too rough or took advantage of a
+girl smaller than himself, he was promptly thrashed by his fellows.
+There was an unwritten law and public sentiment in that little Academy
+world that enabled us to study and play together with the greatest
+freedom and harmony.
+
+From the academy the boys of my class went to Union College at
+Schenectady. When those with whom I had studied and contended for prizes
+for five years came to bid me good-by, and I learned of the barrier that
+prevented me from following in their footsteps--"no girls admitted
+here"--my vexation and mortification knew no bounds. I remember, now,
+how proud and handsome the boys looked in their new clothes, as they
+jumped into the old stage coach and drove off, and how lonely I felt
+when they were gone and I had nothing to do, for the plans for my future
+were yet undetermined. Again I felt more keenly than ever the
+humiliation of the distinctions made on the ground of sex.
+
+My time was now occupied with riding on horseback, studying the game of
+chess, and continually squabbling with the law students over the rights
+of women. Something was always coming up in the experiences of everyday
+life, or in the books we were reading, to give us fresh topics for
+argument. They would read passages from the British classics quite as
+aggravating as the laws. They delighted in extracts from Shakespeare,
+especially from "The Taming of the Shrew," an admirable satire in itself
+on the old common law of England. I hated Petruchio as if he were a real
+man. Young Bayard would recite with unction the famous reply of Milton's
+ideal woman to Adam: "God thy law, thou mine." The Bible, too, was
+brought into requisition. In fact it seemed to me that every book taught
+the "divinely ordained" headship of man; but my mind never yielded to
+this popular heresy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+GIRLHOOD.
+
+
+Mrs. Willard's Seminary at Troy was the fashionable school in my
+girlhood, and in the winter of 1830, with upward of a hundred other
+girls, I found myself an active participant in all the joys and sorrows
+of that institution. When in family council it was decided to send me to
+that intellectual Mecca, I did not receive the announcement with unmixed
+satisfaction, as I had fixed my mind on Union College. The thought of a
+school without boys, who had been to me such a stimulus both in study
+and play, seemed to my imagination dreary and profitless.
+
+The one remarkable feature of my journey to Troy was the railroad from
+Schenectady to Albany, the first ever laid in this country. The manner
+of ascending a high hill going out of the city would now strike
+engineers as stupid to the last degree. The passenger cars were pulled
+up by a train, loaded with stones, descending the hill. The more
+rational way of tunneling through the hill or going around it had not
+yet dawned on our Dutch ancestors. At every step of my journey to Troy I
+felt that I was treading on my pride, and thus in a hopeless frame of
+mind I began my boarding-school career. I had already studied everything
+that was taught there except French, music, and dancing, so I devoted
+myself to these accomplishments. As I had a good voice I enjoyed
+singing, with a guitar accompaniment, and, having a good ear for time, I
+appreciated the harmony in music and motion and took great delight in
+dancing. The large house, the society of so many girls, the walks about
+the city, the novelty of everything made the new life more enjoyable
+than I had anticipated. To be sure I missed the boys, with whom I had
+grown up, played with for years, and later measured my intellectual
+powers with, but, as they became a novelty, there was new zest in
+occasionally seeing them. After I had been there a short time, I heard a
+call one day: "Heads out!" I ran with the rest and exclaimed, "What is
+it?" expecting to see a giraffe or some other wonder from Barnum's
+Museum. "Why, don't you see those boys?" said one. "Oh," I replied, "is
+that all? I have seen boys all my life." When visiting family friends in
+the city, we were in the way of making the acquaintance of their sons,
+and as all social relations were strictly forbidden, there was a new
+interest in seeing them. As they were not allowed to call upon us or
+write notes, unless they were brothers or cousins, we had, in time, a
+large number of kinsmen.
+
+There was an intense interest to me now in writing notes, receiving
+calls, and joining the young men in the streets for a walk, such as I
+had never known when in constant association with them at school and in
+our daily amusements. Shut up with girls, most of them older than
+myself, I heard many subjects discussed of which I had never thought
+before, and in a manner it were better I had never heard. The healthful
+restraint always existing between boys and girls in conversation is apt
+to be relaxed with either sex alone. In all my intimate association with
+boys up to that period, I cannot recall one word or act for criticism,
+but I cannot say the same of the girls during the three years I passed
+at the seminary in Troy. My own experience proves to me that it is a
+grave mistake to send boys and girls to separate institutions of
+learning, especially at the most impressible age. The stimulus of sex
+promotes alike a healthy condition of the intellectual and the moral
+faculties and gives to both a development they never can acquire alone.
+
+Mrs. Willard, having spent several months in Europe, did not return
+until I had been at the seminary some time. I well remember her arrival,
+and the joy with which she was greeted by the teachers and pupils who
+had known her before. She was a splendid-looking woman, then in her
+prime, and fully realized my idea of a queen. I doubt whether any royal
+personage in the Old World could have received her worshipers with more
+grace and dignity than did this far-famed daughter of the Republic. She
+was one of the remarkable women of that period, and did a great
+educational work for her sex. She gave free scholarships to a large
+number of promising girls, fitting them for teachers, with a proviso
+that, when the opportunity arose, they should, in turn, educate others.
+
+I shall never forget one incident that occasioned me much unhappiness. I
+had written a very amusing composition, describing my room. A friend
+came in to see me just as I had finished it, and, as she asked me to
+read it to her, I did so. She enjoyed it very much and proposed an
+exchange. She said the rooms were all so nearly alike that, with a
+little alteration, she could use it. Being very susceptible to flattery,
+her praise of my production won a ready assent; but when I read her
+platitudes I was sorry I had changed, and still more so in the
+_denouement_.
+
+Those selected to prepare compositions read them before the whole
+school. My friend's was received with great laughter and applause. The
+one I read not only fell flat, but nearly prostrated me also. As soon as
+I had finished, one of the young ladies left the room and, returning in
+a few moments with her composition book, laid it before the teacher who
+presided that day, showing her the same composition I had just read. I
+was called up at once to explain, but was so amazed and confounded that
+I could not speak, and I looked the personification of guilt. I saw at a
+glance the contemptible position I occupied and felt as if the last day
+had come, that I stood before the judgment seat and had heard the awful
+sentence pronounced, "Depart ye wicked into everlasting punishment." How
+I escaped from that scene to my own room I do not know. I was too
+wretched for tears. I sat alone for a long time when a gentle tap
+announced my betrayer. She put her arms around me affectionately and
+kissed me again and again.
+
+"Oh!" she said, "you are a hero. You went through that trying ordeal
+like a soldier. I was so afraid, when you were pressed with questions,
+that the whole truth would come out and I be forced to stand in your
+place. I am not so brave as you; I could not endure it. Now that you are
+through it and know how bitter a trial it is, promise that you will save
+me from the same experience. You are so good and noble I know you will
+not betray me."
+
+In this supreme moment of misery and disgrace, her loving words and warm
+embrace were like balm to my bruised soul and I readily promised all
+she asked. The girl had penetrated the weak point in my character. I
+loved flattery. Through that means she got my composition in the first
+place, pledged me to silence in the second place, and so confused my
+moral perceptions that I really thought it praiseworthy to shelter her
+from what I had suffered. However, without betrayal on my part, the
+trick came to light through the very means she took to make concealment
+sure. After compositions were read they were handed over to a certain
+teacher for criticism. Miss ---- had copied mine, and returned to me the
+original. I had not copied hers, so the two were in the same
+handwriting--one with my name outside and one with Miss ----'s.
+
+As I stood well in school, both for scholarship and behavior, my sudden
+fall from grace occasioned no end of discussion. So, as soon as the
+teacher discovered the two compositions in Miss ----'s writing, she came
+to me to inquire how I got one of Miss ----'s compositions. She said,
+"Where is yours that you wrote for that day?"
+
+Taking it from my portfolio, I replied, "Here it is."
+
+She then asked, "Did you copy it from her book?"
+
+I replied, "No; I wrote it myself."
+
+"Then why did you not read your own?"
+
+"We agreed to change," said I.
+
+"Did you know that Miss ---- had copied that from the book of another
+young lady?"
+
+"No, not until I was accused of doing it myself before the whole
+school."
+
+"Why did you not defend yourself on the spot?"
+
+"I could not speak, neither did I know what to say."
+
+"Why have you allowed yourself to remain in such a false position for a
+whole week?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Suppose I had not found this out, did you intend to keep silent?"
+
+"Yes," I replied.
+
+"Did Miss ---- ask you to do so?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+I had been a great favorite with this teacher, but she was so disgusted
+with my stupidity, as she called my timidity, that she said:
+
+"Really, my child, you have not acted in this matter as if you had
+ordinary common sense."
+
+So little do grown people, in familiar surroundings, appreciate the
+confusion of a child's faculties, under new and trying experiences. When
+poor Miss ----'s turn came to stand up before the whole school and take
+the burden on her own shoulders she had so cunningly laid on mine, I
+readily shed the tears for her I could not summon for myself. This was
+my first sad lesson in human duplicity.
+
+This episode, unfortunately, destroyed in a measure my confidence in my
+companions and made me suspicious even of those who came to me with
+appreciative words. Up to this time I had accepted all things as they
+seemed on the surface. Now I began to wonder what lay behind the visible
+conditions about me. Perhaps the experience was beneficial, as it is
+quite necessary for a young girl, thrown wholly on herself for the first
+time among strangers, to learn caution in all she says and does. The
+atmosphere of home life, where all disguises and pretensions are thrown
+off, is quite different from a large school of girls, with the petty
+jealousies and antagonisms that arise in daily competition in their
+dress, studies, accomplishments, and amusements.
+
+The next happening in Troy that seriously influenced my character was
+the advent of the Rev. Charles G. Finney, a pulpit orator, who, as a
+terrifier of human souls, proved himself the equal of Savonarola. He
+held a protracted meeting in the Rev. Dr. Beaman's church, which many of
+my schoolmates attended. The result of six weeks of untiring effort on
+the part of Mr. Finney and his confreres was one of those intense
+revival seasons that swept over the city and through the seminary like
+an epidemic, attacking in its worst form the most susceptible. Owing to
+my gloomy Calvinistic training in the old Scotch Presbyterian church,
+and my vivid imagination, I was one of the first victims. We attended
+all the public services, beside the daily prayer and experience meetings
+held in the seminary. Our studies, for the time, held a subordinate
+place to the more important duty of saving our souls.
+
+To state the idea of conversion and salvation as then understood, one
+can readily see from our present standpoint that nothing could be more
+puzzling and harrowing to the young mind. The revival fairly started,
+the most excitable were soon on the anxious seat. There we learned the
+total depravity of human nature and the sinner's awful danger of
+everlasting punishment. This was enlarged upon until the most innocent
+girl believed herself a monster of iniquity and felt certain of eternal
+damnation. Then God's hatred of sin was emphasized and his
+irreconcilable position toward the sinner so justified that one felt
+like a miserable, helpless, forsaken worm of the dust in trying to
+approach him, even in prayer.
+
+Having brought you into a condition of profound humility, the only
+cardinal virtue for one under conviction, in the depths of your despair
+you were told that it required no herculean effort on your part to be
+transformed into an angel, to be reconciled to God, to escape endless
+perdition. The way to salvation was short and simple. We had naught to
+do but to repent and believe and give our hearts to Jesus, who was ever
+ready to receive them. How to do all this was the puzzling question.
+Talking with Dr. Finney one day, I said:
+
+"I cannot understand what I am to do. If you should tell me to go to the
+top of the church steeple and jump off, I would readily do it, if
+thereby I could save my soul; but I do not know how to go to Jesus."
+
+"Repent and believe," said he, "that is all you have to do to be happy
+here and hereafter."
+
+"I am very sorry," I replied, "for all the evil I have done, and I
+believe all you tell me, and the more sincerely I believe, the more
+unhappy I am."
+
+With the natural reaction from despair to hope many of us imagined
+ourselves converted, prayed and gave our experiences in the meetings,
+and at times rejoiced in the thought that we were Christians--chosen
+children of God--rather than sinners and outcasts.
+
+But Dr. Finney's terrible anathemas on the depravity and deceitfulness
+of the human heart soon shortened our newborn hopes. His appearance in
+the pulpit on these memorable occasions is indelibly impressed on my
+mind. I can see him now, his great eyes rolling around the congregation
+and his arms flying about in the air like those of a windmill. One
+evening he described hell and the devil and the long procession of
+sinners being swept down the rapids, about to make the awful plunge
+into the burning depths of liquid fire below, and the rejoicing hosts in
+the inferno coming up to meet them with the shouts of the devils echoing
+through the vaulted arches. He suddenly halted, and, pointing his index
+finger at the supposed procession, he exclaimed:
+
+"There, do you not see them!"
+
+I was wrought up to such a pitch that I actually jumped up and gazed in
+the direction to which he pointed, while the picture glowed before my
+eyes and remained with me for months afterward. I cannot forbear saying
+that, although high respect is due to the intellectual, moral, and
+spiritual gifts of the venerable ex-president of Oberlin College, such
+preaching worked incalculable harm to the very souls he sought to save.
+Fear of the judgment seized my soul. Visions of the lost haunted my
+dreams. Mental anguish prostrated my health. Dethronement of my reason
+was apprehended by friends. But he was sincere, so peace to his ashes!
+Returning home, I often at night roused my father from his slumbers to
+pray for me, lest I should be cast into the bottomless pit before
+morning.
+
+To change the current of my thoughts, a trip was planned to Niagara, and
+it was decided that the subject of religion was to be tabooed
+altogether. Accordingly our party, consisting of my sister, her husband,
+my father and myself, started in our private carriage, and for six weeks
+I heard nothing on the subject. About this time Gall and Spurzheim
+published their works on phrenology, followed by Combe's "Constitution
+of Man," his "Moral Philosophy," and many other liberal works, all so
+rational and opposed to the old theologies that they produced a profound
+impression on my brother-in-law's mind. As we had these books with us,
+reading and discussing by the way, we all became deeply interested in
+the new ideas. Thus, after many months of weary wandering in the
+intellectual labyrinth of "The Fall of Man," "Original Sin," "Total
+Depravity," "God's Wrath," "Satan's Triumph," "The Crucifixion," "The
+Atonement," and "Salvation by Faith," I found my way out of the darkness
+into the clear sunlight of Truth. My religious superstitions gave place
+to rational ideas based on scientific facts, and in proportion, as I
+looked at everything from a new standpoint, I grew more and more happy,
+day by day. Thus, with a delightful journey in the month of June, an
+entire change in my course of reading and the current of my thoughts, my
+mind was restored to its normal condition. I view it as one of the
+greatest crimes to shadow the minds of the young with these gloomy
+superstitions; and with fears of the unknown and the unknowable to
+poison all their joy in life.
+
+After the restraints of childhood at home and in school, what a period
+of irrepressible joy and freedom comes to us in girlhood with the first
+taste of liberty. Then is our individuality in a measure recognized and
+our feelings and opinions consulted; then we decide where and when we
+will come and go, what we will eat, drink, wear, and do. To suit one's
+own fancy in clothes, to buy what one likes, and wear what one chooses
+is a great privilege to most young people. To go out at pleasure, to
+walk, to ride, to drive, with no one to say us nay or question our right
+to liberty, this is indeed like a birth into a new world of happiness
+and freedom. This is the period, too, when the emotions rule us, and we
+idealize everything in life; when love and hope make the present an
+ecstasy and the future bright with anticipation.
+
+Then comes that dream of bliss that for weeks and months throws a halo
+of glory round the most ordinary characters in every-day life, holding
+the strongest and most common-sense young men and women in a thraldom
+from which few mortals escape. The period when love, in soft silver
+tones, whispers his first words of adoration, painting our graces and
+virtues day by day in living colors in poetry and prose, stealthily
+punctuated ever and anon with a kiss or fond embrace. What dignity it
+adds to a young girl's estimate of herself when some strong man makes
+her feel that in her hands rest his future peace and happiness! Though
+these seasons of intoxication may come once to all, yet they are seldom
+repeated. How often in after life we long for one more such rapturous
+dream of bliss, one more season of supreme human love and passion!
+
+After leaving school, until my marriage, I had the most pleasant years
+of my girlhood. With frequent visits to a large circle of friends and
+relatives in various towns and cities, the monotony of home life was
+sufficiently broken to make our simple country pleasures always
+delightful and enjoyable. An entirely new life now opened to me. The old
+bondage of fear of the visible and the invisible was broken and, no
+longer subject to absolute authority, I rejoiced in the dawn of a new
+day of freedom in thought and action.
+
+My brother-in-law, Edward Bayard, ten years my senior, was an
+inestimable blessing to me at this time, especially as my mind was just
+then opening to the consideration of all the varied problems of life. To
+me and my sisters he was a companion in all our amusements, a teacher
+in the higher departments of knowledge, and a counselor in all our
+youthful trials and disappointments. He was of a metaphysical turn of
+mind, and in the pursuit of truth was in no way trammeled by popular
+superstitions. He took nothing for granted and, like Socrates, went
+about asking questions. Nothing pleased him more than to get a bevy of
+bright young girls about him and teach them how to think clearly and
+reason logically.
+
+One great advantage of the years my sisters and myself spent at the Troy
+Seminary was the large number of pleasant acquaintances we made there,
+many of which ripened into lifelong friendships. From time to time many
+of our classmates visited us, and all alike enjoyed the intellectual
+fencing in which my brother-in-law drilled them. He discoursed with us
+on law, philosophy, political economy, history, and poetry, and together
+we read novels without number. The long winter evenings thus passed
+pleasantly, Mr. Bayard alternately talking and reading aloud Scott,
+Bulwer, James, Cooper, and Dickens, whose works were just then coming
+out in numbers from week to week, always leaving us in suspense at the
+most critical point of the story. Our readings were varied with
+recitations, music, dancing, and games.
+
+As we all enjoyed brisk exercise, even with the thermometer below zero,
+we took long walks and sleighrides during the day, and thus the winter
+months glided quickly by, while the glorious summer on those blue hills
+was a period of unmixed enjoyment. At this season we arose at five in
+the morning for a long ride on horseback through the beautiful Mohawk
+Valley and over the surrounding hills. Every road and lane in that
+region was as familiar to us and our ponies, as were the trees to the
+squirrels we frightened as we cantered by their favorite resorts.
+
+Part of the time Margaret Christie, a young girl of Scotch descent, was
+a member of our family circle. She taught us French, music, and dancing.
+Our days were too short for all we had to do, for our time was not
+wholly given to pleasure. We were required to keep our rooms in order,
+mend and make our clothes, and do our own ironing. The latter was one of
+my mother's politic requirements, to make our laundry lists as short as
+possible.
+
+Ironing on hot days in summer was a sore trial to all of us; but Miss
+Christie, being of an inventive turn of mind, soon taught us a short way
+out of it. She folded and smoothed her undergarments with her hands and
+then sat on them for a specified time. We all followed her example and
+thus utilized the hours devoted to our French lessons and, while reading
+"Corinne" and "Télémaque," in this primitive style we ironed our
+clothes. But for dresses, collars and cuffs, and pocket handkerchiefs,
+we were compelled to wield the hot iron, hence with these articles we
+used all due economy, and my mother's object was thus accomplished.
+
+As I had become sufficiently philosophical to talk over my religious
+experiences calmly with my classmates who had been with me through the
+Finney revival meetings, we all came to the same conclusion--that we had
+passed through no remarkable change and that we had not been born again,
+as they say, for we found our tastes and enjoyments the same as ever. My
+brother-in-law explained to us the nature of the delusion we had all
+experienced, the physical conditions, the mental processes, the church
+machinery by which such excitements are worked up, and the impositions
+to which credulous minds are necessarily subjected. As we had all been
+through that period of depression and humiliation, and had been
+oppressed at times with the feeling that all our professions were arrant
+hypocrisy and that our last state was worse than our first, he helped us
+to understand these workings of the human mind and reconciled us to the
+more rational condition in which we now found ourselves. He never grew
+weary of expounding principles to us and dissipating the fogs and mists
+that gather over young minds educated in an atmosphere of superstition.
+
+We had a constant source of amusement and vexation in the students in my
+father's office. A succession of them was always coming fresh from
+college and full of conceit. Aching to try their powers of debate on
+graduates from the Troy Seminary, they politely questioned all our
+theories and assertions. However, with my brother-in-law's training in
+analysis and logic, we were a match for any of them. Nothing pleased me
+better than a long argument with them on woman's equality, which I tried
+to prove by a diligent study of the books they read and the games they
+played. I confess that I did not study so much for a love of the truth
+or my own development, in these days, as to make those young men
+recognize my equality. I soon noticed that, after losing a few games of
+chess, my opponent talked less of masculine superiority. Sister Madge
+would occasionally rush to the defense with an emphatic "Fudge for these
+laws, all made by men! I'll never obey one of them. And as to the
+students with their impertinent talk of superiority, all they need is
+such a shaking up as I gave the most disagreeable one yesterday. I
+invited him to take a ride on horseback. He accepted promptly, and said
+he would be most happy to go. Accordingly I told Peter to saddle the
+toughest-mouthed, hardest-trotting carriage horse in the stable. Mounted
+on my swift pony, I took a ten-mile canter as fast as I could go, with
+that superior being at my heels calling, as he found breath, for me to
+stop, which I did at last and left him in the hands of Peter, half dead
+at his hotel, where he will be laid out, with all his marvelous
+masculine virtues, for a week at least. Now do not waste your arguments
+on these prigs from Union College. Take each, in turn, the ten-miles'
+circuit on 'Old Boney' and they'll have no breath left to prate of
+woman's inferiority. You might argue with them all day, and you could
+not make them feel so small as I made that popinjay feel in one hour. I
+knew 'Old Boney' would keep up with me, if he died for it, and that my
+escort could neither stop nor dismount, except by throwing himself from
+the saddle."
+
+"Oh, Madge!" I exclaimed; "what will you say when he meets you again?"
+
+"If he complains, I will say 'the next time you ride see that you have a
+curb bit before starting.' Surely, a man ought to know what is necessary
+to manage a horse, and not expect a woman to tell him."
+
+Our lives were still further varied and intensified by the usual number
+of flirtations, so called, more or less lasting or evanescent, from all
+of which I emerged, as from my religious experiences, in a more rational
+frame of mind. We had been too much in the society of boys and young
+gentlemen, and knew too well their real character, to idealize the sex
+in general. In addition to our own observations, we had the advantage
+of our brother-in-law's wisdom. Wishing to save us as long as possible
+from all matrimonial entanglements, he was continually unveiling those
+with whom he associated, and so critically portraying their intellectual
+and moral condition that it was quite impossible, in our most worshipful
+moods, to make gods of any of the sons of Adam.
+
+However, in spite of all our own experiences and of all the warning
+words of wisdom from those who had seen life in its many phases, we
+entered the charmed circle at last, all but one marrying into the legal
+profession, with its odious statute laws and infamous decisions. And
+this, after reading Blackstone, Kent, and Story, and thoroughly
+understanding the status of the wife under the old common law of
+England, which was in force at that time in most of the States of the
+Union.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+LIFE AT PETERBORO.
+
+
+The year, with us, was never considered complete without a visit to
+Peterboro, N.Y., the home of Gerrit Smith. Though he was a reformer and
+was very radical in many of his ideas, yet, being a man of broad
+sympathies, culture, wealth, and position, he drew around him many
+friends of the most conservative opinions. He was a man of fine
+presence, rare physical beauty, most affable and courteous in manner,
+and his hospitalities were generous to an extreme, and dispensed to all
+classes of society.
+
+Every year representatives from the Oneida tribe of Indians visited him.
+His father had early purchased of them large tracts of land, and there
+was a tradition among them that, as an equivalent for the good bargains
+of the father, they had a right to the son's hospitality, with annual
+gifts of clothing and provisions. The slaves, too, had heard of Gerrit
+Smith, the abolitionist, and of Peterboro as one of the safe points _en
+route_ for Canada. His mansion was, in fact, one of the stations on the
+"underground railroad" for slaves escaping from bondage. Hence they,
+too, felt that they had a right to a place under his protecting roof. On
+such occasions the barn and the kitchen floor were utilized as chambers
+for the black man from the southern plantation and the red man from his
+home in the forest.
+
+The spacious home was always enlivened with choice society from every
+part of the country. There one would meet members of the families of the
+old Dutch aristocracy, the Van Rensselaers, the Van Vechtens, the
+Schuylers, the Livingstons, the Bleeckers, the Brinkerhoffs, the Ten
+Eycks, the Millers, the Seymours, the Cochranes, the Biddles, the
+Barclays, the Wendells, and many others.
+
+As the lady of the house, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, was the daughter of a
+wealthy slaveholder of Maryland, many agreeable Southerners were often
+among the guests. Our immediate family relatives were well represented
+by General John Cochrane and his sisters, General Baird and his wife
+from West Point, the Fitzhughs from Oswego and Geneseo, the Backuses and
+Tallmans from Rochester, and the Swifts from Geneva. Here one was sure
+to meet scholars, philosophers, philanthropists, judges, bishops,
+clergymen, and statesmen.
+
+Judge Alfred Conkling, the father of Roscoe Conkling, was, in his late
+years, frequently seen at Peterboro. Tall and stately, after all life's
+troubled scenes, financial losses and domestic sorrows, he used to say
+there was no spot on earth that seemed so like his idea of Paradise. The
+proud, reserved judge was unaccustomed to manifestations of affection
+and tender interest in his behalf, and when Gerrit, taking him by both
+hands would, in his softest tones say, "Good-morning," and inquire how
+he had slept and what he would like to do that day, and Nancy would
+greet him with equal warmth and pin a little bunch of roses in his
+buttonhole, I have seen the tears in his eyes. Their warm sympathies and
+sweet simplicity of manner melted the sternest natures and made the most
+reserved amiable. There never was such an atmosphere of love and peace,
+of freedom and good cheer, in any other home I visited. And this was the
+universal testimony of those who were guests at Peterboro. To go
+anywhere else, after a visit there, was like coming down from the divine
+heights into the valley of humiliation.
+
+How changed from the early days when, as strict Presbyterians, they
+believed in all the doctrines of Calvin! Then, an indefinite gloom
+pervaded their home. Their consciences were diseased. They attached such
+undue importance to forms that they went through three kinds of baptism.
+At one time Nancy would read nothing but the Bible, sing nothing but
+hymns, and play only sacred music. She felt guilty if she talked on any
+subject except religion. She was, in all respects, a fitting mate for
+her attractive husband. Exquisitely refined in feeling and manner,
+beautiful in face and form, earnest and sincere, she sympathized with
+him in all his ideas of religion and reform. Together they passed
+through every stage of theological experience, from the uncertain ground
+of superstition and speculation to the solid foundation of science and
+reason. The position of the Church in the anti-slavery conflict, opening
+as it did all questions of ecclesiastical authority, Bible
+interpretation, and church discipline, awakened them to new thought and
+broader views on religious subjects, and eventually emancipated them
+entirely from the old dogmas and formalities of their faith, and lifted
+them into the cheerful atmosphere in which they passed the remainder of
+their lives. Their only daughter, Elizabeth, added greatly to the
+attractions of the home circle, as she drew many young people round her.
+Beside her personal charm she was the heiress of a vast estate and had
+many admirers. The favored one was Charles Dudley Miller of Utica,
+nephew of Mrs. Blandina Bleecker Dudley, founder of the Albany
+Observatory. At the close of his college life Mr. Miller had not only
+mastered the languages, mathematics, rhetoric, and logic, but had
+learned the secret windings of the human heart. He understood the art of
+pleasing.
+
+These were the times when the anti-slavery question was up for hot
+discussion. In all the neighboring towns conventions were held in which
+James G. Birney, a Southern gentleman who had emancipated his slaves,
+Charles Stuart of Scotland, and George Thompson of England, Garrison,
+Phillips, May, Beriah Greene, Foster, Abby Kelly, Lucretia Mott,
+Douglass, and others took part. Here, too, John Brown, Sanborn, Morton,
+and Frederick Douglass met to talk over that fatal movement on Harper's
+Ferry. On the question of temperance, also, the people were in a
+ferment. Dr. Cheever's pamphlet, "Deacon Giles' Distillery," was
+scattered far and wide, and, as he was sued for libel, the question was
+discussed in the courts as well as at every fireside. Then came the
+Father Matthew and Washingtonian movements, and the position of the
+Church on these questions intensified and embittered the conflict. This
+brought the Cheevers, the Pierponts, the Delevans, the Nortons, and
+their charming wives to Peterboro. It was with such company and varied
+discussions on every possible phase of political, religious, and social
+life that I spent weeks every year. Gerrit Smith was cool and calm in
+debate, and, as he was armed at all points on these subjects, he could
+afford to be patient and fair with an opponent, whether on the platform
+or at the fireside. These rousing arguments at Peterboro made social
+life seem tame and profitless elsewhere, and the youngest of us felt
+that the conclusions reached in this school of philosophy were not to be
+questioned. The sisters of General Cochrane, in disputes with their
+Dutch cousins in Schenectady and Albany, would end all controversy by
+saying, "This question was fully discussed at Peterboro, and settled."
+
+The youngsters frequently put the lessons of freedom and individual
+rights they heard so much of into practice, and relieved their brains
+from the constant strain of argument on first principles, by the wildest
+hilarity in dancing, all kinds of games, and practical jokes carried
+beyond all bounds of propriety. These romps generally took place at Mr.
+Miller's. He used to say facetiously, that they talked a good deal about
+liberty over the way, but he kept the goddess under his roof. One
+memorable occasion in which our enthusiasm was kept at white heat for
+two hours I must try to describe, though words cannot do it justice, as
+it was pre-eminently a spectacular performance. The imagination even
+cannot do justice to the limp, woe-begone appearance of the actors in
+the closing scene. These romps were conducted on a purely democratic
+basis, without regard to color, sex, or previous condition of servitude.
+
+It was rather a cold day in the month of March, when "Cousin Charley,"
+as we called Mr. Miller, was superintending some men who were laying a
+plank walk in the rear of his premises. Some half dozen of us were
+invited to an early tea at good Deacon Huntington's. Immediately after
+dinner, Miss Fitzhugh and Miss Van Schaack decided to take a nap, that
+they might appear as brilliant as possible during the evening. That they
+might not be late, as they invariably were, Cousin Lizzie and I decided
+to rouse them in good season with a generous sprinkling of cold water.
+In vain they struggled to keep the blankets around them; with equal
+force we pulled them away, and, whenever a stray finger or toe appeared,
+we brought fresh batteries to bear, until they saw that passive
+resistance must give place to active hostility. We were armed with two
+watering pots. They armed themselves with two large-sized syringes used
+for showering potato bugs. With these weapons they gave us chase
+downstairs. We ran into a closet and held the door shut. They quietly
+waited our forthcoming. As soon as we opened the door to peep out, Miss
+Fitzhugh, who was large and strong, pulled it wide open and showered us
+with a vengeance. Then they fled into a large pantry where stood several
+pans of milk.
+
+At this stage Cousin Charley, hearing the rumpus, came to our
+assistance. He locked them in the pantry and returned to his work,
+whereupon they opened the window and showered him with milk, while he,
+in turn, pelted them with wet clothes, soaking in tubs near by. As they
+were thinly clad, wet to the skin, and the cold March wind blew round
+them (we were all in fatigue costume in starting) they implored us to
+let them out, which we did, and, in return for our kindness, they gave
+us a broadside of milk in our faces. Cousin Lizzie and I fled to the
+dark closet, where they locked us in. After long, weary waiting they
+came to offer us terms of capitulation. Lizzie agreed to fill their guns
+with milk, and give them our watering pots full of water, and I agreed
+to call Cousin Charley under my window until they emptied the contents
+of guns and pots on his head. My room was on the first floor, and Miss
+Fitzhugh's immediately overhead. On these terms we accepted our freedom.
+Accordingly, I gently raised the window and called Charley
+confidentially within whispering distance, when down came a shower of
+water. As he stepped back to look up and see whence it came, and who
+made the attack, a stream of milk hit him on the forehead, his heels
+struck a plank, and he fell backward, to all appearance knocked down
+with a stream of milk. His humiliation was received with shouts of
+derisive laughter, and even the carpenters at work laid down their
+hammers and joined in the chorus; but his revenge was swift and capped
+the climax. Cold and wet as we all were, and completely tired out, we
+commenced to disrobe and get ready for the tea party. Unfortunately I
+had forgotten to lock my door, and in walked Cousin Charley with a quart
+bottle of liquid blacking, which he prepared to empty on my devoted
+head. I begged so eloquently and trembled so at the idea of being dyed
+black, that he said he would let me off on one condition, and that was
+to get him, by some means, into Miss Fitzhugh's room. So I ran screaming
+up the stairs, as if hotly pursued by the enemy, and begged her to let
+me in. She cautiously opened the door, but when she saw Charley behind
+me she tried to force it shut. However, he was too quick for her. He had
+one leg and arm in; but, at that stage of her toilet, to let him in was
+impossible, and there they stood, equally strong, firmly braced, she on
+one side of the door and he on the other. But the blacking he was
+determined she should have; so, gauging her probable position, with one
+desperate effort he squeezed in a little farther and, raising the
+bottle, he poured the contents on her head. The blacking went streaming
+down over her face, white robe, and person, and left her looking more
+like a bronze fury than one of Eve's most charming daughters. A yard or
+more of the carpet was ruined, the wallpaper and bedclothes spattered,
+and the poor victim was unfit to be seen for a week at least. Charley
+had a good excuse for his extreme measures, for, as we all by turn
+played our tricks on him, it was necessary to keep us in some fear of
+punishment. This was but one of the many outrageous pranks we
+perpetrated on each other. To see us a few hours later, all absorbed in
+an anti-slavery or temperance convention, or dressed in our best, in
+high discourse with the philosophers, one would never think we could
+have been guilty of such consummate follies. It was, however, but the
+natural reaction from the general serious trend of our thoughts.
+
+It was in Peterboro, too, that I first met one who was then considered
+the most eloquent and impassioned orator on the anti-slavery platform,
+Henry B. Stanton. He had come over from Utica with Alvin Stewart's
+beautiful daughter, to whom report said he was engaged; but, as she soon
+after married Luther R. Marsh, there was a mistake somewhere. However,
+the rumor had its advantages. Regarding him as not in the matrimonial
+market, we were all much more free and easy in our manners with him than
+we would otherwise have been. A series of anti-slavery conventions was
+being held in Madison County, and there I had the pleasure of hearing
+him for the first time. As I had a passion for oratory, I was deeply
+impressed with his power. He was not so smooth and eloquent as Phillips,
+but he could make his audience both laugh and cry; the latter, Phillips
+himself said he never could do. Mr. Stanton was then in his prime, a
+fine-looking, affable young man, with remarkable conversational talent,
+and was ten years my senior, with the advantage that number of years
+necessarily gives.
+
+Two carriage-loads of ladies and gentlemen drove off every morning,
+sometimes ten miles, to one of these conventions, returning late at
+night. I shall never forget those charming drives over the hills in
+Madison County, the bright autumnal days, and the bewitching moonlight
+nights. The enthusiasm of the people in these great meetings, the
+thrilling oratory, and lucid arguments of the speakers, all conspired to
+make these days memorable as among the most charming in my life. It
+seemed to me that I never had so much happiness crowded into one short
+month. I had become interested in the anti-slavery and temperance
+questions, and was deeply impressed with the appeals and arguments. I
+felt a new inspiration in life and was enthused with new ideas of
+individual rights and the basic principles of government, for the
+anti-slavery platform was the best school the American people ever had
+on which to learn republican principles and ethics. These conventions
+and the discussions at my cousin's fireside I count among the great
+blessings of my life.
+
+One morning, as we came out from breakfast, Mr. Stanton joined me on the
+piazza, where I was walking up and down enjoying the balmy air and the
+beauty of the foliage. "As we have no conventions," said he, "on hand,
+what do you say to a ride on horseback this morning?" I readily accepted
+the suggestion, ordered the horses, put on my habit, and away we went.
+The roads were fine and we took a long ride. As we were returning home
+we stopped often to admire the scenery and, perchance, each other. When
+walking slowly through a beautiful grove, he laid his hand on the horn
+of the saddle and, to my surprise, made one of those charming
+revelations of human feeling which brave knights have always found
+eloquent words to utter, and to which fair ladies have always listened
+with mingled emotions of pleasure and astonishment.
+
+One outcome of those glorious days of October, 1839, was a marriage, in
+Johnstown, the 10th day of May, 1840, and a voyage to the Old World.
+
+Six weeks of that charming autumn, ending in the Indian summer with its
+peculiarly hazy atmosphere, I lingered in Peterboro. It seems in
+retrospect like a beautiful dream. A succession of guests was constantly
+coming and going, and I still remember the daily drives over those grand
+old hills crowned with trees now gorgeous in rich colors, the more
+charming because we knew the time was short before the cold winds of
+November would change all.
+
+The early setting sun warned us that the shortening days must soon end
+our twilight drives, and the moonlight nights were too chilly to linger
+long in the rustic arbors or shady nooks outside. With the peculiar
+charm of this season of the year there is always a touch of sadness in
+nature, and it seemed doubly so to me, as my engagement was not one of
+unmixed joy and satisfaction. Among all conservative families there was
+a strong aversion to abolitionists and the whole anti-slavery movement.
+Alone with Cousin Gerrit in his library he warned me, in deep, solemn
+tones, while strongly eulogizing my lover, that my father would never
+consent to my marriage with an abolitionist. He felt in duty bound, as
+my engagement had occurred under his roof, to free himself from all
+responsibility by giving me a long dissertation on love, friendship,
+marriage, and all the pitfalls for the unwary, who, without due
+consideration, formed matrimonial relations. The general principles laid
+down in this interview did not strike my youthful mind so forcibly as
+the suggestion that it was better to announce my engagement by letter
+than to wait until I returned home, as thus I might draw the hottest
+fire while still in safe harbor, where Cousin Gerrit could help me
+defend the weak points in my position. So I lingered at Peterboro to
+prolong the dream of happiness and postpone the conflict I feared to
+meet.
+
+But the Judge understood the advantage of our position as well as we
+did, and wasted no ammunition on us. Being even more indignant at my
+cousin than at me, he quietly waited until I returned home, when I
+passed through the ordeal of another interview, with another
+dissertation on domestic relations from a financial standpoint. These
+were two of the most bewildering interviews I ever had. They succeeded
+in making me feel that the step I proposed to take was the most
+momentous and far-reaching in its consequences of any in this mortal
+life. Heretofore my apprehensions had all been of death and eternity;
+now life itself was filled with fears and anxiety as to the
+possibilities of the future. Thus these two noble men, who would have
+done anything for my happiness, actually overweighted my conscience and
+turned the sweetest dream of my life into a tragedy. How little strong
+men, with their logic, sophistry, and hypothetical examples, appreciate
+the violence they inflict on the tender sensibilities of a woman's
+heart, in trying to subjugate her to their will! The love of protecting
+too often degenerates into downright tyranny. Fortunately all these
+sombre pictures of a possible future were thrown into the background by
+the tender missives every post brought me, in which the brilliant
+word-painting of one of the most eloquent pens of this generation made
+the future for us both, as bright and beautiful as Spring with her
+verdure and blossoms of promise.
+
+However, many things were always transpiring at Peterboro to turn one's
+thoughts and rouse new interest in humanity at large. One day, as a bevy
+of us girls were singing and chattering in the parlor, Cousin Gerrit
+entered and, in mysterious tones, said: "I have a most important secret
+to tell you, which you must keep to yourselves religiously for
+twenty-four hours."
+
+We readily pledged ourselves in the most solemn manner, individually and
+collectively.
+
+"Now," said he, "follow me to the third story."
+
+This we did, wondering what the secret could be. At last, opening a
+door, he ushered us into a large room, in the center of which sat a
+beautiful quadroon girl, about eighteen years of age. Addressing her, he
+said:
+
+"Harriet, I have brought all my young cousins to see you. I want you to
+make good abolitionists of them by telling them the history of your
+life--what you have seen and suffered in slavery."
+
+Turning to us he said:
+
+"Harriet has just escaped from her master, who is visiting in Syracuse,
+and is on her way to Canada. She will start this evening and you may
+never have another opportunity of seeing a slave girl face to face, so
+ask her all you care to know of the system of slavery."
+
+For two hours we listened to the sad story of her childhood and youth,
+separated from all her family and sold for her beauty in a New Orleans
+market when but fourteen years of age. The details of her story I need
+not repeat. The fate of such girls is too well known to need rehearsal.
+We all wept together as she talked, and, when Cousin Gerrit returned to
+summon us away, we needed no further education to make us earnest
+abolitionists.
+
+Dressed as a Quakeress, Harriet started at twilight with one of Mr.
+Smith's faithful clerks in a carriage for Oswego, there to cross the
+lake to Canada. The next day her master and the marshals from Syracuse
+were on her track in Peterboro, and traced her to Mr. Smith's premises.
+He was quite gracious in receiving them, and, while assuring them that
+there was no slave there, he said that they were at liberty to make a
+thorough search of the house and grounds. He invited them to stay and
+dine and kept them talking as long as possible, as every hour helped
+Harriet to get beyond their reach; for, although she had eighteen hours
+the start of them, yet we feared some accident might have delayed her.
+The master was evidently a gentleman, for, on Mr. Smith's assurance that
+Harriet was not there, he made no search, feeling that they could not do
+so without appearing to doubt his word. He was evidently surprised to
+find an abolitionist so courteous and affable, and it was interesting to
+hear them in conversation, at dinner, calmly discussing the problem of
+slavery, while public sentiment was at white heat on the question. They
+shook hands warmly at parting and expressed an equal interest in the
+final adjustment of that national difficulty.
+
+In due time the clerk returned with the good news that Harriet was safe
+with friends in a good situation in Canada. Mr. Smith then published an
+open letter to the master in the New York _Tribune_, saying "that he
+would no doubt rejoice to know that his slave Harriet, in whose fate he
+felt so deep an interest, was now a free woman, safe under the shadow of
+the British throne. I had the honor of entertaining her under my roof,
+sending her in my carriage to Lake Ontario, just eighteen hours before
+your arrival: hence my willingness to have you search my premises."
+
+Like the varied combinations of the kaleidoscope, the scenes in our
+social life at Peterboro were continually changing from grave to gay.
+Some years later we had a most hilarious occasion at the marriage of
+Mary Cochrane, sister of General John Cochrane, to Chapman Biddle, of
+Philadelphia. The festivities, which were kept up for three days,
+involved most elaborate preparations for breakfasts, dinners, etc.,
+there being no Delmonico's in that remote part of the country. It was
+decided in family council that we had sufficient culinary talent under
+the roof to prepare the entire _menu_ of substantials and delicacies,
+from soup and salmon to cakes and creams. So, gifted ladies and
+gentlemen were impressed into the service. The Fitzhughs all had a
+natural talent for cooking, and chief among them was Isabella, wife of a
+naval officer,--Lieutenant Swift of Geneva,--who had made a profound
+study of all the authorities from Archestratus, a poet in Syracuse, the
+most famous cook among the Greeks, down to our own Miss Leslie.
+Accordingly she was elected manager of the occasion, and to each one was
+assigned the specialty in which she claimed to excel. Those who had no
+specialty were assistants to those who had. In this humble
+office--"assistant at large"--I labored throughout.
+
+Cooking is a high art. A wise Egyptian said, long ago: "The degree of
+taste and skill manifested by a nation in the preparation of food may be
+regarded as to a very considerable extent proportioned to its culture
+and refinement." In early times men, only, were deemed capable of
+handling fire, whether at the altar or the hearthstone. We read in the
+Scriptures that Abraham prepared cakes of fine meal and a calf tender
+and good, which, with butter and milk, he set before the three angels in
+the plains of Mamre. We are told, too, of the chief butler and chief
+baker as officers in the household of King Pharaoh. I would like to call
+the attention of my readers to the dignity of this profession, which
+some young women affect to despise. The fact that angels eat, shows that
+we may be called upon in the next sphere to cook even for cherubim and
+seraphim. How important, then, to cultivate one's gifts in that
+direction!
+
+With such facts before us, we stirred and pounded, whipped and ground,
+coaxed the delicate meats from crabs and lobsters and the succulent peas
+from the pods, and grated corn and cocoanut with the same cheerfulness
+and devotion that we played Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" on the
+piano, the Spanish Fandango on our guitars, or danced the minuet, polka,
+lancers, or Virginia reel.
+
+During the day of the wedding, every stage coach was crowded with guests
+from the North, South, East, and West, and, as the twilight deepened,
+carriages began to roll in with neighbors and friends living at short
+distances, until the house and grounds were full. A son of Bishop Coxe,
+who married the tall and stately sister of Roscoe Conkling, performed
+the ceremony. The beautiful young bride was given away by her Uncle
+Gerrit. The congratulations, the feast, and all went off with fitting
+decorum in the usual way. The best proof of the excellence of our viands
+was that they were all speedily swept from mortal view, and every
+housewife wanted a recipe for something.
+
+As the grand dinner was to come off the next day, our thoughts now
+turned in that direction. The responsibility rested heavily on the heads
+of the chief actors, and they reported troubled dreams and unduly early
+rising. Dear Belle Swift was up in season and her white soup stood
+serenely in a tin pan, on an upper shelf, before the town clock struck
+seven. If it had not taken that position so early, it might have been
+incorporated with higher forms of life than that into which it
+eventually fell. Another artist was also on the wing early, and in
+pursuit of a tin pan in which to hide her precious compound, she
+unwittingly seized this one, and the rich white soup rolled down her
+raven locks like the oil on Aaron's beard, and enveloped her in a veil
+of filmy whiteness. I heard the splash and the exclamation of surprise
+and entered the butler's pantry just in time to see the heiress of the
+Smith estate standing like a statue, tin pan in hand, soup in her curls,
+her eyebrows and eyelashes,--collar, cuffs, and morning dress
+saturated,--and Belle, at a little distance, looking at her and the soup
+on the floor with surprise and disgust depicted on every feature. The
+tableau was inexpressibly comical, and I could not help laughing
+outright; whereupon Belle turned on me, and, with indignant tones, said,
+"If you had been up since four o'clock making that soup you would not
+stand there like a laughing monkey, without the least feeling of pity!"
+Poor Lizzie was very sorry, and would have shed tears, but they could
+not penetrate that film of soup. I tried to apologize, but could only
+laugh the more when I saw Belle crying and Lizzie standing as if hoping
+that the soup might be scraped off her and gathered from the floor and
+made to do duty on the occasion.
+
+After breakfast, ladies and gentlemen, alike in white aprons, crowded
+into the dining room and kitchen, each to perform the allotted task.
+George Biddle of Philadelphia and John B. Miller of Utica, in holiday
+spirits, were irrepressible--everywhere at the same moment, helping or
+hindering as the case might be. Dear Belle, having only partially
+recovered from the white-soup catastrophe, called Mr. Biddle to hold the
+ice-cream freezer while she poured in the luscious compound she had just
+prepared. He held it up without resting it on anything, while Belle
+slowly poured in the cream. As the freezer had no indentations round the
+top or rim to brace the thumbs and fingers, when it grew suddenly
+heavier his hands slipped and down went the whole thing, spattering poor
+Belle and spoiling a beautiful pair of gaiters in which, as she had very
+pretty feet, she took a laudable pride. In another corner sat Wealthea
+Backus, grating some cocoanut. While struggling in that operation, John
+Miller, feeling hilarious, was annoying her in divers ways; at length
+she drew the grater across his nose, gently, as she intended, but alas!
+she took the skin off, and John's beauty, for the remainder of the
+festivities, was marred with a black patch on that prominent feature.
+One can readily imagine the fun that must have transpired where so many
+amateur cooks were at work round one table, with all manner of culinary
+tools and ingredients.
+
+As assistant-at-large I was summoned to the cellar, where Mrs. Cornelia
+Barclay of New York was evolving from a pan of flour and water that
+miracle in the pie department called puff paste. This, it seems, can
+only be accomplished where the thermometer is below forty, and near a
+refrigerator where the compound can be kept cold until ready to be
+popped into the oven. No jokes or nonsense here. With queenly dignity
+the flour and water were gently compressed. Here one hand must not know
+what the other doeth. Bits of butter must be so deftly introduced that
+even the rolling pin may be unconscious of its work. As the artist gave
+the last touch to an exquisite lemon pie, with a mingled expression of
+pride and satisfaction on her classic features, she ordered me to bear
+it to the oven. In the transit I met Madam Belle. "Don't let that fall,"
+she said sneeringly. Fortunately I did not, and returned in triumph to
+transport another. I was then summoned to a consultation with the
+committee on toasts, consisting of James Cochrane, John Miller, and
+myself. Mr. Miller had one for each guest already written, all of which
+we accepted and pronounced very good.
+
+Strange to say, a most excellent dinner emerged from all this uproar and
+confusion. The table, with its silver, china, flowers, and rich viands,
+the guests in satins, velvets, jewels, soft laces, and bright cravats,
+together reflecting all the colors of the prism, looked as beautiful as
+the rainbow after a thunderstorm.
+
+Twenty years ago I made my last sad visit to that spot so rich with
+pleasant memories of bygone days. A few relatives and family friends
+gathered there to pay the last tokens of respect to our noble cousin.
+It was on one of the coldest days of gray December that we laid him in
+the frozen earth, to be seen no more. He died from a stroke of apoplexy
+in New York city, at the home of his niece, Mrs. Ellen Cochrane Walter,
+whose mother was Mr. Smith's only sister. The journey from New York to
+Peterboro was cold and dreary, and climbing the hills from Canastota in
+an open sleigh, nine hundred feet above the valley, with the thermometer
+below zero, before sunrise, made all nature look as sombre as the sad
+errand on which we came.
+
+Outside the mansion everything in its wintry garb was cold and still,
+and all within was silent as the grave. The central figure, the light
+and joy of that home, had vanished forever. He who had welcomed us on
+that threshold for half a century would welcome us no more. We did what
+we could to dissipate the gloom that settled on us all. We did not
+intensify our grief by darkening the house and covering ourselves with
+black crape, but wore our accustomed dresses of chastened colors and
+opened all the blinds that the glad sunshine might stream in. We hung
+the apartment where the casket stood with wreaths of evergreens, and
+overhead we wove his favorite mottoes in living letters, "Equal rights
+for all!" "Rescue Cuba now!" The religious services were short and
+simple; the Unitarian clergyman from Syracuse made a few remarks, the
+children from the orphan asylum, in which he was deeply interested, sang
+an appropriate hymn, and around the grave stood representatives of the
+Biddles, the Dixwells, the Sedgwicks, the Barclays, and Stantons, and
+three generations of his immediate family. With a few appropriate words
+from General John Cochrane we left our beloved kinsman alone in his
+last resting place. Two months later, on his birthday, his wife, Ann
+Carroll Fitzhugh, passed away and was laid by his side. Theirs was a
+remarkably happy union of over half a century, and they were soon
+reunited in the life eternal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+OUR WEDDING JOURNEY.
+
+
+My engagement was a season of doubt and conflict--doubt as to the wisdom
+of changing a girlhood of freedom and enjoyment for I knew not what, and
+conflict because the step I proposed was in opposition to the wishes of
+all my family. Whereas, heretofore, friends were continually suggesting
+suitable matches for me and painting the marriage relation in the most
+dazzling colors, now that state was represented as beset with dangers
+and disappointments, and men, of all God's creatures as the most
+depraved and unreliable. Hard pressed, I broke my engagement, after
+months of anxiety and bewilderment; suddenly I decided to renew it, as
+Mr. Stanton was going to Europe as a delegate to the World's
+Anti-slavery Convention, and we did not wish the ocean to roll between
+us.
+
+Thursday, May 10, 1840, I determined to take the fateful step, without
+the slightest preparation for a wedding or a voyage; but Mr. Stanton,
+coming up the North River, was detained on "Marcy's Overslaugh," a bar
+in the river where boats were frequently stranded for hours. This delay
+compelled us to be married on Friday, which is commonly supposed to be a
+most unlucky day. But as we lived together, without more than the usual
+matrimonial friction, for nearly a half a century, had seven children,
+all but one of whom are still living, and have been well sheltered,
+clothed, and fed, enjoying sound minds in sound bodies, no one need be
+afraid of going through the marriage ceremony on Friday for fear of bad
+luck. The Scotch clergyman who married us, being somewhat superstitious,
+begged us to postpone it until Saturday; but, as we were to sail early
+in the coming week, that was impossible. That point settled, the next
+difficulty was to persuade him to leave out the word "obey" in the
+marriage ceremony. As I obstinately refused to obey one with whom I
+supposed I was entering into an equal relation, that point, too, was
+conceded. A few friends were invited to be present and, in a simple
+white evening dress, I was married. But the good priest avenged himself
+for the points he conceded, by keeping us on the rack with a long prayer
+and dissertation on the sacred institution for one mortal hour. The Rev.
+Hugh Maire was a little stout fellow, vehement in manner and speech, who
+danced about the floor, as he laid down the law, in the most original
+and comical manner. As Mr. Stanton had never seen him before, the hour
+to him was one of constant struggle to maintain his equilibrium. I had
+sat under his ministrations for several years, and was accustomed to his
+rhetoric, accent, and gestures, and thus was able to go through the
+ordeal in a calmer state of mind.
+
+Sister Madge, who had stood by me bravely through all my doubts and
+anxieties, went with us to New York and saw us on board the vessel. My
+sister Harriet and her husband, Daniel C. Eaton, a merchant in New York
+city, were also there. He and I had had for years a standing game of
+"tag" at all our partings, and he had vowed to send me "tagged" to
+Europe. I was equally determined that he should not. Accordingly, I
+had a desperate chase after him all over the vessel, but in vain. He had
+the last "tag" and escaped. As I was compelled, under the circumstances,
+to conduct the pursuit with some degree of decorum, and he had the
+advantage of height, long limbs, and freedom from skirts, I really stood
+no chance whatever. However, as the chase kept us all laughing, it
+helped to soften the bitterness of parting.
+
+[Illustration: H.B. Stanton] [Illustration: MRS. STANTON AND DAUGHTER,
+1857.]
+
+Fairly at sea, I closed another chapter of my life, and my thoughts
+turned to what lay in the near future. James G. Birney, the anti-slavery
+nominee for the presidency of the United States, joined us in New York,
+and was a fellow-passenger on the Montreal for England. He and my
+husband were delegates to the World's Anti-slavery Convention, and both
+interested themselves in my anti-slavery education. They gave me books
+to read, and, as we paced the deck day by day, the question was the
+chief theme of our conversation.
+
+Mr. Birney was a polished gentleman of the old school, and was
+excessively proper and punctilious in manner and conversation. I soon
+perceived that he thought I needed considerable toning down before
+reaching England. I was quick to see and understand that his criticisms
+of others in a general way and the drift of his discourses on manners
+and conversation had a nearer application than he intended I should
+discover, though he hoped I would profit by them. I was always grateful
+to anyone who took an interest in my improvement, so I laughingly told
+him, one day, that he need not make his criticisms any longer in that
+roundabout way, but might take me squarely in hand and polish me up as
+speedily as possible. Sitting in the saloon at night after a game of
+chess, in which, perchance, I had been the victor, I felt complacent
+and would sometimes say:
+
+"Well, what have I said or done to-day open to criticism?"
+
+So, in the most gracious manner, he replied on one occasion:
+
+"You went to the masthead in a chair, which I think very unladylike. I
+heard you call your husband 'Henry' in the presence of strangers, which
+is not permissible in polite society. You should always say 'Mr.
+Stanton.' You have taken three moves back in this game."
+
+"Bless me!" I replied, "what a catalogue in one day! I fear my Mentor
+will despair of my ultimate perfection."
+
+"I should have more hope," he replied, "if you seemed to feel my rebukes
+more deeply, but you evidently think them of too little consequence to
+be much disturbed by them."
+
+As he found even more fault with my husband, we condoled with each other
+and decided that our friend was rather hypercritical and that we were as
+nearly perfect as mortals need be for the wear and tear of ordinary
+life. Being both endowed with a good degree of self-esteem, neither the
+praise nor the blame of mankind was overpowering to either of us. As the
+voyage lasted eighteen days--for we were on a sailing vessel--we had
+time to make some improvement, or, at least, to consider all friendly
+suggestions.
+
+At this time Mr. Birney was very much in love with Miss Fitzhugh of
+Geneseo, to whom he was afterward married. He suffered at times great
+depression of spirits, but I could always rouse him to a sunny mood by
+introducing her name. That was a theme of which he never grew weary,
+and, while praising her, a halo of glory was to him visible around my
+head and I was faultless for the time being. There was nothing in our
+fellow-passengers to break the monotony of the voyage. They were all
+stolid, middle-class English people, returning from various parts of the
+world to visit their native land.
+
+When out of their hearing, Mr. Birney used to ridicule them without
+mercy; so, one day, by way of making a point, I said with great
+solemnity, "Is it good breeding to make fun of the foibles of our
+fellow-men, who have not had our advantages of culture and education?"
+He felt the rebuke and blushed, and never again returned to that
+subject. I am sorry to say I was glad to find him once in fault.
+
+Though some amusement, in whatever extraordinary way I could obtain it,
+was necessary to my existence, yet, as it was deemed important that I
+should thoroughly understand the status of the anti-slavery movement in
+my own country, I spent most of my time reading and talking on that
+question. Being the wife of a delegate to the World's Convention, we all
+felt it important that I should be able to answer whatever questions I
+might be asked in England on all phases of the slavery question.
+
+The captain, a jolly fellow, was always ready to second me in my
+explorations into every nook and cranny of the vessel. He imagined that
+my reading was distasteful and enforced by the older gentlemen, so he
+was continually planning some diversion, and often invited me to sit
+with him and listen to his experiences of a sailor's life.
+
+But all things must end in this mortal life, and our voyage was near
+its termination, when we were becalmed on the Southern coast of England
+and could not make more than one knot an hour. When within sight of the
+distant shore, a pilot boat came along and offered to take anyone ashore
+in six hours. I was so delighted at the thought of reaching land that,
+after much persuasion, Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney consented to go.
+Accordingly we were lowered into the boat in an armchair, with a
+luncheon consisting of a cold chicken, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of
+wine, with just enough wind to carry our light craft toward our
+destination. But, instead of six hours, we were all day trying to reach
+the land, and, as the twilight deepened and the last breeze died away,
+the pilot said: "We are now two miles from shore, but the only way you
+can reach there to-night is by a rowboat."
+
+As we had no provisions left and nowhere to sleep, we were glad to avail
+ourselves of the rowboat. It was a bright moonlight night, the air
+balmy, the waters smooth, and, with two stout oarsmen, we glided swiftly
+along. As Mr. Birney made the last descent and seated himself, doubtful
+as to our reaching shore, turning to me he said: "The woman tempted me
+and I did leave the good ship." However, we did reach the shore at
+midnight and landed at Torquay, one of the loveliest spots in that
+country, and our journey to Exeter the next day lay through the most
+beautiful scenery in England.
+
+As we had no luggage with us, our detention by customs officers was
+brief, and we were soon conducted to a comfortable little hotel, which
+we found in the morning was a bower of roses. I had never imagined
+anything so beautiful as the drive up to Exeter on the top of a coach,
+with four stout horses, trotting at the rate of ten miles an hour. It
+was the first day of June, and the country was in all its glory. The
+foliage was of the softest green, the trees were covered with blossoms,
+and the shrubs with flowers. The roads were perfect; the large,
+fine-looking coachman, with his white gloves and reins, his rosy face
+and lofty bearing and the postman in red, blowing his horn as we passed
+through every village, made the drive seem like a journey in fairyland.
+We had heard that England was like a garden of flowers, but we were
+wholly unprepared for such wealth of beauty.
+
+In Exeter we had our first view of one of the great cathedrals in the
+Old World, and we were all deeply impressed with its grandeur. It was
+just at the twilight hour, when the last rays of the setting sun,
+streaming through the stained glass windows, deepened the shadows and
+threw a mysterious amber light over all. As the choir was practicing,
+the whole effect was heightened by the deep tones of the organ
+reverberating through the arched roof, and the sound of human voices as
+if vainly trying to fill the vast space above. The novelty and solemnity
+of the surroundings roused all our religious emotions and thrilled every
+nerve in our being. As if moved by the same impulse to linger there a
+while, we all sat down, silently waiting for something to break the
+spell that bound us. Can one wonder at the power of the Catholic
+religion for centuries, with such accessories to stimulate the
+imagination to a blind worship of the unknown?
+
+Sitting in the hotel that evening and wanting something to read, we
+asked the waiter for the daily papers. As there was no public table or
+drawing room for guests, but each party had its own apartment, we needed
+a little change from the society of each other. Having been, as it were,
+shut from the outside world for eighteen days, we had some curiosity to
+see whether our planet was still revolving from west to east. At the
+mention of papers in the plural number, the attendant gave us a look of
+surprise, and said he would get "it." He returned saying that the
+gentleman in No. 4 had "it," but he would be through in fifteen minutes.
+Accordingly, at the end of that time, he brought the newspaper, and,
+after we had had it the same length of time, he came to take it to
+another party. At our lodging house in London, a paper was left for half
+an hour each morning, and then it was taken to the next house, thus
+serving several families of readers.
+
+The next day brought us to London. When I first entered our lodging
+house in Queen Street, I thought it the gloomiest abode I had ever seen.
+The arrival of a delegation of ladies, the next day, from Boston and
+Philadelphia, changed the atmosphere of the establishment, and filled me
+with delightful anticipations of some new and charming acquaintances,
+which I fully realized in meeting Emily Winslow, Abby Southwick,
+Elizabeth Neal, Mary Grew, Abby Kimber, Sarah Pugh, and Lucretia Mott.
+There had been a split in the American anti-slavery ranks, and delegates
+came from both branches, and, as they were equally represented at our
+lodgings, I became familiar with the whole controversy. The potent
+element which caused the division was the woman question, and as the
+Garrisonian branch maintained the right of women to speak and vote in
+the conventions, all my sympathies were with the Garrisonians, though
+Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney belonged to the other branch, called
+political abolitionists. To me there was no question so important as the
+emancipation of women from the dogmas of the past, political, religious,
+and social. It struck me as very remarkable that abolitionists, who felt
+so keenly the wrongs of the slave, should be so oblivious to the equal
+wrongs of their own mothers, wives, and sisters, when, according to the
+common law, both classes occupied a similar legal status.
+
+Our chief object in visiting England at this time was to attend the
+World's Anti-slavery Convention, to meet June 12, 1840, in Freemasons'
+Hall, London. Delegates from all the anti-slavery societies of civilized
+nations were invited, yet, when they arrived, those representing
+associations of women were rejected. Though women were members of the
+National Anti-slavery Society, accustomed to speak and vote in all its
+conventions, and to take an equally active part with men in the whole
+anti-slavery struggle, and were there as delegates from associations of
+men and women, as well as those distinctively of their own sex, yet all
+alike were rejected because they were women. Women, according to English
+prejudices at that time, were excluded by Scriptural texts from sharing
+equal dignity and authority with men in all reform associations; hence
+it was to English minds pre-eminently unfitting that women should be
+admitted as equal members to a World's Convention. The question was
+hotly debated through an entire day. My husband made a very eloquent
+speech in favor of admitting the women delegates.
+
+When we consider that Lady Byron, Anna Jameson, Mary Howitt, Mrs. Hugo
+Reid, Elizabeth Fry, Amelia Opie, Ann Green Phillips, Lucretia Mott, and
+many remarkable women, speakers and leaders in the Society of Friends,
+were all compelled to listen in silence to the masculine platitudes on
+woman's sphere, one may form some idea of the indignation of
+unprejudiced friends, and especially that of such women as Lydia Maria
+Child, Maria Chapman, Deborah Weston, Angelina and Sarah Grimké, and
+Abby Kelly, who were impatiently waiting and watching on this side, in
+painful suspense, to hear how their delegates were received. Judging
+from my own feelings, the women on both sides of the Atlantic must have
+been humiliated and chagrined, except as these feelings were outweighed
+by contempt for the shallow reasoning of their opponents and their
+comical pose and gestures in some of the intensely earnest flights of
+their imagination.
+
+The clerical portion of the convention was most violent in its
+opposition. The clergymen seemed to have God and his angels especially
+in their care and keeping, and were in agony lest the women should do or
+say something to shock the heavenly hosts. Their all-sustaining conceit
+gave them abundant assurance that their movements must necessarily be
+all-pleasing to the celestials whose ears were open to the proceedings
+of the World's Convention. Deborah, Huldah, Vashti, and Esther might
+have questioned the propriety of calling it a World's Convention, when
+only half of humanity was represented there; but what were their
+opinions worth compared with those of the Rev. A. Harvey, the Rev. C.
+Stout, or the Rev. J. Burnet, who, Bible in hand, argued woman's
+subjection, divinely decreed when Eve was created.
+
+One of our champions in the convention, George Bradburn, a tall
+thick-set man with a voice like thunder, standing head and shoulders
+above the clerical representatives, swept all their arguments aside by
+declaring with tremendous emphasis that, if they could prove to him that
+the Bible taught the entire subjection of one-half of the race to the
+other, he should consider that the best thing he could do for humanity
+would be to bring together every Bible in the universe and make a grand
+bonfire of them.
+
+It was really pitiful to hear narrow-minded bigots, pretending to be
+teachers and leaders of men, so cruelly remanding their own mothers,
+with the rest of womankind, to absolute subjection to the ordinary
+masculine type of humanity. I always regretted that the women themselves
+had not taken part in the debate before the convention was fully
+organized and the question of delegates settled. It seemed to me then,
+and does now, that all delegates with credentials from recognized
+societies should have had a voice in the organization of the convention,
+though subject to exclusion afterward. However, the women sat in a low
+curtained seat like a church choir, and modestly listened to the French,
+British, and American Solons for twelve of the longest days in June, as
+did, also, our grand Garrison and Rogers in the gallery. They scorned a
+convention that ignored the rights of the very women who had fought,
+side by side, with them in the anti-slavery conflict. "After battling so
+many long years," said Garrison, "for the liberties of African slaves, I
+can take no part in a convention that strikes down the most sacred
+rights of all women." After coming three thousand miles to speak on the
+subject nearest his heart, he nobly shared the enforced silence of the
+rejected delegates. It was a great act of self-sacrifice that should
+never be forgotten by women.
+
+Thomas Clarkson was chosen president of the convention and made a few
+remarks in opening, but he soon retired, as his age and many infirmities
+made all public occasions too burdensome, and Joseph Sturge, a Quaker,
+was made chairman. Sitting next to Mrs. Mott, I said:
+
+"As there is a Quaker in the chair now, what could he do if the spirit
+should move you to speak?"
+
+"Ah," she replied, evidently not believing such a contingency possible,
+"where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
+
+She had not much faith in the sincerity of abolitionists who, while
+eloquently defending the natural rights of slaves, denied freedom of
+speech to one-half the people of their own race. Such was the
+consistency of an assemblage of philanthropists! They would have been
+horrified at the idea of burning the flesh of the distinguished women
+present with red-hot irons, but the crucifixion of their pride and
+self-respect, the humiliation of the spirit, seemed to them a most
+trifling matter. The action of this convention was the topic of
+discussion, in public and private, for a long time, and stung many women
+into new thought and action and gave rise to the movement for women's
+political equality both in England and the United States.
+
+As the convention adjourned, the remark was heard on all sides, "It is
+about time some demand was made for new liberties for women." As Mrs.
+Mott and I walked home, arm in arm, commenting on the incidents of the
+day, we resolved to hold a convention as soon as we returned home, and
+form a society to advocate the rights of women. At the lodging house on
+Queen Street, where a large number of delegates had apartments, the
+discussions were heated at every meal, and at times so bitter that, at
+last, Mr. Birney packed his valise and sought more peaceful quarters.
+Having strongly opposed the admission of women as delegates to the
+convention it was rather embarrassing to meet them, during the intervals
+between the various sessions, at the table and in the drawing room.
+
+These were the first women I had ever met who believed in the equality
+of the sexes and who did not believe in the popular orthodox religion.
+The acquaintance of Lucretia Mott, who was a broad, liberal thinker on
+politics, religion, and all questions of reform, opened to me a new
+world of thought. As we walked about to see the sights of London, I
+embraced every opportunity to talk with her. It was intensely gratifying
+to hear all that, through years of doubt, I had dimly thought, so freely
+discussed by other women, some of them no older than myself--women, too,
+of rare intelligence, cultivation, and refinement. After six weeks'
+sojourn under the same roof with Lucretia Mott, whose conversation was
+uniformly on a high plane, I felt that I knew her too well to sympathize
+with the orthodox Friends, who denounced her as a dangerous woman
+because she doubted certain dogmas they fully believed.
+
+As Mr. Birney and my husband were invited to speak all over England,
+Scotland, and Ireland, and we were uniformly entertained by orthodox
+Friends, I had abundant opportunity to know the general feeling among
+them toward Lucretia Mott. Even Elizabeth Fry seemed quite unwilling to
+breathe the same atmosphere with her. During the six weeks that many of
+us remained in London after the convention we were invited to a
+succession of public and private breakfasts, dinners, and teas, and on
+these occasions it was amusing to watch Mrs. Fry's sedulous efforts to
+keep Mrs. Mott at a distance. If Mrs. Mott was on the lawn, Mrs. Fry
+would go into the house; if Mrs. Mott was in the house, Mrs. Fry would
+stay out on the lawn. One evening, when we were all crowded into two
+parlors, and there was no escape, the word went round that Mrs. Fry felt
+moved to pray with the American delegates, whereupon a profound silence
+reigned. After a few moments Mrs. Fry's voice was heard deploring the
+schism among the American Friends; that sol many had been led astray by
+false doctrines; urging the Spirit of All Good to show them the error of
+their way, and gather them once more into the fold of the great Shepherd
+of our faith. The prayer was directed so pointedly at the followers of
+Elias Hicks, and at Lucretia Mott in particular, that I whispered to
+Lucretia, at the close, that she should now pray for Mrs. Fry, that her
+eyes might be opened to her bigotry and uncharitableness, and be led by
+the Spirit into higher light. "Oh, no!" she replied, "a prayer of this
+character, under the circumstances, is an unfair advantage to take of a
+stranger, but I would not resent it in the house of her friends."
+
+In these gatherings we met the leading Quaker families and many other
+philanthropists of different denominations interested in the
+anti-slavery movement. On all these occasions our noble Garrison spoke
+most effectively, and thus our English friends had an opportunity of
+enjoying his eloquence, the lack of which had been so grave a loss in
+the convention.
+
+We devoted a month sedulously to sightseeing in London, and, in the line
+of the traveler's duty, we explored St. Paul's Cathedral, the British
+Museum, the Tower, various prisons, hospitals, galleries of art, Windsor
+Castle, and St. James's Palace, the Zoological Gardens, the schools and
+colleges, the chief theaters and churches, Westminster Abbey, the Houses
+of Parliament, and the Courts. We heard the most famous preachers,
+actors, and statesmen. In fact, we went to the top and bottom of
+everything, from the dome of St. Paul to the tunnel under the Thames,
+just then in the process of excavation. We drove through the parks,
+sailed up and down the Thames, and then visited every shire but four in
+England, in all of which we had large meetings, Mr. Birney and Mr.
+Stanton being the chief speakers. As we were generally invited to stay
+with Friends, it gave us a good opportunity to see the leading families,
+such as the Ashursts, the Alexanders, the Priestmans, the Braithwaites,
+and Buxtons, the Gurneys, the Peases, the Wighams of Edinburgh, and the
+Webbs of Dublin. We spent a few days with John Joseph Gurney at his
+beautiful home in Norwich. He had just returned from America, having
+made a tour through the South. When asked how he liked America, he said,
+"I like everything but your pie crust and your slavery."
+
+Before leaving London, the whole American delegation, about forty in
+number, were invited to dine with Samuel Gurney. He and his brother,
+John Joseph Gurney, were, at that time, the leading bankers in London.
+Someone facetiously remarked that the Jews were the leading bankers in
+London until the Quakers crowded them out.
+
+One of the most striking women I met in England at this time was Miss
+Elizabeth Pease. I never saw a more strongly marked face. Meeting her,
+forty years after, on the platform of a great meeting in the Town Hall
+at Glasgow, I knew her at once. She is now Mrs. Nichol of Edinburgh,
+and, though on the shady side of eighty, is still active in all the
+reforms of the day.
+
+It surprised us very much at first, when driving into the grounds of
+some of these beautiful Quaker homes, to have the great bell rung at the
+lodge, and to see the number of liveried servants on the porch and in
+the halls, and then to meet the host in plain garb, and to be welcomed
+in plain language, "How does thee do, Henry?" "How does thee do
+Elizabeth?" This sounded peculiarly sweet to me--a stranger in a strange
+land. The wealthy English Quakers we visited at that time, taking them
+all in all, were the most charming people I had ever seen. They were
+refined and intelligent on all subjects, and though rather conservative
+on some points, were not aggressive in pressing their opinions on
+others. Their hospitality was charming and generous, their homes the
+beau ideal of comfort and order, the cuisine faultless, while peace
+reigned over all. The quiet, gentle manner and the soft tones in
+speaking, and the mysterious quiet in these well-ordered homes were like
+the atmosphere one finds in a modern convent, where the ordinary duties
+of the day seem to be accomplished by some magical influence.
+
+Before leaving London we spent a delightful day in June at the home of
+Samuel Gurney, surrounded by a fine park with six hundred deer roaming
+about--always a beautiful feature in the English landscape. As the
+Duchess of Sutherland and Lord Morpeth had expressed a wish to Mrs. Fry
+to meet some of the leading American abolitionists, it was arranged that
+they should call at her brother's residence on this occasion. Soon after
+we arrived, the Duchess, with her brother and Mrs. Fry, in her state
+carriage with six horses and outriders, drove up to the door. Mr. Gurney
+was evidently embarrassed at the prospect of a lord and a duchess under
+his roof. Leaning on the arm of Mrs. Fry, the duchess was formally
+introduced to us individually. Mrs. Mott conversed with the
+distinguished guests with the same fluency and composure as with her own
+countrywomen. However anxious the English people were as to what they
+should say and do, the Americans were all quite at their ease.
+
+As Lord Morpeth had some interesting letters from the island of Jamaica
+to read to us, we formed a circle on the lawn to listen. England had
+just paid one hundred millions of dollars to emancipate the slaves, and
+we were all interested in hearing the result of the experiment. The
+distinguished guest in turn had many questions to ask in regard to
+American slavery. We found none of that prejudice against color in
+England which is so inveterate among the American people; at my first
+dinner in England I found myself beside a gentleman from Jamaica, as
+black as the ace of spades. After the departure of the duchess, dinner
+was announced. It was a sumptuous meal, most tastefully served. There
+were half a dozen wineglasses at every plate, but abolitionists, in
+those days, were all converts to temperance, and, as the bottles went
+around there was a general headshaking, and the right hand extended
+over the glasses. Our English friends were amazed that none of us drank
+wine. Mr. Gurney said he had never before seen such a sight as forty
+ladies and gentlemen sitting down to dinner and none of them tasting
+wine. In talking with him on that point, he said:
+
+"I suppose your nursing mothers drink beer?"
+
+I laughed, and said, "Oh, no! We should be afraid of befogging the
+brains of our children."
+
+"No danger of that," said he; "we are all bright enough, and yet a cask
+of beer is rolled into the cellar for the mother with each newborn
+child."
+
+Colonel Miller from Vermont, one of our American delegation, was in the
+Greek war with Lord Byron. As Lady Byron had expressed a wish to see
+him, that her daughter might know something of her father's last days,
+an interview was arranged, and the colonel kindly invited me to
+accompany him. His account of their acquaintance and the many noble
+traits of character Lord Byron manifested, his generous impulses and
+acts of self-sacrifice, seemed particularly gratifying to the daughter.
+It was a sad interview, arranged chiefly for the daughter's
+satisfaction, though Lady Byron listened with a painful interest. As the
+colonel was a warm admirer of the great poet, he no doubt represented
+him in the best possible light, and his narration of his last days was
+deeply interesting. Lady Byron had a quiet, reserved manner, a sad face,
+and a low, plaintive voice, like one who had known deep sorrow. I had
+seen her frequently in the convention and at social teas, and had been
+personally presented to her before this occasion. Altogether I thought
+her a sweet, attractive-looking woman.
+
+We had a pleasant interview with Lord Brougham also. The Philadelphia
+Anti-slavery Society sent him an elaborately carved inkstand, made from
+the wood of Pennsylvania Hall, which was destroyed by a pro-slavery mob.
+Mr. Birney made a most graceful speech in presenting the memento, and
+Lord Brougham was equally happy in receiving it.
+
+One of the most notable characters we met at this time was Daniel
+O'Connell. He made his first appearance in the London convention a few
+days after the women were rejected. He paid a beautiful tribute to woman
+and said that, if he had been present when the question was under
+discussion, he should have spoken and voted for their admission. He was
+a tall, well-developed, magnificent-looking man, and probably one of the
+most effective speakers Ireland ever produced. I saw him at a great
+India meeting in Exeter Hall, where some of the best orators from
+France, America, and England were present. There were six natives from
+India on the platform who, not understanding anything that was said,
+naturally remained listless throughout the proceedings. But the moment
+O'Connell began to speak they were all attention, bending forward and
+closely watching every movement. One could almost tell what he said from
+the play of his expressive features, his wonderful gestures, and the
+pose of his whole body. When he finished, the natives joined in the
+general applause. He had all Wendell Phillips' power of sarcasm and
+denunciation, and added to that the most tender pathos. He could make
+his audience laugh or cry at pleasure. It was a rare sight to see him
+dressed in "Repeal cloth" in one of his Repeal meetings. We were in
+Dublin in the midst of that excitement, when the hopes of new liberties
+for that oppressed people all centered on O'Connell. The enthusiasm of
+the people for the Repeal of the Union was then at white-heat. Dining
+one day with the "Great Liberator," as he was called, I asked him if he
+hoped to carry that measure.
+
+"No," he said, "but it is always good policy to claim the uttermost and
+then you will be sure to get something."
+
+Could he have looked forward fifty years and have seen the present
+condition of his unhappy country, he would have known that English greed
+and selfishness could defeat any policy, however wise and far-seeing.
+The successive steps by which Irish commerce was ruined and religious
+feuds between her people continually fanned into life, and the nation
+subjugated, form the darkest page in the history of England. But the
+people are awakening at last to their duty, and, for the first time,
+organizing English public sentiment in favor of "Home Rule." I attended
+several large, enthusiastic meetings when last in England, in which the
+most radical utterances of Irish patriots were received with prolonged
+cheers. I trust the day is not far off when the beautiful Emerald Isle
+will unfurl her banner before the nations of the earth, enthroned as the
+Queen Republic of those northern seas!
+
+We visited Wordsworth's home at Grasmere, among the beautiful lakes, but
+he was not there. However, we saw his surroundings--the landscape that
+inspired some of his poetic dreams, and the dense rows of hollyhocks of
+every shade and color, leading from his porch to the gate. The gardener
+told us this was his favorite flower. Though it had no special beauty in
+itself, taken alone, yet the wonderful combination of royal colors was
+indeed striking and beautiful. We saw Harriet Martineau at her country
+home as well as at her house in town. As we were obliged to converse
+with her through an ear trumpet, we left her to do most of the talking.
+She gave us many amusing experiences of her travels in America, and her
+comments on the London Convention were rich and racy. She was not an
+attractive woman in either manner or appearance, though considered great
+and good by all who knew her.
+
+We spent a few days with Thomas Clarkson, in Ipswich. He lived in a very
+old house with long rambling corridors, surrounded by a moat, which we
+crossed' by means of a drawbridge. He had just written an article
+against the colonization scheme, which his wife read aloud to us. He was
+so absorbed in the subject that he forgot the article was written by
+himself, and kept up a running applause with "hear!" "hear!" the English
+mode of expressing approbation. He told us of the severe struggles he
+and Wilberforce had gone through in rousing the public sentiment of
+England to the demand for emancipation in Jamaica. But their trials were
+mild, compared with what Garrison and his coadjutors had suffered in
+America.
+
+Having read of all these people, it was difficult to realize, as I
+visited them in their own homes from day to day, that they were the same
+persons I had so long worshiped from afar!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+HOMEWARD BOUND.
+
+
+After taking a view of the wonders and surroundings of London we spent a
+month in Paris. Fifty years ago there was a greater difference in the
+general appearance of things between France and England than now. That
+countries only a few hours' journey apart should differ so widely was to
+us a great surprise. How changed the sights and sounds! Here was the old
+diligence, lumbering along with its various compartments and its
+indefinite number of horses, harnessed with rope and leather, sometimes
+two, sometimes three abreast, and sometimes one in advance, with an
+outrider belaboring the poor beasts without cessation, and the driver
+yelling and cracking his whip. The uproar, confusion, and squabbles at
+every stopping place are overwhelming; the upper classes, men and women
+alike, rushing into each other's arms, embrace and kiss, while drivers
+and hostlers on the slightest provocation hurl at each other all the
+denunciatory adjectives in the language, and with such vehemence that
+you expect every moment to see a deadly conflict. But to-day, as fifty
+years ago, they never arrive at that point. Theirs was and is purely an
+encounter of words, which they keep up, as they drive off in opposite
+directions, just as far as they can hear and see each other, with
+threats of vengeance to come. Such an encounter between two Englishmen
+would mean the death of one or the other.
+
+All this was in marked contrast with John Bull and his Island. There the
+people were as silent as if they had been born deaf and dumb. The
+English stagecoach was compact, clean, and polished from top to bottom,
+the horses and harness glossy and in order, the well-dressed, dignified
+coachman, who seldom spoke a loud word or used his whip, kept his seat
+at the various stages, while hostlers watered or changed the steeds; the
+postman blew his bugle blast to have the mail in readiness, and the
+reserved passengers made no remarks on what was passing; for, in those
+days, Englishmen were afraid to speak to each other for fear of
+recognizing one not of their class, while to strangers and foreigners
+they would not speak except in case of dire necessity. The Frenchman was
+ready enough to talk, but, unfortunately, we were separated by different
+languages. Thus the Englishman would not talk, the Frenchman could not,
+and the intelligent, loquacious American driver, who discourses on
+politics, religion, national institutions, and social gossip was unknown
+on that side of the Atlantic. What the curious American traveler could
+find out himself from observation and pertinacious seeking he was
+welcome to, but the Briton would waste no breath to enlighten Yankees as
+to the points of interest or customs of his country.
+
+Our party consisted of Miss Pugh, Abby Kimber, Mr. Stanton, and myself.
+I had many amusing experiences in making my wants known when alone,
+having forgotten most of my French. For instance, traveling night and
+day in the diligence to Paris, as the stops were short, one was
+sometimes in need of something to eat. One night as my companions were
+all asleep, I went out to get a piece of cake or a cracker, or whatever
+of that sort I could obtain, but, owing to my clumsy use of the
+language, I was misunderstood. Just as the diligence was about to start,
+and the shout for us to get aboard was heard, the waiter came running
+with a piping hot plate of sweetbreads nicely broiled. I had waited and
+wondered why it took so long to get a simple piece of cake or biscuit,
+and lo! a piece of hot meat was offered me. I could not take the
+frizzling thing in my hand nor eat it without bread, knife, or fork, so
+I hurried off to the coach, the man pursuing me to the very door. I was
+vexed and disappointed, while the rest of the party were convulsed with
+laughter at the parting salute and my attempt to make my way alone. It
+was some time before I heard the last of the "sweetbreads."
+
+When we reached Paris we secured a courier who could speak English, to
+show us the sights of that wonderful city. Every morning early he was at
+the door, rain or shine, to carry out our plans, which, with the aid of
+our guidebook, we had made the evening before. In this way, going
+steadily, day after day, we visited all points of interest for miles
+round and sailed up and down the Seine. The Palace of the Tuileries,
+with its many associations with a long line of more or less unhappy
+kings and queens, was then in its glory, and its extensive and beautiful
+grounds were always gay with crowds of happy people. These gardens were
+a great resort for nurses and children and were furnished with all
+manner of novel appliances for their amusement, including beautiful
+little carriages drawn by four goats with girls or boys driving, boats
+sailing in the air, seemingly propelled by oars, and hobby horses
+flying round on whirligigs with boys vainly trying to catch each other.
+No people have ever taken the trouble to invent so many amusements for
+children as have the French. The people enjoyed being always in the open
+air, night and day. The parks are crowded with amusement seekers, some
+reading and playing games, some sewing, knitting, playing on musical
+instruments, dancing, sitting around tables in bevies eating, drinking,
+and gayly chatting. And yet, when they drive in carriages or go to their
+homes at night, they will shut themselves in as tight as oysters in
+their shells. They have a theory that night air is very injurious,--in
+the house,--although they will sit outside until midnight. I found this
+same superstition prevalent in France fifty years later.
+
+We visited the Hôtel des Invalides just as they were preparing the
+sarcophagus for the reception of the remains of Napoleon. We witnessed
+the wild excitement of that enthusiastic people, and listened with deep
+interest to the old soldiers' praises of their great general. The ladies
+of our party chatted freely with them. They all had interesting
+anecdotes to relate of their chief. They said he seldom slept over four
+hours, was an abstemious eater, and rarely changed a servant, as he
+hated a strange face about him. He was very fond of a game of chess, and
+snuffed continuously; talked but little, was a light sleeper,--the
+stirring of a mouse would awaken him,--and always on the watch-tower.
+They said that, in his great campaigns, he seemed to be omnipresent. A
+sentinel asleep at his post would sometimes waken to find Napoleon on
+duty in his place.
+
+The ship that brought back Napoleon's remains was the _Belle Poule_
+(the beautiful hen!), which landed at Cherbourg, November 30, 1840. The
+body was conveyed to the Church of the Invalides, which adjoins the
+tomb. The Prince de Joinville brought the body from Saint Helena, and
+Louis Philippe received it.
+
+At that time each soldier had a little patch of land to decorate as he
+pleased, in which many scenes from their great battles were illustrated.
+One represented Napoleon crossing the Alps. There were the cannon, the
+soldiers, Napoleon on horseback, all toiling up the steep ascent,
+perfect in miniature. In another was Napoleon, flag in hand, leading the
+charge across the bridge of Lodi. In still another was Napoleon in
+Egypt, before the Pyramids, seated, impassive, on his horse, gazing at
+the Sphinx, as if about to utter his immortal words to his soldiers:
+"Here, forty centuries look down upon us." These object lessons of the
+past are all gone now and the land used for more prosaic purposes.
+
+I little thought, as I witnessed that great event in France in 1840,
+that fifty-seven years later I should witness a similar pageant in the
+American Republic, when our nation paid its last tributes to General
+Grant. There are many points of similarity in these great events. As men
+they were alike aggressive and self-reliant. In Napoleon's will he
+expressed the wish that his last resting place might be in the land and
+among the people he loved so well. His desire is fulfilled. He rests in
+the chief city of the French republic, whose shores are washed by the
+waters of the Seine. General Grant expressed the wish that he might be
+interred in our metropolis and added: "Wherever I am buried, I desire
+that there shall be room for my wife by my side." His wishes, too, are
+fulfilled. He rests in the chief city of the American Republic, whose
+shores are washed by the waters of the Hudson, and in his magnificent
+mausoleum there is room for his wife by his side.
+
+Several members of the Society of Friends from Boston and Philadelphia,
+who had attended the World's Anti-slavery Convention in London, joined
+our party for a trip on the Continent. Though opposed to war, they all
+took a deep interest in the national excitement and in the pageants that
+heralded the expected arrival of the hero from Saint Helena. As they all
+wore military coats of the time of George Fox, the soldiers, supposing
+they belonged to the army of some country, gave them the military salute
+wherever we went, much to their annoyance and our amusement.
+
+In going the rounds, Miss Pugh amused us by reading aloud the
+description of what we were admiring and the historical events connected
+with that particular building or locality. We urged her to spend the
+time taking in all she could see and to read up afterward; but no, a
+history of France and Galignani's guide she carried everywhere, and,
+while the rest of us looked until we were fully satisfied, she took a
+bird's-eye view and read the description. Dear little woman! She was a
+fine scholar, a good historian, was well informed on all subjects and
+countries, proved an invaluable traveling companion, and could tell more
+of what we saw than all the rest of us together.
+
+On several occasions we chanced to meet Louis Philippe dashing by in an
+open barouche. We felt great satisfaction in remembering that at one
+time he was an exile in our country, where he earned his living by
+teaching school. What an honor for Yankee children to have been taught,
+by a French king, the rudiments of his language.
+
+Having been accustomed to the Puritan Sunday of restraint and solemnity,
+I found that day in Paris gay and charming. The first time I entered
+into some of the festivities, I really expected to be struck by
+lightning. The libraries, art galleries, concert halls, and theaters
+were all open to the people. Bands of music were playing in the parks,
+where whole families, with their luncheons, spent the day--husbands,
+wives, and children, on an excursion together. The boats on the Seine
+and all public conveyances were crowded. Those who had but this one day
+for pleasure seemed determined to make the most of it. A wonderful
+contrast with that gloomy day in London, where all places of amusement
+were closed and nothing open to the people but the churches and drinking
+saloons. The streets and houses in which Voltaire, La Fayette, Mme. de
+Staël, Mme. Roland, Charlotte Corday, and other famous men and women
+lived and died, were pointed out to us. We little thought, then, of all
+the terrible scenes to be enacted in Paris, nor that France would emerge
+from the dangers that beset her on every side into a sister republic. It
+has been a wonderful achievement, with kings and Popes all plotting
+against her experiment, that she has succeeded in putting kingcraft
+under her feet and proclaimed liberty, equality, fraternity for her
+people.
+
+After a few weeks in France, we returned to London, traveling through
+England, Ireland, and Scotland for several months. We visited the scenes
+that Shakespeare, Burns, and Dickens had made classic. We spent a few
+days at Huntingdon, the home of Oliver Cromwell, and visited the estate
+where he passed his early married life. While there, one of his great
+admirers read aloud to us a splendid article in one of the reviews,
+written by Carlyle, giving "The Protector," as his friend said, his true
+place in history. It was long the fashion of England's historians to
+represent Cromwell as a fanatic and hypocrite, but his character was
+vindicated by later writers. "Never," says Macaulay, "was a ruler so
+conspicuously born for sovereignty. The cup which has intoxicated almost
+all others sobered him."
+
+We saw the picturesque ruins of Kenilworth Castle, the birthplace of
+Shakespeare, the homes of Byron and Mary Chaworth, wandered through
+Newstead Abbey, saw the monument to the faithful dog, and the large
+dining room where Byron and his boon companions used to shoot at a mark.
+It was a desolate region. We stopped a day or two at Ayr and drove out
+to the birthplace of Burns. The old house that had sheltered him was
+still there, but its walls now echoed to other voices, and the fields
+where he had toiled were plowed by other hands. We saw the stream and
+banks where he and Mary sat together, the old stone church where the
+witches held their midnight revels, the two dogs, and the bridge of Ayr.
+With Burns, as with Sappho, it was love that awoke his heart to song. A
+bonny lass who worked with him in the harvest field inspired his first
+attempts at rhyme. Life, with Burns, was one long, hard struggle. With
+his natural love for the beautiful, the terrible depression of spirits
+he suffered from his dreary surroundings was inevitable. The interest
+great men took in him, when they awoke to his genius, came too late for
+his safety and encouragement. In a glass of whisky he found, at last,
+the rest and cheer he never knew when sober. Poverty and ignorance are
+the parents of intemperance, and that vice will never be suppressed
+until the burdens of life are equally shared by all.
+
+We saw Melrose by moonlight, spent several hours at Abbotsford, and
+lingered in the little sanctum sanctorum where Scott wrote his immortal
+works. It was so small that he could reach the bookshelves on every
+side. We went through the prisons, castles, and narrow streets of
+Edinburgh, where the houses are seven and eight stories high, each story
+projecting a few feet until, at the uppermost, opposite neighbors could
+easily shake hands and chat together. All the intervals from active
+sight-seeing we spent in reading the lives of historical personages in
+poetry and prose, until our sympathies flowed out to the real and ideal
+characters. Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, Ellen
+Douglas, Jeanie and Effie Deans, Highland Mary, Rebecca the Jewess, Di
+Vernon, and Rob Roy all alike seemed real men and women, whose shades or
+descendants we hoped to meet on their native heath.
+
+Here among the Scotch lakes and mountains Mr. Stanton and I were
+traveling alone for the first time since our marriage, and as we both
+enjoyed walking, we made many excursions on foot to points that could
+not be reached in any other way. We spent some time among the Grampian
+Hills, so familiar to every schoolboy, walking, and riding about on
+donkeys. We sailed up and down Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond. My husband
+was writing letters for some New York newspapers on the entire trip, and
+aimed to get exact knowledge of all we saw; thus I had the advantage of
+the information he gathered. On these long tramps I wore a short dress,
+reaching just below the knee, of dark-blue cloth, a military cap of the
+same material that shaded my eyes, and a pair of long boots, made on the
+masculine pattern then generally worn--the most easy style for walking,
+as the pressure is equal on the whole foot and the ankle has free play.
+Thus equipped, and early trained by my good brother-in-law to long
+walks, I found no difficulty in keeping pace with my husband.
+
+Being self-reliant and venturesome in our explorations, we occasionally
+found ourselves involved in grave difficulties by refusing to take a
+guide. For instance, we decided to go to the top of Ben Nevis alone. It
+looked to us a straightforward piece of business to walk up a mountain
+side on a bee line, and so, in the face of repeated warnings by our
+host, we started. We knew nothing of zigzag paths to avoid the rocks,
+the springs, and swamps; in fact we supposed all mountains smooth and
+dry, like our native hills that we were accustomed to climb. The
+landlord shook his head and smiled when we told him we should return at
+noon to dinner, and we smiled, too, thinking he placed a low estimate on
+our capacity for walking. But we had not gone far when we discovered the
+difficulties ahead. Some places were so steep that I had to hold on to
+my companion's coat tails, while he held on to rocks and twigs, or
+braced himself with a heavy cane. By the time we were halfway up we were
+in a dripping perspiration, our feet were soaking wet, and we were
+really too tired to proceed. But, after starting with such supreme
+confidence in ourselves, we were ashamed to confess our fatigue to each
+other, and much more to return and verify all the prognostications of
+the host and his guides. So we determined to push on and do what we had
+proposed. With the prospect of a magnificent view and an hour's
+delicious rest on the top, we started with renewed courage. A steady
+climb of six hours brought us to the goal of promise; our ascent was
+accomplished. But alas! it was impossible to stop there--the cold wind
+chilled us to the bone in a minute. So we took one glance at the world
+below and hurried down the south side to get the mountain between us and
+the cold northeaster.
+
+When your teeth are chattering with the cold, and the wind threatening
+to make havoc with your raiment, you are not in a favorable condition to
+appreciate grand scenery. Like the king of France with twice ten
+thousand men, we marched up the hill and then, marched down again. We
+found descending still more difficult, as we were in constant fear of
+slipping, losing our hold, and rolling to the bottom. We were tired,
+hungry, and disappointed, and the fear of not reaching the valley before
+nightfall pressed heavily upon us. Neither confessed to the other the
+fatigue and apprehension each felt, but, with fresh endeavor and words
+of encouragement, we cautiously went on. We accidentally struck a trail
+that led us winding down comfortably some distance, but we lost it, and
+went clambering down as well as we could in our usual way. To add to our
+misery, a dense Scotch mist soon enveloped us, so that we could see but
+a short distance ahead, and not knowing the point from which we started,
+we feared we might be going far out of our way. The coming twilight,
+too, made the prospect still darker. Fortunately our host, having less
+faith in us than we had in ourselves, sent a guide to reconnoiter, and,
+just at the moment when we began to realize our danger of spending the
+night on the mountain, and to admit it to each other, the welcome guide
+hailed us in his broad accent. His shepherd dog led the way into the
+beaten path. As I could hardly stand I took the guide's arm, and when we
+reached the bottom two donkeys were in readiness to take us to the
+hotel.
+
+We did not recover from the fatigue of that expedition in several days,
+and we made no more experiments of exploring strange places without
+guides. We learned, too, that mountains are not so hospitable as they
+seem nor so gently undulating as they appear in the distance, and that
+guides serve other purposes besides extorting money from travelers. If,
+under their guidance, we had gone up and down easily, we should always
+have thought we might as well have gone alone. So our experience gave us
+a good lesson in humility. We had been twelve hours on foot with nothing
+to eat, when at last we reached the hotel. We were in no mood for
+boasting of the success of our excursion, and our answers were short to
+inquiries as to how we had passed the day.
+
+Being tired of traveling and contending about woman's sphere with the
+Rev. John Scoble, an Englishman, who escorted Mr. Birney and Mr. Stanton
+on their tour through the country, I decided to spend a month in Dublin;
+while the gentlemen held meetings in Cork, Belfast, Waterford, Limerick,
+and other chief towns, finishing the series with a large, enthusiastic
+gathering in Dublin, at which O'Connell made one of his most withering
+speeches on American slavery; the inconsistency of such an "institution"
+with the principles of a republican government giving full play to his
+powers of sarcasm. On one occasion, when introduced to a slaveholder, he
+put his hands behind his back, refusing to recognize a man who bought
+and sold his fellow-beings. The Rev. John Scoble was one of the most
+conceited men I ever met. His narrow ideas in regard to woman, and the
+superiority of the royal and noble classes in his own country, were to
+me so exasperating that I grew more and more bellicose every day we
+traveled in company. He was terribly seasick crossing the Channel, to my
+intense satisfaction. As he always boasted of his distinguished
+countrymen, I suggested, in the midst of one of his most agonizing
+spasms, that he ought to find consolation in the fact that Lord Nelson
+was always seasick on the slightest provocation.
+
+The poverty in Ireland was a continual trial to our sensibilities;
+beggars haunted our footsteps everywhere, in the street and on the
+highways, crouching on the steps of the front door and on the
+curbstones, and surrounding our carriage wherever and whenever we
+stopped to shop or make a visit. The bony hands and sunken eyes and
+sincere gratitude expressed for every penny proved their suffering real.
+As my means were limited and I could not pass one by, I got a pound
+changed into pennies, and put them in a green bag, which I took in the
+carriage wherever I went. It was but a drop in the ocean, but it was all
+I could do to relieve that unfathomed misery. The poverty I saw
+everywhere in the Old World, and especially in Ireland, was a puzzling
+problem to my mind, but I rejected the idea that it was a necessary link
+in human experience--that it always had been and always must be.
+
+As we drove, day by day, in that magnificent Phoenix Park, of fifteen
+hundred acres, one of the largest parks, I believe, in the world, I
+would often put the question to myself, what right have the few to make
+a pleasure ground of these acres, while the many have nowhere to lay
+their heads, crouching under stiles and bridges, clothed in rags, and
+feeding on sea-weed with no hope, in the slowly passing years, of any
+change for the better? The despair stamped on every brow told the sad
+story of their wrongs. Those accustomed to such everyday experiences
+brush beggars aside as they would so many flies, but those to whom such
+sights are new cannot so easily quiet their own consciences. Everyone in
+the full enjoyment of all the blessings of life, in his normal
+condition, feels some individual responsibility for the poverty of
+others. When the sympathies are not blunted by any false philosophy, one
+feels reproached by one's own abundance. I once heard a young girl,
+about to take her summer outing, when asked by her grandmother if she
+had all the dresses she needed, reply, "Oh, yes! I was oppressed with a
+constant sense of guilt, when packing, to see how much I had, while so
+many girls have nothing decent to wear."
+
+More than half a century has rolled by since I stood on Irish soil, and
+shed tears of pity for the wretchedness I saw, and no change for the
+better has as yet come to that unhappy people--yet this was the land of
+Burke, Grattan, Shiel, and Emmett; the land into which Christianity was
+introduced in the fifth century, St. Patrick being the chief apostle of
+the new faith. In the sixth century Ireland sent forth missionaries from
+her monasteries to convert Great Britain and the nations of Northern
+Europe. From the eighth to the twelfth century Irish scholars held an
+enviable reputation. In fact, Ireland was the center of learning at one
+time. The arts, too, were cultivated by her people; and the round
+towers, still pointed out to travelers, are believed to be the remains
+of the architecture of the tenth century. The ruin of Ireland must be
+traced to other causes than the character of the people or the Catholic
+religion. Historians give us facts showing English oppressions
+sufficient to destroy any nation.
+
+The short, dark days of November intensified, in my eyes, the gloomy
+prospects of that people, and made the change to the _Sirius_ of the
+Cunard Line, the first regular Atlantic steamship to cross the ocean,
+most enjoyable. Once on the boundless ocean, one sees no beggars, no
+signs of human misery, no crumbling ruins of vast cathedral walls, no
+records of the downfall of mighty nations, no trace, even, of the mortal
+agony of the innumerable host buried beneath her bosom. Byron truly
+says:
+
+    "Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow--
+    Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now."
+
+When we embarked on the _Sirius_, we had grave doubts as to our safety
+and the probability of our reaching the other side, as we did not feel
+that ocean steamers had yet been fairly tried. But, after a passage of
+eighteen days, eleven hours, and fifteen minutes, we reached Boston,
+having spent six hours at Halifax. We little thought that the steamer
+_Sirius_ of fifty years ago would ever develop into the magnificent
+floating palaces of to-day--three times as large and three times as
+swift. In spite of the steamer, however, we had a cold, rough, dreary
+voyage, and I have no pleasant memories connected with it. Our
+fellow-passengers were all in their staterooms most of the time. Our
+good friend Mr. Birney had sailed two weeks before us, and as Mr.
+Stanton was confined to his berth, I was thrown on my own resources. I
+found my chief amusement in reading novels and playing chess with a
+British officer on his way to Canada. When it was possible I walked on
+deck with the captain, or sat in some sheltered corner, watching the
+waves. We arrived in New York, by rail, the day before Christmas.
+Everything looked bright and gay in our streets. It seemed to me that
+the sky was clearer, the air more refreshing, and the sunlight more
+brilliant than in any other land!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MOTHERHOOD.
+
+
+We found my sister Harriet in a new home in Clinton Place (Eighth
+Street), New York city, then considered so far up town that Mr. Eaton's
+friends were continually asking him why he went so far away from the
+social center, though in a few months they followed him. Here we passed
+a week. I especially enjoyed seeing my little niece and nephew, the only
+grandchildren in the family. The girl was the most beautiful child I
+ever saw, and the boy the most intelligent and amusing. He was very fond
+of hearing me recite the poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes entitled "The
+Height of the Ridiculous," which I did many times, but he always wanted
+to see the lines that almost killed the man with laughing. He went
+around to a number of the bookstores one day and inquired for them. I
+told him afterward they were never published; that when Mr. Holmes saw
+the effect on his servant he suppressed them, lest they should produce
+the same effect on the typesetters, editors, and the readers of the
+Boston newspapers. My explanation never satisfied him. I told him he
+might write to Mr. Holmes, and ask the privilege of reading the original
+manuscript, if it still was or ever had been in existence. As one of my
+grand-nephews was troubled in exactly the same way, I decided to appeal
+myself to Dr. Holmes for the enlightenment of this second generation. So
+I wrote him the following letter, which he kindly answered, telling us
+that his "wretched man" was a myth like the heroes in "Mother Goose's
+Melodies":
+
+     "DEAR DR. HOLMES:
+
+     "I have a little nephew to whom I often recite 'The Height of the
+     Ridiculous,' and he invariably asks for the lines that produced the
+     fatal effect on your servant. He visited most of the bookstores in
+     New York city to find them, and nothing but your own word, I am
+     sure, will ever convince him that the 'wretched man' is but a
+     figment of your imagination. I tried to satisfy him by saying you
+     did not dare to publish the lines lest they should produce a
+     similar effect on the typesetters, editors, and the readers of the
+     Boston journals.
+
+     "However, he wishes me to ask you whether you kept a copy of the
+     original manuscript, or could reproduce the lines with equal power.
+     If not too much trouble, please send me a few lines on this point,
+     and greatly oblige,
+
+     "Yours sincerely,
+
+     "ELIZABETH CADY STANTON."
+
+
+     "MY DEAR MRS. STANTON:
+
+     "I wish you would explain to your little nephew that the story of
+     the poor fellow who almost died laughing was a kind of a dream of
+     mine, and not a real thing that happened, any more than that an old
+     woman 'lived in a shoe and had so many children she didn't know
+     what to do,' or that Jack climbed the bean stalk and found the
+     giant who lived at the top of it. You can explain to him what is
+     meant by imagination, and thus turn my youthful rhymes into a text
+     for a discourse worthy of the Concord School of Philosophy. I have
+     not my poems by me here, but I remember that 'The Height of the
+     Ridiculous' ended with this verse:
+
+    "Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye,
+     I watched that wretched man,
+    And since, I never dare to write
+     As funny as I can."
+
+     "But tell your nephew he mustn't cry about it any more than because
+     geese go barefoot and bald eagles have no nightcaps. The verses are
+     in all the editions of my poems.
+
+     "Believe me, dear Mrs. Stanton,
+
+     "Very Truly and Respectfully Yours,
+
+     "OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES."
+
+After spending the holidays in New York city, we started for Johnstown
+in a "stage sleigh, conveying the United States mail," drawn by spanking
+teams of four horses, up the Hudson River valley. We were three days
+going to Albany, stopping over night at various points; a journey now
+performed in three hours. The weather was clear and cold, the sleighing
+fine, the scenery grand, and our traveling companions most entertaining,
+so the trip was very enjoyable. From Albany to Schenectady we went in
+the railway cars; then another sleighride of thirty miles brought us to
+Johnstown. My native hills, buried under two feet of snow, tinted with
+the last rays of the setting sun, were a beautiful and familiar sight.
+Though I had been absent but ten months, it seemed like years, and I was
+surprised to find how few changes had occurred since I left. My father
+and mother, sisters Madge and Kate, the old house and furniture, the
+neighbors, all looked precisely the same as when I left them. I had
+seen so much and been so constantly on the wing that I wondered that all
+things here should have stood still. I expected to hear of many births,
+marriages, deaths, and social upheavals, but the village news was
+remarkably meager. This hunger for home news on returning is common, I
+suppose, to all travelers.
+
+Our trunks unpacked, wardrobes arranged in closets and drawers, the
+excitement of seeing friends over, we spent some time in making plans
+for the future.
+
+My husband, after some consultation with my father, decided to enter his
+office and commence the study of the law. As this arrangement kept me
+under the parental roof, I had two added years of pleasure, walking,
+driving, and riding on horseback with my sisters. Madge and Kate were
+dearer to me than ever, as I saw the inevitable separation awaiting us
+in the near future. In due time they were married and commenced
+housekeeping--Madge in her husband's house near by, and Kate in Buffalo.
+All my sisters were peculiarly fortunate in their marriages; their
+husbands being men of fine presence, liberal education, high moral
+character, and marked ability. These were pleasant and profitable years.
+I devoted them to reading law, history, and political economy, with
+occasional interruptions to take part in some temperance or anti-slavery
+excitement.
+
+Eliza Murray and I had classes of colored children in the Sunday school.
+On one occasion, when there was to be a festival, speaking in the
+church, a procession through the streets, and other public performances
+for the Sunday-school celebration, some narrow-minded bigots objected to
+the colored children taking part. They approached Miss Murray and me
+with most persuasive tones on the wisdom of not allowing them to march
+in the procession to the church. We said, "Oh, no! It won't do to
+disappoint the children. They are all dressed, with their badges on, and
+looking forward with great pleasure to the festivities of the day.
+Besides, we would not cater to any of these contemptible prejudices
+against color." We were all assembled in the courthouse preparatory to
+forming in the line of march. Some were determined to drive the colored
+children home, but Miss Murray and I, like two defiant hens, kept our
+little brood close behind us, determined to conquer or perish in the
+struggle. At last milder counsels prevailed, and it was agreed that they
+might march in the rear. We made no objection and fell into line, but,
+when we reached the church door, it was promptly closed as the last
+white child went in. We tried two other doors, but all were guarded. We
+shed tears of vexation and pity for the poor children, and, when they
+asked us the reason why they could not go in, we were embarrassed and
+mortified with the explanation we were forced to give. However, I
+invited them to my father's house, where Miss Murray and I gave them
+refreshments and entertained them for the rest of the day.
+
+The puzzling questions of theology and poverty that had occupied so much
+of my thoughts, now gave place to the practical one, "what to do with a
+baby." Though motherhood is the most important of all the
+professions,--requiring more knowledge than any other department in
+human affairs,--yet there is not sufficient attention given to the
+preparation for this office. If we buy a plant of a horticulturist we
+ask him many questions as to its needs, whether it thrives best in
+sunshine or in shade, whether it needs much or little water, what
+degrees of heat or cold; but when we hold in our arms for the first
+time, a being of infinite possibilities, in whose wisdom may rest the
+destiny of a nation, we take it for granted that the laws governing its
+life, health, and happiness are intuitively understood, that there is
+nothing new to be learned in regard to it. Yet here is a science to
+which philosophers have, as yet, given but little attention. An
+important fact has only been discovered and acted upon within the last
+ten years, that children come into the world tired, and not hungry,
+exhausted with the perilous journey. Instead of being thoroughly bathed
+and dressed, and kept on the rack while the nurse makes a prolonged
+toilet and feeds it some nostrum supposed to have much needed medicinal
+influence, the child's face, eyes, and mouth should be hastily washed
+with warm water, and the rest of its body thoroughly oiled, and then it
+should be slipped into a soft pillow case, wrapped in a blanket, and
+laid to sleep. Ordinarily, in the proper conditions, with its face
+uncovered in a cool, pure atmosphere, it will sleep twelve hours. Then
+it should be bathed, fed, and clothed in a high-necked, long-sleeved
+silk shirt and a blanket, all of which could be done in five minutes. As
+babies lie still most of the time the first six weeks, they need no
+dressing. I think the nurse was a full hour bathing and dressing my
+firstborn, who protested with a melancholy wail every blessed minute.
+
+Ignorant myself of the initiative steps on the threshold of time, I
+supposed this proceeding was approved by the best authorities. However,
+I had been thinking, reading, observing, and had as little faith in the
+popular theories in regard to babies as on any other subject. I saw
+them, on all sides, ill half the time, pale and peevish, dying early,
+having no joy in life. I heard parents complaining of weary days and
+sleepless nights, while each child, in turn, ran the gauntlet of red
+gum, jaundice, whooping cough, chicken-pox, mumps, measles, scarlet
+fever, and fits. They all seemed to think these inflictions were a part
+of the eternal plan--that Providence had a kind of Pandora's box, from
+which he scattered these venerable diseases most liberally among those
+whom he especially loved. Having gone through the ordeal of bearing a
+child, I was determined, if possible, to keep him, so I read everything
+I could find on the subject. But the literature on this subject was as
+confusing and unsatisfactory as the longer and shorter catechisms and
+the Thirty-nine Articles of our faith. I had recently visited our dear
+friends, Theodore and Angelina Grimke-Weld, and they warned me against
+books on this subject. They had been so misled by one author, who
+assured them that the stomach of a child could only hold one
+tablespoonful, that they nearly starved their firstborn to death. Though
+the child dwindled, day by day, and, at the end of a month, looked like
+a little old man, yet they still stood by the distinguished author.
+Fortunately, they both went off, one day, and left the child with Sister
+"Sarah," who thought she would make an experiment and see what a child's
+stomach could hold, as she had grave doubts about the tablespoonful
+theory. To her surprise the baby took a pint bottle full of milk, and
+had the sweetest sleep thereon he had known in his earthly career. After
+that he was permitted to take what he wanted, and "the author" was
+informed of his libel on the infantile stomach.
+
+So here, again, I was entirely afloat, launched on the seas of doubt
+without chart or compass. The life and well-being of the race seemed to
+hang on the slender thread of such traditions as were handed down
+by-ignorant mothers and nurses. One powerful ray of light illuminated
+the darkness; it was the work of Andrew Combe on "Infancy." He had,
+evidently watched some of the manifestations of man in the first stages
+of his development, and could tell, at least, as much of babies as
+naturalists could of beetles and bees. He did give young mothers some
+hints of what to do, the whys and wherefores of certain lines of
+procedure during antenatal life, as well as the proper care thereafter.
+I read several chapters to the nurse. Although, out of her ten children,
+she had buried five, she still had too much confidence in her own wisdom
+and experience to pay much attention to any new idea that might be
+suggested to her. Among other things, Combe said that a child's bath
+should be regulated by the thermometer, in order to be always of the
+same temperature. She ridiculed the idea, and said her elbow was better
+than any thermometer, and, when I insisted on its use, she would
+invariably, with a smile of derision, put her elbow in first, to show
+how exactly it tallied with the thermometer. When I insisted that the
+child should not be bandaged, she rebelled outright, and said she would
+not take the responsibility of nursing a child without a bandage. I
+said, "Pray, sit down, dear nurse, and let us reason together. Do not
+think I am setting up my judgment against yours, with all your
+experience. I am simply trying to act on the opinions of a
+distinguished physician, who says there should be no pressure on a child
+anywhere; that the limbs and body should be free; that it is cruel to
+bandage an infant from hip to armpit, as is usually done in America; or
+both body and legs, as is done in Europe; or strap them to boards, as is
+done by savages on both continents. Can you give me one good reason,
+nurse, why a child should be bandaged?"
+
+"Yes," she said emphatically, "I can give you a dozen."
+
+"I only asked for one," I replied.
+
+"Well," said she, after much hesitation, "the bones of a newborn infant
+are soft, like cartilage, and, unless you pin them up snugly, there is
+danger of their falling apart."
+
+"It seems to me," I replied, "you have given the strongest reason why
+they should be carefully guarded against the slightest pressure. It is
+very remarkable that kittens and puppies should be so well put together
+that they need no artificial bracing, and the human family be left
+wholly to the mercy of a bandage. Suppose a child was born where you
+could not get a bandage, what then? Now I think this child will remain
+intact without a bandage, and, if I am willing to take the risk, why
+should you complain?"
+
+"Because," said she, "if the child should die, it would injure my name
+as a nurse. I therefore wash my hands of all these new-fangled notions."
+
+So she bandaged the child every morning, and I as regularly took it off.
+It has been fully proved since to be as useless an appendage as the
+vermiform. She had several cups with various concoctions of herbs
+standing on the chimney-corner, ready for insomnia, colic, indigestion,
+etc., etc., all of which were spirited away when she was at her dinner.
+In vain I told her we were homeopathists, and afraid of everything in
+the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms lower than the two-hundredth
+dilution. I tried to explain the Hahnemann system of therapeutics, the
+philosophy of the principle _similia similibus curantur_, but she had no
+capacity for first principles, and did not understand my discourse. I
+told her that, if she would wash the baby's mouth with pure cold water
+morning and night and give it a teaspoonful to drink occasionally during
+the day, there would be no danger of red gum; that if she would keep the
+blinds open and let in the air and sunshine, keep the temperature of the
+room at sixty-five degrees, leave the child's head uncovered so that it
+could breathe freely, stop rocking and trotting it and singing such
+melancholy hymns as "Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound!" the baby and
+I would both be able to weather the cape without a bandage. I told her I
+should nurse the child once in two hours, and that she must not feed it
+any of her nostrums in the meantime; that a child's stomach, being made
+on the same general plan as our own, needed intervals of rest as well as
+ours. She said it would be racked with colic if the stomach was empty
+any length of time, and that it would surely have rickets if it were
+kept too still. I told her if the child had no anodynes, nature would
+regulate its sleep and motions. She said she could not stay in a room
+with the thermometer at sixty-five degrees, so I told her to sit in the
+next room and regulate the heat to suit herself; that I would ring a
+bell when her services were needed.
+
+The reader will wonder, no doubt, that I kept such a cantankerous
+servant. I could get no other. Dear "Mother Monroe," as wise as she was
+good, and as tender as she was strong, who had nursed two generations of
+mothers in our village, was engaged at that time, and I was compelled to
+take an exotic. I had often watched "Mother Monroe" with admiration, as
+she turned and twisted my sister's baby. It lay as peacefully in her
+hands as if they were lined with eider down. She bathed and dressed it
+by easy stages, turning the child over and over like a pancake. But she
+was so full of the magnetism of human love, giving the child, all the
+time, the most consoling assurance that the operation was to be a short
+one, that the whole proceeding was quite entertaining to the observer
+and seemingly agreeable to the child, though it had a rather surprised
+look as it took a bird's-eye view, in quick succession, of the ceiling
+and the floor. Still my nurse had her good points. She was very pleasant
+when she had her own way. She was neat and tidy, and ready to serve me
+at any time, night or day. She did not wear false teeth that rattled
+when she talked, nor boots that squeaked when she walked. She did not
+snuff nor chew cloves, nor speak except when spoken to. Our discussions,
+on various points, went on at intervals, until I succeeded in planting
+some ideas in her mind, and when she left me, at the end of six weeks,
+she confessed that she had learned some valuable lessons. As the baby
+had slept quietly most of the time, had no crying spells, nor colic, and
+I looked well, she naturally came to the conclusion that pure air,
+sunshine, proper dressing, and regular feeding were more necessary for
+babies than herb teas and soothing syrups.
+
+Besides the obstinacy of the nurse, I had the ignorance of physicians
+to contend with. When the child was four days old we discovered that the
+collar bone was bent. The physician, wishing to get a pressure on the
+shoulder, braced the bandage round the wrist. "Leave that," he said,
+"ten days, and then it will be all right." Soon after he left I noticed
+that the child's hand was blue, showing that the circulation was
+impeded. "That will never do," said I; "nurse, take it off." "No,
+indeed," she answered, "I shall never interfere with the doctor." So I
+took it off myself, and sent for another doctor, who was said to know
+more of surgery. He expressed great surprise that the first physician
+called should have put on so severe a bandage. "That," said he, "would
+do for a grown man, but ten days of it on a child would make him a
+cripple." However, he did nearly the same thing, only fastening it round
+the hand instead of the wrist. I soon saw that the ends of the fingers
+were all purple, and that to leave that on ten days would be as
+dangerous as the first. So I took that off.
+
+"What a woman!" exclaimed the nurse. "What do you propose to do?"
+
+"Think out something better, myself; so brace me up with some pillows
+and give the baby to me."
+
+She looked at me aghast and said, "You'd better trust the doctors, or
+your child will be a helpless cripple."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "he would be, if we had left either of those bandages
+on, but I have an idea of something better."
+
+"Now," said I, talking partly to myself and partly to her, "what we want
+is a little pressure on that bone; that is what both those men aimed at.
+How can we get it without involving the arm, is the question?"
+
+"I am sure I don't know," said she, rubbing her hands and taking two or
+three brisk turns round the room.
+
+"Well, bring me three strips of linen, four double." I then folded one,
+wet in arnica and water, and laid it on the collar bone, put two other
+bands, like a pair of suspenders, over the shoulders, crossing them both
+in front and behind, pinning the ends to the diaper, which gave the
+needed pressure without impeding the circulation anywhere. As I finished
+she gave me a look of budding confidence, and seemed satisfied that all
+was well. Several times, night and day, we wet the compress and
+readjusted the bands, until all appearances of inflammation had
+subsided.
+
+At the end of ten days the two sons of Aesculapius appeared and made
+their examination and said all was right, whereupon I told them how
+badly their bandages worked and what I had done myself. They smiled at
+each other, and one said:
+
+"Well, after all, a mother's instinct is better than a man's reason."
+
+"Thank you, gentlemen, there was no instinct about it. I did some hard
+thinking before I saw how I could get a pressure on the shoulder without
+impeding the circulation, as you did."
+
+Thus, in the supreme moment of a young mother's life, when I needed
+tender care and support, I felt the whole responsibility of my child's
+supervision; but though uncertain at every step of my own knowledge, I
+learned another lesson in self-reliance. I trusted neither men nor books
+absolutely after this, either in regard to the heavens above or the
+earth beneath, but continued to use my "mother's instinct," if "reason"
+is too dignified a term to apply to woman's thoughts. My advice to every
+mother is, above all other arts and sciences, study first what relates
+to babyhood, as there is no department of human action in which there is
+such lamentable ignorance.
+
+At the end of six weeks my nurse departed, and I had a good woman in her
+place who obeyed my orders, and now a new difficulty arose from an
+unexpected quarter. My father and husband took it into their heads that
+the child slept too much. If not awake when they wished to look at him
+or to show him to their friends, they would pull him out of his crib on
+all occasions. When I found neither of them was amenable to reason on
+this point, I locked the door, and no amount of eloquent pleading ever
+gained them admittance during the time I considered sacred to the baby's
+slumbers. At six months having, as yet, had none of the diseases
+supposed to be inevitable, the boy weighed thirty pounds. Then the
+stately Peter came again into requisition, and in his strong arms the
+child spent many of his waking hours. Peter, with a long, elephantine
+gait, slowly wandered over the town, lingering especially in the busy
+marts of trade. Peter's curiosity had strengthened with years, and,
+wherever a crowd gathered round a monkey and hand organ, a vender's
+wagon, an auction stand, or the post office at mail time, there stood
+Peter, black as coal, with "the beautiful boy in white," the most
+conspicuous figure in the crowd. As I told Peter never to let children
+kiss the baby, for fear of some disease, he kept him well aloft,
+allowing no affectionate manifestations except toward himself.
+
+My reading, at this time, centered on hygiene. I came to the
+conclusion, after much thought and observation, that children never
+cried unless they were uncomfortable. A professor at Union College, who
+used to combat many of my theories, said he gave one of his children a
+sound spanking at six weeks, and it never disturbed him a night
+afterward. Another Solomon told me that a very weak preparation of opium
+would keep a child always quiet and take it through the dangerous period
+of teething without a ripple on the surface of domestic life. As
+children cannot tell what ails them, and suffer from many things of
+which parents are ignorant, the crying of the child should arouse them
+to an intelligent examination. To spank it for crying is to silence the
+watchman on the tower through fear, to give soothing syrup is to drug
+the watchman while the evils go on. Parents may thereby insure eight
+hours' sleep at the time, but at the risk of greater trouble in the
+future with sick and dying children. Tom Moore tells us "the heart from
+love to one, grows bountiful to all." I know the care of one child made
+me thoughtful of all. I never hear a child cry, now, that I do not feel
+that I am bound to find out the reason.
+
+In my extensive travels on lecturing tours, in after years, I had many
+varied experiences with babies. One day, in the cars, a child was crying
+near me, while the parents were alternately shaking and slapping it.
+First one would take it with an emphatic jerk, and then the other. At
+last I heard the father say in a spiteful tone, "If you don't stop I'll
+throw you out of the window." One naturally hesitates about interfering
+between parents and children, so I generally restrain myself as long as
+I can endure the torture of witnessing such outrages, but at length I
+turned and said:
+
+"Let me take your child and see if I can find out what ails it."
+
+"Nothing ails it," said the father, "but bad temper."
+
+The child readily came to me. I felt all around to see if its clothes
+pinched anywhere, or if there were any pins pricking. I took off its hat
+and cloak to see if there were any strings cutting its neck or choking
+it. Then I glanced at the feet, and lo! there was the trouble. The boots
+were at least one size too small. I took them off, and the stockings,
+too, and found the feet as cold as ice and the prints of the stockings
+clearly traced on the tender flesh. We all know the agony of tight
+boots. I rubbed the feet and held them in my hands until they were warm,
+when the poor little thing fell asleep. I said to the parents, "You are
+young people, I see, and this is probably your first child." They said,
+"Yes." "You don't intend to be cruel, I know, but if you had thrown
+those boots out of the window, when you threatened to throw the child,
+it would have been wiser. This poor child has suffered ever since it was
+dressed this morning." I showed them the marks on the feet, and called
+their attention to the fact that the child fell asleep as soon as its
+pain was relieved. The mother said she knew the boots were tight, as it
+was with difficulty she could get them on, but the old ones were too
+shabby for the journey and they had no time to change the others.
+
+"Well," said the husband, "if I had known those boots were tight, I
+would have thrown them out of the window."
+
+"Now," said I, "let me give you one rule: when your child cries,
+remember it is telling you, as well as it can, that something hurts it,
+either outside or in, and do not rest until you find what it is.
+Neither spanking, shaking, or scolding can relieve pain."
+
+I have seen women enter the cars with their babies' faces completely
+covered with a blanket shawl. I have often thought I would like to cover
+their faces for an hour and see how they would bear it. In such
+circumstances, in order to get the blanket open, I have asked to see the
+baby, and generally found it as red as a beet. Ignorant nurses and
+mothers have discovered that children sleep longer with their heads
+covered. They don't know why, nor the injurious effect of breathing over
+and over the same air that has been thrown off the lungs polluted with
+carbonic acid gas. This stupefies the child and prolongs the unhealthy
+slumber.
+
+One hot day, in the month of May, I entered a crowded car at Cedar
+Rapids, Ia., and took the only empty seat beside a gentleman who seemed
+very nervous about a crying child. I was scarcely seated when he said:
+
+"Mother, do you know anything about babies?"
+
+"Oh, yes!" I said, smiling, "that is a department of knowledge on which
+I especially pride myself."
+
+"Well," said he, "there is a child that has cried most of the time for
+the last twenty-four hours. What do you think ails it?"
+
+Making a random supposition, I replied, "It probably needs a bath."
+
+He promptly rejoined, "If you will give it one, I will provide the
+necessary means."
+
+I said, "I will first see if the child will come to me and if the mother
+is willing."
+
+I found the mother only too glad to have a few minutes' rest, and the
+child too tired to care who took it. She gave me a suit of clean
+clothes throughout, the gentleman spread his blanket shawl on the seat,
+securing the opposite one for me and the bathing appliances. Then he
+produced a towel, sponge, and an india-rubber bowl full of water, and I
+gave the child a generous drink and a thorough ablution. It stretched
+and seemed to enjoy every step of the proceeding, and, while I was
+brushing its golden curls as gently as I could, it fell asleep; so I
+covered it with the towel and blanket shawl, not willing to disturb it
+for dressing. The poor mother, too, was sound asleep, and the gentleman
+very happy. He had children of his own and, like me, felt great pity for
+the poor, helpless little victim of ignorance and folly. I engaged one
+of the ladies to dress it when it awoke, as I was soon to leave the
+train. It slept the two hours I remained--how much longer I never heard.
+
+A young man, who had witnessed the proceeding, got off at the same
+station and accosted me, saying:
+
+"I should be very thankful if you would come and see my baby. It is only
+one month old and cries all the time, and my wife, who is only sixteen
+years old, is worn out with it and neither of us know what to do, so we
+all cry together, and the doctor says he does not see what ails it."
+
+So I went on my mission of mercy and found the child bandaged as tight
+as a drum. When I took out the pins and unrolled it, it fairly popped
+like the cork out of a champagne bottle. I rubbed its breast and its
+back and soon soothed it to sleep. I remained a long time, telling them
+how to take care of the child and the mother, too. I told them
+everything I could think of in regard to clothes, diet, and pure air. I
+asked the mother why she bandaged her child as she did. She said her
+nurse told her that there was danger of hernia unless the abdomen was
+well bandaged. I told her that the only object of a bandage was to
+protect the navel, for a few days, until it was healed, and for that
+purpose all that was necessary was a piece of linen four inches square,
+well oiled, folded four times double, with a hole in the center, laid
+over it. I remembered, next day, that I forgot to tell them to give the
+child water, and so I telegraphed them, "Give the baby water six times a
+day." I heard of that baby afterward. It lived and flourished, and the
+parents knew how to administer to the wants of the next one. The father
+was a telegraph operator and had many friends--knights of the
+key--throughout Iowa. For many years afterward, in leisure moments,
+these knights would "call up" this parent and say, over the wire, "Give
+the baby water six times a day." Thus did they "repeat the story, and
+spread the truth from pole to pole."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+BOSTON AND CHELSEA.
+
+
+In the autumn of 1843 my husband was admitted to the bar and commenced
+the practice of law in Boston with Mr. Bowles, brother-in-law of the
+late General John A. Dix. This gave me the opportunity to make many
+pleasant acquaintances among the lawyers in Boston, and to meet,
+intimately, many of the noble men and women among reformers, whom I had
+long worshiped at a distance. Here, for the first time, I met Lydia
+Maria Child, Abby Kelly, Paulina Wright, Elizabeth Peabody, Maria
+Chapman and her beautiful sisters, the Misses Weston, Oliver and
+Marianna Johnson, Joseph and Thankful Southwick and their three bright
+daughters. The home of the Southwicks was always a harbor of rest for
+the weary, where the anti-slavery hosts were wont to congregate, and
+where one was always sure to meet someone worth knowing. Their
+hospitality was generous to an extreme, and so boundless that they were,
+at last, fairly eaten out of house and home. Here, too, for the first
+time, I met Theodore Parker, John Pierpont, John G. Whittier, Emerson,
+Alcott, Lowell, Hawthorne, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel E. Sewall, Sidney Howard
+Gay, Pillsbury, Foster, Frederick Douglass, and last though not least,
+those noble men, Charles Hovey and Francis Jackson, the only men who
+ever left any money to the cause of woman suffrage. I also met Miss
+Jackson, afterward Mrs. Eddy, who left half her fortune, fifty thousand
+dollars, for the same purpose.
+
+I was a frequent visitor at the home of William Lloyd Garrison. Though
+he had a prolonged battle to fight in the rough outside world, his home
+was always a haven of rest. Mrs. Garrison was a sweet-tempered,
+conscientious woman, who tried, under all circumstances, to do what was
+right. She had sound judgment and rare common sense, was tall and
+fine-looking, with luxuriant brown hair, large tender blue eyes,
+delicate features, and affable manners. They had an exceptionally fine
+family of five sons and one daughter. Fanny, now the wife of Henry
+Villard, the financier, was the favorite and pet. All the children, in
+their maturer years, have fulfilled the promises of their childhood.
+Though always in straitened circumstances, the Garrisons were very
+hospitable. It was next to impossible for Mr. Garrison to meet a friend
+without inviting him to his house, especially at the close of a
+convention.
+
+I was one of twelve at one of his impromptu tea parties. We all took it
+for granted that his wife knew we were coming, and that her preparations
+were already made. Surrounded by half a dozen children, she was
+performing the last act in the opera of Lullaby, wholly unconscious of
+the invasion downstairs. But Mr. Garrison was equal to every emergency,
+and, after placing his guests at their ease in the parlor, he hastened
+to the nursery, took off his coat, and rocked the baby until his wife
+had disposed of the remaining children. Then they had a consultation
+about the tea, and when, basket in hand, the good man sallied forth for
+the desired viands, Mrs. Garrison, having made a hasty toilet, came
+down to welcome her guests. She was as genial and self-possessed as if
+all things had been prepared. She made no apologies for what was lacking
+in the general appearance of the house nor in the variety of the
+_menu_--it was sufficient for her to know that Mr. Garrison was happy in
+feeling free to invite his friends. The impromptu meal was excellent,
+and we had a most enjoyable evening. I have no doubt that Mrs. Garrison
+had more real pleasure than if she had been busy all day making
+preparations and had been tired out when her guests arrived.
+
+The anti-slavery conventions and fairs, held every year during the
+holidays, brought many charming people from other States, and made
+Boston a social center for the coadjutors of Garrison and Phillips.
+These conventions surpassed any meetings I had ever attended; the
+speeches were eloquent and the debates earnest and forcible. Garrison
+and Phillips were in their prime, and slavery was a question of national
+interest. The hall in which the fairs were held, under the auspices of
+Mrs. Chapman and her cohorts, was most artistically decorated. There one
+could purchase whatever the fancy could desire, for English friends,
+stimulated by the appeals of Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Pease, used
+to send boxes of beautiful things, gathered from all parts of the
+Eastern Continent. There, too, one could get a most _recherché_ luncheon
+in the society of the literati of Boston; for, however indifferent many
+were to slavery _per se_, they enjoyed these fairs, and all classes
+flocked there till far into the night. It was a kind of ladies' exchange
+for the holiday week, where each one was sure to meet her friends. The
+fair and the annual convention, coming in succession, intensified the
+interest in both. I never grew weary of the conventions, though I
+attended all the sessions, lasting, sometimes, until eleven o'clock at
+night. The fiery eloquence of the abolitionists, the amusing episodes
+that occurred when some crank was suppressed and borne out on the
+shoulders of his brethren, gave sufficient variety to the proceedings to
+keep the interest up to high-water mark.
+
+There was one old man dressed in white, carrying a scythe, who imagined
+himself the personification of "Time," though called "Father Lampson."
+Occasionally he would bubble over with some prophetic vision, and, as he
+could not be silenced, he was carried out. He usually made himself as
+limp as possible, which added to the difficulty of his exit and the
+amusement of the audience. A ripple of merriment would unsettle, for a
+moment, even the dignity of the platform when Abigail Folsom, another
+crank, would shout from the gallery, "Stop not, my brother, on the order
+of your going, but go." The abolitionists were making the experiment, at
+this time, of a free platform, allowing everyone to speak as moved by
+the spirit, but they soon found that would not do, as those evidently
+moved by the spirit of mischief were quite as apt to air their vagaries
+as those moved by the spirit of truth.
+
+However, the Garrisonian platform always maintained a certain degree of
+freedom outside its regular programme, and, although this involved extra
+duty in suppressing cranks, yet the meeting gained enthusiasm by some
+good spontaneous speaking on the floor as well as on the platform. A
+number of immense mass meetings were held in Faneuil Hall, a large,
+dreary place, with its bare walls and innumerable dingy windows. The
+only attempt at an ornament was the American eagle, with its wings
+spread and claws firmly set, in the middle of the gallery. The gilt was
+worn off its beak, giving it the appearance, as Edmund Quincy said, of
+having a bad cold in the head.
+
+This old hall was sacred to so many memories connected with the early
+days of the Revolution that it was a kind of Mecca for the lovers of
+liberty visiting Boston. The anti-slavery meetings held there were often
+disturbed by mobs that would hold the most gifted orator at bay hour
+after hour, and would listen only to the songs of the Hutchinson family.
+Although these songs were a condensed extract of the whole anti-slavery
+constitution and by-laws, yet the mob was as peaceful under these paeans
+to liberty as a child under the influence of an anodyne. What a welcome
+and beautiful vision that was when the four brothers, in blue broadcloth
+and white collars, turned down _à la_ Byron, and little sister Abby in
+silk, soft lace, and blue ribbon, appeared on the platform to sing their
+quaint ballads of freedom! Fresh from the hills of New Hampshire, they
+looked so sturdy, so vigorous, so pure, so true that they seemed fitting
+representatives of all the cardinal virtues, and even a howling mob
+could not resist their influence. Perhaps, after one of their ballads,
+the mob would listen five minutes to Wendell Phillips or Garrison until
+he gave them some home thrusts, when all was uproar again. The Northern
+merchants who made their fortunes out of Southern cotton, the
+politicians who wanted votes, and the ministers who wanted to keep peace
+in the churches, were all as much opposed to the anti-slavery agitation
+as were the slaveholders themselves. These were the classes the mob
+represented, though seemingly composed of gamblers, liquor dealers, and
+demagogues. For years the anti-slavery struggle at the North was carried
+on against statecraft, priestcraft, the cupidity of the moneyed classes,
+and the ignorance of the masses, but, in spite of all these forces of
+evil, it triumphed at last.
+
+I was in Boston at the time that Lane and Wright, some metaphysical
+Englishmen, and our own Alcott held their famous philosophical
+conversations, in which Elizabeth Peabody took part. I went to them
+regularly. I was ambitious to absorb all the wisdom I could, but,
+really, I could not give an intelligent report of the points under
+discussion at any sitting. Oliver Johnson asked me, one day, if I
+enjoyed them. I thought, from a twinkle in his eye, that he thought I
+did not, so I told him I was ashamed to confess that I did not know what
+they were talking about. He said, "Neither do I,--very few of their
+hearers do,--so you need not be surprised that they are incomprehensible
+to you, nor think less of your own capacity."
+
+I was indebted to Mr. Johnson for several of the greatest pleasures I
+enjoyed in Boston. He escorted me to an entire course of Theodore
+Parker's lectures, given in Marlborough Chapel. This was soon after the
+great preacher had given his famous sermon on "The Permanent and
+Transient in Religion," when he was ostracised, even by the Unitarians,
+for his radical utterances, and not permitted to preach in any of their
+pulpits. His lectures were deemed still more heterodox than that sermon.
+He shocked the orthodox churches of that day--more, even, than Ingersoll
+has in our times.
+
+The lectures, however, were so soul-satisfying to me that I was
+surprised at the bitter criticisms I heard expressed. Though they were
+two hours long, I never grew weary, and, when the course ended, I said
+to Mr. Johnson:
+
+"I wish I could hear them over again."
+
+"Well, you can," said he, "Mr. Parker is to repeat them in
+Cambridgeport, beginning next week." Accordingly we went there and heard
+them again with equal satisfaction.
+
+During the winter in Boston I attended all the lectures, churches,
+theaters, concerts, and temperance, peace, and prison-reform conventions
+within my reach. I had never lived in such an enthusiastically literary
+and reform latitude before, and my mental powers were kept at the
+highest tension. We went to Chelsea, for the summer, and boarded with
+the Baptist minister, the Rev. John Wesley Olmstead, afterward editor of
+_The Watchman and Reflector_. He had married my cousin, Mary Livingston,
+one of the most lovely, unselfish characters I ever knew. There I had
+the opportunity of meeting several of the leading Baptist ministers in
+New England, and, as I was thoroughly imbued with Parker's ideas, we had
+many heated discussions on theology. There, too, I met Orestes Bronson,
+a remarkably well-read man, who had gone through every phase of
+religious experience from blank atheism to the bosom of the Catholic
+Church, where I believe he found repose at the end of his days. He was
+so arbitrary and dogmatic that most people did not like him; but I
+appreciated his acquaintance, as he was a liberal thinker and had a
+world of information which he readily imparted to those of a teachable
+spirit. As I was then in a hungering, thirsting condition for truth on
+every subject, the friendship of such a man was, to me, an inestimable
+blessing. Reading Theodore Parker's lectures, years afterward, I was
+surprised to find how little there was in them to shock anybody--the
+majority of thinking people having grown up to them.
+
+While living in Chelsea two years, I used to walk (there being no public
+conveyances running on Sunday) from the ferry to Marlborough Chapel to
+hear Mr. Parker preach. It was a long walk, over two miles, and I was so
+tired, on reaching the chapel, that I made it a point to sleep through
+all the preliminary service, so as to be fresh for the sermon, as the
+friend next whom I sat always wakened me in time. One Sunday, when my
+friend was absent, it being a very warm day and I unusually fatigued, I
+slept until the sexton informed me that he was about to close the doors!
+In an unwary moment I imparted this fact to my Baptist friends. They
+made all manner of fun ever afterward of the soothing nature of Mr.
+Parker's theology, and my long walk, every Sunday, to repose in the
+shadow of a heterodox altar. Still, the loss of the sermon was the only
+vexatious part of it, and I had the benefit of the walk and the
+refreshing slumber, to the music of Mr. Parker's melodious voice and the
+deep-toned organ.
+
+Mrs. Oliver Johnson and I spent two days at the Brook Farm Community
+when in the height of its prosperity. There I met the Ripleys,--who
+were, I believe, the backbone of the experiment,--William Henry
+Channing, Bronson Alcott, Charles A. Dana, Frederick Cabot, William
+Chase, Mrs. Horace Greeley, who was spending a few days there, and many
+others, whose names I cannot recall. Here was a charming family of
+intelligent men and women, doing their own farm and house work, with
+lectures, readings, music, dancing, and games when desired; realizing,
+in a measure, Edward Bellamy's beautiful vision of the equal conditions
+of the human family in the year 2000. The story of the beginning and end
+of this experiment of community life has been told so often that I will
+simply say that its failure was a grave disappointment to those most
+deeply interested in its success. Mr. Channing told me, years after,
+when he was pastor of the Unitarian church in Rochester, as we were
+wandering through Mount Hope one day, that, when the Roxbury community
+was dissolved and he was obliged to return to the old life of
+competition, he would gladly have been laid under the sod, as the
+isolated home seemed so solitary, silent, and selfish that the whole
+atmosphere was oppressive.
+
+In 1843 my father moved to Albany, to establish my brothers-in-law, Mr.
+Wilkeson and Mr. McMartin, in the legal profession. That made Albany the
+family rallying point for a few years. This enabled me to spend several
+winters at the Capital and to take an active part in the discussion of
+the Married Woman's Property Bill, then pending in the legislature.
+William H. Seward, Governor of the State from 1839 to 1843, recommended
+the Bill, and his wife, a woman of rare intelligence, advocated it in
+society. Together we had the opportunity of talking with many members,
+both of the Senate and the Assembly, in social circles, as well as in
+their committee rooms. Bills were pending from 1836 until 1848, when the
+measure finally passed.
+
+My second son was born in Albany, in March, 1844, under more favorable
+auspices than the first, as I knew, then, what to do with a baby.
+Returning to Chelsea we commenced housekeeping, which afforded me
+another chapter of experience. A new house, newly furnished, with
+beautiful views of Boston Bay, was all I could desire. Mr. Stanton
+announced to me, in starting, that his business would occupy all his
+time, and that I must take entire charge of the housekeeping. So, with
+two good servants and two babies under my sole supervision, my time was
+pleasantly occupied.
+
+When first installed as mistress over an establishment, one has that
+same feeling of pride and satisfaction that a young minister must have
+in taking charge of his first congregation. It is a proud moment in a
+woman's life to reign supreme within four walls, to be the one to whom
+all questions of domestic pleasure and economy are referred, and to hold
+in her hand that little family book in which the daily expenses, the
+outgoings and incomings, are duly registered. I studied up everything
+pertaining to housekeeping, and enjoyed it all. Even washing day--that
+day so many people dread--had its charms for me. The clean clothes on
+the lines and on the grass looked so white, and smelled so sweet, that
+it was to me a pretty sight to contemplate. I inspired my laundress with
+an ambition to have her clothes look white and to get them out earlier
+than our neighbors, and to have them ironed and put away sooner.
+
+As Mr. Stanton did not come home to dinner, we made a picnic of our noon
+meal on Mondays, and all thoughts and energies were turned to speed the
+washing. No unnecessary sweeping or dusting, no visiting nor
+entertaining angels unawares on that day--it was held sacred to soap
+suds, blue-bags, and clotheslines. The children, only, had no deviation
+in the regularity of their lives. They had their drives and walks,
+their naps and rations, in quantity and time, as usual. I had all the
+most approved cook books, and spent half my time preserving, pickling,
+and experimenting in new dishes. I felt the same ambition to excel in
+all departments of the culinary art that I did at school in the
+different branches of learning. My love of order and cleanliness was
+carried throughout, from parlor to kitchen, from the front door to the
+back. I gave a man an extra shilling to pile the logs of firewood with
+their smooth ends outward, though I did not have them scoured white, as
+did our Dutch grandmothers. I tried, too, to give an artistic touch to
+everything--the dress of my children and servants included. My dining
+table was round, always covered with a clean cloth of a pretty pattern
+and a centerpiece of flowers in their season, pretty dishes, clean
+silver, and set with neatness and care. I put my soul into everything,
+and hence enjoyed it. I never could understand how housekeepers could
+rest with rubbish all round their back doors; eggshells, broken dishes,
+tin cans, and old shoes scattered round their premises; servants ragged
+and dirty, with their hair in papers, and with the kitchen and dining
+room full of flies. I have known even artists to be indifferent to their
+personal appearance and their surroundings. Surely a mother and child,
+tastefully dressed, and a pretty home for a framework, is, as a picture,
+even more attractive than a domestic scene hung on the wall. The love of
+the beautiful can be illustrated as well in life as on canvas. There is
+such a struggle among women to become artists that I really wish some of
+their gifts could be illustrated in clean, orderly, beautiful homes.
+
+Our house was pleasantly situated on the Chelsea Hills, commanding a
+fine view of Boston, the harbor, and surrounding country. There, on the
+upper piazza, I spent some of the happiest days of my life, enjoying, in
+turn, the beautiful outlook, my children, and my books. Here, under the
+very shadow of Bunker Hill Monument, my third son was born. Shortly
+after this Gerrit Smith and his wife came to spend a few days with us,
+so this boy, much against my will, was named after my cousin. I did not
+believe in old family names unless they were peculiarly euphonious. I
+had a list of beautiful names for sons and daughters, from which to
+designate each newcomer; but, as yet, not one on my list had been used.
+However, I put my foot down, at No. 4, and named him Theodore, and, thus
+far, he has proved himself a veritable "gift of God," doing his
+uttermost, in every way possible, to fight the battle of freedom for
+woman.
+
+During the visit of my cousin I thought I would venture on a small,
+select dinner party, consisting of the Rev. John Pierpont and his wife,
+Charles Sumner, John G. Whittier, and Joshua Leavitt. I had a new cook,
+Rose, whose viands, thus far, had proved delicious, so I had no anxiety
+on that score. But, unfortunately, on this occasion I had given her a
+bottle of wine for the pudding sauce and whipped cream, of which she
+imbibed too freely, and hence there were some glaring blunders in the
+_menu_ that were exceedingly mortifying. As Mr. Smith and my husband
+were both good talkers, I told them they must cover all defects with
+their brilliant conversation, which they promised to do.
+
+Rose had all the points of a good servant, phrenologically and
+physiologically. She had a large head, with great bumps of caution and
+order, her eyes were large and soft and far apart. In selecting her,
+scientifically, I had told my husband, in triumph, several times what a
+treasure I had found. Shortly after dinner, one evening when I was out,
+she held the baby while the nurse was eating her supper, and carelessly
+burned his foot against the stove. Then Mr. Stanton suggested that, in
+selecting the next cook, I would better not trust to science, but
+inquire of the family where she lived as to her practical virtues. Poor
+Rose! she wept over her lapses when sober, and made fair promises for
+the future, but I did not dare to trust her, so we parted. The one
+drawback to the joys of housekeeping was then, as it is now, the lack of
+faithful, competent servants. The hope of co-operative housekeeping, in
+the near future, gives us some promise of a more harmonious domestic
+life.
+
+One of the books in my library I value most highly is the first volume
+of Whittier's poems, published in 1838, "Dedicated to Henry B. Stanton,
+as a token of the author's personal friendship, and of his respect for
+the unreserved devotion of exalted talents to the cause of humanity and
+freedom." Soon after our marriage we spent a few days with our gifted
+Quaker poet, on his farm in Massachusetts.
+
+I shall never forget those happy days in June; the long walks and
+drives, and talks under the old trees of anti-slavery experiences, and
+Whittier's mirth and indignation as we described different scenes in the
+World's Anti-slavery Convention in London. He laughed immoderately at
+the Tom Campbell episode. Poor fellow! he had taken too much wine that
+day, and when Whittier's verses, addressed to the convention, were
+read, he criticised them severely, and wound up by saying that the soul
+of a poet was not in him. Mr. Stanton sprang to his feet and recited
+some of Whittier's stirring stanzas on freedom, which electrified the
+audience, and, turning to Campbell, he said: "What do you say to that?"
+"Ah! that's real poetry," he replied. "And John Greenleaf Whittier is
+its author," said Mr. Stanton.
+
+I enjoyed, too, the morning and evening service, when the revered mother
+read the Scriptures and we all bowed our heads in silent worship. There
+was, at times, an atmosphere of solemnity pervading everything, that was
+oppressive in the midst of so much that appealed to my higher nature.
+There was a shade of sadness in even the smile of the mother and sister,
+and a rigid plainness in the house and its surroundings, a depressed
+look in Whittier himself that the songs of the birds, the sunshine, and
+the bracing New England air seemed powerless to chase away, caused, as I
+afterward heard, by pecuniary embarrassment, and fears in regard to the
+delicate health of the sister. She, too, had rare poetical talent, and
+in her Whittier found not only a helpful companion in the practical
+affairs of life, but one who sympathized with him in the highest flights
+of which his muse was capable. Their worst fears were realized in the
+death of the sister not long after. In his last volume several of her
+poems were published, which are quite worthy the place the brother's
+appreciation has given them. Whittier's love and reverence for his
+mother and sister, so marked in every word and look, were charming
+features of his home life. All his poems to our sex breathe the same
+tender, worshipful sentiments.
+
+Soon after this visit at Amesbury, our noble friend spent a few days
+with us in Chelsea, near Boston. One evening, after we had been talking
+a long time of the unhappy dissensions among anti-slavery friends, by
+way of dissipating the shadows I opened the piano, and proposed that we
+should sing some cheerful songs. "Oh, no!" exclaimed Mr. Stanton, "do
+not touch a note; you will put every nerve of Whittier's body on edge."
+It seemed, to me, so natural for a poet to love music that I was
+surprised to know that it was a torture to him.
+
+From our upper piazza we had a fine view of Boston harbor. Sitting there
+late one moonlight night, admiring the outlines of Bunker Hill Monument
+and the weird effect of the sails and masts of the vessels lying in the
+harbor, we naturally passed from the romance of our surroundings to
+those of our lives. I have often noticed that the most reserved people
+are apt to grow confidential at such an hour. It was under such
+circumstances that the good poet opened to me a deeply interesting page
+of his life, a sad romance of love and disappointment, that may not yet
+be told, as some who were interested in the events are still among the
+living.
+
+Whittier's poems were not only one of the most important factors in the
+anti-slavery war and victory, but they have been equally potent in
+emancipating the minds of his generation from the gloomy superstitions
+of the puritanical religion. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his eulogy of
+Whittier, says that his influence on the religious thought of the
+American people has been far greater than that of the occupant of any
+pulpit.
+
+As my husband's health was delicate, and the New England winters proved
+too severe for him, we left Boston, with many regrets, and sought a more
+genial climate in Central New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION.
+
+
+In the spring of 1847 we moved to Seneca Falls. Here we spent sixteen
+years of our married life, and here our other children--two sons and two
+daughters--were born.
+
+Just as we were ready to leave Boston, Mr. and Mrs. Eaton and their two
+children arrived from Europe, and we decided to go together to
+Johnstown, Mr. Eaton being obliged to hurry to New York on business, and
+Mr. Stanton to remain still in Boston a few months. At the last moment
+my nurse decided she could not leave her friends and go so far away.
+Accordingly my sister and I started, by rail, with five children and
+seventeen trunks, for Albany, where we rested over night and part of the
+next day. We had a very fatiguing journey, looking after so many trunks
+and children, for my sister's children persisted in standing on the
+platform at every opportunity, and the younger ones would follow their
+example. This kept us constantly on the watch. We were thankful when
+safely landed once more in the old homestead in Johnstown, where we
+arrived at midnight. As our beloved parents had received no warning of
+our coming, the whole household was aroused to dispose of us. But now in
+safe harbor, 'mid familiar scenes and pleasant memories, our slumbers
+were indeed refreshing. How rapidly one throws off all care and anxiety
+under the parental roof, and how at sea one feels, no matter what the
+age may be, when the loved ones are gone forever and the home of
+childhood is but a dream of the past.
+
+After a few days of rest I started, alone, for my new home, quite happy
+with the responsibility of repairing a house and putting all things in
+order. I was already acquainted with many of the people and the
+surroundings in Seneca Falls, as my sister, Mrs. Bayard, had lived there
+several years, and I had frequently made her long visits. We had quite a
+magnetic circle of reformers, too, in central New York. At Rochester
+were William Henry Channing, Frederick Douglass, the Anthonys, Posts,
+Hallowells, Stebbins,--some grand old Quaker families at
+Farmington,--the Sedgwicks, Mays, Mills, and Matilda Joslyn Gage at
+Syracuse; Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, and Beriah Green at Whitesboro.
+
+The house we were to occupy had been closed for some years and needed
+many repairs, and the grounds, comprising five acres, were overgrown
+with weeds. My father gave me a check and said, with a smile, "You
+believe in woman's capacity to do and dare; now go ahead and put your
+place in order." After a minute survey of the premises and due
+consultation with one or two sons of Adam, I set the carpenters,
+painters, paper-hangers, and gardeners at work, built a new kitchen and
+woodhouse, and in one month took possession. Having left my children
+with my mother, there were no impediments to a full display of my
+executive ability. In the purchase of brick, timber, paint, etc., and in
+making bargains with workmen, I was in frequent consultation with Judge
+Sackett and Mr. Bascom. The latter was a member of the Constitutional
+Convention, then in session in Albany, and as he used to walk down
+whenever he was at home, to see how my work progressed, we had long
+talks, sitting on boxes in the midst of tools and shavings, on the
+status of women. I urged him to propose an amendment to Article II,
+Section 3, of the State Constitution, striking out the word "male,"
+which limits the suffrage to men. But, while he fully agreed with all I
+had to say on the political equality of women, he had not the courage to
+make himself the laughing-stock of the convention. Whenever I cornered
+him on this point, manlike he turned the conversation to the painters
+and carpenters. However, these conversations had the effect of bringing
+him into the first woman's convention, where he did us good service.
+
+In Seneca Falls my life was comparatively solitary, and the change from
+Boston was somewhat depressing. There, all my immediate friends were
+reformers, I had near neighbors, a new home with all the modern
+conveniences, and well-trained servants. Here our residence was on the
+outskirts of the town, roads very often muddy and no sidewalks most of
+the way, Mr. Stanton was frequently from home, I had poor servants, and
+an increasing number of children. To keep a house and grounds in good
+order, purchase every article for daily use, keep the wardrobes of half
+a dozen human beings in proper trim, take the children to dentists,
+shoemakers, and different schools, or find teachers at home, altogether
+made sufficient work to keep one brain busy, as well as all the hands I
+could impress into the service. Then, too, the novelty of housekeeping
+had passed away, and much that was once attractive in domestic life was
+now irksome. I had so many cares that the company I needed for
+intellectual stimulus was a trial rather than a pleasure.
+
+There was quite an Irish settlement at a short distance, and continual
+complaints were coming to me that my boys threw stones at their pigs,
+cows, and the roofs of their houses. This involved constant diplomatic
+relations in the settlement of various difficulties, in which I was so
+successful that, at length, they constituted me a kind of umpire in all
+their own quarrels. If a drunken husband was pounding his wife, the
+children would run for me. Hastening to the scene of action, I would
+take Patrick by the collar, and, much to his surprise and shame, make
+him sit down and promise to behave himself. I never had one of them
+offer the least resistance, and in time they all came to regard me as
+one having authority. I strengthened my influence by cultivating good
+feeling. I lent the men papers to read, and invited their children into
+our grounds; giving them fruit, of which we had abundance, and my
+children's old clothes, books, and toys. I was their physician,
+also--with my box of homeopathic medicines I took charge of the men,
+women, and children in sickness. Thus the most amicable relations were
+established, and, in any emergency, these poor neighbors were good
+friends and always ready to serve me.
+
+But I found police duty rather irksome, especially when called out dark
+nights to prevent drunken fathers from disturbing their sleeping
+children, or to minister to poor mothers in the pangs of maternity.
+Alas! alas! who can measure the mountains of sorrow and suffering
+endured in unwelcome motherhood in the abodes of ignorance, poverty,
+and vice, where terror-stricken women and children are the victims of
+strong men frenzied with passion and intoxicating drink?
+
+Up to this time life had glided by with comparative ease, but now the
+real struggle was upon me. My duties were too numerous and varied, and
+none sufficiently exhilarating or intellectual to bring into play my
+higher faculties. I suffered with mental hunger, which, like an empty
+stomach, is very depressing. I had books, but no stimulating
+companionship. To add to my general dissatisfaction at the change from
+Boston, I found that Seneca Falls was a malarial region, and in due time
+all the children were attacked with chills and fever which, under
+homeopathic treatment in those days, lasted three months. The servants
+were afflicted in the same way. Cleanliness, order, the love of the
+beautiful and artistic, all faded away in the struggle to accomplish
+what was absolutely necessary from hour to hour. Now I understood, as I
+never had before, how women could sit down and rest in the midst of
+general disorder. Housekeeping, under such conditions, was impossible,
+so I packed our clothes, locked up the house, and went to that harbor of
+safety, home, as I did ever after in stress of weather.
+
+I now fully understood the practical difficulties most women had to
+contend with in the isolated household, and the impossibility of woman's
+best development if in contact, the chief part of her life, with
+servants and children. Fourier's phalansterie community life and
+co-operative households had a new significance for me. Emerson says, "A
+healthy discontent is the first step to progress." The general
+discontent I felt with woman's portion as wife, mother, housekeeper,
+physician, and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into which
+everything fell without her constant supervision, and the wearied,
+anxious look of the majority of women impressed me with a strong feeling
+that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of
+society in general, and of women in particular. My experience at the
+World's Anti-slavery Convention, all I had read of the legal status of
+women, and the oppression I saw everywhere, together swept across my
+soul, intensified now by many personal experiences. It seemed as if all
+the elements had conspired to impel me to some onward step. I could not
+see what to do or where to begin--my only thought was a public meeting
+for protest and discussion.
+
+In this tempest-tossed condition of mind I received an invitation to
+spend the day with Lucretia Mott, at Richard Hunt's, in Waterloo. There
+I met several members of different families of Friends, earnest,
+thoughtful women. I poured out, that day, the torrent of my
+long-accumulating discontent, with such vehemence and indignation that I
+stirred myself, as well as the rest of the party, to do and dare
+anything. My discontent, according to Emerson, must have been healthy,
+for it moved us all to prompt action, and we decided, then and there, to
+call a "Woman's Rights Convention." We wrote the call that evening and
+published it in the _Seneca County Courier_ the next day, the 14th of
+July, 1848, giving only five days' notice, as the convention was to be
+held on the 19th and 20th. The call was inserted without signatures,--in
+fact it was a mere announcement of a meeting,--but the chief movers and
+managers were Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann McClintock, Jane Hunt, Martha C.
+Wright, and myself. The convention, which was held two days in the
+Methodist Church, was in every way a grand success. The house was
+crowded at every session, the speaking good, and a religious earnestness
+dignified all the proceedings.
+
+These were the hasty initiative steps of "the most momentous reform that
+had yet been launched on the world--the first organized protest against
+the injustice which had brooded for ages over the character and destiny
+of one-half the race." No words could express our astonishment on
+finding, a few days afterward, that what seemed to us so timely, so
+rational, and so sacred, should be a subject for sarcasm and ridicule to
+the entire press of the nation. With our Declaration of Rights and
+Resolutions for a text, it seemed as if every man who could wield a pen
+prepared a homily on "woman's sphere." All the journals from Maine to
+Texas seemed to strive with each other to see which could make our
+movement appear the most ridiculous. The anti-slavery papers stood by us
+manfully and so did Frederick Douglass, both in the convention and in
+his paper, _The North Star_, but so pronounced was the popular voice
+against us, in the parlor, press, and pulpit, that most of the ladies
+who had attended the convention and signed the declaration, one by one,
+withdrew their names and influence and joined our persecutors. Our
+friends gave us the cold shoulder and felt themselves disgraced by the
+whole proceeding.
+
+If I had had the slightest premonition of all that was to follow that
+convention, I fear I should not have had the courage to risk it, and I
+must confess that it was with fear and trembling that I consented to
+attend another, one month afterward, in Rochester. Fortunately, the
+first one seemed to have drawn all the fire, and of the second but
+little was said. But we had set the ball in motion, and now, in quick
+succession, conventions were held in Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts,
+Pennsylvania, and in the City of New York, and have been kept up nearly
+every year since.
+
+The most noteworthy of the early conventions were those held in
+Massachusetts, in which such men as Garrison, Phillips, Channing,
+Parker, and Emerson took part. It was one of these that first attracted
+the attention of Mrs. John Stuart Mill, and drew from her pen that able
+article on "The Enfranchisement of Woman," in the _Westminster Review_
+of October, 1852.
+
+The same year of the convention, the Married Woman's Property Bill,
+which had given rise to some discussion on woman's rights in New York,
+had passed the legislature. This encouraged action on the part of women,
+as the reflection naturally arose that, if the men who make the laws
+were ready for some onward step, surely the women themselves should
+express some interest in the legislation. Ernestine L. Rose, Paulina
+Wright (Davis), and I had spoken before committees of the legislature
+years before, demanding equal property rights for women. We had
+circulated petitions for the Married Woman's Property Bill for many
+years, and so also had the leaders of the Dutch aristocracy, who desired
+to see their life-long accumulations descend to their daughters and
+grandchildren rather than pass into the hands of dissipated, thriftless
+sons-in-law. Judge Hertell, Judge Fine, and Mr. Geddes of Syracuse
+prepared and championed the several bills, at different times, before
+the legislature. Hence the demands made in the convention were not
+entirely new to the reading and thinking public of New York--the first
+State to take any action on the question. As New York was the first
+State to put the word "male" in her constitution in 1778, it was fitting
+that she should be first in more liberal legislation. The effect of the
+convention on my own mind was most salutary. The discussions had cleared
+my ideas as to the primal steps to be taken for woman's enfranchisement,
+and the opportunity of expressing myself fully and freely on a subject I
+felt so deeply about was a great relief. I think all women who attended
+the convention felt better for the statement of their wrongs, believing
+that the first step had been taken to right them.
+
+Soon after this I was invited to speak at several points in the
+neighborhood. One night, in the Quaker Meeting House at Farmington, I
+invited, as usual, discussion and questions when I had finished. We all
+waited in silence for a long time; at length a middle-aged man, with a
+broad-brimmed hat, arose and responded in a sing-song tone: "All I have
+to say is, if a hen can crow, let her crow," emphasizing "crow" with an
+upward inflection on several notes of the gamut. The meeting adjourned
+with mingled feelings of surprise and merriment. I confess that I felt
+somewhat chagrined in having what I considered my unanswerable arguments
+so summarily disposed of, and the serious impression I had made on the
+audience so speedily dissipated. The good man intended no disrespect, as
+he told me afterward. He simply put the whole argument in a nutshell:
+"Let a woman do whatever she can."
+
+With these new duties and interests, and a broader outlook on human
+life, my petty domestic annoyances gradually took a subordinate place.
+Now I began to write articles for the press, letters to conventions held
+in other States, and private letters to friends, to arouse them to
+thought on this question.
+
+The pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Bogue, preached several
+sermons on Woman's Sphere, criticising the action of the conventions in
+Seneca Falls and Rochester. Elizabeth McClintock and I took notes and
+answered him in the county papers. Gradually we extended our labors and
+attacked our opponents in the New York _Tribune_, whose columns were
+open to us in the early days, Mr. Greeley being, at that time, one of
+our most faithful champions.
+
+In answering all the attacks, we were compelled to study canon and civil
+law, constitutions, Bibles, science, philosophy, and history, sacred and
+profane. Now my mind, as well as my hands, was fully occupied, and
+instead of mourning, as I had done, over what I had lost in leaving
+Boston, I tried in every way to make the most of life in Seneca Falls.
+Seeing that elaborate refreshments prevented many social gatherings, I
+often gave an evening entertainment without any. I told the young
+people, whenever they wanted a little dance or a merry time, to make our
+house their rallying point, and I would light up and give them a glass
+of water and some cake. In that way we had many pleasant informal
+gatherings. Then, in imitation of Margaret Fuller's Conversationals, we
+started one which lasted several years. We selected a subject each week
+on which we all read and thought; each, in turn, preparing an essay ten
+minutes in length.
+
+These were held, at different homes, Saturday of each week. On coming
+together we chose a presiding officer for the evening, who called the
+meeting to order, and introduced the essayist. That finished, he asked
+each member, in turn, what he or she had read or thought on the subject,
+and if any had criticisms to make on the essay. Everyone was expected to
+contribute something. Much information was thus gained, and many spicy
+discussions followed. All the ladies, as well as the gentlemen, presided
+in turn, and so became familiar with parliamentary rules. The evening
+ended with music, dancing, and a general chat. In this way we read and
+thought over a wide range of subjects and brought together the best
+minds in the community. Many young men and women who did not belong to
+what was considered the first circle,--for in every little country
+village there is always a small clique that constitutes the
+aristocracy,--had the advantages of a social life otherwise denied them.
+I think that all who took part in this Conversation Club would testify
+to its many good influences.
+
+I had three quite intimate young friends in the village who spent much
+of their spare time with me, and who added much to my happiness: Frances
+Hoskins, who was principal of the girls' department in the academy, with
+whom I discussed politics and religion; Mary Bascom, a good talker on
+the topics of the day, and Mary Crowninshield, who played well on the
+piano. As I was very fond of music, Mary's coming was always hailed with
+delight. Her mother, too, was a dear friend of mine, a woman of rare
+intelligence, refinement, and conversational talent. She was a Schuyler,
+and belonged to the Dutch aristocracy in Albany. She died suddenly,
+after a short illness. I was with her in the last hours and held her
+hand until the gradually fading spark of life went out. Her son is
+Captain A.S. Crowninshield of our Navy.
+
+My nearest neighbors were a very agreeable, intelligent family of sons
+and daughters. But I always felt that the men of that household were
+given to domineering. As the mother was very amiable and
+self-sacrificing, the daughters found it difficult to rebel. One summer,
+after general house-cleaning, when fresh paint and paper had made even
+the kitchen look too dainty for the summer invasion of flies, the queens
+of the household decided to move the sombre cook-stove into a spacious
+woodhouse, where it maintained its dignity one week, in the absence of
+the head of the home. The mother and daughters were delighted with the
+change, and wondered why they had not made it before during the summer
+months. But their pleasure was shortlived. Father and sons rose early
+the first morning after his return and moved the stove back to its old
+place. When the wife and daughters came down to get their breakfast (for
+they did all their own work) they were filled with grief and
+disappointment. The breakfast was eaten in silence, the women humbled
+with a sense of their helplessness, and the men gratified with a sense
+of their power. These men would probably all have said "home is woman's
+sphere," though they took the liberty of regulating everything in her
+sphere.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. STANTON AND SON, 1854.]
+
+[Illustration: Susan B. Anthony 1820-Feb. 15, 1858--]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
+
+
+The reports of the conventions held in Seneca Falls and Rochester, N.Y.,
+in 1848, attracted the attention of one destined to take a most
+important part in the new movement--Susan B. Anthony, who, for her
+courage and executive ability, was facetiously called by William Henry
+Channing, the Napoleon of our struggle. At this time she was teaching in
+the academy at Canajoharie, a little village in the beautiful valley of
+the Mohawk.
+
+"The Woman's Declaration of Independence" issued from those conventions
+startled and amused her, and she laughed heartily at the novelty and
+presumption of the demand. But, on returning home to spend her vacation,
+she was surprised to find that her sober Quaker parents and sister,
+having attended the Rochester meetings, regarded them as very profitable
+and interesting, and the demands made as proper and reasonable. She was
+already interested in the anti-slavery and temperance reforms, was an
+active member of an organization called "The Daughters of Temperance,"
+and had spoken a few times in their public meetings. But the new gospel
+of "Woman's Rights," found a ready response in her mind, and, from that
+time, her best efforts have been given to the enfranchisement of women.
+
+As, from this time, my friend is closely connected with my narrative
+and will frequently appear therein, a sketch of her seems appropriate.
+
+Lord Bacon has well said: "He that hath wife and children hath given
+hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises
+either of virtue or mischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest
+merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless
+men; which, both in affection and means, have married and endowed the
+public."
+
+This bit of Baconian philosophy, as alike applicable to women, was the
+subject, not long since, of a conversation with a remarkably gifted
+Englishwoman. She was absorbed in many public interests and had
+conscientiously resolved never to marry, lest the cares necessarily
+involved in matrimony should make inroads upon her time and thought, to
+the detriment of the public good. "Unless," said she, "some women
+dedicate themselves to the public service, society is robbed of needed
+guardians for the special wants of the weak and unfortunate. There
+should be, in the secular world, certain orders corresponding in a
+measure to the grand sisterhoods of the Catholic Church, to the members
+of which, as freely as to men, all offices, civic and ecclesiastical,
+should be open." That this ideal will be realized may be inferred from
+the fact that exceptional women have, in all ages, been leaders in great
+projects of charity and reform, and that now many stand waiting only the
+sanction of their century, ready for wide altruistic labors.
+
+The world has ever had its vestal virgins, its holy women, mothers of
+ideas rather than of men; its Marys, as well as its Marthas, who, rather
+than be busy housewives, preferred to sit at the feet of divine wisdom,
+and ponder the mysteries of the unknown. All hail to Maria Mitchell,
+Harriet Hosmer, Charlotte Cushman, Alice and Phoebe Gary, Louisa Alcott,
+Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Frances Willard, and Clara Barton! All honor to
+the noble women who have devoted earnest lives to the intellectual and
+moral needs of mankind!
+
+Susan B. Anthony was of sturdy New England stock, and it was at the foot
+of Old Greylock, South Adams, Mass., that she gave forth her first
+rebellious cry. There the baby steps were taken, and at the village
+school the first stitches were learned, and the A B C duly mastered.
+When five winters had passed over Susan's head, there came a time of
+great domestic commotion, and, in her small way, the child seized the
+idea that permanence is not the rule of life. The family moved to
+Battenville, N.Y., where Mr. Anthony became one of the wealthiest men in
+Washington County. Susan can still recall the stately coldness of the
+great house--how large the bare rooms, with their yellow-painted floors,
+seemed, in contrast with her own diminutiveness, and the outlook of the
+schoolroom where for so many years, with her brothers and sisters, she
+pursued her studies under private tutors.
+
+Mr. Anthony was a stern Hicksite Quaker. In Susan's early life he
+objected on principle to all forms of frivolous amusement, such as
+music, dancing, or novel reading, while games and even pictures were
+regarded as meaningless luxuries. Such puritanical convictions might
+have easily degenerated into mere cant; but underlying all was a broad
+and firm basis of wholesome respect for individual freedom and a brave
+adherence to truth. He was a man of good business capacity, and a
+thorough manager of his wide and lucrative interests. He saw that
+compensation and not chance ruled in the commercial world, and he
+believed in the same just, though often severe, law in the sphere of
+morals. Such a man was not apt to walk humbly in the path mapped out by
+his religious sect. He early offended by choosing a Baptist for a wife.
+For this first offense he was "disowned," and, according to Quaker
+usage, could only be received into fellowship again by declaring himself
+"sorry" for his crime in full meeting. He was full of devout
+thankfulness for the good woman by his side, and destined to be thankful
+to the very end for this companion, so calm, so just, so far-seeing. He
+rose in meeting, and said he was "sorry" that the rules of the society
+were such that, in marrying the woman he loved, he had committed
+offense! He admitted that he was "sorry" for something, so was taken
+back into the body of the faithful! But his faith had begun to weaken in
+many minor points of discipline. His coat soon became a cause of offense
+and called forth another reproof from those buttoned up in conforming
+garments. The petty forms of Quakerism began to lose their weight with
+him altogether, and he was finally disowned for allowing the village
+youth to be taught dancing in an upper room of his dwelling. He was
+applied to for this favor on the ground that young men were under great
+temptation to drink if the lessons were given in the hotel; and, being a
+rigid temperance man, he readily consented, though his principles, in
+regard to dancing, would not allow his own sons and daughters to join in
+the amusement. But the society could accept no such discrimination in
+what it deemed sin, nor such compromise with worldly frivolity, and so
+Mr. Anthony was seen no more in meeting. But, in later years, in
+Rochester he was an attentive listener to Rev. William Henry Channing.
+
+The effect of all this on Susan is the question of interest. No doubt
+she early weighed the comparative moral effects of coats cut with capes
+and those cut without, of purely Quaker conjugal love and that
+deteriorated with Baptist affection. Susan had an earnest soul and a
+conscience tending to morbidity; but a strong, well-balanced body and
+simple family life soothed her too active moral nature and gave the
+world, instead of a religious fanatic, a sincere, concentrated worker.
+Every household art was taught her by her mother, and so great was her
+ability that the duty demanding especial care was always given into her
+hands. But ever, amid school and household tasks, her day-dream was
+that, in time, she might be a "high-seat" Quaker. Each Sunday, up to the
+time of the third disobedience, Mr. Anthony went to the Quaker meeting
+house, some thirteen miles from home, his wife and children usually
+accompanying him, though, as non-members, they were rigidly excluded
+from all business discussions. Exclusion was very pleasant in the bright
+days of summer; but, on one occasion in December, decidedly unpleasant
+for the seven-year-old Susan. When the blinds were drawn, at the close
+of the religious meeting, and non-members retired, Susan sat still. Soon
+she saw a thin old lady with blue goggles come down from the "high
+seat." Approaching her, the Quakeress said softly, "Thee is not a
+member--thee must go out." "No; my mother told me not to go out in the
+cold," was the child's firm response. "Yes, but thee must go out--thee
+is not a member." "But my father is a member." "Thee is not a member,"
+and Susan felt as if the spirit was moving her and soon found herself in
+outer coldness. Fingers and toes becoming numb, and a bright fire in a
+cottage over the way beckoning warmly to her, the exile from the chapel
+resolved to seek secular shelter. But alas! she was confronted by a huge
+dog, and just escaped with whole skin though capeless jacket. We may be
+sure there was much talk, that night, at the home fireside, and the good
+Baptist wife declared that no child of hers should attend meeting again
+till made a member. Thereafter, by request of her father, Susan became a
+member of the Quaker church.
+
+Later, definite convictions took root in Miss Anthony's heart. Hers is,
+indeed, a sincerely religious nature. To be a simple, earnest Quaker was
+the aspiration of her girlhood; but she shrank from adopting the formal
+language and plain dress. Dark hours of conflict were spent over all
+this, and she interpreted her disinclination as evidence of
+unworthiness. Poor little Susan! As we look back with the knowledge of
+our later life, we translate the heart-burnings as unconscious protests
+against labeling your free soul, against testing your reasoning
+conviction of to-morrow by any shibboleth of to-day's belief. We hail
+this child-intuition as a prophecy of the uncompromising truthfulness of
+the mature woman. Susan Anthony was taught simply that she must enter
+into the holy of holies of her own self, meet herself, and be true to
+the revelation. She first found words to express her convictions in
+listening to Rev. William Henry Channing, whose teaching had a lasting
+spiritual influence upon her. To-day Miss Anthony is an agnostic. As to
+the nature of the Godhead and of the life beyond her horizon she does
+not profess to know anything. Every energy of her soul is centered upon
+the needs of this world. To her, work is worship. She has not stood
+aside, shivering in the cold shadows of uncertainty, but has moved on
+with the whirling world, has done the good given her to do, and thus, in
+darkest hours, has been sustained by an unfaltering faith in the final
+perfection of all things. Her belief is not orthodox, but it is
+religious. In ancient Greece she would have been a Stoic; in the era of
+the Reformation, a Calvinist; in King Charles' time, a Puritan; but in
+this nineteenth century, by the very laws of her being, she is a
+Reformer.
+
+For the arduous work that awaited Miss Anthony her years of young
+womanhood had given preparation. Her father, though a man of wealth,
+made it a matter of conscience to train his girls, as well as his boys,
+to self-support. Accordingly Susan chose the profession of teacher, and
+made her first essay during a summer vacation in a school her father had
+established for the children of his employés. Her success was so marked,
+not only in imparting knowledge, but also as a disciplinarian, that she
+followed this career steadily for fifteen years, with the exception of
+some months given in Philadelphia to her own training. Of the many
+school rebellions which she overcame, one rises before me, prominent in
+its ludicrous aspect. This was in the district school at Center Falls,
+in the year 1839. Bad reports were current there of male teachers driven
+out by a certain strapping lad. Rumor next told of a Quaker maiden
+coming to teach--a Quaker maiden of peace principles. The anticipated
+day and Susan arrived. She looked very meek to the barbarian of fifteen,
+so he soon began his antics. He was called to the platform, told to lay
+aside his jacket, and, thereupon, with much astonishment received from
+the mild Quaker maiden, with a birch rod applied calmly but with
+precision, an exposition of the _argumentum ad hominem_ based on the _a
+posteriori_ method of reasoning. Thus Susan departed from her
+principles, but not from the school.
+
+But, before long, conflicts in the outside world disturbed our young
+teacher. The multiplication table and spelling book no longer enchained
+her thoughts; larger questions began to fill her mind. About the year
+1850 Susan B. Anthony hid her ferule away. Temperance, anti-slavery,
+woman suffrage,--three pregnant questions,--presented themselves,
+demanding her consideration. Higher, ever higher, rose their appeals,
+until she resolved to dedicate her energy and thought to the burning
+needs of the hour. Owing to early experience of the disabilities of her
+sex, the first demand for equal rights for women found echo in Susan's
+heart. And, though she was in the beginning startled to hear that women
+had actually met in convention, and by speeches and resolutions had
+declared themselves man's peer in political rights, and had urged
+radical changes in State constitutions and the whole system of American
+jurisprudence; yet the most casual review convinced her that these
+claims were but the logical outgrowth of the fundamental theories of our
+republic.
+
+At this stage of her development I met my future friend and coadjutor
+for the first time. How well I remember the day! George Thompson and
+William Lloyd Garrison having announced an anti-slavery meeting in
+Seneca Falls, Miss Anthony came to attend it. These gentlemen were my
+guests. Walking home, after the adjournment, we met Mrs. Bloomer and
+Miss Anthony on the corner of the street, waiting to greet us. There she
+stood, with her good, earnest face and genial smile, dressed in gray
+delaine, hat and all the same color, relieved with pale blue ribbons,
+the perfection of neatness and sobriety. I liked her thoroughly, and why
+I did not at once invite her home with me to dinner, I do not know. She
+accuses me of that neglect, and has never forgiven me, as she wished to
+see and hear all she could of our noble friends. I suppose my mind was
+full of what I had heard, or my coming dinner, or the probable behavior
+of three mischievous boys who had been busily exploring the premises
+while I was at the meeting.
+
+That I had abundant cause for anxiety in regard to the philosophical
+experiments these young savages might try the reader will admit, when
+informed of some of their performances. Henry imagined himself possessed
+of rare powers of invention (an ancestral weakness for generations), and
+so made a life preserver of corks, and tested its virtues on his
+brother, who was about eighteen months old. Accompanied by a troop of
+expectant boys, the baby was drawn in his carriage to the banks of the
+Seneca, stripped, the string of corks tied under his arms, and set
+afloat in the river, the philosopher and his satellites, in a rowboat,
+watching the experiment. The baby, accustomed to a morning bath in a
+large tub, splashed about joyfully, keeping his head above water. He was
+as blue as indigo and as cold as a frog when rescued by his anxious
+mother. The next day the same victimized infant was seen, by a passing
+friend, seated on the chimney, on the highest peak of the house. Without
+alarming anyone, the friend hurried up to the housetop and rescued the
+child. Another time the three elder brothers entered into a conspiracy,
+and locked up the fourth, Theodore, in the smoke-house. Fortunately, he
+sounded the alarm loud and clear, and was set free in safety, whereupon
+the three were imprisoned in a garret with two barred windows. They
+summarily kicked out the bars, and, sliding down on the lightning rod,
+betook themselves to the barn for liberty. The youngest boy, Gerrit,
+then only five years old, skinned his hands in the descent. This is a
+fair sample of the quiet happiness I enjoyed in the first years of
+motherhood.
+
+It was 'mid such exhilarating scenes that Miss Anthony and I wrote
+addresses for temperance, anti-slavery, educational, and woman's rights
+conventions. Here we forged resolutions, protests, appeals, petitions,
+agricultural reports, and constitutional arguments; for we made it a
+matter of conscience to accept every invitation to speak on every
+question, in order to maintain woman's right to do so. To this end we
+took turns on the domestic watchtowers, directing amusements, settling
+disputes, protecting the weak against the strong, and trying to secure
+equal rights to all in the home as well as the nation. I can recall many
+a stern encounter between my friend and the young experimenter. It is
+pleasant to remember that he never seriously injured any of his victims,
+and only once came near fatally shooting himself with a pistol. The ball
+went through his hand; happily a brass button prevented it from
+penetrating his heart.
+
+It is often said, by those who know Miss Anthony best, that she has been
+my good angel, always pushing and goading me to work, and that but for
+her pertinacity I should never have accomplished the little I have. On
+the other hand it has been said that I forged the thunderbolts and she
+fired them. Perhaps all this is, in a measure, true. With the cares of a
+large family I might, in time, like too many women, have become wholly
+absorbed in a narrow family selfishness, had not my friend been
+continually exploring new fields for missionary labors. Her description
+of a body of men on any platform, complacently deciding questions in
+which woman had an equal interest, without an equal voice, readily
+roused me to a determination to throw a firebrand into the midst of
+their assembly.
+
+Thus, whenever I saw that stately Quaker girl coming across my lawn, I
+knew that some happy convocation of the sons of Adam was to be set by
+the ears, by one of our appeals or resolutions. The little portmanteau,
+stuffed with facts, was opened, and there we had what the Rev. John
+Smith and Hon. Richard Roe had said: false interpretations of Bible
+texts, the statistics of women robbed of their property, shut out of
+some college, half paid for their work, the reports of some disgraceful
+trial; injustice enough to turn any woman's thoughts from stockings and
+puddings. Then we would get out our pens and write articles for papers,
+or a petition to the legislature; indite letters to the faithful, here
+and there; stir up the women in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Massachusetts;
+call on _The Lily, The Una, The Liberator, The Standard_ to remember our
+wrongs as well as those of the slave. We never met without issuing a
+pronunciamento on some question. In thought and sympathy we were one,
+and in the division of labor we exactly complemented each other. In
+writing we did better work than either could alone. While she is slow
+and analytical in composition, I am rapid and synthetic. I am the better
+writer, she the better critic. She supplied the facts and statistics, I
+the philosophy and rhetoric, and, together, we have made arguments that
+have stood unshaken through the storms of long years; arguments that no
+one has answered. Our speeches may be considered the united product of
+our two brains.
+
+So entirely one are we that, in all our associations, ever side by side
+on the same platform, not one feeling of envy or jealousy has ever
+shadowed our lives. We have indulged freely in criticism of each other
+when alone, and hotly contended whenever we have differed, but in our
+friendship of years there has never been the break of one hour. To the
+world we always seem to agree and uniformly reflect each other. Like
+husband and wife, each has the feeling that we must have no differences
+in public. Thus united, at an early day we began to survey the state and
+nation, the future field of our labors. We read, with critical eyes, the
+proceedings of Congress and legislatures, of general assemblies and
+synods, of conferences and conventions, and discovered that, in all
+alike, the existence of woman was entirely ignored.
+
+Night after night, by an old-fashioned fireplace, we plotted and planned
+the coming agitation; how, when, and where each entering wedge could be
+driven, by which women might be recognized and their rights secured.
+Speedily the State was aflame with disturbances in temperance and
+teachers' conventions, and the press heralded the news far and near that
+women delegates had suddenly appeared, demanding admission in men's
+conventions; that their rights had been hotly contested session after
+session, by liberal men on the one side, the clergy and learned
+professors on the other; an overwhelming majority rejecting the women
+with terrible anathemas and denunciations. Such battles were fought over
+and over in the chief cities of many of the Northern States, until the
+bigotry of men in all the reforms and professions was thoroughly
+exposed. Every right achieved, to enter a college, to study a
+profession, to labor in some new industry, or to advocate a reform
+measure was contended for inch by inch.
+
+Many of those enjoying all these blessings now complacently say, "If
+these pioneers in reform had only pressed their measures more
+judiciously, in a more ladylike manner, in more choice language, with a
+more deferential attitude, the gentlemen could not have behaved so
+rudely." I give, in these pages, enough of the characteristics of these
+women, of the sentiments they expressed, of their education, ancestry,
+and position to show that no power could have met the prejudice and
+bigotry of that period more successfully than they did who so bravely
+and persistently fought and conquered them.
+
+Miss Anthony first carried her flag of rebellion into the State
+conventions of teachers, and there fought, almost single-handed, the
+battle for equality. At the close of the first decade she had compelled
+conservatism to yield its ground so far as to permit women to
+participate in all debates, deliver essays, vote, and hold honored
+positions as officers. She labored as sincerely in the temperance
+movement, until convinced that woman's moral power amounted to little as
+a civil agent, until backed by ballot and coined into State law. She
+still never loses an occasion to defend co-education and prohibition,
+and solves every difficulty with the refrain, "woman suffrage," as
+persistent as the "never more" of Poe's raven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+SUSAN B. ANTHONY--_Continued_.
+
+
+It was in 1852 that anti-slavery, through the eloquent lips of such men
+as George Thompson, Phillips, and Garrison, first proclaimed to Miss
+Anthony its pressing financial necessities. To their inspired words she
+gave answer, four years afterward, by becoming a regularly employed
+agent in the Anti-slavery Society. For her espoused cause she has always
+made boldest demands. In the abolition meetings she used to tell each
+class why it should support the movement financially; invariably calling
+upon Democrats to give liberally, as the success of the cause would
+enable them to cease bowing the knee to the slave power.
+
+There is scarce a town, however small, from New York to San Francisco,
+that has not heard her ringing voice. Who can number the speeches she
+has made on lyceum platforms, in churches, schoolhouses, halls, barns,
+and in the open air, with a lumber wagon or a cart for her rostrum? Who
+can describe the varied audiences and social circles she has cheered and
+interested? Now we see her on the far-off prairies, entertaining, with
+sterling common sense, large gatherings of men, women, and children,
+seated on rough boards in some unfinished building; again, holding
+public debates in some town with half-fledged editors and clergymen;
+next, sailing up the Columbia River and, in hot haste to meet some
+appointment, jolting over the rough mountains of Oregon and Washington;
+and then, before legislative assemblies, constitutional conventions, and
+congressional committees, discussing with senators and judges the letter
+and spirit of constitutional law.
+
+Miss Anthony's style of speaking is rapid and vehement. In debate she is
+ready and keen, and she is always equal to an emergency. Many times in
+traveling with her through the West, especially on our first trip to
+Kansas and California, we were suddenly called upon to speak to the
+women assembled at the stations. Filled with consternation, I usually
+appealed to her to go first; and, without a moment's hesitation, she
+could always fill five minutes with some appropriate words and inspire
+me with thoughts and courage to follow. The climax of these occasions
+was reached in an institution for the deaf and dumb in Michigan. I had
+just said to my friend, "There is one comfort in visiting this place; we
+shall not be asked to speak," when the superintendent, approaching us,
+said, "Ladies, the pupils are assembled in the chapel, ready to hear
+you. I promised to invite you to speak to them as soon as I heard you
+were in town." The possibility of addressing such an audience was as
+novel to Miss Anthony as to me; yet she promptly walked down the aisle
+to the platform, as if to perform an ordinary duty, while I, half
+distracted with anxiety, wondering by what process I was to be placed in
+communication with the deaf and dumb, reluctantly followed. But the
+manner was simple enough, when illustrated. The superintendent, standing
+by our side, repeated, in the sign language, what was said as fast as
+uttered; and by laughter, tears, and applause, the pupils showed that
+they fully appreciated the pathos, humor, and argument.
+
+One night, crossing the Mississippi at McGregor, Iowa, we were icebound
+in the middle of the river. The boat was crowded with people, hungry,
+tired, and cross with the delay. Some gentlemen, with whom we had been
+talking on the cars, started the cry, "Speech on woman suffrage!"
+Accordingly, in the middle of the Mississippi River, at midnight, we
+presented our claims to political representation, and debated the
+question of universal suffrage until we landed. Our voyagers were quite
+thankful that we had shortened the many hours, and we equally so at
+having made several converts and held a convention on the very bosom of
+the great "Mother of Waters." Only once in all these wanderings was Miss
+Anthony taken by surprise, and that was on being asked to speak to the
+inmates of an insane asylum. "Bless me!" said she, "it is as much as I
+can do to talk to the sane! What could I say to an audience of
+lunatics?" Her companion, Virginia L. Minor of St. Louis, replied: "This
+is a golden moment for you, the first opportunity you have ever had,
+according to the constitutions, to talk to your 'peers,' for is not the
+right of suffrage denied to 'idiots, criminals, lunatics, and women'?"
+
+Much curiosity has been expressed as to the love-life of Miss Anthony;
+but, if she has enjoyed or suffered any of the usual triumphs or
+disappointments of her sex, she has not yet vouchsafed this information
+to her biographers. While few women have had more sincere and lasting
+friendships, or a more extensive correspondence with a large circle of
+noble men, yet I doubt if one of them can boast of having received from
+her any exceptional attention. She has often playfully said, when
+questioned on this point, that she could not consent that the man she
+loved, described in the Constitution as a white male, native born,
+American citizen, possessed of the right of self-government, eligible to
+the office of President of the great Republic, should unite his
+destinies in marriage with a political slave and pariah. "No, no; when I
+am crowned with all the rights, privileges, and immunities of a citizen,
+I may give some consideration to this social institution; but until then
+I must concentrate all my energies on the enfranchisement of my own
+sex." Miss Anthony's love-life, like her religion, has manifested itself
+in steadfast, earnest labors for men in general. She has been a watchful
+and affectionate daughter, sister, friend, and those who have felt the
+pulsations of her great heart know how warmly it beats for all.
+
+As the custom has long been observed, among married women, of
+celebrating the anniversaries of their wedding-day, quite properly the
+initiative has been taken, in late years, of doing honor to the great
+events in the lives of single women. Being united in closest bonds to
+her profession, Dr. Harriet K. Hunt of Boston celebrated her
+twenty-fifth year of faithful services as a physician by giving to her
+friends and patrons a large reception, which she called her silver
+wedding. From a feeling of the sacredness of her life work, the admirers
+of Susan B. Anthony have been moved to mark, by reception and
+convention, her rapid-flowing years and the passing decades of the
+suffrage movement. To the most brilliant occasion of this kind, the
+invitation cards were as follows:
+
+     The ladies of the Woman's Bureau invite you to a reception on
+     Tuesday evening, February 15th, to celebrate the fiftieth birthday
+     of Susan B. Anthony, when her friends will have an opportunity to
+     show their appreciation of her long services in behalf of woman's
+     emancipation.
+
+     No. 49 East 23d St., New York,
+
+     February 10, 1870.
+
+     Elizabeth B. Phelps,
+
+     Anna B. Darling,
+
+     Charlotte Beebe Wilbour.
+
+In response to the invitation, the parlors of the bureau were crowded
+with friends to congratulate Miss Anthony on the happy event, many
+bringing valuable gifts as an expression of their gratitude. Among other
+presents were a handsome gold watch and checks to the amount of a
+thousand dollars. The guests were entertained with music, recitations,
+the reading of many piquant letters of regret from distinguished people,
+and witty rhymes written for the occasion by the Cary sisters. Miss
+Anthony received her guests with her usual straightforward simplicity,
+and in a few earnest words expressed her thanks for the presents and
+praises showered upon her. The comments of the leading journals, next
+day, were highly complimentary, and as genial as amusing. All dwelt on
+the fact that, at last, a woman had arisen brave enough to assert her
+right to grow old and openly declare that half a century had rolled over
+her head.
+
+Of carefully prepared written speeches Miss Anthony has made few; but
+these, by the high praise they called forth, prove that she can--in
+spite of her own declaration to the contrary--put her sterling thoughts
+on paper concisely and effectively. After her exhaustive plea, in 1880,
+for a Sixteenth Amendment before the Judiciary Committee of the Senate,
+Senator Edmunds accosted her, as she was leaving the Capitol, and said
+he neglected to tell her, in the committee room, that she had made an
+argument, no matter what his personal feelings were as to the
+conclusions reached, which was unanswerable--an argument, unlike the
+usual platform oratory given at hearings, suited to a committee of men
+trained to the law.
+
+It was in 1876 that Miss Anthony gave her much criticised lecture on
+"Social Purity" in Boston. As to the result she felt very anxious; for
+the intelligence of New England composed her audience, and it did not
+still her heart-beats to see, sitting just in front of the platform, her
+revered friend, William Lloyd Garrison. But surely every fear vanished
+when she felt the grand old abolitionist's hand warmly pressing hers,
+and heard him say that to listen to no one else would he have had
+courage to leave his sick room, and that he felt fully repaid by her
+grand speech, which neither in matter nor manner would he have changed
+in the smallest particular. But into Miss Anthony's private
+correspondence one must look for examples of her most effective writing.
+Verb or substantive is often wanting, but you can always catch the
+thought, and will ever find it clear and suggestive. It is a strikingly
+strange dialect, but one that touches, at times, the deepest chords of
+pathos and humor, and, when stirred by some great event, is highly
+eloquent.
+
+From being the most ridiculed and mercilessly persecuted woman, Miss
+Anthony has become the most honored and respected in the nation. Witness
+the praises of press and people, and the enthusiastic ovations she
+received on her departure for Europe in 1883. Never were warmer
+expressions of regret for an absence, nor more sincere prayers for a
+speedy return, accorded to any American on leaving his native shores.
+This slow awaking to the character of her services shows the abiding
+sense of justice in the human soul. Having spent the winter of 1882-83
+in Washington, trying to press to a vote the bill for a Sixteenth
+Amendment before Congress, and the autumn in a vigorous campaign through
+Nebraska, where a constitutional amendment to enfranchise women had been
+submitted to the people, she felt the imperative need of an entire
+change in the current of her thoughts. Accordingly, after one of the
+most successful conventions ever held at the national capital, and a
+most flattering ovation in the spacious parlors of the Riggs House, and
+a large reception in Philadelphia, she sailed for Europe.
+
+Fortunate in being perfectly well during the entire voyage, our traveler
+received perpetual enjoyment in watching the ever varying sea and sky.
+To the captain's merry challenge to find anything so grand as the ocean,
+she replied, "Yes, these mighty forces in nature do indeed fill me with
+awe; but this vessel, with deep-buried fires, powerful machinery,
+spacious decks, and tapering masts, walking the waves like a thing of
+life, and all the work of man, impresses one still more deeply. Lo! in
+man's divine creative power is fulfilled the prophecy, 'Ye shall be as
+Gods!'"
+
+In all her journeyings through Germany, Italy, and France, Miss Anthony
+was never the mere sight-seer, but always the humanitarian and reformer
+in traveler's guise. Few of the great masterpieces of art gave her real
+enjoyment. The keen appreciation of the beauties of sculpture, painting,
+and architecture, which one would have expected to find in so deep a
+religious nature, was wanting, warped, no doubt, by her early Quaker
+training. That her travels gave her more pain than pleasure was,
+perhaps, not so much that she had no appreciation of aesthetic beauty,
+but that she quickly grasped the infinitude of human misery; not because
+her soul did not feel the heights to which art had risen, but that it
+vibrated in every fiber to the depths to which mankind had fallen.
+Wandering through a gorgeous palace one day, she exclaimed, "What do you
+find to admire here? If it were a school of five hundred children being
+educated into the right of self-government I could admire it, too; but
+standing for one man's pleasure, I say no!" In the quarters of one of
+the devotees, at the old monastery of the Certosa, at Florence, there
+lies, on a small table, an open book, in which visitors register. On the
+occasion of Miss Anthony's visit the pen and ink proved so unpromising
+that her entire party declined this opportunity to make themselves
+famous, but she made the rebellious pen inscribe, "Perfect equality for
+women, civil, political, religious. Susan B. Anthony, U.S.A." Friends,
+who visited the monastery next day, reported that lines had been drawn
+through this heretical sentiment.
+
+During her visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sargent, in Berlin, Miss
+Anthony quite innocently posted her letters in the official envelopes of
+our Suffrage Association, which bore the usual mottoes, "No just
+government can be formed without the consent of the governed," etc. In a
+few days an official brought back a large package, saying, "Such
+sentiments are not allowed to pass through the post office." Probably
+nothing saved her from arrest as a socialist, under the tyrannical
+police regulations, but the fact that she was the guest of the Minister
+Plenipotentiary of the United States.
+
+My son Theodore wrote of Miss Anthony's visit in Paris: "I had never
+before seen her in the role of tourist. She seemed interested only in
+historical monuments, and in the men and questions of the hour. The
+galleries of the Louvre had little attraction for her, but she gazed
+with deep pleasure at Napoleon's tomb, Notre Dame, and the ruins of the
+Tuileries. She was always ready to listen to discussions on the
+political problems before the French people, the prospects of the
+Republic, the divorce agitation, and the education of women. 'I had
+rather see Jules Ferry than all the pictures of the Louvre, Luxembourg,
+and Salon,' she remarked at table. A day or two later she saw Ferry at
+Laboulaye's funeral. The three things which made the deepest impression
+on Miss Anthony, during her stay at Paris, were probably the interment
+of Laboulaye (the friend of the United States and of the woman
+movement); the touching anniversary demonstration of the Communists, at
+the Cemetery of Père La Chaise, on the very spot where the last
+defenders of the Commune of 1871 were ruthlessly shot and buried in a
+common grave; and a woman's rights meeting, held in a little hall in the
+Rue de Rivoli, at which the brave, far-seeing Mlle. Hubertine Auchet was
+the leading spirit."
+
+While on the Continent Miss Anthony experienced the unfortunate
+sensation of being deaf and dumb; to speak and not to be understood, to
+hear and not to comprehend, were to her bitter realities. We can imagine
+to what desperation she was brought when her Quaker prudishness could
+hail an emphatic oath in English from a French official with the
+exclamation, "Well, it sounds good to hear someone even swear in old
+Anglo-Saxon!" After two months of enforced silence, she was buoyant in
+reaching the British Islands once more, where she could enjoy public
+speaking and general conversation. Here she was the recipient of many
+generous social attentions, and, on May 25, a large public meeting of
+representative people, presided over by Jacob Bright, was called, in our
+honor, by the National Association of Great Britain. She spoke on the
+educational and political status of women in America, I of their
+religious and social position.
+
+Before closing my friend's biography I shall trace two golden threads in
+this closely woven life of incident. One of the greatest services
+rendered by Miss Anthony to the suffrage cause was in casting a vote in
+the Presidential election of 1872, in order to test the rights of women
+under the Fourteenth Amendment. For this offense the brave woman was
+arrested, on Thanksgiving Day, the national holiday handed down to us by
+Pilgrim Fathers escaped from England's persecutions. She asked for a
+writ of habeas corpus. The writ being flatly refused, in January, 1873,
+her counsel gave bonds. The daring defendant finding, when too late,
+that this not only kept her out of jail, but her case out of the Supreme
+Court of the United States, regretfully determined to fight on, and gain
+the uttermost by a decision in the United States Circuit Court. Her
+trial was set down for the Rochester term in May. Quickly she canvassed
+the whole county, laying before every probable juror the strength of her
+case. When the time for the trial arrived, the District Attorney,
+fearing the result, if the decision were left to a jury drawn from Miss
+Anthony's enlightened county, transferred the trial to the Ontario
+County term, in June, 1873.
+
+It was now necessary to instruct the citizens of another county. In this
+task Miss Anthony received valuable assistance from Matilda Joslyn Gage;
+and, to meet all this new expense, financial aid was generously given,
+unsolicited, by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Gerrit Smith, and other
+sympathizers. But in vain was every effort; in vain the appeal of Miss
+Anthony to her jurors; in vain the moral influence of the leading
+representatives of the bar of Central New York filling the courtroom,
+for Judge Hunt, without precedent to sustain him, declaring it a case of
+law and not of fact, refused to give the case to the jury, reserving to
+himself final decision. Was it not an historic scene which was enacted
+there in that little courthouse in Canandaigua? All the inconsistencies
+were embodied in that Judge, punctilious in manner, scrupulous in
+attire, conscientious in trivialities, and obtuse on great principles,
+fitly described by Charles O'Conor--"A very ladylike Judge." Behold him
+sitting there, balancing all the niceties of law and equity in his Old
+World scales, and at last saying, "The prisoner will stand up."
+Whereupon the accused arose. "The sentence of the court is that you pay
+a fine of one hundred dollars and the costs of the prosecution." Then
+the unruly defendant answers: "May it please your Honor, I shall never
+pay a dollar of your unjust penalty," and more to the same effect, all
+of which she has lived up to. The "ladylike" Judge had gained some
+insight into the determination of the prisoner; so, not wishing to
+incarcerate her to all eternity, he added gently: "Madam, the court
+will not order you committed until the fine is paid."
+
+It was on the 17th of June that the verdict was given. On that very day,
+a little less than a century before, the brave militia was driven back
+at Bunker Hill--back, back, almost wiped out; yet truth was in their
+ranks, and justice, too. But how ended that rebellion of weak colonists?
+The cause of American womanhood, embodied for the moment in the liberty
+of a single individual, received a rebuff on June 17, 1873; but, just as
+surely as our Revolutionary heroes were in the end victorious, so will
+the inalienable rights of our heroines of the nineteenth century receive
+final vindication.
+
+In his speech of 1880, before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard,
+Wendell Phillips said--what as a rule is true--that "a reformer, to be
+conscientious, must be free from bread-winning." I will open Miss
+Anthony's accounts and show that this reformer, being, perhaps, the
+exception which proves the rule, has been consistently and
+conscientiously in debt. Turning over her year-books the pages give a
+fair record up to 1863. Here began the first herculean labor. The
+Woman's Loyal League, sadly in need of funds, was not an incorporated
+association, so its secretary assumed the debts. Accounts here became
+quite lamentable, the deficit reaching five thousand dollars. It must be
+paid, and, in fact, will be paid. Anxious, weary hours were spent in
+crowding the Cooper Institute, from week to week, with paying audiences,
+to listen to such men as Phillips, Curtis, and Douglass, who contributed
+their services, and lifted the secretary out of debt. At last, after
+many difficulties, her cash-book of 1863 was honorably pigeon-holed. In
+1867 we can read account of herculean labor the second. Twenty thousand
+tracts are needed to convert the voters of Kansas to woman suffrage.
+Traveling expenses to Kansas, and the tracts, make the debtor column
+overreach the creditor some two thousand dollars. There is recognition
+on these pages of more than one thousand dollars obtained by soliciting
+advertisements, but no note is made of the weary, burning July days
+spent in the streets of New York to procure this money, nor of the ready
+application of the savings made by petty economies from her salary from
+the Hovey Committee.
+
+It would have been fortunate for my brave friend, if cash-books 1868,
+1869, and 1870 had never come down from their shelves; for they sing and
+sing, in notes of debts, till all unite in one vast chorus of far more
+than ten thousand dollars. These were the days of the _Revolution_, the
+newspaper, not the war, though it was warfare for the debt-ridden
+manager. Several thousand dollars she paid with money earned by
+lecturing, and with money given her for personal use. One Thanksgiving
+was, in truth, a time for returning thanks; for she received, canceled,
+from her cousin, Anson Lapham, her note for four thousand dollars. After
+the funeral of Paulina Wright Davis, the bereaved widower pressed into
+Miss Anthony's hand canceled notes for five hundred dollars, bearing on
+the back the words, "In memory of my beloved wife." One other note was
+canceled in recognition of her perfect forgetfulness of self-interest
+and ready sacrifice to the needs of others. When laboring, in 1874, to
+fill every engagement, in order to meet her debts, her mother's sudden
+illness called her home. Without one selfish regret, the anxious
+daughter hastened to Rochester. When recovery was certain, and Miss
+Anthony was about to return to her fatiguing labors, her mother gave
+her, at parting, her note for a thousand dollars, on which was written,
+in trembling lines, "In just consideration of the tender sacrifice made
+to nurse me in severe illness." At last all the _Revolution_ debt was
+paid, except that due to her generous sister, Mary Anthony, who used
+often humorously to assure her she was a fit subject for the bankrupt
+act.
+
+There is something humorously pathetic in the death of the
+_Revolution_--that firstborn of Miss Anthony. Mrs. Laura Curtis Bullard
+generously assumed the care of the troublesome child, and, in order to
+make the adoption legal, gave the usual consideration--one dollar. The
+very night of the transfer Miss Anthony went to Rochester with the
+dollar in her pocket, and the little change left after purchasing her
+ticket. She arrived safely with her debts, but nothing more--her pocket
+had been picked! Oh, thief, could you but know what value of faithful
+work you purloined!
+
+From the close of the year 1876 Miss Anthony's accounts showed favorable
+signs as to the credit column. Indeed, at the end of five years there
+was a solid balance of several thousand dollars earned on lecturing
+tours. But alas! the accounts grow dim again--in fact the credit column
+fades away. "The History of Woman Suffrage" ruthlessly swallowed up
+every vestige of Miss Anthony's bank account. But, in 1886, by the will
+of Mrs. Eddy, daughter of Francis Jackson of Boston, Miss Anthony
+received twenty-four thousand dollars for the Woman's Suffrage Movement,
+which lifted her out of debt once more.
+
+In vain will you search these telltale books for evidence of personal
+extravagance; for, although Miss Anthony thinks it true economy to buy
+the best, her tastes are simple. Is there not something very touching in
+the fact that she never bought a book or picture for her own enjoyment?
+The meager personal balance-sheets show four lapses from
+discipline,--lapses that she even now regards as ruthless
+extravagance,--viz.: the purchase of two inexpensive brooches, a much
+needed watch, and a pair of cuffs to match a point-lace collar presented
+by a friend. Those interested in Miss Anthony's personal appearance long
+ago ceased to trust her with the purchase-money for any ornament; for,
+however firm her resolution to comply with their wish, the check
+invariably found its way to the credit column of those little cash-books
+as "money received for the cause." Now, reader, you have been admitted
+to a private view of Miss Anthony's financial records, and you can
+appreciate her devotion to an idea. Do you not agree with me that a
+"bread-winner" can be a conscientious reformer?
+
+In finishing this sketch of the most intimate friend I have had for the
+past forty-five years,--with whom I have spent weeks and months under
+the same roof,--I can truly say that she is the most upright,
+courageous, self-sacrificing, magnanimous human being I have ever known.
+I have seen her beset on every side with the most petty annoyances,
+ridiculed and misrepresented, slandered and persecuted; I have known
+women refuse to take her extended hand; women to whom she presented
+copies of "The History of Woman Suffrage," return it unnoticed; others
+to keep it without one word of acknowledgment; others to write most
+insulting letters in answer to hers of affectionate conciliation. And
+yet, under all the cross-fires incident to a reform, never has her hope
+flagged, her self-respect wavered, or a feeling of resentment shadowed
+her mind. Oftentimes, when I have been sorely discouraged, thinking that
+the prolonged struggle was a waste of force which in other directions
+might be rich in achievement, with her sublime faith in humanity, she
+would breathe into my soul renewed inspiration, saying, "Pity rather
+than blame those who persecute us." So closely interwoven have been our
+lives, our purposes, and experiences that, separated, we have a feeling
+of incompleteness--united, such strength of self-assertion that no
+ordinary obstacles, difficulties, or dangers ever appear to us
+insurmountable. Reviewing the life of Susan B. Anthony, I ever liken her
+to the Doric column in Grecian architecture, so simply, so grandly she
+stands, free from every extraneous ornament, supporting her one vast
+idea--the enfranchisement of woman.
+
+As our estimate of ourselves and our friendship may differ somewhat from
+that taken from an objective point of view, I will give an extract from
+what our common friend Theodore Tilton wrote of us in 1868:
+
+     "Miss Susan B. Anthony, a well-known, indefatigable, and lifelong
+     advocate of temperance, anti-slavery, and woman's rights, has been,
+     since 1851, Mrs. Stanton's intimate associate in reformatory
+     labors. These celebrated women are of about equal age, but of the
+     most opposite characteristics, and illustrate the theory of
+     counterparts in affection by entertaining for each other a
+     friendship of extraordinary strength.
+
+     "Mrs. Stanton is a fine writer, but a poor executant; Miss Anthony
+     is a thorough manager, but a poor writer. Both have large brains
+     and great hearts; neither has any selfish ambition for celebrity;
+     but each vies with the other in a noble enthusiasm for the cause to
+     which they are devoting their lives.
+
+     "Nevertheless, to describe them critically, I ought to say that,
+     opposites though they be, each does not so much supplement the
+     other's deficiencies as augment the other's eccentricities. Thus
+     they often stimulate each other's aggressiveness, and, at the same
+     time, diminish each other's discretion.
+
+     "But, whatever may be the imprudent utterances of the one or the
+     impolitic methods of the other, the animating motives of both are
+     evermore as white as the light. The good that they do is by design;
+     the harm by accident. These two women, sitting together in their
+     parlors, have, for the last thirty years, been diligent forgers of
+     all manner of projectiles, from fireworks to thunderbolts, and have
+     hurled them with unexpected explosion into the midst of all manner
+     of educational, reformatory, religious, and political assemblies;
+     sometimes to the pleasant surprise and half welcome of the members,
+     more often to the bewilderment and prostration of numerous victims;
+     and, in a few signal instances, to the gnashing of angry men's
+     teeth. I know of no two more pertinacious incendiaries in the whole
+     country. Nor will they, themselves deny the charge. In fact this
+     noise-making twain are the two sticks of a drum, keeping up what
+     Daniel Webster called 'The rub-a-dub of agitation.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE.
+
+
+Women had been willing so long to hold a subordinate position, both in
+private and public affairs, that a gradually growing feeling of
+rebellion among them quite exasperated the men, and their manifestations
+of hostility in public meetings were often as ridiculous as humiliating.
+
+True, those gentlemen were all quite willing that women should join
+their societies and churches to do the drudgery; to work up the
+enthusiasm in fairs and revivals, conventions and flag presentations; to
+pay a dollar apiece into their treasury for the honor of being members
+of their various organizations; to beg money for the Church; to
+circulate petitions from door to door; to visit saloons; to pray with or
+defy rumsellers; to teach school at half price, and sit round the
+outskirts of a hall, in teachers' State conventions, like so many
+wallflowers; but they would not allow them to sit on the platform,
+address the assembly, or vote for men and measures.
+
+Those who had learned the first lessons of human rights from the lips of
+Henry B. Stanton, Samuel J. May, and Gerrit Smith would not accept any
+such position. When women abandoned the temperance reform, all interest
+in the question gradually died out in the State, and practically nothing
+was done in New York for nearly twenty years. Gerrit Smith made one or
+two attempts toward an "anti-dramshop" party, but, as women could not
+vote, they felt no interest in the measure, and failure was the result.
+
+I soon convinced Miss Anthony that the ballot was the key to the
+situation; that when we had a voice in the laws we should be welcome to
+any platform. In turning the intense earnestness and religious
+enthusiasm of this great-souled woman into this channel, I soon felt the
+power of my convert in goading me forever forward to more untiring work.
+Soon fastened, heart to heart, with hooks of steel in a friendship that
+years of confidence and affection have steadily strengthened, we have
+labored faithfully together.
+
+From the year 1850 conventions were held in various States, and their
+respective legislatures were continually besieged; New York was
+thoroughly canvassed by Miss Anthony and others. Appeals, calls for
+meetings, and petitions were circulated without number. In 1854 I
+prepared my first speech for the New York legislature. That was a great
+event in my life. I felt so nervous over it, lest it should not be
+worthy the occasion, that Miss Anthony suggested that I should slip up
+to Rochester and submit it to the Rev. William Henry Channing, who was
+preaching there at that time. I did so, and his opinion was so favorable
+as to the merits of my speech that I felt quite reassured. My father
+felt equally nervous when he saw, by the Albany _Evening Journal_, that
+I was to speak at the Capitol, and asked me to read my speech to him
+also. Accordingly, I stopped at Johnstown on my way to Albany, and, late
+one evening, when he was alone in his office, I entered and took my seat
+on the opposite side of his table. On no occasion, before or since, was
+I ever more embarrassed--an audience of one, and that the one of all
+others whose approbation I most desired, whose disapproval I most
+feared. I knew he condemned the whole movement, and was deeply grieved
+at the active part I had taken. Hence I was fully aware that I was about
+to address a wholly unsympathetic audience. However, I began, with a
+dogged determination to give all the power I could to my manuscript, and
+not to be discouraged or turned from my purpose by any tender appeals or
+adverse criticisms. I described the widow in the first hours of her
+grief, subject to the intrusions of the coarse minions of the law,
+taking inventory of the household goods, of the old armchair in which
+her loved one had breathed his last, of the old clock in the corner that
+told the hour he passed away. I threw all the pathos I could into my
+voice and language at this point, and, to my intense satisfaction, I saw
+tears filling my father's eyes. I cannot express the exultation I felt,
+thinking that now he would see, with my eyes, the injustice women
+suffered under the laws he understood so well.
+
+Feeling that I had touched his heart I went on with renewed confidence,
+and, when I had finished, I saw he was thoroughly magnetized. With
+beating heart I waited for him to break the silence. He was evidently
+deeply pondering over all he had heard, and did not speak for a long
+time. I believed I had opened to him a new world of thought. He had
+listened long to the complaints of women, but from the lips of his own
+daughter they had come with a deeper pathos and power. At last, turning
+abruptly, he said: "Surely you have had a happy, comfortable life, with
+all your wants and needs supplied; and yet that speech fills me with
+self-reproach; for one might naturally ask, how can a young woman,
+tenderly brought up, who has had no bitter personal experience, feel so
+keenly the wrongs of her sex? Where did you learn this lesson?" "I
+learned it here," I replied, "in your office, when a child, listening to
+the complaints women made to you. They who have sympathy and imagination
+to make the sorrows of others their own can readily learn all the hard
+lessons of life from the experience of others." "Well, well!" he said,
+"you have made your points clear and strong; but I think I can find you
+even more cruel laws than those you have quoted." He suggested some
+improvements in my speech, looked up other laws, and it was one o'clock
+in the morning before we kissed each other good-night. How he felt on
+the question after that I do not know, as he never said anything in
+favor of or against it. He gladly gave me any help I needed, from time
+to time, in looking up the laws, and was very desirous that whatever I
+gave to the public should be carefully prepared.
+
+Miss Anthony printed twenty thousand copies of this address, laid it on
+the desk of every member of the legislature, both in the Assembly and
+Senate, and, in her travels that winter, she circulated it throughout
+the State. I am happy to say I never felt so anxious about the fate of a
+speech since.
+
+The first woman's convention in Albany was held at this time, and we had
+a kind of protracted meeting for two weeks after. There were several
+hearings before both branches of the legislature, and a succession of
+meetings in Association Hall, in which Phillips, Channing, Ernestine L.
+Rose, Antoinette L. Brown, and Susan B. Anthony took part. Being at the
+capital of the State, discussion was aroused at every fireside, while
+the comments of the press were numerous and varied. Every little country
+paper had something witty or silly to say about the uprising of the
+"strong-minded." Those editors whose heads were about the size of an
+apple were the most opposed to the uprising of women, illustrating what
+Sidney Smith said long ago: "There always was, and there always will be
+a class of men so small that, if women were educated, there would be
+nobody left below them." Poor human nature loves to have something to
+look down upon!
+
+Here is a specimen of the way such editors talked at that time. The
+_Albany Register_, in an article on "Woman's Rights in the Legislature,"
+dated March 7, 1854, says:
+
+     "While the feminine propagandists of women's rights confined
+     themselves to the exhibition of short petticoats and long-legged
+     boots, and to the holding of conventions and speech-making in
+     concert rooms, the people were disposed to be amused by them, as
+     they are by the wit of the clown in the circus, or the performances
+     of Punch and Judy on fair days, or the minstrelsy of gentlemen with
+     blackened faces, on banjos, the tambourine, and bones. But the joke
+     is becoming stale. People are getting cloyed with these
+     performances, and are looking for some healthier and more
+     intellectual amusement. The ludicrous is wearing away, and disgust
+     is taking the place of pleasurable sensations, arising from the
+     novelty of this new phase of hypocrisy and infidel fanaticism.
+
+     "People are beginning to inquire how far public sentiment should
+     sanction or tolerate these unsexed women, who would step out from
+     the true sphere of the mother, the wife, and the daughter, and
+     taking upon themselves the duties and the business of men, stalk
+     into the public gaze, and, by engaging in the politics, the rough
+     controversies and trafficking of the world, upheave existing
+     institutions, and overrun all the social relations of life.
+
+     "It is a melancholy reflection that, among our American women, who
+     have been educated to better things, there should be found any who
+     are willing to follow the lead of such foreign propagandists as the
+     ringleted, gloved exotic, Ernestine L. Rose. We can understand how
+     such a man as the Rev. Mr. May, or the sleek-headed Dr. Channing,
+     may be deluded by her into becoming one of her disciples. They are
+     not the first instances of infatuation that may overtake
+     weak-minded men, if they are honest in their devotion to her and
+     her doctrines; nor would they be the first examples of a low
+     ambition that seeks notoriety as a substitute for true fame, if
+     they are dishonest. Such men there are always, and, honest or
+     dishonest, their true position is that of being tied to the apron
+     strings of some strong-minded woman, and to be exhibited as rare
+     specimens of human wickedness or human weakness and folly. But that
+     one educated American should become her disciple and follow her
+     insane teachings is a marvel."
+
+When we see the abuse and ridicule to which the best of men were
+subjected for standing on our platform in the early days, we need not
+wonder that so few have been brave enough to advocate our cause in later
+years, either in conventions or in the halls of legislation.
+
+After twelve added years of agitation, following the passage of the
+Property Bill, New York conceded other civil rights to married women.
+Pending the discussion of these various bills, Susan B. Anthony
+circulated petitions, both for the civil and political rights of women,
+throughout the State, traveling in stage coaches, open wagons, and
+sleighs in all seasons, and on foot, from door to door through towns and
+cities, doing her uttermost to rouse women to some sense of their
+natural rights as human beings, and to their civil and political rights
+as citizens of a republic. And while expending her time, strength, and
+money to secure these blessings for the women of the State, they would
+gruffly tell her that they had all the rights they wanted, or rudely
+shut the door in her face; leaving her to stand outside, petition in
+hand, treating her with as much contempt as if she was asking alms for
+herself. None but those who did that work in the early days, for the
+slaves and the women, can ever know the hardships and humiliations that
+were endured. But it was done because it was only through petitions--a
+power seemingly so inefficient--that disfranchised classes could be
+heard in the State and National councils; hence their importance.
+
+The frivolous objections some women made to our appeals were as
+exasperating as they were ridiculous. To reply to them politely, at all
+times, required a divine patience. On one occasion, after addressing the
+legislature, some of the ladies, in congratulating me, inquired, in a
+deprecating tone, "What do you do with your children?" "Ladies," I said,
+"it takes me no longer to speak, than you to listen; what have you done
+with your children the two hours you have been sitting here? But, to
+answer your question, I never leave my children to go to Saratoga,
+Washington, Newport, or Europe, or even to come here. They are, at this
+moment, with a faithful nurse at the Delevan House, and, having
+accomplished my mission, we shall all return home together."
+
+When my children reached the magic number of seven, my good angel, Susan
+B. Anthony, would sometimes take one or two of them to her own quiet
+home, just out of Rochester, where, on a well-cultivated little farm,
+one could enjoy uninterrupted rest and the choicest fruits of the
+season. That was always a safe harbor for my friend, as her family
+sympathized fully in the reforms to which she gave her life. I have many
+pleasant memories of my own flying visits to that hospitable Quaker home
+and the broad catholic spirit of Daniel and Lucy Anthony. Whatever
+opposition and ridicule their daughter endured elsewhere, she enjoyed
+the steadfast sympathy and confidence of her own home circle. Her
+faithful sister Mary, a most successful teacher in the public schools of
+Rochester for a quarter of a century, and a good financier, who with her
+patrimony and salary had laid by a competence, took on her shoulders
+double duty at home in cheering the declining years of her parents, that
+Susan might do the public work in the reforms in which they were equally
+interested. Now, with life's earnest work nearly accomplished, the
+sisters are living happily together; illustrating another of the many
+charming homes of single women, so rapidly multiplying of late.
+
+Miss Anthony, who was a frequent guest at my home, sometimes stood guard
+when I was absent. The children of our household say that among their
+earliest recollections is the tableau of "Mother and Susan," seated by a
+large table covered with books and papers, always writing and talking
+about the Constitution, interrupted with occasional visits from others
+of the faithful. Hither came Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Paulina Wright
+Davis, Frances Dana Gage, Dr. Harriet Hunt, Rev. Antoinette Brown, Lucy
+Stone, and Abby Kelly, until all these names were as familiar as
+household words to the children.
+
+Martha C. Wright of Auburn was a frequent visitor at the center of the
+rebellion, as my sequestered cottage on Locust Hill was facetiously
+called. She brought to these councils of war not only her own wisdom,
+but that of the wife and sister of William H. Seward, and sometimes
+encouraging suggestions from the great statesman himself, from whose
+writings we often gleaned grand and radical sentiments. Lucretia Mott,
+too, being an occasional guest of her sister, Martha C. Wright, added
+the dignity of her presence at many of these important consultations.
+She was uniformly in favor of toning down our fiery pronunciamentos. For
+Miss Anthony and myself, the English language had no words strong enough
+to express the indignation we felt at the prolonged injustice to women.
+We found, however, that, after expressing ourselves in the most vehement
+manner and thus in a measure giving our feelings an outlet, we were
+reconciled to issue the documents in milder terms. If the men of the
+State could have known the stern rebukes, the denunciations, the wit,
+the irony, the sarcasm that were garnered there, and then judiciously
+pigeonholed and milder and more persuasive appeals substituted, they
+would have been truly thankful that they fared no worse.
+
+Senator Seward frequently left Washington to visit in our neighborhood,
+at the house of Judge G.V. Sackett, a man of wealth and political
+influence. One of the Senator's standing anecdotes, at dinner, to
+illustrate the purifying influence of women at the polls, which he
+always told with great zest for my especial benefit, was in regard to
+the manner in which his wife's sister exercised the right of suffrage.
+
+He said: "Mrs. Worden having the supervision of a farm near Auburn, was
+obliged to hire two or three men for its cultivation. It was her custom,
+having examined them as to their capacity to perform the required labor,
+their knowledge of tools, horses, cattle, and horticulture, to inquire
+as to their politics. She informed them that, being a widow and having
+no one to represent her, she must have Republicans to do her voting and
+to represent her political opinions, and it always so happened that the
+men who offered their services belonged to the Republican party. I
+remarked to her, one day, 'Are you sure your men vote as they promise?'
+'Yes,' she replied, 'I trust nothing to their discretion. I take them in
+my carriage within sight of the polls and put them in charge of some
+Republican who can be trusted. I see that they have the right tickets
+and then I feel sure that I am faithfully represented, and I know I am
+right in so doing. I have neither husband, father, nor son; I am
+responsible for my own taxes; am amenable to all the laws of the State;
+must pay the penalty of my own crimes if I commit any; hence I have the
+right, according to the principles of our government, to representation,
+and so long as I am not permitted to vote in person, I have a right to
+do so by proxy; hence I hire men to vote my principles.'"
+
+These two sisters, Mrs. Worden and Mrs. Seward, daughters of Judge
+Miller, an influential man, were women of culture and remarkable natural
+intelligence, and interested in all progressive ideas. They had rare
+common sense and independence of character, great simplicity of manner,
+and were wholly indifferent to the little arts of the toilet.
+
+I was often told by fashionable women that they objected to the woman's
+rights movement because of the publicity of a convention, the immodesty
+of speaking from a platform, and the trial of seeing one's name in the
+papers. Several ladies made such remarks to me one day, as a bevy of us
+were sitting together in one of the fashionable hotels in Newport. We
+were holding a convention there at that time, and some of them had been
+present at one of the sessions. "Really," said I, "ladies, you surprise
+me; our conventions are not as public as the ballroom where I saw you
+all dancing last night. As to modesty, it may be a question, in many
+minds, whether it is less modest to speak words of soberness and truth,
+plainly dressed on a platform, than gorgeously arrayed, with bare arms
+and shoulders, to waltz in the arms of strange gentlemen. And as to the
+press, I noticed you all reading, in this morning's papers, with evident
+satisfaction, the personal compliments and full descriptions of your
+dresses at the last ball. I presume that any one of you would have felt
+slighted if your name had not been mentioned in the general description.
+When my name is mentioned, it is in connection with some great reform
+movement. Thus we all suffer or enjoy the same publicity--we are alike
+ridiculed. Wise men pity and ridicule you, and fools pity and ridicule
+me--you as the victims of folly and fashion, me as the representative of
+many of the disagreeable 'isms' of the age, as they choose to style
+liberal opinions. It is amusing, in analyzing prejudices, to see on what
+slender foundation they rest." And the ladies around me were so
+completely cornered that no one attempted an answer.
+
+I remember being at a party at Secretary Seward's home, at Auburn, one
+evening, when Mr. Burlingame, special ambassador from China to the
+United States, with a Chinese delegation, were among the guests. As soon
+as the dancing commenced, and young ladies and gentlemen, locked in each
+other's arms, began to whirl in the giddy waltz, these Chinese gentlemen
+were so shocked that they covered their faces with their fans,
+occasionally peeping out each side and expressing their surprise to each
+other. They thought us the most immodest women on the face of the earth.
+Modesty and taste are questions of latitude and education; the more
+people know,--the more their ideas are expanded by travel, experience,
+and observation,--the less easily they are shocked. The narrowness and
+bigotry of women are the result of their circumscribed sphere of thought
+and action.
+
+A few years after Judge Hurlbert had published his work on "Human
+Rights," in which he advocated woman's right to the suffrage, and I had
+addressed the legislature, we met at a dinner party in Albany. Senator
+and Mrs. Seward were there. The Senator was very merry on that occasion
+and made Judge Hurlbert and myself the target for all his ridicule on
+the woman's rights question, in which the most of the company joined, so
+that we stood quite alone. Sure that we had the right on our side and
+the arguments clearly defined in our minds, and both being cool and
+self-possessed, and in wit and sarcasm quite equal to any of them, we
+fought the Senator, inch by inch, until he had a very narrow platform to
+stand on. Mrs. Seward maintained an unbroken silence, while those ladies
+who did open their lips were with the opposition, supposing, no doubt,
+that Senator Seward represented his wife's opinions.
+
+When we ladies withdrew from the table my embarrassment may be easily
+imagined. Separated from the Judge, I would now be an hour with a bevy
+of ladies who evidently felt repugnance to all my most cherished
+opinions. It was the first time I had met Mrs. Seward, and I did not
+then know the broad, liberal tendencies of her mind. What a tide of
+disagreeable thoughts rushed through me in that short passage from the
+dining room to the parlor. How gladly I would have glided out the front
+door! But that was impossible, so I made up my mind to stroll round as
+if self-absorbed, and look at the books and paintings until the Judge
+appeared; as I took it for granted that, after all I had said at the
+table on the political, religious, and social equality of women, not a
+lady would have anything to say to me.
+
+Imagine, then, my surprise when, the moment the parlor door was closed
+upon us, Mrs. Seward, approaching me most affectionately, said:
+
+"Let me thank you for the brave words you uttered at the dinner table,
+and for your speech before the legislature, that thrilled my soul as I
+read it over and over."
+
+I was filled with joy and astonishment. Recovering myself, I said, "Is
+it possible, Mrs. Seward, that you agree with me? Then why, when I was
+so hard pressed by foes on every side, did you not come to the defense?
+I supposed that all you ladies were hostile to every one of my ideas on
+this question."
+
+"No, no!" said she; "I am with you thoroughly, but I am a born coward;
+there is nothing I dread more than Mr. Seward's ridicule. I would rather
+walk up to the cannon's mouth than encounter it." "I, too, am with you,"
+"And I," said two or three others, who had been silent at the table.
+
+I never had a more serious, heartfelt conversation than with these
+ladies. Mrs. Seward's spontaneity and earnestness had moved them all
+deeply, and when the Senator appeared the first words he said were:
+
+"Before we part I must confess that I was fairly vanquished by you and
+the Judge, on my own principles" (for we had quoted some of his most
+radical utterances). "You have the argument, but custom and prejudice
+are against you, and they are stronger than truth and logic."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+REFORMS AND MOBS.
+
+
+There was one bright woman among the many in our Seneca Falls literary
+circle to whom I would give more than a passing notice--Mrs. Amelia
+Bloomer, who represented three novel phases of woman's life. She was
+assistant postmistress; an editor of a reform paper advocating
+temperance and woman's rights; and an advocate of the new costume which
+bore her name!
+
+In 1849 her husband was appointed postmaster, and she became his deputy,
+was duly sworn in, and, during the administration of Taylor and
+Fillmore, served in that capacity. When she assumed her duties the
+improvement in the appearance and conduct of the office was generally
+acknowledged. A neat little room adjoining the public office became a
+kind of ladies' exchange, where those coming from different parts of the
+town could meet to talk over the news of the day and read the papers and
+magazines that came to Mrs. Bloomer as editor of the _Lily_. Those who
+enjoyed the brief reign of a woman in the post office can readily
+testify to the void felt by the ladies of the village when Mrs.
+Bloomer's term expired and a man once more reigned in her stead.
+However, she still edited the _Lily_, and her office remained a
+fashionable center for several years. Although she wore the bloomer
+dress, its originator was Elizabeth Smith Miller, the only daughter of
+Gerrit Smith. In the winter of 1852 Mrs. Miller came to visit me in
+Seneca Falls, dressed somewhat in the Turkish style--short skirt, full
+trousers of fine black broadcloth; a Spanish cloak, of the same
+material, reaching to the knee; beaver hat and feathers and dark furs;
+altogether a most becoming costume and exceedingly convenient for
+walking in all kinds of weather. To see my cousin, with a lamp in one
+hand and a baby in the other, walk upstairs with ease and grace, while,
+with flowing robes, I pulled myself up with difficulty, lamp and baby
+out of the question, readily convinced me that there was sore need of
+reform in woman's dress, and I promptly donned a similar attire. What
+incredible freedom I enjoyed for two years! Like a captive set free from
+his ball and chain, I was always ready for a brisk walk through sleet
+and snow and rain, to climb a mountain, jump over a fence, work in the
+garden, and, in fact, for any necessary locomotion.
+
+Bloomer is now a recognized word in the English language. Mrs. Bloomer,
+having the _Lily_ in which to discuss the merits of the new dress, the
+press generally took up the question, and much valuable information was
+elicited on the physiological results of woman's fashionable attire; the
+crippling effect of tight waists and long skirts, the heavy weight on
+the hips, and high heels, all combined to throw the spine out of plumb
+and lay the foundation for all manner of nervous diseases. But, while
+all agreed that some change was absolutely necessary for the health of
+women, the press stoutly ridiculed those who were ready to make the
+experiment.
+
+A few sensible women, in different parts of the country, adopted the
+costume, and farmers' wives especially proved its convenience. It was
+also worn by skaters, gymnasts, tourists, and in sanitariums. But, while
+the few realized its advantages, the many laughed it to scorn, and
+heaped such ridicule on its wearers that they soon found that the
+physical freedom enjoyed did not compensate for the persistent
+persecution and petty annoyances suffered at every turn. To be rudely
+gazed at in public and private, to be the conscious subjects of
+criticism, and to be followed by crowds of boys in the streets, were
+all, to the very last degree, exasperating. A favorite doggerel that our
+tormentors chanted, when we appeared in public places, ran thus:
+
+    "Heigh! ho! in rain and snow,
+    The bloomer now is all the go.
+    Twenty tailors take the stitches,
+    Twenty women wear the breeches.
+    Heigh! ho! in rain or snow,
+    The bloomer now is all the go."
+
+The singers were generally invisible behind some fence or attic window.
+Those who wore the dress can recall countless amusing and annoying
+experiences. The patience of most of us was exhausted in about two
+years; but our leader, Mrs. Miller, bravely adhered to the costume for
+nearly seven years, under the most trying circumstances. While her
+father was in Congress, she wore it at many fashionable dinners and
+receptions in Washington. She was bravely sustained, however, by her
+husband, Colonel Miller, who never flinched in escorting his wife and
+her coadjutors, however inartistic their costumes might be. To tall,
+gaunt women with large feet and to those who were short and stout, it
+was equally trying. Mrs. Miller was also encouraged by the intense
+feeling of her father on the question of woman's dress. To him the whole
+revolution in woman's position turned on her dress. The long skirt was
+the symbol of her degradation.
+
+The names of those who wore the bloomer costume, besides those already
+mentioned, were Paulina Wright Davis, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony,
+Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Mrs. William Burleigh, Celia Burleigh,
+Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, Helen Jarvis, Lydia Jenkins, Amelia Willard,
+Dr. Harriet N. Austin, and many patients in sanitariums, whose names I
+cannot recall. Looking back to this experiment, I am not surprised at
+the hostility of men in general to the dress, as it made it very
+uncomfortable for them to go anywhere with those who wore it. People
+would stare, many men and women make rude remarks, boys followed in
+crowds, with jeers and laughter, so that gentlemen in attendance would
+feel it their duty to show fight, unless they had sufficient
+self-control to pursue the even tenor of their way, as the ladies
+themselves did, without taking the slightest notice of the commotion
+they created. But Colonel Miller went through the ordeal with coolness
+and dogged determination, to the vexation of his acquaintances, who
+thought one of his duties as a husband was to prescribe his wife's
+costume.
+
+Though we did not realize the success we hoped for by making the dress
+popular, yet the effort was not lost. We were well aware that the dress
+was not artistic, and though we made many changes, our own good taste
+was never satisfied until we threw aside the loose trousers and adopted
+buttoned leggins. After giving up the experiment, we found that the
+costume in which Diana the Huntress is represented, and that worn on the
+stage by Ellen Tree in the play of "Ion," would have been more artistic
+and convenient. But we, who had made the experiment, were too happy to
+move about unnoticed and unknown, to risk, again, the happiness of
+ourselves and our friends by any further experiments. I have never
+wondered since that the Chinese women allow their daughters' feet to be
+encased in iron shoes, nor that the Hindoo widows walk calmly to the
+funeral pyre; for great are the penalties of those who dare resist the
+behests of the tyrant Custom.
+
+Nevertheless the agitation has been kept up, in a mild form, both in
+England and America. Lady Harberton, in 1885, was at the head of an
+organized movement in London to introduce the bifurcated skirt; Mrs.
+Jenness Miller, in this country, is making an entire revolution in every
+garment that belongs to a woman's toilet; and common-sense shoemakers
+have vouchsafed to us, at last, a low, square heel to our boots and a
+broad sole in which the five toes can spread themselves at pleasure.
+Evidently a new day of physical freedom is at last dawning for the most
+cribbed and crippled of Eve's unhappy daughters.
+
+It was while living in Seneca Falls, and at one of the most despairing
+periods of my young life, that one of the best gifts of the gods came to
+me in the form of a good, faithful housekeeper. She was indeed a
+treasure, a friend and comforter, a second mother to my children, and
+understood all life's duties and gladly bore its burdens. She could fill
+any department in domestic life, and for thirty years was the joy of our
+household. But for this noble, self-sacrificing woman, much of my public
+work would have been quite impossible. If by word or deed I have made
+the journey of life easier for any struggling soul, I must in justice
+share the meed of praise accorded me with my little Quaker friend Amelia
+Willard.
+
+There are two classes of housekeepers--one that will get what they want,
+if in the range of human possibilities, and then accept the inevitable
+inconveniences with cheerfulness and heroism; the other, from a kind of
+chronic inertia and a fear of taking responsibility, accept everything
+as they find it, though with gentle, continuous complainings. The latter
+are called amiable women. Such a woman was our congressman's wife in
+1854, and, as I was the reservoir of all her sorrows, great and small, I
+became very weary of her amiable non-resistance. Among other domestic
+trials, she had a kitchen stove that smoked and leaked, which could
+neither bake nor broil,--a worthless thing,--and too small for any
+purpose. Consequently half their viands were spoiled in the cooking, and
+the cooks left in disgust, one after another.
+
+In telling me, one day, of these kitchen misadventures, she actually
+shed tears, which so roused my sympathies that, with surprise, I
+exclaimed: "Why do you not buy a new stove?" To my unassisted common
+sense that seemed the most practical thing to do. "Why," she replied, "I
+have never purchased a darning needle, to put the case strongly, without
+consulting Mr. S., and he does not think a new stove necessary." "What,
+pray," said I, "does he know about stoves, sitting in his easy-chair in
+Washington? If he had a dull old knife with broken blades, he would soon
+get a new one with which to sharpen his pens and pencils, and, if he
+attempted to cook a meal--granting he knew how--on your old stove, he
+would set it out of doors the next hour. Now my advice to you is to buy
+a new one this very day!"
+
+"Bless me!" she said, "that would make him furious; he would blow me
+sky-high." "Well," I replied, "suppose he did go into a regular tantrum
+and use all the most startling expletives in the vocabulary for fifteen
+minutes! What is that compared with a good stove 365 days in the year?
+Just put all he could say on one side, and all the advantages you would
+enjoy on the other, and you must readily see that his wrath would kick
+the beam." As my logic was irresistible, she said, "Well, if you will go
+with me, and help select a stove, I think I will take the
+responsibility."
+
+Accordingly we went to the hardware store and selected the most
+approved, largest-sized stove, with all the best cooking utensils, best
+Russian pipe, etc. "Now," said she, "I am in equal need of a good stove
+in my sitting room, and I would like the pipes of both stoves to lead
+into dumb stoves above, and thus heat two or three rooms upstairs for my
+children to play in, as they have no place except the sitting room,
+where they must be always with me; but I suppose it is not best to do
+too much at one time." "On the contrary," I replied, "as your husband is
+wealthy, you had better get all you really need now. Mr. S. will
+probably be no more surprised with two stoves than with one, and, as you
+expect a hot scene over the matter, the more you get out of it the
+better."
+
+So the stoves and pipes were ordered, holes cut through the ceiling, and
+all were in working order next day. The cook was delighted over her
+splendid stove and shining tins, copper-bottomed tea kettle and boiler,
+and warm sleeping room upstairs; the children were delighted with their
+large playrooms, and madam jubilant with her added comforts and that
+newborn feeling of independence one has in assuming responsibility.
+
+She was expecting Mr. S. home in the holidays, and occasionally weakened
+at the prospect of what she feared might be a disagreeable encounter. At
+such times she came to consult with me, as to what she would say and do
+when the crisis arrived. Having studied the _genus homo_ alike on the
+divine heights of exaltation and in the valleys of humiliation, I was
+able to make some valuable suggestions.
+
+"Now," said I, "when your husband explodes, as you think he will,
+neither say nor do anything; sit and gaze out of the window with that
+far-away, sad look women know so well how to affect. If you can summon
+tears at pleasure, a few would not be amiss; a gentle shower, not enough
+to make the nose and eyes red or to detract from your beauty. Men cannot
+resist beauty and tears. Never mar their effect with anything bordering
+on sobs and hysteria; such violent manifestations being neither refined
+nor artistic. A scene in which one person does the talking must be
+limited in time. No ordinary man can keep at white heat fifteen minutes;
+if his victim says nothing, he will soon exhaust himself. Remember every
+time you speak in the way of defense, you give him a new text on which
+to branch out again. If silence is ever golden, it is when a husband is
+in a tantrum."
+
+In due time Mr. S. arrived, laden with Christmas presents, and Charlotte
+came over to tell me that she had passed through the ordeal. I will give
+the scene in her own words as nearly as possible. "My husband came
+yesterday, just before dinner, and, as I expected him, I had all things
+in order. He seemed very happy to see me and the children, and we had a
+gay time looking at our presents and chatting about Washington and all
+that had happened since we parted. It made me sad, in the midst of our
+happiness, to think how soon the current of his feelings would change,
+and I wished in my soul that I had not bought the stoves. But, at last,
+dinner was announced, and I knew that the hour had come. He ran upstairs
+to give a few touches to his toilet, when lo! the shining stoves and
+pipes caught his eyes. He explored the upper apartments and came down
+the back stairs, glanced at the kitchen stove, then into the dining
+room, and stood confounded, for a moment, before the nickel-plated
+'Morning Glory.' Then he exclaimed, 'Heavens and earth! Charlotte, what
+have you been doing?' I remembered what you told me and said nothing,
+but looked steadily out of the window. I summoned no tears, however, for
+I felt more like laughing than crying; he looked so ridiculous flying
+round spasmodically, like popcorn on a hot griddle, and talking as if
+making a stump speech on the corruptions of the Democrats. The first
+time he paused to take breath I said, in my softest tones: 'William,
+dinner is waiting; I fear the soup will be cold.' Fortunately he was
+hungry, and that great central organ of life and happiness asserted its
+claims on his attention, and he took his seat at the table. I broke what
+might have been an awkward silence, chatting with the older children
+about their school lessons. Fortunately they were late, and did not know
+what had happened, so they talked to their father and gradually restored
+his equilibrium. We had a very good dinner, and I have not heard a word
+about the stoves since. I suppose we shall have another scene when the
+bill is presented."
+
+A few years later, Horace Greeley came to Seneca Falls to lecture on
+temperance. As he stayed with us, we invited Mr. S., among others, to
+dinner. The chief topic at the table was the idiosyncrasies of women.
+Mr. Greeley told many amusing things about his wife, of her erratic
+movements and sudden decisions to do and dare what seemed most
+impracticable. Perhaps, on rising some morning, she would say: "I think
+I'll go to Europe by the next steamer, Horace. Will you get tickets
+to-day for me, the nurse, and children?" "Well," said Mr. S., "she must
+be something like our hostess. Every time her husband goes away she cuts
+a door or window. They have only ten doors to lock every night, now."
+
+"Yes," I said, "and your own wife, too, Mrs. S., has the credit of some
+high-handed measures when you are in Washington." Then I told the whole
+story, amid peals of laughter, just as related above. The dinner table
+scene fairly convulsed the Congressman. The thought that he had made
+such a fool of himself in the eyes of Charlotte that she could not even
+summon a tear in her defense, particularly pleased him. When
+sufficiently recovered to speak, he said: "Well, I never could
+understand how it was that Charlotte suddenly emerged from her thraldom
+and manifested such rare executive ability. Now I see to whom I am
+indebted for the most comfortable part of my married life. I am a
+thousand times obliged to you; you did just right and so did she, and
+she has been a happier woman ever since. She now gets what she needs,
+and frets no more, to me, about ten thousand little things. How can a
+man know what implements are necessary for the work he never does? Of
+all agencies for upsetting the equanimity of family life, none can
+surpass an old, broken-down kitchen stove!"
+
+In the winter of 1861, just after the election of Lincoln, the
+abolitionists decided to hold a series of conventions in the chief
+cities of the North. All their available speakers were pledged for
+active service. The Republican party, having absorbed the political
+abolitionists within its ranks by its declared hostility to the
+extension of slavery, had come into power with overwhelming majorities.
+Hence the Garrisonian abolitionists, opposed to all compromises, felt
+that this was the opportune moment to rouse the people to the necessity
+of holding that party to its declared principles, and pushing it, if
+possible, a step or two forward.
+
+I was invited to accompany Miss Anthony and Beriah Green to a few points
+in Central New York. But we soon found, by the concerted action of
+Republicans all over the country, that anti-slavery conventions would
+not be tolerated. Thus Republicans and Democrats made common cause
+against the abolitionists. The John Brown raid, the year before, had
+intimidated Northern politicians as much as Southern slaveholders, and
+the general feeling was that the discussion of the question at the North
+should be altogether suppressed.
+
+From Buffalo to Albany our experience was the same, varied only by the
+fertile resources of the actors and their surroundings. Thirty years of
+education had somewhat changed the character of Northern mobs. They no
+longer dragged men through the streets with ropes around their necks,
+nor broke up women's prayer meetings; they no longer threw eggs and
+brickbats at the apostles of reform, nor dipped them in barrels of tar
+and feathers, they simply crowded the halls, and, with laughing,
+groaning, clapping, and cheering, effectually interrupted the
+proceedings. Such was our experience during the two days we attempted to
+hold a convention in St. James' Hall, Buffalo. As we paid for the hall,
+the mob enjoyed themselves, at our expense, in more ways than one. Every
+session, at the appointed time, we took our places on the platform,
+making, at various intervals of silence, renewed efforts to speak. Not
+succeeding, we sat and conversed with each other and the many friends
+who crowded the platform and anterooms. Thus, among ourselves, we had a
+pleasant reception and a discussion of many phases of the question that
+brought us together. The mob not only vouchsafed to us the privilege of
+talking to our friends without interruption, but delegations of their
+own came behind the scenes, from time to time, to discuss with us the
+right of free speech and the constitutionality of slavery.
+
+These Buffalo rowdies were headed by ex-Justice Hinson, aided by younger
+members of the Fillmore and Seymour families, and the chief of police
+and fifty subordinates, who were admitted to the hall free, for the
+express purpose of protecting our right of free speech, but who, in
+defiance of the mayor's orders, made not the slightest effort in our
+defense. At Lockport there was a feeble attempt in the same direction.
+At Albion neither hall, church, nor schoolhouse could be obtained, so we
+held small meetings in the dining room of the hotel. At Rochester,
+Corinthian Hall was packed long before the hour advertised. This was a
+delicately appreciative, jocose mob. At this point Aaron Powell joined
+us. As he had just risen from a bed of sickness, looking pale and
+emaciated, he slowly mounted the platform. The mob at once took in his
+look of exhaustion, and, as he seated himself, they gave an audible
+simultaneous sigh, as if to say, what a relief it is to be seated! So
+completely did the tender manifestation reflect Mr. Powell's apparent
+condition that the whole audience burst into a roar of laughter. Here,
+too, all attempts to speak were futile. At Port Byron a generous
+sprinkling of cayenne pepper on the stove soon cut short all
+constitutional arguments and paeans to liberty.
+
+And so it was all the way to Albany. The whole State was aflame with the
+mob spirit, and from Boston and various points in other States the same
+news reached us. As the legislature was in session, and we were
+advertised in Albany, a radical member sarcastically moved "That as Mrs.
+Stanton and Miss Anthony were about to move on Albany, the militia be
+ordered out for the protection of the city." Happily, Albany could then
+boast of a Democratic mayor, a man of courage and conscience, who said
+the right of free speech should never be trodden under foot where he had
+the right to prevent it. And grandly did that one determined man
+maintain order in his jurisdiction. Through all the sessions of the
+convention Mayor Thatcher sat on the platform, his police stationed in
+different parts of the hall and outside the building, to disperse the
+crowd as fast as it collected. If a man or boy hissed or made the
+slightest interruption, he was immediately ejected. And not only did the
+mayor preserve order in the meetings, but, with a company of armed
+police, he escorted us, every time, to and from the Delevan House. The
+last night Gerrit Smith addressed the mob from the steps of the hotel,
+after which they gave him three cheers and dispersed in good order.
+
+When proposing for the Mayor a vote of thanks, at the close of the
+convention, Mr. Smith expressed his fears that it had been a severe
+ordeal for him to listen to these prolonged anti-slavery discussions. He
+smiled, and said: "I have really been deeply interested and instructed.
+I rather congratulate myself that a convention of this character has, at
+last, come in the line of my business; otherwise I should have probably
+remained in ignorance of many important facts and opinions I now
+understand and appreciate."
+
+While all this was going on publicly, an equally trying experience was
+progressing, day by day, behind the scenes. Miss Anthony had been
+instrumental in helping a much abused mother, with her child, to escape
+from a husband who had immured her in an insane asylum. The wife
+belonged to one of the first families of New York, her brother being a
+United States senator, and the husband, also, a man of position; a large
+circle of friends and acquaintances was interested in the result. Though
+she was incarcerated in an insane asylum for eighteen months, yet
+members of her own family again and again testified that she was not
+insane. Miss Anthony, knowing that she was not, and believing fully that
+the unhappy mother was the victim of a conspiracy, would not reveal her
+hiding place.
+
+Knowing the confidence Miss Anthony felt in the wisdom of Mr. Garrison
+and Mr. Phillips, they were implored to use their influence with her to
+give up the fugitives. Letters and telegrams, persuasions, arguments,
+and warnings from Mr. Garrison, Mr. Phillips, and the Senator on the one
+side, and from Lydia Mott, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet, and Abby Hopper
+Gibbons, on the other, poured in upon her, day after day; but Miss
+Anthony remained immovable, although she knew that she was defying and
+violating the law and might be arrested any moment on the platform. We
+had known so many aggravated cases of this kind that, in daily counsel,
+we resolved that this woman should not be recaptured if it were possible
+to prevent it. To us it looked as imperative a duty to shield a sane
+mother, who had been torn from a family of little children and doomed to
+the companionship of lunatics, and to aid her in fleeing to a place of
+safety, as to help a fugitive from slavery to Canada. In both cases an
+unjust law was violated; in both cases the supposed owners of the
+victims were defied; hence, in point of law and morals, the act was the
+same in both cases. The result proved the wisdom of Miss Anthony's
+decision, as all with whom Mrs. P. came in contact for years afterward,
+expressed the opinion that she was, and always had been, perfectly sane.
+Could the dark secrets of insane asylums be brought to light we should
+be shocked to know the great number of rebellious wives, sisters, and
+daughters who are thus sacrificed to false customs and barbarous laws
+made by men for women.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.
+
+
+The widespread discussion we are having, just now, on the subject of
+marriage and divorce, reminds me of an equally exciting one in 1860. A
+very liberal bill, introduced into the Indiana legislature by Robert
+Dale Owen, and which passed by a large majority, roused much public
+thought on the question, and made that State free soil for unhappy wives
+and husbands. A similar bill was introduced into the legislature of New
+York by Mr. Ramsey, which was defeated by four votes, owing, mainly, to
+the intense opposition of Horace Greeley. He and Mr. Owen had a
+prolonged discussion, in the New York _Tribune_, in which Mr. Owen got
+decidedly the better of the argument.
+
+There had been several aggravated cases of cruelty to wives among the
+Dutch aristocracy, so that strong influences in favor of the bill had
+been brought to bear on the legislature, but the _Tribune_ thundered
+every morning in its editorial column its loudest peals, which
+reverberated through the State. So bitter was the opposition to divorce,
+for any cause, that but few dared to take part in the discussion. I was
+the only woman, for many years, who wrote and spoke on the question.
+Articles on divorce, by a number of women, recently published in the
+_North American Review_, are a sign of progress, showing that women dare
+speak out now more freely on the relations that most deeply concern
+them.
+
+My feelings had been stirred to their depths very early in life by the
+sufferings of a dear friend of mine, at whose wedding I was one of the
+bridesmaids. In listening to the facts in her case, my mind was fully
+made up as to the wisdom of a liberal divorce law. We read Milton's
+essays on divorce, together, and were thoroughly convinced as to the
+right and duty not only of separation, but of absolute divorce. While
+the New York bill was pending, I was requested, by Lewis Benedict, one
+of the committee who had the bill in charge, to address the legislature.
+I gladly accepted, feeling that here was an opportunity not only to
+support my friend in the step she had taken, but to make the path clear
+for other unhappy wives who might desire to follow her example. I had no
+thought of the persecution I was drawing down on myself for thus
+attacking so venerable an institution. I was always courageous in saying
+what I saw to be true, for the simple reason that I never dreamed of
+opposition. What seemed to me to be right I thought must be equally
+plain to all other rational beings. Hence I had no dread of
+denunciation. I was only surprised when I encountered it, and no number
+of experiences have, as yet, taught me to fear public opinion. What I
+said on divorce thirty-seven years ago seems quite in line with what
+many say now. The trouble was not in what I said, but that I said it too
+soon, and before the people were ready to hear it. It may be, however,
+that I helped them to get ready; who knows?
+
+As we were holding a woman suffrage convention in Albany, at the time
+appointed for the hearing, Ernestine L. Rose and Lucretia Mott briefly
+added their views on the question. Although Mrs. Mott had urged Mrs.
+Rose and myself to be as moderate as possible in our demands, she quite
+unconsciously made the most radical utterance of all, in saying that
+marriage was a question beyond the realm of legislation, that must be
+left to the parties themselves. We rallied Lucretia on her radicalism,
+and some of the journals criticised us severely; but the following
+letter shows that she had no thought of receding from her position:
+
+     "Roadside, near Philadelphia,
+
+     "4th Mo., 30th, '61.
+
+     "My Dear Lydia Mott:
+
+     "I have wished, ever since parting with thee and our other dear
+     friends in Albany, to send thee a line, and have only waited in the
+     hope of contributing a little 'substantial aid' toward your neat
+     and valuable 'depository.' The twenty dollars inclosed is from our
+     Female Anti-slavery Society.
+
+     "I see the annual meeting, in New York, is not to be held this
+     spring. Sister Martha is here, and was expecting to attend both
+     anniversaries. But we now think the woman's rights meeting had
+     better not be attempted, and she has written Elizabeth C. Stanton
+     to this effect.
+
+     "I was well satisfied with being at the Albany meeting. I have
+     since met with the following, from a speech of Lord Brougham's,
+     which pleased me, as being as radical as mine in your stately Hall
+     of Representatives:
+
+     "'Before women can have any justice by the laws of England, there
+     must be a total reconstruction of the whole marriage system; for
+     any attempt to amend it would prove useless. The great charter, in
+     establishing the supremacy of law over prerogative, provides only
+     for justice between man and man; for woman nothing is left but
+     common law, accumulations and modifications of original Gothic and
+     Roman heathenism, which no amount of filtration through
+     ecclesiastical courts could change into Christian laws. They are
+     declared unworthy a Christian people by great jurists; still they
+     remain unchanged.'
+
+     "So Elizabeth Stanton will see that I have authority for going to
+     the root of the evil.
+
+     "Thine,
+
+     "LUCRETIA MOTT."
+
+Those of us who met in Albany talked the matter over in regard to a free
+discussion of the divorce question at the coming convention in New York.
+It was the opinion of those present that, as the laws on marriage and
+divorce were very unequal for man and woman, this was a legitimate
+subject for discussion on our platform; accordingly I presented a series
+of resolutions, at the annual convention, in New York city, to which I
+spoke for over an hour. I was followed by Antoinette L, Brown, who also
+presented a series of resolutions in opposition to mine. She was, in
+turn, answered by Ernestine L. Rose. Wendell Phillips then arose, and,
+in an impressive manner pronounced the whole discussion irrelevant to
+our platform, and moved that neither the speeches nor resolutions go on
+the records of the convention. As I greatly admired Wendell Phillips,
+and appreciated his good opinion, I was surprised and humiliated to find
+myself under the ban of his disapprobation. My face was scarlet, and I
+trembled with mingled feelings of doubt and fear--doubt as to the
+wisdom of my position and fear lest the convention should repudiate the
+whole discussion. My emotion was so apparent that Rev. Samuel
+Longfellow, a brother of the poet, who sat beside me, whispered in my
+ear, "Nevertheless you are right, and the convention will sustain you."
+
+Mr. Phillips said that as marriage concerned man and woman alike, and
+the laws bore equally on them, women had no special ground for
+complaint, although, in my speech, I had quoted many laws to show the
+reverse. Mr. Garrison and Rev. Antoinette L. Brown were alike opposed to
+Mr. Phillips' motion, and claimed that marriage and divorce were
+legitimate subjects for discussion on our platform. Miss Anthony closed
+the debate. She said: "I hope Mr. Phillips will withdraw his motion that
+these resolutions shall not appear on the records of the convention. I
+am very sure that it would be contrary to all parliamentary usage to say
+that, when the speeches which enforced and advocated the resolutions are
+reported and published in the proceedings, the resolutions shall not be
+placed there. And as to the point that this question does not belong to
+this platform--from that I totally dissent. Marriage has ever been a
+one-sided matter, resting most unequally upon the sexes. By it man gains
+all; woman loses all; tyrant law and lust reign supreme with him; meek
+submission and ready obedience alone befit her. Woman has never been
+consulted; her wish has never been taken into consideration as regards
+the terms of the marriage compact. By law, public sentiment, and
+religion,--from the time of Moses down to the present day,--woman has
+never been thought of other than as a piece of property, to be disposed
+of at the will and pleasure of man. And at this very hour, by our
+statute books, by our (so-called) enlightened Christian civilization,
+she has no voice whatever in saying what shall be the basis of the
+relation. She must accept marriage as man proffers it, or not at all.
+
+"And then, again, on Mr. Phillips' own ground, the discussion is
+perfectly in order, since nearly all the wrongs of which we complain
+grow out of the inequality of the marriage laws, that rob the wife of
+the right to herself and her children; that make her the slave of the
+man she marries. I hope, therefore, the resolutions will be allowed to
+go out to the public; that there may be a fair report of the ideas which
+have actually been presented here; that they may not be left to the
+mercy of the secular press, I trust the convention will not vote to
+forbid the publication of those resolutions with the proceedings."
+
+Rev. William Hoisington (the blind preacher) followed Miss Anthony, and
+said: "Publish all that you have done here, and let the public know it."
+
+The question was then put, on the motion of Mr. Phillips, and it was
+lost.
+
+As Mr. Greeley, in commenting on the convention, took the same ground
+with Mr. Phillips, that the laws on marriage and divorce were equal for
+man and woman, I answered them in the following letter to the New York
+_Tribune_.
+
+     "_To the Editor of the New York Tribune_:
+
+     "Sir: At our recent National Woman's Rights Convention many were
+     surprised to hear Wendell Phillips object to the question of
+     marriage and divorce as irrelevant to our platform. He said: 'We
+     had no right to discuss here any laws or customs but those where
+     inequality existed for the sexes; that the laws on marriage and
+     divorce rested equally on man and woman; that he suffers, as much
+     as she possibly could, the wrongs and abuses of an ill-assorted
+     marriage.'
+
+     "Now it must strike every careful thinker that an immense
+     difference rests in the fact that man has made the laws cunningly
+     and selfishly for his own purpose. From Coke down to Kent, who can
+     cite one clause of the marriage contract where woman has the
+     advantage? When man suffers from false legislation he has his
+     remedy in his own hands. Shall woman be denied the right of protest
+     against laws in which she had no voice; laws which outrage the
+     holiest affections of her nature; laws which transcend the limits
+     of human legislation, in a convention called for the express
+     purpose of considering her wrongs? He might as well object to a
+     protest against the injustice of hanging a woman, because capital
+     punishment bears equally on man and woman.
+
+     "The contract of marriage is by no means equal. The law permits the
+     girl to marry at twelve years of age, while it requires several
+     years more of experience on the part of the boy. In entering this
+     compact, the man gives up nothing that he before possessed, he is a
+     man still; while the legal existence of the woman is suspended
+     during marriage, and, henceforth, she is known but in and through
+     the husband. She is nameless, purseless, childless--though a woman,
+     an heiress, and a mother.
+
+     "Blackstone says: 'The husband and wife are one, and that one is
+     the husband.' Chancellor Kent, in his 'Commentaries' says: 'The
+     legal effects of marriage are generally deducible from the
+     principle of the common law, by which the husband and wife are
+     regarded as one person, and her legal existence and authority lost
+     or suspended during the continuance of the matrimonial union.'
+
+     "The wife is regarded by all legal authorities as a _feme covert_,
+     placed wholly _sub potestate viri_. Her moral responsibility, even,
+     is merged in her husband. The law takes it for granted that the
+     wife lives in fear of her husband; that his command is her highest
+     law; hence a wife is not punishable for the theft committed in the
+     presence of her husband. An unmarried woman can make contracts, sue
+     and be sued, enjoy the rights of property, to her inheritance--to
+     her wages--to her person--to her children; but, in marriage, she is
+     robbed by law of all and every natural and civil right. Kent
+     further says: 'The disability of the wife to contract, so as to
+     bind herself, arises not from want of discretion, but because she
+     has entered into an indissoluble connection by which she is placed
+     under the power and protection of her husband.' She is possessed of
+     certain rights until she is married; then all are suspended, to
+     revive, again, the moment the breath goes out of the husband's
+     body. (See 'Cowen's Treatise,' vol. 2, p. 709.)
+
+     "If the contract be equal, whence come the terms 'marital power,'
+     'marital rights,' 'obedience and restraint,' 'dominion and
+     control,' 'power and protection,' etc., etc.? Many cases are
+     stated, showing the exercise of a most questionable power over the
+     wife, sustained by the courts. (See 'Bishop on Divorce,' p. 489.)
+
+     "The laws on divorce are quite as unequal as those on marriage;
+     yea, far more so. The advantages seem to be all on one side and the
+     penalties on the other. In case of divorce, if the husband be not
+     the guilty party, the wife goes out of the partnership penniless.
+     (Kent, vol. 2, p. 33; 'Bishop on Divorce,' p. 492.)
+
+     "In New York, and some other States, the wife of the guilty husband
+     can now sue for a divorce in her own name, and the costs come out
+     of the husband's estate; but, in the majority of the States, she is
+     still compelled to sue in the name of another, as she has no means
+     for paying costs, even though she may have brought her thousands
+     into the partnership. 'The allowance to the innocent wife of _ad
+     interim_ alimony and money to sustain the suit, is not regarded as
+     a strict right in her, but of sound discretion in the court.'
+     ('Bishop on Divorce,' p. 581.)
+
+     "'Many jurists,' says Kent, 'are of opinion that the adultery of
+     the husband ought not to be noticed or made subject to the same
+     animadversions as that of the wife, because it is not evidence of
+     such entire depravity nor equally injurious in its effects upon the
+     morals, good order, and happiness of the domestic life.
+     Montesquieu, Pothier, and Dr. Taylor all insist that the cases of
+     husband and wife ought to be distinguished, and that the violation
+     of the marriage vow, on the part of the wife, is the most
+     mischievous, and the prosecution ought to be confined to the
+     offense on her part. ("Esprit des Lois," tom. 3, 186; "Traité du
+     Contrat de Mariage," No. 516; "Elements of Civil Law," p. 254).'
+
+     "Say you, 'These are but the opinions of men'? On what else, I ask,
+     are the hundreds of women depending, who, this hour, demand in our
+     courts a release from burdensome contracts? Are not these delicate
+     matters left wholly to the discretion of courts? Are not young
+     women from the first families dragged into our courts,--into
+     assemblies of men exclusively,--the judges all men, the jurors all
+     men? No true woman there to shield them, by her presence, from
+     gross and impertinent questionings, to pity their misfortunes, or
+     to protest against their wrongs?
+
+     "The administration of justice depends far more on the opinions of
+     eminent jurists than on law alone, for law is powerless when at
+     variance with public sentiment.
+
+     "Do not the above citations clearly prove inequality? Are not the
+     very letter and spirit of the marriage contract based on the idea
+     of the supremacy of man as the keeper of woman's virtue--her sole
+     protector and support? Out of marriage, woman asks nothing, at this
+     hour, but the elective franchise. It is only in marriage that she
+     must demand her right to person, children, property, wages, life,
+     liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. How can we discuss all the
+     laws and conditions of marriage, without perceiving its essential
+     essence, end, and aim? Now, whether the institution of marriage be
+     human or divine, whether regarded as indissoluble by ecclesiastical
+     courts or dissoluble by civil courts, woman, finding herself
+     equally degraded in each and every phase of it, always the victim
+     of the institution, it is her right and her duty to sift the
+     relation and the compact through and through, until she finds out
+     the true cause of her false position. How can we go before the
+     legislatures of our respective States and demand new laws, or no
+     laws, on divorce, until we have some idea of what the true relation
+     is?
+
+     "We decide the whole question of slavery by settling the sacred
+     rights of the individual. We assert that man cannot hold property
+     in man, and reject the whole code of laws that conflicts with the
+     self-evident truth of the assertion.
+
+     "Again, I ask, is it possible to discuss all the laws of a
+     relation, and not touch the relation itself?
+
+     "Yours respectfully,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton."
+
+The discussion on the question of marriage and divorce occupied one
+entire session of the convention, and called down on us severe
+criticisms from the metropolitan and State press. So alarming were the
+comments on what had been said that I began to feel that I had
+inadvertently taken out the underpinning from the social system. Enemies
+were unsparing in their denunciations, and friends ridiculed the whole
+proceeding. I was constantly called on for a definition of marriage and
+asked to describe home life as it would be when men changed their wives
+every Christmas. Letters and newspapers poured in upon me, asking all
+manner of absurd questions, until I often wept with vexation. So many
+things, that I had neither thought nor said, were attributed to me that,
+at times, I really doubted my own identity.
+
+However, in the progress of events the excitement died away, the earth
+seemed to turn on its axis as usual, women were given in marriage,
+children were born, fires burned as brightly as ever at the domestic
+altars, and family life, to all appearances, was as stable as usual.
+
+Public attention was again roused to this subject by the
+McFarland-Richardson trial, in which the former shot the latter, being
+jealous of his attentions to his wife. McFarland was a brutal,
+improvident husband, who had completely alienated his wife's
+affections, while Mr. Richardson, who had long been a cherished
+acquaintance of the family, befriended the wife in the darkest days of
+her misery. She was a very refined, attractive woman, and a large circle
+of warm friends stood by her through the fierce ordeal of her husband's
+trial.
+
+Though McFarland did not deny that he killed Richardson, yet he was
+acquitted on the plea of insanity, and was, at the same time, made the
+legal guardian of his child, a boy, then, twelve years of age, and
+walked out of the court with him, hand in hand. What a travesty on
+justice and common sense that, while a man is declared too insane to be
+held responsible for taking the life of another, he might still be
+capable of directing the life and education of a child! And what an
+insult to that intelligent mother, who had devoted twelve years of her
+life to his care, while his worthless father had not provided for them
+the necessaries of life!
+
+She married Mr. Richardson on his deathbed. The ceremony was performed
+by Henry Ward Beecher and Rev. O.B. Frothingham, while such men as
+Horace Greeley and Joshua Leavitt witnessed the solemn service. Though
+no shadow had ever dimmed Mrs. Richardson's fair fame, yet she was
+rudely treated in the court and robbed of her child, though by far the
+most fitting parent to be intrusted with his care.
+
+As the indignation among women was general and at white heat with regard
+to her treatment, Miss Anthony suggested to me, one day, that it would
+be a golden opportunity to give women a lesson on their helplessness
+under the law--wholly in the power of man as to their domestic
+relations, as well as to their civil and political rights. Accordingly
+we decided to hold some meetings, for women alone, to protest against
+the decision of this trial, the general conduct of the case, the tone of
+the press, and the laws that made it possible to rob a mother of her
+child.
+
+Many ladies readily enlisted in the movement. I was invited to make the
+speech on the occasion, and Miss Anthony arranged for two great
+meetings, one in Apollo Hall, New York city, and one in the Academy of
+Music, in Brooklyn. The result was all that we could desire. Miss
+Anthony, with wonderful executive ability, made all the arrangements,
+taking on her own shoulders the whole financial responsibility.
+
+My latest thought on this question I gave in _The Arena_ of April, 1894,
+from which I quote the following:
+
+     "There is a demand just now for an amendment to the United States
+     Constitution that shall make the laws of marriage and divorce the
+     same in all the States of the Union. As the suggestion comes
+     uniformly from those who consider the present divorce laws too
+     liberal, we may infer that the proposed national law is to place
+     the whole question on a narrower basis, rendering null and void the
+     laws that have been passed in a broader spirit, according to the
+     needs and experiences, in certain sections, of the sovereign
+     people. And here let us bear in mind that the widest possible law
+     would not make divorce obligatory on anyone, while a restricted
+     law, on the contrary, would compel many, marrying, perhaps, under
+     more liberal laws, to remain in uncongenial relations.
+
+     "As we are still in the experimental stage on this question, we are
+     not qualified to make a perfect law that would work satisfactorily
+     over so vast an area as our boundaries now embrace. I see no
+     evidence in what has been published on this question, of late, by
+     statesmen, ecclesiastics, lawyers, and judges, that any of them
+     have thought sufficiently on the subject to prepare a well-digested
+     code, or a comprehensive amendment to the national Constitution.
+     Some view it as a civil contract, though not governed by the laws
+     of other contracts; some view it as a religious ordinance--a
+     sacrament; some think it a relation to be regulated by the State,
+     others by the Church, and still others think it should be left
+     wholly to the individual. With this wide divergence of opinion
+     among our leading minds, it is quite evident that we are not
+     prepared for a national law.
+
+     "Moreover, as woman is the most important factor in the marriage
+     relation, her enfranchisement is the primal step in deciding the
+     basis of family life. Before public opinion on this question
+     crystallizes into an amendment to the national Constitution, the
+     wife and mother must have a voice in the governing power and must
+     be heard, on this great problem, in the halls of legislation.
+
+     "There are many advantages in leaving all these questions, as now,
+     to the States. Local self-government more readily permits of
+     experiments on mooted questions, which are the outcome of the needs
+     and convictions of the community. The smaller the area over which
+     legislation extends, the more pliable are the laws. By leaving the
+     States free to experiment in their local affairs, we can judge of
+     the working of different laws under varying circumstances, and thus
+     learn their comparative merits. The progress education has achieved
+     in America is due to the fact that we have left our system of
+     public instruction in the hands of local authorities. How
+     different would be the solution of the great educational question
+     of manual labor in the schools, if the matter had to be settled at
+     Washington!
+
+     "The whole nation might find itself pledged to a scheme that a few
+     years would prove wholly impracticable. Not only is the town
+     meeting, as Emerson says, 'the cradle of American liberties,' but
+     it is the nursery of Yankee experiment and wisdom. England, with
+     its clumsy national code of education, making one inflexible
+     standard of scholarship for the bright children of the
+     manufacturing districts and the dull brains of the agricultural
+     counties, should teach us a lesson as to the wisdom of keeping
+     apart state and national government.
+
+     "Before we can decide the just grounds for divorce, we must get a
+     clear idea of what constitutes marriage. In a true relation the
+     chief object is the loving companionship of man and woman, their
+     capacity for mutual help and happiness and for the development of
+     all that is noblest in each other. The second object is the
+     building up a home and family, a place of rest, peace, security, in
+     which child-life can bud and blossom like flowers in the sunshine.
+
+     "The first step toward making the ideal the real, is to educate our
+     sons and daughters into the most exalted ideas of the sacredness of
+     married life and the responsibilities of parenthood. I would have
+     them give, at least, as much thought to the creation of an immortal
+     being as the artist gives to his landscape or statue. Watch him in
+     his hours of solitude, communing with great Nature for days and
+     weeks in all her changing moods, and when at last his dream of
+     beauty is realized and takes a clearly defined form, behold how
+     patiently he works through long months and years on sky and lake,
+     on tree and flower; and when complete, it represents to him more
+     love and life, more hope and ambition, than the living child at his
+     side, to whose conception and antenatal development not one soulful
+     thought was ever given. To this impressible period of human life,
+     few parents give any thought; yet here we must begin to cultivate
+     virtues that can alone redeem the world.
+
+     "The contradictory views in which woman is represented are as
+     pitiful as varied. While the Magnificat to the Virgin is chanted in
+     all our cathedrals round the globe on each returning Sabbath day,
+     and her motherhood extolled by her worshipers, maternity for the
+     rest of womankind is referred to as a weakness, a disability, a
+     curse, an evidence of woman's divinely ordained subjection. Yet
+     surely the real woman should have some points of resemblance in
+     character and position with the ideal one, whom poets, novelists,
+     and artists portray.
+
+     "It is folly to talk of the sacredness of marriage and maternity,
+     while the wife is practically regarded as an inferior, a subject, a
+     slave. Having decided that companionship and conscientious
+     parenthood are the only true grounds for marriage, if the relation
+     brings out the worst characteristics of each party, or if the home
+     atmosphere is unwholesome for children, is not the very _raison
+     d'être_ of the union wanting, and the marriage practically
+     annulled? It cannot be called a holy relation,--no, not a desirable
+     one,--when love and mutual respect are wanting. And let us bear in
+     mind one other important fact: the lack of sympathy and content in
+     the parents indicates radical physical unsuitability, which
+     results in badly organized offspring. If, then, the real object of
+     marriage is defeated, it is for the interest of the State, as well
+     as the individual concerned, to see that all such pernicious unions
+     be legally dissolved. Inasmuch, then, as incompatibility of temper
+     defeats the two great objects of marriage, it should be the primal
+     cause for divorce.
+
+     "The true standpoint from which to view this question is individual
+     sovereignty, individual happiness. It is often said that the
+     interests of society are paramount, and first to be considered.
+     This was the Roman idea, the Pagan idea, that the individual was
+     made for the State. The central idea of barbarism has ever been the
+     family, the tribe, the nation--never the individual. But the great
+     doctrine of Christianity is the right of individual conscience and
+     judgment. The reason it took such a hold on the hearts of the
+     people was because it taught that the individual was primary; the
+     State, the Church, society, the family, secondary. However, a
+     comprehensive view of any question of human interest, shows that
+     the highest good and happiness of the individual and society lie in
+     the same direction.
+
+     "The question of divorce, like marriage, should be settled, as to
+     its most sacred relations, by the parties themselves; neither the
+     State nor the Church having any right to intermeddle therein. As to
+     property and children, it must be viewed and regulated as a civil
+     contract. Then the union should be dissolved with at least as much
+     deliberation and publicity as it was formed. There might be some
+     ceremony and witnesses to add to the dignity and solemnity of the
+     occasion. Like the Quaker marriage, which the parties conduct
+     themselves, so, in this case, without any statement of their
+     disagreements, the parties might simply declare that, after living
+     together for several years, they found themselves unsuited to each
+     other, and incapable of making a happy home.
+
+     "If divorce were made respectable, and recognized by society as a
+     duty, as well as a right, reasonable men and women could arrange
+     all the preliminaries, often, even, the division of property and
+     guardianship of children, quite as satisfactorily as it could be
+     done in the courts. Where the mother is capable of training the
+     children, a sensible father would leave them to her care rather
+     than place them in the hands of a stranger.
+
+     "But, where divorce is not respectable, men who have no paternal
+     feeling will often hold the child, not so much for its good or his
+     own affection, as to punish the wife for disgracing him. The love
+     of children is not strong in most men, and they feel but little
+     responsibility in regard to them. See how readily they turn off
+     young sons to shift for themselves, and, unless the law compelled
+     them to support their illegitimate children, they would never give
+     them a second thought. But on the mother-soul rest forever the care
+     and responsibility of human life. Her love for the child born out
+     of wedlock is often intensified by the infinite pity she feels
+     through its disgrace. Even among the lower animals we find the
+     female ever brooding over the young and helpless.
+
+     "Limiting the causes of divorce to physical defects or
+     delinquencies; making the proceedings public; prying into all the
+     personal affairs of unhappy men and women; regarding the step as
+     quasi criminal; punishing the guilty party in the suit; all this
+     will not strengthen frail human nature, will not insure happy
+     homes, will not banish scandals and purge society of prostitution.
+
+     "No, no; the enemy of marriage, of the State, of society is not
+     liberal divorce laws, but the unhealthy atmosphere that exists in
+     the home itself. A legislative act cannot make a unit of a divided
+     family."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+WOMEN AS PATRIOTS.
+
+
+On April 15, 1861, the President of the United States called out
+seventy-five thousand militia, and summoned Congress to meet July 4,
+when four hundred thousand men were called for, and four hundred
+millions of dollars were voted to suppress the Rebellion.
+
+These startling events roused the entire people, and turned the current
+of their thoughts in new directions. While the nation's life hung in the
+balance, and the dread artillery of war drowned, alike, the voices of
+commerce, politics, religion, and reform, all hearts were filled with
+anxious forebodings, all hands were busy in solemn preparations for the
+awful tragedies to come.
+
+At this eventful hour the patriotism of woman shone forth as fervently
+and spontaneously as did that of man; and her self-sacrifice and
+devotion were displayed in as many varied fields of action. While he
+buckled on his knapsack and marched forth to conquer the enemy, she
+planned the campaigns which brought the nation victory; fought in the
+ranks, when she could do so without detection; inspired the sanitary
+commission; gathered needed supplies for the grand army; provided nurses
+for the hospitals; comforted the sick; smoothed the pillows of the
+dying; inscribed the last messages of lave to those far away; and marked
+the resting places where the brave men fell. The labor women
+accomplished, the hardships they endured, the time and strength they
+sacrificed in the War that summoned three million men to arms, can never
+be fully appreciated.
+
+Indeed, we may safely say that there is scarcely a loyal woman in the
+North who did not do something in aid of the cause; who did not
+contribute time, labor, and money to the comfort of our soldiers and the
+success of our arms. The story of the War will never be fully written if
+the achievements of women are left untold. They do not figure in the
+official reports; they are not gazetted for gallant deeds; the names of
+thousands are unknown beyond the neighborhood where they lived, or the
+hospitals where they loved to labor; yet there is no feature in our War
+more creditable to us as a nation, none from its positive newness so
+well worthy of record.
+
+While the mass of women never philosophize on the principles that
+underlie national existence, there were those in our late War who
+understood the political significance of the struggle; the
+"irrepressible conflict" between freedom and slavery, between National
+and State rights. They saw that to provide lint, bandages, and supplies
+for the army, while the War was not conducted on a wise policy, was to
+labor in vain; and while many organizations, active, vigilant, and
+self-sacrificing, were multiplied to look after the material wants of
+the army, these few formed themselves into a National Loyal League, to
+teach sound principles of government and to impress on the nation's
+conscience that freedom for the slaves was the only way to victory.
+Accustomed, as most women had been to works of charity and to the relief
+of outward suffering, it was difficult to rouse their enthusiasm for an
+idea, to persuade them to labor for a principle. They clamored for
+practical work, something for their hands to do; for fairs and sewing
+societies to raise money for soldier's families, for tableaux, readings,
+theatricals--anything but conventions to discuss principles and to
+circulate petitions for emancipation. They could not see that the best
+service they could render the army was to suppress the Rebellion, and
+that the most effective way to accomplish that was to transform the
+slaves into soldiers. This Woman's Loyal League voiced the solemn
+lessons of the War: Liberty to all; national protection for every
+citizen under our flag; universal suffrage, and universal amnesty.
+
+After consultation with Horace Greeley, William Lloyd Garrison, Governor
+Andrews, and Robert Dale Owen, Miss Anthony and I decided to call a
+meeting of women in Cooper Institute and form a Woman's Loyal League, to
+advocate the immediate emancipation and enfranchisement of the Southern
+slaves, as the most speedy way of ending the War, so we issued, in tract
+form, and extensively circulated the following call:
+
+     "In this crisis of our country's destiny, it is the duty of every
+     citizen to consider the peculiar blessings of a republican form of
+     government, and decide what sacrifices of wealth and life are
+     demanded for its defense and preservation. The policy of the War,
+     our whole future life, depend on a clearly defined idea of the end
+     proposed and the immense advantages to be secured to ourselves and
+     all mankind by its accomplishment. No mere party or sectional cry,
+     no technicalities of constitutional or military law, no mottoes of
+     craft or policy are big enough to touch the great heart of a nation
+     in the midst of revolution. A grand idea--such as freedom or
+     justice--is needful to kindle and sustain the fires of a high
+     enthusiasm.
+
+     "At this hour, the best word and work of every man and woman are
+     imperatively demanded. To man, by common consent, are assigned the
+     forum, camp, and field. What is woman's legitimate work and how she
+     may best accomplish it, is worthy our earnest counsel one with
+     another. We have heard many complaints of the lack of enthusiasm,
+     among Northern women; but when a mother lays her son on the altar
+     of her country, she asks an object equal to the sacrifice. In
+     nursing the sick and wounded, knitting socks, scraping lint, and
+     making jellies the bravest and best may weary if the thoughts mount
+     not in faith to something beyond and above it all. Work is worship
+     only when a noble purpose fills the soul. Woman is equally
+     interested and responsible with man in the final settlement of this
+     problem of self-government; therefore let none stand idle
+     spectators now. When every hour is big with destiny, and each delay
+     but complicates our difficulties, it is high time for the daughters
+     of the Revolution, in solemn council, to unseal the last will and
+     testaments of the fathers, lay hold of their birthright of freedom,
+     and keep it a sacred trust for all coming generations.
+
+     "To this end we ask the Loyal Women of the Nation to meet in the
+     Church of the Puritans (Dr. Cheever's), New York, on Thursday, the
+     14th of May next.
+
+     "Let the women of every State be largely represented in person or
+     by letter.
+
+     "On behalf of the Woman's Central Committee,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
+
+     "Susan B. Anthony."
+
+Among other resolutions adopted at the meeting were the following:
+
+"_Resolved_, There never can be a true peace in this Republic until the
+civil and political rights of all citizens of African descent and all
+women are practically established.
+
+"_Resolved_, That the women of the Revolution were not wanting in
+heroism and self-sacrifice, and we, their daughters, are ready, in this
+War, to pledge our time, our means, our talents, and our lives, if need
+be, to secure the final and complete consecration of America to
+freedom."
+
+It was agreed that the practical work to be done to secure freedom for
+the slaves was to circulate petitions through all the Northern States.
+For months these petitions were circulated diligently everywhere, as the
+signatures show--some signed on fence posts, plows, the anvil, the
+shoemaker's bench--by women of fashion and those in the industries,
+alike in the parlor and the kitchen; by statesmen, professors in
+colleges, editors, bishops; by sailors, and soldiers, and the
+hard-handed children of toil, building railroads and bridges, and
+digging canals, and in mines in the bowels of the earth. Petitions,
+signed by three hundred thousand persons, can now be seen in the
+national archives in the Capitol at Washington. Three of my sons spent
+weeks in our office in Cooper Institute, rolling up the petitions from
+each State separately, and inscribing on the outside the number of names
+of men and women contained therein. We sent appeals to the President the
+House of Representatives, and the Senate, from time to time, urging
+emancipation and the passage of the proposed Thirteenth, Fourteenth,
+and Fifteenth Amendments to the National Constitution. During these
+eventful months we received many letters from Senator Sumner, saying,
+"Send on the petitions as fast as received; they give me opportunities
+for speech."
+
+Robert Dale Owen, chairman of the Freedman's Commission, was most
+enthusiastic in the work of the Loyal League, and came to our rooms
+frequently to suggest new modes of agitation and to give us an inkling
+of what was going on behind the scenes in Washington. Those who had been
+specially engaged in the Woman Suffrage movement suspended their
+conventions during the war, and gave their time and thought wholly to
+the vital issues of the hour. Seeing the political significance of the
+war, they urged the emancipation of the slaves as the sure, quick way of
+cutting the Gordian knot of the Rebellion. To this end they organized a
+national league, and rolled up a mammoth petition, urging Congress so to
+amend the Constitution as to prohibit the existence of slavery in the
+United States. From their headquarters in Cooper Institute, New York
+city, they sent out the appeals to the President, Congress, and the
+people at large; tracts and forms of petition, franked by members of
+Congress, were scattered like snowflakes from Maine to Texas. Meetings
+were held every week, in which the policy of the Government was freely
+discussed, and approved or condemned.
+
+That this League did a timely educational work is manifested by the
+letters received from generals, statesmen, editors, and from women in
+most of the Northern States, fully indorsing its action and principles.
+The clearness to thinking women of the cause of the War; the true
+policy in waging it; their steadfastness in maintaining the principles
+of freedom, are worthy of consideration. With this League abolitionists
+and Republicans heartily co-operated. A course of lectures was delivered
+for its benefit in Cooper Institute, by such men as Horace Greeley,
+George William Curtis, William D. Kelly, Wendell Phillips, E.P. Whipple,
+Frederick Douglass, Theodore D. Weld, Rev. Dr. Tyng, and Dr. Bellows.
+Many letters are on its files from Charles Sumner, approving its
+measures, and expressing great satisfaction at the large number of
+emancipation petitions being rolled into Congress. The Republican press,
+too, was highly complimentary. The New York Tribune said: "The women of
+the Loyal League have shown great practical wisdom in restricting their
+efforts to one subject, the most important which any society can aim at
+in this hour, and great courage in undertaking to do what never has been
+done in the world before, to obtain one million of names to a petition."
+
+The leading journals vied with each other in praising the patience and
+prudence, the executive ability, the loyalty, and the patriotism of the
+women of the League, and yet these were the same women who, when
+demanding civil and political rights, privileges, and immunities for
+themselves, had been uniformly denounced as "unwise," "imprudent,"
+"fanatical," and "impracticable." During the six years they held their
+own claims in abeyance to those of the slaves of the South, and labored
+to inspire the people with enthusiasm for the great measures of the
+Republican party, they were highly honored as "wise, loyal, and
+clear-sighted." But when the slaves were emancipated, and these women
+asked that they should be recognized in the reconstruction as citizens
+of the Republic, equal before the law, all these transcendent virtues
+vanished like dew before the morning sun. And thus it ever is: so long
+as woman labors to second man's endeavors and exalt his sex above her
+own, her virtues pass unquestioned; but when she dares to demand rights
+and privileges for herself, her motives, manners, dress, personal
+appearance, and character are subjects for ridicule and detraction.
+
+Liberty, victorious over slavery on the battlefield, had now more
+powerful enemies to encounter at Washington. The slaves set free, the
+master conquered, the South desolate; the two races standing face to
+face, sharing alike the sad results of war, turned with appealing looks
+to the general government, as if to say, "How stand we now?" "What
+next?" Questions our statesmen, beset with dangers, with fears for the
+nation's life, of party divisions, of personal defeat, were wholly
+unprepared to answer. The reconstruction of the South involved the
+reconsideration of the fundamental principles of our Government and the
+natural rights of man. The nation's heart was thrilled with prolonged
+debates in Congress and State legislatures, in the pulpits and public
+journals, and at every fireside on these vital questions, which took
+final shape in the three historic amendments to the Constitution.
+
+The first point, his emancipation, settled, the political status of the
+negro was next in order; and to this end various propositions were
+submitted to Congress. But to demand his enfranchisement on the broad
+principle of natural rights was hedged about with difficulties, as the
+logical result of such action must be the enfranchisement of all
+ostracized classes; not only the white women of the entire country, but
+the slave women of the South. Though our senators and representatives
+had an honest aversion to any proscriptive legislation against loyal
+women, in view of their varied and self-sacrificing work during the War,
+yet the only way they could open the constitutional door just wide
+enough to let the black man pass in was to introduce the word "male"
+into the national Constitution. After the generous devotion of such
+women as Anna Carroll and Anna Dickinson in sustaining the policy of the
+Republicans, both in peace and war, they felt it would come with a bad
+grace from that party to place new barriers in woman's path to freedom.
+But how could the amendment be written without the word "male," was the
+question.
+
+Robert Dale Owen being at Washington, and behind the scenes at the time,
+sent copies of the various bills to the officers of the Loyal League, in
+New York, and related to us some of the amusing discussions. One of the
+committee proposed "persons" instead of "males." "That will never do,"
+said another, "it would enfranchise wenches." "Suffrage for black men
+will be all the strain the Republican party can stand," said another.
+Charles Sumner said, years afterward, that he wrote over nineteen pages
+of foolscap to get rid of the word "male" and yet keep "negro suffrage"
+as a party measure intact; but it could not be done.
+
+Miss Anthony and I were the first to see the full significance of the
+word "male" in the Fourteenth Amendment, and we at once sounded the
+alarm, and sent out petitions for a constitutional amendment to
+"prohibit the States from disfranchising any of their citizens on the
+ground of sex." Miss Anthony, who had spent the year in Kansas, started
+for New York the moment she saw the proposition before Congress to put
+the word "male" into the national Constitution, and made haste to rouse
+the women in the East to the fact that the time had come to begin
+vigorous work again for woman's enfranchisement.
+
+Leaving Rochester, October 11, she called on Martha Wright at Auburn;
+Phebe Jones and Lydia Mott at Albany; Mmes. Rose, Gibbons, Davis, at New
+York city; Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown Blackwell in New Jersey;
+Stephen and Abby Foster at Worcester; Mmes. Severance, Dall, Nowell, Dr.
+Harriet K. Hunt, Dr. M.E. Zackesewska, and Messrs. Phillips and Garrison
+in Boston, urging them to join in sending protests to Washington against
+the pending legislation. Mr. Phillips at once consented to devote five
+hundred dollars from the "Jackson Fund" to commence the work. Miss
+Anthony and I spent all our Christmas holidays in writing letters and
+addressing appeals and petitions to every part of the country, and,
+before the close of the session of 1865-66, petitions with ten thousand
+signatures were poured into Congress.
+
+One of my letters was as follows:
+
+     "_To the Editor of the Standard_:
+
+     "Sir: Mr. Broomall of Pennsylvania, Mr. Schenck of Ohio, Mr.
+     Jenckes of Rhode Island, and Mr. Stevens of Pennsylvania, have each
+     a resolution before Congress to amend the Constitution.
+
+     "Article First, Section Second, reads thus: 'Representatives and
+     direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which
+     may be included within this Union, according to their respective
+     numbers.'
+
+     "Mr. Broomall proposes to amend by saying, 'male electors'; Mr.
+     Schenck,'male citizens'; Mr. Jenckes, 'male citizens'; Mr. Stevens,
+     'male voters,' as, in process of time, women may be made 'legal
+     voters' in the several States, and would then meet that requirement
+     of the Constitution. But those urged by the other gentlemen,
+     neither time, effort, nor State Constitutions could enable us to
+     meet, unless, by a liberal interpretation of the amendment, a coat
+     of mail to be worn at the polls might be judged all-sufficient. Mr.
+     Jenckes and Mr. Schenck, in their bills, have the grace not to say
+     a word about taxes, remembering, perhaps, that 'taxation without
+     representation is tyranny.' But Mr. Broomall, though unwilling that
+     we should share in the honors of government, would fain secure us a
+     place in its burdens; for, while he apportions representatives to
+     "male electors" only, he admits "all the inhabitants" into the
+     rights, privileges, and immunities of taxation. Magnanimous M.C.!
+
+     "I would call the attention of the women of the nation to the fact
+     that, under the Federal Constitution, as it now exists, there is
+     not one word that limits the right of suffrage to any privileged
+     class. This attempt to turn the wheels of civilization backward, on
+     the part of Republicans claiming to be the liberal party, should
+     rouse every woman in the nation to a prompt exercise of the only
+     right she has in the Government, the right of petition. To this end
+     a committee in New York have sent out thousands of petitions, which
+     should be circulated in every district and sent to its
+     representative at Washington as soon as possible.
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
+
+     "New York, January 2, 1866."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+PIONEER LIFE IN KANSAS--OUR NEWSPAPER, "THE REVOLUTION."
+
+
+In 1867 the proposition to extend the suffrage to women and to colored
+men was submitted to the people of the State of Kansas, and, among other
+Eastern speakers, I was invited to make a campaign through the State. As
+the fall elections were pending, there was great excitement everywhere.
+Suffrage for colored men was a Republican measure, which the press and
+politicians of that party advocated with enthusiasm.
+
+As woman suffrage was not a party question, we hoped that all parties
+would favor the measure; that we might, at last, have one green spot on
+earth where women could enjoy full liberty as citizens of the United
+States. Accordingly, in July, Miss Anthony and I started, with high
+hopes of a most successful trip, and, after an uneventful journey of one
+thousand five hundred miles, we reached the sacred soil where John Brown
+and his sons had helped to fight the battles that made Kansas a free
+State.
+
+Lucy Stone, Mr. Blackwell, and Olympia Brown had preceded us and opened
+the campaign with large meetings in all the chief cities. Miss Anthony
+and I did the same. Then it was decided that, as we were to go to the
+very borders of the State, where there were no railroads, we must take
+carriages, and economize our forces by taking different routes. I was
+escorted by ex-Governor Charles Robinson. We had a low, easy carriage,
+drawn by two mules, in which we stored about a bushel of tracts, two
+valises, a pail for watering the mules, a basket of apples, crackers,
+and other such refreshments as we could purchase on the way. Some things
+were suspended underneath the carriage, some packed on behind, and some
+under the seat and at our feet. It required great skill to compress the
+necessary baggage into the allotted space. As we went to the very verge
+of civilization, wherever two dozen voters could be assembled, we had a
+taste of pioneer life. We spoke in log cabins, in depots, unfinished
+schoolhouses, churches, hotels, barns, and in the open air.
+
+I spoke in a large mill one night. A solitary tallow candle shone over
+my head like a halo of glory; a few lanterns around the outskirts of the
+audience made the darkness perceptible; but all I could see of my
+audience was the whites of their eyes in the dim distance. People came
+from twenty miles around to these meetings, held either in the morning,
+afternoon, or evening, as was most convenient.
+
+As the regular State election was to take place in the coming November,
+the interest increased from week to week, until the excitement of the
+people knew no bounds. There were speakers for and against every
+proposition before the people. This involved frequent debates on all the
+general principles of government, and thus a great educational work was
+accomplished, which is one of the advantages of our frequent elections.
+
+The friends of woman suffrage were doomed to disappointment. Those in
+the East, on whom they relied for influence through the liberal
+newspapers, were silent, and we learned, afterward, that they used what
+influence they had to keep the abolitionists and Republicans of the
+State silent, as they feared the discussion of the woman question would
+jeopardize the enfranchisement of the black man. However, we worked
+untiringly and hopefully, not seeing through the game of the politicians
+until nearly the end of the canvass, when we saw that our only chance
+was in getting the Democratic vote. Accordingly, George Francis Train,
+then a most effective and popular speaker, was invited into the State to
+see what could be done to win the Democracy. He soon turned the tide,
+strengthened the weak-kneed Republicans and abolitionists, and secured a
+large Democratic vote.
+
+For three months we labored diligently, day after day, enduring all
+manner of discomforts in traveling, eating, and sleeping. As there were
+no roads or guide-posts, we often lost our way. In going through cañons
+and fording streams it was often so dark that the Governor was obliged
+to walk ahead to find the way, taking off his coat so that I could see
+his white shirt and slowly drive after him. Though seemingly calm and
+cool, I had a great dread of these night adventures, as I was in
+constant fear of being upset on some hill and rolled into the water. The
+Governor often complimented me on my courage, when I was fully aware of
+being tempest-tossed with anxiety. I am naturally very timid, but, being
+silent under strong emotions of either pleasure or pain, I am credited
+with being courageous in the hour of danger.
+
+For days, sometimes, we could find nothing at a public table that we
+could eat. Then passing through a little settlement we could buy dried
+herring, crackers, gum arabic, and slippery elm; the latter, we were
+told, was very nutritious. We frequently sat down to a table with bacon
+floating in grease, coffee without milk, sweetened with sorghum, and
+bread or hot biscuit, green with soda, while vegetables and fruit were
+seldom seen. Our nights were miserable, owing to the general opinion
+among pioneers that a certain species of insect must necessarily
+perambulate the beds in a young civilization. One night, after traveling
+over prairies all day, eating nothing but what our larder provided, we
+saw a light in a cottage in the distance which seemed to beckon to us.
+Arriving, we asked the usual question,--if we could get a night's
+lodging,--to which the response was inevitably a hearty, hospitable
+"Yes." One survey of the premises showed me what to look for in the way
+of midnight companionship, so I said to the Governor, "I will resign in
+your favor the comforts provided for me to-night, and sleep in the
+carriage, as you do so often." I persisted against all the earnest
+persuasions of our host, and in due time I was ensconced for the night,
+and all about the house was silent.
+
+I had just fallen into a gentle slumber, when a chorus of pronounced
+grunts and a spasmodic shaking of the carriage revealed to me the fact
+that I was surrounded by those long-nosed black pigs, so celebrated for
+their courage and pertinacity. They had discovered that the iron steps
+of the carriage made most satisfactory scratching posts, and each one
+was struggling for his turn. This scratching suggested fleas. Alas!
+thought I, before morning I shall be devoured. I was mortally tired and
+sleepy, but I reached for the whip and plied it lazily from side to
+side; but I soon found nothing but a constant and most vigorous
+application of the whip could hold them at bay one moment. I had heard
+that this type of pig was very combative when thwarted in its desires,
+and they seemed in such sore need of relief that I thought there was
+danger of their jumping into the carriage and attacking me. This thought
+was more terrifying than that of the fleas, so I decided to go to sleep
+and let them alone to scratch at their pleasure. I had a sad night of
+it, and never tried the carriage again, though I had many equally
+miserable experiences within four walls.
+
+After one of these border meetings we stopped another night with a
+family of two bachelor brothers and two spinster sisters. The home
+consisted of one large room, not yet lathed and plastered. The furniture
+included a cooking stove, two double beds in remote corners, a table, a
+bureau, a washstand, and six wooden chairs. As it was late, there was no
+fire in the stove and no suggestion of supper, so the Governor and I ate
+apples and chewed slippery elm before retiring to dream of comfortable
+beds and well-spread tables in the near future.
+
+The brothers resigned their bed to me just as it was. I had noticed that
+there was no ceremonious changing of bed linen under such circumstances,
+so I had learned to nip all fastidious notions of individual cleanliness
+in the bud, and to accept the inevitable. When the time arrived for
+retiring, the Governor and the brothers went out to make astronomical
+observations or smoke, as the case might be, while the sisters and I
+made our evening toilet, and disposed ourselves in the allotted corners.
+That done, the stalwart sons of Adam made their beds with skins and
+blankets on the floor. When all was still and darkness reigned, I
+reviewed the situation with a heavy heart, seeing that I was bound to
+remain a prisoner in the corner all night, come what might. I had just
+congratulated myself on my power of adaptability to circumstances, when
+I suddenly started with an emphatic "What is that?" A voice from the
+corner asked, "Is your bed comfortable?" "Oh, yes," I replied, "but I
+thought I felt a mouse run over my head." "Well," said the voice from
+the corner, "I should not wonder. I have heard such squeaking from that
+corner during the past week that I told sister there must be a mouse
+nest in that bed." A confession she probably would not have made unless
+half asleep. This announcement was greeted with suppressed laughter from
+the floor. But it was no laughing matter to me. Alas! what a
+prospect--to have mice running over one all night. But there was no
+escape. The sisters did not offer to make any explorations, and, in my
+fatigue costume, I could not light a candle and make any on my own
+account. The house did not afford an armchair in which I could sit up. I
+could not lie on the floor, and the other bed was occupied. Fortunately,
+I was very tired and soon fell asleep. What the mice did the remainder
+of the night I never knew, so deep were my slumbers. But, as my features
+were intact, and my facial expression as benign as usual next morning, I
+inferred that their gambols had been most innocently and decorously
+conducted. These are samples of many similar experiences which we
+encountered during the three months of those eventful travels.
+
+Heretofore my idea had been that pioneer life was a period of romantic
+freedom. When the long, white-covered wagons, bound for the far West,
+passed by, I thought of the novelty of a six-months' journey through
+the bright spring and summer days in a house on wheels, meals under
+shady trees and beside babbling brooks, sleeping in the open air, and
+finding a home, at last, where land was cheap, the soil rich and deep,
+and where the grains, vegetables, fruit, and flowers grew bountifully
+with but little toil. But a few months of pioneer life permanently
+darkened my rosy ideal of the white-covered wagon, the charming picnics
+by the way, and the paradise at last. I found many of these adventurers
+in unfinished houses and racked with malaria; in one case I saw a family
+of eight, all ill with chills and fever. The house was half a mile from
+the spring water on which they depended and from which those best able,
+from day to day, carried the needed elixir to others suffering with the
+usual thirst. Their narrations of all the trials of the long journey
+were indeed heartrending.
+
+In one case a family of twelve left their comfortable farm in Illinois,
+much against the earnest protests of the mother; she having ten
+children, the youngest a baby then in her arms. All their earthly
+possessions were stored in three wagons, and the farm which the mother
+owned was sold before they commenced their long and perilous journey.
+There was no reason for going except that the husband had the Western
+fever. They were doing well in Illinois, on a large farm within two
+miles of a village, but he had visions of a bonanza near the setting
+sun. Accordingly they started. At the end of one month the baby died. A
+piece of wood from the cradle was all they had to mark its lonely
+resting place. With sad hearts they went on, and, in a few weeks, with
+grief for her child, her old home, her kindred and friends, the mother
+also died. She, too, was left alone on the far-off prairies, and the sad
+pageant moved on. Another child soon shared the same fate, and then a
+span of horses died, and one wagon, with all the things they could most
+easily spare, was abandoned. Arrived at their destination none of the
+golden dreams was realized. The expensive journey, the struggles in
+starting under new circumstances, and the loss of the mother's thrift
+and management, made the father so discouraged and reckless that much of
+his property was wasted, and his earthly career was soon ended. Through
+the heroic energy and good management of the eldest daughter, the little
+patrimony, in time, was doubled, and the children well brought up and
+educated in the rudiments of learning, so that all became respectable
+members of society. Her advice to all young people is, if you are
+comfortably established in the East, stay there. There is no royal road
+to wealth and ease, even in the Western States!
+
+In spite of the discomforts we suffered in the Kansas campaign, I was
+glad of the experience. It gave me added self-respect to know that I
+could endure such hardships and fatigue with a great degree of
+cheerfulness. The Governor and I often laughed heartily, as we patiently
+chewed our gum arabic and slippery elm, to think on what a gentle
+stimulus we were accomplishing such wonderful feats as orators and
+travelers. It was fortunate our intense enthusiasm for the subject gave
+us all the necessary inspiration, as the supplies we gathered by the way
+were by no means sufficiently invigorating for prolonged propagandism.
+
+I enjoyed these daily drives over the vast prairies, listening to the
+Governor's descriptions of the early days when the "bushwhackers and
+jayhawkers" made their raids on the inhabitants of the young free State.
+The courage and endurance of the women, surrounded by dangers and
+discomforts, surpassed all description. I count it a great privilege to
+have made the acquaintance of so many noble women and men who had passed
+through such scenes and conquered such difficulties. They seemed to live
+in an atmosphere altogether beyond their surroundings. Many educated
+families from New England, disappointed in not finding the much talked
+of bonanzas, were living in log cabins, in solitary places, miles from
+any neighbors. But I found Emerson, Parker, Holmes, Hawthorne, Whittier,
+and Lowell on their bookshelves to gladden their leisure hours.
+
+Miss Anthony and I often comforted ourselves mid adverse winds with
+memories of the short time we spent under Mother Bickerdyke's hospitable
+roof at Salina. There we had clean, comfortable beds, delicious viands,
+and everything was exquisitely neat. She entertained us with her
+reminiscences of the War. With great self-denial she had served her
+country in camp and hospital, and was with Sherman's army in that
+wonderful march to the sea, and here we found her on the outpost of
+civilization, determined to start what Kansas most needed--a good hotel.
+But alas! it was too good for that latitude and proved a financial
+failure. It was, to us, an oasis in the desert, where we would gladly
+have lingered if the opposition would have come to us for conversion.
+But, as we had to carry the gospel of woman's equality into the highways
+and hedges, we left dear Mother Bickerdyke with profound regret. The
+seed sown in Kansas in 1867 is now bearing its legitimate fruits. There
+was not a county in the State where meetings were not held or tracts
+scattered with a generous hand. If the friends of our cause in the East
+had been true and had done for woman what they did for the colored man,
+I believe both propositions would have been carried; but with a narrow
+policy, playing off one against the other, both were defeated. A policy
+of injustice always bears its own legitimate fruit in failure.
+
+However, women learned one important lesson--namely, that it is
+impossible for the best of men to understand women's feelings or the
+humiliation of their position. When they asked us to be silent on our
+question during the War, and labor for the emancipation of the slave, we
+did so, and gave five years to his emancipation and enfranchisement. To
+this proposition my friend, Susan B. Anthony, never consented, but was
+compelled to yield because no one stood with her. I was convinced, at
+the time, that it was the true policy. I am now equally sure that it was
+a blunder, and, ever since, I have taken my beloved Susan's judgment
+against the world. I have always found that, when we see eye to eye, we
+are sure to be right, and when we pull together we are strong. After we
+discuss any point together and fully agree, our faith in our united
+judgment is immovable and no amount of ridicule and opposition has the
+slightest influence, come from what quarter it may.
+
+Together we withstood the Republicans and abolitionists, when, a second
+time, they made us the most solemn promises of earnest labor for our
+enfranchisement, when the slaves were safe beyond a peradventure. They
+never redeemed their promise made during the War, hence, when they
+urged us to silence in the Kansas campaign, we would not for a moment
+entertain the proposition. The women generally awoke to their duty to
+themselves. They had been deceived once and could not be again. If the
+leaders in the Republican and abolition camps could deceive us, whom
+could we trust?
+
+Again we were urged to be silent on our rights, when the proposition to
+take the word "white" out of the New York Constitution was submitted to
+a vote of the people of the State, or, rather, to one-half the people,
+as women had no voice in the matter. Again we said "No, no, gentlemen!
+if the 'white' comes out of the Constitution, let the 'male' come out
+also. Women have stood with the negro, thus far, on equal ground as
+ostracized classes, outside the political paradise; and now, when the
+door is open, it is but fair that we both should enter and enjoy all the
+fruits of citizenship. Heretofore ranked with idiots, lunatics, and
+criminals in the Constitution, the negro has been the only respectable
+compeer we had; so pray do not separate us now for another twenty years,
+ere the constitutional door will again be opened."
+
+We were persistently urged to give all our efforts to get the word
+"white" out, and thus secure the enfranchisement of the colored man, as
+that, they said, would prepare the way for us to follow. Several editors
+threatened that, unless we did so, their papers should henceforth do
+their best to defeat every measure we proposed. But we were deaf alike
+to persuasions and threats, thinking it wiser to labor for women,
+constituting, as they did, half the people of the State, rather than for
+a small number of colored men; who, viewing all things from the same
+standpoint as white men, would be an added power against us.
+
+The question settled in Kansas, we returned, with George Francis Train,
+to New York. He offered to pay all the expenses of the journey and
+meetings in all the chief cities on the way, and see that we were fully
+and well reported in their respective journals. After prolonged
+consultation Miss Anthony and I thought best to accept the offer and we
+did so. Most of our friends thought it a grave blunder, but the result
+proved otherwise. Mr. Train was then in his prime--a large, fine-looking
+man, a gentleman in dress and manner, neither smoking, chewing,
+drinking, nor gormandizing. He was an effective speaker and actor, as
+one of his speeches, which he illustrated, imitating the poor wife at
+the washtub and the drunken husband reeling in, fully showed. He gave
+his audience charcoal sketches of everyday life rather than argument. He
+always pleased popular audiences, and even the most fastidious were
+amused with his caricatures. As the newspapers gave several columns to
+our meetings at every point through all the States, the agitation was
+widespread and of great value. To be sure our friends, on all sides,
+fell off, and those especially who wished us to be silent on the
+question of woman's rights, declared "the cause too sacred to be
+advocated by such a charlatan as George Francis Train." We thought
+otherwise, as the accession of Mr. Train increased the agitation
+twofold. If these fastidious ladies and gentlemen had come out to Kansas
+and occupied the ground and provided "the sinews of war," there would
+have been no field for Mr. Train's labors, and we should have accepted
+their services. But, as the ground was unoccupied, he had, at least,
+the right of a reform "squatter" to cultivate the cardinal virtues and
+reap a moral harvest wherever he could.
+
+Reaching New York, Mr. Train made it possible for us to establish a
+newspaper, which gave another impetus to our movement. The _Revolution_,
+published by Susan B. Anthony and edited by Parker Pillsbury and myself,
+lived two years and a half and was then consolidated with the New York
+_Christian Enquirer_, edited by the Rev. Henry Bellows, D.D. I regard
+the brief period in which I edited the _Revolution_ as one of the
+happiest of my life, and I may add the most useful. In looking over the
+editorials I find but one that I sincerely regret, and that was a retort
+on Mr. Garrison, written under great provocation, but not by me, which
+circumstances, at the time, forbade me to disown. Considering the
+pressure brought to bear on Miss Anthony and myself, I feel now that our
+patience and forbearance with our enemies in their malignant attacks on
+our good, name, which we never answered, were indeed marvelous.
+
+We said at all times and on all other subjects just what we thought, and
+advertised nothing that we did not believe in. No advertisements of
+quack remedies appeared in our columns. One of our clerks once published
+a bread powder advertisement, which I did not see until the paper
+appeared; so, in the next number, I said, editorially, what I thought of
+it. I was alone in the office, one day, when a man blustered in. "Who,"
+said he, "runs this concern?" "You will find the names of the editors
+and publishers," I replied, "on the editorial page." "Are you one of
+them?" "I am," I replied. "Well, do you know that I agreed to pay
+twenty dollars to have that bread powder advertised for one month, and
+then you condemn it editorially?" "I have nothing to do with the
+advertising; Miss Anthony pays me to say what I think." "Have you any
+more thoughts to publish on that bread powder?" "Oh, yes," I replied, "I
+have not exhausted the subject yet." "Then," said he, "I will have the
+advertisement taken out. What is there to pay for the one insertion?"
+"Oh, nothing," I replied, "as the editorial probably did you more injury
+than the advertisement did you good." On leaving, with prophetic vision,
+he said, "I prophesy a short life for this paper; the business world is
+based on quackery, and you cannot live without it." With melancholy
+certainty, I replied, "I fear you are right."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+LYCEUMS AND LECTURERS.
+
+
+The Lyceum Bureau was, at one time, a great feature in American life.
+The three leading bureaus were in Boston, New York, and Chicago. The
+managers, map in hand, would lay out trips, more or less extensive
+according to the capacity or will of the speakers, and then, with a
+dozen or more victims in hand, make arrangements with the committees in
+various towns and cities to set them all in motion. As the managers of
+the bureaus had ten per cent. of what the speakers made, it was to their
+interest to keep the time well filled. Hence the engagements were made
+without the slightest reference to the comfort of the travelers. With
+our immense distances, it was often necessary to travel night and day,
+sometimes changing cars at midnight, and perhaps arriving at the
+destination half an hour or less before going on the platform, and
+starting again on the journey immediately upon leaving it. The route was
+always carefully written out, giving the time the trains started from
+and arrived at various points; but as cross trains often failed to
+connect, one traveled, guidebook in hand, in a constant fever of
+anxiety. As, in the early days, the fees were from one to two hundred
+dollars a night, the speakers themselves were desirous of accomplishing
+as much as possible.
+
+In 1869 I gave my name, for the first time, to the New York Bureau, and
+on November 14 began the long, weary pilgrimages, from Maine to Texas,
+that lasted twelve years; speaking steadily for eight months--from
+October to June--every season. That was the heyday of the lecturing
+period, when a long list of bright men and women were constantly on the
+wing. Anna Dickinson, Olive Logan, Kate Field,--later, Mrs. Livermore
+and Mrs. Howe, Alcott, Phillips, Douglass, Tilton, Curtis, Beecher, and,
+several years later, General Kilpatrick, with Henry Vincent, Bradlaugh,
+and Matthew Arnold from England; these and many others were stars of the
+lecture platform.
+
+Some of us occasionally managed to spend Sunday together, at a good
+hotel in some city, to rest and feast and talk over our joys and
+sorrows, the long journeys, the hard fare in the country hotels, the
+rainy nights when committees felt blue and tried to cut down our fees;
+the being compelled by inconsiderate people to talk on the train; the
+overheated, badly ventilated cars; the halls, sometimes too warm,
+sometimes too cold; babies crying in our audiences; the rain pattering
+on the roof overhead or leaking on the platform--these were common
+experiences. In the West, women with babies uniformly occupied the front
+seats so that the little ones, not understanding what you said, might be
+amused with your gestures and changing facial expression. All these
+things, so trying, at the time, to concentrated and enthusiastic
+speaking, afterward served as subjects of amusing conversation. We
+unanimously complained of the tea and coffee. Mrs. Livermore had the
+wisdom to carry a spirit lamp with her own tea and coffee, and thus
+supplied herself with the needed stimulants for her oratorical
+efforts. The hardships of these lyceum trips can never be appreciated
+except by those who have endured them. With accidents to cars and
+bridges, with floods and snow blockades, the pitfalls in one of these
+campaigns were without number.
+
+[Illustration: ELIZABETH SMITH MILLER.] [Illustration]
+
+On one occasion, when engaged to speak at Maquoketa, Iowa, I arrived at
+Lyons about noon, to find the road was blocked with snow, and no chance
+of the cars running for days. "Well," said I to the landlord, "I must be
+at Maquoketa at eight o'clock to-night; have you a sleigh, a span of
+fleet horses, and a skillful driver? If so, I will go across the
+country." "Oh, yes, madam!" he replied, "I have all you ask; but you
+could not stand a six-hours' drive in this piercing wind." Having lived
+in a region of snow, with the thermometer down to twenty degrees below
+zero, I had no fears of winds and drifts, so I said, "Get the sleigh
+ready and I will try it." Accordingly I telegraphed the committee that I
+would be there, and started. I was well bundled up in a fur cloak and
+hood, a hot oak plank at my feet, and a thick veil over my head and
+face. As the landlord gave the finishing touch, by throwing a large
+buffalo robe over all and tying the two tails together at the back of my
+head and thus effectually preventing me putting my hand to my nose, he
+said, "There, if you can only sit perfectly still, you will come out all
+right at Maquoketa; that is, if you get there, which I very much doubt."
+It was a long, hard drive against the wind and through drifts, but I
+scarcely moved a finger, and, as the clock struck eight, we drove into
+the town. The hall was warm, and the church bell having announced my
+arrival, a large audience was assembled. As I learned that all the roads
+in Northern Iowa were blocked, I made the entire circuit, from point to
+point, in a sleigh, traveling forty and fifty miles a day.
+
+At the Sherman House, in Chicago, three weeks later, I met Mr. Bradlaugh
+and General Kilpatrick, who were advertised on the same route ahead of
+me. "Well," said I, "where have you gentlemen been?" "Waiting here for
+the roads to be opened. We have lost three weeks' engagements," they
+replied. As the General was lecturing on his experiences in Sherman's
+march to the sea, I chaffed him on not being able, in an emergency, to
+march across the State of Iowa. They were much astonished and somewhat
+ashamed, when I told them of my long, solitary drives over the prairies
+from day to day. It was the testimony of all the bureaus that the women
+could endure more fatigue and were more conscientious than the men in
+filling their appointments.
+
+The pleasant feature of these trips was the great educational work
+accomplished for the people through their listening to lectures on all
+the vital questions of the hour. Wherever any of us chanced to be on
+Sunday, we preached in some church; and wherever I had a spare
+afternoon, I talked to women alone, on marriage, maternity, and the laws
+of life and health. We made many most charming acquaintances, too,
+scattered all over our Western World, and saw how comfortable and happy
+sensible people could be, living in most straitened circumstances, with
+none of the luxuries of life. If most housekeepers could get rid of
+one-half their clothes and furniture and put their bric-a-brac in the
+town museum, life would be simplified and they would begin to know what
+leisure means. When I see so many of our American women struggling to be
+artists, who cannot make a good loaf of bread nor a palatable cup of
+coffee, I think of what Theodore Parker said when art was a craze in
+Boston. "The fine arts do not interest me so much as the coarse arts
+which feed, clothe, house, and comfort a people. I would rather be a
+great man like Franklin than a Michael Angelo--nay, if I had a son, I
+should rather see him a mechanic, like the late George Stephenson, in
+England, than a great painter like Rubens, who only copied beauty."
+
+One day I found at the office of the _Revolution_ an invitation to meet
+Mrs. Moulton in the Academy of Music, where she was to try her voice for
+the coming concert for the benefit of the Woman's Medical College. And
+what a voice for power, pathos, pliability! I never heard the like.
+Seated beside her mother, Mrs. W.H. Greenough, I enjoyed alike the
+mother's anxious pride and the daughter's triumph. I felt, as I
+listened, the truth of what Vieuxtemps said the first time he heard her,
+"That is the traditional voice for which the ages have waited and
+longed." When, on one occasion, Mrs. Moulton sang a song of Mozart's to
+Auber's accompaniment, someone present asked, "What could be added to
+make this more complete?" Auber looked up to heaven, and, with a sweet
+smile, said, "Nothing but that Mozart should have been here to listen."
+Looking and listening, "Here," thought I, "is another jewel in the crown
+of womanhood, to radiate and glorify the lives of all." I have such an
+intense pride of sex that the triumphs of woman in art, literature,
+oratory, science, or song rouse my enthusiasm as nothing else can.
+
+Hungering, that day, for gifted women, I called on Alice and Phebe Cary
+and Mary Clemmer Ames, and together we gave the proud white male such a
+serving up as did our souls good and could not hurt him, intrenched, as
+he is, behind creeds, codes, customs, and constitutions, with vizor and
+breastplate of self-complacency and conceit. In criticising Jessie
+Boucherett's essay on "Superfluous Women," in which she advises men in
+England to emigrate in order to leave room and occupation for women, the
+_Tribune_ said: "The idea of a home without a man in it!" In visiting
+the Carys one always felt that there was a home--a very charming one,
+too--without a man in it.
+
+Once when Harriet Beecher Stowe was at Dr. Taylor's, I had the
+opportunity to make her acquaintance. In her sanctum, surrounded by
+books and papers, she was just finishing her second paper on the Byron
+family, and her sister Catherine was preparing papers on her educational
+work, preparatory to a coming meeting of the ladies of the school board.
+The women of the Beecher family, though most of them wives and mothers,
+all had a definite life-work outside the family circle, and other
+objects of intense interest beside husbands, babies, cook stoves, and
+social conversations. Catherine said she was opposed to woman suffrage,
+and if she thought there was the least danger of our getting it, she
+would write and talk against it vehemently. But, as the nation was safe
+against such a calamity, she was willing to let the talk go on, because
+the agitation helped her work. "It is rather paradoxical," I said to
+her, "that the pressing of a false principle can help a true one; but
+when you get the women all thoroughly educated, they will step off to
+the polls and vote in spite of you."
+
+One night on the train from New York to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, I
+found abundant time to think over the personal peculiarities of the many
+noble women who adorn this nineteenth century, and, as I recalled them,
+one by one, in America, England, France, and Germany, and all that they
+are doing and saying, I wandered that any man could be so blind as not
+to see that woman has already taken her place as the peer of man. While
+the lords of creation have been debating her sphere and drawing their
+chalk marks here and there, woman has quietly stepped outside the barren
+fields where she was compelled to graze for centuries, and is now in
+green pastures and beside still waters, a power in the world of thought.
+
+These pleasant cogitations were cut short by my learning that I had
+taken the wrong train, and must change at Harrisburg at two o'clock in
+the morning. How soon the reflection that I must leave my comfortable
+berth at such an unchristian hour changed the whole hue of glorious
+womanhood and every other earthly blessing! However, I lived through the
+trial and arrived at Williamsport as the day dawned. I had a good
+audience at the opera house that evening, and was introduced to many
+agreeable people, who declared themselves converted to woman suffrage by
+my ministrations. Among the many new jewels in my crown, I added, that
+night, Judge Bently.
+
+In November, 1869, I passed one night in Philadelphia, with Miss
+Anthony, at Anna Dickinson's home--a neat, three-story brick house in
+Locust Street. This haven of rest, where the world-famous little woman
+came, ever and anon, to recruit her overtaxed energies, was very
+tastefully furnished, adorned with engravings, books, and statuary. Her
+mother, sister, and brother made up the household--a pleasing,
+cultivated trio. The brother was a handsome youth of good judgment, and
+given to sage remarks; the sister, witty, intuitive, and incisive in
+speech; the mother, dressed in rich Quaker costume, and though nearly
+seventy, still possessed of great personal beauty. She was intelligent,
+dignified, refined, and, in manner and appearance, reminded one of
+Angelina Grimké as she looked in her younger days. Everything about the
+house and its appointments indicated that it was the abode of genius and
+cultivation, and, although Anna was absent, the hospitalities were
+gracefully dispensed by her family. Napoleon and Shakespeare seemed to
+be Anna's patron saints, looking down, on all sides, from the wall. The
+mother amused us with the sore trials her little orator had inflicted on
+the members of the household by her vagaries in the world of fame.
+
+On the way to Kennett Square, a young gentleman pointed out to us the
+home of Benjamin West, who distinguished himself, to the disgust of
+broadbrims generally, as a landscape painter. In commencing his career,
+it is said he made use of the tail of a cat in lieu of a brush. Of
+course Benjamin's first attempts were on the sly, and he could not ask
+paterfamilias for money to buy a brush without encountering the good
+man's scorn. Whether, in the hour of his need and fresh enthusiasm, poor
+puss was led to the sacrificial altar, or whether he found her reposing
+by the roadside, having paid the debt of Nature, our informant could not
+say; enough that, in time, he owned a brush and immortalized himself by
+his skill in its use. Such erratic ones as Whittier, West, and Anna
+Dickinson go to prove that even the prim, proper, perfect Quakers are
+subject to like infirmities with the rest of the human family.
+
+I had long heard of the "Progressive Friends" in the region round
+Longwood; had read the many bulls they issued from their "yearly
+meetings" on every question, on war, capital punishment, temperance,
+slavery, woman's rights; had learned that they were turning the cold
+shoulder on the dress, habits, and opinions of their Fathers; listening
+to the ministrations of such worldlings as William Lloyd Garrison,
+Theodore Tilton, and Oliver Johnson, in a new meeting house, all painted
+and varnished, with cushions, easy seats, carpets, stoves, a musical
+instrument--shade of George Fox, forgive--and three brackets with vases
+on the "high seat," and, more than all that, men and women were
+indiscriminately seated throughout the house.
+
+All this Miss Anthony and I beheld with our own eyes, and, in company
+with Sarah Pugh and Chandler Darlington, did sit together in the high
+seat and talk in the congregation of the people. There, too, we met
+Hannah Darlington and Dinah Mendenhall,--names long known in every good
+work,--and, for the space of one day, did enjoy the blissful serenity of
+that earthly paradise. The women of Kennett Square were celebrated not
+only for their model housekeeping but also for their rare cultivation on
+all subjects of general interest.
+
+In November I again started on one of my Western trips, but, alas! on
+the very day the trains were changed, and so I could not make
+connections to meet my engagements at Saginaw and Marshall, and just
+saved myself at Toledo by going directly from the cars before the
+audience, with the dust of twenty-four hours' travel on my garments.
+Not being able to reach Saginaw, I went straight to Ann Arbor, and spent
+three days most pleasantly in visiting old friends, making new ones, and
+surveying the town, with its grand University. I was invited to
+Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Mr. Seaman, a highly cultivated
+Democratic editor, author of "Progress of Nations." A choice number of
+guests gathered round his hospitable board on that occasion, over which
+his wife presided with dignity and grace. Woman suffrage was the target
+for the combined wit and satire of the company, and, after four hours of
+uninterrupted sharpshooting, pyrotechnics, and laughter, we dispersed to
+our several abodes, fairly exhausted with the excess of enjoyment.
+
+One gentleman had the moral hardihood to assert that men had more
+endurance than women, whereupon a lady remarked that she would like to
+see the thirteen hundred young men in the University laced up in
+steel-ribbed corsets, with hoops, heavy skirts, trains, high heels,
+panniers, chignons, and dozens of hairpins sticking in their scalps,
+cooped up in the house year after year, with no exhilarating exercise,
+no hopes, aims, nor ambitions in life, and know if they could stand it
+as well as the girls. "Nothing," said she, "but the fact that women,
+like cats, have nine lives, enables them to survive the present _régime_
+to which custom dooms the sex."
+
+While in Ann Arbor I gave my lecture on "Our Girls" in the new Methodist
+church--a large building, well lighted, and filled with a brilliant
+audience. The students, in large numbers, were there, and strengthened
+the threads of my discourse with frequent and generous applause;
+especially when I urged on the Regents of the University the duty of
+opening its doors to the daughters of the State. There were several
+splendid girls in Michigan, at that time, preparing themselves for
+admission to the law department. As Judge Cooley, one of the professors,
+was a very liberal man, as well as a sound lawyer, and strongly in favor
+of opening the college to girls, I had no doubt the women of Michigan
+would soon distinguish themselves at the bar. Some said the chief
+difficulty in the way of the girls of that day being admitted to the
+University was the want of room. That could have been easily obviated by
+telling the young men from abroad to betake themselves to the colleges
+in their respective States, that Michigan might educate her daughters.
+As the women owned a good share of the property of the State, and had
+been heavily taxed to build and endow that institution, it was but fair
+that they should share in its advantages.
+
+The Michigan University, with its extensive grounds, commodious
+buildings, medical and law schools, professors' residences, and the
+finest laboratory in the country, was an institution of which the State
+was justly proud, and, as the tuition was free, it was worth the trouble
+of a long, hard siege by the girls of Michigan to gain admittance there.
+I advised them to organize their forces at once, get their minute guns,
+battering rams, monitors, projectiles, bombshells, cannon, torpedoes,
+and crackers ready, and keep up a brisk cannonading until the grave and
+reverend seigniors opened the door, and shouted, "Hold, enough!"
+
+The ladies of Ann Arbor had a fine library of their own, where their
+clubs met once a week. They had just formed a suffrage association. My
+visit ended with a pleasant reception, at which I was introduced to the
+chaplain, several professors, and many ladies and gentlemen ready to
+accept the situation. Judge Cooley gave me a glowing account of the laws
+of Michigan--how easy it was for wives to get possession of all the
+property, and then sunder the marriage tie and leave the poor husband to
+the charity of the cold world, with their helpless children about him. I
+heard of a rich lady, there, who made a will, giving her husband a
+handsome annuity as long as he remained her widower. It was evident that
+the poor "white male," sooner or later, was doomed to try for himself
+the virtue of the laws he had made for women. I hope, for the sake of
+the race, he will not bear oppression with the stupid fortitude we have
+for six thousand years.
+
+At Flint I was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Jenny. Mr. Jenny was a
+Democratic editor who believed in progress, and in making smooth paths
+for women in this great wilderness of life. His wife was a remarkable
+woman. She inaugurated the Ladies' Libraries in Michigan. In Flint they
+had a fine brick building and nearly two thousand volumes of choice
+books, owned by the association, and money always in the treasury. Here,
+too, I had a fine audience and gave my lecture entitled "Open the Door."
+
+At Coldwater, in spite of its name, I found a warm, appreciative
+audience. The president of the lyceum was a sensible young man who,
+after graduating at Ann Arbor, decided, instead of starving at the law,
+to work with his hands and brains at the same time. When all men go to
+their legitimate business of creating wealth, developing the resources
+of the country, and leave its mere exchange to the weaker sex, we shall
+not have so many superfluous women in the world with nothing to do. It
+is evident the time has come to hunt man into his appropriate sphere.
+Coming from Chicago, I met Governor Fairchild and Senator Williams of
+Wisconsin. It was delightful to find them thoroughly grounded in the
+faith of woman suffrage. They had been devout readers of the
+_Revolution_ ever since Miss Anthony induced them to subscribe, the
+winter before, at Madison. Of course a new glow of intelligence
+irradiated their fine faces (for they were remarkably handsome men) and
+there was a new point to all their words. Senator Williams, like myself,
+was on a lecturing tour. "Man" was his theme, for which I was devoutly
+thankful; for, if there are any of God's creatures that need lecturing,
+it is this one that is forever advising us. I thought of all men, from
+Father Gregory down to Horace Bushnell, who had wearied their brains to
+describe woman's sphere, and how signally they had failed.
+
+Throughout my lyceum journeys I was of great use to the traveling
+public, in keeping the ventilators in the cars open, and the dampers in
+fiery stoves shut up, especially in sleeping cars at night. How many
+times a day I thought what the sainted Horace Mann tried to impress on
+his stupid countrymen, that, inasmuch as the air is forty miles deep
+around the globe, it is a useless piece of economy to breathe any number
+of cubic feet over more than seven times! The babies, too, need to be
+thankful that I was in a position to witness their wrongs. Many, through
+my intercessions, received their first drink of water, and were
+emancipated from woolen hoods, veils, tight strings under their chins,
+and endless swaddling bands. It is a startling assertion, but true,
+that I have met few women who know how to take care of a baby. And this
+fact led me, on one trip, to lecture to my fair countrywomen on
+"Marriage and Maternity," hoping to aid in the inauguration of a new era
+of happy, healthy babies.
+
+After twenty-four hours in the express I found myself in a pleasant room
+in the International Hotel at La Crosse, looking out on the Great Mother
+of Waters, on whose cold bosom the ice and the steamers were struggling
+for mastery. Beyond stretched the snow-clad bluffs, sternly looking down
+on the Mississippi, as if to say, "'Thus far shalt thou come and no
+farther'--though sluggish, you are aggressive, ever pushing where you
+should not; but all attempts in this direction are alike vain; since
+creation's dawn, we have defied you, and here we stand, to-day, calm,
+majestic, immovable. Coquette as you will in other latitudes, with
+flowery banks and youthful piers in the busy marts of trade, and
+undermine them, one and all, with your deceitful wooings, but bow in
+reverence as you gaze on us. We have no eyes for your beauty; no ears
+for your endless song; our heads are in the clouds, our hearts commune
+with gods; you have no part in the eternal problems of the ages that
+fill our thoughts, yours the humble duty to wash our feet, and then pass
+on, remembering to keep in your appropriate sphere, within the barks
+that wise geographers have seen fit to mark."
+
+As I listened to these complacent hills and watched the poor Mississippi
+weeping as she swept along, to lose her sorrows in ocean's depths, I
+thought how like the attitude of man to woman. Let these proud hills
+remember that they, too, slumbered for centuries in deep valleys down,
+down, when, perchance, the sparkling Mississippi rolled above their
+heads, and but for some generous outburst, some upheaval of old Mother
+Earth, wishing that her rock-ribbed sons, as well as graceful daughters,
+might enjoy the light, the sunshine and the shower--but for this soul of
+love in matter as well as mind--these bluffs and the sons of Adam, too,
+might not boast the altitude they glory in to-day. Those who have ears
+to hear discern low, rumbling noises that foretell convulsions in our
+social world that may, perchance, in the next upheaval, bring woman to
+the surface; up, up, from gloomy ocean depths, dark caverns, and damper
+valleys. The struggling daughters of earth are soon to walk in the
+sunlight of a higher civilization.
+
+Escorted by Mr. Woodward, a member of the bar, I devoted a day to the
+lions of La Crosse. First we explored the courthouse, a large, new brick
+building, from whose dome we had a grand view of the surrounding
+country. The courtroom where justice is administered was large, clean,
+airy--the bench carpeted and adorned with a large, green, stuffed chair,
+in which I sat down, and, in imagination, summoned up advocates, jurors,
+prisoners, and people, and wondered how I should feel pronouncing
+sentence of death on a fellow-being, or, like Portia, wisely checkmating
+the Shylocks of our times. Here I met Judge Hugh Cameron, formerly of
+Johnstown. He invited us into his sanctum, where we had a pleasant chat
+about our native hills, Scotch affiliations, the bench and bar of New
+York, and the Wisconsin laws for women. The Judge, having maintained a
+happy bachelor state, looked placidly on the aggressive movements of
+the sex, as his domestic felicity would be no way affected, whether
+woman was voted up or down.
+
+We next surveyed the Pomeroy building, which contained a large,
+tastefully finished hall and printing establishment, where the La Crosse
+_Democrat_ was formerly published. As I saw the perfection, order, and
+good taste, in all arrangements throughout, and listened to Mr. Huron's
+description of the life and leading characteristics of its chief, it
+seemed impossible to reconcile the tone of the _Democrat_ with the moral
+status of its editor. I never saw a more complete business
+establishment, and the editorial sanctum looked as if it might be the
+abiding place of the Muses. Mirrors, pictures, statuary, books, music,
+rare curiosities, and fine specimens of birds and minerals were
+everywhere. Over the editor's table was a beautiful painting of his
+youthful daughter, whose flaxen hair, blue eyes, and angelic face should
+have inspired a father to nobler, purer, utterances than he was wont, at
+that time, to give to the world.
+
+But Pomeroy's good deeds will live long after his profane words are
+forgotten. Throughout the establishment cards, set up in conspicuous
+places, said, "Smoking here is positively forbidden." Drinking, too, was
+forbidden to all his employés. The moment a man was discovered using
+intoxicating drinks, he was dismissed. In the upper story of the
+building was a large, pleasant room, handsomely carpeted and furnished,
+where the employés, in their leisure hours, could talk, write, read, or
+amuse themselves in any rational way.
+
+Mr. Pomeroy was humane and generous with his employés, honorable in his
+business relations, and boundless in his charities to the poor. His
+charity, business honor, and public spirit were highly spoken of by
+those who knew him best. That a journal does not always reflect the
+editor is as much the fault of society as of the man. So long as the
+public will pay for gross personalities, obscenity, and slang, decent
+journals will be outbidden in the market. The fact that the La Crosse
+_Democrat_ found a ready sale in all parts of the country showed that
+Mr. Pomeroy fairly reflected the popular taste. While multitudes turned
+up the whites of their eyes and denounced him in public, they bought his
+paper and read it in private.
+
+I left La Crosse in a steamer, just as the rising sun lighted the
+hilltops and gilded the Mississippi. It was a lovely morning, and, in
+company with a young girl of sixteen, who had traveled alone from some
+remote part of Canada, bound for a northern village in Wisconsin, I
+promenaded the deck most of the way to Winona, a pleased listener to the
+incidents of my young companion's experiences. She said that, when
+crossing Lake Huron, she was the only woman on board, but the men were
+so kind and civil that she soon forgot she was alone. I found many
+girls, traveling long distances, who had never been five miles from home
+before, with a self-reliance that was remarkable. They all spoke in the
+most flattering manner of the civility of our American men in looking
+after their baggage and advising them as to the best routes.
+
+As you approach St. Paul, at Fort Snelling, where the Mississippi and
+Minnesota join forces, the country grows bold and beautiful. The town
+itself, then boasting about thirty thousand inhabitants, is finely
+situated, with substantial stone residences. It was in one of these
+charming homes I found a harbor of rest during my stay in the city. Mrs.
+Stuart, whose hospitalities I enjoyed, was a woman of rare common sense
+and sound health. Her husband, Dr. Jacob H. Stuart, was one of the very
+first surgeons to volunteer in the late war. In the panic at Bull Run,
+instead of running, as everybody else did, he stayed with the wounded,
+and was taken prisoner while taking a bullet from the head of a rebel.
+When exchanged, Beauregard gave him his sword for his devotion to the
+dying and wounded.
+
+I had the pleasure of seeing several of the leading gentlemen and ladies
+of St. Paul at the Orphans' Fair, where we all adjourned, after my
+lecture, to discuss woman's rights, over a bounteous supper. Here I met
+William L. Banning, the originator of the Lake Superior and Mississippi
+Railroad. He besieged Congress and capitalists for a dozen years to
+build this road, but was laughed at and put off with sneers and
+contempt, until, at last, Jay Cooke became so weary of his continual
+coming that he said: "I will build the road to get rid of you."
+
+Whittier seems to have had a prophetic vision of the peopling of this
+region. When speaking of the Yankee, he says:
+
+    "He's whittling by St. Mary's Falls,
+     Upon his loaded wain;
+    He's measuring o'er the Pictured Rocks,
+     With eager eyes of gain.
+
+    "I hear the mattock in the mine,
+     The ax-stroke in the dell,
+    The clamor from the Indian lodge,
+     The Jesuits' chapel bell!
+
+    "I hear the tread of pioneers
+     Of nations yet to be;
+    The first low wash of waves, where soon
+     Shall roll a human sea."
+
+The opening of these new outlets and mines of wealth was wholly due to
+the forecast and perseverance of Mr. Banning. The first engine that went
+over a part of the road had been christened at St. Paul, with becoming
+ceremonies; the officiating priestess being a beautiful maiden. A cask
+of water from the Pacific was sent by Mr. Banning's brother from
+California, and a small keg was brought from Lake Superior for the
+occasion. A glass was placed in the hands of Miss Ella B. Banning,
+daughter of the president, who then christened the engine, saying: "With
+the waters of the Pacific Ocean in my right hand, and the waters of Lake
+Superior in my left, invoking the Genius of Progress to bring together,
+with iron band, two great commercial systems of the globe, I dedicate
+this engine to the use of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad,
+and name it William L. Banning."
+
+From St. Paul to Dubuque, as the boats had ceased running, a circuitous
+route and a night of discomfort were inevitable. Leaving the main road
+to Chicago at Clinton Junction, I had the pleasure of waiting at a small
+country inn until midnight for a freight train. This was indeed dreary,
+but, having Mrs. Child's sketches of Mmes. De Staël and Roland at hand,
+I read of Napoleon's persecutions of the one and Robespierre's of the
+other, until, by comparison, my condition was tolerable, and the little
+meagerly furnished room, with its dull fire and dim lamp, seemed a
+paradise compared with years of exile from one's native land or the
+prison cell and guillotine. How small our ordinary, petty trials seem
+in contrast with the mountains of sorrow that have been piled up on the
+great souls of the past! Absorbed in communion with them twelve o'clock
+soon came, and with it the train.
+
+A burly son of Adam escorted me to the passenger car filled with German
+immigrants, with tin cups, babies, bags, and bundles innumerable. The
+ventilators were all closed, the stoves hot, and the air was like that
+of the Black Hole of Calcutta. So, after depositing my cloak and bag in
+an empty seat, I quietly propped both doors open with a stick of wood,
+shut up the stoves, and opened all the ventilators with the poker. But
+the celestial breeze, so grateful to me, had the most unhappy effect on
+the slumbering exiles. Paterfamilias swore outright; the companion of
+his earthly pilgrimage said, "We must be going north," and, as the heavy
+veil of carbonic acid gas was lifted from infant faces, and the pure
+oxygen filled their lungs and roused them to new life, they set up one
+simultaneous shout of joy and gratitude, which their parents mistook for
+agony. Altogether there was a general stir. As I had quietly slipped
+into my seat and laid my head down to sleep, I remained unobserved--the
+innocent cause of the general purification and vexation.
+
+We reached Freeport at three o'clock in the morning. As the depot for
+Dubuque was nearly half a mile on the other side of the town, I said to
+a solitary old man who stood shivering there to receive us, "How can I
+get to the other station?" "Walk, madam." "But I do not know the way."
+"There is no one to go with you." "How is my trunk going?" said I. "I
+have a donkey and cart to take that." "Then," said I, "you, the donkey,
+the trunk, and I will go together." So I stepped into the cart, sat down
+on the trunk, and the old man laughed heartily as we jogged along
+through the mud of that solitary town in the pale morning starlight.
+Just as the day was dawning, Dubuque, with its rough hills and bold
+scenery, loomed up. Soon, under the roof of Myron Beach, one of the
+distinguished lawyers of the West, with a good breakfast and sound nap,
+my night's sorrows were forgotten.
+
+I was sorry to find that Mrs. Beach, though a native of New York, and
+born on the very spot where the first woman's rights convention was held
+in this country, was not sound on the question of woman suffrage. She
+seemed to have an idea that voting and housekeeping could not be
+compounded; but I suggested that, if the nation could only enjoy a
+little of the admirable system with which she and other women
+administered their domestic affairs, Uncle Sam's interests would be
+better secured. This is just what the nation needs to-day, and women
+must wake up to the consideration that they, too, have duties as well as
+rights in the State. A splendid audience greeted me in the Opera House,
+and I gave "Our Girls," bringing many male sinners to repentance, and
+stirring up some lethargic _femmes coverts_ to a state of rebellion
+against the existing order of things.
+
+From Dubuque I went to Dixon, a large town, where I met a number of
+pleasant people, but I have one cause of complaint against the telegraph
+operator, whose negligence to send a dispatch to Mt. Vernon, written and
+paid for, came near causing me a solitary night on the prairie,
+unsheltered and unknown. Hearing that the express train went out Sunday
+afternoon, I decided to go, so as to have all day at Mt. Vernon before
+speaking; but on getting my trunk checked, the baggageman said the train
+did not stop there. "Well," said I, "check the trunk to the nearest
+point at which it does stop," resolving that I would persuade the
+conductor to stop one minute, anyway. Accordingly, when the conductor
+came round, I presented my case as persuasively and eloquently as
+possible, telling him that I had telegraphed friends to meet me, etc.,
+etc. He kindly consented to do so and had my trunk re-checked. On
+arriving, as there was no light, no sound, and the depot was half a mile
+from the town, the conductor urged me to go to Cedar Rapids and come
+back the next morning, as it was Sunday night and the depot might not be
+opened, and I might be compelled to stay there on the platform all night
+in the cold.
+
+But, as I had telegraphed, I told him I thought someone would be there,
+and I would take the risk. So off went the train, leaving me solitary
+and alone. I could see the lights in the distant town and the dark
+outlines of two great mills near by, which suggested dams and races. I
+heard, too, the distant barking of dogs, and I thought there might be
+wolves, too; but no human sound. The platform was high and I could see
+no way down, and I should not have dared to go down if I had. So I
+walked all round the house, knocked at every door and window, called
+"John!" "James!" "Patrick!" but no response. Dressed in all their best,
+they had, no doubt, gone to visit Sally, and I knew they would stay
+late. The night wind was cold. What could I do? The prospect of spending
+the night there filled me with dismay. At last I thought I would try my
+vocal powers; so I hallooed as loud as I could, in every note of the
+gamut, until I was hoarse. At last I heard a distant sound, a loud
+halloo, which I returned, and so we kept it up until the voice grew
+near, and, when I heard a man's heavy footsteps close at hand, I was
+relieved. He proved to be the telegraph operator, who had been a brave
+soldier in the late war. He said that no message had come from Dixon. He
+escorted me to the hotel, where some members of the Lyceum Committee
+came in and had a hearty laugh at my adventure, especially that, in my
+distress, I should have called on James and John and Patrick, instead of
+Jane, Ann, and Bridget. They seemed to argue that that was an admission,
+on my part, of man's superiority, but I suggested that, as my sex had
+not yet been exalted to the dignity of presiding in depots and baggage
+rooms, there would have been no propriety in calling Jane and Ann.
+
+Mt. Vernon was distinguished for a very flourishing Methodist college,
+open to boys and girls alike. The president and his wife were liberal
+and progressive people. I dined with them in their home near the
+college, and met some young ladies from Massachusetts, who were teachers
+in the institution. All who gathered round the social board on that
+occasion were of one mind on the woman question. Even the venerable
+mother of the president seemed to light up with the discussion of the
+theme. I gave "Our Girls" in the Methodist church, and took the
+opportunity to compliment them for taking the word "obey" out of their
+marriage ceremony. I heard the most encouraging reports of the
+experiment of educating the sexes together. It was the rule in all the
+Methodist institutions in Iowa, and I found that the young gentlemen
+fully approved of it.
+
+At Mt. Vernon I also met Mr. Wright, former Secretary of State, who gave
+me several interesting facts in regard to the women of Iowa. The State
+could boast one woman who was an able lawyer, Mrs. Mansfield. Mrs. Berry
+and Mrs. Stebbins were notaries public. Miss Addington was
+superintendent of schools in Mitchell County. She was nominated by a
+convention in opposition to a Mr. Brown. When the vote was taken, lo!
+there was a tie. Mr. Brown offered to yield through courtesy, but she
+declined; so they drew lots and Miss Addington was the victor. She once
+made an abstract of titles of all the lands in the county where she
+lived, and had received an appointment to office from the Governor of
+the State, who requested the paper to be made out "L." instead of Laura
+Addington. He said it was enough for Iowa to appoint women to such
+offices, without having it known the world over. I was sorry to tell the
+Governor's secrets,--which I did everywhere,--but the cause of womanhood
+made it necessary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+WESTWARD HO!
+
+
+In the month of June, 1871, Miss Anthony and I went to California,
+holding suffrage meetings in many of the chief cities from New York to
+San Francisco, where we arrived about the middle of July, in time to
+experience the dry, dusty season.
+
+We tarried, on the way, one week in Salt Lake City. It was at the time
+of the Godby secession, when several hundred Mormons abjured that
+portion of the faith of their fathers which authorized polygamy. A
+decision had just been rendered by the United States Supreme Court
+declaring the first wife and her children the only legal heirs. Whether
+this decision hastened the secession I do not know; however, it gave us
+the advantage of hearing all the arguments for and against the system.
+Those who were opposed to it said it made slaves of men. To support four
+wives and twenty children was a severe strain on any husband. The women
+who believed in polygamy had much to say in its favor, especially in
+regard to the sacredness of motherhood during the period of pregnancy
+and lactation; a lesson of respect for that period being religiously
+taught all Mormons.
+
+We were very thankful for the privilege granted us of speaking to the
+women alone in the smaller Tabernacle. Our meeting opened at two o'clock
+and lasted until seven, giving us five hours of uninterrupted
+conversation. Judge McKeon had informed me of the recent decisions and
+the legal aspects of the questions, which he urged me to present to them
+fully and frankly, as no one had had such an opportunity before to speak
+to Mormon women alone. So I made the most of my privilege. I gave a
+brief history of the marriage institution in all times and countries, of
+the matriarchate, when the mother was the head of the family and owned
+the property and children; of the patriarchate, when man reigned supreme
+and woman was enslaved; of polyandry, polygamy, monogamy, and
+prostitution. We had a full and free discussion of every phase of the
+question, and we all agreed that we were still far from having reached
+the ideal position for woman in marriage, however satisfied man might be
+with his various experiments. Though the Mormon women, like all others,
+stoutly defend their own religion, yet they are no more satisfied than
+any other sect. All women are dissatisfied with their position as
+inferiors, and their dissatisfaction increases in exact ratio with their
+intelligence and development.
+
+After this convocation the doors of the Tabernacle were closed to our
+ministrations, as we thought they would be, but we had crowded an
+immense amount of science, philosophy, history, and general reflections
+into the five hours of such free talk as those women had never heard
+before. As the seceders had just built a new hall, we held meetings
+there every day, discussing all the vital issues of the hour; the Mormon
+men and women taking an active part.
+
+We attended the Fourth of July celebration, and saw the immense
+Tabernacle filled to its utmost capacity. The various States of the
+Union were represented by young girls, gayly dressed, carrying beautiful
+flags and banners. When that immense multitude joined in our national
+songs, and the deep-toned organ filled the vast dome the music was very
+impressive, and the spirit of patriotism manifested throughout was deep
+and sincere.
+
+As I stood among these simple people, so earnest in making their
+experiment in religion and social life, and remembered all the
+persecutions they had suffered and all they had accomplished in that
+desolate, far-off region, where they had, indeed, made "the wilderness
+blossom like the rose," I appreciated, as never before, the danger of
+intermeddling with the religious ideas of any people. Their faith finds
+abundant authority in the Bible, in the example of God's chosen people.
+When learned ecclesiastics teach the people that they can safely take
+that book as the guide of their lives, they must expect them to follow
+the letter and the specific teachings that lie on the surface. The
+ordinary mind does not generalize nor see that the same principles of
+conduct will not do for all periods and latitudes. When women understand
+that governments and religions are human inventions; that Bibles,
+prayerbooks, catechisms, and encyclical letters are all emanations from
+the brain of man, they will no longer be oppressed by the injunctions
+that come to them with the divine authority of "Thus saith the Lord."
+
+That thoroughly democratic gathering in the Tabernacle impressed me more
+than any other Fourth of July celebration I ever attended. As most of
+the Mormon families keep no servants, mothers must take their children
+wherever they go--to churches, theatres, concerts, and military
+reviews--everywhere and anywhere. Hence the low, pensive wail of the
+individual baby, combining in large numbers, becomes a deep monotone,
+like the waves of the sea, a sort of violoncello accompaniment to all
+their holiday performances. It was rather trying to me at first to have
+my glowing periods punctuated with a rhythmic wail from all sides of the
+hall; but as soon as I saw that it did not distract my hearers, I simply
+raised my voice, and, with a little added vehemence, fairly rivaled the
+babies. Commenting on this trial, to one of the theatrical performers,
+he replied: "It is bad enough for you, but alas! imagine me in a tender
+death scene, when the most profound stillness is indispensable, having
+my last gasp, my farewell message to loved ones, accentuated with the
+joyful crowings or impatient complainings of fifty babies." I noticed in
+the Tabernacle that the miseries of the infantile host were in a measure
+mitigated by constant draughts of cold water, borne around in buckets by
+four old men.
+
+The question of the most profound interest to us at that time, in the
+Mormon experiment, was the exercise of the suffrage by women. Emeline B.
+Wells, wife of the Mayor of the city, writing to a Washington
+convention, in 1894, said of the many complications growing out of
+various bills before Congress to rob women of this right:
+
+     "Women have voted in Utah fourteen years, but, because of the
+     little word 'male' that still stands upon the statutes, no woman is
+     eligible to any office of emolument or trust. In three successive
+     legislatures, bills have been passed, providing that the word
+     'male' be erased; but, each time, the Governor of the Territory,
+     who has absolute veto power, has refused his signature. Yet women
+     attend primary meetings in the various precincts and are chosen as
+     delegates. They are also members of county and territorial central
+     committees, and are thus gaining practical political experience,
+     and preparing themselves for positions of trust.
+
+     "In 1882 a convention was held to frame a constitution to be
+     submitted to the people and presented to the Congress of the United
+     States. Women were delegates to this convention, and took part in
+     all its deliberations, and were appointed to act on committees with
+     equal privileges. It is the first instance on record, I think,
+     where women have been members and taken an active part in a
+     constitutional convention.
+
+     "Much has been said and written, and justly, too, of suffrage for
+     women in Wyoming; but, in my humble opinion, had Utah stood on the
+     same ground as Wyoming, and women been eligible to office, as they
+     are in that Territory, they would, ere this, have been elected to
+     the legislative Assembly of Utah.
+
+     "It is currently reported that Mormon women vote as they are told
+     by their husbands. I most emphatically deny the assertion. All
+     Mormon women vote who are privileged to register. Every girl born
+     here, as soon as she is twenty-one years old, registers, and
+     considers it as much a duty as to say her prayers. Our women vote
+     with the same freedom that characterizes any class of people in the
+     most conscientious acts of their lives."
+
+These various questions were happily solved in 1895, when Utah became a
+State. Its Constitution gives women the right to vote on all questions,
+and makes them eligible to any office.
+
+The journey over the Rocky Mountains was more interesting and wonderful
+than I had imagined. A heavy shower the morning we reached the alkali
+plains made the trip through that region, where travelers suffer so
+much, quite endurable. Although we reached California in its hot, dry
+season, we found the atmosphere in San Francisco delightful, fanned with
+the gentle breezes of the Pacific, cooled with the waters of its
+magnificent harbor. The Golden Gate does indeed open to the eye of the
+traveler one of the most beautiful harbors in the world.
+
+Friends had engaged for us a suite of apartments at the Grand Hotel,
+then just opened. Our rooms were constantly decked with fresh flowers,
+which our "suffrage children," as they called themselves, brought us
+from day to day. So many brought tokens of their good will--in fact, all
+our visitors came with offerings of fruits and flowers--that not only
+our apartments, but the public tables were crowded with rare and
+beautiful specimens of all varieties. We spoke every night, to crowded
+houses, on all phases of the woman question, and had a succession of
+visitors during the day. In fact, for one week, we had a perfect
+ovation. As Senator Stanford and his wife were at the same hotel, we had
+many pleasant interviews with them.
+
+While in San Francisco we had many delightful sails in the harbor and
+drives to the seashore and for miles along the beach. We spent several
+hours at the little Ocean House, watching the gambols of the celebrated
+seals. These, like the big trees, were named after distinguished
+statesmen. One very black fellow was named Charles Sumner, in honor of
+his love of the black race; another, with a little squint in his eye,
+was called Ben Butler; a stout, rotund specimen that seemed to take life
+philosophically, was named Senator Davis of Illinois; a very belligerent
+one, who appeared determined to crowd his confrères into the sea, was
+called Secretary Stanton. Grant and Lincoln, on a higher ledge of the
+rocks, were complacently observing the gambols of the rest.
+
+California was on the eve of an important election, and John A. Bingham
+of Ohio and Senator Cole were stumping the State for the Republican
+party. At several points we had the use of their great tents for our
+audiences, and of such of their able arguments as applied to woman. As
+Mr. Bingham's great speech was on the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
+Fifteenth Amendments, every principle he laid down literally
+enfranchised the women of the nation. I met the Ohio statesman one
+morning at breakfast, after hearing him the night before. I told him his
+logic must compel him to advocate woman suffrage. With a most cynical
+smile he said "he was not the puppet of logic, but the slave of
+practical politics."
+
+We met most of our suffrage coadjutors in different parts of California.
+I spent a few days with Mrs. Elizabeth B. Schenck, one of the earliest
+pioneers in the suffrage movement. She was a cultivated, noble woman,
+and her little cottage was a gem of beauty and comfort, surrounded with
+beautiful gardens and a hedge of fish-geraniums over ten feet high,
+covered with scarlet flowers. It seemed altogether more like a fairy
+bower than a human habitation. The windmills all over California, for
+pumping water, make a very pretty feature in the landscape, as well as
+an important one, as people are obliged to irrigate their gardens
+during the dry season. In August the hills are as brown as ours in
+December.
+
+Here, too, I first met Senator Sargent's family, and visited them in
+Sacramento City, where we had a suffrage meeting in the evening and one
+for women alone next day. At a similar meeting in San Francisco six
+hundred women were present in Platt's Hall. We discussed marriage,
+maternity, and social life in general. Supposing none but women were
+present, as all were dressed in feminine costume, the audience were
+quite free in their questions, and I equally so in my answers. To our
+astonishment, the next morning, a verbatim report of all that was said
+appeared in one of the leading papers, with most respectful comments. As
+I always wrote and read carefully what I had to say on such delicate
+subjects, the language was well chosen and the presentation of facts and
+philosophy quite unobjectionable; hence, the information being as
+important for men as for women, I did not regret the publication. During
+the day a committee of three gentlemen called to know if I would give a
+lecture to men alone. As I had no lecture prepared, I declined, with the
+promise to do so the next time I visited California. The idea was novel,
+but I think women could do much good in that way.
+
+My readers may be sure that such enterprising travelers as Miss Anthony
+and myself visited all the wonders, saw the geysers, big trees, the
+Yosemite Valley, and the immense mountain ranges, piled one above
+another, until they seemed to make a giant pathway from earth to heaven.
+We drove down the mountain sides with Fox, the celebrated whip; sixteen
+people in an open carriage drawn by six horses, down, down, down, as
+fast as we could go. I expected to be dashed to pieces, but we safely
+descended in one hour, heights we had taken three to climb. Fox held a
+steady rein, and seemed as calm as if we were trotting on a level,
+though any accident, such as a hot axle, a stumbling horse, or a break
+in the harness would have sent us down the mountain side, two thousand
+feet, to inevitable destruction. He had many amusing anecdotes to tell
+of Horace Greeley's trip to the Geysers. The distinguished journalist
+was wholly unprepared for the race down the mountains and begged Fox to
+hold up. Sitting in front he made several efforts to seize the lines.
+But Fox assured him that was the only possible way they could descend in
+safety, as the horses could guide the stage, but they could not hold it.
+
+At Stockton we met a party of friends just returning from the Yosemite,
+who gave us much valuable information for the journey. Among other
+things, I was advised to write to Mr. Hutchins, the chief authority
+there, to have a good, strong horse in readiness to take me down the
+steep and narrow path into the valley. We took the same driver and
+carriage which our friends had found trustworthy, and started early in
+the morning. The dust and heat made the day's journey very wearisome,
+but the prospect of seeing the wonderful valley made all hardships of
+little consequence. Quite a large party were waiting to mount their
+donkeys and mules when we arrived. One of the attendants, a man about as
+thin as a stair rod, asked me if I was the lady who had ordered a strong
+horse; I being the stoutest of the party, he readily arrived at that
+conclusion, so my steed was promptly produced. But I knew enough of
+horses and riding to see at a glance that he was a failure, with his low
+withers and high haunches, for descending steep mountains. In addition
+to his forward pitch, his back was immensely broad. Miss Anthony and I
+decided to ride astride and had suits made for that purpose; but alas!
+my steed was so broad that I could not reach the stirrups, and the
+moment we began to descend, I felt as if I were going over his head. So
+I fell behind, and, when the party had all gone forward, I dismounted,
+though my slender guide assured me there was no danger, he "had been up
+and down a thousand times." But, as I had never been at all, his
+repeated experiences did not inspire me with courage. I decided to walk.
+That, the guide said, was impossible. "Well," said I, by way of
+compromise, "I will walk as far as I can, and when I reach the
+impossible, I will try that ill-constructed beast. I cannot see what you
+men were thinking of when you selected such an animal for this journey."
+And so we went slowly down, arguing the point whether it were better to
+ride or walk; to trust one's own legs, or, by chance, be precipitated
+thousands of feet down the mountain side.
+
+It was a hot August day; the sun, in the zenith, shining with full
+power. My blood was at boiling heat with exercise and vexation.
+Alternately sliding and walking, catching hold of rocks and twigs,
+drinking at every rivulet, covered with dust, dripping with
+perspiration, skirts, gloves, and shoes in tatters, for four long hours
+I struggled down to the end, when I laid myself out on the grass, and
+fell asleep, perfectly exhausted, having sent the guide to tell Mr.
+Hutchins that I had reached the valley, and, as I could neither ride nor
+walk, to send a wheelbarrow, or four men with a blanket to transport me
+to the hotel. That very day the Mariposa Company had brought the first
+carriage into the valley, which, in due time, was sent to my relief.
+Miss Anthony, who, with a nice little Mexican pony and narrow saddle,
+had made her descent with grace and dignity, welcomed me on the steps of
+the hotel, and laughed immoderately at my helpless plight.
+
+As hour after hour had passed, she said, there had been a general
+wonderment as to what had become of me; "but did you ever see such
+magnificent scenery?" "Alas!" I replied, "I have been in no mood for
+scenery. I have been constantly watching my hands and feet lest I should
+come to grief." The next day I was too stiff and sore to move a finger.
+However, in due time I awoke to the glory and grandeur of that wonderful
+valley, of which no descriptions nor paintings can give the least idea.
+With Sunset Cox, the leading Democratic statesman, and his wife, we had
+many pleasant excursions through the valley, and chats, during the
+evening, on the piazza. There was a constant succession of people going
+and coming, even in that far-off region, and all had their adventures to
+relate. But none quite equaled my experiences.
+
+We spent a day in the Calaveras Grove, rested beneath the "big trees,"
+and rode on horseback through the fallen trunk of one of them. Some
+vandals sawed off one of the most magnificent specimens twenty feet
+above the ground, and, on this the owners of the hotel built a little
+octagonal chapel. The polished wood, with bark for a border, made a very
+pretty floor. Here they often had Sunday services, as it held about one
+hundred people. Here, too, we discussed the suffrage question, amid
+these majestic trees that had battled with the winds two thousand
+years, and had probably never before listened to such rebellion as we
+preached to the daughters of earth that day.
+
+Here, again, we found our distinguished statesmen immortalized, each
+with his namesake among these stately trees. We asked our guide if there
+were any not yet appropriated, might we name them after women. As he
+readily consented, we wrote on cards the names of a dozen leading women,
+and tacked them on their respective trees. Whether Lucretia Mott, Lucy
+Stone, Phoebe Couzins, and Anna Dickinson still retain their identity,
+and answer when called by the goddess Sylvia in that majestic grove, I
+know not. Twenty-five years have rolled by since then, and a new
+generation of visitors and guides may have left no trace of our work
+behind them. But we whispered our hopes and aspirations to the trees, to
+be wafted to the powers above, and we left them indelibly pictured on
+the walls of the little chapel, and for more mortal eyes we scattered
+leaflets wherever we went, and made all our pleasure trips so many
+propaganda for woman's enfranchisement.
+
+Returning from California I made the journey straight through from San
+Francisco to New York. Though a long trip to make without a break, yet I
+enjoyed every moment, as I found most charming companions in Bishop
+Janes and his daughter. The Bishop being very liberal in his ideas, we
+discussed the various theologies, and all phases of the woman question.
+I shall never forget those pleasant conversations as we sat outside on
+the platform, day after day, and in the soft moonlight late at night. We
+took up the thread of our debate each morning where we had dropped it
+the night before. The Bishop told me about the resolution to take the
+word "obey" from the marriage ceremony which he introduced, two years
+before, into the Methodist General Conference and carried with but
+little opposition. All praise to the Methodist Church! When our girls
+are educated into a proper self-respect and laudable pride of sex, they
+will scout all these old barbarisms of the past that point in any way to
+the subject condition of women in either the State, the Church, or the
+home. Until the other sects follow her example, I hope our girls will
+insist on having their conjugal knots all tied by Methodist bishops.
+
+The Episcopal marriage service not only still clings to the word "obey,"
+but it has a most humiliating ceremony in giving the bride away. I was
+never more struck with its odious and ludicrous features than on once
+seeing a tall, queenly-looking woman, magnificently arrayed, married by
+one of the tiniest priests that ever donned a surplice and gown, given
+away by the smallest guardian that ever watched a woman's fortunes, to
+the feeblest, bluest-looking little groom that ever placed a wedding
+ring on bridal finger. Seeing these Lilliputians around her, I thought,
+when the little priest said, "Who gives this woman to this man," that
+she would take the responsibility and say, "I do," but no! there she
+stood, calm, serene, as if it were no affair of hers, while the little
+guardian, placing her hand in that of the little groom, said, "I do."
+Thus was this stately woman bandied about by these three puny men, all
+of whom she might have gathered up in her arms and borne off to their
+respective places of abode.
+
+But women are gradually waking up to the degradation of these
+ceremonies. Not long since, at a wedding in high life, a beautiful girl
+of eighteen was struck dumb at the word "obey." Three times the priest
+pronounced it with emphasis and holy unction, each time slower, louder,
+than before. Though the magnificent parlors were crowded, a breathless
+silence reigned. Father, mother, and groom were in agony. The bride,
+with downcast eyes, stood speechless. At length the priest slowly closed
+his book and said, "The ceremony is at an end." One imploring word from
+the groom, and a faint "obey" was heard in the solemn stillness. The
+priest unclasped his book and the knot was tied. The congratulations,
+feast, and all, went on as though there had been no break in the
+proceedings, but the lesson was remembered, and many a rebel made by
+that short pause.
+
+I think all these reverend gentlemen who insist on the word "obey" in
+the marriage service should be removed for a clear violation of the
+Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, which says there shall
+be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude within the United States.
+As I gave these experiences to Bishop Janes he laughed heartily, and
+asked me to repeat them to each newcomer. Our little debating society
+was the center of attraction. One gentleman asked me if our woman
+suffrage conventions were as entertaining. I told him yes; that there
+were no meetings in Washington so interesting and so well attended as
+ours.
+
+As I had some woman-suffrage literature in my valise, I distributed
+leaflets to all earnest souls who plied me with questions. Like all
+other things, it requires great discretion in sowing leaflets, lest you
+expose yourself to a rebuff. I never offer one to a man with a small
+head and high heels on his boots, with his chin in the air, because I
+know, in the nature of things, that he will be jealous of superior
+women; nor to a woman whose mouth has the "prunes and prisms"
+expression, for I know she will say, "I have all the rights I want."
+Going up to London one day, a few years later, I noticed a saintly
+sister, belonging to the Salvation Army, timidly offering some leaflets
+to several persons on board; all coolly declined to receive them. Having
+had much experience in the joys and sorrows of propagandism, I put out
+my hand and asked her to give them to me. I thanked her and read them
+before reaching London. It did me no harm and her much good in thinking
+that she might have planted a new idea in my mind. Whatever is given to
+us freely, I think, in common politeness, we should accept graciously.
+
+While I was enjoying once more the comforts of home, on the blue hills
+of Jersey, Miss Anthony was lighting the fires of liberty on the
+mountain tops of Oregon and Washington Territory. All through the months
+of October, November, and December, 1871, she was jolting about in
+stages, over rough roads, speaking in every hamlet where a schoolhouse
+was to be found, and scattering our breezy leaflets to the four winds of
+heaven.
+
+From 1869 to 1873 Miss Anthony and I made several trips through Iowa,
+Missouri, Illinois, and Nebraska, holding meetings at most of the chief
+towns; I speaking in the afternoons to women alone on "Marriage and
+Maternity." As Miss Anthony had other pressing engagements in Kansas and
+Nebraska, I went alone to Texas, speaking in Dallas, Sherman, and
+Houston, where I was delayed two weeks by floods and thus prevented
+from going to Austin, Galveston, and some points in Louisiana, where I
+was advertised to lecture. In fact I lost all my appointments for a
+month. However, there was a fine hotel in Houston and many pleasant
+people, among whom I made some valuable acquaintances. Beside several
+public meetings, I had parlor talks and scattered leaflets, so that my
+time was not lost.
+
+As the floods had upset my plans for the winter, I went straight from
+Houston to New York over the Iron Mountain Railroad. I anticipated a
+rather solitary trip; but, fortunately, I met General Baird, whom I
+knew, and some other army officers, who had been down on the Mexican
+border to settle some troubles in the "free zone." We amused ourselves
+on the long journey with whist and woman suffrage discussions. We
+noticed a dyspeptic-looking clergyman, evidently of a bilious
+temperament, eying us very steadily and disapprovingly the first day,
+and in a quiet way we warned each other that, in due time, he would give
+us a sermon on the sin of card playing.
+
+Sitting alone, early next morning, he seated himself by my side, and
+asked me if I would allow him to express his opinion on card playing. I
+said "Oh, yes! I fully believe in free speech." "Well," said he, "I
+never touch cards. I think they are an invention of the devil to lead
+unwary souls from all serious thought of the stern duties of life and
+the realities of eternity! I was sorry to see you, with your white hair,
+probably near the end of your earthly career, playing cards and talking
+with those reckless army officers, who delight in killing their
+fellow-beings. No! I do not believe in war or card playing; such things
+do not prepare the soul for heaven." "Well," said I, "you are quite
+right, with your views, to abjure the society of army officers and all
+games of cards. You, no doubt, enjoy your own thoughts and the book you
+are reading, more than you would the conversation of those gentlemen and
+a game of whist. We must regulate our conduct by our own highest ideal.
+While I deplore the necessity of war, yet I know in our Army many of the
+noblest types of manhood, whose acquaintance I prize most highly. I
+enjoy all games, too, from chess down to dominoes. There is so much that
+is sad and stern in life that we need sometimes to lay down its burdens
+and indulge in innocent amusements. Thus, you see, what is wise from my
+standpoint is unwise from yours. I am sorry that you repudiate all
+amusements, as they contribute to the health of body and soul. You are
+sorry that I do not think as you do and regulate my life accordingly.
+You are sure that you are right. I am equally sure that I am. Hence
+there is nothing to be done in either case but to let each other alone,
+and wait for the slow process of evolution to give to each of us a
+higher standard." Just then one of the officers asked me if I was ready
+for a game of whist, and I excused myself from further discussion. I met
+many of those dolorous saints in my travels, who spent so much thought
+on eternity and saving their souls that they lost all the joys of time,
+as well as those sweet virtues of courtesy and charity that might best
+fit them for good works on earth and happiness in heaven.
+
+In the spring I went to Nebraska, and Miss Anthony and I again made a
+Western tour, sometimes together and sometimes by different routes. A
+constitutional convention was in session in Lincoln, and it was
+proposed to submit an amendment to strike the word "male" from the
+Constitution. Nebraska became a State in March, 1867, and took "Equality
+before the law" as her motto. Her Territorial legislature had discussed,
+many times, proposed liberal legislation for women, and her State
+legislature had twice considered propositions for woman's
+enfranchisement. I had a valise with me containing Hon. Benjamin F.
+Butler's minority reports as a member of the Judiciary Committee of the
+United States House of Representatives, in favor of woman's right to
+vote under the Fourteenth Amendment. As we were crossing the Platte
+River, in transferring the baggage to the boat, my valise fell into the
+river. My heart stood still at the thought of such a fate for all those
+able arguments. After the great General had been in hot water all his
+life, it was grievous to think of any of his lucubrations perishing in
+cold water at last. Fortunately they were rescued. On reaching Lincoln I
+was escorted to the home of the Governor, where I spread the documents
+in the sunshine, and they were soon ready to be distributed among the
+members of the constitutional convention.
+
+After I had addressed the convention, some of the members called on me
+to discuss the points of my speech. All the gentlemen were serious and
+respectful with one exception. A man with an unusually small head,
+diminutive form, and crooked legs tried, at my expense, to be witty and
+facetious. During a brief pause in the conversation he brought his chair
+directly before me and said, in a mocking tone, "Don't you think that
+the best thing a woman can do is to perform well her part in the role of
+wife and mother? My wife has presented me with eight beautiful
+children; is not this a better life-work than that of exercising the
+right of suffrage?"
+
+I had had my eye on this man during the whole interview, and saw that
+the other members were annoyed at his behavior. I decided, when the
+opportune moment arrived, to give him an answer not soon to be
+forgotten; so I promptly replied to his question, as I slowly viewed him
+from head to foot, "I have met few men, in my life, worth repeating
+eight times." The members burst into a roar of laughter, and one of
+them, clapping him on the shoulder, said: "There, sonny, you have read
+and spelled; you better go." This scene was heralded in all the Nebraska
+papers, and, wherever the little man went, he was asked why Mrs. Stanton
+thought he was not worth repeating eight times.
+
+During my stay in Lincoln there was a celebration of the opening of some
+railroad. An immense crowd from miles about assembled on this occasion.
+The collation was spread and speeches were made in the open air. The men
+congratulated each other on the wonderful progress the State had made
+since it became an organized Territory in 1854. There was not the
+slightest reference, at first, to the women. One speaker said: "This
+State was settled by three brothers, John, James, and Joseph, and from
+them have sprung the great concourse of people that greet us here
+to-day." I turned, and asked the Governor if all these people had
+sprung, Minerva-like, from the brains of John, James, and Joseph. He
+urged me to put that question to the speaker; so, in one of his eloquent
+pauses, I propounded the query, which was greeted with loud and
+prolonged cheers, to the evident satisfaction of the women present. The
+next speaker took good care to give the due meed of praise to Ann, Jane,
+and Mary, and to every mention of the mothers of Nebraska the crowd
+heartily responded.
+
+In toasting "the women of Nebraska," at the collation, I said: "Here's
+to the mothers, who came hither by long, tedious journeys, closely
+packed with restless children in emigrant wagons, cooking the meals by
+day, and nursing the babies by night, while the men slept. Leaving
+comfortable homes in the East, they endured all the hardships of pioneer
+life, suffered, with the men, the attacks of the Dakota Indians and the
+constant apprehension of savage raids, of prairie fires, and the
+devastating locusts. Man's trials, his fears, his losses, all fell on
+woman with double force; yet history is silent concerning the part woman
+performed in the frontier life of the early settlers. Men make no
+mention of her heroism and divine patience; they take no thought of the
+mental or physical agonies women endure in the perils of maternity,
+ofttimes without nurse or physician in the supreme hour of their need,
+going, as every mother does, to the very gates of death in giving life
+to an immortal being!"
+
+Traveling all over these Western States in the early days, seeing the
+privations women suffered, and listening to the tales of sorrow at the
+fireside, I wondered that men could ever forget the debt of gratitude
+they owed to their mothers, or fail to commemorate their part in the
+growth of a great people. Yet the men of Nebraska have twice defeated
+the woman suffrage amendment.
+
+In 1874 Michigan was the point of interest to all those who had taken
+part in the woman-suffrage movement. The legislature, by a very large
+majority, submitted to a vote of the electors an amendment of the
+Constitution, in favor of striking out the word "male" and thus securing
+civil and political rights to the women of the State. It was a very
+active campaign. Crowded meetings were held in all the chief towns and
+cities. Professor Moses Coit Tyler, and a large number of ministers
+preached, every Sunday, on the subject of woman's position. The
+Methodist conference passed a resolution in favor of the amendment by a
+unanimous vote. I was in the State during the intense heat of May and
+June, speaking every evening to large audiences; in the afternoon to
+women alone, and preaching every Sunday in some pulpit. The Methodists,
+Universalists, Unitarians, and Quakers all threw open their churches to
+the apostles of the new gospel of equality for women. We spoke in jails,
+prisons, asylums, depots, and the open air. Wherever there were ears to
+hear, we lifted up our voices, and, on the wings of the wind, the glad
+tidings were carried to the remote corners of the State, and the votes
+of forty thousand men, on election day, in favor of the amendment were
+so many testimonials to the value of the educational work accomplished.
+
+I made many valuable acquaintances, on that trip, with whom I have
+maintained lifelong friendships. One pleasant day I passed in the home
+of Governor Bagley and his wife, with a group of pretty children. I
+found the Governor deeply interested in prison reform. He had been
+instrumental in passing a law giving prisoners lights in their cells and
+pleasant reading matter until nine o'clock. His ideas of what prisons
+should be, as unfolded that day, have since been fully realized in the
+grand experiment now being successfully tried at Elmira, New York.
+
+I visited the State prison at Jackson, and addressed seven hundred men
+and boys, ranging from seventy down to seventeen years of age. Seated on
+the dais with the chaplain, I saw them file in to dinner, and, while
+they were eating, I had an opportunity to study the sad, despairing
+faces before me. I shall never forget the hopeless expression of one
+young man, who had just been sentenced for twenty years, nor how ashamed
+I felt that one of my own sex, trifling with two lovers, had fanned the
+jealousy of one against the other, until the tragedy ended in the death
+of one and the almost lifelong imprisonment of the other. If girls
+should be truthful and transparent in any relations in life, surely it
+is in those of love, involving the strongest passions of which human
+nature is capable. As the chaplain told me the sad story, and I noticed
+the prisoner's refined face and well-shaped head, I felt that the young
+man was not under the right influences to learn the lesson he needed.
+Fear, coercion, punishment, are the masculine remedies for moral
+weakness, but statistics show their failure for centuries. Why not
+change the system and try the education of the moral and intellectual
+faculties, cheerful surroundings, inspiring influences? Everything in
+our present system tends to lower the physical vitality, the
+self-respect, the moral tone, and to harden instead of reforming the
+criminal.
+
+My heart was so heavy I did not know what to say to such an assembly of
+the miserable. I asked the chaplain what I should say. "Just what you
+please," he replied. Thinking they had probably heard enough of their
+sins, their souls, and the plan of salvation, I thought I would give
+them the news of the day. So I told them about the woman suffrage
+amendment, what I was doing in the State, my amusing encounters with
+opponents, their arguments, my answers. I told them of the great changes
+that would be effected in prison life when the mothers of the nation had
+a voice in the buildings and discipline. I told them what Governor
+Bagley said, and of the good time coming when prisons would no longer be
+places of punishment but schools of reformation. To show them what women
+would do to realize this beautiful dream, I told them of Elizabeth Fry
+and Dorothea L. Dix, of Mrs. Farnham's experiment at Sing Sing, and
+Louise Michel's in New Caledonia, and, in closing, I said: "Now I want
+all of you who are in favor of the amendment to hold up your right
+hands." They gave a unanimous vote, and laughed heartily when I said, "I
+do wish you could all go to the polls in November and that we could lock
+our opponents up here until after the election." I felt satisfied that
+they had had one happy hour, and that I had said nothing to hurt the
+feelings of the most unfortunate. As they filed off to their respective
+workshops my faith and hope for brighter days went with them. Then I
+went all through the prison. Everything looked clean and comfortable on
+the surface, but I met a few days after a man, just set free, who had
+been there five years for forgery. He told me the true inwardness of the
+system; of the wretched, dreary life they suffered, and the brutality of
+the keepers. He said the prison was infested with mice and vermin, and
+that, during the five years he was there, he had never lain down one
+night to undisturbed slumber. The sufferings endured in summer for want
+of air, he said, were indescribable. In this prison the cells were in
+the center of the building, the corridors running all around by the
+windows, so the prisoners had no outlook and no direct contact with the
+air. Hence, if a careless keeper forgot to open the windows after a
+storm, the poor prisoners panted for air in their cells, like fish out
+of water. My informant worked in the mattress department, over the room
+where prisoners were punished. He said he could hear the lash and the
+screams of the victims from morning till night. "Hard as the work is all
+day," said he, "it is a blessed relief to get out of our cells to march
+across the yard and get one glimpse of the heavens above, and one breath
+of pure air, and to be in contact with other human souls in the
+workshops, for, although we could never speak to each other, yet there
+was a hidden current of sympathy conveyed by look that made us one in
+our misery."
+
+Though the press of the State was largely in our favor, yet there were
+some editors who, having no arguments, exercised the little wit they did
+possess in low ridicule. It was in this campaign that an editor in a
+Kalamazoo journal said: "That ancient daughter of Methuselah, Susan B.
+Anthony, passed through our city yesterday, on her way to the Plainwell
+meeting, with a bonnet on her head looking as if it had recently
+descended from Noah's ark." Miss Anthony often referred to this
+description of herself, and said, "Had I represented twenty thousand
+voters in Michigan, that political editor would not have known nor cared
+whether I was the oldest or the youngest daughter of Methuselah, or
+whether my bonnet came from the ark or from Worth's."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE SPIRIT OF '76.
+
+
+The year 1876 was one of intense excitement and laborious activity
+throughout the country. The anticipation of the centennial birthday of
+the Republic, to be celebrated in Philadelphia, stirred the patriotism
+of the people to the highest point of enthusiasm. As each State was to
+be represented in the great exhibition, local pride added another
+element to the public interest. Then, too, everyone who could possibly
+afford the journey was making busy preparations to spend the Fourth of
+July, the natal day of the Republic, mid the scenes where the
+Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776, the Government
+inaugurated, and the first national councils were held. Those interested
+in women's political rights decided to make the Fourth a woman's day,
+and to celebrate the occasion, in their various localities, by
+delivering orations and reading their own declaration of rights, with
+dinners and picnics in the town halls or groves, as most convenient. But
+many from every State in the Union made their arrangements to spend the
+historic period in Philadelphia. Owing, also, to the large number of
+foreigners who came over to join in the festivities, that city was
+crammed to its utmost capacity. With the crowd and excessive heat,
+comfort was everywhere sacrificed to curiosity.
+
+The enthusiasm throughout the country had given a fresh impulse to the
+lyceum bureaus. Like the ferryboats in New York harbor, running hither
+and thither, crossing each other's tracks, the whole list of lecturers
+were on the wing, flying to every town and city from San Francisco to
+New York. As soon as a new railroad ran through a village of five
+hundred inhabitants that could boast a schoolhouse, a church, or a
+hotel, and one enterprising man or woman, a course of lectures was at
+once inaugurated as a part of the winter's entertainments.
+
+On one occasion I was invited, by mistake, to a little town to lecture
+the same evening when the Christy Minstrels were to perform. It was
+arranged, as the town had only one hall, that I should speak from seven
+to eight o'clock and the minstrels should have the remainder of the
+time. One may readily see that, with the minstrels in anticipation, a
+lecture on any serious question would occupy but a small place in the
+hearts of the people in a town where they seldom had entertainments of
+any kind. All the time I was speaking there was a running to and fro
+behind the scenes, where the minstrels were transforming themselves with
+paints and curly wigs into Africans, and laughing at each other's jests.
+As it was a warm evening, and the windows were open, the hilarity of the
+boys in the street added to the general din. Under such circumstances it
+was difficult to preserve my equilibrium. I felt like laughing at my own
+comical predicament, and I decided to make my address a medley of
+anecdotes and stories, like a string of beads, held together by a fine
+thread of argument and illustration. The moment the hand of the clock
+pointed at eight o'clock the band struck up, thus announcing that the
+happy hour for the minstrels had come. Those of my audience who wished
+to stay were offered seats at half price; those who did not, slipped
+out, and the crowd rushed in, soon packing the house to its utmost
+capacity. I stayed, and enjoyed the performance of the minstrels more
+than I had my own.
+
+As the lyceum season lasted from October to June, I was late in reaching
+Philadelphia. Miss Anthony and Mrs. Gage had already been through the
+agony of finding appropriate headquarters for the National Suffrage
+Association. I found them pleasantly situated on the lower floor of No.
+1431 Chestnut Street, with the work for the coming month clearly mapped
+out. As it was the year for nominating candidates for the presidency of
+the United States, the Republicans and Democrats were about to hold
+their great' conventions. Hence letters were to be written to them
+recommending a woman suffrage plank in their platforms, and asking seats
+for women in the conventions, with the privilege of being heard in their
+own behalf. On these letters our united wisdom was concentrated, and
+twenty thousand copies of each were published.
+
+Then it was thought pre-eminently proper that a Woman's Declaration of
+Rights should be issued. Days and nights were spent over that document.
+After many twists from our analytical tweezers, with a critical
+consideration of every word and sentence, it was at last, by a consensus
+of the competent, pronounced very good. Thousands were ordered to be
+printed, and were folded, put in envelopes, stamped, directed, and
+scattered. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, and I worked sixteen hours, day and
+night, pressing everyone who came in, into the service, and late at
+night carrying immense bundles to be mailed. With meetings, receptions,
+and a succession of visitors, all of whom we plied with woman suffrage
+literature, we felt we had accomplished a great educational work.
+
+Among the most enjoyable experiences at our headquarters were the
+frequent visits of our beloved Lucretia Mott, who used to come from her
+country home bringing us eggs, cold chickens, and fine Oolong tea. As
+she had presented us with a little black teapot that, like Mercury's
+mysterious pitcher of milk, filled itself for every coming guest, we
+often improvised luncheons with a few friends. At parting, Lucretia
+always made a contribution to our depleted treasury. Here we had many
+prolonged discussions as to the part we should take, on the Fourth of
+July, in the public celebration. We thought it would be fitting for us
+to read our Declaration of Rights immediately after that of the Fathers
+was read, as an impeachment of them and their male descendants for their
+injustice and oppression. Ours contained as many counts, and quite as
+important, as those against King George in 1776. Accordingly, we applied
+to the authorities to allow us seats on the platform and a place in the
+programme of the public celebration, which was to be held in the
+historic old Independence Hall. As General Hawley was in charge of the
+arrangements for the day, I wrote him as follows:
+
+     "1431 Chestnut Street, July 1, 1876.
+
+     "General Hawley.
+
+     "_Honored Sir_: As President of the National Woman's Suffrage
+     Association, I am authorized to ask you for tickets to the
+     platform, at Independence Hall, for the celebration on the Fourth
+     of July. We should like to have seats for at least one
+     representative woman from each State. We also ask your permission
+     to read our Declaration of Rights immediately after the reading of
+     the Declaration of Independence of the Fathers is finished.
+     Although these are small favors to ask as representatives of
+     one-half of the nation, yet we shall be under great obligations to
+     you if granted.
+
+     "Respectfully Yours,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton."
+
+To this I received the following reply:
+
+     "U.S.C.C. Headquarters, July 2.
+
+     "Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
+
+     "_Dear Madam_: I send you, with pleasure, half a dozen cards of
+     invitation. As the platform is already crowded, it is impossible to
+     reserve the number of seats you desire. I regret to say it is also
+     impossible for us to make any change in the programme at this late
+     hour. We are crowded for time to carry out what is already
+     proposed.
+
+     "Yours Very Respectfully,
+
+     "Joseph R. Hawley,
+
+     "President, U.S.C.C."
+
+With this rebuff, Mrs. Mott and I decided that we would not accept the
+offered seats, but would be ready to open our own convention called for
+that day, at the First Unitarian church, where the Rev. William H.
+Furness had preached for fifty years. But some of our younger coadjutors
+decided that they would occupy the seats and present our Declaration of
+Rights. They said truly, women will be taxed to pay the expenses of
+this celebration, and we have as good a right to that platform and to
+the ears of the people as the men have, and we will be heard.
+
+That historic Fourth of July dawned at last, one of the most oppressive
+days of that heated season. Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Sara
+Andrews Spencer, Lillie Devereux Blake, and Phoebe W. Couzins made their
+way through the crowds under the broiling sun of Independence Square,
+carrying the Woman's Declaration of Rights. This Declaration had been
+handsomely engrossed by one of their number, and signed by the oldest
+and most prominent advocates of woman's enfranchisement. Their tickets
+of admission proved an "open sesame" through the military barriers, and,
+a few moments before the opening of the ceremonies, these women found
+themselves within the precincts from which most of their sex were
+excluded.
+
+The Declaration of 1776 was read by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, about
+whose family clusters so much historic fame. The moment he finished
+reading was determined upon as the appropriate time for the presentation
+of the Woman's Declaration. Not quite sure how their approach might be
+met, not quite certain if, at this final moment, they would be permitted
+to reach the presiding officer, those ladies arose and made their way
+down the aisle. The bustle of preparation for the Brazilian hymn covered
+their advance. The foreign guests and the military and civil officers
+who filled the space directly in front of the speaker's stand,
+courteously made way, while Miss Anthony, in fitting words, presented
+the Declaration to the presiding officer. Senator Ferry's face paled as,
+bowing low, with no word he received the Declaration, which thus became
+part of the day's proceedings. The ladies turned, scattering printed
+copies as they deliberately walked down the platform. On every side
+eager hands were outstretched, men stood on seats and asked for them,
+while General Hawley, thus defied and beaten in his audacious denial to
+women of the right to present their Declaration, shouted, "Order,
+order!"
+
+Passing out, these ladies made their way to a platform, erected for the
+musicians, in front of Independence Hall. Here, under the shadow of
+Washington's statue, back of them the old bell that proclaimed "liberty
+to all the land and all the inhabitants thereof," they took their
+places, and, to a listening, applauding crowd, Miss Anthony read the
+Woman's Declaration. During the reading of the Declaration, Mrs. Gage
+stood beside Miss Anthony and held an umbrella over her head, to shelter
+her friend from the intense heat of the noonday sun. And thus in the
+same hour, on opposite sides of old Independence Hall, did the men and
+women express their opinions on the great principles proclaimed on the
+natal day of the Republic. The Declaration was handsomely framed, and
+now hangs in the Vice President's room in the Capitol at Washington.
+
+These heroic ladies then hurried from Independence Hall to the church,
+already crowded with an expectant audience, to whom they gave a full
+report of the morning's proceedings. The Hutchinsons of worldwide fame
+were present in their happiest vein, interspersing the speeches with
+appropriate songs and felicitous remarks. For five long hours on that
+hot midsummer day a crowded audience, many standing, listened with
+profound interest and reluctantly dispersed at last, all agreeing that
+it was one of the most impressive and enthusiastic meetings they had
+ever attended.
+
+All through our Civil War the slaves on the Southern plantations had an
+abiding faith that the terrible conflict would result in freedom for
+their race. Just so through all the busy preparations of the Centennial,
+the women of the nation felt sure that the great national celebration
+could not pass without the concession of some new liberties to them.
+Hence they pressed their claims at every point, at the Fourth of July
+celebration in the exposition buildings, and in the Republican and
+Democratic nominating conventions; hoping to get a plank in the
+platforms of both the great political parties.
+
+The Woman's Pavilion upon the centennial grounds was an afterthought, as
+theologians claim woman herself to have been. The women of the country,
+after having contributed nearly one hundred thousand dollars to the
+centennial stock, found there had been no provision made for the
+separate exhibition of their work. The centennial board, of which Mrs.
+Gillespie was president, then decided to raise funds for the erection of
+a separate building, to be known as the Woman's Pavilion. It covered an
+acre of ground, and was erected at an expense of thirty thousand
+dollars--a small sum in comparison with the money which had been raised
+by women and expended on the other buildings, not to speak of the State
+and national appropriations, which the taxes levied on them had largely
+helped to swell.
+
+The Pavilion was no true exhibit of woman's art. Few women are, as yet,
+owners of the business which their industry largely makes remunerative.
+Cotton factories, in which thousands of women work, are owned by men.
+The shoe business, in some branches of which women are doing more than
+half the work, is under the ownership of men. Rich embroideries from
+India, rugs of downy softness from Turkey, the muslin of Decca,
+anciently known as "The Woven Wind," the pottery and majolica ware of P.
+Pipsen's widow, the cartridges and envelopes of Uncle Sam, Waltham
+watches, whose finest mechanical work is done by women, and ten thousand
+other industries found no place in the pavilion. Said United States
+Commissioner Meeker of Colorado, "Woman's work comprises three-fourths
+of the exposition; it is scattered through every building; take it away,
+and there would be no exposition."
+
+But this pavilion rendered one good service to woman in showing her
+capabilities as an engineer. The boiler, which furnished the force for
+running its work, was under the charge of a young Canadian girl, Miss
+Allison, who, from childhood, had loved machinery, spending much time in
+the large saw and grist mills of her father, run by engines of two and
+three hundred horse-power, which she sometimes managed for amusement.
+When her name was proposed for running the pavilion machinery, it caused
+much opposition. It was said that the committee would, some day, find
+the pavilion blown to atoms; that the woman engineer would spend her
+time reading novels instead of watching the steam gauge; that the idea
+was impracticable and should not be thought of. But Miss Allison soon
+proved her capabilities and the falseness of these prophecies by taking
+her place in the engine room and managing its workings with perfect
+ease. Six power looms, on which women wove carpets, webbing, silks,
+etc., were run by this engine. At a later period the printing of _The
+New Century for Woman_, a paper published by the centennial commission
+in the woman's building, was done by its means. Miss Allison declared
+the work to be more cleanly, more pleasant, and infinitely less
+fatiguing than cooking over a kitchen stove. "Since I have been
+compelled to earn my own living," she said, "I have never been engaged
+in work I like so well. Teaching school is much harder, and one is not
+paid so well." She expressed her confidence in her ability to manage the
+engines of an ocean steamer, and said that there were thousands of small
+engines in use in various parts of the country, and no reason existed
+why women should not be employed to manage them,--following the
+profession of engineer as a regular business,--an engine requiring far
+less attention than is given by a nursemaid or a mother to a child.
+
+But to have made the Woman's Pavilion grandly historic, upon its walls
+should have been hung the yearly protest of Harriet K. Hunt against
+taxation without representation; the legal papers served upon the Smith
+sisters when, for their refusal to pay taxes while unrepresented, their
+Alderney cows were seized and sold; the papers issued by the city of
+Worcester for the forced sale of the house and lands of Abby Kelly
+Foster, the veteran abolitionist, because she refused to pay taxes,
+giving the same reason our ancestors gave when they resisted taxation; a
+model of Bunker Hill monument, its foundation laid by Lafayette in 1825,
+but which remained unfinished nearly twenty years, until the famous
+German danseuse, Fanny Ellsler, gave the proceeds of a public
+performance for that purpose. With these should have been exhibited
+framed copies of all the laws bearing unjustly upon women--those which
+rob her of her name, her earnings, her property, her children, her
+person; also the legal papers in the case of Susan B. Anthony, who was
+tried and fined for claiming her right to vote under the Fourteenth
+Amendment, and the decision of Mr. Justice Miller in the case of Myra
+Bradwell, denying national protection for woman's civil rights; and the
+later decision of Chief Justice Waite of the United States Supreme Court
+against Virginia L. Minor, denying women national protection for their
+political rights; decisions in favor of State rights which imperil the
+liberties not only of all women, but of every white man in the nation.
+
+Woman's most fitting contributions to the Centennial Exposition would
+have been these protests, laws, and decisions, which show her political
+slavery. But all this was left for rooms outside of the centennial
+grounds, upon Chestnut Street, where the National Woman's Suffrage
+Association hoisted its flag, made its protests, and wrote the
+Declaration of Rights of the women of the United States.
+
+To many thoughtful people it seemed captious and unreasonable for women
+to complain of injustice in this free land, amidst such universal
+rejoicings. When the majority of women are seemingly happy, it is
+natural to suppose that the discontent of the minority is the result of
+their unfortunate individual idiosyncrasies, and not of adverse
+influences in established conditions. But the history of the world shows
+that the vast majority, in every generation, passively accept the
+conditions into which they are born, while those who demanded larger
+liberties are ever a small, ostracized minority, whose claims are
+ridiculed and ignored. From our standpoint we would honor any Chinese
+woman who claimed the right to her feet and powers of locomotion; the
+Hindoo widows who refused to ascend the funeral pyre of their husbands;
+the Turkish women who threw off their masks and veils and left the
+harem; the Mormon women who abjured their faith and demanded monogamic
+relations. Why not equally honor the intelligent minority of American
+women who protest against the artificial disabilities by which their
+freedom is limited and their development arrested? That only a few,
+under any circumstances, protest against the injustice of
+long-established laws and customs, does not disprove the fact of the
+oppressions, while the satisfaction of the many, if real, only proves
+their apathy and deeper degradation. That a majority of the women of the
+United States accept, without protest, the disabilities which grow out
+of their disfranchisement is simply an evidence of their ignorance and
+cowardice, while the minority who demand a higher political status
+clearly prove their superior intelligence and wisdom.
+
+At the close of the Forty-seventh Congress we made two new demands:
+First, for a special committee to consider all questions in regard to
+the civil and political rights of women. We naturally asked the
+question, As Congress has a special committee on the rights of Indians,
+why not on those of women? Are not women, as a factor in civilization,
+of more importance than Indians? Secondly, we asked for a room, in the
+Capitol, where our committee could meet, undisturbed, whenever they saw
+fit. Though these points were debated a long time, our demands were
+acceded to at last. We now have our special committee, and our room,
+with "Woman Suffrage" in gilt letters, over the door. In our struggle
+to achieve this, while our champion, the senior Senator from
+Massachusetts, stood up bravely in the discussion, the opposition not
+only ridiculed the special demand, but all attempts to secure the civil
+and political rights of women. As an example of the arguments of the
+opposition, I give what the Senator from Missouri said. It is a fair
+specimen of all that was produced on that side of the debate. Mr. Vest's
+poetical flights are most inspiring:
+
+     "The Senate now has forty-one committees, with a small army of
+     messengers and clerks, one-half of whom, without exaggeration, are
+     literally without employment. I shall not pretend to specify the
+     committees of this body which have not one single bill, resolution,
+     or proposition of any sort pending before them, and have not had
+     for months. But, Mr. President, out of all committees without
+     business, and habitually without business, in this body, there is
+     one that, beyond any question, could take jurisdiction of this
+     matter and do it ample justice. I refer to that most respectable
+     and antique institution, the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. For
+     thirty years it has been without business. For thirty long years
+     the placid surface of that parliamentary sea has been without one
+     single ripple. If the Senator from Massachusetts desires a tribunal
+     for a calm, judicial equilibrium and examination--a tribunal far
+     from the 'madding crowd's ignoble strife'--a tribunal eminently
+     respectable, dignified and unique; why not send this question to
+     the Committee on Revolutionary Claims? It is eminently proper that
+     this subject should go to that committee because, if there is any
+     revolutionary claim in this country, it is that of woman suffrage.
+     (Laughter.) It revolutionizes society; it revolutionizes religion;
+     it revolutionizes the Constitution and laws; and it revolutionizes
+     the opinions of those so old-fashioned among us as to believe that
+     the legitimate and proper sphere of woman is the family circle, as
+     wife and mother, and not as politician and voter--those of us who
+     are proud to believe that
+
+    "Woman's noblest station is retreat:
+    Her fairest virtues fly from public sight;
+    Domestic worth--that shuns too strong a light.
+
+     "Before that Committee on Revolutionary Claims why could not this
+     most revolutionary of all claims receive immediate and ample
+     attention? More than that, as I said before, if there is any
+     tribunal that could give undivided time and dignified attention, is
+     it not this committee? If there is one peaceful haven of rest,
+     never disturbed by any profane bill or resolution of any sort, it
+     is the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. It is, in parliamentary
+     life, described by that ecstatic verse in Watts'
+     hymn--
+
+    "There shall I bathe my wearied soul
+     In seas of endless rest.
+    And not one wave of trouble roll
+     Across my peaceful breast.
+
+     "By all natural laws, stagnation breeds disease and death, and what
+     could stir up this most venerable and respectable institution more
+     than an application of the strong-minded, with short hair and
+     shorter skirts, invading its dignified realm and elucidating all
+     the excellences of female suffrage. Moreover, if these ladies could
+     ever succeed in the providence of God in obtaining a report from
+     that committee, it would end this question forever; for the public
+     at large and myself included, in view of that miracle of female
+     blandishment and female influence, would surrender at once, and
+     female suffrage would become constitutional and lawful. Sir, I
+     insist upon it that, in deference to this committee, in deference
+     to the fact that it needs this sort of regimen and medicine, this
+     whole subject should be so referred."
+
+This gives a very fair idea of the character of the arguments produced
+by our opponents, from the inauguration of the movement. But, as there
+are no arguments in a republican government in favor of an aristocracy
+of sex, ridicule was really the only available weapon. After declaring
+"that no just government can be formed without the consent of the
+governed," "that taxation without representation is tyranny," it is
+difficult to see on what basis one-half the people are disfranchised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+WRITING "THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE."
+
+
+The four years following the Centennial were busy, happy ones, of varied
+interests and employments, public and private. Sons and daughters
+graduating from college, bringing troops of young friends to visit us;
+the usual matrimonial entanglements, with all their promises of
+celestial bliss intertwined with earthly doubts and fears; weddings,
+voyages to Europe, business ventures--in this whirl of plans and
+projects our heads, hearts, and hands were fully occupied. Seven boys
+and girls dancing round the fireside, buoyant with all life's joys
+opening before them, are enough to keep the most apathetic parents on
+the watch-towers by day and anxious even in dreamland by night. My spare
+time, if it can be said that I ever had any, was given during these days
+to social festivities. The inevitable dinners, teas, picnics, and dances
+with country neighbors, all came round in quick succession. We lived, at
+this time, at Tenafly, New Jersey, not far from the publisher of the
+_Sun_, Isaac W. England, who also had seven boys and girls as full of
+frolic as our own. Mrs. England and I entered into all their games with
+equal zest. The youngest thought half the fun was to see our enthusiasm
+in "blindman's buff," "fox and geese," and "bean bags." It thrills me
+with delight, even now, to see these games!
+
+Mr. England was the soul of hospitality. He was never more happy than
+when his house was crowded with guests, and his larder with all the
+delicacies of the season. Though he and Mr. Stanton were both connected
+with that dignified journal, the New York _Sun_, yet they often joined
+in the general hilarity. I laugh, as I write, at the memory of all the
+frolics we had on the blue hills of Jersey.
+
+In addition to the domestic cares which a large family involved, Mrs.
+Gage, Miss Anthony, and I were already busy collecting material for "The
+History of Woman Suffrage." This required no end of correspondence. Then
+my lecturing trips were still a part of the annual programme. Washington
+conventions, too, with calls, appeals, resolutions, speeches and
+hearings before the Committees of Congress and State legislatures, all
+these came round in the year's proceedings as regularly as pumpkin pies
+for Thanksgiving, plum pudding for Christmas, and patriotism for
+Washington's birthday. Those who speak for glory or philanthropy are
+always in demand for college commencements and Fourth of July orations,
+hence much of Miss Anthony's eloquence, as well as my own, was utilized
+in this way.
+
+On October 18, 1880, I had an impromptu dinner party. Elizabeth Boynton
+Harbert, May Wright Thompson (now Sewall), Phoebe W. Couzins, and
+Arethusa Forbes, returning from a Boston convention, all by chance met
+under my roof. We had a very merry time talking over the incidents of
+the convention, Boston proprieties, and the general situation. As I gave
+them many early reminiscences, they asked if I had kept a diary. "No," I
+said, "not a pen scratch of the past have I except what might be
+gathered from many family letters." They urged me to begin a diary at
+once; so I promised I would on my coming birthday.
+
+My great grief that day was that we were putting in a new range, and had
+made no preparations for dinner. This completely upset the presiding
+genius of my culinary department, as she could not give us the bounteous
+feast she knew was expected on such occasions. I, as usual, when there
+was any lack in the viands, tried to be as brilliant as possible in
+conversation; discussing Nirvana, Karma, reincarnation, and thus turning
+attention from the evanescent things of earth to the joys of a life to
+come,--not an easy feat to perform with strong-minded women,--but, in
+parting, they seemed happy and refreshed, and all promised to come
+again.
+
+But we shall never meet there again, as the old, familiar oaks and the
+majestic chestnut trees have passed into other hands. Strange lovers now
+whisper their vows of faith and trust under the tree where a most
+charming wedding ceremony--that of my daughter Margaret--was solemnized
+one bright October day. All Nature seemed to do her utmost to heighten
+the beauty of the occasion. The verdure was brilliant with autumnal
+tints, the hazy noonday sun lent a peculiar softness to every
+shadow--even the birds and insects were hushed to silence. As the
+wedding march rose soft and clear, two stately ushers led the way; then
+a group of Vassar classmates, gayly decked in silks of different colors,
+followed by the bride and groom. An immense Saint Bernard dog, on his
+own account brought up the rear, keeping time with measured tread. He
+took his seat in full view, watching, alternately, the officiating
+clergyman, the bride and groom, and guests, as if to say: "What does
+all this mean?" No one behaved with more propriety and no one looked
+more radiant than he, with a ray of sunlight on his beautiful coat of
+long hair, his bright brass collar, and his wonderful head. Bruno did
+not live to see the old home broken up, but sleeps peacefully there,
+under the chestnut trees, and fills a large place in many of our
+pleasant memories.
+
+On November 12, 1880, I was sixty-five years old, and, pursuant to my
+promise, I then began my diary. It was a bright, sunny day, but the
+frost king was at work; all my grand old trees, that stood like
+sentinels, to mark the boundary of my domain, were stripped of their
+foliage, and their brilliant colors had faded into a uniform brown; but
+the evergreens and the tall, prim cedars held their own, and, when
+covered with snow, their exquisite beauty brought tears to my eyes. One
+need never be lonely mid beautiful trees.
+
+My thoughts were with my absent children--Harriot in France, Theodore in
+Germany, Margaret with her husband and brother Gerrit, halfway across
+the continent, and Bob still in college. I spent the day writing letters
+and walking up and down the piazza, and enjoyed, from my windows, a
+glorious sunset. Alone, on birthdays or holidays, one is very apt to
+indulge in sad retrospections. The thought of how much more I might have
+done for the perfect development of my children than I had accomplished,
+depressed me. I thought of all the blunders in my own life and in their
+education. Little has been said of the responsibilities of parental
+life; accordingly little or nothing has been done. I had such visions of
+parental duties that day that I came to the conclusion that parents
+never could pay the debt they owe their children for bringing them into
+this world of suffering, unless they can insure them sound minds in
+sound bodies, and enough of the good things of this life to enable them
+to live without a continual struggle for the necessaries of existence. I
+have no sympathy with the old idea that children owe parents a debt of
+gratitude for the simple fact of existence, generally conferred without
+thought and merely for their own pleasure. How seldom we hear of any
+high or holy preparation for the office of parenthood! Here, in the most
+momentous act of life, all is left to chance. Men and women, intelligent
+and prudent in all other directions, seem to exercise no forethought
+here, but hand down their individual and family idiosyncrasies in the
+most reckless mariner.
+
+On November 13 the New York _Tribune_ announced the death of Lucretia
+Mott, eighty-eight years old. Having known her in the flush of life,
+when all her faculties were at their zenith, and in the repose of age,
+when her powers began to wane, her withdrawal from among us seemed as
+beautiful and natural as the changing foliage, from summer to autumn, of
+some grand old oak I have watched and loved.
+
+The arrival of Miss Anthony and Mrs. Gage, on November 20, banished all
+family matters from my mind. What planning, now, for volumes, chapters,
+footnotes, margins, appendices, paper, and type; of engravings, title,
+preface, and introduction! I had never thought that the publication of a
+book required the consideration of such endless details. We stood
+appalled before the mass of material, growing higher and higher with
+every mail, and the thought of all the reading involved made us feel as
+if our lifework lay before us. Six weeks of steady labor all day, and
+often until midnight, made no visible decrease in the pile of documents.
+However, before the end of the month we had our arrangements all made
+with publishers and engravers, and six chapters in print. When we began
+to correct proof we felt as if something was accomplished. Thus we
+worked through the winter and far into the spring, with no change except
+the Washington Convention and an occasional evening meeting in New York
+city. We had frequent visits from friends whom we were glad to see.
+Hither came Edward M. Davis, Sarah Pugh, Adeline Thompson, Frederick
+Cabot of Boston, Dr. William F. Channing, and sweet little Clara Spence,
+who recited for us some of the most beautiful selections in her
+repertoire.
+
+In addition we had numberless letters from friends and foes, some
+praising and some condemning our proposed undertaking, and, though much
+alone, we were kept in touch with the outside world. But so conflicting
+was the tone of the letters that, if we had not taken a very fair gauge
+of ourselves and our advisers, we should have abandoned our project and
+buried all the valuable material collected, to sleep in pine boxes
+forever.
+
+At this time I received a very amusing letter from the Rev. Robert
+Collyer, on "literary righteousness," quizzing me for using one of his
+anecdotes in my sketch of Lucretia Mott, without giving him credit. I
+laughed him to scorn, that he should have thought it was my duty to have
+done so. I told him plainly that he belonged to a class of "white male
+citizens," who had robbed me of all civil and political rights; of
+property, children, and personal freedom; and now it ill became him to
+call me to account for using one of his little anecdotes that, ten to
+one, he had cribbed from some woman. I told him that I considered his
+whole class as fair game for literary pilfering. That women had been
+taxed to build colleges to educate men, and if we could pick up a
+literary crumb that had fallen from their feasts, we surely had a right
+to it. Moreover, I told him that man's duty in the world was to work, to
+dig and delve for jewels, real and ideal, and lay them at woman's feet,
+for her to use as she might see fit; that he should feel highly
+complimented, instead of complaining, that he had written something I
+thought worth using. He answered like the nobleman he is; susceptible of
+taking in a new idea. He admitted that, in view of the shortcomings of
+his entire sex, he had not one word to say in the way of accusation, but
+lay prostrate at my feet in sackcloth and ashes, wondering that he had
+not taken my view of the case in starting.
+
+Only twice in my life have I been accused of quoting without giving due
+credit. The other case was that of Matilda Joslyn Gage. I had, on two or
+three occasions, used a motto of hers in autograph books, just as I had
+sentiments from Longfellow, Lowell, Shakespeare, Moses, or Paul. In long
+lyceum trips innumerable autograph books met one at every turn, in the
+cars, depots, on the platform, at the hotel and in the omnibus. "A
+sentiment, please," cry half a dozen voices. One writes hastily
+different sentiments for each. In this way I unfortunately used a pet
+sentiment of Matilda's. So, here and now, I say to my autograph
+admirers, from New York to San Francisco, whenever you see "There is a
+word sweeter than Mother, Home, or Heaven--that word is Liberty,"
+remember it belongs to Matilda Joslyn Gage. I hope, now, that Robert and
+Matilda will say, in their posthumous works, that I made the _amende
+honorable_, as I always strive to do when friends feel they have not
+been fairly treated.
+
+In May, 1881, the first volume of our History appeared; it was an
+octavo, containing 871 pages, with good paper, good print, handsome
+engravings, and nicely bound. I welcomed it with the same feeling of
+love and tenderness as I did my firstborn. I took the same pleasure in
+hearing it praised and felt the same mortification in hearing it
+criticised. The most hearty welcome it received was from Rev. William
+Henry Channing. He wrote us that it was as interesting and fascinating
+as a novel. He gave it a most flattering notice in one of the London
+papers. John W. Forney, too, wrote a good review and sent a friendly
+letter. Mayo W. Hazeltine, one of the ablest critics in this country, in
+the New York _Sun_, also gave it a very careful and complimentary
+review. In fact, we received far more praise and less blame than we
+anticipated. We began the second volume in June. In reading over the
+material concerning woman's work in the War, I felt how little our
+labors are appreciated. Who can sum up all the ills the women of a
+nation suffer from war? They have all of the misery and none of the
+glory; nothing to mitigate their weary waiting and watching for the
+loved ones who will return no more.
+
+In the spring of 1881, to vary the monotony of the work on the history,
+we decided to hold a series of conventions through the New England
+States. We began during the Anniversary week in Boston, and had several
+crowded, enthusiastic meetings in Tremont Temple. In addition to our
+suffrage meetings, I spoke before the Free Religious, Moral Education,
+and Heredity associations. All our speakers stayed at the Parker House,
+and we had a very pleasant time visiting together in our leisure hours.
+We were received by Governor Long, at the State House. He made a short
+speech, in favor of woman suffrage, in reply to Mrs. Hooker. We also
+called on the Mayor, at the City Hall, and went through Jordan & Marsh's
+great mercantile establishment, where the clerks are chiefly young
+girls, who are well fed and housed, and have pleasant rooms, with a good
+library, where they sit and read in the evening. We went through the
+Sherborn Reformatory Prison for Women, managed entirely by women. We
+found it clean and comfortable, more like a pleasant home than a place
+of punishment.
+
+Mrs. Robinson, Miss Anthony, and I were invited to dine with the Bird
+Club. No woman, other than I, had ever had that honor before. I dined
+with them in 1870, escorted by "Warrington" of the Springfield
+_Republican_ and Edwin Morton. There I met Frank Sanborn for the first
+time. Frank Bird held about the same place in political life in
+Massachusetts, that Thurlow Weed did in the State of New York for forty
+years. In the evening we had a crowded reception at the home of Mrs.
+Fenno Tudor, who occupied a fine old residence facing the Common, where
+we met a large gathering of Boston reformers. On Decoration Day, May 30,
+we went to Providence, where I was the guest of Dr. William F. Channing.
+We had a very successful convention there. Senator Anthony and
+ex-Governor Sprague were in the audience and expressed great pleasure,
+afterward, in all they had heard. I preached in Rev. Frederick
+Hinckley's church the previous Sunday afternoon.
+
+From Providence I hurried home, to meet my son Theodore and his bride,
+who had just landed from France. We decorated our house and grounds with
+Chinese lanterns and national flags for their reception. As we had not
+time to send to New York for bunting, our flags--French and
+American--were all made of bright red and blue cambric. The effect was
+fine when they arrived; but, unfortunately, there came up a heavy
+thunderstorm in the night and so drenched our beautiful flags that they
+became colorless rags. My little maid announced to me early in the
+morning that "the French and Americans had had a great battle during the
+night and that the piazza was covered with blood." This was startling
+news to one just awakening from a sound sleep. "Why, Emma!" I said,
+"what do you mean?" "Why," she replied, "the rain has washed all the
+color out of our flags, and the piazza is covered with red and blue
+streams of water." As the morning sun appeared in all its glory, chasing
+the dark clouds away, our decorations did indeed look pale and limp, and
+were promptly removed.
+
+I was happily surprised with my tall, stately daughter, Marguerite
+Berry. A fine-looking girl of twenty, straight, strong, and sound,
+modest and pleasing. She can walk miles, sketches from nature with great
+skill and rapidity, and speaks three languages. I had always said to my
+sons: "When you marry, choose a woman with a spine and sound teeth;
+remember the teeth show the condition of the bones in the rest of the
+body." So, when Theodore introduced his wife to me, he said, "You see I
+have followed your advice; her spine is as straight as it should be, and
+every tooth in her head as sound as ivory." This reminds me of a young
+man who used to put my stoves up for the winter. He told me one day that
+he thought of getting married. "Well," I said, "above all things get a
+wife with a spine and sound teeth." Stove pipe in hand he turned to me
+with a look of surprise, and said: "Do they ever come without spines?"
+
+In July, 1881, sitting under the trees, Miss Anthony and I read and
+discussed Wendell Phillips' magnificent speech before the Phi Beta Kappa
+Society at Harvard College. This society had often talked of inviting
+him, but was afraid of his radical utterances. At last, hoping that
+years might have modified his opinions and somewhat softened his speech,
+an invitation was given. The élite of Boston, the presidents and college
+professors from far and near, were there. A great audience of the wise,
+the learned, the distinguished in State and Church assembled. Such a
+conservative audience, it was supposed, would surely hold this radical
+in check. Alas! they were all doomed, for once, to hear the naked truth,
+on every vital question of the day. Thinking this might be his only
+opportunity to rouse some liberal thought in conservative minds, he
+struck the keynote of every reform; defended labor strikes, the
+Nihilists of Russia, prohibition, woman suffrage, and demanded
+reformation in our prisons, courts of justice, and halls of legislation.
+On the woman question, he said:
+
+     "Social science affirms that woman's place in society marks the
+     level of civilization. From its twilight in Greece, through the
+     Italian worship of the Virgin, the dreams of chivalry, the justice
+     of the civil law, and the equality of French society, we trace her
+     gradual recognition, while our common law, as Lord Brougham
+     confessed, was, with relation to women, the opprobrium of the age
+     of Christianity. For forty years earnest men and women, working
+     noiselessly, have washed away the opprobrium, the statute books of
+     thirty States have been remodeled, and woman stands, to-day, almost
+     face to face with her last claim--the ballot. It has been a weary
+     and thankless, though successful struggle. But if there be any
+     refuge from that ghastly curse, the vice of great cities, before
+     which social science stands palsied and dumb, it is in this more
+     equal recognition of women.
+
+     "If, in this critical battle for universal suffrage, our fathers'
+     noblest legacy to us and the greatest trust God leaves in our
+     hands, there be any weapon, which, once taken from the armory, will
+     make victory certain, it will be as it has been in art, literature,
+     and society, summoning woman into the political arena. The literary
+     class, until within half a dozen years, has taken no note of this
+     great uprising; only to fling every obstacle in its way.
+
+     "The first glimpse we get of Saxon blood in history is that line of
+     Tacitus in his 'Germany,' which reads, 'In all grave matters they
+     consult their women.' Years hence, when robust Saxon sense has
+     flung away Jewish superstition and Eastern prejudice, and put under
+     its foot fastidious scholarship and squeamish fashion, some second
+     Tacitus from the valley of the Mississippi will answer to him of
+     the Seven Hills: 'In all grave questions, we consult our women.'
+
+     "If the Alps, piled in cold and silence, be the emblem of
+     despotism, we joyfully take the ever restless ocean for ours, only
+     pure because never still. To be as good as our fathers, we must be
+     better. They silenced their fears and subdued their prejudices,
+     inaugurating free speech and equality with no precedent on the
+     file. Let us rise to their level, crush appetite, and prohibit
+     temptation if it rots great cities; intrench labor in sufficient
+     bulwarks against that wealth which, without the tenfold strength of
+     modern incorporations, wrecked the Grecian and Roman states; and,
+     with a sterner effort still, summon woman into civil life, as
+     re-enforcement to our laboring ranks, in the effort to make our
+     civilization a success. Sit not like the figure on our silver coin,
+     looking ever backward.
+
+    "'New occasions teach new duties,
+     Time makes ancient good uncouth,
+    They must upward still and onward,
+     Who would keep abreast of truth.
+    Lo! before us gleam her watch fires--
+     We ourselves must pilgrims be,
+    Launch our _Mayflower_, and steer boldly
+     Through the desperate winter sea,
+    Nor attempt the future's portal
+     With the past's blood-rusted key.'"
+
+That Harvard speech in the face of fashion, bigotry, and
+conservatism--so liberal, so eloquent, so brave--is a model for every
+young man, who, like the orator, would devote his talents to the best
+interests of the race, rather than to his personal ambition for mere
+worldly success.
+
+Toward the end of October, Miss Anthony returned, after a rest of two
+months, and we commenced work again on the second volume of the History.
+November 2 being election day, the Republican carriage, decorated with
+flags and evergreens, came to the door for voters. As I owned the house
+and paid the taxes, and as none of the white males was home, I suggested
+that I might go down and do the voting, whereupon the gentlemen who
+represented the Republican committee urged me, most cordially, to do so.
+Accompanied by my faithful friend, Miss Anthony, we stepped into the
+carriage and went to the poll, held in the hotel where I usually went to
+pay taxes. When we entered the room it was crowded with men. I was
+introduced to the inspectors by Charles Everett, one of our leading
+citizens, who said: "Mrs. Stanton is here, gentlemen, for the purpose of
+voting. As she is a taxpayer, of sound mind, and of legal age, I see no
+reason why she should not exercise this right of citizenship."
+
+The inspectors were thunderstruck. I think they were afraid that I was
+about to capture the ballot box. One placed his arms round it, with one
+hand close over the aperture where the ballots were slipped in, and
+said, with mingled surprise and pity, "Oh, no, madam! Men only are
+allowed to vote." I then explained to him that, in accordance with the
+Constitution of New Jersey, women had voted in New Jersey down to 1801,
+when they were forbidden the further exercise of the right by an
+arbitrary act of the legislature, and, by a recent amendment to the
+national Constitution, Congress had declared that "all persons born or
+naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
+thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they
+reside" and are entitled to vote. I told them that I wished to cast my
+vote, as a citizen of the United States, for the candidates for United
+States offices. Two of the inspectors sat down and pulled their hats
+over their eyes, whether from shame or ignorance I do not know. The
+other held on to the box, and said "I know nothing about the
+Constitutions, State or national. I never read either; but I do know
+that in New Jersey, women have not voted in my day, and I cannot accept
+your ballot." So I laid my ballot in his hand, saying that I had the
+same right to vote that any man present had, and on him must rest the
+responsibility of denying me my rights of citizenship.
+
+All through the winter Miss Anthony and I worked diligently on the
+History. My daughter Harriot came from Europe in February, determined
+that I should return with her, as she had not finished her studies. To
+expedite my task on the History she seized the laboring oar, prepared
+the last chapter and corrected the proof as opportunity offered. As the
+children were scattered to the four points of the compass and my husband
+spent the winter in the city, we decided to lease our house and all take
+a holiday. We spent a month in New York city, busy on the History to the
+last hour, with occasional intervals of receiving and visiting friends.
+As I dreaded the voyage, the days flew by too fast for my pleasure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.
+
+
+Having worked diligently through nearly two years on the second volume
+of "The History of Woman Suffrage," I looked forward with pleasure to a
+rest, in the Old World, beyond the reach and sound of my beloved Susan
+and the woman suffrage movement. On May 27, 1892, I sailed with my
+daughter Harriot on the _Château Léoville_ for Bordeaux. The many
+friends who came to see us off brought fruits and flowers, boxes of
+candied ginger to ward off seasickness, letters of introduction, and
+light literature for the voyage. We had all the daily and weekly papers,
+secular and religious, the new monthly magazines, and several novels. We
+thought we would do an immense amount of reading, but we did very
+little. Eating, sleeping, walking on deck, and watching the
+ever-changing ocean are about all that most people care to do. The sail
+down the harbor that bright, warm evening was beautiful, and, we
+lingered on deck in the moonlight until a late hour.
+
+I slept but little, that night, as two cats kept running in and out of
+my stateroom, and my berth was so narrow that I could only lie in one
+position--as straight as if already in my coffin. Under such
+circumstances I spent the night, thinking over everything that was
+painful in my whole life, and imagining all the different calamities
+that might befall my family in my absence. It was a night of severe
+introspection and intense dissatisfaction. I was glad when the morning
+dawned and I could go on deck. During the day my couch was widened one
+foot, and, at night, the cats relegated to other quarters.
+
+We had a smooth, pleasant, uneventful voyage, until the last night,
+when, on nearing the French coast, the weather became dark and stormy.
+The next morning our good steamer pushed slowly and carefully up the
+broad, muddy Gironde and landed us on the bustling quays of Bordeaux,
+where my son Theodore stood waiting to receive us. As we turned to say
+farewell to our sturdy ship--gazing up at its black iron sides
+besprinkled with salty foam--a feeling of deep thankfulness took
+possession of us, for she had been faithful to her trust, and had borne
+us safely from the New World to the Old, over thousands of miles of
+treacherous sea.
+
+We spent a day in driving about Bordeaux, enjoying the mere fact of
+restoration to _terra firma_ after twelve days' imprisonment on the
+ocean. Maritime cities are much the same all the world over. The forests
+of masts, the heavily laden drays, the lounging sailors, the rough
+'longshoremen, and the dirty quays, are no more characteristic of
+Bordeaux than New York, London, and Liverpool. But Bordeaux was
+interesting as the birthplace of Montesquieu and as the capital of
+ancient Guienne and Gascony.
+
+But I must not forget to mention an accident that happened on landing at
+Bordeaux. We had innumerable pieces of baggage, a baby carriage, rocking
+chair, a box of "The History of Woman Suffrage" for foreign libraries,
+besides the usual number of trunks and satchels, and one hamper, in
+which were many things we were undecided whether to take or leave. Into
+this, a loaded pistol had been carelessly thrown. The hamper being
+handled with an emphatic jerk by some jovial French sailor, the pistol
+exploded, shooting the bearer through the shoulder. He fell bleeding on
+the quay. The dynamite scare being just at its height, the general
+consternation was indescribable. Every Frenchman, with vehement
+gestures, was chattering to his utmost capacity, but keeping at a
+respectful distance from the hamper. No one knew what had caused the
+trouble; but Theodore was bound to make an investigation. He proceeded
+to untie the ropes and examine the contents, and there he found the
+pistol, from which, pointing upward, he fired two other bullets. "Alas!"
+said Hattie, "I put that pistol there, never dreaming it was loaded."
+The wounded man was taken to the hospital. His injuries were very
+slight, but the incident cost us two thousand francs and no end of
+annoyance. I was thankful that by some chance the pistol had not gone
+off in the hold of the vessel and set the ship on fire, and possibly
+sacrificed three hundred lives through one girl's carelessness. Verily
+we cannot be too careful in the use of firearms.
+
+Bordeaux is a queer old town, with its innumerable soldiers and priests
+perambulating in all directions. The priests, in long black gowns and
+large black hats, have a solemn aspect; but the soldiers, walking lazily
+along, or guarding buildings that seem in no danger from any living
+thing, are useless and ridiculous. The heavy carts and harness move the
+unaccustomed observer to constant pity for the horses. Besides
+everything that is necessary for locomotion, they have an endless number
+of ornaments, rising two or three feet above the horses' heads--horns,
+bells, feathers, and tassels. One of their carts would weigh as much as
+three of ours, and all their carriages are equally heavy.
+
+It was a bright, cool day on which we took the train for Toulouse, and
+we enjoyed the delightful run through the very heart of old Gascony and
+Languedoc. It was evident that we were in the South, where the sun is
+strong, for, although summer had scarcely begun, the country already
+wore a brown hue. But the narrow strips of growing grain, the acres of
+grape vines, looking like young currant bushes, and the fig trees
+scattered here and there, looked odd to the eye of a native of New York.
+
+We passed many historical spots during that afternoon journey up the
+valley of the Garonne. At Portets are the ruins of the Château of
+Langoiran, built before America was discovered, and, a few miles farther
+on, we came to the region of the famous wines of Sauterne and
+Château-Yquem. Saint Macaire is a very ancient Gallo-Roman town, where
+they show one churches, walls, and houses built fifteen centuries ago.
+One of the largest towns has a history typical of this part of France,
+where wars of religion and conquest were once the order of the day. It
+was taken and retaken by the Goths, Huns, Burgundians, and Saracens,
+nobody knows how many times, and belonged, successively, to the kings of
+France, to the dukes of Aquitaine, to the kings of England, and to the
+counts of Toulouse. I sometimes wonder whether the inhabitants of our
+American towns, whose growth and development have been free and
+untrammeled as that of a favorite child, appreciate the blessings that
+have been theirs. How true the lines of Goethe: "America, thou art much
+happier than our old continent; thou hast no castles in ruins, no
+fortresses; no useless remembrances, no vain enemies will interrupt the
+inward workings of thy life!"
+
+We passed through Moissac, with its celebrated organ, a gift of Mazarin;
+through Castle Sarrazin, founded by the Saracens in the eighth century;
+through Montauban, that stronghold of the early Protestants, which
+suffered martyrdom for its religious faith; through Grisolles, built on
+a Roman highway, and, at last, in the dusk of the evening, we reached
+"the Capital of the South," that city of learning--curious, interesting
+old Toulouse.
+
+Laura Curtis Bullard, in her sketch of me in "Our Famous Women," says:
+"In 1882, Mrs. Stanton went to France, on a visit to her son Theodore,
+and spent three months at the convent of La Sagesse, in the city of
+Toulouse." This is quite true; but I have sometimes tried to guess what
+her readers thought I was doing for three months in a convent. Weary of
+the trials and tribulations of this world, had I gone there to prepare
+in solitude for the next? Had I taken the veil in my old age? Or, like
+high-church Anglicans and Roman Catholics, had I made this my retreat?
+Not at all. My daughter wished to study French advantageously, my son
+lived in the mountains hard by, and the garden of La Sagesse, with its
+big trees, clean gravel paths, and cool shade, was the most delightful
+spot.
+
+In this religious retreat I met, from time to time, some of the most
+radical and liberal-minded residents of the South. Toulouse is one of
+the most important university centers of France, and bears with credit
+the proud title of "the learned city." With two distinguished members
+of the faculty, the late Dr. Nicholas Joly and Professor Moliner of the
+law school, I often had most interesting discussions on all the great
+questions of the hour. That three heretics--I should say, six, for my
+daughter, son, and his wife often joined the circle--could thus sit in
+perfect security, and debate, in the most unorthodox fashion, in these
+holy precincts, all the reforms, social, political, and religious, which
+the United States and France need in order to be in harmony with the
+spirit of the age, was a striking proof of the progress the world has
+made in freedom of speech. The time was when such acts would have cost
+us our lives, even if we had been caught expressing our heresies in the
+seclusion of our own homes. But here, under the oaks of a Catholic
+convent, with the gray-robed sisters all around us, we could point out
+the fallacies of Romanism itself, without fear or trembling. Glorious
+Nineteenth Century, what conquests are thine!
+
+I shall say nothing of the picturesque streets of antique Toulouse;
+nothing of the priests, who swarm like children in an English town;
+nothing of the beautifully carved stone façades of the ancient mansions,
+once inhabited by the nobility of Languedoc, but now given up to trade
+and commerce; nothing of the lofty brick cathedrals, whose exteriors
+remind one of London and whose interiors transfer you to "the gorgeous
+East"; nothing of the Capitol, with its gallery rich in busts of the
+celebrated sons of the South; nothing of the museum, the public garden,
+and the broad river winding through all. I must leave all these
+interesting features of Toulouse and hasten up into the Black
+Mountains, a few miles away, where I saw the country life of modern
+Languedoc.
+
+At Jacournassy, the country seat of Mme. Berry, whose daughter my son
+Theodore married, I spent a month full of surprises. How everything
+differed from America, and even from the plain below! The peasants, many
+of them at least, can neither speak French nor understand it. Their
+language is a patois, resembling both Spanish and Italian, and they
+cling to it with astonishing pertinacity. Their agricultural implements
+are not less quaint than their speech. The plow is a long beam with a
+most primitive share in the middle, a cow at one end, and a boy at the
+other. The grain is cut with a sickle and threshed with a flail on the
+barn floor, as in Scripture times. Manure is scattered over the fields
+with the hands. There was a certain pleasure in studying these old-time
+ways. I caught glimpses of the anti-revolutionary epoch, when the king
+ruled the state and the nobles held the lands. Here again I saw, as
+never before, what vast strides the world has made within one century.
+
+But, indoors, one returns to modern times. The table, beds, rooms of the
+château were much the same as those of Toulouse and New York city. The
+cooking is not like ours, however, unless Delmonico's skill be supposed
+to have extended to all the homes in Manhattan Island, which is,
+unfortunately, not the case. What an admirable product of French genius
+is the art of cooking! Of incalculable value have been the culinary
+teachings of Vatel and his followers.
+
+One of the sources of amusement, during my sojourn at Jacournassy, was
+of a literary nature. My son Theodore was then busy collecting the
+materials for his book entitled "The Woman Question in Europe," and
+every post brought in manuscripts and letters from all parts of the
+continent, written in almost every tongue known to Babel. So just what I
+came abroad to avoid, I found on the very threshold where I came to
+rest. We had good linguists at the château, and every document finally
+came forth in English dress, which, however, often needed much altering
+and polishing. This was my part of the work. So, away off in the heart
+of France, high up in the Black Mountains, surrounded with
+French-speaking relatives and patois-speaking peasants, I found myself
+once more putting bad English into the best I could command, just as I
+had so often done in America, when editor of _The Revolution_, or when
+arranging manuscript for "The History of Woman Suffrage." But it was
+labor in the cause of my sex; it was aiding in the creation of "The
+Woman Question in Europe," and so my pen did not grow slack nor my hand
+weary.
+
+The scenery in the Black Mountains is very grand, and reminds one of the
+lofty ranges of mountains around the Yosemite Valley in California. In
+the distance are the snow-capped Pyrenees, producing a solemn beauty, a
+profound solitude. We used to go every evening where we could see the
+sun set and watch the changing shadows in the broad valley below.
+Another great pleasure here was watching the gradual development of my
+first grandchild, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born at Paris, on the 3d of
+May, 1882. She was a fine child; though only three months old her head
+was covered with dark hair, and her large blue eyes looked out with
+intense earnestness from beneath her well-shaped brow.
+
+One night I had a terrible fright. I was the only person sleeping on
+the ground floor of the château, and my room was at the extreme end of
+the building, with the staircase on the other side. I had frequently
+been cautioned not to leave my windows open, as someone might get in.
+But, as I always slept with an open window, winter and summer, I thought
+I would take the risk rather than endure a feeling of suffocation night
+after night. The blinds were solid, and to close them was to exclude all
+the air, so I left them open about a foot, braced by an iron hook. A
+favorite resort for a pet donkey was under my window, where he had
+uniformly slept in profound silence. But one glorious moonlight night,
+probably to arouse me to enjoy with him the exquisite beauty of our
+surroundings, he put his nose through this aperture and gave one of the
+most prolonged, resounding brays I ever heard. Startled from a deep
+sleep, I was so frightened that at first I could not move. My next
+impulse was to rush out and arouse the family, but, seeing a dark head
+in the window, I thought I would slam down the heavy sash and check the
+intruder before starting. But just as I approached the window, another
+agonizing bray announced the innocent character of my midnight visitor.
+Stretching out of the window to frighten him away, a gentleman in the
+room above me, for the same purpose, dashed down a pail of water, which
+the donkey and I shared equally. He ran off at a double-quick pace,
+while I made a hasty retreat.
+
+On August 20, I returned to Toulouse and our quiet convent. The sisters
+gave me a most affectionate welcome and I had many pleasant chats,
+sitting in the gardens, with the priests and professors. Several times
+my daughter and I attended High Mass in the cathedral, built in the
+eleventh century. Being entirely new to us it was a most entertaining
+spectacular performance. With our American ideas of religious devotion,
+it seemed to us that the people, as well as the building, belonged to
+the Dark Ages. About fifty priests, in mantles, gowns, and capes, some
+black, some yellow,--with tinseled fringes and ornamentation,--with all
+manner of gestures, genuflections, salutations, kneelings, and burning
+of incense; with prayers, admonitions, and sacraments, filled the altar
+with constant motion.
+
+A tall man, dressed in red, wheeled in a large basket filled with bread,
+which the priests, with cups of wine, passed up and down among those
+kneeling at the altar. At least half a dozen times the places at the
+altar were filled--chiefly with women. We counted the men,--only
+seven,--and those were old and tremulous, with one foot in the grave.
+The whole performance was hollow and mechanical. People walked in,
+crossed themselves at the door with holy water, and, while kneeling and
+saying their prayers, looked about examining the dress of each newcomer,
+their lips moving throughout, satisfied in reeling off the allotted
+number of prayers in a given time. The one redeeming feature in the
+whole performance was the grand music. The deep-toned organ, whose
+sounds reverberated through the lofty arches, was very impressive.
+
+The convent consisted of three large buildings, each three stories high,
+and a residence for the priests; also a chapel, where women, at their
+devotions, might be seen at various hours from four o'clock in the
+morning until evening. Inclosed within a high stone wall were beautiful
+gardens with fountains and shrines, where images of departed saints, in
+alcoves lighted with tapers were worshiped on certain days of the year.
+
+Such were our environments, and our minds naturally often dwelt on the
+nature and power of the religion that had built up and maintained for
+centuries these peaceful resorts, where cultivated, scholarly men, and
+women of fine sensibilities, could find rest from the struggles of the
+outside world. The sisters, who managed this large establishment, seemed
+happy in the midst of their severe and multifarious duties. Of the
+undercurrent of their lives I could not judge, but on the surface all
+seemed smooth and satisfactory. They evidently took great pleasure in
+the society of each other. Every evening, from six to eight, they all
+sat in the gardens in a circle together, sewing, knitting, and chatting,
+with occasional merry bursts of laughter. Their existence is not, by
+many degrees, as monotonous as that of most women in isolated
+households--especially of the farmer's wife in her solitary home, miles
+away from a village and a post office. They taught a school of fifty
+orphan girls, who lived in the convent, and for whom they frequently had
+entertainments. They also had a few boarders of the old aristocracy of
+France, who hate the Republic and still cling to their belief in Popes
+and Kings. For the purpose of perfecting herself in the language, my
+daughter embraced every opportunity to talk with all she met, and thus
+learned the secrets of their inner life. As Sister Rose spoke English, I
+gleaned from her what knowledge I could as to their views of time and
+eternity. I found their faith had not made much progress through the
+terrible upheavals of the French Revolution. Although the Jesuits have
+been driven out of France, and the pictures of Saints, the Virgin Mary,
+and Christ, have been banished from the walls of their schools and
+colleges, the sincere Catholics are more devoted to their religion
+because of these very persecutions.
+
+Theodore, his wife, and baby, and Mr. Blatch, a young Englishman, came
+to visit us. The sisters and school children manifested great delight in
+the baby, and the former equal pleasure in Mr. Blatch's marked attention
+to my daughter, as babies and courtships were unusual tableaux in a
+convent. As my daughter was studying for a university degree in
+mathematics, I went with her to the Lycée, a dreary apartment in a
+gloomy old building with bare walls, bare floors, dilapidated desks and
+benches, and an old rusty stove. Yet mid such surroundings, the
+professor always appeared in full dress, making a stately bow to his
+class. I had heard so much of the universities of France that I had
+pictured to myself grand buildings, like those of our universities; but,
+instead, I found that the lectures were given in isolated rooms, here,
+there, and anywhere--uniformly dreary inside and outside.
+
+The first day we called on Professor Depesyrons. After making all our
+arrangements for books and lectures, he suddenly turned to my daughter,
+and, pointing to the flounces on her dress, her jaunty hat, and some
+flowers in a buttonhole, he smiled, and said: "All this, and yet you
+love mathematics?" As we entered the court, on our way to the Lycée and
+inquired for the professor's lecture room, the students in little groups
+watched us closely. The one who escorted us asked several questions, and
+discovered, by our accent, that we were foreigners, a sufficient excuse
+for the novelty of our proceeding. The professor received us most
+graciously, and ordered the janitor to bring us chairs, table, paper,
+and pencils.
+
+Then we chatted pleasantly until the hour arrived for his lecture. As I
+had but little interest in the subject, and as the problems were
+pronounced in a foreign tongue, I took my afternoon nap. There was no
+danger of affronting the professor by such indifference to his
+eloquence, as he faced the blackboard, filling it with signs and figures
+as rapidly as possible; then expunging them to refill again and again,
+without a break in his explanations; talking as fast as his hand moved.
+Harriot struggled several days to follow him, but found it impossible,
+so we gave up the chase after cubes and squares, and she devoted herself
+wholly to the study of the language. These were days, for me, of perfect
+rest and peace. Everything moved as if by magic, no hurry and bustle,
+never a cross or impatient word spoken. As only one or two of the
+sisters spoke English, I could read under the trees uninterruptedly for
+hours. Emerson, Ruskin, and Carlyle were my chosen companions.
+
+We made several pleasant acquaintances among some Irish families who
+were trying to live on their reduced incomes in Toulouse. One of these
+gave us a farewell ball. As several companies of the French army were
+stationed there, we met a large number of officers at the ball. I had
+always supposed the French were graceful dancers. I was a quiet "looker
+on in Vienna," so I had an opportunity of comparing the skill of the
+different nationalities. All admitted that none glided about so easily
+and gracefully as the Americans. They seemed to move without the least
+effort, while the English, the French, and the Germans labored in their
+dancing, bobbing up and down, jumping and jerking, out of breath and red
+in the face in five minutes. One great pleasure we had in Toulouse was
+the music of the military band in the public gardens, where, for half a
+cent, we could have a chair and enjoy pure air and sweet music for two
+hours.
+
+We gave a farewell dinner at the Tivollier Hotel to some of our friends.
+With speeches and toasts we had a merry time. Professor Joly was the
+life of the occasion. He had been a teacher in France for forty years
+and had just retired on a pension. I presented to him "The History of
+Woman Suffrage," and he wrote a most complimentary review of it in one
+of the leading French journals. Every holiday must have its end. Other
+duties called me to England. So, after a hasty good-by to Jacournassy
+and La Sagesse, to the Black Mountains and Toulouse, to Languedoc and
+the South, we took train one day in October, just as the first leaves
+began to fall, and, in fourteen hours, were at Paris. I had not seen the
+beautiful French capital since 1840. My sojourn within its enchanting
+walls was short,--too short,--and I woke one morning to find myself,
+after an absence of forty-two years, again on the shores of England, and
+before my eyes were fairly open, grim old London welcomed me back. But
+the many happy hours spent in "merry England" during the winter of
+1882-83 have not effaced from my memory the four months in Languedoc.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+REFORMS AND REFORMERS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+
+Reaching London in the fogs and mists of November, 1882, the first
+person I met, after a separation of many years, was our revered and
+beloved friend William Henry Channing. The tall, graceful form was
+somewhat bent; the sweet, thoughtful face somewhat sadder; the crimes
+and miseries of the world seemed heavy on his heart. With his refined,
+nervous organization, the gloomy moral and physical atmosphere of London
+was the last place on earth where that beautiful life should have ended.
+I found him in earnest conversation with my daughter and the young
+Englishman she was soon to marry, advising them not only as to the
+importance of the step they were about to take, but as to the minor
+points to be observed in the ceremony. At the appointed time a few
+friends gathered in Portland Street Chapel, and as we approached the
+altar our friend appeared in surplice and gown, his pale, spiritual face
+more tender and beautiful than ever. This was the last marriage service
+he ever performed, and it was as pathetic as original. His whole
+appearance was so in harmony with the exquisite sentiments he uttered,
+that we who listened felt as if, for the time being, we had entered with
+him into the Holy of Holies.
+
+Some time after, Miss Anthony and I called on him to return our thanks
+for the very complimentary review he had written of "The History of
+Woman Suffrage." He thanked us in turn for the many pleasant memories
+we had revived in those pages, "but," said he, "they have filled me with
+indignation, too, at the repeated insults offered to women so earnestly
+engaged in honest endeavors for the uplifting of mankind. I blushed for
+my sex more than once in reading these volumes." We lingered long,
+talking over the events connected with our great struggle for freedom.
+He dwelt with tenderness on our disappointments, and entered more fully
+into the humiliations suffered by women, than any man we ever met. His
+views were as appreciative of the humiliation of woman, through the
+degradation of sex, as those expressed by John Stuart Mill in his
+wonderful work on "The Subjection of Women." He was intensely interested
+in Frances Power Cobbe's efforts to suppress vivisection, and the last
+time I saw him he was presiding at a parlor meeting where Dr. Elizabeth
+Blackwell gave an admirable address on the cause and cure of the social
+evil. Mr. Channing spoke beautifully in closing, paying a warm and
+merited compliment to Dr. Blackwell's clear and concise review of all
+the difficulties involved in the question.
+
+Reading so much of English reformers in our journals, of the Brights,
+McLarens, the Taylors; of Lydia Becker, Josephine Butler, and Octavia
+Hill, and of their great demonstrations with lords and members of
+Parliament in the chair,--we had longed to compare the actors in those
+scenes with our speakers on this side of the water. At last we met them
+one and all in great public meetings and parlor reunions, at dinners and
+receptions. We listened to their public men in Parliament, the courts,
+and the pulpit; to the women in their various assemblies; and came to
+the conclusion that Americans surpass them in oratory and the conduct of
+their meetings. A hesitating, apologetic manner seems to be the national
+custom for an exordium on all questions. Even their ablest men who have
+visited this country, such as Kingsley, Stanley, Arnold, Tyndall, and
+Coleridge, have all been criticised by the American public for their
+elocutionary defects. They have no speakers to compare with Wendell
+Phillips, George William Curtis, or Anna Dickinson, although John Bright
+is without peer among his countrymen, as is Mrs. Besant among the women.
+The women, as a general rule, are more fluent than the men.
+
+I reached England in time to attend the great demonstration in Glasgow,
+to celebrate the extension of the municipal franchise to the women of
+Scotland. It was a remarkable occasion. St. Andrew's immense hall was
+packed with women; a few men were admitted to the gallery at half a
+crown apiece. Over five thousand people were present. When a Scotch
+audience is thoroughly roused, nothing can equal the enthusiasm. The
+arrival of the speakers on the platform was announced with the wildest
+applause; the entire audience rising, waving their handkerchiefs, and
+clapping their hands, and every compliment paid the people of Scotland
+was received with similar outbursts. Mrs. McLaren, a sister of John
+Bright, presided, and made the opening speech. I had the honor, on this
+occasion, of addressing an audience for the first time in the Old World.
+Many others spoke briefly. There were too many speakers; no one had time
+to warm up to the point of eloquence.
+
+Our system of conventions, of two or three days' duration, with long
+speeches discussing pointed and radical resolutions, is quite unknown in
+England. Their meetings consist of one session of a few hours, into
+which they crowd all the speakers they can summon. They have a few tame,
+printed resolutions, on which there can be no possible difference of
+opinion, with the names of those who are to speak appended. Each of
+these is read and a few short speeches are made, that may or may not
+have the slightest reference to the resolutions, which are then passed.
+The last is usually one of thanks to some lord or member of the House of
+Commons, who may have condescended to preside at the meeting or do
+something for the measure in Parliament. The Queen is referred to
+tenderly in most of the speeches, although she has never done anything
+to merit the approbation of the advocates of suffrage for women.
+
+From Glasgow quite a large party of the Brights and McLarens went to
+Edinburgh, where the Hon. Duncan McLaren gave us a warm welcome to
+Newington House, under the very shadow of the Salisbury crags. These and
+the Pentland Hills are remarkable features in the landscape as you
+approach this beautiful city with its mountains and castles. We passed a
+few charming days driving about, visiting old friends, and discussing
+the status of woman on both sides of the Atlantic. Here we met Elizabeth
+Pease Nichol and Jane and Eliza Wigham, whom I had not seen since we sat
+together in the World's Anti-slavery Convention, in London, in 1840. Yet
+I knew Mrs. Nichol at once; her strongly marked face was not readily
+forgotten.
+
+I went with the family on Sunday to the Friends' meeting, where a most
+unusual manifestation for that decorous sect occurred. I had been told
+that, if I felt inclined, it would be considered quite proper for me to
+make some remarks, and just as I was revolving an opening sentence to a
+few thoughts I desired to present, a man arose in a remote part of the
+house and began, in a low voice, to give his testimony as to the truth
+that was in him. All eyes were turned toward him, when suddenly a Friend
+leaned over the back of the seat, seized his coat tails and jerked him
+down in a most emphatic manner. The poor man buried his face in his
+hands, and maintained a profound silence. I learned afterward that he
+was a bore, and the Friend in the rear thought it wise to nip him in the
+bud. This scene put to flight all intentions of speaking on my part lest
+I, too, might get outside the prescribed limits and be suppressed by
+force. I dined, that day, with Mrs. Nichol, at Huntly Lodge, where she
+has entertained in turn many of our American reformers. Her walls have
+echoed to the voices of Garrison, Rogers, Samuel J. May, Parker
+Pillsbury, Henry C. Wright, Douglass, Remond, and hosts of English
+philanthropists. Though over eighty years of age, she was still awake to
+all questions of the hour, and generous in her hospitalities as of yore.
+
+Mrs. Margaret Lucas, whose whole soul was in the temperance movement,
+escorted me from Edinburgh to Manchester, to be present at another great
+demonstration in the Town Hall, the finest building in that district. It
+had just been completed, and, with its ante-room, dining hall, and
+various apartments for social entertainments, was by far the most
+perfect hall I had seen in England. There I was entertained by Mrs.
+Matilda Roby, who, with her husband, gave me a most hospitable
+reception. She invited several friends to luncheon one day, among
+others Miss Lydia Becker, editor of the _Suffrage Journal_ in that city,
+and the Rev. Mr. Steinthal, who had visited this country and spoken on
+our platform. The chief topic at the table was John Stuart Mill, his
+life, character, writings, and his position with reference to the
+political rights of women. In the evening we went to see Ristori in
+'"Queen Elizabeth." Having seen her, many years before, in America, I
+was surprised to find her still so vigorous. And thus, week after week,
+suffrage meetings, receptions, dinners, luncheons, and theaters
+pleasantly alternated.
+
+The following Sunday we heard in London a grand sermon from Moncure D.
+Conway, and had a pleasant interview with him and Mrs. Conway at the
+close of the session. Later we spent a few days at their artistic home,
+filled with books, pictures, and mementos from loving friends. A
+billiard room, with well-worn cues, balls, and table--quite a novel
+adjunct to a parsonage--may, in a measure, account for his vigorous
+sermons. A garden reception to Mr. and Mrs. Howells gave us an
+opportunity to see the American novelist surrounded by his English
+friends.
+
+Soon after this Mr. Conway asked me to fill his pulpit. I retired
+Saturday night, very nervous over my sermon for the next day, and the
+feeling steadily increased until I reached the platform; but once there
+my fears were all dissipated, and I never enjoyed speaking more than on
+that occasion, for I had been so long oppressed with the degradation of
+woman under canon law and church discipline, that I had a sense of
+relief in pouring out my indignation. My theme was, "What has
+Christianity done for Woman?" and by the facts of history I showed
+clearly that to no form of religion was woman indebted for one impulse
+of freedom, as all alike have taught her inferiority and subjection. No
+lofty virtues can emanate from such a condition. Whatever heights of
+dignity and purity women have individually attained can in no way be
+attributed to the dogmas of their religion.
+
+With my son Theodore, always deeply interested in my friends and public
+work, I called, during my stay in London, on Mrs. Grey, Miss Jessie
+Boucherett, and Dr. Hoggan, who had written essays for "The Woman
+Question in Europe"; on our American minister (Mr. Lowell), Mr. and Mrs.
+George W. Smalley, and many other notable men and women. By appointment
+we had an hour with the Hon. John Bright, at his residence on
+Piccadilly. As his photograph, with his fame, had reached America, his
+fine face and head, as well as his political opinions, were quite
+familiar to us. He received us with great cordiality, and manifested a
+clear knowledge and deep interest in regard to all American affairs.
+Free trade and woman suffrage formed the basis of our conversation; the
+literature of our respective countries and our great men and women were
+the lighter topics of the occasion. He was not sound in regard to the
+political rights of women, but it is not given to any one man to be
+equally clear on all questions. He voted for John Stuart Mill's
+amendment to the Household Suffrage Bill in 1867, but he said, "that was
+a personal favor to a friend, without any strong convictions as to the
+merits of what I considered a purely sentimental measure."
+
+We attended the meeting called to rejoice over the passage of the
+Married Women's Property Bill, which gave to the women of England, in
+1882, what we had enjoyed in many States in this country since 1848.
+Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Elmy, and several members of
+Parliament made short speeches of congratulation to those who had been
+instrumental in carrying the measure. It was generally conceded that to
+the tact and persistence of Mrs. Jacob Bright, more than to any other
+person, belonged the credit of that achievement. Jacob Bright was at the
+time a member of Parliament, and fully in sympathy with the bill; and,
+while Mrs. Bright exerted all her social influence to make it popular
+with the members, her husband, thoroughly versed in Parliamentary
+tactics, availed himself of every technicality to push the bill through
+the House of Commons. Mrs. Bright's chief object in securing this bill,
+aside from establishing the right that every human being has to his own
+property, was to place married women on an even plane with widows and
+spinsters, thereby making them qualified voters.
+
+The next day we went out to Barn Elms to visit Mr. and Mrs. Charles
+McLaren. He was a member of Parliament, a Quaker by birth and education,
+and had sustained, to his uttermost ability, the suffrage movement. His
+charming wife, the daughter of Mrs. Pochin, is worthy of the noble
+mother who was among the earliest leaders on that question--speaking and
+writing with ability, on all phases of the subject. Barn Elms is a grand
+old estate, a few miles out of London. It was the dairy farm of Queen
+Elizabeth, and was presented by her to Sir Francis Walsingham. Since
+then it has been inhabited by many persons of note. It has existed as an
+estate since the time of the early Saxon kings, and the record of the
+sale of Barn Elms in the time of King Athelstane is still extant. What
+with its well-kept lawns, fine old trees, glimpses here and there of the
+Thames winding round its borders, and its wealth of old associations, it
+is, indeed, a charming spot. Our memory of those days will not go back
+to Saxon kings, but remain with the liberal host and hostess, the
+beautiful children, and the many charming acquaintances we met at that
+fireside. I doubt whether any of the ancient lords and ladies who
+dispensed their hospitalities under that roof did in any way surpass the
+present occupants. Mrs. McLaren, interested in all the reforms of the
+day, is radical in her ideas, a brilliant talker, and, for one so young,
+remarkably well informed on all political questions.
+
+It was at Barn Elms I met, for the first time, Mrs. Fannie Hertz, to
+whom I was indebted for many pleasant acquaintances afterward. She is
+said to know more distinguished literary people than any other woman in
+London. I saw her, too, several times in her home; meeting, at her
+Sunday-afternoon receptions, many persons I was desirous to know. On one
+occasion I found George Jacob Holyoake there, surrounded by several
+young ladies, all stoutly defending the Nihilists in Russia, and their
+right to plot their way to freedom. They counted a dynasty of Czars as
+nothing in the balance with the liberties of a whole people. As I joined
+the circle, Mr. Holyoake called my attention to the fact that he was the
+only one in favor of peaceful measures. "Now," said he, "I have often
+heard it said on your platform that the feminine element in politics
+would bring about perpetual peace in government, and here all these
+ladies are advocating: the worst forms of violence in the name of
+liberty." "Ah!" said I, "lay on their shoulders the responsibility of
+governing, and they would soon become as mild and conservative as you
+seem to be." He then gave us his views on co-operation, the only remedy
+for many existing evils, which he thought would be the next step toward
+a higher civilization.
+
+There, too, I met some Positivists, who, though liberal on religious
+questions, were very narrow as to the sphere of woman. The difference in
+sex, which is the very reason why men and women should be associated in
+all forms of activity, is to them the strongest reason why they should
+be separated. Mrs. Hertz belongs to the Harrison school of Positivists.
+I went with her to one of Mrs. Orr's receptions, where we met Robert
+Browning, a fine-looking man of seventy years, with white hair and
+mustache. He was frank, easy, playful, and brilliant in conversation.
+Mrs. Orr seemed to be taking a very pessimistic view of our present
+sphere of action, which Mr. Browning, with poetic coloring, was trying
+to paint more hopefully.
+
+The next day I dined with Margaret Bright Lucas, in company with John P.
+Thomasson, member of Parliament, and his wife, and, afterward, we went
+to the House of Commons and had the good fortune to hear Gladstone,
+Parnell, and Sir Charles Dilke. Seeing Bradlaugh seated outside of the
+charmed circle, I sent my card to him, and, in the corridor, we had a
+few moments' conversation. I asked him if he thought he would eventually
+get his seat. He replied, "Most assuredly I will. I shall open the next
+campaign with such an agitation as will rouse our politicians to some
+consideration of the changes gradually coming over the face of things
+in this country."
+
+The place assigned ladies in the House of Commons is really a disgrace
+to a country ruled by a queen. This dark perch is the highest gallery,
+immediately over the speaker's desk and government seats, behind a fine
+wire netting, so that it is quite impossible to see or hear anything.
+The sixteen persons who can crowd into the front row, by standing with
+their noses partly through the open network, can have the satisfaction
+of seeing the cranial arch of their rulers and hearing an occasional
+paean to liberty, or an Irish growl at the lack of it. I was told that
+this network was to prevent the members on the floor from being
+disturbed by the beauty of the women. On hearing this I remarked that I
+was devoutly thankful that our American men were not so easily
+disturbed, and that the beauty of our women was not of so dangerous a
+type. I could but contrast our spacious galleries in that magnificent
+Capitol at Washington, as well as in our grand State Capitols, where
+hundreds of women can sit at their ease and see and hear their rulers,
+with these dark, dingy buildings. My son, who had a seat on the floor
+just opposite the ladies' gallery, said he could compare our appearance
+to nothing but birds in a cage. He could not distinguish an outline of
+anybody. All he could see was the moving of feathers and furs or some
+bright ribbon or flower.
+
+In the libraries, the courts, and the House of Lords, I found many
+suggestive subjects of thought. It was interesting to find, on the
+frescoed walls, many historical scenes in which women had taken a
+prominent part. Among others there was Jane Lane assisting Charles II.
+to escape, and Alice Lisle concealing the fugitives after the battle of
+Sedgemoor. Six wives of Henry VIII. stood forth, a solemn pageant when
+one recalled their sad fate. Alas! whether for good or ill, women must
+ever fill a large space in the tragedies of the world.
+
+I passed a few pleasant hours in the house where Macaulay spent his last
+years. The once spacious library and the large bow-window, looking out
+on a beautiful lawn, where he sat, from day to day, writing his glowing
+periods, possessed a peculiar charm for me, as the surroundings of
+genius always do. I thought, as I stood there, how often he had
+unconsciously gazed on each object in searching for words rich enough to
+gild his ideas. The house was owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen
+Winckworth. It was at one of their sociable Sunday teas that many
+pleasant memories of the great historian were revived.
+
+One of the most remarkable and genial women I met was Miss Frances Power
+Cobbe. She called one afternoon, and sipped with me the five o'clock
+tea, a uniform practice in England. She was of medium height, stout,
+rosy, and vigorous-looking, with a large, well-shaped head, a strong,
+happy face, and gifted with rare powers of conversation. I felt very
+strongly attracted to her. She was frank and cordial, and pronounced in
+all her views. She gave us an account of her efforts to rescue unhappy
+cats and dogs from the hands of the vivisectionists. We saw her, too, in
+her home, and in her office in Victoria Street. The perfect order in
+which her books and papers were arranged, and the exquisite neatness of
+the apartments, were refreshing to behold.
+
+My daughter, having decided opinions of her own, was soon at
+loggerheads with Miss Cobbe on the question of vivisection. After we had
+examined several German and French books, with illustrations showing the
+horrible cruelty inflicted on cats and dogs, she enlarged on the
+hypocrisy and wickedness of these scientists, and, turning to my
+daughter, said: "Would you shake hands with one of these
+vivisectionists? Yes," said Harriot, "I should be proud to shake hands
+with Virchow, the great German scientist, for his kindness to a young
+American girl. She applied to several professors to be admitted to their
+classes, but all refused except Virchow; he readily assented, and
+requested his students to treat her with becoming courtesy. 'If any of
+you behave otherwise,' said he, 'I shall feel myself personally
+insulted.' She entered his classes and pursued her studies, unmolested
+and with great success. Now, would you, Miss Cobbe, refuse to shake
+hands with any of your statesmen, scientists, clergymen, lawyers, or
+physicians who treat women with constant indignities and insult?" "Oh,
+no!" said Miss Cobbe. "Then," said Harriot, "you estimate the physical
+suffering of cats and dogs as of more consequence than the humiliation
+of human beings. The man who tortures a cat for a scientific purpose is
+not as low in the scale of beings, in my judgment, as one who sacrifices
+his own daughter to some cruel custom."
+
+As we were, just then, reading Froude's "Life of Carlyle," we drove by
+the house where Carlyle had lived, and paused a moment at the door where
+poor Jennie went in and out so often with a heavy heart. The book gives
+a painful record of a great soul struggling with poverty and
+disappointment; the hope of success, as an author, so long deferred and
+never realized. His foolish pride of independence and headship, and his
+utter indifference to his domestic duties and the comfort of his wife
+made the picture still darker. Poor Jennie! fitted to shine in any
+circle, yet doomed, all her married life, to domestic drudgery, instead
+of associations with the great man for whose literary companionship she
+had sacrificed everything.
+
+At one of Miss Biggs' receptions Miss Anthony and I met Mr. Stansfeld,
+M.P., who had labored faithfully for the repeal of the Contagious
+Diseases Act, and had in a measure been successful. We had the honor of
+an interview with Lord Shaftesbury, at one of his crowded "at homes,"
+and found him a little uncertain as to the wisdom of allowing married
+women to vote, for fear of disturbing the peace of the family. I have
+often wondered if men see, in this objection, what a fatal admission
+they make as to their love of domination.
+
+Miss Anthony was present at the great Liberal Conference, at Leeds, on
+October 17, 1882, to which Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, Miss Jane Cobden,
+Mrs. Tanner, Mrs. Scatcherd, and several other ladies were duly elected
+delegates from their respective Liberal Leagues. Mrs. Clark and Miss
+Cobden, daughters of the great corn-law reformers, spoke eloquently in
+favor of the resolution to extend Parliamentary suffrage to women, which
+was presented by Walter McLaren of Bradford. As Mrs. Clark made her
+impassioned appeal for the recognition of woman's political equality in
+the next bill for extension of suffrage, that immense gathering of
+sixteen hundred delegates was hushed into profound silence. For a
+daughter to speak thus in that great representative convention, in
+opposition to her loved and honored father, the acknowledged leader of
+that party, was an act of heroism and fidelity to her own highest
+convictions almost without a parallel in English history, and the effect
+on the audience was as thrilling as it was surprising. The resolution
+was passed by a large majority. At the reception given to John Bright
+that evening, as Mrs. Clark approached the dais on which her noble
+father stood shaking the hands of passing friends, she remarked to her
+husband, "I wonder if father has heard of my speech this morning, and if
+he will forgive me for thus publicly differing with him?" The query was
+soon answered. As he caught the first glimpse of his daughter he stepped
+down, and, pressing her hand affectionately, kissed her on either cheek.
+
+The next evening the great Quaker statesman was heard by the admiring
+thousands who could crowd into Victoria Hall, while thousands, equally
+desirous to hear, failed to get tickets of admission. It was a
+magnificent sight, and altogether a most impressive gathering of the
+people. Miss Anthony, with her friends, sat in the gallery opposite the
+great platform, where they had a fine view of the whole audience. When
+John Bright, escorted by Sir Wilfrid Lawson, took his seat, the immense
+crowd rose, waving hats and handkerchiefs, and, with the wildest
+enthusiasm, gave cheer after cheer in honor of the great leader. Sir
+Wilfrid Lawson, in his introductory remarks, facetiously alluded to the
+resolution adopted by the Conference as somewhat in advance of the ideas
+of the speaker of the evening. The house broke into roars of laughter,
+while the Father of Liberalism, perfectly convulsed, joined in the
+general merriment.
+
+But when at length his time to speak had come, and Mr. Bright went over
+the many steps of progress that had been taken by the Liberal party, he
+cunningly dodged the question of the emancipation of the women of
+England. He skipped round the agitation of 1867, and John Stuart Mill's
+amendment presented at that time in the House of Commons; the extension
+of the municipal suffrage in 1869; the participation of women in the
+establishment of national schools under the law of 1870, both as voters
+and members of school boards; the Married Women's Property Bill of 1882;
+the large and increasing vote for the extension of Parliamentary
+suffrage in the House of Commons, and the adoption of the resolution by
+that great Conference the day before. All these successive steps toward
+woman's emancipation he carefully remembered to forget.
+
+While in London Miss Anthony and I attended several enthusiastic reform
+meetings. We heard Bradlaugh address his constituency on that memorable
+day at Trafalgar Square, at the opening of Parliament, when violence was
+anticipated and the Parliament Houses were surrounded by immense crowds,
+with the military and police in large numbers, to maintain order. We
+heard Michael Davitt and Miss Helen Taylor at a great meeting in Exeter
+Hall; the former on home rule for Ireland, and the latter on the
+nationalization of land. The facts and figures given in these two
+lectures, as to the abject poverty of the people and the cruel system by
+which every inch of land had been grabbed by their oppressors, were
+indeed appalling. A few days before sailing we made our last visit to
+Ernestine L. Rose, and found our noble coadjutor, though in delicate
+health, pleasantly situated in the heart of London, as deeply interested
+as ever in the struggles of the hour.
+
+A great discomfort, in all English homes, is the inadequate system of
+heating. A moderate fire in the grate is the only mode of heating, and
+they seem quite oblivious to the danger of throwing a door open into a
+cold hall at one's back, while the servants pass in and out with the
+various courses at dinner. As we Americans were sorely tried, under such
+circumstances, it was decided, in the home of my son-in-law, Mr. Blatch,
+to have a hall-stove, which, after a prolonged search, was found in
+London and duly installed as a presiding deity to defy the dampness that
+pervades all those ivy-covered habitations, as well as the neuralgia
+that wrings their possessors. What a blessing it proved, more than any
+one thing making the old English house seem like an American home! The
+delightful summer heat we, in America, enjoy in the coldest seasons, is
+quite unknown to our Saxon cousins. Although many came to see our stove
+in full working order, yet we could not persuade them to adopt the
+American system of heating the whole house at an even temperature. They
+cling to the customs of their fathers with an obstinacy that is
+incomprehensible to us, who are always ready to try experiments.
+Americans complain bitterly of the same freezing experiences in France
+and Germany, and, in turn, foreigners all criticise our overheated
+houses and places of amusement.
+
+While attending a meeting in Birmingham I stayed with a relative of
+Joseph Sturge, whose home I had visited forty years before. The meeting
+was called to discuss the degradation of women under the Contagious
+Diseases Act. Led by Josephine Butler, the women of England were deeply
+stirred on the question of its repeal and have since secured it. I heard
+Mrs. Butler speak in many of her society meetings as well as on other
+occasions. Her style was not unlike that one hears in Methodist camp
+meetings from the best cultivated of that sect; her power lies in her
+deeply religious enthusiasm. In London we met Emily Faithful, who had
+just returned from a lecturing tour in the United States, and were much
+amused with her experiences. Having taken prolonged trips over the whole
+country, from Maine to Texas, for many successive years, Miss Anthony
+and I could easily add the superlative to all her narrations.
+
+It was a pleasant surprise to meet the large number of Americans usually
+at the receptions of Mrs. Peter Taylor. Graceful and beautiful, in full
+dress, standing beside her husband, who evidently idolized her, Mrs.
+Taylor appeared quite as refined in her drawing room as if she had never
+been exposed to the public gaze while presiding over a suffrage
+convention. Mrs. Taylor is called the mother of the suffrage movement.
+The reform has not been carried on in all respects to her taste, nor on
+what she considers the basis of high principle. Neither she nor Mrs.
+Jacob Bright has ever been satisfied with the bill asking the rights of
+suffrage for "widows and spinsters" only. To have asked this right "for
+all women duly qualified," as but few married women are qualified
+through possessing property in their own right, would have been
+substantially the same, without making any invidious distinctions. Mrs.
+Taylor and Mrs. Bright felt that, as married women were the greatest
+sufferers under the law, they should be the first rather than the last
+to be enfranchised. The others, led by Miss Becker, claimed that it was
+good policy to make the demand for "spinsters and widows," and thus
+exclude the "family unit" and "man's headship" from the discussion; and
+yet these were the very points on which the objections were invariably
+based. They claimed that, if "spinsters and widows" were enfranchised,
+they would be an added power to secure to married women their rights.
+But the history of the past gives us no such assurance. It is not
+certain that women would be more just than men, and a small privileged
+class of aristocrats have long governed their fellow-countrymen. The
+fact that the spinsters in the movement advocated such a bill, shows
+that they were not to be trusted in extending it. John Stuart Mill, too,
+was always opposed to the exclusion of married women in the demand for
+suffrage.
+
+My sense of justice was severely tried by all I heard of the
+persecutions of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh for their publications on
+the right and duty of parents to limit population. Who can contemplate
+the sad condition of multitudes of young children in the Old World whose
+fate is to be brought up in ignorance and vice--a swarming, seething
+mass which nobody owns--without seeing the need of free discussion of
+the philosophical principles that underlie these tangled social
+problems? The trials of Foote and Ramsey, too, for blasphemy, seemed
+unworthy a great nation in the nineteenth century. Think of
+well-educated men of good moral standing thrown into prison in solitary
+confinement, for speaking lightly of the Hebrew idea of Jehovah and the
+New Testament account of the birth of Jesus! Our Protestant clergy never
+hesitate to make the dogmas and superstitions of the Catholic Church
+seem as absurd as possible, and why should not those who imagine they
+have outgrown Protestant superstitions make them equally ridiculous?
+Whatever is true can stand investigation and ridicule.
+
+In the last of April, when the wildflowers were in their glory, Mrs.
+Mellen and her lovely daughter, Daisy, came down to our home at
+Basingstoke to enjoy its beauty. As Mrs. Mellen had known Charles
+Kingsley and entertained him at her residence in Colorado, she felt a
+desire to see his former home. Accordingly, one bright morning, Mr.
+Blatch drove us to Eversley, through Strathfieldsaye, the park of the
+Duke of Wellington. This magnificent place was given to him by the
+English government after the battle of Waterloo. A lofty statue of the
+duke, that can be seen for miles around, stands at one entrance. A drive
+of a few miles further brought us to the parish church of Canon
+Kingsley, where he preached many years, and where all that is mortal of
+him now lies buried. We wandered through the old church, among the
+moss-covered tombstones, and into the once happy home, now silent and
+deserted--his loved ones being scattered in different quarters of the
+globe. Standing near the last resting place of the author of "Hypatia,"
+his warning words for women, in a letter to John Stuart Mill, seemed
+like a voice from heaven saying, with new inspiration and power, "This
+will never be a good world for women until the last remnant of the canon
+law is civilized off the face of the earth."
+
+We heard Mr. Fawcett speak to his Hackney constituents at one of his
+campaign meetings. In the course of his remarks he mentioned with
+evident favor, as one of the coming measures, the disestablishment of
+the Church, and was greeted with loud applause. Soon after he spoke of
+woman suffrage as another question demanding consideration, but this
+was received with laughter and jeers, although the platform was crowded
+with advocates of the measure, among whom were the wife of the speaker
+and her sister, Dr. Garrett Anderson. The audience were evidently in
+favor of releasing themselves from being taxed to support the Church,
+forgetting that women were taxed not only to support a Church but also a
+State in the management of neither of which they had a voice. Mr.
+Fawcett was not an orator, but a simple, straightforward speaker. He
+made one gesture, striking his right clenched fist into the palm of his
+left hand at the close of all his strongest assertions, and, although
+more liberal than his party, he was a great favorite with his
+constituents.
+
+One pleasant trip I made in England was to Bristol, to visit the Misses
+Priestman and Mrs. Tanner, sisters-in-law of John Bright. I had stayed
+at their father's house forty years before, so we felt like old friends.
+I found them all liberal women, and we enjoyed a few days together,
+talking over our mutual struggles, and admiring the beautiful scenery
+for which that part of the country is celebrated. The women of England
+were just then organizing political clubs, and I was invited to speak
+before many of them. There is an earnestness of purpose among English
+women that is very encouraging under the prolonged disappointments
+reformers inevitably suffer. And the order of English homes, too, among
+the wealthy classes, is very enjoyable. All go on from year to year with
+the same servants, the same surroundings, no changes, no moving, no
+building even; in delightful contrast with our periodical upheavals,
+always uncertain where we shall go next, or how long our main
+dependents will stand by us.
+
+From Bristol I went to Greenbank to visit Mrs. Helen Bright Clark. One
+evening her parlors were crowded and I was asked to give an account of
+the suffrage movement in America. Some clergymen questioned me in regard
+to the Bible position of woman, whereupon I gave quite an exposition of
+its general principles in favor of liberty and equality. As two distinct
+lines of argument can be woven out of those pages on any subject, on
+this occasion I selected all the most favorable texts for justice to
+woman, and closed by stating the limits of its authority. Mrs. Clark,
+though thoroughly in sympathy with the views I had expressed, feared
+lest my very liberal utterances might have shocked some of the strictest
+of the laymen and clergy. "Well," said I, "if we who do see the
+absurdities of the old superstitions never unveil them to others, how is
+the world to make any progress in the theologies? I am in the sunset of
+life, and I feel it to be my special mission to tell people what they
+are not prepared to hear, instead of echoing worn-out opinions." The
+result showed the wisdom of my speaking out of my own soul. To the
+surprise of Mrs. Clark, the Primitive Methodist clergyman called on
+Sunday morning to invite me to occupy his pulpit in the afternoon and
+present the same line of thought I had the previous evening. I accepted
+his invitation. He led the services, and I took my text from Genesis i.
+27, 28, showing that man and woman were a simultaneous creation,
+endowed, in the beginning, with equal power.
+
+Returning to London, I accepted an invitation to take tea one afternoon
+with Mrs. Jacob Bright, who, in earnest conversation, had helped us
+each to a cup of tea, and was turning to help us to something more, when
+over went table and all--tea, bread and butter, cake, strawberries and
+cream, silver, china, in one conglomerate mass. Silence reigned. No one
+started; no one said "Oh!" Mrs. Bright went on with what she was saying
+as if nothing unusual had occurred, rang the bell, and, when the servant
+appeared, pointing to the débris, she said, "Charles, remove this." I
+was filled with admiration at her coolness, and devoutly thankful that
+we Americans maintained an equally dignified silence.
+
+At a grand reception, given in our honor by the National Central
+Committee, in Princess' Hall, Jacob Bright, M.P., presided and made an
+admirable opening speech, followed by his sister, Mrs. McLaren, with a
+highly complimentary address of welcome. By particular request Miss
+Anthony explained the industrial, legal, and political status of
+American women, while I set forth their educational, social, and
+religious condition. John P. Thomasson, M.P., made the closing address,
+expressing his satisfaction with our addresses and the progress made in
+both countries.
+
+Mrs. Thomasson, daughter of Mrs. Lucas, gave several parties,
+receptions, and dinners,--some for ladies only,--where an abundant
+opportunity was offered for a critical analysis of the idiosyncrasies of
+the superior sex, especially in their dealings with women. The patience
+of even such heroic souls as Lydia Becker and Caroline Biggs was almost
+exhausted with the tergiversations of Members of the House of Commons.
+Alas for the many fair promises broken, the hopes deferred, the votes
+fully relied on and counted, all missing in the hour of action! One
+crack of Mr. Gladstone's whip put a hundred Liberal members to
+flight--members whom these noble women had spent years in educating. I
+never visited the House of Commons that I did not see Miss Becker and
+Miss Biggs trying to elucidate the fundamental principles of just
+government to some of the legislators. Verily their divine faith and
+patience merited more worthy action on the part of their alleged
+representatives!
+
+Miss Henrietta Müller gave a farewell reception to Miss Anthony and me
+on the eve of our departure for America, when we had the opportunity of
+meeting once more most of the pleasant acquaintances we had made in
+London. Although it was announced for the afternoon, we did, in fact,
+receive all day, as many could not come at the hour appointed. Dr.
+Elizabeth Blackwell took breakfast with us; Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Saville,
+and Miss Lord were with us at luncheon; Harriet Hosmer and Olive Logan
+soon after; Mrs. Peter Taylor later, and from three to six o'clock the
+parlors were crowded.
+
+Returning from London I passed my birthday, November 12, 1883, in
+Basingstoke. It was a sad day for us all, knowing that it was the last
+day with my loved ones before my departure for America. When I imprinted
+the farewell kiss on the soft cheek of my little granddaughter Nora in
+the cradle, she in the dawn and I in the sunset of life, I realized how
+widely the broad ocean would separate us. Miss Anthony, met me at
+Alderly Edge, where we spent a few days with Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bright.
+There we found their noble sisters, Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas, young
+Walter McLaren and his lovely bride, Eva Müller, whom we had heard
+several times on the suffrage platform. We rallied her on the step she
+had lately taken, notwithstanding her sister's able paper on the
+blessedness of a single life. While there, we visited Dean Stanley's
+birthplace, but on his death the light and joy went out. The old church
+whose walls had once echoed to his voice, and the house where he had
+spent so many useful years, seemed sad and deserted. But the day was
+bright and warm, the scenery beautiful, cows and sheep were still
+grazing in the meadows, and the grass was as green as in June. This is
+England's chief charm,--it is forever green,--perhaps in compensation
+for the many cloudy days.
+
+As our good friends Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas had determined to see us
+safely on board the Servia, they escorted us to Liverpool, where we met
+Mrs. Margaret Parker and Mrs. Scatcherd. Another reception was given us
+at the residence of Dr. Ewing Whittle. Several short speeches were made,
+and all present cheered the parting guests with words of hope and
+encouragement for the good cause. Here the wisdom of forming an
+international association was first considered. The proposition met with
+such favor from those present that a committee was appointed to
+correspond with the friends in different nations. Miss Anthony and I
+were placed on the committee, and while this project has not yet been
+fully carried out, the idea of the intellectual co-operation of women to
+secure equal rights and opportunities for their sex was the basis of the
+International Council of Women, which was held under the auspices of the
+National Woman Suffrage Association in Washington, D. C, in March, 1888.
+
+On the Atlantic for ten days we had many opportunities to review all we
+had seen and heard. Sitting on deck, hour after hour, how often I
+queried with myself as to the significance of the boon for which we were
+so earnestly struggling. In asking for a voice in the government under
+which we live, have we been pursuing a shadow for fifty years? In
+seeking political power, are we abdicating that social throne where they
+tell us our influence is unbounded? No, no! the right of suffrage is no
+shadow, but a substantial entity that the citizen can seize and hold for
+his own protection and his country's welfare. A direct power over one's
+own person and property, an individual opinion to be counted, on all
+questions of public interest, are better than indirect influence, be
+that ever so far reaching.
+
+Though influence, like the pure white light, is all-pervading, yet it is
+ofttimes obscured with passing clouds and nights of darkness. Like the
+sun's rays, it may be healthy, genial, inspiring, though sometimes too
+direct for comfort, too oblique for warmth, too scattered for any
+purpose. But as the prism divides the rays, revealing the brilliant
+colors of the light, so does individual sovereignty reveal the beauty of
+representative government, and as the burning-glass shows the power of
+concentrating the rays, so does the combined power of the multitude
+reveal the beauty of united effort to carry a grand measure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+WOMAN AND THEOLOGY.
+
+
+Returning from Europe in the autumn of 1883, after visiting a large
+circle of relatives and friends, I spent six weeks with my cousin,
+Elizabeth Smith Miller, at her home at Geneva, on Seneca Lake.
+
+Through Miss Frances Lord, a woman of rare culture and research, my
+daughter and I had become interested in the school of theosophy, and
+read "Isis Unveiled," by Madame Blavatsky, Sinnett's works on the
+"Occult World," and "The Perfect Way," by Anna Kingsford. Full of these
+ideas, I soon interested my cousins in the subject, and we resolved to
+explore, as far as possible, some of these Eastern mysteries, of which
+we had heard so much. We looked in all directions to find some pilot to
+start us on the right course. We heard that Gerald Massey was in New
+York city, lecturing on "The Devil," "Ghosts," and "Evil Spirits"
+generally, so we invited him to visit us and give a course of lectures
+in Geneva. But, unfortunately, he was ill, and could not open new fields
+of thought to us at that time, though we were very desirous to get a
+glimpse into the unknown world, and hold converse with the immortals. As
+I soon left Geneva with my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, our occult
+studies were, for a time, abandoned.
+
+My daughter and I often talked of writing a story, she describing the
+characters and their environments and I attending to the philosophy and
+soliloquies. As I had no special duties in prospect, we decided that
+this was the time to make our experiment. Accordingly we hastened to the
+family homestead at Johnstown, New York, where we could be entirely
+alone. Friends on all sides wondered what had brought us there in the
+depth of the winter. But we kept our secret, and set ourselves to work
+with diligence, and after three months our story was finished to our
+entire satisfaction. We felt sure that everyone who read it would be
+deeply interested and that we should readily find a publisher. We
+thought of "Our Romance" the first thing in the morning and talked of it
+the last thing at night. But alas! friendly critics who read our story
+pointed out its defects, and in due time we reached their conclusions,
+and the unpublished manuscript now rests in a pigeonhole of my desk. We
+had not many days to mourn our disappointment, as Madge was summoned to
+her Western home, and Miss Anthony arrived armed and equipped with
+bushels of documents for vol. III. of "The History of Woman Suffrage."
+The summer and autumn of 1884 Miss Anthony and I passed at Johnstown,
+working diligently on the History, indulging only in an occasional
+drive, a stroll round the town in the evening, or a ride in the open
+street cars.
+
+Mrs. Devereux Blake was holding a series of conventions, at this time,
+through the State of New York, and we urged her to expend some of her
+missionary efforts in my native town, which she did with good results.
+As the school election was near at hand Miss Anthony and I had several
+preliminary meetings to arouse the women to their duty as voters, and to
+the necessity of nominating some woman for trustee. When the day for
+the election arrived the large upper room of the Academy was filled with
+ladies and gentlemen. Some timid souls who should have been there stayed
+at home, fearing there would be a row, but everything was conducted with
+decency and in order. The chairman, Mr. Rosa, welcomed the ladies to
+their new duties in a very complimentary manner. Donald McMartin stated
+the law as to what persons were eligible to vote in school elections.
+Mrs. Horace Smith filled the office of teller on the occasion with
+promptness and dignity, and Mrs. Elizabeth Wallace Yost was elected
+trustee by a majority of seven. It is strange that intelligent women,
+who are supposed to feel some interest in the question of education,
+should be so indifferent to the power they possess to make our schools
+all that they should be.
+
+This was the year of the presidential campaign. The Republicans and
+Democrats had each held their nominating conventions, and all classes
+participated in the general excitement. There being great
+dissatisfaction in the Republican ranks, we issued a manifesto: "Stand
+by the Republican Party," not that we loved Blaine more, but Cleveland
+less. The latter was elected, therefore it was evident that our efforts
+did not have much influence in turning the tide of national politics,
+though the Republican papers gave a broad circulation to our appeal.
+Dowden's description of the poet Shelley's efforts in scattering one of
+his suppressed pamphlets, reminded me of ours. He purchased bushels of
+empty bottles, in which he placed his pamphlets; having corked them up
+tight, he threw the bottles into the sea at various fashionable watering
+places, hoping they would wash ashore. Walking the streets of London in
+the evening he would slip his pamphlets into the hoods of old ladies'
+cloaks, throw them in shop doors, and leave them in cabs and omnibuses.
+We scattered ours in the cars, inclosed them in every letter we wrote or
+newspaper we sent through the country.
+
+The night before election Mr. Stanton and Professor Horace Smith spoke
+in the Johnstown courthouse, and took rather pessimistic views of the
+future of the Republic should James G. Blaine be defeated. Cleveland was
+elected, and we still live as a nation, and are able to digest the
+thousands of foreign immigrants daily landing at our shores. The night
+of the election a large party of us sat up until two o'clock to hear the
+news. Mr. Stanton had long been one of the editorial writers on the New
+York Sun, and they sent him telegrams from that office until a late
+hour. However, the election was so close that we were kept in suspense
+several days, before it was definitely decided.
+
+Miss Anthony left in December, 1884, for Washington, and I went to work
+on an article for the North American Review, entitled, "What has
+Christianity done for Women?" I took the ground that woman was not
+indebted to any form of religion for the liberty she now enjoys, but
+that, on the contrary, the religious element in her nature had always
+been perverted for her complete subjection. Bishop Spaulding, in the
+same issue of the Review, took the opposite ground, but I did not feel
+that he answered my points.
+
+In January, 1885, my niece Mrs. Baldwin and I went to Washington to
+attend the Annual Convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
+It was held in the Unitarian church on the 20th, 21st, and 22d days of
+that month, and went off with great success, as did the usual reception
+given by Mrs. Spofford at the Riggs House. This dear friend, one of our
+most ardent coadjutors, always made the annual convention a time for
+many social enjoyments. The main feature in this convention was the
+attempt to pass the following resolutions:
+
+     "Whereas, The dogmas incorporated in religious creeds derived from
+     Judaism, teaching that woman was an after-thought in the creation,
+     her sex a misfortune, marriage a condition of subordination, and
+     maternity a curse, are contrary to the law of God (as revealed in
+     nature), and to the precepts of Christ, and,
+
+     "Whereas, These dogmas are an insidious poison, sapping the
+     vitality of our civilization, blighting woman, and, through her,
+     paralyzing humanity; therefore be it
+
+     "_Resolved_, That we call on the Christian ministry, as leaders of
+     thought, to teach and enforce the fundamental idea of creation,
+     that man was made in the image of God, male and female, and given
+     equal rights over the earth, but none over each other. And,
+     furthermore, we ask their recognition of the scriptural declaration
+     that, in the Christian religion, there is neither male nor female,
+     bond nor free, but all are one in Christ Jesus."
+
+As chairman of the committee I presented a series of resolutions,
+impeaching the Christian theology--as well as all other forms of
+religion, for their degrading teachings in regard to woman--which the
+majority of the committee thought too strong and pointed, and, after
+much deliberation, they substituted the above, handing over to the Jews
+what I had laid at the door of the Christians. They thought they had so
+sugar-coated my ideas that the resolutions would pass without
+discussion. But some Jews in the convention promptly repudiated this
+impression of their faith and precipitated the very discussion I
+desired, but which our more politic friends would fain have avoided.
+
+From the time of the decade meeting in Rochester, in 1878, Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, Edward M. Davis, and I had sedulously labored to rouse
+women to a realization of their degraded position in the Church, and
+presented resolutions at every annual convention for that purpose. But
+they were either suppressed or so amended as to be meaningless. The
+resolutions of the annual convention of 1885, tame as they are, got into
+print and roused the ire of the clergy, and upon the following Sunday,
+Dr. Patton of Howard University preached a sermon on "Woman and
+Skepticism," in which he unequivocally took the ground that freedom for
+woman led to skepticism and immorality. He illustrated his position by
+pointing to Hypatia, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frances Wright, George Eliot,
+Harriet Martineau, Mme. Roland, Frances Power Cobbe, and Victoria
+Woodhull. He made a grave mistake in the last names mentioned, as Mrs.
+Woodhull was a devout believer in the Christian religion, and surely
+anyone conversant with Miss Cobbe's writings would never accuse her of
+skepticism. His sermon was received with intense indignation, even by
+the women of his own congregation. When he found what a whirlwind he had
+started, he tried to shift his position and explain away much that he
+had said. We asked him to let us have the sermon for publication, that
+we might not do him injustice. But as he contradicted himself flatly in
+trying to restate his discourse, and refused to let us see his sermon,
+those who heard him were disgusted with his sophistry and
+tergiversation.
+
+However, our labors in this direction are having an effect. Women are
+now making their attacks on the Church all along the line. They are
+demanding their right to be ordained as ministers, elders, deacons, and
+to be received as delegates in all the ecclesiastical convocations. At
+last they ask of the Church just what they have asked of the State for
+the last half century--perfect equality--and the clergy, as a body, are
+quite as hostile to their demands as the statesmen.
+
+On my way back to Johnstown I spent ten days at Troy, where I preached
+in the Unitarian church on Sunday evening. During this visit we had two
+hearings in the Capitol at Albany--one in the Senate Chamber and one in
+the Assembly, before the Committee on Grievances. On both occasions Mrs.
+Mary Seymour Howell, Mrs. Devereux Blake, Mrs. Caroline Gilkey Rogers,
+and I addressed the Committee. Being open to the public, the chamber was
+crowded. It was nearly forty years since I had made my first appeal in
+the old Capitol at Albany. My reflections were sad and discouraging, as
+I sat there and listened to the speakers and remembered how long we had
+made our appeals at that bar, from year to year, in vain. The members of
+the committee presented the same calm aspect as their predecessors, as
+if to say, "Be patient, dear sisters, eternity is before us; this is
+simply a question of time. What may not come in your day, future
+generations will surely possess." It is always pleasant to know that
+our descendants are to enjoy life, liberty, and happiness; but, when one
+is gasping for one breath of freedom, this reflection is not satisfying.
+
+Returning to my native hills, I found the Lenten season had fairly set
+in, which I always dreaded on account of the solemn, tolling bell, the
+Episcopal church being just opposite our residence. On Sunday we had the
+bells of six churches all going at the same time. It is strange how long
+customs continue after the original object has ceased to exist. At an
+early day, when the country was sparsely settled and the people lived at
+great distances, bells were useful to call them together when there was
+to be a church service. But now, when the churches are always open on
+Sunday, and every congregation knows the hour of services and all have
+clocks, bells are not only useless, but they are a terrible nuisance to
+invalids and nervous people. If I am ever so fortunate as to be elected
+a member of a town council, my first efforts will be toward the
+suppression of bells.
+
+To encourage one of my sex in the trying profession of book agent, I
+purchased, about this time, Dr. Lord's "Beacon Lights of History," and
+read the last volume devoted to women, Pagan and Christian, saints and
+sinners. It is very amusing to see the author's intellectual wriggling
+and twisting to show that no one can be good or happy without believing
+in the Christian religion. In describing great women who are not
+Christians, he attributes all their follies and miseries to that fact.
+In describing Pagan women, possessed of great virtues, he attributes all
+their virtues to Nature's gifts, which enable them to rise superior to
+superstitions. After dwelling on the dreary existence of those not of
+Christian faith, he forthwith pictures his St. Teresa going through
+twenty years of doubts and fears about the salvation of her soul. The
+happiest people I have known have been those who gave themselves no
+concern about their own souls, but did their uttermost to mitigate the
+miseries of others.
+
+In May, 1885, we left Johnstown and took possession of our house at
+Tenafly, New Jersey. It seemed very pleasant, after wandering in the Old
+World and the New, to be in my own home once more, surrounded by the
+grand trees I so dearly loved; to see the gorgeous sunsets, the
+twinkling fireflies; to hear the whippoorwills call their familiar note,
+while the June bugs and the mosquitoes buzz outside the nets through
+which they cannot enter. Many people complain of the mosquito in New
+Jersey, when he can so easily be shut out of the family circle by nets
+over all the doors and windows. I had a long piazza, encased in netting,
+where paterfamilias, with his pipe, could muse and gaze at the stars
+unmolested.
+
+June brought Miss Anthony and a box of fresh documents for another
+season of work on vol. III. of our History. We had a flying visit from
+Miss Eddy of Providence, daughter of Mrs. Eddy who gave fifty thousand
+dollars to the woman suffrage movement, and a granddaughter of Francis
+Jackson of Boston, who also left a generous bequest to our reform. We
+found Miss Eddy a charming young woman with artistic tastes. She showed
+us several pen sketches she had made of some of our reformers, that were
+admirable likenesses.
+
+Mr. Stanton's "Random Recollections" were published at this time and
+were well received. A dinner was given him, on his eightieth birthday
+(June 27, 1885), by the Press Club of New York city, with speeches and
+toasts by his lifelong friends. As no ladies were invited I can only
+judge from the reports in the daily papers, and what I could glean from
+the honored guest himself, that it was a very interesting occasion.
+
+Sitting in the summerhouse, one day, I witnessed a most amusing scene.
+Two of the boys, in search of employment, broke up a hornets' nest.
+Bruno, our large Saint Bernard dog, seeing them jumping about, thought
+he would join in the fun. The boys tried to drive him away, knowing that
+the hornets would get in his long hair, but Bruno's curiosity outran his
+caution and he plunged into the midst of the swarm and was soon
+completely covered. The buzzing and stinging soon sent the poor dog
+howling on the run. He rushed as usual, in his distress, to Amelia in
+the kitchen, where she and the girls were making preserves and ironing.
+When they saw the hornets, they dropped irons, spoons, jars, everything,
+and rushed out of doors screaming. I appreciated the danger in time to
+get safely into the house before Bruno came to me for aid and comfort.
+At last they played the hose on him until he found some relief; the
+maidens, armed with towels, thrashed right and left, and the boys, with
+evergreen branches, fought bravely. I had often heard of "stirring up a
+hornets' nest," but I had never before seen a practical demonstration of
+its danger. For days after, if Bruno heard anything buzz, he would rush
+for the house at the top of his speed. But in spite of these occasional
+lively episodes, vol. III. went steadily on.
+
+My suffrage sons and daughters through all the Northern and Western
+States decided to celebrate, on the 12th of November, 1885, my
+seventieth birthday, by holding meetings or sending me gifts and
+congratulations. This honor was suggested by Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton
+Harbert in _The New Era_, a paper she was editing at that time. The
+suggestion met with a ready response. I was invited to deliver an essay
+on "The Pleasures of Age," before the suffrage association in New York
+city. It took me a week to think them up, but with the inspiration of
+Longfellow's "Morituri Salutamus," I was almost converted to the idea
+that "we old folks" had the best of it.
+
+The day was ushered in with telegrams, letters, and express packages,
+which continued to arrive during the week. From England, France, and
+Germany came cablegrams, presents, and letters of congratulation, and
+from all quarters came books, pictures, silver, bronzes, California
+blankets, and baskets of fruits and flowers. The eulogies in prose and
+verse were so hearty and numerous that the ridicule and criticism of
+forty years were buried so deep that I shall remember them no more.
+There is no class who enjoy the praise of their fellow-men like those
+who have had only blame most of their lives. The evening of the 12th we
+had a delightful reunion at the home of Dr. Clemence Lozier, where I
+gave my essay, after which Mrs. Lozier, Mrs. Blake, Miss Anthony, "Jenny
+June," and some of the younger converts to our platform, all made short
+speeches of praise and congratulation, which were followed by music,
+recitations, and refreshments.
+
+All during the autumn Miss Anthony and I looked forward to the spring,
+when we hoped to have completed the third and last volume of our
+History, and thus end the labors of ten years. We had neither time nor
+eyesight to read aught but the imperative documents for the History. I
+was hungering for some other mental pabulum.
+
+In January, 1886, I was invited to dine with Laura Curtis Bullard, to
+meet Mme. Durand (Henri Gréville), the novelist. She seemed a politic
+rather than an earnest woman of principle. As it was often very
+inconvenient for me to entertain distinguished visitors, who desired to
+meet me in my country home during the winter, Mrs. Bullard generously
+offered always to invite them to her home. She and her good mother have
+done their part in the reform movements in New York by their generous
+hospitalities.
+
+Reading the debates in Congress, at that time, on a proposed
+appropriation for a monument to General Grant, I was glad to see that
+Senator Plumb of Kansas was brave enough to express his opinion against
+it. I fully agree with him. So long as multitudes of our people who are
+doing the work of the world live in garrets and cellars, in ignorance,
+poverty, and vice, it is the duty of Congress to apply the surplus in
+the national treasury to objects which will feed, clothe, shelter, and
+educate these wards of the State. If we must keep on continually
+building monuments to great men, they should be handsome blocks of
+comfortable homes for the poor, such as Peabody built in London. Senator
+Hoar of Massachusetts favored the Grant monument, partly to cultivate
+the artistic tastes of our people. We might as well cultivate our tastes
+on useful dwellings as on useless monuments. Surely sanitary homes and
+schoolhouses for the living would be more appropriate monuments to wise
+statesmen than the purest Parian shafts among the sepulchers of the
+dead.
+
+The strikes and mobs and settled discontent of the masses warn us that,
+although we forget and neglect their interests and our duties, we do it
+at the peril of all. English statesmen are at their wits' end to-day
+with their tangled social and industrial problems, threatening the
+throne of a long line of kings. The impending danger cannot be averted
+by any surface measures; there must be a radical change in the relations
+of capital and labor.
+
+In April rumors of a domestic invasion, wafted on every Atlantic breeze,
+warned us that our children were coming from England and France--a party
+of six. Fortunately, the last line of the History was written, so Miss
+Anthony, with vol. III. and bushels of manuscripts, fled to the peaceful
+home of her sister Mary at Rochester. The expected party sailed from
+Liverpool the 26th of May, on the _America_ After being out three days
+the piston rod broke and they were obliged to return. My son-in-law,
+W.H. Blatch, was so seasick and disgusted that he remained in England,
+and took a fresh start two months later, and had a swift passage without
+any accidents. The rest were transferred to the _Germanic_, and reached
+New York the 12th of June. Different divisions of the party were
+arriving until midnight. Five people and twenty pieces of baggage! The
+confusion of such an invasion quite upset the even tenor of our days,
+and it took some time for people and trunks to find their respective
+niches. However crowded elsewhere, there was plenty of room in our
+hearts, and we were unspeakably happy to have our flock all around us
+once more.
+
+I had long heard so many conflicting opinions about the Bible--some
+saying it taught woman's emancipation and some her subjection--that,
+during this visit of my children, the thought came to me that it Would
+be well to collect every biblical reference to women in one small
+compact volume, and see on which side the balance of influence really
+was. To this end I proposed to organize a committee of competent women,
+with some Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholars in England and the United
+States, for a thorough revision of the Old and New Testaments, and to
+ascertain what the status of woman really was under the Jewish and
+Christian religion. As the Church has thus far interpreted the Bible as
+teaching woman's subjection, and none of the revisions by learned
+ecclesiastics have thrown any new light on the question, it seemed to me
+pre-eminently proper and timely for women themselves to review the book.
+As they are now studying theology in many institutions of learning,
+asking to be ordained as preachers, elders, deacons, and to be admitted,
+as delegates, to Synods and General Assemblies, and are refused on Bible
+grounds, it seemed to me high time for women to consider those
+scriptural arguments and authorities.
+
+A happy coincidence enabled me at last to begin this work. While my
+daughter, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, was with me, our friend Miss Frances
+Lord, on our earnest invitation, came to America to visit us. She landed
+in New York the 4th of August, 1886. As it was Sunday she could not
+telegraph, hence there was no one to meet her, and, as we all sat
+chatting on the front piazza, suddenly, to our surprise and delight, she
+drove up. After a few days' rest and general talk of passing events, I
+laid the subject so near my heart before her and my daughter. They
+responded promptly and heartily, and we immediately set to work. I wrote
+to every woman who I thought might join such a committee, and Miss Lord
+ran through the Bible in a few days, marking each chapter that in any
+way referred to women. We found that the work would not be so great as
+we imagined, as all the facts and teachings in regard to women occupied
+less than one-tenth of the whole Scriptures. We purchased some cheap
+Bibles, cut out the texts, pasted them at the head of the page, and,
+underneath, wrote our commentaries as clearly and concisely as possible.
+We did not intend to have sermons or essays, but brief comments, to keep
+"The Woman's Bible" as small as possible.
+
+Miss Lord and I worked several weeks together, and Mrs. Blatch and I,
+during the winter of 1887, wrote all our commentaries on the Pentateuch.
+But we could not succeed in forming the committee, nor, after writing
+innumerable letters, make the women understand what we wanted to do. I
+still have the commentaries of the few who responded, and the letters of
+those who declined--a most varied and amusing bundle of manuscripts in
+themselves. Some said the Bible had no special authority with them;
+that, like the American Constitution, it could be interpreted to mean
+anything--slavery, when we protected that "Institution," and freedom,
+when it existed no longer. Others said that woman's sphere was clearly
+marked out in the Scriptures, and all attempt at emancipation was flying
+in the face of Providence. Others said they considered all the revisions
+made by men thus far, had been so many acts of sacrilege, and they did
+hope women would not add their influence, to weaken the faith of the
+people in the divine origin of the Holy Book, for, if men and women
+could change it in one particular, they could in all. On the whole the
+correspondence was discouraging.
+
+Later Miss Lord became deeply interested in psychical researches, and I
+could get no more work out of her. And as soon as we had finished the
+Pentateuch, Mrs. Blatch declared she would go no farther; that it was
+the driest history she had ever read, and most derogatory to women. My
+beloved coadjutor, Susan B. Anthony, said that she thought it a work of
+supererogation; that when our political equality was recognized and we
+became full-fledged American citizens, the Church would make haste to
+bring her Bibles and prayer books, creeds and discipline up to the same
+high-water mark of liberty.
+
+Helen Gardener said: "I consider this a most important proposal, and if
+you and I can ever stay on the same side of the Atlantic long enough, we
+will join hands and do the work. In fact, I have begun already with
+Paul's Epistles, and am fascinated with the work. The untenable and
+unscientific positions he takes in regard to women are very amusing.
+Although the first chapter of Genesis teaches the simultaneous creation
+of man and woman, Paul bases woman's subjection on the priority of man,
+and because woman was of the man. As the historical fact is that, as far
+back as history dates, the man has been of the woman, should he
+therefore be forever in bondage to her? Logically, according to Paul, he
+should."
+
+I consulted several friends, such as Dr. William F. Channing, Mr. and
+Mrs. Moncure D. Conway, Gertrude Garrison, Frederick Cabot, and Edward
+M. Davis, as to the advisability of the work, and they all agreed that
+such a volume, showing woman's position under the Jewish and Christian
+religions, would be valuable, but none of them had time to assist in the
+project. Though, owing to all these discouragements, I discontinued my
+work, I never gave up the hope of renewing it some time, when other of
+my coadjutors should awake to its importance and offer their services.
+
+On October 27, 1886, with my daughter, nurse, and grandchild, I again
+sailed for England. Going out of the harbor in the clear early morning,
+we had a fine view of Bartholdi's statue of Liberty Enlightening the
+World. We had a warm, gentle rain and a smooth sea most of the way, and,
+as we had a stateroom on deck, we could have the portholes open, and
+thus get all the air we desired. With novels and letters, chess and
+whist the time passed pleasantly, and, on the ninth day, we landed in
+Liverpool.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ENGLAND AND FRANCE REVISITED.
+
+
+On arriving at Basingstoke we found awaiting us cordial letters of
+welcome from Miss Biggs, Miss Priestman, Mrs. Peter Taylor, Mrs.
+Priscilla McLaren, Miss Müller, Mrs. Jacob Bright, and Mme. de Barrau.
+During the winter Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, Drs. Kate and Julia
+Mitchell, Mrs. Charles McLaren, Mrs. Saville, and Miss Balgarnie each
+spent a day or two with us. The full-dress costume of the ladies was a
+great surprise to my little granddaughter Nora. She had never seen bare
+shoulders in a drawing room, and at the first glance she could not
+believe her eyes. She slowly made the circuit of the room, coming nearer
+and nearer until she touched the lady's neck to see whether or not it
+was covered with some peculiar shade of dress, but finding the bare skin
+she said: "Why, you are not dressed, are you? I see your skin!" The
+scene suggested to me the amusing description in Holmes' "Elsie Venner,"
+of the efforts of a young lady, seated between two old gentlemen, to
+show off her white shoulders. The vicar would not look, but steadily
+prayed that he might not be led into temptation; but the physician, with
+greater moral hardihood, deliberately surveyed the offered charms, with
+spectacles on his nose.
+
+In December Hattie and I finished Dowden's "Life of Shelley," which we
+had been reading together. Here we find a sensitive, refined nature,
+full of noble purposes, thrown out when too young to meet all life's
+emergencies, with no loving Mentor to guard him from blunders or to help
+to retrieve the consequences of his false positions. Had he been
+surrounded with a few true friends, who could appreciate what was great
+in him and pity what was weak, his life would have been different. His
+father was hard, exacting, and unreasonable; hence he had no influence.
+His mother had neither the wisdom to influence him, nor the courage to
+rebuke her husband; and alas! poor woman, she was in such thraldom
+herself to conventionalisms, that she could not understand a youth who
+set them all at defiance.
+
+[Illustration: THREE GENERATIONS.]
+
+[Illustration: MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY.]
+
+We also read Cotton Morrison's "Service of Man," which I hope will be a
+new inspiration to fresh labors by all for the elevation of humanity,
+and Carnegie's "Triumphant Democracy," showing the power our country is
+destined to wield and the vastness of our domain. This book must give
+every American citizen a feeling of deeper responsibility than ever
+before to act well his part. We read, too, Harriet Martineau's
+translation of the works of Auguste Comte, and found the part on woman
+most unsatisfactory. He criticises Aristotle's belief that slavery is a
+necessary element of social life, yet seems to think the subjection of
+woman in modern civilization a matter of no importance.
+
+All through that winter Hattie and I occupied our time studying the
+Bible and reading the commentaries of Clark, Scott, and Wordsworth
+(Bishop of Lincoln). We found nothing grand in the history of the Jews
+nor in the morals inculcated in the Pentateuch. Surely the writers had a
+very low idea of the nature of their God. They make Him not only
+anthropomorphic, but of the very lowest type, jealous and revengeful,
+loving violence rather than mercy. I know no other books that so fully
+teach the subjection and degradation of woman. Miriam, the eldest sister
+of Moses and Aaron, a genius, a prophetess, with the family aptitude for
+diplomacy and government, is continually set aside because of her
+sex--permitted to lead the women in singing and dancing, nothing more.
+No woman could offer sacrifices nor eat the holy meats because,
+according to the Jews, she was too unclean and unholy.
+
+But what is the use, say some, of attaching any importance to the
+customs and teachings of a barbarous people? None whatever. But when our
+bishops, archbishops, and ordained clergymen stand up in their pulpits
+and read selections from the Pentateuch with reverential voice, they
+make the women of their congregation believe that there really is some
+divine authority for their subjection. In the Thirty-First Chapter of
+Numbers, in speaking of the spoils taken from the Midianites, the live
+stock is thus summarized: "Five thousand sheep, threescore and twelve
+thousand beeves, threescore and one thousand asses, and thirty-two
+thousand women and women-children," which Moses said the warriors might
+keep for themselves. What a pity a Stead had not been there, to protect
+the child-women of the Midianites and rebuke the Lord's chosen people as
+they deserved! In placing the women after the sheep, the beeves, and the
+asses, we have a fair idea of their comparative importance in the scale
+of being, among the Jewish warriors. No wonder the right reverend
+bishops and clergy of the Methodist Church, who believe in the divine
+origin and authority of the Pentateuch, exclude women from their great
+convocations in the American Republic in the nineteenth century. In view
+of the fact that our children are taught to reverence the book as of
+divine origin, I think we have a right to ask that, in the next
+revision, all such passages be expurgated, and to that end learned,
+competent women must have an equal place on the revising committee.
+
+Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas came, in February, to spend a few days with
+us. She was greatly shocked with many texts in the Old Testament, to
+which we called her attention, and said: "Here is an insidious influence
+against the elevation of women, which but few of us have ever taken into
+consideration." She had just returned from a flying visit to America;
+having made two voyages across the Atlantic and traveled three thousand
+miles across the continent in two months, and this at the age of
+sixty-eight years. She was enthusiastic in her praises of the women she
+met in the United States. As her name was already on the committee to
+prepare "The Woman's Bible," we had her hearty approval of the
+undertaking.
+
+In October Hattie went to London, to attend a meeting to form a Woman's
+Liberal Federation. Mrs. Gladstone presided. The speeches made were
+simply absurd, asking women to organize themselves to help the Liberal
+party, which had steadily denied to them the political rights they had
+demanded for twenty years. Professor Stuart capped the climax of insult
+when he urged as "one great advantage in getting women to canvass for
+the Liberal party was that they would give their services free." The
+Liberals saw what enthusiasm the Primrose Dames had roused for the Tory
+party, really carrying the election, and they determined to utilize a
+similar force in their ranks. But the whole movement was an insult to
+women.
+
+The one absorbing interest, then, was the Queen's Jubilee. Ladies formed
+societies to collect funds to place at the disposal of the Queen. Every
+little village was divided into districts, and different ladies took the
+rounds, begging pennies at every door of servants and the laboring
+masses, and pounds of the wealthy people. One of them paid us a visit.
+She asked the maid who opened the door to see the rest of the servants,
+and she begged a penny of each of them. She then asked to see the
+mistress. My daughter descended; but, instead of a pound, she gave her a
+lecture on the Queen's avarice. When the fund was started the people
+supposed the Queen was to return it all to the people in liberal
+endowments of charitable institutions, but her Majesty proposed to build
+a monument to Prince Albert, although he already had one in London. "The
+Queen," said my daughter, "should celebrate her Jubilee by giving good
+gifts to her subjects, and not by filching from the poor their pennies.
+To give half her worldly possessions to her impoverished people, to give
+Home Rule to Ireland, or to make her public schools free, would be deeds
+worthy her Jubilee; but to take another cent from those who are
+hopelessly poor is a sin against suffering humanity." The young woman
+realized the situation and said: "I shall go no farther. I wish I could
+return every penny I have taken from the needy."
+
+The most fitting monuments this nation can build are schoolhouses and
+homes for those who do the work of the world. It is no answer to say
+that they are accustomed to rags and hunger. In this world of plenty
+every human being has a right to food, clothes, decent shelter, and the
+rudiments of education. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
+when one-tenth of the human family, booted and spurred, ride the masses
+to destruction. I detest the words "royalty" and "nobility," and all the
+ideas and institutions based on their recognition. In April the great
+meeting in Hyde Park occurred--a meeting of protest against the Irish
+Coercion Bill. It was encouraging to see that there is a democratic as
+well as an aristocratic England. The London journals gave very different
+accounts of the meeting. The Tories said it was a mob of inconsequential
+cranks. Reason teaches us, however, that you cannot get up a large,
+enthusiastic meeting unless there is some question pending that touches
+the heart of the people. Those who say that Ireland has no grievances
+are ignorant alike of human nature and the facts of history.
+
+On April 14 I went to Paris, my daughter escorting me to Dover, and my
+son meeting me at Calais. It was a bright, pleasant day, and I sat on
+deck and enjoyed the trip, though many of my fellow passengers were pale
+and limp. Whirling to Paris in an easy car, through the beautiful
+wheatfields and vineyards, I thought of the old lumbering diligence, in
+which we went up to Paris at a snail's pace forty years before. I
+remained in Paris until October, and never enjoyed six months more
+thoroughly. One of my chief pleasures was making the acquaintance of my
+fourth son, Theodore. I had seen but little of him since he was sixteen
+years old, as he then spent five years at Cornell University, and as
+many more in Germany and France. He had already published two works,
+"The Life of Thiers," and "The Woman Question in Europe." To have a son
+interested in the question to which I have devoted my life, is a source
+of intense satisfaction. To say that I have realized in him all I could
+desire, is the highest praise a fond mother can give.
+
+My first experience in an apartment, living on an even plane, no running
+up and down stairs, was as pleasant as it was surprising. I had no idea
+of the comfort and convenience of this method of keeping house. Our
+apartment in Paris consisted of drawing room, dining room, library, a
+good-sized hall, in which stood a large American stove, five bedrooms,
+bathroom, and kitchen, and a balcony fifty-two feet long and four feet
+wide. The first few days it made me dizzy to look down from this balcony
+to the street below. I was afraid the whole structure would give way, it
+appeared so light and airy, hanging midway between earth and heaven. But
+my confidence in its steadfastness and integrity grew day by day, and it
+became my favorite resort, commanding, as it did, a magnificent view of
+the whole city and distant surroundings.
+
+There were so many Americans in town, and French reformers to be seen,
+that I gave Wednesday afternoon receptions during my whole visit. To one
+of our "at homes" came Mlle. Maria Deraismes, the only female Free Mason
+in France, and the best woman orator in the country; her sister, Mme.
+Féresse-Deraismes, who takes part in all woman movements; M. Léon
+Richer, then actively advocating the civil and political rights of women
+through the columns of his vigorous journal; Mme. Griess Traut, who
+makes a specialty of Peace work; Mme. Isabelle Bogelot, who afterward
+attended the Washington Council of 1888, and who is a leader in charity
+work; the late Mme. Emilie de Morsier, who afterward was the soul of the
+International Congress of 1889, at Paris; Mme. Pauline Kergomard, the
+first woman to be made a member of the Superior Council of public
+Instruction in France, and Mme. Henri Gréville, the novelist.
+
+Among the American guests at our various Wednesday receptions were Mr.
+and Mrs. John Bigelow, Mr. and Mrs. James G. Blaine, Mr. Daniel C.
+French, the Concord sculptor; Mrs. J.C. Ayer, Mr. L. White Busbey, one
+of the editors of the Chicago _Inter-Ocean_; Rev. Dr. Henry M. Field,
+Charles Gifford Dyer, the painter and father of the gifted young
+violinist, Miss Hella Dyer; the late Rev. Mr. Moffett, then United
+States Consul at Athens, Mrs. Governor Bagley and daughter of Michigan;
+Grace Greenwood and her talented daughter, who charmed everyone with her
+melodious voice, and Miss Bryant, daughter of the poet. One visitor who
+interested us most was the Norwegian novelist and republican,
+Bjornstjorne Bjornson.
+
+We had several pleasant interviews with Frederick Douglass and his wife,
+some exciting games of chess with Theodore Tilton, in the pleasant
+apartments of the late W.J.A. Fuller, Esq., and his daughter, Miss Kate
+Fuller. At this time I also met our brilliant countrywoman, Louise
+Chandler Moulton. Seeing so many familiar faces, I could easily imagine
+myself in New York rather than in Paris. I attended several receptions
+and dined with Mrs. Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, greatly enjoying her clever
+descriptions of a winter on the Nile in her own dahabeeyeh. I heard Père
+Hyacinthe preach, and met his American wife on several occasions. I took
+long drives every day through the parks and pleasant parts of the city.
+With garden concerts, operas, theaters, and the Hippodrome I found
+abundant amusement. I never grew weary of the latter performance--the
+wonderful intelligence displayed there by animals, being a fresh
+surprise to me every time I went.
+
+I attended a reception at the Elysée Palace, escorted by M. Joseph
+Fabre, then a deputy and now a senator. M. Fabre is the author of a play
+and several volumes devoted to Joan of Arc. He presented me to the
+President and to Mme. Jules Grévy. I was also introduced to M. Jules
+Ferry, then Prime Minister, who said, among other things: "I am sorry to
+confess it, but it is only too true, our French women are far behind
+their sisters in America." The beautiful, large garden was thrown open
+that evening,--it was in July,--and the fine band of the Republican
+Guard gave a delightful concert under the big trees. I also met M.
+Grévy's son-in-law, M. Daniel Wilson. He was then a deputy and one of
+the most powerful politicians in France. A few months later he caused
+his father's political downfall. I have a vivid recollection of him
+because he could speak English, his father having been a British
+subject.
+
+I visited the picture galleries once more, after a lapse of nearly fifty
+years, and was struck by the fact that, in that interval, several women
+had been admitted to places of honor. This was especially noticeable in
+the Luxembourg Sculpture Gallery, where two women, Mme. Bertaux and the
+late Claude Vignon, wife of M. Rouvier, were both represented by good
+work--the first and only women sculptors admitted to that gallery.
+
+At a breakfast party which we gave, I made the acquaintance of General
+Cluseret, who figured in our Civil War, afterward became War Minister
+of the Paris Commune, and is now member of the Chamber of Deputies. He
+learned English when in America, and had not entirely forgotten it. He
+told anecdotes of Lincoln, Stanton, Sumner, Fremont, Garibaldi, the
+Count of Paris, and many other famous men whom he once knew, and proved
+to be a very interesting conversationalist.
+
+Old bookstands were always attractive centers of interest to Theodore,
+and, among other treasure-troves, he brought home one day a boy of
+fourteen years, whose office it had been to watch the books. He was a
+bright, cheery little fellow of mixed French and German descent, who
+could speak English, French, and German. He was just what we had
+desired, to run errands and tend the door. As he was delighted with the
+idea of coming to us, we went to see his parents. We were pleased with
+their appearance and surroundings. We learned that they were members of
+the Lutheran Church, that the boy was one of the shining lights in
+Sunday school, and the only point in our agreement on which they were
+strenuous was that he should go regularly to Sunday school and have time
+to learn his lessons.
+
+So "Immanuel" commenced a new life with us, and as we had unbounded
+confidence in the boy's integrity, we excused his shortcomings, and, for
+a time, believed all he said. But before long we found out that the
+moment we left the house he was in the drawing room, investigating every
+drawer, playing on the piano, or sleeping on the sofa. Though he was
+told never to touch the hall stove, he would go and open all the
+draughts and make it red-hot. Then we adopted the plan of locking up
+every part of the apartment but the kitchen. He amused himself burning
+holes through the pantry shelves, when the cook was out, and boring
+holes, with a gimlet, through a handsomely carved bread board. One day,
+in making up a spare bed for a friend, under the mattress were found
+innumerable letters he was supposed to have mailed at different times.
+When we reprimanded him for his pranks he would look at us steadily, but
+sorrowfully, and, immediately afterward, we would hear him dancing down
+the corridor singing, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." If he had given heed
+to one-half we said to him, he would have been safer in our hands than
+in those of his imaginary protector. He turned out a thief, an
+unmitigated liar, a dancing dervish, and, through all our experiences of
+six weeks with him, his chief reading was his Bible and Sunday-school
+books. The experience, however, was not lost on Theodore--he has never
+suggested a boy since, and a faithful daughter of Eve reigns in his
+stead.
+
+During the summer I was in the hands of two artists, Miss Anna Klumpke,
+who painted my portrait, and Paul Bartlett, who molded my head in clay.
+To shorten the operation, sometimes I sat for both at the same time.
+Although neither was fully satisfied with the results of their labors,
+we had many pleasant hours together, discussing their art, their early
+trials, and artists in general. Each had good places in the _Salon_, and
+honorable mention that year. It is sad to see so many American girls and
+boys, who have no genius for painting or sculpture, spending their days
+in garrets, in solitude and poverty, with the vain hope of earning
+distinction. Women of all classes are awaking to the necessity of
+self-support, but few are willing to do the ordinary useful work for
+which they are fitted. In the _Salon_ that year six thousand pictures
+were offered, and only two thousand accepted, and many of these were
+"skyed."
+
+It was lovely on our balcony at night to watch the little boats, with
+their lights, sailing up and down the Seine, especially the day of the
+great annual fête,--the 14th of July,--when the whole city was
+magnificently illuminated. We drove about the city on several occasions
+at midnight, to see the life--men, women, and children enjoying the cool
+breezes, and the restaurants all crowded with people.
+
+Sunday in Paris is charming--it is the day for the masses of the people.
+All the galleries of art, the libraries, concert halls, and gardens are
+open to them. All are dressed in their best, out driving, walking, and
+having picnics in the various parks and gardens; husbands, wives, and
+children laughing and talking happily together. The seats in the streets
+and parks are all filled with the laboring masses. The benches all over
+Paris--along the curbstones in every street and highway--show the care
+given to the comfort of the people. You will see mothers and nurses with
+their babies and children resting on these benches, laboring men eating
+their lunches and sleeping there at noon, the organ grinders and
+monkeys, too, taking their comfort. In France you see men and women
+everywhere together; in England the men generally stagger about alone,
+caring more for their pipes and beer than their mothers, wives, and
+sisters. Social life, among the poor especially, is far more natural and
+harmonious in France than in England, because women mix more freely in
+business and amusements.
+
+Coming directly from Paris to London, one is forcibly struck with the
+gloom of the latter city, especially at night. Paris with its electric
+lights is brilliant everywhere, while London, with its meager gas jets
+here and there struggling with the darkness, is as gloomy and desolate
+as Dore's pictures of Dante's Inferno. On Sunday, when the shops are
+closed, the silence and solitude of the streets, the general smoky
+blackness of the buildings and the atmosphere give one a melancholy
+impression of the great center of civilization. Now that it has been
+discovered that smoke can be utilized and the atmosphere cleared, it is
+astonishing that the authorities do not avail themselves of the
+discovery, and thus bring light and joy and sunshine into that city, and
+then clean the soot of centuries from their blackened buildings.
+
+On my return to England I spent a day with Miss Emily Lord, at her
+kindergarten establishment. She had just returned from Sweden, where she
+spent six weeks in the carpenter's shop, studying the Swedish Slöjd
+system, in which children of twelve years old learn to use tools, making
+spoons, forks, and other implements. Miss Lord showed us some of her
+work, quite creditable for her first attempts. She said the children in
+the higher grades of her school enjoyed the carpenter work immensely and
+became very deft in the use of tools.
+
+On November 1, 1887, we reached Basingstoke once more, and found all
+things in order. My diary tells of several books I read during the
+winter and what the authors say of women; one the "Religio Medici," by
+Sir Thomas Browne, M.D., in which the author discourses on many high
+themes, God, Creation, Heaven, Hell, and vouchsafes one sentence on
+woman. Of her he says: "I was never married but once and commend their
+resolution who never marry twice, not that I disallow of second, nor in
+all cases of polygamy, which, considering the unequal number of the
+sexes, may also be necessary. The whole world was made for man, but the
+twelfth part of man for woman. Man is the whole world--the breath of
+God; woman the rib and crooked piece of man. I speak not in prejudice
+nor am averse from that sweet sex, but naturally amorous of all that is
+beautiful. I can look all day at a handsome picture, though it be but a
+horse."
+
+Turning to John Paul Friedrich Richter, I found in his chapter on woman
+many equally ridiculous statements mixed up with much fulsome
+admiration. After reading some volumes of Richter, I took up Heinrich
+Heine, the German poet and writer. He said: "Oh, the women! We must
+forgive them much, for they love much and many. Their hate is, properly,
+only love turned inside out. Sometimes they attribute some delinquency
+to us, because they think they can, in this way, gratify another man.
+When they write they have always one eye on the paper and the other eye
+on some man. This is true of all authoresses except the Countess Hahn
+Hahn, who has only one eye." John Ruskin's biography he gives us a
+glimpse of his timidity in regard to the sex, when a young man. He was
+very fond of the society of girls, but never knew how to approach them.
+He said he "was perfectly happy in serving them, would gladly make a
+bridge of himself for them to walk over, a beam to fasten a swing to for
+them--anything but to talk to them." Such are some of the choice
+specimens of masculine wit I collected during my winter's reading!
+
+At a reception given to me by Drs. Julia and Kate Mitchell, sisters
+practicing medicine in London, I met Stepniak, the Russian Nihilist, a
+man of grand presence and fine conversational powers. He was about to go
+to America, apprehensive lest our Government should make an extradition
+treaty with Russia to return political offenders, as he knew that
+proposal had been made. A few weeks later he did visit the United
+States, and had a hearing before a committee of the Senate. He pointed
+out the character of the Nihilist movement, declaring Nihilists to be
+the real reformers, the true lovers of liberty, sacrificing themselves
+for the best interests of the people, and yet, as political prisoners,
+they are treated worse than the lowest class of criminals in the prisons
+and mines of Siberia.
+
+I had a very unpleasant interview, during this visit to London, with
+Miss Lydia Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs, and Miss Blackburn, at the
+Metropole, about choosing delegates to the International Council of
+Women soon to be held in Washington. As there had been some
+irreconcilable dissensions in the suffrage association, and they could
+not agree as to whom their delegate should be, they decided to send none
+at all. I wrote at once to Mrs. Priscilla Bright McLaren, pointing out
+what a shame it would be if England, above all countries, should not be
+represented in the first International Council ever called by a suffrage
+association. She replied promptly that must not be, and immediately
+moved in the matter, and through her efforts three delegates were soon
+authorized to go, representing different constituencies--Mrs. Alice
+Cliff Scatcherd, Mrs. Ormiston Chant, and Mrs. Ashton Dilke.
+
+Toward the last of February, 1888, we went again to London to make a
+few farewell visits to dear friends. We spent a few days with Mrs. Mona
+Caird, who was then reading Karl Pearson's lectures on "Woman," and
+expounding her views on marriage, which she afterward gave to the
+Westminster Review, and stirred the press to white heat both in England
+and America. "Is Marriage a Failure?" furnished the heading for our
+quack advertisements for a long time after. Mrs. Caird was a very
+graceful, pleasing woman, and so gentle in manner and appearance that no
+one would deem her capable of hurling such thunderbolts at the
+long-suffering Saxon people.
+
+We devoted one day to Prince Krapotkine, who lives at Harrow, in the
+suburbs of London. A friend of his, Mr. Lieneff, escorted us there. We
+found the prince, his wife, and child in very humble quarters;
+uncarpeted floors, books and papers on pine shelves, wooden chairs, and
+the bare necessaries of life--nothing more. They indulge in no luxuries,
+but devote all they can spare to the publication of liberal opinions to
+be scattered in Russia, and to help Nihilists in escaping from the
+dominions of the Czar. The prince and princess took turns in holding and
+amusing the baby--then only one year old; fortunately it slept most of
+the time, so that the conversation flowed on for some hours. Krapotkine
+told us of his sad prison experiences, both in France and Russia. He
+said the series of articles by George Kennan in the _Century_ were not
+too highly colored, that the sufferings of men and women in Siberia and
+the Russian prisons could not be overdrawn. One of the refinements of
+cruelty they practice on prisoners is never to allow them to hear the
+human voice. A soldier always accompanies the warder who distributes
+the food, to see that no word is spoken. In vain the poor prisoner asks
+questions, no answer is ever made, no tidings from the outside world
+ever given. One may well ask what devil in human form has prescribed
+such prison life and discipline! I wonder if we could find a man in all
+Russia who would defend the system, yet someone is responsible for its
+terrible cruelties!
+
+We returned to Basingstoke, passed the few remaining days in looking
+over papers and packing for the voyage, and, on March 4, 1888, Mrs.
+Blatch went with me to Southampton. On the train I met my companions for
+the voyage, Mrs. Gustafsen, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, and Baroness Gripenberg,
+from Finland, a very charming woman, to whom I felt a strong attraction.
+The other delegates sailed from Liverpool. We had a rough voyage and
+most of the passengers were very sick. Mrs. Dilke and I were well,
+however, and on deck every day, always ready to play whist and chess
+with a few gentlemen who were equally fortunate. I was much impressed
+with Mrs. Dilke's kindness and generosity in serving others. There was a
+lady on board with two children, whose nurse at the last minute refused
+to go with her. The mother was sick most of the way, and Mrs. Dilke did
+all in her power to relieve her, by amusing the little boy, telling him
+stories, walking with him on deck, and watching him throughout the day,
+no easy task to perform for an entire stranger. The poor little mother
+with a baby in her arms must have appreciated such kindly attention.
+
+When the pilot met us off Sandy Hook, he brought news of the terrible
+blizzard New York had just experienced, by which all communication with
+the world at large was practically suspended. The captain brought him
+down into the saloon to tell us all about it. The news was so startling
+that at first we thought the pilot was joking, but when he produced the
+metropolitan journals to verify his statements, we listened to the
+reading and what he had to say with profound astonishment. The second
+week in March, 1888, will be memorable in the history of storms in the
+vicinity of New York. The snow was ten feet deep in some places, and the
+side streets impassable either for carriages or sleighs. I hoped the
+city would be looking its best, for the first impression on my foreign
+friends, but it never looked worse, with huge piles of snow everywhere
+covered with black dust.
+
+I started for Washington at three o'clock, the day after our arrival,
+reached there at ten o'clock, and found my beloved friends, Miss Anthony
+and Mrs. Spofford, with open arms and warm hearts to receive me. As the
+vessel was delayed two days, our friends naturally thought we, too, had
+encountered a blizzard, but we had felt nothing of it; on the contrary
+the last days were the most pleasant of the voyage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN.
+
+
+Pursuant to the idea of the feasibility and need of an International
+Council of Women, mentioned in a preceding chapter, it was decided to
+celebrate the fourth decade of the woman suffrage movement in the United
+States by calling together such a council. At its nineteenth annual
+convention, held in January, 1887, the National Woman Suffrage
+Association resolved to assume the entire responsibility of holding a
+council, and to extend an invitation, for that purpose, to all
+associations of women in the trades, professions, and reforms, as well
+as those advocating political rights. Early in June, 1887, a call was
+issued for such a council to convene under the auspices of the National
+Woman Suffrage Association at Washington, D. C, on March 25, 1888. The
+grand assemblage of women, coming from all the countries of the
+civilized globe, proved that the call for such a council was opportune,
+while the order and dignity of the proceedings proved the women worthy
+the occasion. No one doubts now the wisdom of that initiative step nor
+the added power women have gained over popular thought through the
+International Council.
+
+As the proceedings of the contention were fully and graphically reported
+in the _Woman's Tribune_ at that time, and as its reports were afterward
+published in book form, revised and corrected by Miss Anthony, Miss
+Foster, and myself, I will merely say that our most sanguine
+expectations as to its success were more than realized. The large
+theater was crowded for an entire week, and hosts of able women spoke,
+as if specially inspired, on all the vital questions of the hour.
+Although the council was called and conducted by the suffrage
+association, yet various other societies were represented. Miss Anthony
+was the financier of the occasion and raised twelve thousand dollars for
+the purpose, which enabled her to pay all the expenses of the delegates
+in Washington, and for printing the report in book form. As soon as I
+reached Washington, Miss Anthony ordered me to remain conscientiously in
+my own apartment and to prepare a speech for delivery before the
+committees of the Senate and House, and another, as President, for the
+opening of the council. However, as Mrs. Spofford placed her carriage at
+our service, I was permitted to drive an hour or two every day about
+that magnificent city.
+
+One of the best speeches at the council was made by Helen H. Gardener.
+It was a criticism of Dr. Hammond's position in regard to the inferior
+size and quality of woman's brain. As the doctor had never had the
+opportunity of examining the brains of the most distinguished women,
+and, probably, those only of paupers and criminals, she felt he had no
+data on which to base his conclusions. Moreover, she had the written
+opinion of several leading physicians, that it was quite impossible to
+distinguish the male from the female brain.
+
+The hearing at the Capitol, after the meeting of the council, was very
+interesting, as all the foreign delegates were invited to speak each in
+the language of her own country; to address their alleged
+representatives in the halls of legislation was a privilege they had
+never enjoyed at home. It is very remarkable that English women have
+never made the demand for a hearing in the House of Commons, nor even
+for a decent place to sit, where they can hear the debates and see the
+fine proportions of the representatives. The delegates had several
+brilliant receptions at the Riggs House, and at the houses of Senator
+Stanford of California and Senator Palmer of Michigan. Miss Anthony and
+I spent two months in Washington, that winter. One of the great
+pleasures of our annual conventions was the reunion of our friends at
+the Riggs House, where we enjoyed the boundless hospitality of Mr. and
+Mrs. Spofford.
+
+The month of June I spent in New York city, where I attended several of
+Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll's receptions and saw the great orator and
+iconoclast at his own fireside, surrounded by his admirers, and heard
+his beautiful daughters sing, which gave all who listened great
+pleasure, as they have remarkably fine voices. One has since married,
+and is now pouring out her richest melodies in the opera of lullaby in
+her own nursery.
+
+In the fall of 1888, as Ohio was about to hold a Constitutional
+convention, at the request of the suffrage association I wrote an appeal
+to the women of the State to demand their right to vote for delegates to
+such convention. Mrs. Southworth had five thousand copies of my appeal
+published and distributed at the exposition in Columbus. If ten
+righteous men could save Sodom, all the brilliant women I met in
+Cleveland should have saved Ohio from masculine domination.
+
+The winter of 1888-89 I was to spend with my daughter in Omaha. I
+reached there in time to witness the celebration of the completion of
+the first bridge between that city and Council Bluffs. There was a grand
+procession in which all the industries of both towns were represented,
+and which occupied six hours in passing. We had a desirable position for
+reviewing the pageant, and very pleasant company to interpret the
+mottoes, symbols, and banners. The bridge practically brings the towns
+together, as electric street cars now run from one to the other in ten
+minutes. Here, for the first time, I saw the cable cars running up hill
+and down without any visible means of locomotion.
+
+As the company ran an open car all winter, I took my daily ride of nine
+miles in it for fifteen cents. My son Daniel, who escorted me, always
+sat inside the car, while I remained on an outside seat. He was greatly
+amused with the remarks he heard about that "queer old lady that always
+rode outside in all kinds of wintry weather." One day someone remarked
+loud enough for all to hear: "It is evident that woman does not know
+enough to come in when it rains." "Bless me!" said the conductor, who
+knew me, "that woman knows as much as the Queen of England; too much to
+come in here by a hot stove." How little we understand the comparative
+position of those whom we often criticise. There I sat enjoying the
+bracing air, the pure fresh breezes, indifferent to the fate of an old
+cloak and hood that had crossed the Atlantic and been saturated with
+salt water many times, pitying the women inside breathing air laden with
+microbes that dozens of people had been throwing off from time to time,
+sacrificing themselves to their stylish bonnets, cloaks, and dresses,
+suffering with the heat of the red-hot stove; and yet they, in turn,
+pitying me.
+
+My seventy-third birthday I spent with my son Gerrit Smith Stanton, on
+his farm near Portsmouth, Iowa. As we had not met in several years, it
+took us a long time, in the network of life, to pick up all the stitches
+that had dropped since we parted. I amused myself darning stockings and
+drawing plans for an addition to his house. But in the spring my son and
+his wife came to the conclusion that they had had enough of the solitude
+of farm life and turned their faces eastward.
+
+Soon after my return to Omaha, the editor of the _Woman's Tribune_, Mrs.
+Clara B. Colby, called and lunched with us one day. She announced the
+coming State convention, at which I was expected "to make the best
+speech of my life." She had all the arrangements to make, and invited me
+to drive round with her, in order that she might talk by the way. She
+engaged the Opera House, made arrangements at the Paxton House for a
+reception, called on all her faithful coadjutors to arouse enthusiasm in
+the work, and climbed up to the sanctums of the editors,--Democratic and
+Republican alike,--asking them to advertise the convention and to say a
+kind word for our oppressed class in our struggle for emancipation. They
+all promised favorable notices and comments, and they kept their
+promises. Mrs. Colby, being president of the Nebraska Suffrage
+Association, opened the meeting with an able speech, and presided
+throughout with tact and dignity.
+
+I came very near meeting with an unfortunate experience at this
+convention. The lady who escorted me in her carriage to the Opera House
+carried the manuscript of my speech, which I did not miss until it was
+nearly time to speak, when I told a lady who sat by my side that our
+friend had forgotten to give me my manuscript. She went at once to her
+and asked for it. She remembered taking it, but what she had done with
+it she did not know. It was suggested that she might have dropped it in
+alighting from the carriage. And lo! they found it lying in the gutter.
+As the ground was frozen hard it was not even soiled. When I learned of
+my narrow escape, I trembled, for I had not prepared any train of
+thought for extemporaneous use. I should have been obliged to talk when
+my turn came, and if inspired by the audience or the good angels, might
+have done well, or might have failed utterly. The moral of this episode
+is, hold on to your manuscript.
+
+Owing to the illness of my son-in-law, Frank E. Lawrence, he and my
+daughter went to California to see if the balmy air of San Diego would
+restore his health, and so we gave up housekeeping in Omaha, and, on
+April 20, 1889, in company with my eldest son I returned East and spent
+the summer at Hempstead, Long Island, with my son Gerrit and his wife.
+
+We found Hempstead a quiet, old Dutch town, undisturbed by progressive
+ideas. Here I made the acquaintance of Chauncey C. Parsons and wife,
+formerly of Boston, who were liberal in their ideas on most questions.
+Mrs. Parsons and I attended one of the Seidl club meetings at Coney
+Island, where Seidl was then giving some popular concerts. The club was
+composed of two hundred women, to whom I spoke for an hour in the dining
+room of the hotel. With the magnificent ocean views, the grand concerts,
+and the beautiful women, I passed two very charming days by the seaside.
+
+My son Henry had given me a phaeton, low and easy as a cradle, and I
+enjoyed many drives about Long Island. We went to Bryant's home on the
+north side, several times, and in imagination I saw the old poet in the
+various shady nooks, inditing his lines of love and praise of nature in
+all her varying moods. Walking among the many colored, rustling leaves
+in the dark days of November, I could easily enter into his thought as
+he penned these lines:
+
+    "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
+    Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear.
+    Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
+    They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread."
+
+In September, 1889, my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, came East to
+attend a school of physical culture, and my other daughter, Mrs. Stanton
+Blatch, came from England to enjoy one of our bracing winters.
+Unfortunately we had rain instead of snow, and fogs instead of frost.
+However, we had a pleasant reunion at Hempstead. After a few days in and
+about New York visiting friends, we went to Geneva and spent several
+weeks in the home of my cousin, the daughter of Gerrit Smith.
+
+She and I have been most faithful, devoted friends all our lives, and
+regular correspondents for more than fifty years. In the family circle
+we are ofttimes referred to as "Julius" and "Johnson." These euphonious
+names originated in this way: When the Christy Minstrels first appeared,
+we went one evening to hear them. On returning home we amused our
+seniors with, as they said, a capital rehearsal. The wit and philosopher
+of the occasion were called, respectively, Julius and Johnson; so we
+took their parts and reproduced all the bright, humorous remarks they
+made. The next morning as we appeared at the breakfast table, Cousin
+Gerrit Smith, in his deep, rich voice said: "Good-morning, Julius and
+Johnson," and he kept it up the few days we were in Albany together. One
+after another our relatives adopted the pseudonyms, and Mrs. Miller has
+been "Julius" and I "Johnson" ever since.
+
+From Geneva we went to Buffalo, but, as I had a bad cold and a general
+feeling of depression, I decided to go to the Dansville Sanatorium and
+see what Doctors James and Kate Jackson could do for me. I was there six
+weeks and tried all the rubbings, pinchings, steamings; the Swedish
+movements of the arms, hands, legs, feet; dieting, massage, electricity,
+and, though I succeeded in throwing off only five pounds of flesh, yet I
+felt like a new being. It is a charming place to be in--the home is
+pleasantly situated and the scenery very fine. The physicians are all
+genial, and a cheerful atmosphere pervades the whole establishment.
+
+As Christmas was at hand, the women were all half crazy about presents,
+and while good Doctors James and Kate were doing all in their power to
+cure the nervous affections of their patients, they would thwart the
+treatment by sitting in the parlor with the thermometer at seventy-two
+degrees, embroidering all kinds of fancy patterns,--some on muslin, some
+on satin, and some with colored worsteds on canvas,--inhaling the
+poisonous dyes, straining the optic nerves, counting threads and
+stitches, hour after hour, until utterly exhausted. I spoke to one poor
+victim of the fallacy of Christmas presents, and of her injuring her
+health in such useless employment. "What can I do?" she replied, "I must
+make presents and cannot afford to buy them." "Do you think," said I,
+"any of your friends would enjoy a present you made at the risk of your
+health? I do not think there is any 'must' in the matter. I never feel
+that I must give presents, and never want any, especially from those who
+make some sacrifice to give them." This whole custom of presents at
+Christmas, New Year's, and at weddings has come to be a bore, a piece of
+hypocrisy leading to no end of unhappiness. I do not know a more pitiful
+sight than to see a woman tatting, knitting, embroidering--working cats
+on the toe of some slipper, or tulips on an apron. The amount of nervous
+force that is expended in this way is enough to make angels weep. The
+necessary stitches to be taken in every household are quite enough
+without adding fancy work.
+
+From Dansville my daughters and I went on to Washington to celebrate the
+seventieth birthday of Miss Anthony, who has always been to them as a
+second mother. Mrs. Blatch made a speech at the celebration, and Mrs.
+Lawrence gave a recitation. First came a grand supper at the Riggs
+House. The dining room was beautifully decorated; in fact, Mr. and Mrs.
+Spofford spared no pains to make the occasion one long to be remembered.
+May Wright Sewall was the mistress of ceremonies. She read the toasts
+and called on the different speakers. Phoebe Couzins, Rev. Anna Shaw,
+Isabella Beecher Hooker, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Clara B. Colby, Senator
+Blair of New Hampshire, and many others responded. I am ashamed to say
+that we kept up the festivities till after two o'clock. Miss Anthony,
+dressed in dark velvet and point lace, spoke at the close with great
+pathos. Those of us who were there will not soon forget February 15,
+1890.
+
+After speaking before committees of the Senate and House, I gave the
+opening address at the annual convention. Mrs. Stanton Blatch spoke a
+few minutes on the suffrage movement in England, after which we hurried
+off to New York, and went on board the _Aller_, one of the North German
+Lloyd steamers, bound for Southampton. At the ship we found Captain
+Milinowski and his wife and two of my sons waiting our arrival. As we
+had eighteen pieces of baggage it took Mrs. Blatch some time to review
+them. My phaeton, which we decided to take, filled six boxes. An easy
+carriage for two persons is not common in England. The dogcarts prevail,
+the most uncomfortable vehicles one can possibly use. Why some of our
+Americans drive in those uncomfortable carts is a question. I think it
+is because they are "so English." The only reason the English use them
+is because they are cheap. The tax on two wheels is one-half what it is
+on four, and in England all carriages are taxed. Before we Americans
+adopt fashions because they are English, we had better find out the
+_raison d'être_ for their existence.
+
+We had a very pleasant, smooth voyage, unusually so for blustering
+February and March. As I dislike close staterooms, I remained in the
+ladies' saloon night and day, sleeping on a sofa. After a passage of
+eleven days we landed at Southampton, March 2, 1890. It was a beautiful
+moonlight night and we had a pleasant ride on the little tug to the
+wharf. We reached Basingstoke at eleven o'clock, found the family well
+and all things in order.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+MY LAST VISIT TO ENGLAND.
+
+
+As soon as we got our carriage put together Hattie and I drove out every
+day, as the roads in England are in fine condition all the year round.
+We had lovely weather during the spring, but the summer was wet and
+cold. With reading, writing, going up to London, and receiving visitors,
+the months flew by without our accomplishing half the work we proposed.
+
+As my daughter was a member of the Albemarle Club, we invited several
+friends to dine with us there at different times. There we had a long
+talk with Mr. Stead, the editor of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, on his
+position in regard to Russian affairs, "The Deceased Wife's Sister
+Bill," and the divorce laws of England. Mr. Stead is a fluent talker as
+well as a good writer. He is the leader of the social purity movement in
+England. The wisdom of his course toward Sir Charles Dilke and Mr.
+Parnell was questioned by many; but there is a touch of the religious
+fanatic in Mr. Stead, as in many of his followers.
+
+There were several problems in social ethics that deeply stirred the
+English people in the year of our Lord 1890. One was Charles Stewart
+Parnell's platonic friendship with Mrs. O'Shea, and the other was the
+Lord Chancellor's decision in the case of Mrs. Jackson. The pulpit, the
+press, and the people vied with each other in trying to dethrone Mr.
+Parnell as the great Irish leader, but the united forces did not succeed
+in destroying his self-respect, nor in hounding him out of the British
+Parliament, though, after a brave and protracted resistance on his part,
+they did succeed in hounding him into the grave.
+
+It was pitiful to see the Irish themselves, misled by a hypocritical
+popular sentiment in England, turn against their great leader, the only
+one they had had for half a century who was able to keep the Irish
+question uppermost in the House of Commons year after year. The course
+of events since his death has proved the truth of what he told them, to
+wit: that there was no sincerity in the interest English politicians
+manifested in the question of Home Rule, and that the debates on that
+point would cease as soon as it was no longer forced on their
+consideration. And now when they have succeeded in killing their leader,
+they begin to realize their loss. The question evolved through the
+ferment of social opinions was concisely stated, thus: "Can a man be a
+great leader, a statesman, a general, an admiral, a learned chief
+justice, a trusted lawyer, or skillful physician, if he has ever broken
+the Seventh Commandment?"
+
+I expressed my opinion in the _Westminster Review_, at the time, in the
+affirmative. Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Ellen Battelle Dietrick of Boston,
+Kate Field, in her _Washington_, agreed with me. Many other women spoke
+out promptly in the negative, and with a bitterness against those who
+took the opposite view that was lamentable.
+
+The Jackson case was a profitable study, as it brought out other
+questions of social ethics, as well as points of law which were ably
+settled by the Lord Chancellor. It seems that immediately after Mr. and
+Mrs. Jackson were married, the groom was compelled to go to Australia.
+After two years he returned and claimed his bride, but in the interval
+she felt a growing aversion and determined not to live with him. As she
+would not even see him, with the assistance of friends he kidnaped her
+one day as she was coming out of church, and carried her to his home,
+where he kept her under surveillance until her friends, with a writ of
+_habeas corpus_, compelled him to bring her into court. The popular idea
+"based on the common law of England," was, that the husband had this
+absolute right. The lower court, in harmony with this idea, maintained
+the husband's right, and remanded her to his keeping, but the friends
+appealed to the higher court and the Lord Chancellor reversed the
+decision.
+
+With regard to the right so frequently claimed, giving husbands the
+power to seize, imprison, and chastise their wives, he said: "I am of
+the opinion that no such right exists in law. I am of the opinion that
+no such right ever did exist in law. I say that no English subject has
+the right to imprison another English subject, whether his wife or not."
+Through this decision the wife walked out of the court a free woman. The
+passage of the Married Women's Property Bill in England in 1882 was the
+first blow at the old idea of coverture, giving to wives their rights of
+property, the full benefit of which they are yet to realize when
+clearer-minded men administer the laws. The decision of the Lord
+Chancellor, rendered March 18, 1891, declaratory of the personal rights
+of married women, is a still more important blow by just so much as the
+rights of person are more sacred than the rights of property.
+
+One hundred years ago, Lord Chief Justice Mansfield gave his famous
+decision in the Somerset case, "That no slave could breathe on British
+soil," and the slave walked out of court a free man. The decision of the
+Lord Chancellor, in the Jackson case, is far more important, more
+momentous in its consequences, as it affects not only one race but
+one-half of the entire human family. From every point of view this is
+the greatest legal decision of the century. Like the great Chief Justice
+of the last century, the Lord Chancellor, with a clearer vision than
+those about him, rises into a purer atmosphere of thought, and
+vindicates the eternal principles of justice and the dignity of British
+law, by declaring all statutes that make wives the bond slaves of their
+husbands, obsolete.
+
+How long will it be in our Republic before some man will arise, great
+enough to so interpret our National Constitution as to declare that
+women, as citizens of the United States, cannot be governed by laws in
+the making of which they have no part? It is not Constitutional
+amendments nor statute laws we need, but judges on the bench of our
+Supreme Court, who, in deciding great questions of human rights, shall
+be governed by the broad principles of justice rather than precedent.
+One interesting feature in the trial of the Jackson case, was that both
+Lady Coleridge and the wife of the Lord Chancellor were seated on the
+bench, and evidently much pleased with the decision.
+
+It is difficult to account for the fact that, while women of the highest
+classes in England take the deepest interest in politics and court
+decisions, American women of wealth and position are wholly indifferent
+to all public matters. While English women take an active part in
+elections, holding meetings and canvassing their districts, here, even
+the wives of judges, governors, and senators speak with bated breath of
+political movements, and seem to feel that a knowledge of laws and
+constitutions would hopelessly unsex them.
+
+Toward the last of April, with my little granddaughter and her nurse, I
+went down to Bournemouth, one of the most charming watering places in
+England. We had rooms in the Cliff House with windows opening on the
+balcony, where we had a grand view of the bay and could hear the waves
+dashing on the shore. While Nora, with her spade and pail, played all
+day in the sands, digging trenches and filling them with water, I sat on
+the balcony reading "Diana of the Crossways," and Bjornson's last novel,
+"In God's Way," both deeply interesting. As all the characters in the
+latter come to a sad end, I could not see the significance of the title.
+If they walked in God's way their career should have been successful.
+
+I took my first airing along the beach in an invalid chair. These bath
+chairs are a great feature in all the watering places of England. They
+are drawn by a man or a donkey. The first day I took a man, an old
+sailor, who talked incessantly of his adventures, stopping to rest every
+five minutes, dissipating all my pleasant reveries, and making an
+unendurable bore of himself. The next day I told the proprietor to get
+me a man who would not talk all the time. The man he supplied jogged
+along in absolute silence; he would not even answer my questions.
+Supposing he had his orders to keep profound silence, after one or two
+attempts I said nothing. When I returned home, the proprietor asked me
+how I liked this man. "Ah!" I said, "he was indeed silent and would not
+even answer a question nor go anywhere I told him; still I liked him
+better than the talkative man." He laughed heartily and said: "This man
+is deaf and dumb. I thought I would make sure that you should not be
+bored." I joined in the laugh and said: "Well, to-morrow get me a man
+who can hear but cannot speak, if you can find one constructed on that
+plan."
+
+Bournemouth is noteworthy now as the burial place of Mary Wolstonecraft
+and the Shelleys. I went to see the monument that had been recently
+reared to their memory. On one side is the following inscription:
+"William Godwin, author of 'Political Justice,' born March 3rd, 1756,
+died April 7th, 1836. Mary Wolstonecraft Godwin, author of the
+'Vindication of the Rights of Women,' born April 27th, 1759, died
+September 10th, 1797." These remains were brought here, in 1851, from
+the churchyard of St. Pancras, London. On the other side are the
+following inscriptions: "Mary Wolstonecraft Godwin, daughter of William
+Godwin and widow of the late Percy Bysshe Shelley, born August 30th,
+1797, died February 1st, 1851. Percy Florence Shelley, son of Percy
+Shelley and Mary Wolstonecraft, third baronet, born November 12th, 1819,
+died December 5th, 1889. "In Christ's Church, six miles from
+Bournemouth, is a bas-relief in memory of the great poet. He is
+represented, dripping with seaweed, in the arms of the Angel of Death.
+
+As I sat on my balcony hour after hour, reading and thinking of the
+Shelleys, watching the changing hues of the clouds and the beautiful
+bay, and listening to the sad monotone of the waves, these sweet lines
+of Whittier's came to my mind:
+
+    "Its waves are kneeling on the strand,
+     As kneels the human knee,--
+    Their white locks bowing to the sand,
+     The priesthood of the sea!
+
+    "The blue sky is the temple's arch,
+     Its transept earth and air,
+    The music of its starry march
+     The chorus of a prayer."
+
+American letters, during this sojourn abroad, told of many losses, one
+after another, from our family circle; nine passed away within two
+years. The last was my sister Mrs. Bayard, who died in May, 1891. She
+was the oldest of our family, and had always been a second mother to her
+younger sisters, and her house our second home.
+
+The last of June my son Theodore's wife and daughter came over from
+France to spend a month with us. Lisette and Nora, about the same size,
+played and quarreled most amusingly together. They spent their mornings
+in the kindergarten school, and the afternoons with their pony, but
+rainy days I was impressed into their service to dress dolls and tell
+stories. I had the satisfaction to hear them say that their dolls were
+never so prettily dressed before, and that my stories were better than
+any in the books. As I composed the wonderful yarns as I went along, I
+used to get very tired, and sometimes, when I heard the little feet
+coming, I would hide, but they would hunt until they found me. When my
+youngest son was ten years old and could read for himself, I graduated
+in story telling, having practiced in that line twenty-one years. I
+vowed that I would expend no more breath in that direction, but the
+eager face of a child asking for stories is too much for me, and my vow
+has been often broken. All the time I was in England Nora claimed the
+twilight hour, and, in France, Lisette was equally pertinacious. When
+Victor Hugo grew tired telling his grandchildren stories, he would wind
+up with the story of an old gentleman who, after a few interesting
+experiences, took up his evening paper and began to read aloud. The
+children would listen a few moments and then, one by one, slip out of
+the room. Longfellow's old gentleman, after many exciting scenes in his
+career, usually stretched himself on the lounge and feigned sleep. But
+grandmothers are not allowed to shelter themselves with such devices;
+they are required to spin on until the bedtime really arrives.
+
+On July 16, one of the hottest days of the season, Mrs. Jacob Bright and
+daughter, Herbert Burroughs, and Mrs. Parkhurst came down from London,
+and we sat out of doors, taking our luncheon under the trees and
+discussing theosophy. Later in the month Hattie and I went to Yorkshire
+to visit Mr. and Mrs. Scatcherd at Morley Hall, and there spent several
+days. We had a prolonged discussion on personal rights. One side was
+against all governmental interference, such as compulsory education and
+the protection of children against cruel parents; the other side in
+favor of state interference that protected the individual in the
+enjoyment of life, liberty, and happiness. I took the latter position.
+Many parents are not fit to have the control of children, hence the
+State should see that they are sheltered, fed, clothed, and educated. It
+is far better for the State to make good citizens of its children in
+the beginning, than, in the end, to be compelled to care for them as
+criminals.
+
+While in the north of England we spent a few days at Howard Castle, the
+summer residence of Lord and Lady Carlisle and their ten children. So
+large a family in high life is unusual. As I had known Lord and Lady
+Amberley in America, when they visited this country in 1867, I enjoyed
+meeting other members of their family. Lady Carlisle is in favor of
+woman suffrage and frequently speaks in public. She is a woman of great
+force of character, and of very generous impulses. She is trying to do
+her duty in sharing the good things of life with the needy. The poor for
+miles round often have picnics in her park, and large numbers of
+children from manufacturing towns spend weeks with her cottage tenants
+at her expense. Lord Carlisle is an artist and a student. As he has a
+poetical temperament and is aesthetic in all his tastes, Lady Carlisle
+is the business manager of the estate. She is a practical woman with
+immense executive ability. The castle with its spacious dining hall and
+drawing rooms, with its chapel, library, galleries of paintings and
+statuary, its fine outlook, extensive gardens and lawns was well worth
+seeing. We enjoyed our visit very much and discussed every imaginable
+subject.
+
+When we returned to Basingstoke we had a visit from Mrs. Cobb, the wife
+of a member of Parliament, and sister-in-law of Karl Pearson, whose
+lectures on woman I had enjoyed so much. It was through reading his
+work, "The Ethic of Free Thought," that the Matriarchate made such a
+deep impression on my mind and moved me to write a tract on the subject.
+People who have neither read nor thought on this point, question the
+facts as stated by Bachofen, Morgan, and Wilkeson; but their truth, I
+think, cannot be questioned. They seem so natural in the chain of
+reasoning and the progress of human development. Mrs. Cobb did a very
+good thing a few days before visiting us. At a great meeting called to
+promote Mr. Cobb's election, John Morley spoke. He did not even say
+"Ladies and gentlemen" in starting, nor make the slightest reference to
+the existence of such beings as women. When he had finished, Mrs. Cobb
+arose mid great cheering and criticised his speech, making some
+quotations from his former speeches of a very liberal nature. The
+audience laughed and cheered, fully enjoying the rebuke. The next day in
+his speech he remembered his countrywomen, and on rising said, "Ladies
+and gentlemen."
+
+During August, 1891, I was busy getting ready for my voyage, as I was to
+sail on the _Ems_ on August 23. Although I had crossed the ocean six
+times in the prior ten years I dreaded the voyage more than words can
+describe. The last days were filled with sadness, in parting with those
+so dear to me in foreign countries--especially those curly-headed little
+girls, so bright, so pretty, so winning in all their ways. Hattie and
+Theodore went with me from Southampton in the little tug to the great
+ship _Ems_. It was very hard for us to say the last farewell, but we all
+tried to be as brave as possible.
+
+We had a rough voyage, but I was not seasick one moment. I was up and
+dressed early in the morning, and on deck whenever the weather
+permitted. I made many pleasant acquaintances with whom I played chess
+and whist; wrote letters to all my foreign friends, ready to mail on
+landing; read the "Egotist," by George Meredith, and Ibsen's plays as
+translated by my friend Frances Lord. I had my own private stewardess, a
+nice German woman who could speak English. She gave me most of my meals
+on deck or in the ladies' saloon, and at night she would open the
+porthole two or three times and air our stateroom; that made the nights
+endurable. The last evening before landing we got up an entertainment
+with songs, recitations, readings, and speeches. I was invited to
+preside and introduce the various performers. We reached Sandy Hook the
+evening of the 29th day of August and lay there all night, and the next
+morning we sailed up our beautiful harbor, brilliant with the rays of
+the rising sun.
+
+Being fortunate in having children in both hemispheres, here, too, I
+found a son and daughter waiting to welcome me to my native land. Our
+chief business for many weeks was searching for an inviting apartment
+where my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, my youngest son, Bob, and I
+could set up our family altar and sing our new psalm of life together.
+After much weary searching we found an apartment. Having always lived in
+a large house in the country, the quarters seemed rather contracted at
+first, but I soon realized the immense saving in labor and expense in
+having no more room than is absolutely necessary, and all on one floor.
+To be transported from the street to your apartment in an elevator in
+half a minute, to have all your food and fuel sent to your kitchen by an
+elevator in the rear, to have your rooms all warmed with no effort of
+your own, seemed like a realization of some fairy dream. With an
+extensive outlook of the heavens above, of the Park and the Boulevard
+beneath, I had a feeling of freedom, and with a short flight of stairs
+to the roof (an easy escape in case of fire), of safety, too.
+
+No sooner was I fully established in my eyrie, than I was summoned to
+Rochester, by my friend Miss Anthony, to fill an appointment she had
+made for me with Miss Adelaide Johnson, the artist from Washington, who
+was to idealize Miss Anthony and myself in marble for the World's Fair.
+I found my friend demurely seated in her mother's rocking-chair hemming
+table linen and towels for her new home, anon bargaining with butchers,
+bakers, and grocers, making cakes and puddings, talking with enthusiasm
+of palatable dishes and the beauties of various articles of furniture
+that different friends had presented her. All there was to remind one of
+the "Napoleon of the Suffrage Movement" was a large escritoire covered
+with documents in the usual state of confusion--Miss Anthony never could
+keep her papers in order. In search of any particular document she roots
+out every drawer and pigeon hole, although her mother's little spinning
+wheel stands right beside her desk, a constant reminder of all the
+domestic virtues of the good housewife, with whom "order" is of the
+utmost importance and "heaven's first law." The house was exquisitely
+clean and orderly, the food appetizing, the conversation pleasant and
+profitable, and the atmosphere genial.
+
+A room in an adjoining house was assigned to Miss Johnson and myself,
+where a strong pedestal and huge mass of clay greeted us. And there, for
+nearly a month, I watched the transformation of that clay into human
+proportions and expressions, until it gradually emerged with the
+familiar facial outlines ever so dear to one's self. Sitting there four
+or five hours every day I used to get very sleepy, so my artist
+arranged for a series of little naps. When she saw the crisis coming she
+would say: "I will work now for a time on the ear, the nose, or the
+hair, as you must be wide awake when I am trying to catch the
+expression." I rewarded her for her patience and indulgence by summoning
+up, when awake, the most intelligent and radiant expression that I could
+command. As Miss Johnson is a charming, cultured woman, with liberal
+ideas and brilliant in conversation, she readily drew out all that was
+best in me.
+
+Before I left Rochester, Miss Anthony and her sister Mary gave a
+reception to me at their house. As some of the professors and trustees
+of the Rochester University were there, the question of co-education was
+freely discussed, and the authorities urged to open the doors of the
+University to the daughters of the people. It was rather aggravating to
+contemplate those fine buildings and grounds, while every girl in that
+city must go abroad for higher education. The wife of President Hill of
+the University had just presented him with twins, a girl and a boy, and
+he facetiously remarked, "that if the Creator could risk placing sexes
+in such near relations, he thought they might with safety walk on the
+same campus and pursue the same curriculum together."
+
+Miss Anthony and I went to Geneva the next day to visit Mrs. Miller and
+to meet, by appointment, Mrs. Eliza Osborne, the niece of Lucretia Mott,
+and eldest daughter of Martha C. Wright. We anticipated a merry meeting,
+but Miss Anthony and I were so tired that we no doubt appeared stupid.
+In a letter to Mrs. Miller afterward, Mrs. Osborne inquired why I was
+"so solemn." As I pride myself on being impervious to fatigue or
+disease, I could not own up to any disability, so I turned the tables on
+her in the following letter:
+
+     "New York, 26 West 61st Street,
+
+     November 12, 1891.
+
+     "Dear Eliza:
+
+     "In a recent letter to Mrs. Miller, speaking of the time when we
+     last met, you say, 'Why was Mrs. Stanton so solemn?' to which I
+     reply: Ever since an old German emperor issued an edict, ordering
+     all the women under that flag to knit when walking on the highway,
+     when selling apples in the market place, when sitting in the parks,
+     because 'to keep women out of mischief their hands must be busy,'
+     ever since I read that, I have felt 'solemn' whenever I have seen
+     any daughters of our grand Republic knitting, tatting,
+     embroidering, or occupied with any of the ten thousand digital
+     absurdities that fill so large a place in the lives of Eve's
+     daughters.
+
+     "Looking forward to the scintillations of wit, the philosophical
+     researches, the historical traditions, the scientific discoveries,
+     the astronomical explorations, the mysteries of theosophy,
+     palmistry, mental science, the revelations of the unknown world
+     where angels and devils do congregate, looking forward to
+     discussions of all these grand themes, in meeting the eldest
+     daughter of David and Martha Wright, the niece of Lucretia Mott,
+     the sister-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison, a queenly-looking
+     woman five feet eight in height, and well proportioned, with
+     glorious black eyes, rivaling even De Staël's in power and pathos,
+     one can readily imagine the disappointment I experienced when such
+     a woman pulled a cotton wash rag from her pocket and forthwith
+     began to knit with bowed head. Fixing her eyes and concentrating
+     her thoughts on a rag one foot square; it was impossible for
+     conversation to rise above the wash-rag level! It was enough to
+     make the most aged optimist 'solemn' to see such a wreck of
+     glorious womanhood.
+
+     "And, still worse, she not only knit steadily, hour after hour, but
+     she bestowed the sweetest words of encouragement on a young girl
+     from the Pacific Coast, who was embroidering rosebuds on another
+     rag, the very girl I had endeavored to rescue from the maelstrom of
+     embroidery, by showing her the unspeakable folly of giving her
+     optic nerves to such base uses, when they were designed by the
+     Creator to explore the planetary world, with chart and compass to
+     guide mighty ships across the sea, to lead the sons of Adam with
+     divinest love from earth to heaven. Think of the great beseeching
+     optic nerves and muscles by which we express our admiration of all
+     that is good and glorious in earth and heaven, being concentrated
+     on a cotton wash rag! Who can wonder that I was 'solemn' that day!
+     I made my agonized protest on the spot, but it fell unheeded, and
+     with satisfied sneer Eliza knit on, and the young Californian
+     continued making the rosebuds. I gazed into space, and, when alone,
+     wept for my degenerate countrywoman. I not only was 'solemn' that
+     day, but I am profoundly 'solemn' whenever I think of that queenly
+     woman and that cotton wash rag. (One can buy a whole dozen of these
+     useful appliances, with red borders and fringed, for twenty-five
+     cents.) Oh, Eliza, I beseech you, knit no more!
+
+     "Affectionately yours,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton."
+
+To this Mrs. Osborne sent the following reply:
+
+     "Dear Mrs. Stanton:
+
+     "In your skit
+    Against your sisterhood who knit,
+     Or useful make their fingers,
+    I wonder if--deny it not--
+    The habit of Lucretia Mott
+     Within your memory lingers!
+
+    "In retrospective vision bright,
+    Can you recall dear Martha Wright
+     Without her work or knitting?
+    The needles flying in her hands,
+    On washing rags or baby's bands,
+     Or other work as fitting?
+
+    "I cannot think they thought the less,
+    Or ceased the company to bless
+     With conversation's riches,
+    Because they thus improved their time,
+    And never deemed it was a crime
+     To fill the hours with stitches.
+
+    "They even used to preach and plan
+    To spread the fashion, so that man
+     Might have this satisfaction;
+    Instead of idling as men do,
+    With nervous meddling fingers too,
+     Why not mate talk with action?
+
+    "But as a daughter and a niece,
+    I pride myself on every piece
+     Of handiwork created;
+    While reveling in social chat,
+    Or listening to gossip flat,
+     My gain is unabated.
+
+    "That German emperor you scorn,
+    Seems to my mind a monarch born,
+     Worthy to lead a column;
+    I'll warrant he could talk and work,
+    And, neither being used to shirk,
+     Was rarely very solemn.
+
+    "I could say more upon this head,
+    But must, before I go to bed.
+     Your idle precepts mocking,
+    Get out my needle and my yarn
+    And, caring not a single darn.
+     Just finish up this stocking."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLASS OF 1832--THE WOMAN'S BIBLE.
+
+
+I returned from Geneva to New York city in time to celebrate my
+seventy-sixth birthday with my children. I had traveled about constantly
+for the last twenty years in France, England, and my own country, and
+had so many friends and correspondents, and pressing invitations to
+speak in clubs and conventions, that now I decided to turn over a new
+leaf and rest in an easy-chair. But so complete a change in one's life
+could not be easily accomplished. In spite of my resolution to abide in
+seclusion, my daughter and I were induced to join the Botta Club, which
+was to meet once a month, alternately, at the residences of Mrs. Moncure
+D. Conway and Mrs. Abby Sage Richardson. Though composed of ladies and
+gentlemen it proved dull and unprofitable. As the subject for discussion
+was not announced until each meeting, no one was prepared with any
+well-digested train of thought. It was also decided to avoid all
+questions about which there might be grave differences of opinion. This
+negative position reminded me of a book on etiquette which I read in my
+young days, in which gentlemen were warned, "In the presence of ladies
+discuss neither politics, religion, nor social duties, but confine
+yourself to art, poetry, and abstract questions which women cannot
+understand. The less they know of a subject the more respectfully they
+will listen." This club was named in honor of Mrs. Botta, formerly Miss
+Anne Lynch, whose drawing room for many years was the social center of
+the literati of New York.
+
+On January 16, 1892, we held the Annual Suffrage Convention in
+Washington, and, as usual, had a hearing before the Congressional
+Committee. My speech on the "Solitude of Self" was well received and was
+published in the Congressional Record. The _Woman's Tribune_ struck off
+many hundreds of copies and it was extensively circulated.
+
+Notwithstanding my determination to rest, I spoke to many clubs, wrote
+articles for papers and magazines, and two important leaflets, one on
+"Street Cleaning," another on "Opening the Chicago Exposition on
+Sunday." As Sunday was the only day the masses could visit that
+magnificent scene, with its great lake, extensive park, artificial
+canals, and beautiful buildings, I strongly advocated its being open on
+that day. One hundred thousand religious bigots petitioned Congress to
+make no appropriation for this magnificent Exposition, unless the
+managers pledged themselves to close the gates on Sunday, and hide this
+vision of beauty from the common people. Fortunately, this time a sense
+of justice outweighed religious bigotry. I sent my leaflets to every
+member of Congress and of the State legislatures, and to the managers of
+the Exposition, and made it a topic of conversation at every
+opportunity. The park and parts of the Exposition were kept open on
+Sunday, but some of the machinery was stopped as a concession to narrow
+Christian sects.
+
+In June, 1892, at the earnest solicitation of Mrs. Russell Sage, I
+attended the dedication of the Gurley Memorial Building, presented to
+the Emma Willard Seminary, at Troy, New York, and made the following
+address:
+
+     "MRS. PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNAE:
+
+     "It is just sixty years since the class of '32, to which I
+     belonged, celebrated a commencement in this same room. This was the
+     great event of the season to many families throughout this State.
+     Parents came from all quarters; the _élite_ of Troy and Albany
+     assembled here. Principals from other schools, distinguished
+     legislators, and clergymen all came to hear girls scan Latin verse,
+     solve problems in Euclid, and read their own compositions in a
+     promiscuous assemblage. A long line of teachers anxiously waited
+     the calling of their classes, and over all, our queenly Madame
+     Willard presided with royal grace and dignity. Two hundred girls in
+     gala attire, white dresses, bright sashes, and coral ornaments,
+     with their curly hair, rosy cheeks, and sparkling eyes, flitted to
+     and fro, some rejoicing that they had passed through their ordeal,
+     some still on the tiptoe of expectation, some laughing, some in
+     tears--altogether a most beautiful and interesting picture.
+
+     "Conservatives then, as now, thought the result of the higher
+     education of girls would be to destroy their delicacy and
+     refinement. But as the graduates of the Troy Seminary were never
+     distinguished in after life for the lack of these feminine virtues,
+     the most timid, even, gradually accepted the situation and trusted
+     their daughters with Mrs. Willard. But that noble woman endured for
+     a long period the same ridicule and persecution that women now do
+     who take an onward step in the march of progress.
+
+     "I see around me none of the familiar faces that greeted my coming
+     or said farewell in parting. I do not know that one of my
+     classmates still lives. Friendship with those I knew and loved best
+     lasted but a few years, then our ways in life parted. I should not
+     know where to find one now, and if I did, probably our ideas would
+     differ on every subject, as I have wandered in latitudes beyond the
+     prescribed sphere of women. I suppose it is much the same with many
+     of you--the familiar faces are all gone, gone to the land of
+     shadows, and I hope of sunshine too, where we in turn will soon
+     follow. "And yet, though we who are left are strangers to one
+     another, we have the same memories of the past, of the same type of
+     mischievous girls and staid teachers, though with different names.
+     The same long, bare halls and stairs, the recitation rooms with the
+     same old blackboards and lumps of chalk taken for generation after
+     generation, I suppose, from the same pit; the dining room, with its
+     pillars inconveniently near some of the tables, with its thick,
+     white crockery and black-handled knives, and viands that never
+     suited us, because, forsooth, we had boxes of delicacies from home,
+     or we had been out to the baker's or confectioner's and bought pies
+     and cocoanut cakes, candy and chewing gum, all forbidden, but that
+     added to the relish. There, too, were the music rooms, with their
+     old, second-hand pianos, some with rattling keys and tinny sound,
+     on which we were supposed to play our scales and exercises for an
+     hour, though we often slyly indulged in the 'Russian March,'
+     'Napoleon Crossing the Rhine,' or our national airs, when, as
+     slyly, Mr. Powell, our music teacher, a bumptious Englishman, would
+     softly open the door and say in a stern voice, 'Please practice the
+     lesson I just gave you!'
+
+     "Our chief delight was to break the rules, but we did not like to
+     be caught at it. As we were forbidden to talk with our neighbors in
+     study hours, I frequently climbed on top of my bureau to talk
+     through a pipe hole with a daughter of Judge Howell of Canandaigua.
+     We often met afterward, laughed and talked over the old days, and
+     kept our friendship bright until the day of her death. Once while
+     rooming with Harriet Hudson, a sister of Mrs. John Willard, I was
+     moved to a very erratic performance. Miss Theresa Lee had rung the
+     bell for retiring, and had taken her rounds, as usual, to see that
+     the lights were out and all was still, when I peeped out of my
+     door, and seeing the bell at the head of the stairs nearby, I gave
+     it one kick and away it went rolling and ringing to the bottom. The
+     halls were instantly filled with teachers and scholars, all in
+     white robes, asking what was the matter. Harriet and I ran around
+     questioning the rest, and what a frolic we had, helter-skelter, up
+     and down stairs, in each other's rooms, pulling the beds to pieces,
+     changing girls' clothes from one room to another, etc., etc. The
+     hall lamps, dimly burning, gave us just light enough for all manner
+     of depredations without our being recognized, hence the unbounded
+     latitude we all felt for mischief. In our whole seminary
+     course--and I was there nearly three years--we never had such a
+     frolic as that night. It took all the teachers to restore order and
+     quiet us down again for the night. No suspicion of any
+     irregularities were ever attached to Harriet and myself. Our
+     standing for scholarship was good, hence we were supposed to
+     reflect all the moralities.
+
+     "Though strangers, we have a bond of union in all these memories,
+     of our bright companions, our good teachers, who took us through
+     the pitfalls of logic, rhetoric, philosophy, and the sciences, and
+     of the noble woman who founded the institution, and whose unselfish
+     devotion in the cause of education we are here to celebrate. The
+     name of Emma Willard is dear to all of us; to know her was to love
+     and venerate her. She was not only good and gifted, but she was a
+     beautiful woman. She had a finely developed figure, well-shaped
+     head, classic features, most genial manners, and a profound
+     self-respect (a rare quality in woman), that gave her a dignity
+     truly royal in every position. Traveling in the Old World she was
+     noticed everywhere as a distinguished personage. And all these
+     gifts she dedicated to the earnest purpose of her life, the higher
+     education of women.
+
+     "In opening this seminary she could not find young women capable of
+     teaching the higher branches, hence her first necessity was to
+     train herself. Amos B. Eaton, who was the principal of the
+     Rensselaer Polytechnic School for boys here in Troy, told me Mrs.
+     Willard studied with him every branch he was capable of teaching,
+     and trained a corps of teachers and regular scholars at the same
+     time. She took lessons of the Professor every evening when he had
+     leisure, and studied half the night the branches she was to teach
+     the next day, thus keeping ahead of her classes. Her intense
+     earnestness and mental grasp, the readiness with which she turned
+     from one subject to another, and her retentive memory of every rule
+     and fact he gave her, was a constant surprise to the Professor.
+
+     "All her vacation she devoted to training teachers. She was the
+     first to suggest the normal-school system. Remembering her deep
+     interest in the education of women, we can honor her in no more
+     worthy manner than to carry on her special lifework. As we look
+     around at all the educated women assembled here to-day and try to
+     estimate what each has done in her own sphere of action, the
+     schools founded, the teachers sent forth, the inspiration given to
+     girls in general, through the long chain of influences started by
+     our alma mater, we can form some light estimate of the momentous
+     and far-reaching consequences of Emma Willard's life. We have not
+     her difficulties to overcome, her trials to endure, but the
+     imperative duty is laid on each of us to finish the work she so
+     successfully began. Schools and colleges of a high order are now
+     everywhere open to women, public sentiment welcomes them to
+     whatever career they may desire, and our work is to help worthy
+     girls struggling for a higher education, by founding scholarships
+     in desirable institutions in every State in the Union. The most
+     fitting tribute we can pay to Emma Willard is to aid in the
+     production of a generation of thoroughly educated women.
+
+     "There are two kinds of scholarships, equally desirable; a
+     permanent one, where the interest of a fund from year to year will
+     support a succession of students, and a temporary one, to help some
+     worthy individual as she may require. Someone has suggested that
+     this association should help young girls in their primary
+     education. But as our public schools possess all the advantages for
+     a thorough education in the rudiments of learning and are free to
+     all, our scholarships should be bestowed on those whose ability and
+     earnestness in the primary department have been proved, and whose
+     capacity for a higher education is fully shown.
+
+     "This is the best work women of wealth can do, and I hope in the
+     future they will endow scholarships for their own sex instead of
+     giving millions of dollars to institutions for boys, as they have
+     done in the past. After all the bequests women have made to Harvard
+     see how niggardly that institution, in its 'annex,' treats their
+     daughters. I once asked a wealthy lady to give a few thousands of
+     dollars to start a medical college and hospital for women in New
+     York. She said before making bequests she always consulted her
+     minister and her Bible. He told her there was nothing said in the
+     Bible about colleges for women. I said, 'Tell him he is mistaken.
+     If he will turn to 2 'Chron. xxxiv. 22, he will find that when
+     Josiah, the king, sent the wise men to consult Huldah, the
+     prophetess, about the book of laws discovered in the temple, they
+     found Huldah in the college in Jerusalem, thoroughly well informed
+     on questions of state, while Shallum, her husband, was keeper of
+     the robes. I suppose his business was to sew on the royal buttons.'
+     But in spite of this Scriptural authority, the rich lady gave
+     thirty thousand dollars to Princeton and never one cent for the
+     education of her own sex.
+
+     "Of all the voices to which these walls have echoed for over half a
+     century, how few remain to tell the story of the early days, and
+     when we part, how few of us will ever meet again; but I know we
+     shall carry with us some new inspiration for the work that still
+     remains for us to do. Though many of us are old in years, we may
+     still be young in heart. Women trained to concentrate all their
+     thoughts on family life are apt to think--when their children are
+     grown up, their loved ones gone, their servants trained to keep the
+     domestic machinery in motion--that their work in life is done, that
+     no one needs now their thought and care, quite forgetting that the
+     hey-day of woman's life is on the shady side of fifty, when the
+     vital forces heretofore expended in other ways are garnered in the
+     brain, when their thoughts and sentiments flow out in broader
+     channels, when philanthropy takes the place of family selfishness,
+     and when from the depths of poverty and suffering the wail of
+     humanity grows as pathetic to their ears as once was the cry of
+     their own children.
+
+     "Or, perhaps, the pressing cares of family life ended, the woman
+     may awake to some slumbering genius in herself for art, science, or
+     literature, with which to gild the sunset of her life. Longfellow's
+     beautiful poem, 'Morituri Salutamus,' written for a similar
+     occasion to this, is full of hope and promise for all of us. He
+     says:
+
+    "'Something remains for us to do or dare;
+    Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear.
+    Cato learned Greek at eighty; Sophocles
+    Wrote his grand Oedipus, and Simonides
+    Bore off the prize of verse from his compeers,
+    When each had numbered more than four-score years.
+    And Theophrastus, at three-score and ten,
+    Had but begun his Characters of Men;
+    Chaucer, at Woodstock with the nightingales,
+    At sixty wrote the Canterbury Tales;
+    Goethe at Weimar, toiling to the last,
+    Completed Faust when eighty years were past.
+    These are indeed exceptions; but they show
+    How far the gulf-stream of our youth may flow
+    Into the Arctic regions of our lives,
+    Where little else than life itself survives.
+    For age is opportunity no less
+    Than youth itself, though in another dress,
+    And as the evening twilight fades away
+    The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.'"
+
+On December 21, 1892, we celebrated, for the first time, "Foremothers'
+Day." Men had celebrated "Forefathers' Day" for many years, but as women
+were never invited to join in their festivities, Mrs. Devereux Blake
+introduced the custom of women having a dinner in celebration of that
+day. Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker spent two days with me, and together
+we attended the feast and made speeches. This custom is now annually
+observed, and gentlemen sit in the gallery just as ladies had done on
+similar occasions.
+
+My son Theodore arrived from France in April, 1893, to attend the
+Chicago Exposition, and spent most of the summer with me at Glen Cove,
+Long Island, where my son Gerrit and his wife were domiciled. Here we
+read Captain Charles King's stories of life at military posts, Sanborn's
+"Biography of Bronson Alcott," and Lecky's "History of Rationalism."
+
+Here I visited Charles A. Dana, the Nestor of journalism, and his
+charming family. He lived on a beautiful island near Glen Cove. His
+refined, artistic taste, shown in his city residence in paintings,
+statuary, and rare bric-a-brac, collected in his frequent travels in the
+Old World, displayed itself in his island home in the arrangement of an
+endless variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers, through which you caught
+glimpses of the Sound and distant shores. One seldom meets so gifted a
+man as the late editor of the _Sun_. He was a scholar, speaking several
+languages; an able writer and orator, and a most genial companion in the
+social circle. His wife and daughter are cultivated women. The name of
+this daughter, Zoe Dana Underhill, often appears in our popular
+magazines as the author of short stories, remarkable for their vivid
+descriptions.
+
+I met Mr. Dana for the first time at the Brook Farm Community in 1843,
+in that brilliant circle of Boston transcendentalists, who hoped in a
+few years to transform our selfish, competitive civilization into a
+Paradise where all the altruistic virtues might make co-operation
+possible. But alas! the material at hand was not sufficiently plastic
+for that higher ideal. In due time the community dissolved and the
+members returned to their ancestral spheres. Margaret Fuller, who was a
+frequent visitor there, betook herself to matrimony in sunny Italy,
+William Henry Channing to the Church, Bronson Alcott to the education of
+the young, Frank Cabot to the world of work, Mr. and Mrs. Ripley to
+literature, and Charles A. Dana to the press. Mr. Dana was very
+fortunate in his family relations. His wife, Miss Eunice MacDaniel, and
+her relatives sympathized with him in all his most liberal opinions.
+During the summer at Glen Cove I had the pleasure of several long
+conversations with Miss Frances L. MacDaniel and her brother Osborne,
+whose wife is the sister of Mr. Dana, and who is now assisting Miss
+Prestona Mann in trying an experiment, similar to the one at Brook Farm,
+in the Adirondacks.
+
+Miss Anthony spent a week with us in Glen Cove. She came to stir me up
+to write papers for every Congress at the Exposition, which I did, and
+she read them in the different Congresses, adding her own strong words
+at the close. Mrs. Russell Sage also came and spent a day with us to
+urge me to write a paper to be read at Chicago at the Emma Willard
+Reunion, which I did. A few days afterward Theodore and I returned her
+visit. We enjoyed a few hours' conversation with Mr Sage, who had made
+a very generous gift of a building to the Emma Willard Seminary at
+Troy. This school was one of the first established (1820) for girls in
+our State, and received an appropriation from the New York legislature
+on the recommendation of the Governor, De Witt Clinton. Mr. Sage gave us
+a description that night of the time his office was blown up with
+dynamite thrown by a crank, and of his narrow escape. We found the great
+financier and his wife in an unpretending cottage with a fine outlook on
+the sea. Though possessed of great wealth they set a good example of
+simplicity and economy, which many extravagant people would do well to
+follow.
+
+Having visited the World's Exposition at Chicago and attended a course
+of lectures at Chautauqua, my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, returned
+to the city, and as soon as our apartment was in order I joined her. She
+had recently been appointed Director of Physical Training at the
+Teachers' College in New York city. I attended several of her
+exhibitions and lectures, which were very interesting. She is doing her
+best to develop, with proper exercises and sanitary dress, a new type of
+womanhood.
+
+My time passed pleasantly these days with a drive in the Park and an
+hour in the land of Nod, also in reading Henry George's "Progress and
+Poverty," William Morris on industrial questions, Stevenson's novels,
+the "Heavenly Twins," and "Marcella," and at twilight, when I could not
+see to read and write, in playing and singing the old tunes and songs I
+loved in my youth. In the evening we played draughts and chess. I am
+fond of all games, also of music and novels, hence the days fly swiftly
+by; I am never lonely, life is ever very sweet to me and full of
+interest.
+
+The winter of 1893-94 was full of excitement, as the citizens of New
+York were to hold a Constitutional Convention. Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi
+endeavored to rouse a new class of men and women to action in favor of
+an amendment granting to women the right to vote. Appeals were sent
+throughout the State, gatherings were held in parlors, and enthusiastic
+meetings in Cooper Institute and at the Savoy Hotel. My daughter, Mrs.
+Stanton Blatch, who was visiting this country, took an active part in
+the canvass, and made an eloquent speech in Cooper Institute. Strange to
+say, some of the leading ladies formed a strong party against the
+proposed amendment and their own enfranchisement. They were called the
+"Antis." This opposing organization adopted the same plan for the
+campaign as those in favor of the amendment. They issued appeals,
+circulated petitions, and had hearings before the Convention.
+
+Mrs. Russell Sage, Mrs. Henry M. Sanders, Mrs. Edward Lauterbach, Mrs.
+Runkle, and some liberal clergymen did their uttermost to secure the
+insertion of the amendment in the proposed new constitution, but the
+Committee on Suffrage of the Constitutional Convention refused even to
+submit the proposed amendment to a vote of the people, though half a
+million of our most intelligent and respectable citizens had signed the
+petition requesting them to do so. Joseph H. Choate and Elihu Root did
+their uttermost to defeat the amendment, and succeeded.
+
+I spent the summer of 1894 with my son Gerrit, in his home at Thomaston,
+Long Island. Balzac's novels, and the "Life of Thomas Paine" by Moncure
+D. Conway, with the monthly magazines and daily papers, were my mental
+pabulum. My daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, returned from England in
+September, 1894, having had a pleasant visit with her sister in
+Basingstoke. In December Miss Anthony came, and we wrote the woman
+suffrage article for the new edition of Johnson's Cyclopedia.
+
+On March 3, 1895, Lady Somerset and Miss Frances Willard, on the eve of
+their departure for England, called to see me. We discussed my project
+of a "Woman's Bible." They consented to join a revising committee, but
+before the committee was organized they withdrew their names, fearing
+the work would be too radical. I especially desired to have the opinions
+of women from all sects, but those belonging to the orthodox churches
+declined to join the committee or express their views. Perhaps they
+feared their faith might be disturbed by the strong light of
+investigation. Some half dozen members of the Revising Committee began
+with me to write "Comments on the Pentateuch."
+
+The chief thought revolving in my mind during the years of 1894 and 1895
+had been "The Woman's Bible." In talking with friends I began to feel
+that I might realize my long-cherished plan. Accordingly, I began to
+read the commentators on the Bible and was surprised to see how little
+they had to say about the greatest factor in civilization, the mother of
+the race, and that little by no means complimentary. The more I read,
+the more keenly I felt the importance of convincing women that the
+Hebrew mythology had no special claim to a higher origin than that of
+the Greeks, being far less attractive in style and less refined in
+sentiment. Its objectionable features would long ago have been apparent
+had they not been glossed over with a faith in their divine inspiration.
+For several months I devoted all my time to Biblical criticism and
+ecclesiastical history, and found no explanation for the degraded status
+of women under all religions, and in all the so-called "Holy Books."
+
+When Part I. of "The Woman's Bible" was finally published in November,
+1895, it created a great sensation. Some of the New York city papers
+gave a page to its review, with pictures of the commentators, of its
+critics, and even of the book itself. The clergy denounced it as the
+work of Satan, though it really was the work of Ellen Battelle Dietrick,
+Lillie Devereux Blake, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Clara Bewick Colby,
+Ursula N. Gestefeld, Louisa Southworth, Frances Ellen Burr, and myself.
+Extracts from it, and criticisms of the commentators, were printed in
+the newspapers throughout America, Great Britain, and Europe. A third
+edition was found necessary, and finally an edition was published in
+England. The Revising Committee was enlarged, and it now consists of
+over thirty of the leading women of America and Europe.[A]
+
+The month of August, 1895, we spent in Peterboro, on the grand hills of
+Madison County, nine hundred feet above the valley. Gerrit Smith's fine
+old mansion still stands, surrounded with magnificent trees, where I had
+played in childhood, chasing squirrels over lawn and gardens and wading
+in a modest stream that still creeps slowly round the grounds. I
+recalled as I sat on the piazza how one time, when Frederick Douglass
+came to spend a few days at Peterboro, some Southern visitors wrote a
+note to Mr. Smith asking if Mr. Douglass was to sit in the parlor and at
+the dining table; if so, during his visit they would remain in their
+own apartments. Mr. Smith replied that his visitors were always treated
+by his family as equals, and such would be the case with Mr. Douglass,
+who was considered one of the ablest men reared under "The Southern
+Institution." So these ladies had their meals in their own apartments,
+where they stayed most of the time, and, as Mr. Douglass prolonged his
+visit, they no doubt wished in their hearts that they had never taken
+that silly position. The rest of us walked about with him, arm in arm,
+played games, and sang songs together, he playing the accompaniment on
+the guitar. I suppose if our prejudiced countrywomen had been introduced
+to Dumas in a French salon, they would at once have donned their bonnets
+and ran away.
+
+Sitting alone under the trees I recalled the different generations that
+had passed away, all known to me. Here I had met the grandfather, Peter
+Sken Smith, partner of John Jacob Astor. In their bargains with the
+Indians they acquired immense tracts of land in the Northern part of the
+State of New York, which were the nucleus of their large fortunes. I
+have often heard Cousin Gerrit complain of the time he lost managing the
+estate. His son Greene was an enthusiast in the natural sciences and
+took but little interest in property matters. Later, his grandson,
+Gerrit Smith Miller, assumed the burden of managing the estate and, in
+addition, devoted himself to agriculture. He imported a fine breed of
+Holstein cattle, which have taken the first prize at several fairs. His
+son, bearing the same name, is devoted to the natural sciences, like his
+uncle Greene; whose fine collection of birds was presented by his widow
+to Harvard College.
+
+The only daughter of Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Smith Miller, is a
+remarkable woman, possessing many of the traits of her noble father. She
+has rare executive ability, as shown in the dispatch of her extensive
+correspondence and in the perfect order of her house and grounds. She
+has done much in the way of education, especially for the colored race,
+in helping to establish schools and in distributing literature. She
+subscribes for many of the best books, periodicals, and papers for
+friends not able to purchase for themselves. We cannot estimate the good
+she has done in this way. Every mail brings her letters from all
+classes, from charitable institutions, prisons, Southern plantations,
+army posts, and the far-off prairies. To all these pleas for help she
+gives a listening ear. Her charities are varied and boundless, and her
+hospitalities to the poor as well as the rich, courteous and generous.
+The refinement and artistic taste of the Southern mother and the heroic
+virtues of the father are happily blended in their daughter. In her
+beautiful home on Seneca Lake, one is always sure to meet some of the
+most charming representatives of the progressive thought of our times.
+Representatives of all these generations now rest in the cemetery at
+Peterboro, and as in review they passed before me they seemed to say,
+"Why linger you here alone so long?"
+
+My son Theodore arrived from Paris in September, 1895, and rendered most
+important service during the preparations for my birthday celebration,
+in answering letters, talking with reporters, and making valuable
+suggestions to the managers as to many details in the arrangements, and
+encouraging me to go through the ordeal with my usual heroism. I never
+felt so nervous in my life, and so unfitted for the part I was in duty
+bound to perform. From much speaking through many years my voice was
+hoarse, from a severe fall I was quite lame, and as standing, and
+distinct speaking are important to graceful oratory, I felt like the
+king's daughter in Shakespeare's play of "Titus Andronicus," when rude
+men who had cut her hands off and her tongue out, told her to call for
+water and wash her hands. However, I lived through the ordeal, as the
+reader will see in the next chapter.
+
+After my birthday celebration, the next occasion of deep interest to me
+was the Chicago Convention of 1896, the platform there adopted, and the
+nomination and brilliant campaign of William J. Bryan. I had long been
+revolving in my mind questions relating to the tariff and finance, and
+in the demands of liberal democrats, populists, socialists, and the
+laboring men and women, I heard the clarion notes of the coming
+revolution.
+
+During the winter of 1895-96 I was busy writing alternately on this
+autobiography and "The Woman's Bible," and articles for magazines and
+journals on every possible subject from Venezuela and Cuba to the
+bicycle. On the latter subject many timid souls were greatly distressed.
+Should women ride? What should they wear? What are "God's intentions"
+concerning them? Should they ride on Sunday? These questions were asked
+with all seriousness. We had a symposium on these points in one of the
+daily papers. To me the answer to all these questions was simple--if
+woman could ride, it was evidently "God's intention" that she be
+permitted to do so. As to what she should wear, she must decide what is
+best adapted to her comfort and convenience. Those who prefer a spin of
+a few hours on a good road in the open air to a close church and a dull
+sermon, surely have the right to choose, whether with trees and flowers
+and singing birds to worship in "That temple not made with hands,
+eternal in the heavens," or within four walls to sleep during the
+intonation of that melancholy service that relegates us all, without
+distinction of sex or color, to the ranks of "miserable sinners." Let
+each one do what seemeth right in her own eyes, provided she does not
+encroach on the rights of others.
+
+In May, 1896, I again went to Geneva and found the bicycle craze had
+reached there, with all its most pronounced symptoms; old and young,
+professors, clergymen, and ladies of fashion were all spinning merrily
+around on business errands, social calls, and excursions to distant
+towns. Driving down the avenue one day, we counted eighty bicycles
+before reaching the post-office. The ancient bandbox, so detested by our
+sires and sons, has given place to this new machine which our daughters
+take with them wheresoever they go, boxing and unboxing and readjusting
+for each journey. It has been a great blessing to our girls in
+compelling them to cultivate their self-reliance and their mechanical
+ingenuity, as they are often compelled to mend the wheel in case of
+accident. Among the visitors at Geneva were Mr. Douglass and his
+daughter from the island of Cuba. They gave us very sad accounts of the
+desolate state of the island and the impoverished condition of the
+people. I had long felt that the United States should interfere in some
+way to end that cruel warfare, for Spain has proved that she is
+incompetent to restore order and peace.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote A: Part II. of "The Woman's Bible," which completes the work,
+will be issued in January, 1898.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY.
+
+
+Without my knowledge or consent, my lifelong friend, Susan B. Anthony,
+who always seems to appreciate homage tendered to me more highly than
+even to herself, made arrangements for the celebration of my eightieth
+birthday, on the 12th day of November, 1895. She preferred that this
+celebration should be conducted by the National Council of Women,
+composed of a large number of organizations representing every
+department of woman's labor, though, as the enfranchisement of woman had
+been my special life work, it would have been more appropriate if the
+celebration had been under the auspices of the National Woman's Suffrage
+Association.
+
+Mrs. Mary Lowe Dickinson, President of the National Council of Women,
+assumed the financial responsibility and the extensive correspondence
+involved, and with rare tact, perseverance, and executive ability made
+the celebration a complete success. In describing this occasion I cannot
+do better than to reproduce, in part, Mrs. Dickinson's account,
+published in _The Arena_:
+
+"In the month of June, 1895, the National Council of Women issued the
+following invitation:
+
+"'Believing that the progress made by women in the last half century may
+be promoted by a more general notice of their achievements, we propose
+to hold, in New York city, a convention for this purpose. As an
+appropriate time for such a celebration, the eightieth birthday of
+Elizabeth Cady Stanton has been chosen. Her half century of pioneer work
+for the rights of women makes her name an inspiration for such an
+occasion and her life a fitting object for the homage of all women.
+
+"'This National Council is composed of twenty organizations; these and
+all other societies interested are invited to co-operate in grateful
+recognition of the debt the present generation owes to the pioneers of
+the past. From their interest in the enfranchisement of women, the
+influence of Mrs. Stanton and her coadjutor, Miss Anthony, has permeated
+all departments of progress and made them a common center round which
+all interested in woman's higher development may gather.'
+
+"To this invitation came responses, from the Old World and the New,
+expressing sympathy with the proposed celebration, which was intended to
+emphasize a great principle by showing the loftiness of character that
+had resulted from its embodiment in a unique personality. The world
+naturally thinks of the personality before it thinks of the principle.
+It has, at least, so much unconscious courtesy left as to honor a noble
+woman, even when failing to rightly apprehend a noble cause. To afford
+this feeling its proper expression, to render more tangible all vague
+sympathy, to crystallize the growing sentiment in favor of human
+freedom, to give youth the opportunity to reverence the glory of age, to
+give hearts their utterances in word and song was perhaps the most
+popular purpose of the reunion. In other words, it gave an opportunity
+for those who revered Mrs. Stanton as a queen among women to show their
+reverence, and to recognize the work her life had wrought, and to see in
+it an epitome of the progress of a century.
+
+"The celebration was also an illustration of the distinctive idea of the
+National Council of Women, which aims to give recognition to all human
+effort without demanding uniformity of opinion as a basis of
+co-operation. It claims to act upon a unity of service, notwithstanding
+differences of creed and methods. The things that separate, shrank back
+into the shadows where they belong, and all hearts brave enough to
+think, and tender enough to feel, found it easy to unite in homage to a
+life which had known a half century of struggle to lift humanity from
+bondage and womanhood from shame.
+
+"This reunion was the first general recognition of the debt the present
+owes to the past. It was the first effort to show the extent to which
+later development has been inspired and made possible by the freedom to
+think and work claimed in that earlier time by women like Lucretia Mott,
+Lucy Stone, Mrs. Stanton, and many others whose names stand as synonyms
+of noble service for the race. To those who looked at the reunion from
+this point of view it could not fail of inspiration.
+
+"For the followers in lines of philanthropic work to look in the faces
+and hear the voices of women like Clara Barton and Mary Livermore; for
+the multitude enlisted in the crowded ranks of literature to feel in the
+living presence, what literature owes to women like Julia Ward Howe; for
+the white ribbon army to turn from its one great leader of to-day whose
+light, spreading to the horizon, does not obscure or dim the glory of
+the crusade leaders of the past; for art lovers and art students to
+call to mind sculptors like Harriet Hosmer and Anna Whitney, and
+remember the days when art was a sealed book to women; for the followers
+of the truly divine art of healing to honor the Blackwell sisters and
+the memory of Mme. Clemence Lozier; for the mercy of surgery to reveal
+itself in the face of Dr. Cushier, who has proved for us that heart of
+pity and hand of skill need never be divorced; for women lifting their
+eyes to meet the face of Phebe A. Hanaford and Anna Shaw and other women
+who to-day in the pulpit, as well as out of it, may use a woman's right
+to minister to needy souls; for the ofttime sufferers from unrighteous
+law to welcome women lawyers; for the throng of working women to read
+backward through the story of four hundred industries to their beginning
+in the 'four,' and remember that each new door had opened because some
+women toiled and strove; for all these the exercises were a part of a
+great thanksgiving paean, each phase of progress striking its own chord,
+and finding each its echo in the hearts that held it dear.
+
+"To the student of history, or to him who can read the signs of the
+times, there was such a profound significance in this occasion as makes
+one shrink from dwelling too much upon the external details. Yet as a
+pageant only it was a most inspiring sight, and one truly worthy of a
+queen. Indeed as we run the mind back over the pages of history, what
+queen came to a more triumphant throne in the hearts of a grateful
+people? What woman ever before sat silver-crowned, canopied with
+flowers, surrounded not by servile followers but by men and women who
+brought to her court the grandest service they had wrought, their best
+thought crystallized in speech and song. Greater than any triumphal
+procession that ever marked a royal passage through a kingdom was it to
+know that in a score or more of cities, in many a village church on that
+same night festive fires were lighted, and the throng kept holiday,
+bringing for tribute not gold and gems but noblest aspirations, truest
+gratitude, and highest ideals for the nation and the race.
+
+"The great meeting was but one link in a chain; yet with its thousands
+of welcoming faces, with its eloquence of words, with its offering of
+sweetest song from the children of a race that once was bound but now is
+free, with its pictured glimpses of the old time and the new flashing
+out upon the night, with the home voices offering welcome and gratitude
+and love, with numberless greetings, from the great, true, brave souls
+of many lands, it was indeed a wonderful tribute, worthy of the great
+warm heart of a nation that offered it, and worthy of the woman so
+revered.
+
+"It seemed fitting that Mme. Antoinette Sterling, who, twenty years ago,
+took her wonderful voice away to England, where it won for her a unique
+place in the hearts of the nation, should, on returning to her country,
+give her first service to the womanhood of her native land. 'I am coming
+a week earlier,' so she had written, 'that my first work in my own
+beloved America may be done for women. I am coming as a woman and not as
+an artist, and because I so glory in that which the women of my country
+have achieved.' So when she sang out of her heart, 'O rest in the Lord;
+wait patiently for him!' no marvel that it seemed to lift all listening
+hearts to a recognition of the divine secret and source of power for all
+work.
+
+"One charming feature of the entertainment was a series of pictures
+called 'Then and Now,' each illustrating the change in woman's condition
+during the last fifty years. And after this, upon the dimness there
+shone out, one after another, the names of noble women like Mary Lyon,
+Maria Mitchell, Emma Willard, and many others who have passed away. Upon
+the shadows and the silence broke Mme. Sterling's voice in Tennyson's
+'Crossing the Bar.' And when this was over, as with one voice, the whole
+audience sang softly 'Auld Lang Syne.'
+
+"And last but not least should be mentioned the greetings that poured in
+a shower of telegrams and letters from every section of the country, and
+many from over the sea. These expressions, not only of personal
+congratulation for Mrs. Stanton, but utterances of gladness for the
+progress in woman's life and thought, for the conditions, already so
+much better than in the past, and for the hope for the future, would
+make of themselves a most interesting and wonderful chapter. Among them
+may be mentioned letters from Lord and Lady Aberdeen, from Lady Henry
+Somerset and Frances E. Willard, from Canon Wilberforce, and many
+others, including an address from thirty members of the family of John
+Bright, headed by his brother, the Right Honorable Jacob Bright; a
+beautifully engrossed address, on parchment, from the National Woman
+Suffrage Society of Scotland, an address from the London Women's
+Franchise League, and a cablegram from the Bristol Women's Liberal
+Association; a letter from the Women's Rights Society of Finland, signed
+by its president, Baroness Gripenberg of Helsingfors; telegrams from the
+California Suffrage Pioneers; and others from the Chicago Woman's Club,
+from the Toledo and Ohio Woman's Suffrage Society, from the son of the
+Rev. Dr. William Ellery Channing, and a telegram and letter from
+citizens and societies of Seneca Falls, New York, accompanied with
+flowers and many handsome pieces of silver from the different societies.
+There were also letters from Hon. Oscar S. Strauss, ex-minister to
+Turkey, Miss Ellen Terry, and scores of others. An address was received
+from the Women's Association of Utah, accompanied by a beautiful onyx
+and silver ballot box; and from the Shaker women of Mount Lebanon came
+an ode; a solid silver loving cup from the New York City Suffrage
+League, presented on the platform with a few appropriate words by its
+President, Mrs. Devereux Blake.
+
+"Hundreds of organizations and societies, both in this country and
+abroad, wished to have their names placed on record as in sympathy with
+the movement. Many organizations were present in a body, and one was
+reminded, by the variety and beauty of the decorations of their boxes,
+of the Venetian Carnival, as the occupants gazed down from amid the
+silken banners and the flowers, upon the throng below. The whole
+occasion was indeed a unique festival, unique in its presentation, as
+well as in its purpose, plan, character, and spirit. No woman present
+could fail to be impressed with what we owe to the women of the past,
+and especially to this one woman who was the honored guest of the
+occasion. And no young woman could desire to forget the picture of this
+aged form as, leaning upon her staff, Mrs. Stanton spoke to the great
+audience of over six thousand, as she had spoken hundreds of times
+before in legislative halls, and whenever her word could influence the
+popular sentiment in favor of justice for all mankind."
+
+My birthday celebration, with all the testimonials of love and
+friendship I received, was an occasion of such serious thought and deep
+feeling as I had never before experienced. Having been accustomed for
+half a century to blame rather than praise, I was surprised with such a
+manifestation of approval; I could endure any amount of severe criticism
+with complacency, but such an outpouring of homage and affection stirred
+me profoundly. To calm myself during that week of excitement, I thought
+many times of Michelet's wise motto, "Let the weal and woe of humanity
+be everything to you, their praise and blame of no effect; be not puffed
+up with the one nor cast down with the other."
+
+Naturally at such a time I reviewed my life, its march and battle on the
+highways of experience, and counted its defeats and victories. I
+remembered when a few women called the first convention to discuss their
+disabilities, that our conservative friends said: "You have made a great
+mistake, you will be laughed at from Maine to Texas and beyond the sea;
+God has set the bounds of woman's sphere and she should be satisfied
+with her position." Their prophecy was more than realized; we were
+unsparingly ridiculed by the press and pulpit both in England and
+America. But now many conventions are held each year in both countries
+to discuss the same ideas; social customs have changed; laws have been
+modified; municipal suffrage has been granted to women in England and
+some of her colonies; school suffrage has been granted to women in half
+of our States, municipal suffrage in Kansas, and full suffrage in four
+States of the Union. Thus the principle scouted in 1848 was accepted in
+England in 1870, and since then, year by year, it has slowly progressed
+in America until the fourth star shone out on our flag in 1896, and
+Idaho enfranchised her women! That first convention, considered a "grave
+mistake" in 1848, is now referred to as "a grand step in progress."
+
+My next mistake was when, as president of the New York State Woman's
+Temperance Association, I demanded the passage of a statute allowing
+wives an absolute divorce for the brutality and intemperance of their
+husbands. I addressed the Legislature of New York a few years later when
+a similar bill was pending, and also large audiences in several of our
+chief cities, and for this I was severely denounced. To-day fugitives
+from such unholy ties can secure freedom in many of the Western States,
+and enlightened public sentiment sustains mothers in refusing to hand
+down an appetite fraught with so many evil consequences. This, also
+called a "mistake" in 1860, was regarded as a "step in progress" a few
+years later.
+
+Again, I urged my coadjutors by speeches, letters, and resolutions, as a
+means of widespread agitation, to make the same demands of the Church
+that we had already made of the State. They objected, saying, "That is
+too revolutionary, an attack on the Church would injure the suffrage
+movement." But I steadily made the demand, as opportunity offered, that
+women be ordained to preach the Gospel and to fill the offices as
+elders, deacons, and trustees. A few years later some of these
+suggestions were accepted. Some churches did ordain women as pastors
+over congregations of their own, others elected women deaconesses, and a
+few churches allowed women, as delegates, to sit in their conferences.
+Thus this demand was in a measure honored and another "step in
+progress" taken.
+
+In 1882 I tried to organize a committee to consider the status of women
+in the Bible, and the claim that the Hebrew Writings were the result of
+divine inspiration. It was thought very presumptuous for women not
+learned in languages and ecclesiastical history to undertake such work.
+But as we merely proposed to comment on what was said of women in plain
+English, and found these texts composed only one-tenth of the Old and
+New Testaments, it did not seem to me a difficult or dangerous
+undertaking. However, when Part I. of "The Woman's Bible" was published,
+again there was a general disapproval by press and pulpit, and even by
+women themselves, expressed in resolutions in suffrage and temperance
+conventions. Like other "mistakes," this too, in due time, will be
+regarded as "a step in progress."
+
+Such experiences have given me confidence in my judgment, and patience
+with the opposition of my coadjutors, with whom on so many points I
+disagree. It requires no courage now to demand the right of suffrage,
+temperance legislation, liberal divorce laws, or for women to fill
+church offices--these battles have been fought and won and the principle
+governing these demands conceded. But it still requires courage to
+question the divine inspiration of the Hebrew Writings as to the
+position of woman. Why should the myths, fables, and allegories of the
+Hebrews be held more sacred than those of the Assyrians and Egyptians,
+from whose literature most of them were derived? Seeing that the
+religious superstitions of women perpetuate their bondage more than all
+other adverse influences, I feel impelled to reiterate my demands for
+justice, liberty, and equality in the Church as well as in the State.
+
+The birthday celebration was to me more than a beautiful pageant; more
+than a personal tribute. It was the dawn of a new day for the Mothers of
+the Race! The harmonious co-operation of so many different
+organizations, with divers interests and opinions, in one grand jubilee
+was, indeed, a heavenly vision of peace and hope; a prophecy that with
+the exaltation of Womanhood would come new Life, Light, and Liberty to
+all mankind.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX OF NAMES.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+Aberdeen, _Lord_ and _Lady_,
+Addington, Laura,
+Albert, _Prince_,
+Alcott, A. Bronson,
+Alcott, Louisa M.,
+Allison, Miss,
+Amberly, _Lord_ and _Lady_,
+Ames, Mary Clemmer,
+Anderson, Dr. Garrett,
+André, _Major_ John,
+Andrews, _Governor_ John A.,
+Anthony, Daniel,
+Anthony, _Senator_ Henry B.,
+Anthony, Lucy,
+Anthony, Mary,
+Anthony, Susan B.,
+Arnold, _General_ Benedict,
+Arnold, Matthew,
+Astor, John Jacob,
+Auchet, Hubertine,
+Austin, _Dr_. Harriet N.,
+Ayer, Mrs. J.C.,
+
+Backus, Wealthea,
+Bagley, _Governor_,
+Bagley, Mrs.,
+Baird, _General_,
+Baldwin, Elizabeth McMartin,
+Balgarnie, Miss,
+Banning, Ella B.,
+Banning, William L.,
+Barclay, Cornelia,
+Barrau, Caroline de,
+Bartlett, Paul,
+Barton, Clara,
+Bascom, Mr.,
+Bascora, Mary,
+Bayard, _Dr_. Edward,
+Bayard, Henry,
+Bayard, Thomas F.,
+Bayard, Tryphena Cady,
+Beach, Myron,
+Beaman, _Rev. Dr_.,
+Becker, Lydia,
+Beecher, Catharine,
+Beecher, _Rev_. Henry Ward,
+Bellamy, Edward,
+Bellows, Rev. Henry,
+Benedict, Lewis,
+Bently, _Judge_,
+Berry, Mme.,
+Berry, Marguerite,
+Berry, Mrs.,
+Bertaux, Mme. Léon,
+Besant, Annie,
+Bickerdyke, _Mother_,
+Biddle, Chapman,
+Biddle, George,
+Biggs, Caroline,
+Bigelow, John,
+Bigelow, Mrs. John,
+Bingham, John A.,
+Bird, Frank W.,
+Birney, James Gr.,
+Bjornson, Bjornstjorne,
+Blackburn, Miss,
+Blackwell, Antoinette Brown,
+Blackwell, _Dr_. Elizabeth,
+Blackwell, H.B.,
+Blaine, _Senator_ James G.,
+Blaine, Mrs. James G.,
+Blair, _Senator_ Henry W.,
+Blake, Lillie Devereux,
+Blatch, Harriot Stanton,
+Blatch, Nora Stanton,
+Blatch, William H.,
+Blavatsky, Mme.,
+Bloomer, Amelia,
+Bogelot, Isabella,
+Bogue, _Rev. Dr_.,
+Bonaparte, Napoleon,
+Botta, Anne Lynch,
+Boucherett, Jessie,
+Bowles, Samuel,
+Bradburn, George,
+Bradlaugh, _Hon_. Charles, M, P.,
+Bradwell, Myra,
+Bright, _Hon_. Jacob, M.P.,
+Bright, Mrs. Jacob,
+Bright, _Hon_. John, M.P.,
+Broomall, John M.,
+Brougham, Henry, Lord,
+Brown, Antoinette L.,
+Brown, John,
+Brown, Olympia,
+Brown, Mr.,
+Browne, Sir Thomas, M.D.,
+Browning, Robert,
+Brownson, Orestes A.,
+Bryan, William J..
+Bryant, Miss,
+Bryant, William Cullen,
+Bullard, Laura Curtis,
+Burlingame, Anson,
+Burleigh, Celia,
+Burleigh, Mrs. William,
+Burnet, Rev. J.,
+Burr, Frances Ellen,
+Burroughs, Herbert,
+Busbey, L. White,
+Bushnell, Horace,
+Butler, General Benjamin F.,
+Butler, Josephine,
+Byron, Lady,
+Byron, Lord,
+
+Cabot, Frederick,
+Cady, Judge Daniel,
+Cady, Eleazer,
+Cady, Margaret Livingston,
+Caird, Mona,
+Cameron, Judge Hugh,
+Carlisle, Lora and Lady,
+Carlyle, Thomas,
+Carnegie, Andrew,
+Carroll, Anna,
+Cary, Alice,
+Cary, Phoebe,
+Channing, Rev. Dr. William Ellery,
+Channing, Dr. William F.,
+Channing, Rev. William Henry,
+Chant, Ormiston,
+Chapman, Maria,
+Chase, William,
+Cheever, Rev. George B.,
+Child, Lydia Maria,
+Choate, Joseph H.,
+Christie, Margaret,
+Clark, Helen Bright,
+Clarkson, Thomas,
+Cleveland, Grover,
+Clinton, Governor De Witt C,
+Cluseret, General,
+Cobb, Mr. and Mrs.,
+Cobbe, Frances Power,
+Cobden, Jane,
+Cochrane, James,
+Cochrane, _General_ John,
+Cochrane, Mary,
+Colby, Clara B.,
+Cole, Senator Cornelius,
+Coleridge, Lady,
+Collyer, Rev. Robert,
+Combe, Andrew,
+Comte, Auguste,
+Conkling, Judge Alfred,
+Conkling, Roscoe,
+Conway, Rev. Moncure D.,
+Conway, Mrs. Moncure D.,
+Cooley, Judge Thomas M.,
+Couzins, Phoebe W.,
+Croly, Jennie C,
+Crowninshield, Captain A.S.,
+Crowninshield, Mary,
+Cox, S.S.,
+Coxe, Bishop,
+Curtis, George William,
+Cushier, Dr.,
+Cushman, Charlotte,
+
+Dana, Charles A.,
+Dana, Eunice MacDaniel,
+Darling, Anna B.,
+Darlington, Chandler,
+Darlington, Hannah,
+Davis, Edward M.,
+Davis. Paulina Wright,
+Davitt, Michael.
+Depesyrons, Professor,
+Deraismes, Mme. Féresse,
+Deraismes, Maria,
+Dickinson, Anna E.,
+Dickinson, Mary Lowe,
+Dietrick, Ellen Battelle,
+Dilke, Mrs. Ashton,
+Dilke, Sir Charles,
+Dix, Dorothy, L.,
+Dix, General John A.,
+Douglass, Frederick,
+Douglass, Mr.,
+Dowden, Professor,
+Dudley, Blandina Bleecker,
+Dumas, Alexandre,
+Durand, Mme. M.E.,
+Dyer, Charles Gifford,
+Dyer, Hella,
+
+Eaton, Professor Amos B.,
+Eaton, Daniel C,
+Eaton, Harriet Cady,
+Eddy, Miss,
+Eddy, Mrs. Jackson,   s
+Edmunds, Senator George F.,
+Eliot, George,
+Euet, Elizabeth F.,
+Ellsler, Fanny,
+Elmy, Mrs.,
+Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
+England, Isaac W.,
+England, Mrs. Isaac W.,
+Everett, Charles,
+
+Fabre, Senator Joseph,
+Fairchild, Governor Lucius,
+Faithful, Emily,
+Farnham, Mrs..
+Fawcett, Henry, M.P.,
+Fawcett, Milicent J.,
+Ferry, Jules,
+Ferry, Senator Thomas W.,
+Field, Rev. Dr. Henry M.,
+Field, Kate,
+Fine, Judge,
+Finney, Rev. Charles G.,
+Fitzhugh, Ann Carroll,
+Fitzhugh, Miss,
+Folsom, Abigail,
+Forbes, Arethusa,
+Forney, John W.,
+Foster, Abby Kelly,
+Foster, Rachel,
+Foster, Stephen,
+Frederic, Harold,
+Fremont, _General_ John C,
+French, Daniel C,
+Frothingham, _Rev_. O.B.,
+Fronde, James Anthony,
+Fry, Elizabeth,
+Fuller, Kate,
+Fuller, Margaret,
+Fuller, W.J.A.,
+Furness, _Rev_. William H.,
+
+Gage, Frances Dana,
+Gage, Matilda Joslyn,
+Gardener, Helen H.,
+Garibaldi, _General_ G.,
+Garrison, Gertrude,
+Garrison, William Lloyd,
+Garrison, Mrs. W.L.,
+Gay, Sidney Howard,
+Geddes, Mr.,
+George, Henry,
+Gestefeld, Ursula N.,
+Gibbons, Abby Hopper,
+Gillespie, Mrs.,
+Gladstone, _Right Hon_., William E.,
+Gladstone, Mrs. W.E.,
+Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft,
+Godwin, William,
+Grant, _General_, Ulysses S.,
+Greeley, Horace,
+Greeley, Mrs. Horace,
+Greene, Beriah,
+Greenough, Mrs. W.H.,
+Greenwood, Grace,
+Gréville, Henri,
+Grévy, _President_ Jules,
+Grévy, Mme. Jules,
+Grew, Mary,
+Grey, Maria G.,
+Grimké, Angelina,
+Grimké, Sarah,
+Gripenberg, _Baroness_ Alexandra,
+Gurney, John Joseph,
+Gurney, Samuel,
+Gustafsen, Mrs.,
+
+Hammond, _Dr_. William A.,
+Hanaford, _Rev_. Phebe A.,
+Harbert, Elizabeth Boynton,
+Harberton, _Lady_,
+Harvey, _Rev_. A.,
+Hawley, _General_ Joseph R.,
+Hawthorne, Nathaniel,
+Hazeltine, Mayo W.,
+Heine, Heinrich,
+Hertell, _Judge_
+Hertz, Fannie,
+Hicks, Elias,
+Higginson, Thomas Wentworth,
+Hill, Octavia,
+Hill, _President_,
+Hinckley, _Rev_. Frederick A.,
+Hoar, _Senator_ George F.,
+Hoggan, _Dr_. Frances E.,
+Hoisington, Rev. William,
+Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
+Hooker, Isabella Beecher,
+Holyoake, George Jacob,
+Hosack, _Rev_. Simon,
+Hoskins, Frances,
+Hosmer, Harriet,
+Hovey, Charles,
+Howe, Julia Ward,
+Howell, _Judge_,
+Howell, Mary Seymour,
+Howells, William D.,
+Howells, Mrs. William D.,
+Howitt, Mary,
+Hudson, Harriet,
+Hugo, Victor,
+Hunt, Jane,
+Hunt, _Dr_. Harriet K.,
+Hunt, _Judge_ Ward,
+Hunt, Richard,
+Hurlbert, _Judge_,
+Huron, Mr.,
+Hutchinson, _Family_,
+Hutchins, Mr.,
+Hyacinthe, _Père_,
+
+Ingersoll, Robert G.,
+
+Jackson, Francis,
+Jackson, _Dr_. James,
+Jackson, _Dr_. Kate,
+Jackson, Mr. and Mrs.,
+Jackson, Mrs.,
+Jacobi, _Dr_. Mary Putnam,
+Jameson, Anna,
+Janes, _Bishop_,
+Jarvis, Helen,
+Jenckes, Thomas A.,
+Jenkins, Lydia,
+Jenney, Mr. and Mrs.,
+Johnson, Adelaide,
+Johnson, Mariana,
+Johnson, Oliver,
+Johnson, _Sir_ William,
+Joly, _Professor_ Nicholas,
+Jones, Phoebe,
+June, Jennie,
+
+Kelley, William D.,
+Kelley, Abby,
+Kennan, George,
+Kent, _Chancellor_,
+Kergomard, Pauline,
+Kilpatrick, _General_,
+Kimber, Abby,
+King, _Captain_ Charles,
+Kingsford, Anna,
+Kingsley, _Canon_ Charles,
+Klumpke, Anna,
+Krapotkine, _Prince_,
+
+Laboulaye, Edouard R.L.,
+LaFayette, _Marquis_ de,
+Lampson, _Father_,
+Lapham, Anson,
+Lauterbach, Mrs. Edward,
+Lawrence, Frank E.,
+Lawrence, Margaret Stanton,
+Lawson, _Sir_ Wilfrid,
+Leavitt, Joshua,
+Lecky, W.E.H.,
+Lee, Richard Henry,
+Lee, Theresa,
+Lieneff, Mr.,
+Lincoln, Abraham,
+Livermore, Mary A.,
+Livingston, Colonel James,
+Livingston, Margaret,
+Livingston, Mary,
+Logan, Olive,
+Long, Governor John D.,
+Longfellow, Henry W.,
+Longfellow, Rev. Samuel,
+Lord, Dr.,
+Lord, Emily,
+Lord, Frances,
+Louis Philippe,
+Lowell, James Russell,
+Lozier, Dr. Clemence S.,
+Lucas, Margaret Bright,
+Lyon, Mary,
+
+McClintock, Elizabeth,
+McClintock, Mary Ann,
+McKeon, Judge,
+McLaren, Charles,
+McLaren, Mrs. Charles,
+McLaren, Hon. Duncan, M.P.,
+McLaren, Priscilla Bright,
+McLaren, Walter,
+McMartin, Donald,
+McMartin, Duncan,
+McMartin, Margaret Cady,
+MacDaniel, Eunice,
+MacDaniel, Frances L.,
+MacDaniel, Osborne,
+Macaulay, Thomas Babbington,
+Maire, Rev. Hugh,
+Mann, Horace,
+Mann, Prestona,
+Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice,
+Mansfield, Mrs. A.A.,
+Marsh, Luther R.,
+Martineau, Harriet,
+Massey, Gerald,
+May, Rev. Samuel J.,
+Mellen, Mrs. William,
+Mendenhall, Dinah,
+Meredith, George,
+Michel, Louise,
+Michelet, Jules,
+Milinowski, Captain Arthur,
+Mill, John Stuart,
+Mill, Mrs. John Stuart,
+Miller, Charles Dudley,
+Miller, Colonel,
+Miller, Elizabeth Smith,
+Miller, Gerrit Smith,
+Miller, Jenness,
+Miller, John B.,
+Miller, Judge,
+Miller, Justice Samuel F.,
+Minor, Virginia L.,
+Mitchell, Dr. Julia,
+Mitchell, Dr. Kate,
+Mitchell, Professor Maria,
+Moffett, Rev. Dr.,
+Moliner, Professor,
+Morley, John,
+Morpeth, Lord,
+Morris, William,
+Morrison, Cotton,
+Morsier, Emilie de,
+Morton, Edwin,
+Mott, Lucretia,
+Mott, Lydia,
+Moulton, Louise Chandler,
+Moulton, Mrs.,
+Müller, Eva,
+Müller, Henrietta,
+Murray, Eliza, in,
+
+Napoleon,
+Neal, Elizabeth,
+Nichol, Elizabeth Pease,
+
+O'Connell, Daniel,  go,
+O'Conor, Charles,
+Olmstead, Rev. John W.,
+Olmstead, Mary Livingston,
+Opie, Amelia,
+Orr, Mrs.,
+Osborne, Eliza W.,
+O'Shea, Mrs. Kitty,
+Owen, Robert Dale,
+
+Palmer, Senator John M.,
+Parker, Margaret,
+Parker, Theodore,
+Parkhurst, Mrs.,
+Parnell, Charles Stewart,
+Parsons, Chauncey C,
+Parsons, Mrs. Chauncey C,
+Patton, Rev. Dr.,
+Peabody, Elizabeth,
+Pearson, Karl,
+Pease, Elizabeth,
+Phelps, Elizabeth B.,
+Phillips, Ann Green,
+Phillips, Wendell,
+Pierpont, John,
+Pillsbury, Parker,
+Plumb, Senator Preston B.,
+Pochin, Mrs.,
+Pomeroy, "Brick,"
+Powell, Aaron,
+Powell, Professor,
+Priestman, Annie,
+Priestman, Mary,
+Pugh, Sarah,
+
+Quincy, Edmund,
+
+Ramsey, Mr.,
+Reid, Mrs. Hugo,
+Remond, Charles,
+Richer, Léon,
+Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich,
+Ripley, George,
+Ripley, Mrs. George,
+Richardson, Abby Sage,
+Ristori, Marchionesse Adelaide,
+Robinson, Governor Charles,
+Roby, Matilda,
+Rogers, Caroline Gilkey,
+Rogers, Nathaniel P.,
+Roland, Mme.,
+Rosa, Mr.,
+Rose, Ernestine L.,
+Root, Elihu,
+Rouvier, M.,
+Runkle, Mrs.,
+Ruskin, John,
+
+Sackett, Fudge Gerrit V.,
+Sage, Russell,
+Sage, Mrs. Russell,
+Sanborn, Frank,
+Sanders, Mrs. Henry M.,
+Sargent, Senator Aaron A.,
+Sargent, Mrs. Aaron A.,
+Saville, Mrs.,
+Scatcherd, Alice Cliff,
+Scatcherd, Mr.,
+Schenck, Elizabeth B.,
+Schenck, Robert C,
+Scoble, Rev. John,
+Seaman, Mr.,
+Seidl, Professor,
+Sewall, May Wright,
+Sewall, Samuel E.,
+Sewall, Mrs. Samuel E.,
+Seward, Governor William H.,
+Seward, Mrs. William H.,
+Shaftesbury, Lord,
+Shaw, Rev. Anna,
+Shelley, Percy Bysshe,
+Shelley, Percy Florence,
+Smalley, George W.,
+Smith, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh,
+Smith, Elizabeth Oakes,
+Smith, Gerrit,
+Smith, Greene,
+Smith, Professor Horace,
+Smith, Mrs. Horace,
+Smith, Peter Sken,
+Smith, Sidney,
+Smith, Sisters,
+Somerset, Lady Henry,
+Southwick, Abby,
+Southwick, Joseph,
+Southwick. Thankful,
+Southworth, Louisa,
+Spaulding, Bishop,
+Spence, Clara,
+Spencer, John C,
+Spencer, Sarah Andrews,
+Spofford, Jane Snow,
+Spofford, Mr.,
+Sprague, Governor William,
+Staël, Mme. de,
+Stanford, Senator Leland,
+Stanley, Dean,
+Stansfeld, Mr., M.P.,
+Stanton, Hon. Daniel Cady,
+Stanton, Edwin M.,
+Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, Granddaughter of author,
+Stanton, _Hon_. Gerrit Smith,
+Stanton, Harriot Eaton,
+Stanton, Henry,
+Stanton, _Hon_. Henry Brewster,
+Stanton, Margaret Livingston,
+Stanton, Marguerite Berry,
+Stanton, Robert Livingston,
+Stanton, Theodore,
+Stead, William T.,
+Stebbins, Catharine F.,
+Stebbins, Giles,
+Stebbins, Mrs.,
+Steinthal, _Rev_. Mr.,
+Stepniak,
+Sterling, Antoinette,
+Stevens, Thaddeus,
+Stevenson, Robert Louis,
+Stewart, Alvin,
+Stone, Lucy,
+Stout, _Rev_. C.,
+Stowe, Harriet Beecher,
+Straus, Oscar S.,
+Stuart, Charles,
+Stuart, _Dr_. Jacob H.,
+Stuart, Mrs. Jacob H.,
+Stuart, _Professor_,
+Sturge, Joseph,
+Sumner, Charles,
+Sutherland, _Duchess_ of,
+Swift, Isabella,
+Swift, _Lieutenant_,
+
+Tanner, Mrs.,
+Taylor, Helen,
+Taylor, Mrs. Peter A.,
+Terry, Ellen,
+Thacher, _Mayor_,
+Thomson, Adeline,
+Thomasson, _Hon_. John P., _M. P_.,
+Thomasson, Mrs. John P.,
+Thompkins, _Governor_ Daniel D.,
+Thompson, George,
+Thompson, May Wright,
+Tilton, Theodore,
+Train, George Francis,
+Traut, Mme. Griess,
+Tree, Ellen,
+Tudor, Mrs. Fenno,
+Tyler, _Professor_, Moses Coit,
+Tyng, _Dr_. Stephen,
+
+Underhill, Zoe Dana,
+
+Van Vechten, Abraham,
+Vest, _Senator_ George G.,
+Victoria, _Queen_,
+Vignon, Claude,
+Villard, Fanny Garrison,
+Villard, Henry,
+Vincent, Henry,
+Virchow, _Professor_,
+
+Waite, _Chief Justice_ Morrison R.,
+Walter, Ellen Cochrane,
+Walsingham, _Sir_ Francis,
+"Warrington,"
+Washington, _General_ George,
+Weed, Thurlow,
+Weld, Angelina Grimke,
+Weld, Theodore D.,
+Wellington, _Duke_ of,
+Wells, Emeline B.,
+West, Benjamin,
+Weston, Deborah,
+Whipple, E.P.,
+Whitney, Anna,
+Whittier, John G.,
+Whittle, _Dr._ Ewing,
+Wigham, Eliza,
+Wigham, Jane,
+Wilberforce, Canon,
+Wilberforce, William,
+Wilbour, Charlotte Beebe,
+Wilkeson, Catherine Cady,
+Wilkeson, Samuel,
+Willard, Amelia,
+Willard, Emma,
+Willard, Frances E.,
+Willard, Mrs. John,
+Williams, _Senator_ C.G.,
+Williams, Elisha,
+Wilson, Daniel,
+Winckworth, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen,
+Winslow, Emily,
+Woodhull, Victoria,
+Wollstonecraft, Mary,
+Woodward, Mr.,
+Worden, Mrs.,
+Wright, David,
+Wright, Frances,
+Wright, Henry C.,
+Wright, Martha C.,
+Wright, Mr.,
+Wright, Paulina,
+
+Yost, Elizabeth W.,
+Yost, Maria,
+
+Zackesewska, _Dr._ M.E.,
+
+[_Portions of Chapters X. and XI. of this book are taken by permission
+from an article written by Mrs. Stanton for "Our Famous Women,"
+published by A.D. Worthington & Co._]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences
+1815-1897, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE ***
+
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+Elizabeth Cady Stanton.</title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences
+1815-1897, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897
+
+Author: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+Release Date: April 10, 2004 [EBook #11982]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Grenet and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<h1>EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE</h1>
+<h2>REMINISCENCES 1815-1897</h2>
+<br>
+<h2>ELIZABETH CADY STANTON</h2>
+<div style="text-align: center;"><a name="img001"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 611px;" alt="Elizabeth Cady Stanton"
+ title="Elizabeth Cady Stanton" src="image/001.jpg"></div>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">"Social science
+affirms that woman's place in society marks the
+level of civilization."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<br>
+<p style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">I DEDICATE THIS
+VOLUME TO</p>
+<p style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><big>SUSAN B. ANTHONY,</big></p>
+<p style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">MY STEADFAST FRIEND
+FOR HALF A CENTURY.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<br>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<span style="font-weight: bold;">CHAPTER</span><br>
+<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
+  <li>I. <a href="#CHAPTER_I.">CHILDHOOD</a></li>
+  <li>II. <a href="#CHAPTER_II">SCHOOL DAYS</a></li>
+  <li>III. <a href="#CHAPTER_III">GIRLHOOD</a></li>
+  <li>IV. <a href="#CHAPTER_IV">LIFE AT PETERBORO</a></li>
+  <li>V. <a href="#CHAPTER_V">OUR WEDDING JOURNEY</a></li>
+  <li>VI. <a href="#CHAPTER_VI">HOMEWARD BOUND</a></li>
+  <li>VII. <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">MOTHERHOOD</a></li>
+  <li>VIII. <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">BOSTON AND CHELSEA</a></li>
+  <li>IX. <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION</a></li>
+  <li>X. <a href="#CHAPTER_X">SUSAN B. ANTHONY</a></li>
+  <li>XI. <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">SUSAN B. ANTHONY (<i>Continued</i>)</a></li>
+  <li>XII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE</a></li>
+  <li>XIII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">REFORMS AND MOBS</a></li>
+  <li>XIV. <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE</a></li>
+  <li>XV. <a href="#CHAPTER_XV">WOMEN AS PATRIOTS</a></li>
+  <li>XVI. <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">PIONEER LIFE IN KANSAS&#8212;OUR NEWSPAPER
+"THE REVOLUTION"</a></li>
+  <li>XVII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">LYCEUMS AND LECTURERS</a></li>
+  <li>XVIII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">WESTWARD HO!</a></li>
+  <li>XIX. <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">THE SPIRIT OF '76</a></li>
+  <li>XX. <a href="#CHAPTER_XX">WRITING "THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE"</a></li>
+  <li>XXI. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE</a></li>
+  <li>XXII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">REFORMS AND REFORMERS IN GREAT
+BRITAIN</a></li>
+  <li>XXIII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">WOMAN AND THEOLOGY</a></li>
+  <li>XXIV. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">ENGLAND AND FRANCE REVISITED</a></li>
+  <li>XXV. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN</a></li>
+  <li>XXVI. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">MY LAST VISIT TO ENGLAND</a></li>
+  <li>XXVII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
+CLASS OF 1832&#8212;THE WOMAN'S BIBLE</a></li>
+  <li>XXVIII. <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#INDEX_OF_NAMES">INDEX OF NAMES</a></li>
+</ul>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<br>
+<h2>LIST OF PORTRAITS.</h2>
+<br>
+<ul style="text-align: center;">
+  <li><a href="#img001">The Author, <i>Frontispiece</i></a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img002">Margaret Livingston Cady</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img003">Judge Daniel Cady</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img004">Henry Brewster Stanton</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img005">The Author and Daughter</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img006">The Author and Son</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img007">Susan B. Anthony</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img008">Elizabeth Smith Miller</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img009">Children and Grandchildren</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img010">The Author, Mrs. Blatch, and Nora</a></li>
+  <li><a href="#img011">The Author, Mrs. Lawrence, and Robert
+Livingston Stanton</a></li>
+</ul>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<br>
+<h1>EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE.</h1>
+<a name="Page_1"></a>
+<hr style="width: 45%;"><br>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+<h2>CHILDHOOD.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>The psychical growth of a child is not influenced by
+days and years, but by the impressions passing events
+make on its mind. What may prove a sudden awakening
+to one, giving an impulse in a certain direction that
+may last for years, may make no impression on another.
+People wonder why the children of the same family differ
+so widely, though they have had the same domestic
+discipline, the same school and church teaching, and
+have grown up under the same influences and with the
+same environments. As well wonder why lilies and
+lilacs in the same latitude are not all alike in color and
+equally fragrant. Children differ as widely as these in
+the primal elements of their physical and psychical
+life.</p>
+<p>Who can estimate the power of antenatal influences,
+or the child's surroundings in its earliest years, the
+effect of some passing word or sight on one, that makes
+no impression on another? The unhappiness of one
+child under a certain home discipline is not inconsistent
+with the content of another under this same discipline.
+One, yearning for broader freedom, is in a chronic condition
+of rebellion; the other, more easily satisfied,
+<a name="Page_2"></a>quietly accepts the situation. Everything is seen
+from
+a different standpoint; everything takes its color from
+the mind of the beholder.</p>
+<p>I am moved to recall what I can of my early days,
+what I thought and felt, that grown people may have a
+better understanding of children and do more for their
+happiness and development. I see so much tyranny
+exercised over children, even by well-disposed parents,
+and in so many varied forms,&#8212;a tyranny to which these
+parents are themselves insensible,&#8212;that I desire to paint
+my joys and sorrows in as vivid colors as possible, in the
+hope that I may do something to defend the weak from
+the strong. People never dream of all that is going
+on in the little heads of the young, for few adults are
+given to introspection, and those who are incapable of
+recalling their own feelings under restraint and disappointment
+can have no appreciation of the sufferings
+of children who can neither describe nor analyze what
+they feel. In defending themselves against injustice
+they are as helpless as dumb animals. What is insignificant
+to their elders is often to them a source of great
+joy or sorrow.</p>
+<p>With several generations of vigorous, enterprising
+ancestors behind me, I commenced the struggle of life
+under favorable circumstances on the 12th day of
+November, 1815, the same year that my father, Daniel
+Cady, a distinguished lawyer and judge in the State of
+New York, was elected to Congress. Perhaps the excitement
+of a political campaign, in which my mother
+took the deepest interest, may have had an influence on
+my prenatal life and given me the strong desire that
+I have always felt to participate in the rights and duties
+of government.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_3"></a>My father was a man of firm character and
+unimpeachable
+integrity, and yet sensitive and modest to a
+painful degree. There were but two places in which he
+felt at ease&#8212;in the courthouse and at his own fireside.
+Though gentle and tender, he had such a dignified repose
+and reserve of manner that, as children, we
+regarded him with fear rather than affection.</p>
+<p>My mother, Margaret Livingston, a tall, queenly
+looking woman, was courageous, self-reliant, and at her
+ease under all circumstances and in all places. She was
+the daughter of Colonel James Livingston, who took
+an active part in the War of the Revolution.</p>
+<p>Colonel Livingston was stationed at West Point
+when Arnold made the attempt to betray that stronghold
+into the hands of the enemy. In the absence of
+General Washington and his superior officer, he took
+the responsibility of firing into the <i>Vulture</i>, a suspicious
+looking British vessel that lay at anchor near the
+opposite bank of the Hudson River. It was a fatal shot
+for Andr&eacute;, the British spy, with whom Arnold was then
+consummating his treason. Hit between wind and
+water, the vessel spread her sails and hastened down the
+river, leaving Andr&eacute;, with his papers, to be captured
+while Arnold made his escape through the lines, before
+his treason was suspected.</p>
+<p>On General Washington's return to West Point, he
+sent for my grandfather and reprimanded him for acting
+in so important a matter without orders, thereby
+making himself liable to court-martial; but, after fully
+impressing the young officer with the danger of such
+self-sufficiency on ordinary occasions, he admitted that a
+most fortunate shot had been sent into the <i>Vulture</i>,
+"for," he said, "we are in no condition just now to de<a name="Page_4"></a>fend
+ourselves against the British forces in New York,
+and the capture of this spy has saved us."</p>
+<p>My mother had the military idea of government, but
+her children, like their grandfather, were disposed to
+assume the responsibility of their own actions; thus the
+ancestral traits in mother and children modified, in a
+measure, the dangerous tendencies in each.</p>
+<p>Our parents were as kind, indulgent, and considerate
+as the Puritan ideas of those days permitted, but fear,
+rather than love, of God and parents alike, predominated.
+Add to this our timidity in our intercourse with
+servants and teachers, our dread of the ever present
+devil, and the reader will see that, under such conditions,
+nothing but strong self-will and a good share
+of hope and mirthfulness could have saved an ordinary
+child from becoming a mere nullity.</p>
+<p>The first event engraved on my memory was the birth
+of a sister when I was four years old. It was a cold
+morning in January when the brawny Scotch nurse carried
+me to see the little stranger, whose advent was a
+matter of intense interest to me for many weeks after.
+The large, pleasant room with the white curtains and
+bright wood fire on the hearth, where panada, catnip,
+and all kinds of little messes which we were allowed to
+taste were kept warm, was the center of attraction for
+the older children. I heard so many friends remark,
+"What a pity it is she's a girl!" that I felt a kind of
+compassion for the little baby. True, our family consisted
+of five girls and only one boy, but I did not
+understand at that time that girls were considered an
+inferior order of beings.</p>
+<p>To form some idea of my surroundings at this time,
+imagine a two-story white frame house with a hall
+<a name="Page_5"></a>through the middle, rooms on either side, and a
+large
+back building with grounds on the side and rear, which
+joined the garden of our good Presbyterian minister,
+the Rev. Simon Hosack, of whom I shall have more to
+say in another chapter. Our favorite resorts in the
+house were the garret and cellar. In the former were
+barrels of hickory nuts, and, on a long shelf, large cakes
+of maple sugar and all kinds of dried herbs and sweet
+flag; spinning wheels, a number of small white cotton
+bags filled with bundles, marked in ink, "silk," "cotton,"
+"flannel," "calico," etc., as well as ancient masculine
+and feminine costumes. Here we would crack the
+nuts, nibble the sharp edges of the maple sugar, chew
+some favorite herb, play ball with the bags, whirl the old
+spinning wheels, dress up in our ancestors' clothes, and
+take a bird's-eye view of the surrounding country from
+an enticing scuttle hole. This was forbidden ground;
+but, nevertheless, we often went there on the sly, which
+only made the little escapades more enjoyable.</p>
+<p>The cellar of our house was filled, in winter, with
+barrels of apples, vegetables, salt meats, cider, butter,
+pounding barrels, washtubs, etc., offering admirable
+nooks for playing hide and seek. Two tallow candles
+threw a faint light over the scene on certain occasions.
+This cellar was on a level with a large kitchen where we
+played blind man's buff and other games when the day's
+work was done. These two rooms are the center of
+many of the merriest memories of my childhood days.</p>
+<p>I can recall three colored men, Abraham, Peter, and
+Jacob, who acted as menservants in our youth. In
+turn they would sometimes play on the banjo for us to
+dance, taking real enjoyment in our games. They are
+all at rest now with "Old Uncle Ned in the place where
+<a name="Page_6"></a>the good niggers go." Our nurses, Lockey Danford,
+Polly Bell, Mary Dunn, and Cornelia Nickeloy&#8212;peace
+to their ashes&#8212;were the only shadows on the gayety
+of these winter evenings; for their chief delight was to
+hurry us off to bed, that they might receive their beaux
+or make short calls in the neighborhood. My memory
+of them is mingled with no sentiment of gratitude or
+affection. In expressing their opinion of us in after
+years, they said we were a very troublesome, obstinate,
+disobedient set of children. I have no doubt we were
+in constant rebellion against their petty tyranny.
+Abraham, Peter, and Jacob viewed us in a different
+light, and I have the most pleasant recollections of their
+kind services.</p>
+<p>In the winter, outside the house, we had the snow
+with which to build statues and make forts, and huge
+piles of wood covered with ice, which we called the
+Alps, so difficult were they of ascent and descent.
+There we would climb up and down by the hour, if not
+interrupted, which, however, was generally the case. It
+always seemed to me that, in the height of our enthusiasm,
+we were invariably summoned to some
+disagreeable duty, which would appear to show that
+thus early I keenly enjoyed outdoor life. Theodore
+Tilton has thus described the place where I was born:
+"Birthplace is secondary parentage, and transmits
+character. Johnstown was more famous half a century
+ago than since; for then, though small, it was a marked
+intellectual center; and now, though large, it is an unmarked
+manufacturing town. Before the birth of
+Elizabeth Cady it was the vice-ducal seat of Sir William
+Johnson, the famous English negotiator with the
+Indians. During her girlhood it was an arena for the
+<a name="Page_7"></a>intellectual wrestlings of Kent, Tompkins,
+Spencer,
+Elisha Williams, and Abraham Van Vechten, who, as
+lawyers, were among the chiefest of their time. It is
+now devoted mainly to the fabrication of steel springs
+and buckskin gloves. So, like Wordsworth's early
+star, it has faded into the light of common day. But
+Johnstown retains one of its ancient splendors&#8212;a glory
+still fresh as at the foundation of the world. Standing
+on its hills, one looks off upon a country of enameled
+meadow lands, that melt away southward toward the
+Mohawk, and northward to the base of those grand
+mountains which are 'God's monument over the grave
+of John Brown.'"</p>
+<p>Harold Frederic's novel, "In the Valley," contains
+many descriptions of this region that are true to nature,
+as I remember the Mohawk Valley, for I first knew it
+not so many years after the scenes which he lays there.
+Before I was old enough to take in the glory of this
+scenery and its classic associations, Johnstown was to
+me a gloomy-looking town. The middle of the streets
+was paved with large cobblestones, over which the
+farmer's wagons rattled from morning till night, while
+the sidewalks were paved with very small cobblestones,
+over which we carefully picked our way, so that free and
+graceful walking was out of the question. The streets
+were lined with solemn poplar trees, from which small
+yellow worms were continually dangling down. Next
+to the Prince of Darkness, I feared these worms. They
+were harmless, but the sight of one made me tremble.
+So many people shared in this feeling that the poplars
+were all cut down and elms planted in their stead. The
+Johnstown academy and churches were large square
+buildings, painted white, surrounded by these same
+<a name="Page_8"></a>sombre poplars, each edifice having a doleful bell
+which
+seemed to be ever tolling for school, funerals, church,
+or prayer meetings. Next to the worms, those clanging
+bells filled me with the utmost dread; they seemed
+like so many warnings of an eternal future. Visions of
+the Inferno were strongly impressed on my childish
+imagination. It was thought, in those days, that firm
+faith in hell and the devil was the greatest help to virtue.
+It certainly made me very unhappy whenever my
+mind dwelt on such teachings, and I have always had
+my doubts of the virtue that is based on the fear of
+punishment.</p>
+<p>Perhaps I may be pardoned a word devoted to my
+appearance in those days. I have been told that I was
+a plump little girl, with very fair skin, rosy cheeks, good
+features, dark-brown hair, and laughing blue eyes. A
+student in my father's office, the late Henry Bayard of
+Delaware (an uncle of our recent Ambassador to the
+Court of St. James's, Thomas F. Bayard), told me one
+day, after conning my features carefully, that I had one
+defect which he could remedy. "Your eyebrows
+should be darker and heavier," said he, "and if you will
+let me shave them once or twice, you will be much improved."
+I consented, and, slight as my eyebrows
+were, they seemed to have had some expression, for the
+loss of them had a most singular effect on my appearance.
+Everybody, including even the operator, laughed
+at my odd-looking face, and I was in the depths of
+humiliation during the period while my eyebrows
+were growing out again. It is scarcely necessary for
+me to add that I never allowed the young man
+to repeat the experiment, although strongly urged to
+do so.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_9"></a>I cannot recall how or when I conquered the
+alphabet,
+words in three letters, the multiplication table, the
+points of the compass, the chicken pox, whooping
+cough, measles, and scarlet fever. All these unhappy
+incidents of childhood left but little impression on my
+mind. I have, however, most pleasant memories of the
+good spinster, Maria Yost, who patiently taught three
+generations of children the rudiments of the English
+language, and introduced us to the pictures in "Murray's
+Spelling-book," where Old Father Time, with his
+scythe, and the farmer stoning the boys in his apple
+trees, gave rise in my mind to many serious reflections.
+Miss Yost was plump and rosy, with fair hair, and had
+a merry twinkle in her blue eyes, and she took us by
+very easy stages through the old-fashioned school-books.
+The interesting Readers children now have
+were unknown sixty years ago. We did not reach the
+temple of knowledge by the flowery paths of ease in
+which our descendants now walk.</p>
+<p>I still have a perfect vision of myself and sisters, as
+we stood up in the classes, with our toes at the cracks
+in the floor, all dressed alike in bright red flannel, black
+alpaca aprons, and, around the neck, a starched ruffle
+that, through a lack of skill on the part of either the
+laundress or the nurse who sewed them in, proved a constant
+source of discomfort to us. I have since seen
+full-grown men, under slighter provocation than we
+endured, jerk off a collar, tear it in two, and throw it
+to the winds, chased by the most soul-harrowing expletives.
+But we were sternly rebuked for complaining,
+and if we ventured to introduce our little fingers
+between the delicate skin and the irritating linen, our
+hands were slapped and the ruffle readjusted a degree
+<a name="Page_10"></a>closer. Our Sunday dresses were relieved with a
+black
+sprig and white aprons. We had red cloaks, red hoods,
+red mittens, and red stockings. For one's self to be all
+in red six months of the year was bad enough, but to
+have this costume multiplied by three was indeed monotonous.
+I had such an aversion to that color that I
+used to rebel regularly at the beginning of each season
+when new dresses were purchased, until we finally
+passed into an exquisite shade of blue. No words
+could do justice to my dislike of those red dresses. My
+grandfather's detestation of the British redcoats must
+have descended to me. My childhood's antipathy to
+wearing red enabled me later to comprehend the feelings
+of a little niece, who hated everything pea green,
+because she had once heard the saying, "neat but not
+gaudy, as the devil said when he painted his tail pea
+green." So when a friend brought her a cravat of that
+color she threw it on the floor and burst into tears, saying,
+"I could not wear that, for it is the color of the
+devil's tail." I sympathized with the child and had it
+changed for the hue she liked. Although we cannot
+always understand the ground for children's preferences,
+it is often well to heed them.</p>
+<p>I am told that I was pensively looking out of the
+nursery window one day, when Mary Dunn, the Scotch
+nurse, who was something of a philosopher, and a stern
+Presbyterian, said: "Child, what are you thinking
+about; are you planning some new form of mischief?"
+"No, Mary," I replied, "I was wondering why it was
+that everything we like to do is a sin, and that everything
+we dislike is commanded by God or someone on
+earth. I am so tired of that everlasting no! no! no!
+At school, at home, everywhere it is <i>no</i>! Even at
+<a name="Page_11"></a>church all the commandments begin 'Thou shalt
+not.'
+I suppose God will say 'no' to all we like in the next
+world, just as you do here." Mary was dreadfully
+shocked at my dissatisfaction with the things of time
+and prospective eternity, and exhorted me to cultivate
+the virtues of obedience and humility.</p>
+<p>I well remember the despair I felt in those years, as I
+took in the whole situation, over the constant cribbing
+and crippling of a child's life. I suppose I found fit
+language in which to express my thoughts, for Mary
+Dunn told me, years after, how our discussion roused
+my sister Margaret, who was an attentive listener. I
+must have set forth our wrongs in clear, unmistakable
+terms; for Margaret exclaimed one day, "I tell you
+what to do. Hereafter let us act as we choose, without
+asking." "Then," said I, "we shall be punished."
+"Suppose we are," said she, "we shall have had our
+fun at any rate, and that is better than to mind the
+everlasting 'no' and not have any fun at all." Her
+logic seemed unanswerable, so together we gradually
+acted on her suggestions. Having less imagination
+than I, she took a common-sense view of life and suffered
+nothing from anticipation of troubles, while my
+sorrows were intensified fourfold by innumerable apprehensions
+of possible exigencies.</p>
+<p>Our nursery, a large room over a back building, had
+three barred windows reaching nearly to the floor.
+Two of these opened on a gently slanting roof over a
+veranda. In our night robes, on warm summer evenings
+we could, by dint of skillful twisting and compressing,
+get out between the bars, and there, snugly braced
+against the house, we would sit and enjoy the moon
+and stars and what sounds might reach us from the
+<a name="Page_12"></a>streets, while the nurse, gossiping at the back
+door,
+imagined we were safely asleep.</p>
+<p>I have a confused memory of being often under
+punishment for what, in those days, were called "tantrums."
+I suppose they were really justifiable acts of
+rebellion against the tyranny of those in authority. I
+have often listened since, with real satisfaction, to what
+some of our friends had to say of the high-handed manner
+in which sister Margaret and I defied all the transient
+orders and strict rules laid down for our guidance.
+If we had observed them we might as well have been
+embalmed as mummies, for all the pleasure and freedom
+we should have had in our childhood. As very little
+was then done for the amusement of children, happy
+were those who <i>conscientiously</i> took the liberty of amusing
+themselves.</p>
+<p>One charming feature of our village was a stream of
+water, called the Cayadutta, which ran through the
+north end, in which it was our delight to walk on the
+broad slate stones when the water was low, in order to
+pick up pretty pebbles. These joys were also forbidden,
+though indulged in as opportunity afforded, especially
+as sister Margaret's philosophy was found to work
+successfully and we had finally risen above our infantile
+fear of punishment.</p>
+<p>Much of my freedom at this time was due to this
+sister, who afterward became the wife of Colonel Duncan
+McMartin of Iowa. I can see her now, hat in hand,
+her long curls flying in the wind, her nose slightly retrouss&eacute;,
+her large dark eyes flashing with glee, and her
+small straight mouth so expressive of determination.
+Though two years my junior, she was larger and
+stronger than I and more fearless and self-reliant. She
+<a name="Page_13"></a>was always ready to start when any pleasure
+offered,
+and, if I hesitated, she would give me a jerk and say,
+emphatically: "Oh, come along!" and away we went.</p>
+<p>About this time we entered the Johnstown Academy,
+where we made the acquaintance of the daughters of
+the hotel keeper and the county sheriff. They were a
+few years my senior, but, as I was ahead of them in all
+my studies, the difference of age was somewhat equalized
+and we became fast friends. This acquaintance
+opened to us two new sources of enjoyment&#8212;the freedom
+of the hotel during "court week" (a great event
+in village life) and the exploration of the county jail.
+Our Scotch nurse had told us so many thrilling tales of
+castles, prisons, and dungeons in the Old World that, to
+see the great keys and iron doors, the handcuffs and
+chains, and the prisoners in their cells seemed like a
+veritable visit to Mary's native land. We made frequent
+visits to the jail and became deeply concerned
+about the fate of the prisoners, who were greatly pleased
+with our expressions of sympathy and our gifts of cake
+and candy. In time we became interested in the trials
+and sentences of prisoners, and would go to the courthouse
+and listen to the proceedings. Sometimes we
+would slip into the hotel where the judges and lawyers
+dined, and help our little friend wait on table. The
+rushing of servants to and fro, the calling of guests, the
+scolding of servants in the kitchen, the banging of
+doors, the general hubbub, the noise and clatter, were
+all idealized by me into one of those royal festivals Mary
+so often described. To be allowed to carry plates of
+bread and butter, pie and cheese I counted a high privilege.
+But more especially I enjoyed listening to the
+conversations in regard to the probable fate of
+<a name="Page_14"></a>our friends the prisoners in the jail. On one
+occasion
+I projected a few remarks into a conversation
+between two lawyers, when one of them turned
+abruptly to me and said, "Child, you'd better attend
+to your business; bring me a glass of water." I
+replied indignantly, "I am not a servant; I am here for
+fun."</p>
+<p>In all these escapades we were followed by Peter,
+black as coal and six feet in height. It seems to me now
+that his chief business was to discover our whereabouts,
+get us home to dinner, and take us back to school.
+Fortunately he was overflowing with curiosity and not
+averse to lingering a while where anything of interest
+was to be seen or heard, and, as we were deemed perfectly
+safe under his care, no questions were asked when
+we got to the house, if we had been with him. He had
+a long head and, through his diplomacy, we escaped
+much disagreeable surveillance. Peter was very fond of
+attending court. All the lawyers knew him, and wherever
+Peter went, the three little girls in his charge went,
+too. Thus, with constant visits to the jail, courthouse,
+and my father's office, I gleaned some idea of the danger
+of violating the law.</p>
+<p>The great events of the year were the Christmas
+holidays, the Fourth of July, and "general training,"
+as the review of the county militia was then called.
+The winter gala days are associated, in my memory,
+with hanging up stockings and with turkeys, mince
+pies, sweet cider, and sleighrides by moonlight. My
+earliest recollections of those happy days, when schools
+were closed, books laid aside, and unusual liberties
+allowed, center in that large cellar kitchen to which I
+have already referred. There we spent many winter
+<a name="Page_15"></a>evenings in uninterrupted enjoyment. A large
+fireplace
+with huge logs shed warmth and cheerfulness
+around. In one corner sat Peter sawing his violin,
+while our youthful neighbors danced with us and played
+blindman's buff almost every evening during the vacation.
+The most interesting character in this game was
+a black boy called Jacob (Peter's lieutenant), who made
+things lively for us by always keeping one eye open&#8212;a
+wise precaution to guard himself from danger, and to
+keep us on the jump. Hickory nuts, sweet cider, and
+<i>olie-koeks</i> (a Dutch name for a fried cake with raisins inside)
+were our refreshments when there came a lull in
+the fun.</p>
+<p>As St. Nicholas was supposed to come down the
+chimney, our stockings were pinned on a broomstick,
+laid across two chairs in front of the fireplace. We
+retired on Christmas Eve with the most pleasing anticipations
+of what would be in our stockings next morning.
+The thermometer in that latitude was often
+twenty degrees below zero, yet, bright and early, we
+would run downstairs in our bare feet over the cold
+floors to carry stockings, broom, etc., to the nursery.
+The gorgeous presents that St. Nicholas now distributes
+show that he, too, has been growing up with the
+country. The boys and girls of 1897 will laugh when
+they hear of the contents of our stockings in 1823.
+There was a little paper of candy, one of raisins, another,
+of nuts, a red apple, an <i>olie-koek</i>, and a bright silver
+quarter of a dollar in the toe. If a child had been
+guilty of any erratic performances during the year,
+which was often my case, a long stick would protrude
+from the stocking; if particularly good, an illustrated
+catechism or the New Testament would appear, show<a name="Page_16"></a>ing
+that the St. Nicholas of that time held decided views
+on discipline and ethics.</p>
+<p>During the day we would take a drive over the snow-clad
+hills and valleys in a long red lumber sleigh. All
+the children it could hold made the forests echo with
+their songs and laughter. The sleigh bells and Peter's
+fine tenor voice added to the chorus seemed to chant,
+as we passed, "Merry Christmas" to the farmers'
+children and to all we met on the highway.</p>
+<p>Returning home, we were allowed, as a great Christmas
+treat, to watch all Peter's preparations for dinner.
+Attired in a white apron and turban, holding in
+his hand a tin candlestick the size of a dinner
+plate, containing a tallow candle, with stately step
+he marched into the spacious cellar, with Jacob
+and three little girls dressed in red flannel at his
+heels. As the farmers paid the interest on their mortgages
+in barrels of pork, headcheese, poultry, eggs,
+and cider, the cellars were well crowded for the
+winter, making the master of an establishment quite
+indifferent to all questions of finance. We heard
+nothing in those days of greenbacks, silver coinage, or
+a gold basis. Laden with vegetables, butter, eggs, and
+a magnificent turkey, Peter and his followers returned
+to the kitchen. There, seated on a big ironing table,
+we watched the dressing and roasting of the bird in a
+tin oven in front of the fire. Jacob peeled the vegetables,
+we all sang, and Peter told us marvelous stories.
+For tea he made flapjacks, baked in a pan with a long
+handle, which he turned by throwing the cake up and
+skillfully catching it descending.</p>
+<p>Peter was a devout Episcopalian and took great
+pleasure in helping the young people decorate the
+<a name="Page_17"></a>church. He would take us with him and show us
+how to make evergreen wreaths. Like Mary's lamb,
+where'er he went we were sure to go. His love for us
+was unbounded and fully returned. He was the only
+being, visible or invisible, of whom we had no fear. We
+would go to divine service with Peter, Christmas morning
+and sit with him by the door, in what was called
+"the negro pew." He was the only colored member of
+the church and, after all the other communicants had
+taken the sacrament, he went alone to the altar.
+Dressed in a new suit of blue with gilt buttons, he
+looked like a prince, as, with head erect, he walked up
+the aisle, the grandest specimen of manhood in the
+whole congregation; and yet so strong was prejudice
+against color in 1823 that no one would kneel beside
+him. On leaving us, on one of these occasions, Peter
+told us all to sit still until he returned; but, no sooner
+had he started, than the youngest of us slowly followed
+after him and seated herself close beside him. As he
+came back, holding the child by the hand, what a lesson
+it must have been to that prejudiced congregation!
+The first time we entered the church together the sexton
+opened a white man's pew for us, telling Peter to
+leave the Judge's children there. "Oh," he said, "they
+will not stay there without me." But, as he could not
+enter, we instinctively followed him to the negro pew.</p>
+<p>Our next great f&ecirc;te was on the anniversary of the
+birthday of our Republic. The festivities were numerous
+and protracted, beginning then, as now, at midnight
+with bonfires and cannon; while the day was
+ushered in with the ringing of bells, tremendous cannonading,
+and a continuous popping of fire-crackers and
+torpedoes. Then a procession of soldiers and citizens
+<a name="Page_18"></a>marched through the town, an oration was
+delivered,
+the Declaration of Independence read, and a great dinner
+given in the open air under the trees in the grounds
+of the old courthouse. Each toast was announced with
+the booming of cannon. On these occasions Peter
+was in his element, and showed us whatever he considered
+worth seeing; but I cannot say that I enjoyed
+very much either "general training" or the Fourth of
+July, for, in addition to my fear of cannon and torpedoes,
+my sympathies were deeply touched by the sadness
+of our cook, whose drunken father always cut antics
+in the streets on gala days, the central figure in all
+the sports of the boys, much to the mortification of his
+worthy daughter. She wept bitterly over her father's
+public exhibition of himself, and told me in what a condition
+he would come home to his family at night. I
+would gladly have stayed in with her all day, but the fear
+of being called a coward compelled me to go through
+those trying ordeals. As my nerves were all on the
+surface, no words can describe what I suffered with
+those explosions, great and small, and my fears lest
+King George and his minions should reappear among
+us. I thought that, if he had done all the dreadful
+things stated in the Declaration of '76, he might come
+again, burn our houses, and drive us all into the street.
+Sir William Johnson's mansion of solid masonry,
+gloomy and threatening, still stood in our neighborhood.
+I had seen the marks of the Indian's tomahawk
+on the balustrades and heard of the bloody
+deeds there enacted. For all the calamities of the
+nation I believed King George responsible. At home
+and at school we were educated to hate the English.
+When we remember that, every Fourth of July, the
+Declaration was read with emphasis, and the orator of
+<a name="Page_19"></a>the day rounded all his glowing periods with
+denunciations
+of the mother country, we need not wonder at
+the national hatred of everything English. Our patriotism
+in those early days was measured by our dislike
+of Great Britain.</p>
+<p>In September occurred the great event, the review
+of the county militia, popularly called "Training Day."
+Then everybody went to the race course to see the
+troops and buy what the farmers had brought in
+their wagons. There was a peculiar kind of gingerbread
+and molasses candy to which we were treated on
+those occasions, associated in my mind to this day with
+military reviews and standing armies.</p>
+<p>Other pleasures were, roaming in the forests and sailing
+on the mill pond. One day, when there were no
+boys at hand and several girls were impatiently waiting
+for a sail on a raft, my sister and I volunteered to man
+the expedition. We always acted on the assumption
+that what we had seen done, we could do. Accordingly
+we all jumped on the raft, loosened it from its
+moorings, and away we went with the current. Navigation
+on that mill pond was performed with long
+poles, but, unfortunately, we could not lift the poles,
+and we soon saw we were drifting toward the dam.
+But we had the presence of mind to sit down and hold
+fast to the raft. Fortunately, we went over right side
+up and gracefully glided down the stream, until rescued
+by the ever watchful Peter. I did not hear the
+last of that voyage for a long time. I was called the
+captain of the expedition, and one of the boys wrote a
+composition, which he read in school, describing the
+adventure and emphasizing the ignorance of the laws of
+navigation shown by the officers in command. I shed
+tears many times over that performance.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_20"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<h2>SCHOOL DAYS.</h2>
+<p>When I was eleven years old, two events occurred
+which changed considerably the current of my life. My
+only brother, who had just graduated from Union College,
+came home to die. A young man of great talent
+and promise, he was the pride of my father's heart. We
+early felt that this son filled a larger place in our father's
+affections and future plans than the five daughters together.
+Well do I remember how tenderly he watched
+my brother in his last illness, the sighs and tears he gave
+vent to as he slowly walked up and down the hall, and,
+when the last sad moment came, and we were all assembled
+to say farewell in the silent chamber of death, how
+broken were his utterances as he knelt and prayed for
+comfort and support. I still recall, too, going into the
+large darkened parlor to see my brother, and finding the
+casket, mirrors, and pictures all draped in white, and
+my father seated by his side, pale and immovable.
+As he took no notice of me, after standing a long while,
+I climbed upon his knee, when he mechanically put his
+arm about me and, with my head resting against his
+beating heart, we both sat in silence, he thinking of the
+wreck of all his hopes in the loss of a dear son, and I
+wondering what could be said or done to fill the void
+in his breast. At length he heaved a deep sigh and
+said: "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!"
+<a name="Page_21"></a>Throwing my arms about his neck, I replied: "I
+will
+try to be all my brother was."</p>
+<div style="text-align: left;"><br>
+</div>
+<br>
+<table style="text-align: left; width: 100%;" border="0" cellspacing="2"
+ cellpadding="2">
+  <tbody>
+    <tr>
+      <td style="vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a name="img002"></a><img
+ title="MARGARET LIVINGSTON CADY." style="width: 400px; height: 655px;"
+ alt="MARGARET LIVINGSTON CADY." src="image/002.jpg"><br>
+      </td>
+      <td style="vertical-align: top;"><a name="img003"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 625px;" alt="JUDGE DANIEL CADY."
+ title="JUDGE DANIEL CADY." src="image/003.jpg"><br>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </tbody>
+</table>
+<br>
+<p>Then and there I resolved that I would not give so
+much time as heretofore to play, but would study and
+strive to be at the head of all my classes and thus delight
+my father's heart. All that day and far into the
+night I pondered the problem of boyhood. I thought
+that the chief thing to be done in order to equal boys
+was to be learned and courageous. So I decided to
+study Greek and learn to manage a horse. Having
+formed this conclusion I fell asleep. My resolutions,
+unlike many such made at night, did not vanish with
+the coming light. I arose early and hastened to put
+them into execution. They were resolutions never to
+be forgotten&#8212;destined to mold my character anew.
+As soon as I was dressed I hastened to our good pastor,
+Rev. Simon Hosack, who was always early at work in
+his garden.</p>
+<p>"Doctor," said I, "which do you like best, boys or
+girls?"</p>
+<p>"Why, girls, to be sure; I would not give you for
+all the boys in Christendom."</p>
+<p>"My father," I replied, "prefers boys; he wishes I
+was one, and I intend to be as near like one as possible.
+I am going to ride on horseback and study Greek. Will
+you give me a Greek lesson now, doctor? I want to
+begin at once."</p>
+<p>"Yes, child," said he, throwing down his hoe, "come
+into my library and we will begin without delay."</p>
+<p>He entered fully into the feeling of suffering and sorrow
+which took possession of me when I discovered
+that a girl weighed less in the scale of being than a boy,
+and he praised my determination to prove the con<a name="Page_22"></a>trary.
+The old grammar which he had studied in the
+University of Glasgow was soon in my hands, and the
+Greek article was learned before breakfast.</p>
+<p>Then came the sad pageantry of death, the weeping
+of friends, the dark rooms, the ghostly stillness, the
+exhortation to the living to prepare for death, the
+solemn prayer, the mournful chant, the funeral cort&egrave;ge,
+the solemn, tolling bell, the burial. How I suffered during
+those sad days! What strange undefined fears of
+the unknown took possession of me! For months
+afterward, at the twilight hour, I went with my father
+to the new-made grave. Near it stood two tall poplar
+trees, against one of which I leaned, while my father
+threw himself on the grave, with outstretched arms, as
+if to embrace his child. At last the frosts and storms of
+November came and threw a chilling barrier between
+the living and the dead, and we went there no more.</p>
+<p>During all this time I kept up my lessons at the parsonage
+and made rapid progress. I surprised even my
+teacher, who thought me capable of doing anything. I
+learned to drive, and to leap a fence and ditch on horseback.
+I taxed every power, hoping some day to hear
+my father say: "Well, a girl is as good as a boy, after
+all." But he never said it. When the doctor came
+over to spend the evening with us, I would whisper in
+his ear: "Tell my father how fast I get on," and he
+would tell him, and was lavish in his praises. But my
+father only paced the room, sighed, and showed that
+he wished I were a boy; and I, not knowing why he
+felt thus, would hide my tears of vexation on the doctor's
+shoulder.</p>
+<p>Soon after this I began to study Latin, Greek, and
+mathematics with a class of boys in the Academy, many
+<a name="Page_23"></a>of whom were much older than I. For three years
+one boy kept his place at the head of the class, and I
+always stood next. Two prizes were offered in Greek.
+I strove for one and took the second. How well I remember
+my joy in receiving that prize. There was no
+sentiment of ambition, rivalry, or triumph over my companions,
+nor feeling of satisfaction in receiving this
+honor in the presence of those assembled on the day of
+the exhibition. One thought alone filled my mind.
+"Now," said I, "my father will be satisfied with me."
+So, as soon as we were dismissed, I ran down the hill,
+rushed breathless into his office, laid the new Greek
+Testament, which was my prize, on his table and exclaimed:
+"There, I got it!" He took up the book,
+asked me some questions about the class, the teachers,
+the spectators, and, evidently pleased, handed it back
+to me. Then, while I stood looking and waiting for
+him to say something which would show that he recognized
+the equality of the daughter with the son, he
+kissed me on the forehead and exclaimed, with a sigh,
+"Ah, you should have been a boy!"</p>
+<p>My joy was turned to sadness. I ran to my good
+doctor. He chased my bitter tears away, and soothed
+me with unbounded praises and visions of future success.
+He was then confined to the house with his last
+illness. He asked me that day if I would like to have,
+when he was gone, the old lexicon, Testament, and
+grammar that we had so often thumbed together.
+"Yes, but I would rather have you stay," I replied, "for
+what can I do when you are gone?" "Oh," said he
+tenderly, "I shall not be gone; my spirit will still be
+with you, watching you in all life's struggles." Noble,
+generous friend! He had but little on earth to be<a name="Page_24"></a>queath
+to anyone, but when the last scene in his life
+was ended, and his will was opened, sure enough there
+was a clause saying: "My Greek lexicon, Testament, and
+grammar, and four volumes of Scott's commentaries,
+I will to Elizabeth Cady." I never look at these books
+without a feeling of thankfulness that in childhood I
+was blessed with such a friend and teacher.</p>
+<p>I can truly say, after an experience of seventy years,
+that all the cares and anxieties, the trials and disappointments
+of my whole life, are light, when balanced
+with my sufferings in childhood and youth from the
+theological dogmas which I sincerely believed, and
+the gloom connected with everything associated with
+the name of religion, the church, the parsonage, the
+graveyard, and the solemn, tolling bell. Everything
+connected with death was then rendered inexpressibly
+dolorous. The body, covered with a black pall, was
+borne on the shoulders of men; the mourners were in
+crape and walked with bowed heads, while the neighbors
+who had tears to shed, did so copiously and summoned
+up their saddest facial expressions. At the
+grave came the sober warnings to the living and sometimes
+frightful prophesies as to the state of the dead.
+All this pageantry of woe and visions of the unknown
+land beyond the tomb, often haunted my midnight
+dreams and shadowed the sunshine of my days. The
+parsonage, with its bare walls and floors, its shriveled
+mistress and her blind sister, more like ghostly shadows
+than human flesh and blood; the two black servants,
+racked with rheumatism and odoriferous with a pungent
+oil they used in the vain hope of making their
+weary limbs more supple; the aged parson buried in his
+library in the midst of musty books and papers&#8212;all this
+<a name="Page_25"></a>only added to the gloom of my surroundings. The
+church, which was bare, with no furnace to warm us,
+no organ to gladden our hearts, no choir to lead our
+songs of praise in harmony, was sadly lacking in all attractions
+for the youthful mind. The preacher, shut up
+in an octagonal box high above our heads, gave us sermons
+over an hour long, and the chorister, in a similar
+box below him, intoned line after line of David's Psalms,
+while, like a flock of sheep at the heels of their shepherd,
+the congregation, without regard to time or tune,
+straggled after their leader.</p>
+<p>Years later, the introduction of stoves, a violoncello,
+Wesley's hymns, and a choir split the church in twain.
+These old Scotch Presbyterians were opposed to all
+innovations that would afford their people paths of
+flowery ease on the road to Heaven. So, when the
+thermometer was twenty degrees below zero on the
+Johnstown Hills, four hundred feet above the Mohawk
+Valley, we trudged along through the snow, foot-stoves
+in hand, to the cold hospitalities of the "Lord's House,"
+there to be chilled to the very core by listening to sermons
+on "predestination," "justification by faith," and
+"eternal damnation."</p>
+<p>To be restless, or to fall asleep under such solemn circumstances
+was a sure evidence of total depravity, and
+of the machinations of the devil striving to turn one's
+heart from God and his ordinances. As I was guilty
+of these shortcomings and many more, I early believed
+myself a veritable child of the Evil One, and
+suffered endless fears lest he should come some night
+and claim me as his own. To me he was a personal,
+ever-present reality, crouching in a dark corner of the
+nursery. Ah! how many times I have stolen out of
+<a name="Page_26"></a>bed, and sat shivering on the stairs, where the
+hall lamp
+and the sound of voices from the parlor would, in a
+measure, mitigate my terror. Thanks to a vigorous
+constitution and overflowing animal spirits, I was able
+to endure for years the strain of these depressing influences,
+until my reasoning powers and common sense
+triumphed at last over my imagination. The memory
+of my own suffering has prevented me from ever
+shadowing one young soul with any of the superstitions
+of the Christian religion. But there have been
+many changes, even in my native town, since those
+dark days. Our old church was turned into a mitten
+factory, and the pleasant hum of machinery and the glad
+faces of men and women have chased the evil spirits to
+their hiding places. One finds at Johnstown now, beautiful
+churches, ornamented cemeteries, and cheerful
+men and women, quite emancipated from the nonsense
+and terrors of the old theologies.</p>
+<p>An important event in our family circle was the marriage
+of my oldest sister, Tryphena, to Edward Bayard
+of Wilmington, Delaware. He was a graduate of
+Union College, a classmate of my brother, and frequently
+visited at my father's house. At the end of
+his college course, he came with his brother Henry to
+study law in Johnstown. A quiet, retired little village
+was thought to be a good place in which to sequester
+young men bent on completing their education, as they
+were there safe from the temptations and distracting
+influences of large cities. In addition to this consideration,
+my father's reputation made his office a desirable
+resort for students, who, furthermore, not only
+improved their opportunities by reading Blackstone,
+Kent, and Story, but also by making love to the Judge's
+<a name="Page_27"></a>daughters. We thus had the advantage of many
+pleasant
+acquaintances from the leading families in the country,
+and, in this way, it was that four of the sisters
+eventually selected most worthy husbands.</p>
+<p>Though only twenty-one years of age when married,
+Edward Bayard was a tall, fully developed man,
+remarkably fine looking, with cultivated literary taste
+and a profound knowledge of human nature. Warm
+and affectionate, generous to a fault in giving and serving,
+he was soon a great favorite in the family, and
+gradually filled the void made in all our hearts by the
+loss of the brother and son.</p>
+<p>My father was so fully occupied with the duties of
+his profession, which often called him from home, and
+my mother so weary with the cares of a large family,
+having had ten children, though only five survived at
+this time, that they were quite willing to shift their burdens
+to younger shoulders. Our eldest sister and her
+husband, therefore, soon became our counselors and
+advisers. They selected our clothing, books, schools,
+acquaintances, and directed our reading and amusements.
+Thus the reins of domestic government, little
+by little, passed into their hands, and the family arrangements
+were in a manner greatly improved in favor of
+greater liberty for the children.</p>
+<p>The advent of Edward and Henry Bayard was an inestimable
+blessing to us. With them came an era of
+picnics, birthday parties, and endless amusements; the
+buying of pictures, fairy books, musical instruments
+and ponies, and frequent excursions with parties on
+horseback. Fresh from college, they made our lessons
+in Latin, Greek, and mathematics so easy that we
+studied with real pleasure and had more leisure for play.
+<a name="Page_28"></a>Henry Bayard's chief pleasures were walking,
+riding,
+and playing all manner of games, from jack-straws to
+chess, with the three younger sisters, and we have often
+said that the three years he passed in Johnstown were
+the most delightful of our girlhood.</p>
+<p>Immediately after the death of my brother, a journey
+was planned to visit our grandmother Cady, who lived
+in Canaan, Columbia County, about twenty miles from
+Albany. My two younger sisters and myself had never
+been outside of our own county before, and the very
+thought of a journey roused our enthusiasm to the
+highest pitch. On a bright day in September we
+started, packed in two carriages. We were wild with
+delight as we drove down the Mohawk Valley, with its
+beautiful river and its many bridges and ferryboats.
+When we reached Schenectady, the first city we had ever
+seen, we stopped to dine at the old Given's Hotel, where
+we broke loose from all the moorings of propriety on
+beholding the paper on the dining-room wall, illustrating
+in brilliant colors the great events in sacred history.
+There were the Patriarchs, with flowing beards and in
+gorgeous attire; Abraham, offering up Isaac; Joseph,
+with his coat of many colors, thrown into a pit by his
+brethren; Noah's ark on an ocean of waters; Pharaoh
+and his host in the Red Sea; Rebecca at the well, and
+Moses in the bulrushes. All these distinguished personages
+were familiar to us, and to see them here for
+the first time in living colors, made silence and
+eating impossible. We dashed around the room,
+calling to each other: "Oh, Kate, look here!" "Oh,
+Madge, look there!" "See little Moses!" "See the
+angels on Jacob's ladder!" Our exclamations could
+not be kept within bounds. The guests were amused
+<a name="Page_29"></a>beyond description, while my mother and elder
+sisters
+were equally mortified; but Mr. Bayard, who appreciated
+our childish surprise and delight, smiled and said:
+"I'll take them around and show them the pictures,
+and then they will be able to dine," which we finally
+did.</p>
+<p>On our way to Albany we were forced to listen to no
+end of dissertations on manners, and severe criticisms on
+our behavior at the hotel, but we were too happy and
+astonished with all we saw to take a subjective view of
+ourselves. Even Peter in his new livery, who had not
+seen much more than we had, while looking out of the
+corners of his eyes, maintained a quiet dignity and conjured
+us "not to act as if we had just come out of the
+woods and had never seen anything before." However,
+there are conditions in the child soul in which repression
+is impossible, when the mind takes in nothing
+but its own enjoyment, and when even the sense of
+hearing is lost in that of sight. The whole party awoke
+to that fact at last. Children are not actors. We
+never had experienced anything like this journey, and
+how could we help being surprised and delighted?</p>
+<p>When we drove into Albany, the first large city we
+had ever visited, we exclaimed, "Why, it's general
+training, here!" We had acquired our ideas of
+crowds from our country militia reviews. Fortunately,
+there was no pictorial wall paper in the old City
+Hotel. But the decree had gone forth that, on the remainder
+of the journey, our meals would be served in a
+private room, with Peter to wait on us. This seemed
+like going back to the nursery days and was very humiliating.
+But eating, even there, was difficult, as we
+could hear the band from the old museum, and, as our
+<a name="Page_30"></a>windows opened on the street, the continual
+panorama
+of people and carriages passing by was quite as enticing
+as the Bible scenes in Schenectady. In the evening we
+walked around to see the city lighted, to look into the
+shop windows, and to visit the museum. The next
+morning we started for Canaan, our enthusiasm still
+unabated, though strong hopes were expressed that we
+would be toned down with the fatigues of the first day's
+journey.</p>
+<p>The large farm with its cattle, sheep, hens, ducks,
+turkeys, and geese; its creamery, looms, and spinning
+wheel; its fruits and vegetables; the drives among the
+grand old hills; the blessed old grandmother, and the
+many aunts, uncles, and cousins to kiss, all this kept
+us still in a whirlpool of excitement. Our joy bubbled
+over of itself; it was beyond our control. After spending
+a delightful week at Canaan, we departed, with an
+addition to our party, much to Peter's disgust, of a
+bright, coal-black boy of fifteen summers. Peter kept
+grumbling that he had children enough to look after
+already, but, as the boy was handsome and intelligent,
+could read, write, play on the jewsharp and banjo, sing,
+dance, and stand on his head, we were charmed with
+this new-found treasure, who proved later to be a great
+family blessing. We were less vivacious on the return
+trip. Whether this was due to Peter's untiring efforts
+to keep us within bounds, or whether the novelty of
+the journey was in a measure gone, it is difficult to determine,
+but we evidently were not so buoyant and
+were duly complimented on our good behavior.</p>
+<p>When we reached home and told our village companions
+what we had seen in our extensive travels (just
+seventy miles from home) they were filled with wonder,
+<a name="Page_31"></a>and we became heroines in their estimation. After
+this
+we took frequent journeys to Saratoga, the Northern
+Lakes, Utica, and Peterboro, but were never again so
+entirely swept from our feet as with the biblical illustrations
+in the dining room of the old Given's Hotel.</p>
+<p>As my father's office joined the house, I spent there
+much of my time, when out of school, listening to the
+clients stating their cases, talking with the students,
+and reading the laws in regard to woman. In our
+Scotch neighborhood many men still retained the old
+feudal ideas of women and property. Fathers, at their
+death, would will the bulk of their property to the eldest
+son, with the proviso that the mother was to have a
+home with him. Hence it was not unusual for the
+mother, who had brought all the property into the
+family, to be made an unhappy dependent on the bounty
+of an uncongenial daughter-in-law and a dissipated son.
+The tears and complaints of the women who came to my
+father for legal advice touched my heart and early drew
+my attention to the injustice and cruelty of the laws.
+As the practice of the law was my father's business, I
+could not exactly understand why he could not alleviate
+the sufferings of these women. So, in order to
+enlighten me, he would take down his books and show
+me the inexorable statutes. The students, observing
+my interest, would amuse themselves by reading to me
+all the worst laws they could find, over which I would
+laugh and cry by turns. One Christmas morning I
+went into the office to show them, among other of my
+presents, a new coral necklace and bracelets. They all
+admired the jewelry and then began to tease me with
+hypothetical cases of future ownership. "Now," said
+Henry Bayard, "if in due time you should be my wife,
+<a name="Page_32"></a>those ornaments would be mine; I could take them
+and
+lock them up, and you could never wear them except
+with my permission. I could even exchange them for
+a box of cigars, and you could watch them evaporate
+in smoke."</p>
+<p>With this constant bantering from students and the
+sad complaints of the women, my mind was sorely perplexed.
+So when, from time to time, my attention was
+called to these odious laws, I would mark them with a
+pencil, and becoming more and more convinced of the
+necessity of taking some active measures against these
+unjust provisions, I resolved to seize the first opportunity,
+when alone in the office, to cut every one of
+them out of the books; supposing my father and his
+library were the beginning and the end of the law.
+However, this mutilation of his volumes was never accomplished,
+for dear old Flora Campbell, to whom I
+confided my plan for the amelioration of the wrongs of
+my unhappy sex, warned my father of what I proposed
+to do. Without letting me know that he had discovered
+my secret, he explained to me one evening how
+laws were made, the large number of lawyers and libraries
+there were all over the State, and that if his library
+should burn up it would make no difference in woman's
+condition. "When you are grown up, and able to prepare
+a speech," said he, "you must go down to Albany
+and talk to the legislators; tell them all you have seen
+in this office&#8212;the sufferings of these Scotchwomen,
+robbed of their inheritance and left dependent on their
+unworthy sons, and, if you can persuade them to pass
+new laws, the old ones will be a dead letter." Thus
+was the future object of my life foreshadowed and
+my duty plainly outlined by him who was most op<a name="Page_33"></a>posed
+to my public career when, in due time, I entered
+upon it.</p>
+<p>Until I was sixteen years old, I was a faithful student
+in the Johnstown Academy with a class of boys.
+Though I was the only girl in the higher classes of
+mathematics and the languages, yet, in our plays, all the
+girls and boys mingled freely together. In running
+races, sliding downhill, and snowballing, we made no distinction
+of sex. True, the boys would carry the school
+books and pull the sleighs up hill for their favorite
+girls, but equality was the general basis of our school
+relations. I dare say the boys did not make their snowballs
+quite so hard when pelting the girls, nor wash
+their faces with the same vehemence as they did each
+other's, but there was no public evidence of partiality.
+However, if any boy was too rough or took advantage
+of a girl smaller than himself, he was promptly thrashed
+by his fellows. There was an unwritten law and public
+sentiment in that little Academy world that enabled us
+to study and play together with the greatest freedom
+and harmony.</p>
+<p>From the academy the boys of my class went to
+Union College at Schenectady. When those with
+whom I had studied and contended for prizes for five
+years came to bid me good-by, and I learned of the barrier
+that prevented me from following in their footsteps&#8212;"no
+girls admitted here"&#8212;my vexation and mortification
+knew no bounds. I remember, now, how proud
+and handsome the boys looked in their new clothes, as
+they jumped into the old stage coach and drove off,
+and how lonely I felt when they were gone and I had
+nothing to do, for the plans for my future were yet undetermined.
+Again I felt more keenly than ever the
+<a name="Page_34"></a>humiliation of the distinctions made on the
+ground of
+sex.</p>
+<p>My time was now occupied with riding on horseback,
+studying the game of chess, and continually squabbling
+with the law students over the rights of women.
+Something was always coming up in the experiences of
+everyday life, or in the books we were reading, to give us
+fresh topics for argument. They would read passages
+from the British classics quite as aggravating as the laws.
+They delighted in extracts from Shakespeare, especially
+from "The Taming of the Shrew," an admirable
+satire in itself on the old common law of England. I
+hated Petruchio as if he were a real man. Young Bayard
+would recite with unction the famous reply of
+Milton's ideal woman to Adam: "God thy law, thou
+mine." The Bible, too, was brought into requisition.
+In fact it seemed to me that every book taught the
+"divinely ordained" headship of man; but my mind
+never yielded to this popular heresy.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_35"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<h2>GIRLHOOD.</h2>
+<p>Mrs. Willard's Seminary at Troy was the fashionable
+school in my girlhood, and in the winter of 1830,
+with upward of a hundred other girls, I found myself
+an active participant in all the joys and sorrows of that
+institution. When in family council it was decided to
+send me to that intellectual Mecca, I did not receive
+the announcement with unmixed satisfaction, as I had
+fixed my mind on Union College. The thought of a
+school without boys, who had been to me such a stimulus
+both in study and play, seemed to my imagination
+dreary and profitless.</p>
+<p>The one remarkable feature of my journey to Troy
+was the railroad from Schenectady to Albany, the first
+ever laid in this country. The manner of ascending a
+high hill going out of the city would now strike engineers
+as stupid to the last degree. The passenger cars
+were pulled up by a train, loaded with stones, descending
+the hill. The more rational way of tunneling through
+the hill or going around it had not yet dawned on our
+Dutch ancestors. At every step of my journey to Troy
+I felt that I was treading on my pride, and thus in a
+hopeless frame of mind I began my boarding-school
+career. I had already studied everything that was
+taught there except French, music, and dancing, so I
+devoted myself to these accomplishments. As I had
+<a name="Page_36"></a>a good voice I enjoyed singing, with a guitar
+accompaniment,
+and, having a good ear for time, I appreciated
+the harmony in music and motion and took great delight
+in dancing. The large house, the society of so
+many girls, the walks about the city, the novelty of
+everything made the new life more enjoyable than I had
+anticipated. To be sure I missed the boys, with whom
+I had grown up, played with for years, and later measured
+my intellectual powers with, but, as they became
+a novelty, there was new zest in occasionally seeing
+them. After I had been there a short time, I heard a
+call one day: "Heads out!" I ran with the rest and
+exclaimed, "What is it?" expecting to see a giraffe or
+some other wonder from Barnum's Museum. "Why,
+don't you see those boys?" said one. "Oh," I replied,
+"is that all? I have seen boys all my life." When
+visiting family friends in the city, we were in the way
+of making the acquaintance of their sons, and as all
+social relations were strictly forbidden, there was a new
+interest in seeing them. As they were not allowed to
+call upon us or write notes, unless they were brothers
+or cousins, we had, in time, a large number of kinsmen.</p>
+<p>There was an intense interest to me now in writing
+notes, receiving calls, and joining the young men in the
+streets for a walk, such as I had never known when in
+constant association with them at school and in our
+daily amusements. Shut up with girls, most of them
+older than myself, I heard many subjects discussed of
+which I had never thought before, and in a manner it
+were better I had never heard. The healthful restraint
+always existing between boys and girls in conversation
+is apt to be relaxed with either sex alone. In all my
+intimate association with boys up to that period, I can<a name="Page_37"></a>not
+recall one word or act for criticism, but I cannot say
+the same of the girls during the three years I passed at
+the seminary in Troy. My own experience proves to
+me that it is a grave mistake to send boys and girls to
+separate institutions of learning, especially at the most
+impressible age. The stimulus of sex promotes alike
+a healthy condition of the intellectual and the moral
+faculties and gives to both a development they never
+can acquire alone.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willard, having spent several months in Europe,
+did not return until I had been at the seminary some
+time. I well remember her arrival, and the joy with
+which she was greeted by the teachers and pupils who
+had known her before. She was a splendid-looking
+woman, then in her prime, and fully realized my idea of
+a queen. I doubt whether any royal personage in the
+Old World could have received her worshipers with
+more grace and dignity than did this far-famed daughter
+of the Republic. She was one of the remarkable women
+of that period, and did a great educational work for
+her sex. She gave free scholarships to a large number
+of promising girls, fitting them for teachers, with a proviso
+that, when the opportunity arose, they should, in
+turn, educate others.</p>
+<p>I shall never forget one incident that occasioned me
+much unhappiness. I had written a very amusing composition,
+describing my room. A friend came in to see
+me just as I had finished it, and, as she asked me to read
+it to her, I did so. She enjoyed it very much and proposed
+an exchange. She said the rooms were all so
+nearly alike that, with a little alteration, she could use
+it. Being very susceptible to flattery, her praise of my
+production won a ready assent; but when I read her
+<a name="Page_38"></a>platitudes I was sorry I had changed, and still
+more so
+in the <i>denouement</i>.</p>
+<p>Those selected to prepare compositions read them before
+the whole school. My friend's was received with
+great laughter and applause. The one I read not only
+fell flat, but nearly prostrated me also. As soon as I had
+finished, one of the young ladies left the room and, returning
+in a few moments with her composition book,
+laid it before the teacher who presided that day, showing
+her the same composition I had just read. I was called
+up at once to explain, but was so amazed and confounded
+that I could not speak, and I looked the
+personification of guilt. I saw at a glance the contemptible
+position I occupied and felt as if the last day
+had come, that I stood before the judgment seat and
+had heard the awful sentence pronounced, "Depart ye
+wicked into everlasting punishment." How I escaped
+from that scene to my own room I do not know. I
+was too wretched for tears. I sat alone for a long time
+when a gentle tap announced my betrayer. She put
+her arms around me affectionately and kissed me again
+and again.</p>
+<p>"Oh!" she said, "you are a hero. You went
+through that trying ordeal like a soldier. I was so
+afraid, when you were pressed with questions, that the
+whole truth would come out and I be forced to stand
+in your place. I am not so brave as you; I could not
+endure it. Now that you are through it and know how
+bitter a trial it is, promise that you will save me
+from the same experience. You are so good and noble
+I know you will not betray me."</p>
+<p>In this supreme moment of misery and disgrace, her
+loving words and warm embrace were like balm to my
+<a name="Page_39"></a>bruised soul and I readily promised all she
+asked. The
+girl had penetrated the weak point in my character. I
+loved flattery. Through that means she got my composition
+in the first place, pledged me to silence in the
+second place, and so confused my moral perceptions
+that I really thought it praiseworthy to shelter her from
+what I had suffered. However, without betrayal on my
+part, the trick came to light through the very means
+she took to make concealment sure. After compositions
+were read they were handed over to a certain
+teacher for criticism. Miss &#8212;&#8212; had copied mine, and
+returned to me the original. I had not copied hers, so
+the two were in the same handwriting&#8212;one with my
+name outside and one with Miss &#8212;&#8212;'s.</p>
+<p>As I stood well in school, both for scholarship and behavior,
+my sudden fall from grace occasioned no end of
+discussion. So, as soon as the teacher discovered the
+two compositions in Miss &#8212;&#8212;'s writing, she came to
+me to inquire how I got one of Miss &#8212;&#8212;'s compositions.
+She said, "Where is yours that you wrote for
+that day?"</p>
+<p>Taking it from my portfolio, I replied, "Here it is."</p>
+<p>She then asked, "Did you copy it from her book?"</p>
+<p>I replied, "No; I wrote it myself."</p>
+<p>"Then why did you not read your own?"</p>
+<p>"We agreed to change," said I.</p>
+<p>"Did you know that Miss &#8212;&#8212; had copied that from
+the book of another young lady?"</p>
+<p>"No, not until I was accused of doing it myself before
+the whole school."</p>
+<p>"Why did you not defend yourself on the spot?"</p>
+<p>"I could not speak, neither did I know what to
+say."</p>
+<p>"<a name="Page_40"></a>Why have you allowed yourself to remain in
+such
+a false position for a whole week?"</p>
+<p>"I do not know."</p>
+<p>"Suppose I had not found this out, did you intend
+to keep silent?"</p>
+<p>"Yes," I replied.</p>
+<p>"Did Miss &#8212;&#8212; ask you to do so?"</p>
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+<p>I had been a great favorite with this teacher, but she
+was so disgusted with my stupidity, as she called my
+timidity, that she said:</p>
+<p>"Really, my child, you have not acted in this matter
+as if you had ordinary common sense."</p>
+<p>So little do grown people, in familiar surroundings,
+appreciate the confusion of a child's faculties, under new
+and trying experiences. When poor Miss &#8212;&#8212;'s turn
+came to stand up before the whole school and take the
+burden on her own shoulders she had so cunningly laid
+on mine, I readily shed the tears for her I could not
+summon for myself. This was my first sad lesson in
+human duplicity.</p>
+<p>This episode, unfortunately, destroyed in a measure
+my confidence in my companions and made me suspicious
+even of those who came to me with appreciative
+words. Up to this time I had accepted all things as
+they seemed on the surface. Now I began to wonder
+what lay behind the visible conditions about me. Perhaps
+the experience was beneficial, as it is quite necessary
+for a young girl, thrown wholly on herself for the
+first time among strangers, to learn caution in all she
+says and does. The atmosphere of home life, where all
+disguises and pretensions are thrown off, is quite different
+from a large school of girls, with the petty jealousies
+<a name="Page_41"></a>and antagonisms that arise in daily competition
+in their
+dress, studies, accomplishments, and amusements.</p>
+<p>The next happening in Troy that seriously influenced
+my character was the advent of the Rev. Charles G.
+Finney, a pulpit orator, who, as a terrifier of human
+souls, proved himself the equal of Savonarola. He held
+a protracted meeting in the Rev. Dr. Beaman's church,
+which many of my schoolmates attended. The result
+of six weeks of untiring effort on the part of Mr. Finney
+and his confreres was one of those intense revival seasons
+that swept over the city and through the seminary
+like an epidemic, attacking in its worst form the most
+susceptible. Owing to my gloomy Calvinistic training
+in the old Scotch Presbyterian church, and my vivid
+imagination, I was one of the first victims. We attended
+all the public services, beside the daily prayer
+and experience meetings held in the seminary. Our
+studies, for the time, held a subordinate place to the
+more important duty of saving our souls.</p>
+<p>To state the idea of conversion and salvation as then
+understood, one can readily see from our present standpoint
+that nothing could be more puzzling and harrowing
+to the young mind. The revival fairly started, the
+most excitable were soon on the anxious seat. There
+we learned the total depravity of human nature and the
+sinner's awful danger of everlasting punishment. This
+was enlarged upon until the most innocent girl believed
+herself a monster of iniquity and felt certain of eternal
+damnation. Then God's hatred of sin was emphasized
+and his irreconcilable position toward the sinner so
+justified that one felt like a miserable, helpless, forsaken
+worm of the dust in trying to approach him, even in
+prayer.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_42"></a>Having brought you into a condition of
+profound
+humility, the only cardinal virtue for one under conviction,
+in the depths of your despair you were told
+that it required no herculean effort on your part to be
+transformed into an angel, to be reconciled to God, to
+escape endless perdition. The way to salvation was
+short and simple. We had naught to do but to repent
+and believe and give our hearts to Jesus, who was
+ever ready to receive them. How to do all this was the
+puzzling question. Talking with Dr. Finney one day,
+I said:</p>
+<p>"I cannot understand what I am to do. If you
+should tell me to go to the top of the church steeple
+and jump off, I would readily do it, if thereby I could
+save my soul; but I do not know how to go to Jesus."</p>
+<p>"Repent and believe," said he, "that is all you have
+to do to be happy here and hereafter."</p>
+<p>"I am very sorry," I replied, "for all the evil I have
+done, and I believe all you tell me, and the more sincerely
+I believe, the more unhappy I am."</p>
+<p>With the natural reaction from despair to hope many
+of us imagined ourselves converted, prayed and gave
+our experiences in the meetings, and at times rejoiced
+in the thought that we were Christians&#8212;chosen children
+of God&#8212;rather than sinners and outcasts.</p>
+<p>But Dr. Finney's terrible anathemas on the depravity
+and deceitfulness of the human heart soon shortened
+our newborn hopes. His appearance in the pulpit on
+these memorable occasions is indelibly impressed on my
+mind. I can see him now, his great eyes rolling around
+the congregation and his arms flying about in the air
+like those of a windmill. One evening he described
+hell and the devil and the long procession of sinners
+<a name="Page_43"></a>being swept down the rapids, about to make the
+awful
+plunge into the burning depths of liquid fire below,
+and the rejoicing hosts in the inferno coming up to meet
+them with the shouts of the devils echoing through the
+vaulted arches. He suddenly halted, and, pointing his
+index finger at the supposed procession, he exclaimed:</p>
+<p>"There, do you not see them!"</p>
+<p>I was wrought up to such a pitch that I actually
+jumped up and gazed in the direction to which he
+pointed, while the picture glowed before my eyes and
+remained with me for months afterward. I cannot forbear
+saying that, although high respect is due to the
+intellectual, moral, and spiritual gifts of the venerable
+ex-president of Oberlin College, such preaching worked
+incalculable harm to the very souls he sought to save.
+Fear of the judgment seized my soul. Visions of the
+lost haunted my dreams. Mental anguish prostrated
+my health. Dethronement of my reason was apprehended
+by friends. But he was sincere, so peace to
+his ashes! Returning home, I often at night roused
+my father from his slumbers to pray for me, lest I should
+be cast into the bottomless pit before morning.</p>
+<p>To change the current of my thoughts, a trip was
+planned to Niagara, and it was decided that the subject
+of religion was to be tabooed altogether. Accordingly
+our party, consisting of my sister, her husband,
+my father and myself, started in our private carriage,
+and for six weeks I heard nothing on the subject.
+About this time Gall and Spurzheim published their
+works on phrenology, followed by Combe's "Constitution
+of Man," his "Moral Philosophy," and many other
+liberal works, all so rational and opposed to the old theologies
+that they produced a profound impression on
+<a name="Page_44"></a>my brother-in-law's mind. As we had these books
+with
+us, reading and discussing by the way, we all became
+deeply interested in the new ideas. Thus, after many
+months of weary wandering in the intellectual labyrinth
+of "The Fall of Man," "Original Sin," "Total Depravity,"
+"God's Wrath," "Satan's Triumph," "The
+Crucifixion," "The Atonement," and "Salvation by
+Faith," I found my way out of the darkness into the
+clear sunlight of Truth. My religious superstitions
+gave place to rational ideas based on scientific facts, and
+in proportion, as I looked at everything from a new
+standpoint, I grew more and more happy, day by day.
+Thus, with a delightful journey in the month of June,
+an entire change in my course of reading and the current
+of my thoughts, my mind was restored to its normal
+condition. I view it as one of the greatest crimes
+to shadow the minds of the young with these gloomy
+superstitions; and with fears of the unknown and the
+unknowable to poison all their joy in life.</p>
+<p>After the restraints of childhood at home and in
+school, what a period of irrepressible joy and freedom
+comes to us in girlhood with the first taste of liberty.
+Then is our individuality in a measure recognized and
+our feelings and opinions consulted; then we decide
+where and when we will come and go, what we will eat,
+drink, wear, and do. To suit one's own fancy in clothes,
+to buy what one likes, and wear what one chooses is a
+great privilege to most young people. To go out at
+pleasure, to walk, to ride, to drive, with no one to say
+us nay or question our right to liberty, this is indeed
+like a birth into a new world of happiness and freedom.
+This is the period, too, when the emotions rule us, and
+we idealize everything in life; when love and hope make
+<a name="Page_45"></a>the present an ecstasy and the future bright with
+anticipation.</p>
+<p>Then comes that dream of bliss that for weeks and
+months throws a halo of glory round the most ordinary
+characters in every-day life, holding the strongest and
+most common-sense young men and women in a thraldom
+from which few mortals escape. The period when
+love, in soft silver tones, whispers his first words of
+adoration, painting our graces and virtues day by day
+in living colors in poetry and prose, stealthily punctuated
+ever and anon with a kiss or fond embrace. What
+dignity it adds to a young girl's estimate of herself when
+some strong man makes her feel that in her hands rest
+his future peace and happiness! Though these seasons
+of intoxication may come once to all, yet they are seldom
+repeated. How often in after life we long for one
+more such rapturous dream of bliss, one more season
+of supreme human love and passion!</p>
+<p>After leaving school, until my marriage, I had the
+most pleasant years of my girlhood. With frequent
+visits to a large circle of friends and relatives in various
+towns and cities, the monotony of home life was sufficiently
+broken to make our simple country pleasures
+always delightful and enjoyable. An entirely new life
+now opened to me. The old bondage of fear of the
+visible and the invisible was broken and, no longer subject
+to absolute authority, I rejoiced in the dawn of a
+new day of freedom in thought and action.</p>
+<p>My brother-in-law, Edward Bayard, ten years my
+senior, was an inestimable blessing to me at this time,
+especially as my mind was just then opening to the consideration
+of all the varied problems of life. To me and
+my sisters he was a companion in all our amusements,
+<a name="Page_46"></a>a teacher in the higher departments of knowledge,
+and
+a counselor in all our youthful trials and disappointments.
+He was of a metaphysical turn of mind, and in
+the pursuit of truth was in no way trammeled by popular
+superstitions. He took nothing for granted and, like
+Socrates, went about asking questions. Nothing
+pleased him more than to get a bevy of bright young
+girls about him and teach them how to think clearly and
+reason logically.</p>
+<p>One great advantage of the years my sisters and myself
+spent at the Troy Seminary was the large number
+of pleasant acquaintances we made there, many of which
+ripened into lifelong friendships. From time to time
+many of our classmates visited us, and all alike enjoyed
+the intellectual fencing in which my brother-in-law
+drilled them. He discoursed with us on law, philosophy,
+political economy, history, and poetry, and together
+we read novels without number. The long
+winter evenings thus passed pleasantly, Mr. Bayard
+alternately talking and reading aloud Scott, Bulwer,
+James, Cooper, and Dickens, whose works were just
+then coming out in numbers from week to week, always
+leaving us in suspense at the most critical point of the
+story. Our readings were varied with recitations,
+music, dancing, and games.</p>
+<p>As we all enjoyed brisk exercise, even with the thermometer
+below zero, we took long walks and sleighrides
+during the day, and thus the winter months glided
+quickly by, while the glorious summer on those blue
+hills was a period of unmixed enjoyment. At this season
+we arose at five in the morning for a long ride on
+horseback through the beautiful Mohawk Valley and
+over the surrounding hills. Every road and lane in that
+<a name="Page_47"></a>region was as familiar to us and our ponies, as
+were
+the trees to the squirrels we frightened as we cantered
+by their favorite resorts.</p>
+<p>Part of the time Margaret Christie, a young girl of
+Scotch descent, was a member of our family circle. She
+taught us French, music, and dancing. Our days were
+too short for all we had to do, for our time was not
+wholly given to pleasure. We were required to keep
+our rooms in order, mend and make our clothes,
+and do our own ironing. The latter was one of my
+mother's politic requirements, to make our laundry lists
+as short as possible.</p>
+<p>Ironing on hot days in summer was a sore trial to
+all of us; but Miss Christie, being of an inventive turn
+of mind, soon taught us a short way out of it. She
+folded and smoothed her undergarments with her hands
+and then sat on them for a specified time. We all followed
+her example and thus utilized the hours devoted
+to our French lessons and, while reading "Corinne"
+and "T&eacute;l&eacute;maque," in this primitive style we ironed our
+clothes. But for dresses, collars and cuffs, and pocket
+handkerchiefs, we were compelled to wield the hot iron,
+hence with these articles we used all due economy, and
+my mother's object was thus accomplished.</p>
+<p>As I had become sufficiently philosophical to talk over
+my religious experiences calmly with my classmates who
+had been with me through the Finney revival meetings,
+we all came to the same conclusion&#8212;that we had passed
+through no remarkable change and that we had not
+been born again, as they say, for we found our tastes and
+enjoyments the same as ever. My brother-in-law explained
+to us the nature of the delusion we had all
+experienced, the physical conditions, the mental proc<a name="Page_48"></a>esses,
+the church machinery by which such excitements
+are worked up, and the impositions to which credulous
+minds are necessarily subjected. As we had all been
+through that period of depression and humiliation, and
+had been oppressed at times with the feeling that all
+our professions were arrant hypocrisy and that our last
+state was worse than our first, he helped us to understand
+these workings of the human mind and reconciled
+us to the more rational condition in which we now
+found ourselves. He never grew weary of expounding
+principles to us and dissipating the fogs and mists that
+gather over young minds educated in an atmosphere of
+superstition.</p>
+<p>We had a constant source of amusement and vexation
+in the students in my father's office. A succession
+of them was always coming fresh from college
+and full of conceit. Aching to try their powers of debate
+on graduates from the Troy Seminary, they
+politely questioned all our theories and assertions.
+However, with my brother-in-law's training in analysis
+and logic, we were a match for any of them. Nothing
+pleased me better than a long argument with them on
+woman's equality, which I tried to prove by a diligent
+study of the books they read and the games they played.
+I confess that I did not study so much for a love of the
+truth or my own development, in these days, as to make
+those young men recognize my equality. I soon
+noticed that, after losing a few games of chess, my
+opponent talked less of masculine superiority. Sister
+Madge would occasionally rush to the defense with an
+emphatic "Fudge for these laws, all made by men! I'll
+never obey one of them. And as to the students with
+their impertinent talk of superiority, all they need is
+<a name="Page_49"></a>such a shaking up as I gave the most disagreeable
+one
+yesterday. I invited him to take a ride on horseback.
+He accepted promptly, and said he would be most
+happy to go. Accordingly I told Peter to saddle the
+toughest-mouthed, hardest-trotting carriage horse in
+the stable. Mounted on my swift pony, I took a ten-mile
+canter as fast as I could go, with that superior
+being at my heels calling, as he found breath, for me to
+stop, which I did at last and left him in the hands of
+Peter, half dead at his hotel, where he will be laid out,
+with all his marvelous masculine virtues, for a week at
+least. Now do not waste your arguments on these prigs
+from Union College. Take each, in turn, the ten-miles'
+circuit on 'Old Boney' and they'll have no breath left
+to prate of woman's inferiority. You might argue
+with them all day, and you could not make them feel
+so small as I made that popinjay feel in one hour. I
+knew 'Old Boney' would keep up with me, if he died
+for it, and that my escort could neither stop nor dismount,
+except by throwing himself from the saddle."</p>
+<p>"Oh, Madge!" I exclaimed; "what will you say when
+he meets you again?"</p>
+<p>"If he complains, I will say 'the next time you ride
+see that you have a curb bit before starting.' Surely,
+a man ought to know what is necessary to manage a
+horse, and not expect a woman to tell him."</p>
+<p>Our lives were still further varied and intensified by
+the usual number of flirtations, so called, more or less
+lasting or evanescent, from all of which I emerged, as
+from my religious experiences, in a more rational frame
+of mind. We had been too much in the society of boys
+and young gentlemen, and knew too well their real character,
+to idealize the sex in general. In addition to our
+<a name="Page_50"></a>own observations, we had the advantage of our
+brother-in-law's
+wisdom. Wishing to save us as long as possible
+from all matrimonial entanglements, he was continually
+unveiling those with whom he associated, and so critically
+portraying their intellectual and moral condition
+that it was quite impossible, in our most worshipful
+moods, to make gods of any of the sons of Adam.</p>
+<p>However, in spite of all our own experiences and of
+all the warning words of wisdom from those who had
+seen life in its many phases, we entered the charmed
+circle at last, all but one marrying into the legal profession,
+with its odious statute laws and infamous decisions.
+And this, after reading Blackstone, Kent, and
+Story, and thoroughly understanding the status of the
+wife under the old common law of England, which was
+in force at that time in most of the States of the Union.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_51"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<h2>LIFE AT PETERBORO.</h2>
+<p>The year, with us, was never considered complete
+without a visit to Peterboro, N.Y., the home of Gerrit
+Smith. Though he was a reformer and was very radical
+in many of his ideas, yet, being a man of broad sympathies,
+culture, wealth, and position, he drew around him
+many friends of the most conservative opinions. He
+was a man of fine presence, rare physical beauty, most
+affable and courteous in manner, and his hospitalities
+were generous to an extreme, and dispensed to all
+classes of society.</p>
+<p>Every year representatives from the Oneida tribe of
+Indians visited him. His father had early purchased of
+them large tracts of land, and there was a tradition
+among them that, as an equivalent for the good bargains
+of the father, they had a right to the son's hospitality,
+with annual gifts of clothing and provisions.
+The slaves, too, had heard of Gerrit Smith, the abolitionist,
+and of Peterboro as one of the safe points <i>en
+route</i> for Canada. His mansion was, in fact, one of the
+stations on the "underground railroad" for slaves
+escaping from bondage. Hence they, too, felt that
+they had a right to a place under his protecting roof.
+On such occasions the barn and the kitchen floor were
+utilized as chambers for the black man from the southern
+plantation and the red man from his home in the
+forest.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_52"></a>The spacious home was always enlivened with
+choice
+society from every part of the country. There one
+would meet members of the families of the old Dutch
+aristocracy, the Van Rensselaers, the Van Vechtens,
+the Schuylers, the Livingstons, the Bleeckers, the
+Brinkerhoffs, the Ten Eycks, the Millers, the Seymours,
+the Cochranes, the Biddles, the Barclays, the Wendells,
+and many others.</p>
+<p>As the lady of the house, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, was
+the daughter of a wealthy slaveholder of Maryland,
+many agreeable Southerners were often among the
+guests. Our immediate family relatives were well represented
+by General John Cochrane and his sisters,
+General Baird and his wife from West Point, the Fitzhughs
+from Oswego and Geneseo, the Backuses and
+Tallmans from Rochester, and the Swifts from Geneva.
+Here one was sure to meet scholars, philosophers, philanthropists,
+judges, bishops, clergymen, and statesmen.</p>
+<p>Judge Alfred Conkling, the father of Roscoe Conkling,
+was, in his late years, frequently seen at Peterboro.
+Tall and stately, after all life's troubled scenes, financial
+losses and domestic sorrows, he used to say there was no
+spot on earth that seemed so like his idea of Paradise.
+The proud, reserved judge was unaccustomed to manifestations
+of affection and tender interest in his behalf,
+and when Gerrit, taking him by both hands would, in
+his softest tones say, "Good-morning," and inquire how
+he had slept and what he would like to do that day, and
+Nancy would greet him with equal warmth and pin a
+little bunch of roses in his buttonhole, I have seen the
+tears in his eyes. Their warm sympathies and sweet simplicity
+of manner melted the sternest natures and made
+the most reserved amiable. There never was such an
+<a name="Page_53"></a>atmosphere of love and peace, of freedom and good
+cheer, in any other home I visited. And this was the
+universal testimony of those who were guests at Peterboro.
+To go anywhere else, after a visit there, was
+like coming down from the divine heights into the valley
+of humiliation.</p>
+<p>How changed from the early days when, as strict
+Presbyterians, they believed in all the doctrines of Calvin!
+Then, an indefinite gloom pervaded their home.
+Their consciences were diseased. They attached such
+undue importance to forms that they went through
+three kinds of baptism. At one time Nancy would read
+nothing but the Bible, sing nothing but hymns, and play
+only sacred music. She felt guilty if she talked on any
+subject except religion. She was, in all respects, a
+fitting mate for her attractive husband. Exquisitely refined
+in feeling and manner, beautiful in face and form,
+earnest and sincere, she sympathized with him in all
+his ideas of religion and reform. Together they passed
+through every stage of theological experience, from the
+uncertain ground of superstition and speculation to the
+solid foundation of science and reason. The position
+of the Church in the anti-slavery conflict, opening as it
+did all questions of ecclesiastical authority, Bible interpretation,
+and church discipline, awakened them to
+new thought and broader views on religious subjects,
+and eventually emancipated them entirely from the old
+dogmas and formalities of their faith, and lifted them
+into the cheerful atmosphere in which they passed the
+remainder of their lives. Their only daughter, Elizabeth,
+added greatly to the attractions of the home circle, as
+she drew many young people round her. Beside her
+personal charm she was the heiress of a vast estate and
+<a name="Page_54"></a>had many admirers. The favored one was Charles
+Dudley Miller of Utica, nephew of Mrs. Blandina
+Bleecker Dudley, founder of the Albany Observatory.
+At the close of his college life Mr. Miller had not only
+mastered the languages, mathematics, rhetoric, and
+logic, but had learned the secret windings of the human
+heart. He understood the art of pleasing.</p>
+<p>These were the times when the anti-slavery question
+was up for hot discussion. In all the neighboring
+towns conventions were held in which James G.
+Birney, a Southern gentleman who had emancipated his
+slaves, Charles Stuart of Scotland, and George Thompson
+of England, Garrison, Phillips, May, Beriah Greene,
+Foster, Abby Kelly, Lucretia Mott, Douglass, and
+others took part. Here, too, John Brown, Sanborn,
+Morton, and Frederick Douglass met to talk over that
+fatal movement on Harper's Ferry. On the question
+of temperance, also, the people were in a ferment. Dr.
+Cheever's pamphlet, "Deacon Giles' Distillery," was
+scattered far and wide, and, as he was sued for libel, the
+question was discussed in the courts as well as at every
+fireside. Then came the Father Matthew and Washingtonian
+movements, and the position of the Church
+on these questions intensified and embittered the conflict.
+This brought the Cheevers, the Pierponts, the
+Delevans, the Nortons, and their charming wives to
+Peterboro. It was with such company and varied discussions
+on every possible phase of political, religious,
+and social life that I spent weeks every year. Gerrit
+Smith was cool and calm in debate, and, as he was
+armed at all points on these subjects, he could afford
+to be patient and fair with an opponent, whether on
+the platform or at the fireside. These rousing argu<a name="Page_55"></a>ments
+at Peterboro made social life seem tame and
+profitless elsewhere, and the youngest of us felt that
+the conclusions reached in this school of philosophy
+were not to be questioned. The sisters of General
+Cochrane, in disputes with their Dutch cousins in
+Schenectady and Albany, would end all controversy by
+saying, "This question was fully discussed at Peterboro,
+and settled."</p>
+<p>The youngsters frequently put the lessons of freedom
+and individual rights they heard so much of into practice,
+and relieved their brains from the constant strain of
+argument on first principles, by the wildest hilarity in
+dancing, all kinds of games, and practical jokes carried
+beyond all bounds of propriety. These romps generally
+took place at Mr. Miller's. He used to say facetiously,
+that they talked a good deal about liberty over the way,
+but he kept the goddess under his roof. One memorable
+occasion in which our enthusiasm was kept
+at white heat for two hours I must try to describe,
+though words cannot do it justice, as it was pre-eminently
+a spectacular performance. The imagination
+even cannot do justice to the limp, woe-begone appearance
+of the actors in the closing scene. These romps
+were conducted on a purely democratic basis, without
+regard to color, sex, or previous condition of servitude.</p>
+<p>It was rather a cold day in the month of March, when
+"Cousin Charley," as we called Mr. Miller, was superintending
+some men who were laying a plank walk in the
+rear of his premises. Some half dozen of us were invited
+to an early tea at good Deacon Huntington's.
+Immediately after dinner, Miss Fitzhugh and Miss Van
+Schaack decided to take a nap, that they might appear
+as brilliant as possible during the evening. That they
+<a name="Page_56"></a>might not be late, as they invariably were,
+Cousin Lizzie
+and I decided to rouse them in good season with a
+generous sprinkling of cold water. In vain they struggled
+to keep the blankets around them; with equal force
+we pulled them away, and, whenever a stray finger or
+toe appeared, we brought fresh batteries to bear, until
+they saw that passive resistance must give place to active
+hostility. We were armed with two watering pots.
+They armed themselves with two large-sized syringes
+used for showering potato bugs. With these weapons
+they gave us chase downstairs. We ran into a closet
+and held the door shut. They quietly waited our forthcoming.
+As soon as we opened the door to peep out,
+Miss Fitzhugh, who was large and strong, pulled it
+wide open and showered us with a vengeance. Then
+they fled into a large pantry where stood several pans
+of milk.</p>
+<p>At this stage Cousin Charley, hearing the rumpus,
+came to our assistance. He locked them in the pantry
+and returned to his work, whereupon they opened the
+window and showered him with milk, while he, in turn,
+pelted them with wet clothes, soaking in tubs near by.
+As they were thinly clad, wet to the skin, and the cold
+March wind blew round them (we were all in fatigue
+costume in starting) they implored us to let them out,
+which we did, and, in return for our kindness, they gave
+us a broadside of milk in our faces. Cousin Lizzie and
+I fled to the dark closet, where they locked us in.
+After long, weary waiting they came to offer us terms of
+capitulation. Lizzie agreed to fill their guns with milk,
+and give them our watering pots full of water, and I
+agreed to call Cousin Charley under my window until
+they emptied the contents of guns and pots on his
+<a name="Page_57"></a>head. My room was on the first floor, and Miss
+Fitzhugh's
+immediately overhead. On these terms we accepted
+our freedom. Accordingly, I gently raised the
+window and called Charley confidentially within whispering
+distance, when down came a shower of water. As
+he stepped back to look up and see whence it came, and
+who made the attack, a stream of milk hit him on the
+forehead, his heels struck a plank, and he fell backward,
+to all appearance knocked down with a stream of milk.
+His humiliation was received with shouts of derisive
+laughter, and even the carpenters at work laid down
+their hammers and joined in the chorus; but his revenge
+was swift and capped the climax. Cold and wet
+as we all were, and completely tired out, we commenced
+to disrobe and get ready for the tea party. Unfortunately
+I had forgotten to lock my door, and in walked
+Cousin Charley with a quart bottle of liquid blacking,
+which he prepared to empty on my devoted head. I
+begged so eloquently and trembled so at the idea of being
+dyed black, that he said he would let me off on one
+condition, and that was to get him, by some means,
+into Miss Fitzhugh's room. So I ran screaming up the
+stairs, as if hotly pursued by the enemy, and begged her
+to let me in. She cautiously opened the door, but when
+she saw Charley behind me she tried to force it shut.
+However, he was too quick for her. He had one leg
+and arm in; but, at that stage of her toilet, to let him
+in was impossible, and there they stood, equally strong,
+firmly braced, she on one side of the door and he on the
+other. But the blacking he was determined she should
+have; so, gauging her probable position, with one desperate
+effort he squeezed in a little farther and, raising
+the bottle, he poured the contents on her head. The
+<a name="Page_58"></a>blacking went streaming down over her face, white
+robe, and person, and left her looking more like a
+bronze fury than one of Eve's most charming daughters.
+A yard or more of the carpet was ruined, the
+wallpaper and bedclothes spattered, and the poor victim
+was unfit to be seen for a week at least. Charley
+had a good excuse for his extreme measures, for, as we
+all by turn played our tricks on him, it was necessary to
+keep us in some fear of punishment. This was but one
+of the many outrageous pranks we perpetrated on each
+other. To see us a few hours later, all absorbed in an
+anti-slavery or temperance convention, or dressed in
+our best, in high discourse with the philosophers, one
+would never think we could have been guilty of such
+consummate follies. It was, however, but the natural
+reaction from the general serious trend of our thoughts.</p>
+<p>It was in Peterboro, too, that I first met one who was
+then considered the most eloquent and impassioned
+orator on the anti-slavery platform, Henry B. Stanton.
+He had come over from Utica with Alvin Stewart's
+beautiful daughter, to whom report said he was engaged;
+but, as she soon after married Luther R. Marsh,
+there was a mistake somewhere. However, the rumor
+had its advantages. Regarding him as not in the
+matrimonial market, we were all much more free and
+easy in our manners with him than we would otherwise
+have been. A series of anti-slavery conventions was
+being held in Madison County, and there I had the
+pleasure of hearing him for the first time. As I had
+a passion for oratory, I was deeply impressed with his
+power. He was not so smooth and eloquent as
+Phillips, but he could make his audience both laugh and
+cry; the latter, Phillips himself said he never could do.
+<a name="Page_59"></a>Mr. Stanton was then in his prime, a
+fine-looking,
+affable young man, with remarkable conversational
+talent, and was ten years my senior, with the advantage
+that number of years necessarily gives.</p>
+<p>Two carriage-loads of ladies and gentlemen drove
+off every morning, sometimes ten miles, to one of these
+conventions, returning late at night. I shall never forget
+those charming drives over the hills in Madison
+County, the bright autumnal days, and the bewitching
+moonlight nights. The enthusiasm of the people in
+these great meetings, the thrilling oratory, and lucid
+arguments of the speakers, all conspired to make these
+days memorable as among the most charming in my
+life. It seemed to me that I never had so much happiness
+crowded into one short month. I had become
+interested in the anti-slavery and temperance questions,
+and was deeply impressed with the appeals and arguments.
+I felt a new inspiration in life and was enthused
+with new ideas of individual rights and the basic principles
+of government, for the anti-slavery platform was
+the best school the American people ever had on which
+to learn republican principles and ethics. These conventions
+and the discussions at my cousin's fireside I
+count among the great blessings of my life.</p>
+<p>One morning, as we came out from breakfast, Mr.
+Stanton joined me on the piazza, where I was walking
+up and down enjoying the balmy air and the beauty of
+the foliage. "As we have no conventions," said he,
+"on hand, what do you say to a ride on horseback this
+morning?" I readily accepted the suggestion, ordered
+the horses, put on my habit, and away we went. The
+roads were fine and we took a long ride. As we were
+returning home we stopped often to admire the
+<a name="Page_60"></a>scenery and, perchance, each other. When walking
+slowly through a beautiful grove, he laid his hand on
+the horn of the saddle and, to my surprise, made one of
+those charming revelations of human feeling which
+brave knights have always found eloquent words to
+utter, and to which fair ladies have always listened with
+mingled emotions of pleasure and astonishment.</p>
+<p>One outcome of those glorious days of October,
+1839, was a marriage, in Johnstown, the 10th day of
+May, 1840, and a voyage to the Old World.</p>
+<p>Six weeks of that charming autumn, ending in the
+Indian summer with its peculiarly hazy atmosphere, I
+lingered in Peterboro. It seems in retrospect like
+a beautiful dream. A succession of guests was constantly
+coming and going, and I still remember the daily
+drives over those grand old hills crowned with trees
+now gorgeous in rich colors, the more charming because
+we knew the time was short before the cold winds of
+November would change all.</p>
+<p>The early setting sun warned us that the shortening
+days must soon end our twilight drives, and the moonlight
+nights were too chilly to linger long in the rustic
+arbors or shady nooks outside. With the peculiar
+charm of this season of the year there is always a touch
+of sadness in nature, and it seemed doubly so to me, as
+my engagement was not one of unmixed joy and satisfaction.
+Among all conservative families there was a
+strong aversion to abolitionists and the whole anti-slavery
+movement. Alone with Cousin Gerrit in his
+library he warned me, in deep, solemn tones, while
+strongly eulogizing my lover, that my father would
+never consent to my marriage with an abolitionist. He
+felt in duty bound, as my engagement had occurred
+<a name="Page_61"></a>under his roof, to free himself from all
+responsibility by
+giving me a long dissertation on love, friendship, marriage,
+and all the pitfalls for the unwary, who, without
+due consideration, formed matrimonial relations. The
+general principles laid down in this interview did not
+strike my youthful mind so forcibly as the suggestion
+that it was better to announce my engagement by letter
+than to wait until I returned home, as thus I might
+draw the hottest fire while still in safe harbor, where
+Cousin Gerrit could help me defend the weak points in
+my position. So I lingered at Peterboro to prolong
+the dream of happiness and postpone the conflict I
+feared to meet.</p>
+<p>But the Judge understood the advantage of our position
+as well as we did, and wasted no ammunition on
+us. Being even more indignant at my cousin than at
+me, he quietly waited until I returned home, when I
+passed through the ordeal of another interview, with
+another dissertation on domestic relations from a financial
+standpoint. These were two of the most bewildering
+interviews I ever had. They succeeded in making
+me feel that the step I proposed to take was the most
+momentous and far-reaching in its consequences of any
+in this mortal life. Heretofore my apprehensions had
+all been of death and eternity; now life itself was filled
+with fears and anxiety as to the possibilities of the
+future. Thus these two noble men, who would have
+done anything for my happiness, actually overweighted
+my conscience and turned the sweetest dream of my
+life into a tragedy. How little strong men, with their
+logic, sophistry, and hypothetical examples, appreciate
+the violence they inflict on the tender sensibilities of a
+woman's heart, in trying to subjugate her to their will!
+<a name="Page_62"></a>The love of protecting too often degenerates into
+downright tyranny. Fortunately all these sombre pictures
+of a possible future were thrown into the background
+by the tender missives every post brought me,
+in which the brilliant word-painting of one of the most
+eloquent pens of this generation made the future for
+us both, as bright and beautiful as Spring with her verdure
+and blossoms of promise.</p>
+<p>However, many things were always transpiring at
+Peterboro to turn one's thoughts and rouse new interest
+in humanity at large. One day, as a bevy of us
+girls were singing and chattering in the parlor, Cousin
+Gerrit entered and, in mysterious tones, said: "I have
+a most important secret to tell you, which you must
+keep to yourselves religiously for twenty-four hours."</p>
+<p>We readily pledged ourselves in the most solemn
+manner, individually and collectively.</p>
+<p>"Now," said he, "follow me to the third story."</p>
+<p>This we did, wondering what the secret could be.
+At last, opening a door, he ushered us into a large room,
+in the center of which sat a beautiful quadroon girl,
+about eighteen years of age. Addressing her, he said:</p>
+<p>"Harriet, I have brought all my young cousins to
+see you. I want you to make good abolitionists of
+them by telling them the history of your life&#8212;what you
+have seen and suffered in slavery."</p>
+<p>Turning to us he said:</p>
+<p>"Harriet has just escaped from her master, who is
+visiting in Syracuse, and is on her way to Canada.
+She will start this evening and you may never have another
+opportunity of seeing a slave girl face to face, so
+ask her all you care to know of the system of slavery."</p>
+<p>For two hours we listened to the sad story of her
+<a name="Page_63"></a>childhood and youth, separated from all her
+family and
+sold for her beauty in a New Orleans market when but
+fourteen years of age. The details of her story I need
+not repeat. The fate of such girls is too well known to
+need rehearsal. We all wept together as she talked,
+and, when Cousin Gerrit returned to summon us away,
+we needed no further education to make us earnest
+abolitionists.</p>
+<p>Dressed as a Quakeress, Harriet started at twilight
+with one of Mr. Smith's faithful clerks in a carriage for
+Oswego, there to cross the lake to Canada. The next
+day her master and the marshals from Syracuse were
+on her track in Peterboro, and traced her to Mr. Smith's
+premises. He was quite gracious in receiving them,
+and, while assuring them that there was no slave there,
+he said that they were at liberty to make a thorough
+search of the house and grounds. He invited them to
+stay and dine and kept them talking as long as possible,
+as every hour helped Harriet to get beyond their
+reach; for, although she had eighteen hours the start
+of them, yet we feared some accident might have delayed
+her. The master was evidently a gentleman,
+for, on Mr. Smith's assurance that Harriet was not
+there, he made no search, feeling that they could not
+do so without appearing to doubt his word. He was
+evidently surprised to find an abolitionist so courteous
+and affable, and it was interesting to hear them in conversation,
+at dinner, calmly discussing the problem of
+slavery, while public sentiment was at white heat on
+the question. They shook hands warmly at parting
+and expressed an equal interest in the final adjustment
+of that national difficulty.</p>
+<p>In due time the clerk returned with the good news
+<a name="Page_64"></a>that Harriet was safe with friends in a good
+situation in
+Canada. Mr. Smith then published an open letter to
+the master in the New York <i>Tribune</i>, saying "that he
+would no doubt rejoice to know that his slave Harriet,
+in whose fate he felt so deep an interest, was now a free
+woman, safe under the shadow of the British throne. I
+had the honor of entertaining her under my roof, sending
+her in my carriage to Lake Ontario, just eighteen
+hours before your arrival: hence my willingness to have
+you search my premises."</p>
+<p>Like the varied combinations of the kaleidoscope, the
+scenes in our social life at Peterboro were continually
+changing from grave to gay. Some years later we had
+a most hilarious occasion at the marriage of Mary
+Cochrane, sister of General John Cochrane, to Chapman
+Biddle, of Philadelphia. The festivities, which
+were kept up for three days, involved most elaborate
+preparations for breakfasts, dinners, etc., there being
+no Delmonico's in that remote part of the country.
+It was decided in family council that we had sufficient
+culinary talent under the roof to prepare the entire <i>menu</i>
+of substantials and delicacies, from soup and salmon to
+cakes and creams. So, gifted ladies and gentlemen
+were impressed into the service. The Fitzhughs all
+had a natural talent for cooking, and chief among them
+was Isabella, wife of a naval officer,&#8212;Lieutenant Swift
+of Geneva,&#8212;who had made a profound study of all
+the authorities from Archestratus, a poet in Syracuse,
+the most famous cook among the Greeks, down to our
+own Miss Leslie. Accordingly she was elected manager
+of the occasion, and to each one was assigned the
+specialty in which she claimed to excel. Those who
+had no specialty were assistants to those who had. In
+<a name="Page_65"></a>this humble office&#8212;"assistant at large"&#8212;I labored
+throughout.</p>
+<p>Cooking is a high art. A wise Egyptian said, long
+ago: "The degree of taste and skill manifested by a
+nation in the preparation of food may be regarded as to
+a very considerable extent proportioned to its culture
+and refinement." In early times men, only, were
+deemed capable of handling fire, whether at the altar
+or the hearthstone. We read in the Scriptures that
+Abraham prepared cakes of fine meal and a calf tender
+and good, which, with butter and milk, he set before
+the three angels in the plains of Mamre. We are told,
+too, of the chief butler and chief baker as officers in the
+household of King Pharaoh. I would like to call the
+attention of my readers to the dignity of this profession,
+which some young women affect to despise. The fact
+that angels eat, shows that we may be called upon in the
+next sphere to cook even for cherubim and seraphim.
+How important, then, to cultivate one's gifts in that
+direction!</p>
+<p>With such facts before us, we stirred and pounded,
+whipped and ground, coaxed the delicate meats from
+crabs and lobsters and the succulent peas from the pods,
+and grated corn and cocoanut with the same cheerfulness
+and devotion that we played Mendelssohn's
+"Songs Without Words" on the piano, the Spanish
+Fandango on our guitars, or danced the minuet, polka,
+lancers, or Virginia reel.</p>
+<p>During the day of the wedding, every stage coach was
+crowded with guests from the North, South, East, and
+West, and, as the twilight deepened, carriages began
+to roll in with neighbors and friends living at short distances,
+until the house and grounds were full. A son
+<a name="Page_66"></a>of Bishop Coxe, who married the tall and stately
+sister
+of Roscoe Conkling, performed the ceremony. The
+beautiful young bride was given away by her Uncle Gerrit.
+The congratulations, the feast, and all went off
+with fitting decorum in the usual way. The best proof
+of the excellence of our viands was that they were all
+speedily swept from mortal view, and every housewife
+wanted a recipe for something.</p>
+<p>As the grand dinner was to come off the next day,
+our thoughts now turned in that direction. The responsibility
+rested heavily on the heads of the chief
+actors, and they reported troubled dreams and unduly
+early rising. Dear Belle Swift was up in season and her
+white soup stood serenely in a tin pan, on an upper shelf,
+before the town clock struck seven. If it had not taken
+that position so early, it might have been incorporated
+with higher forms of life than that into which it
+eventually fell. Another artist was also on the wing
+early, and in pursuit of a tin pan in which to hide her
+precious compound, she unwittingly seized this one,
+and the rich white soup rolled down her raven locks
+like the oil on Aaron's beard, and enveloped her in a
+veil of filmy whiteness. I heard the splash and the
+exclamation of surprise and entered the butler's pantry
+just in time to see the heiress of the Smith estate standing
+like a statue, tin pan in hand, soup in her curls, her
+eyebrows and eyelashes,&#8212;collar, cuffs, and morning
+dress saturated,&#8212;and Belle, at a little distance, looking
+at her and the soup on the floor with surprise and disgust
+depicted on every feature. The tableau was inexpressibly
+comical, and I could not help laughing
+outright; whereupon Belle turned on me, and, with
+indignant tones, said, "If you had been up since four
+<a name="Page_67"></a>o'clock making that soup you would not stand
+there like
+a laughing monkey, without the least feeling of pity!"
+Poor Lizzie was very sorry, and would have shed tears,
+but they could not penetrate that film of soup. I tried
+to apologize, but could only laugh the more when I
+saw Belle crying and Lizzie standing as if hoping that
+the soup might be scraped off her and gathered from
+the floor and made to do duty on the occasion.</p>
+<p>After breakfast, ladies and gentlemen, alike in white
+aprons, crowded into the dining room and kitchen, each
+to perform the allotted task. George Biddle of Philadelphia
+and John B. Miller of Utica, in holiday spirits,
+were irrepressible&#8212;everywhere at the same moment,
+helping or hindering as the case might be. Dear Belle,
+having only partially recovered from the white-soup
+catastrophe, called Mr. Biddle to hold the ice-cream
+freezer while she poured in the luscious compound she
+had just prepared. He held it up without resting it on
+anything, while Belle slowly poured in the cream. As
+the freezer had no indentations round the top or rim
+to brace the thumbs and fingers, when it grew suddenly
+heavier his hands slipped and down went the whole
+thing, spattering poor Belle and spoiling a beautiful
+pair of gaiters in which, as she had very pretty feet, she
+took a laudable pride. In another corner sat Wealthea
+Backus, grating some cocoanut. While struggling in
+that operation, John Miller, feeling hilarious, was annoying
+her in divers ways; at length she drew the grater
+across his nose, gently, as she intended, but alas! she
+took the skin off, and John's beauty, for the remainder
+of the festivities, was marred with a black patch on that
+prominent feature. One can readily imagine the fun
+that must have transpired where so many amateur
+<a name="Page_68"></a>cooks were at work round one table, with all
+manner
+of culinary tools and ingredients.</p>
+<p>As assistant-at-large I was summoned to the cellar,
+where Mrs. Cornelia Barclay of New York was evolving
+from a pan of flour and water that miracle in the
+pie department called puff paste. This, it seems, can
+only be accomplished where the thermometer is below
+forty, and near a refrigerator where the compound can
+be kept cold until ready to be popped into the oven.
+No jokes or nonsense here. With queenly dignity the
+flour and water were gently compressed. Here one
+hand must not know what the other doeth. Bits of butter
+must be so deftly introduced that even the rolling
+pin may be unconscious of its work. As the artist gave
+the last touch to an exquisite lemon pie, with a mingled
+expression of pride and satisfaction on her classic features,
+she ordered me to bear it to the oven. In the
+transit I met Madam Belle. "Don't let that fall," she
+said sneeringly. Fortunately I did not, and returned
+in triumph to transport another. I was then summoned
+to a consultation with the committee on toasts,
+consisting of James Cochrane, John Miller, and myself.
+Mr. Miller had one for each guest already written, all
+of which we accepted and pronounced very good.</p>
+<p>Strange to say, a most excellent dinner emerged from
+all this uproar and confusion. The table, with its silver,
+china, flowers, and rich viands, the guests in satins,
+velvets, jewels, soft laces, and bright cravats, together
+reflecting all the colors of the prism, looked as beautiful
+as the rainbow after a thunderstorm.</p>
+<p>Twenty years ago I made my last sad visit to that
+spot so rich with pleasant memories of bygone days.
+A few relatives and family friends gathered there to
+<a name="Page_69"></a>pay the last tokens of respect to our noble
+cousin. It
+was on one of the coldest days of gray December that
+we laid him in the frozen earth, to be seen no more.
+He died from a stroke of apoplexy in New York city,
+at the home of his niece, Mrs. Ellen Cochrane Walter,
+whose mother was Mr. Smith's only sister. The journey
+from New York to Peterboro was cold and dreary,
+and climbing the hills from Canastota in an open sleigh,
+nine hundred feet above the valley, with the thermometer
+below zero, before sunrise, made all nature look as
+sombre as the sad errand on which we came.</p>
+<p>Outside the mansion everything in its wintry garb
+was cold and still, and all within was silent as the grave.
+The central figure, the light and joy of that home, had
+vanished forever. He who had welcomed us on that
+threshold for half a century would welcome us no
+more. We did what we could to dissipate the gloom
+that settled on us all. We did not intensify our grief
+by darkening the house and covering ourselves with
+black crape, but wore our accustomed dresses of chastened
+colors and opened all the blinds that the glad
+sunshine might stream in. We hung the apartment
+where the casket stood with wreaths of evergreens, and
+overhead we wove his favorite mottoes in living letters,
+"Equal rights for all!" "Rescue Cuba now!" The
+religious services were short and simple; the Unitarian
+clergyman from Syracuse made a few remarks,
+the children from the orphan asylum, in which he was
+deeply interested, sang an appropriate hymn, and
+around the grave stood representatives of the Biddles,
+the Dixwells, the Sedgwicks, the Barclays, and Stantons,
+and three generations of his immediate family.
+With a few appropriate words from General John
+<a name="Page_70"></a>Cochrane we left our beloved kinsman alone in his
+last
+resting place. Two months later, on his birthday, his
+wife, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, passed away and was laid
+by his side. Theirs was a remarkably happy union of
+over half a century, and they were soon reunited in the
+life eternal.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_71"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<h2>OUR WEDDING JOURNEY.</h2>
+<p>My engagement was a season of doubt and conflict&#8212;doubt
+as to the wisdom of changing a girlhood of
+freedom and enjoyment for I knew not what, and conflict
+because the step I proposed was in opposition to
+the wishes of all my family. Whereas, heretofore,
+friends were continually suggesting suitable matches for
+me and painting the marriage relation in the most dazzling
+colors, now that state was represented as beset
+with dangers and disappointments, and men, of all God's
+creatures as the most depraved and unreliable. Hard
+pressed, I broke my engagement, after months of
+anxiety and bewilderment; suddenly I decided to renew
+it, as Mr. Stanton was going to Europe as a delegate to
+the World's Anti-slavery Convention, and we did not
+wish the ocean to roll between us.</p>
+<p>Thursday, May 10, 1840, I determined to take the
+fateful step, without the slightest preparation for a wedding
+or a voyage; but Mr. Stanton, coming up the
+North River, was detained on "Marcy's Overslaugh,"
+a bar in the river where boats were frequently stranded
+for hours. This delay compelled us to be married on
+Friday, which is commonly supposed to be a most unlucky
+day. But as we lived together, without more
+than the usual matrimonial friction, for nearly a half
+a century, had seven children, all but one of whom are
+still living, and have been well sheltered, clothed, and
+<a name="Page_72"></a>fed, enjoying sound minds in sound bodies, no one
+need
+be afraid of going through the marriage ceremony on
+Friday for fear of bad luck. The Scotch clergyman
+who married us, being somewhat superstitious, begged
+us to postpone it until Saturday; but, as we were to
+sail early in the coming week, that was impossible.
+That point settled, the next difficulty was to persuade
+him to leave out the word "obey" in the marriage
+ceremony. As I obstinately refused to obey one with
+whom I supposed I was entering into an equal relation,
+that point, too, was conceded. A few friends were
+invited to be present and, in a simple white evening
+dress, I was married. But the good priest avenged
+himself for the points he conceded, by keeping us on
+the rack with a long prayer and dissertation on the
+sacred institution for one mortal hour. The Rev.
+Hugh Maire was a little stout fellow, vehement in manner
+and speech, who danced about the floor, as he laid
+down the law, in the most original and comical manner.
+As Mr. Stanton had never seen him before, the
+hour to him was one of constant struggle to maintain
+his equilibrium. I had sat under his ministrations for
+several years, and was accustomed to his rhetoric, accent,
+and gestures, and thus was able to go through
+the ordeal in a calmer state of mind.</p>
+<p>Sister Madge, who had stood by me bravely through
+all my doubts and anxieties, went with us to New
+York and saw us on board the vessel. My sister
+Harriet and her husband, Daniel C. Eaton, a merchant
+in New York city, were also there. He and I had had
+for years a standing game of "tag" at all our partings,
+and he had vowed to send me "tagged" to Europe.
+I was equally determined that he should not. Accord<a name="Page_73"></a>ingly,
+I had a desperate chase after him all over the
+vessel, but in vain. He had the last "tag" and
+escaped. As I was compelled, under the circumstances,
+to conduct the pursuit with some degree of decorum,
+and he had the advantage of height, long limbs, and
+freedom from skirts, I really stood no chance whatever.
+However, as the chase kept us all laughing, it helped to
+soften the bitterness of parting.<br>
+</p>
+<table style="text-align: left; width: 100%;" border="0" cellspacing="2"
+ cellpadding="2">
+  <tbody>
+    <tr>
+      <td style="vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a name="img004"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 659px;" alt="H.B. Stanton"
+ title="H.B. Stanton" src="image/004.jpg"><br>
+      </td>
+      <td style="vertical-align: top;"><a name="img005"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 642px;"
+ alt="MRS. STANTON AND DAUGHTER, 1857."
+ title="MRS. STANTON AND DAUGHTER, 1857." src="image/005.jpg"><br>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </tbody>
+</table>
+<br>
+<p>Fairly at sea, I closed another chapter of my life, and
+my thoughts turned to what lay in the near future.
+James G. Birney, the anti-slavery nominee for the
+presidency of the United States, joined us in New York,
+and was a fellow-passenger on the Montreal for England.
+He and my husband were delegates to the World's
+Anti-slavery Convention, and both interested themselves
+in my anti-slavery education. They gave me
+books to read, and, as we paced the deck day by day, the
+question was the chief theme of our conversation.</p>
+<p>Mr. Birney was a polished gentleman of the old
+school, and was excessively proper and punctilious in
+manner and conversation. I soon perceived that he
+thought I needed considerable toning down before
+reaching England. I was quick to see and understand
+that his criticisms of others in a general way and the
+drift of his discourses on manners and conversation had
+a nearer application than he intended I should discover,
+though he hoped I would profit by them. I was always
+grateful to anyone who took an interest in my improvement,
+so I laughingly told him, one day, that he
+need not make his criticisms any longer in that roundabout
+way, but might take me squarely in hand and
+polish me up as speedily as possible. Sitting in the
+saloon at night after a game of chess, in which, per<a name="Page_74"></a>chance,
+I had been the victor, I felt complacent and
+would sometimes say:</p>
+<p>"Well, what have I said or done to-day open to
+criticism?"</p>
+<p>So, in the most gracious manner, he replied on one
+occasion:</p>
+<p>"You went to the masthead in a chair, which I think
+very unladylike. I heard you call your husband
+'Henry' in the presence of strangers, which is not permissible
+in polite society. You should always say 'Mr.
+Stanton.' You have taken three moves back in this
+game."</p>
+<p>"Bless me!" I replied, "what a catalogue in one
+day! I fear my Mentor will despair of my ultimate
+perfection."</p>
+<p>"I should have more hope," he replied, "if you
+seemed to feel my rebukes more deeply, but you evidently
+think them of too little consequence to be much
+disturbed by them."</p>
+<p>As he found even more fault with my husband, we
+condoled with each other and decided that our friend
+was rather hypercritical and that we were as nearly perfect
+as mortals need be for the wear and tear of ordinary
+life. Being both endowed with a good degree of
+self-esteem, neither the praise nor the blame of mankind
+was overpowering to either of us. As the voyage
+lasted eighteen days&#8212;for we were on a sailing vessel&#8212;we
+had time to make some improvement, or, at least,
+to consider all friendly suggestions.</p>
+<p>At this time Mr. Birney was very much in love with
+Miss Fitzhugh of Geneseo, to whom he was afterward
+married. He suffered at times great depression of
+spirits, but I could always rouse him to a sunny mood
+<a name="Page_75"></a>by introducing her name. That was a theme of
+which
+he never grew weary, and, while praising her, a halo of
+glory was to him visible around my head and I was
+faultless for the time being. There was nothing in our
+fellow-passengers to break the monotony of the voyage.
+They were all stolid, middle-class English people, returning
+from various parts of the world to visit their
+native land.</p>
+<p>When out of their hearing, Mr. Birney used to ridicule
+them without mercy; so, one day, by way of making
+a point, I said with great solemnity, "Is it good
+breeding to make fun of the foibles of our fellow-men,
+who have not had our advantages of culture and education?"
+He felt the rebuke and blushed, and never
+again returned to that subject. I am sorry to say I
+was glad to find him once in fault.</p>
+<p>Though some amusement, in whatever extraordinary
+way I could obtain it, was necessary to my existence,
+yet, as it was deemed important that I should thoroughly
+understand the status of the anti-slavery movement
+in my own country, I spent most of my time
+reading and talking on that question. Being the wife
+of a delegate to the World's Convention, we all felt it
+important that I should be able to answer whatever
+questions I might be asked in England on all phases of
+the slavery question.</p>
+<p>The captain, a jolly fellow, was always ready to second
+me in my explorations into every nook and cranny
+of the vessel. He imagined that my reading was distasteful
+and enforced by the older gentlemen, so he was
+continually planning some diversion, and often invited
+me to sit with him and listen to his experiences of a
+sailor's life.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_76"></a>But all things must end in this mortal life,
+and our
+voyage was near its termination, when we were becalmed
+on the Southern coast of England and could not
+make more than one knot an hour. When within sight
+of the distant shore, a pilot boat came along and offered
+to take anyone ashore in six hours. I was so delighted
+at the thought of reaching land that, after much persuasion,
+Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney consented to go.
+Accordingly we were lowered into the boat in an armchair,
+with a luncheon consisting of a cold chicken, a
+loaf of bread, and a bottle of wine, with just enough
+wind to carry our light craft toward our destination.
+But, instead of six hours, we were all day trying to
+reach the land, and, as the twilight deepened and the
+last breeze died away, the pilot said: "We are now
+two miles from shore, but the only way you can reach
+there to-night is by a rowboat."</p>
+<p>As we had no provisions left and nowhere to sleep,
+we were glad to avail ourselves of the rowboat. It was
+a bright moonlight night, the air balmy, the waters
+smooth, and, with two stout oarsmen, we glided swiftly
+along. As Mr. Birney made the last descent and
+seated himself, doubtful as to our reaching shore, turning
+to me he said: "The woman tempted me and I did
+leave the good ship." However, we did reach the shore
+at midnight and landed at Torquay, one of the loveliest
+spots in that country, and our journey to Exeter the
+next day lay through the most beautiful scenery in
+England.</p>
+<p>As we had no luggage with us, our detention by
+customs officers was brief, and we were soon conducted
+to a comfortable little hotel, which we found in the
+morning was a bower of roses. I had never imagined
+<a name="Page_77"></a>anything so beautiful as the drive up to Exeter
+on the
+top of a coach, with four stout horses, trotting at the
+rate of ten miles an hour. It was the first day of June,
+and the country was in all its glory. The foliage was of
+the softest green, the trees were covered with blossoms,
+and the shrubs with flowers. The roads were perfect;
+the large, fine-looking coachman, with his white gloves
+and reins, his rosy face and lofty bearing and the postman
+in red, blowing his horn as we passed through
+every village, made the drive seem like a journey in
+fairyland. We had heard that England was like a garden
+of flowers, but we were wholly unprepared for such
+wealth of beauty.</p>
+<p>In Exeter we had our first view of one of the great
+cathedrals in the Old World, and we were all deeply impressed
+with its grandeur. It was just at the twilight
+hour, when the last rays of the setting sun, streaming
+through the stained glass windows, deepened the shadows
+and threw a mysterious amber light over all. As
+the choir was practicing, the whole effect was heightened
+by the deep tones of the organ reverberating
+through the arched roof, and the sound of human
+voices as if vainly trying to fill the vast space above.
+The novelty and solemnity of the surroundings roused
+all our religious emotions and thrilled every nerve in
+our being. As if moved by the same impulse to linger
+there a while, we all sat down, silently waiting for something
+to break the spell that bound us. Can one wonder
+at the power of the Catholic religion for centuries,
+with such accessories to stimulate the imagination to a
+blind worship of the unknown?</p>
+<p>Sitting in the hotel that evening and wanting something
+to read, we asked the waiter for the daily papers.
+<a name="Page_78"></a>As there was no public table or drawing room for
+guests, but each party had its own apartment, we
+needed a little change from the society of each other.
+Having been, as it were, shut from the outside world
+for eighteen days, we had some curiosity to see whether
+our planet was still revolving from west to east. At
+the mention of papers in the plural number, the attendant
+gave us a look of surprise, and said he would get
+"it." He returned saying that the gentleman in No.
+4 had "it," but he would be through in fifteen
+minutes. Accordingly, at the end of that time, he
+brought the newspaper, and, after we had had it the
+same length of time, he came to take it to another
+party. At our lodging house in London, a paper was
+left for half an hour each morning, and then it was taken
+to the next house, thus serving several families of
+readers.</p>
+<p>The next day brought us to London. When I first
+entered our lodging house in Queen Street, I thought
+it the gloomiest abode I had ever seen. The arrival of
+a delegation of ladies, the next day, from Boston and
+Philadelphia, changed the atmosphere of the establishment,
+and filled me with delightful anticipations of
+some new and charming acquaintances, which I fully
+realized in meeting Emily Winslow, Abby Southwick,
+Elizabeth Neal, Mary Grew, Abby Kimber, Sarah
+Pugh, and Lucretia Mott. There had been a split in
+the American anti-slavery ranks, and delegates came
+from both branches, and, as they were equally represented
+at our lodgings, I became familiar with the whole
+controversy. The potent element which caused the
+division was the woman question, and as the Garrisonian
+branch maintained the right of women to speak
+<a name="Page_79"></a>and vote in the conventions, all my sympathies
+were
+with the Garrisonians, though Mr. Stanton and Mr.
+Birney belonged to the other branch, called political
+abolitionists. To me there was no question so important
+as the emancipation of women from the dogmas
+of the past, political, religious, and social. It
+struck me as very remarkable that abolitionists, who
+felt so keenly the wrongs of the slave, should be so oblivious
+to the equal wrongs of their own mothers, wives,
+and sisters, when, according to the common law, both
+classes occupied a similar legal status.</p>
+<p>Our chief object in visiting England at this time was
+to attend the World's Anti-slavery Convention, to meet
+June 12, 1840, in Freemasons' Hall, London. Delegates
+from all the anti-slavery societies of civilized
+nations were invited, yet, when they arrived, those
+representing associations of women were rejected.
+Though women were members of the National Anti-slavery
+Society, accustomed to speak and vote in all
+its conventions, and to take an equally active part with
+men in the whole anti-slavery struggle, and were there
+as delegates from associations of men and women, as
+well as those distinctively of their own sex, yet all alike
+were rejected because they were women. Women, according
+to English prejudices at that time, were excluded
+by Scriptural texts from sharing equal dignity
+and authority with men in all reform associations; hence
+it was to English minds pre-eminently unfitting that
+women should be admitted as equal members to a
+World's Convention. The question was hotly debated
+through an entire day. My husband made a very
+eloquent speech in favor of admitting the women
+delegates.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_80"></a>When we consider that Lady Byron, Anna
+Jameson,
+Mary Howitt, Mrs. Hugo Reid, Elizabeth Fry, Amelia
+Opie, Ann Green Phillips, Lucretia Mott, and many
+remarkable women, speakers and leaders in the Society
+of Friends, were all compelled to listen in silence to the
+masculine platitudes on woman's sphere, one may
+form some idea of the indignation of unprejudiced
+friends, and especially that of such women as
+Lydia Maria Child, Maria Chapman, Deborah Weston,
+Angelina and Sarah Grimk&eacute;, and Abby Kelly,
+who were impatiently waiting and watching on
+this side, in painful suspense, to hear how their
+delegates were received. Judging from my own feelings,
+the women on both sides of the Atlantic must
+have been humiliated and chagrined, except as these
+feelings were outweighed by contempt for the shallow
+reasoning of their opponents and their comical pose
+and gestures in some of the intensely earnest flights of
+their imagination.</p>
+<p>The clerical portion of the convention was most violent
+in its opposition. The clergymen seemed to have
+God and his angels especially in their care and keeping,
+and were in agony lest the women should do or say
+something to shock the heavenly hosts. Their all-sustaining
+conceit gave them abundant assurance that their
+movements must necessarily be all-pleasing to the
+celestials whose ears were open to the proceedings of
+the World's Convention. Deborah, Huldah, Vashti,
+and Esther might have questioned the propriety of
+calling it a World's Convention, when only half of
+humanity was represented there; but what were their
+opinions worth compared with those of the Rev. A.
+Harvey, the Rev. C. Stout, or the Rev. J. Burnet, who,
+<a name="Page_81"></a>Bible in hand, argued woman's subjection,
+divinely decreed
+when Eve was created.</p>
+<p>One of our champions in the convention, George
+Bradburn, a tall thick-set man with a voice like thunder,
+standing head and shoulders above the clerical representatives,
+swept all their arguments aside by declaring
+with tremendous emphasis that, if they could prove
+to him that the Bible taught the entire subjection of
+one-half of the race to the other, he should consider
+that the best thing he could do for humanity would be
+to bring together every Bible in the universe and make
+a grand bonfire of them.</p>
+<p>It was really pitiful to hear narrow-minded bigots,
+pretending to be teachers and leaders of men, so cruelly
+remanding their own mothers, with the rest of womankind,
+to absolute subjection to the ordinary masculine
+type of humanity. I always regretted that the women
+themselves had not taken part in the debate before the
+convention was fully organized and the question of
+delegates settled. It seemed to me then, and does now,
+that all delegates with credentials from recognized societies
+should have had a voice in the organization of the
+convention, though subject to exclusion afterward.
+However, the women sat in a low curtained seat like a
+church choir, and modestly listened to the French, British,
+and American Solons for twelve of the longest days
+in June, as did, also, our grand Garrison and Rogers in
+the gallery. They scorned a convention that ignored
+the rights of the very women who had fought, side by
+side, with them in the anti-slavery conflict. "After battling
+so many long years," said Garrison, "for the liberties
+of African slaves, I can take no part in a convention
+that strikes down the most sacred rights of all women."
+<a name="Page_82"></a>After coming three thousand miles to speak on the
+subject
+nearest his heart, he nobly shared the enforced
+silence of the rejected delegates. It was a great act of
+self-sacrifice that should never be forgotten by women.</p>
+<p>Thomas Clarkson was chosen president of the convention
+and made a few remarks in opening, but he soon
+retired, as his age and many infirmities made all public
+occasions too burdensome, and Joseph Sturge, a Quaker,
+was made chairman. Sitting next to Mrs. Mott,
+I said:</p>
+<p>"As there is a Quaker in the chair now, what could
+he do if the spirit should move you to speak?"</p>
+<p>"Ah," she replied, evidently not believing such a
+contingency possible, "where the spirit of the Lord is,
+there is liberty."</p>
+<p>She had not much faith in the sincerity of abolitionists
+who, while eloquently defending the natural rights
+of slaves, denied freedom of speech to one-half the people
+of their own race. Such was the consistency of an
+assemblage of philanthropists! They would have been
+horrified at the idea of burning the flesh of the distinguished
+women present with red-hot irons, but the
+crucifixion of their pride and self-respect, the humiliation
+of the spirit, seemed to them a most trifling matter.
+The action of this convention was the topic of discussion,
+in public and private, for a long time, and stung
+many women into new thought and action and gave
+rise to the movement for women's political equality
+both in England and the United States.</p>
+<p>As the convention adjourned, the remark was heard
+on all sides, "It is about time some demand was made
+for new liberties for women." As Mrs. Mott and I
+walked home, arm in arm, commenting on the incidents
+<a name="Page_83"></a>of the day, we resolved to hold a convention as
+soon as
+we returned home, and form a society to advocate the
+rights of women. At the lodging house on Queen
+Street, where a large number of delegates had apartments,
+the discussions were heated at every meal, and
+at times so bitter that, at last, Mr. Birney packed his
+valise and sought more peaceful quarters. Having
+strongly opposed the admission of women as delegates
+to the convention it was rather embarrassing to meet
+them, during the intervals between the various sessions,
+at the table and in the drawing room.</p>
+<p>These were the first women I had ever met who believed
+in the equality of the sexes and who did not
+believe in the popular orthodox religion. The acquaintance
+of Lucretia Mott, who was a broad, liberal
+thinker on politics, religion, and all questions of reform,
+opened to me a new world of thought. As we walked
+about to see the sights of London, I embraced every
+opportunity to talk with her. It was intensely gratifying
+to hear all that, through years of doubt, I had dimly
+thought, so freely discussed by other women, some of
+them no older than myself&#8212;women, too, of rare intelligence,
+cultivation, and refinement. After six weeks'
+sojourn under the same roof with Lucretia Mott, whose
+conversation was uniformly on a high plane, I felt that
+I knew her too well to sympathize with the orthodox
+Friends, who denounced her as a dangerous woman because
+she doubted certain dogmas they fully believed.</p>
+<p>As Mr. Birney and my husband were invited to speak
+all over England, Scotland, and Ireland, and we were
+uniformly entertained by orthodox Friends, I had
+abundant opportunity to know the general feeling
+among them toward Lucretia Mott. Even Elizabeth
+<a name="Page_84"></a>Fry seemed quite unwilling to breathe the same
+atmosphere
+with her. During the six weeks that many of
+us remained in London after the convention we were
+invited to a succession of public and private breakfasts,
+dinners, and teas, and on these occasions it was amusing
+to watch Mrs. Fry's sedulous efforts to keep Mrs.
+Mott at a distance. If Mrs. Mott was on the lawn,
+Mrs. Fry would go into the house; if Mrs. Mott was in
+the house, Mrs. Fry would stay out on the lawn. One
+evening, when we were all crowded into two parlors,
+and there was no escape, the word went round that
+Mrs. Fry felt moved to pray with the American delegates,
+whereupon a profound silence reigned. After a
+few moments Mrs. Fry's voice was heard deploring the
+schism among the American Friends; that sol many had
+been led astray by false doctrines; urging the Spirit of
+All Good to show them the error of their way, and
+gather them once more into the fold of the great Shepherd
+of our faith. The prayer was directed so pointedly
+at the followers of Elias Hicks, and at Lucretia
+Mott in particular, that I whispered to Lucretia, at the
+close, that she should now pray for Mrs. Fry, that her
+eyes might be opened to her bigotry and uncharitableness,
+and be led by the Spirit into higher light. "Oh,
+no!" she replied, "a prayer of this character, under the
+circumstances, is an unfair advantage to take of a
+stranger, but I would not resent it in the house of her
+friends."</p>
+<p>In these gatherings we met the leading Quaker families
+and many other philanthropists of different denominations
+interested in the anti-slavery movement.
+On all these occasions our noble Garrison spoke
+most effectively, and thus our English friends had an
+<a name="Page_85"></a>opportunity of enjoying his eloquence, the lack
+of which
+had been so grave a loss in the convention.</p>
+<p>We devoted a month sedulously to sightseeing in
+London, and, in the line of the traveler's duty, we explored
+St. Paul's Cathedral, the British Museum, the
+Tower, various prisons, hospitals, galleries of art, Windsor
+Castle, and St. James's Palace, the Zoological Gardens,
+the schools and colleges, the chief theaters and
+churches, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament,
+and the Courts. We heard the most famous
+preachers, actors, and statesmen. In fact, we went to
+the top and bottom of everything, from the dome of St.
+Paul to the tunnel under the Thames, just then in the
+process of excavation. We drove through the parks,
+sailed up and down the Thames, and then visited every
+shire but four in England, in all of which we had large
+meetings, Mr. Birney and Mr. Stanton being the chief
+speakers. As we were generally invited to stay with
+Friends, it gave us a good opportunity to see the leading
+families, such as the Ashursts, the Alexanders, the
+Priestmans, the Braithwaites, and Buxtons, the Gurneys,
+the Peases, the Wighams of Edinburgh, and the
+Webbs of Dublin. We spent a few days with John
+Joseph Gurney at his beautiful home in Norwich. He
+had just returned from America, having made a tour
+through the South. When asked how he liked
+America, he said, "I like everything but your pie crust
+and your slavery."</p>
+<p>Before leaving London, the whole American delegation,
+about forty in number, were invited to dine with
+Samuel Gurney. He and his brother, John Joseph
+Gurney, were, at that time, the leading bankers in London.
+Someone facetiously remarked that the Jews
+<a name="Page_86"></a>were the leading bankers in London until the
+Quakers
+crowded them out.</p>
+<p>One of the most striking women I met in England
+at this time was Miss Elizabeth Pease. I never saw
+a more strongly marked face. Meeting her, forty years
+after, on the platform of a great meeting in the Town
+Hall at Glasgow, I knew her at once. She is now Mrs.
+Nichol of Edinburgh, and, though on the shady side
+of eighty, is still active in all the reforms of the day.</p>
+<p>It surprised us very much at first, when driving into
+the grounds of some of these beautiful Quaker homes,
+to have the great bell rung at the lodge, and to see the
+number of liveried servants on the porch and in the halls,
+and then to meet the host in plain garb, and to be welcomed
+in plain language, "How does thee do, Henry?"
+"How does thee do Elizabeth?" This sounded peculiarly
+sweet to me&#8212;a stranger in a strange land. The
+wealthy English Quakers we visited at that time, taking
+them all in all, were the most charming people I had
+ever seen. They were refined and intelligent on all
+subjects, and though rather conservative on some
+points, were not aggressive in pressing their opinions
+on others. Their hospitality was charming and generous,
+their homes the beau ideal of comfort and order,
+the cuisine faultless, while peace reigned over all. The
+quiet, gentle manner and the soft tones in speaking, and
+the mysterious quiet in these well-ordered homes were
+like the atmosphere one finds in a modern convent,
+where the ordinary duties of the day seem to be accomplished
+by some magical influence.</p>
+<p>Before leaving London we spent a delightful day
+in June at the home of Samuel Gurney, surrounded by
+a fine park with six hundred deer roaming about&#8212;<a name="Page_87"></a>always
+a beautiful feature in the English landscape. As
+the Duchess of Sutherland and Lord Morpeth had expressed
+a wish to Mrs. Fry to meet some of the leading
+American abolitionists, it was arranged that they should
+call at her brother's residence on this occasion. Soon
+after we arrived, the Duchess, with her brother and
+Mrs. Fry, in her state carriage with six horses and outriders,
+drove up to the door. Mr. Gurney was evidently
+embarrassed at the prospect of a lord and a duchess
+under his roof. Leaning on the arm of Mrs. Fry, the
+duchess was formally introduced to us individually.
+Mrs. Mott conversed with the distinguished guests
+with the same fluency and composure as with her own
+countrywomen. However anxious the English people
+were as to what they should say and do, the Americans
+were all quite at their ease.</p>
+<p>As Lord Morpeth had some interesting letters from
+the island of Jamaica to read to us, we formed a circle
+on the lawn to listen. England had just paid one hundred
+millions of dollars to emancipate the slaves, and we
+were all interested in hearing the result of the experiment.
+The distinguished guest in turn had many
+questions to ask in regard to American slavery. We
+found none of that prejudice against color in England
+which is so inveterate among the American people;
+at my first dinner in England I found myself beside a
+gentleman from Jamaica, as black as the ace of spades.
+After the departure of the duchess, dinner was announced.
+It was a sumptuous meal, most tastefully
+served. There were half a dozen wineglasses at every
+plate, but abolitionists, in those days, were all converts
+to temperance, and, as the bottles went around there
+was a general headshaking, and the right hand ex<a name="Page_88"></a>tended
+over the glasses. Our English friends were
+amazed that none of us drank wine. Mr. Gurney said
+he had never before seen such a sight as forty ladies and
+gentlemen sitting down to dinner and none of them
+tasting wine. In talking with him on that point, he
+said:</p>
+<p>"I suppose your nursing mothers drink beer?"</p>
+<p>I laughed, and said, "Oh, no! We should be afraid
+of befogging the brains of our children."</p>
+<p>"No danger of that," said he; "we are all bright
+enough, and yet a cask of beer is rolled into the cellar
+for the mother with each newborn child."</p>
+<p>Colonel Miller from Vermont, one of our American
+delegation, was in the Greek war with Lord Byron. As
+Lady Byron had expressed a wish to see him, that her
+daughter might know something of her father's last
+days, an interview was arranged, and the colonel kindly
+invited me to accompany him. His account of their
+acquaintance and the many noble traits of character
+Lord Byron manifested, his generous impulses and acts
+of self-sacrifice, seemed particularly gratifying to the
+daughter. It was a sad interview, arranged chiefly for
+the daughter's satisfaction, though Lady Byron listened
+with a painful interest. As the colonel was a warm
+admirer of the great poet, he no doubt represented him
+in the best possible light, and his narration of his last
+days was deeply interesting. Lady Byron had a quiet,
+reserved manner, a sad face, and a low, plaintive voice,
+like one who had known deep sorrow. I had seen her
+frequently in the convention and at social teas, and had
+been personally presented to her before this occasion.
+Altogether I thought her a sweet, attractive-looking
+woman.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_89"></a>We had a pleasant interview with Lord Brougham
+also. The Philadelphia Anti-slavery Society sent him
+an elaborately carved inkstand, made from the wood of
+Pennsylvania Hall, which was destroyed by a pro-slavery
+mob. Mr. Birney made a most graceful speech in
+presenting the memento, and Lord Brougham was
+equally happy in receiving it.</p>
+<p>One of the most notable characters we met at this
+time was Daniel O'Connell. He made his first appearance
+in the London convention a few days after the
+women were rejected. He paid a beautiful tribute to
+woman and said that, if he had been present when the
+question was under discussion, he should have spoken
+and voted for their admission. He was a tall, well-developed,
+magnificent-looking man, and probably one of
+the most effective speakers Ireland ever produced. I
+saw him at a great India meeting in Exeter Hall, where
+some of the best orators from France, America, and England
+were present. There were six natives from India
+on the platform who, not understanding anything that
+was said, naturally remained listless throughout the
+proceedings. But the moment O'Connell began to
+speak they were all attention, bending forward and
+closely watching every movement. One could almost
+tell what he said from the play of his expressive features,
+his wonderful gestures, and the pose of his whole body.
+When he finished, the natives joined in the general applause.
+He had all Wendell Phillips' power of sarcasm
+and denunciation, and added to that the most tender
+pathos. He could make his audience laugh or cry at
+pleasure. It was a rare sight to see him dressed in
+"Repeal cloth" in one of his Repeal meetings. We
+were in Dublin in the midst of that excitement, when
+<a name="Page_90"></a>the hopes of new liberties for that oppressed
+people all
+centered on O'Connell. The enthusiasm of the people
+for the Repeal of the Union was then at white-heat.
+Dining one day with the "Great Liberator," as he
+was called, I asked him if he hoped to carry that
+measure.</p>
+<p>"No," he said, "but it is always good policy to claim
+the uttermost and then you will be sure to get something."</p>
+<p>Could he have looked forward fifty years and have
+seen the present condition of his unhappy country, he
+would have known that English greed and selfishness
+could defeat any policy, however wise and far-seeing.
+The successive steps by which Irish commerce was
+ruined and religious feuds between her people continually
+fanned into life, and the nation subjugated, form the
+darkest page in the history of England. But the people
+are awakening at last to their duty, and, for the first
+time, organizing English public sentiment in favor of
+"Home Rule." I attended several large, enthusiastic
+meetings when last in England, in which the most radical
+utterances of Irish patriots were received with prolonged
+cheers. I trust the day is not far off when the
+beautiful Emerald Isle will unfurl her banner before
+the nations of the earth, enthroned as the Queen
+Republic of those northern seas!</p>
+<p>We visited Wordsworth's home at Grasmere, among
+the beautiful lakes, but he was not there. However,
+we saw his surroundings&#8212;the landscape that inspired
+some of his poetic dreams, and the dense rows of hollyhocks
+of every shade and color, leading from his porch
+to the gate. The gardener told us this was his favorite
+flower. Though it had no special beauty in itself, taken
+<a name="Page_91"></a>alone, yet the wonderful combination of royal
+colors
+was indeed striking and beautiful. We saw Harriet
+Martineau at her country home as well as at her house
+in town. As we were obliged to converse with her
+through an ear trumpet, we left her to do most of the
+talking. She gave us many amusing experiences of her
+travels in America, and her comments on the London
+Convention were rich and racy. She was not an attractive
+woman in either manner or appearance, though
+considered great and good by all who knew her.</p>
+<p>We spent a few days with Thomas Clarkson, in Ipswich.
+He lived in a very old house with long rambling
+corridors, surrounded by a moat, which we crossed' by
+means of a drawbridge. He had just written an article
+against the colonization scheme, which his wife read
+aloud to us. He was so absorbed in the subject that he
+forgot the article was written by himself, and kept up
+a running applause with "hear!" "hear!" the English
+mode of expressing approbation. He told us of the
+severe struggles he and Wilberforce had gone through
+in rousing the public sentiment of England to the demand
+for emancipation in Jamaica. But their trials
+were mild, compared with what Garrison and his coadjutors
+had suffered in America.</p>
+<p>Having read of all these people, it was difficult to realize,
+as I visited them in their own homes from day to
+day, that they were the same persons I had so long worshiped
+from afar!</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_92"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<h2>HOMEWARD BOUND.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>After taking a view of the wonders and surroundings
+of London we spent a month in Paris. Fifty years ago
+there was a greater difference in the general appearance
+of things between France and England than now.
+That countries only a few hours' journey apart should
+differ so widely was to us a great surprise. How
+changed the sights and sounds! Here was the old
+diligence, lumbering along with its various compartments
+and its indefinite number of horses, harnessed
+with rope and leather, sometimes two, sometimes
+three abreast, and sometimes one in advance,
+with an outrider belaboring the poor beasts without
+cessation, and the driver yelling and cracking
+his whip. The uproar, confusion, and squabbles at
+every stopping place are overwhelming; the upper
+classes, men and women alike, rushing into each other's
+arms, embrace and kiss, while drivers and hostlers on
+the slightest provocation hurl at each other all the
+denunciatory adjectives in the language, and with such
+vehemence that you expect every moment to see a
+deadly conflict. But to-day, as fifty years ago, they
+never arrive at that point. Theirs was and is purely an
+encounter of words, which they keep up, as they drive off
+in opposite directions, just as far as they can hear and
+see each other, with threats of vengeance to come.
+<a name="Page_93"></a>Such an encounter between two Englishmen would
+mean the death of one or the other.</p>
+<p>All this was in marked contrast with John Bull and
+his Island. There the people were as silent as if they
+had been born deaf and dumb. The English stagecoach
+was compact, clean, and polished from top to
+bottom, the horses and harness glossy and in order, the
+well-dressed, dignified coachman, who seldom spoke a
+loud word or used his whip, kept his seat at the various
+stages, while hostlers watered or changed the steeds;
+the postman blew his bugle blast to have the mail
+in readiness, and the reserved passengers made no
+remarks on what was passing; for, in those days, Englishmen
+were afraid to speak to each other for fear of
+recognizing one not of their class, while to strangers
+and foreigners they would not speak except in case of
+dire necessity. The Frenchman was ready enough to
+talk, but, unfortunately, we were separated by different
+languages. Thus the Englishman would not talk,
+the Frenchman could not, and the intelligent, loquacious
+American driver, who discourses on politics, religion,
+national institutions, and social gossip was unknown
+on that side of the Atlantic. What the curious
+American traveler could find out himself from observation
+and pertinacious seeking he was welcome to, but
+the Briton would waste no breath to enlighten Yankees
+as to the points of interest or customs of his country.</p>
+<p>Our party consisted of Miss Pugh, Abby Kimber, Mr.
+Stanton, and myself. I had many amusing experiences
+in making my wants known when alone, having
+forgotten most of my French. For instance, traveling
+night and day in the diligence to Paris, as the stops
+were short, one was sometimes in need of something to
+<a name="Page_94"></a>eat. One night as my companions were all asleep,
+I
+went out to get a piece of cake or a cracker, or whatever
+of that sort I could obtain, but, owing to my clumsy
+use of the language, I was misunderstood. Just as the
+diligence was about to start, and the shout for us to
+get aboard was heard, the waiter came running with a
+piping hot plate of sweetbreads nicely broiled. I had
+waited and wondered why it took so long to get a simple
+piece of cake or biscuit, and lo! a piece of hot meat
+was offered me. I could not take the frizzling thing
+in my hand nor eat it without bread, knife, or fork, so
+I hurried off to the coach, the man pursuing me to
+the very door. I was vexed and disappointed, while
+the rest of the party were convulsed with laughter at the
+parting salute and my attempt to make my way alone.
+It was some time before I heard the last of the "sweetbreads."</p>
+<p>When we reached Paris we secured a courier who
+could speak English, to show us the sights of that wonderful
+city. Every morning early he was at the door,
+rain or shine, to carry out our plans, which, with the
+aid of our guidebook, we had made the evening before.
+In this way, going steadily, day after day, we visited
+all points of interest for miles round and sailed up and
+down the Seine. The Palace of the Tuileries, with
+its many associations with a long line of more or less
+unhappy kings and queens, was then in its glory, and its
+extensive and beautiful grounds were always gay with
+crowds of happy people. These gardens were a great
+resort for nurses and children and were furnished with
+all manner of novel appliances for their amusement, including
+beautiful little carriages drawn by four goats
+with girls or boys driving, boats sailing in the air, seem<a
+ name="Page_95"></a>ingly
+propelled by oars, and hobby horses flying round
+on whirligigs with boys vainly trying to catch each
+other. No people have ever taken the trouble to invent
+so many amusements for children as have the
+French. The people enjoyed being always in the open
+air, night and day. The parks are crowded with amusement
+seekers, some reading and playing games, some
+sewing, knitting, playing on musical instruments, dancing,
+sitting around tables in bevies eating, drinking, and
+gayly chatting. And yet, when they drive in carriages
+or go to their homes at night, they will shut themselves
+in as tight as oysters in their shells. They have a
+theory that night air is very injurious,&#8212;in the house,&#8212;although
+they will sit outside until midnight. I found
+this same superstition prevalent in France fifty years
+later.</p>
+<p>We visited the H&ocirc;tel des Invalides just as they were
+preparing the sarcophagus for the reception of the remains
+of Napoleon. We witnessed the wild excitement
+of that enthusiastic people, and listened with deep
+interest to the old soldiers' praises of their great
+general. The ladies of our party chatted freely with
+them. They all had interesting anecdotes to relate
+of their chief. They said he seldom slept over four
+hours, was an abstemious eater, and rarely changed a
+servant, as he hated a strange face about him. He was
+very fond of a game of chess, and snuffed continuously;
+talked but little, was a light sleeper,&#8212;the stirring of a
+mouse would awaken him,&#8212;and always on the watch-tower.
+They said that, in his great campaigns, he
+seemed to be omnipresent. A sentinel asleep at his
+post would sometimes waken to find Napoleon on duty
+in his place.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_96"></a>The ship that brought back Napoleon's remains
+was
+the <i>Belle Poule</i> (the beautiful hen!), which landed at
+Cherbourg, November 30, 1840. The body was conveyed
+to the Church of the Invalides, which adjoins the
+tomb. The Prince de Joinville brought the body from
+Saint Helena, and Louis Philippe received it.</p>
+<p>At that time each soldier had a little patch of land
+to decorate as he pleased, in which many scenes from
+their great battles were illustrated. One represented
+Napoleon crossing the Alps. There were the cannon,
+the soldiers, Napoleon on horseback, all toiling up the
+steep ascent, perfect in miniature. In another was
+Napoleon, flag in hand, leading the charge across the
+bridge of Lodi. In still another was Napoleon in
+Egypt, before the Pyramids, seated, impassive, on his
+horse, gazing at the Sphinx, as if about to utter his immortal
+words to his soldiers: "Here, forty centuries
+look down upon us." These object lessons of the past
+are all gone now and the land used for more prosaic purposes.</p>
+<p>I little thought, as I witnessed that great event in
+France in 1840, that fifty-seven years later I should
+witness a similar pageant in the American Republic,
+when our nation paid its last tributes to General Grant.
+There are many points of similarity in these great
+events. As men they were alike aggressive and self-reliant.
+In Napoleon's will he expressed the wish that
+his last resting place might be in the land and among
+the people he loved so well. His desire is fulfilled. He
+rests in the chief city of the French republic, whose
+shores are washed by the waters of the Seine. General
+Grant expressed the wish that he might be interred
+in our metropolis and added: "Wherever I am buried,
+<a name="Page_97"></a>I desire that there shall be room for my wife by
+my
+side." His wishes, too, are fulfilled. He rests in the
+chief city of the American Republic, whose shores are
+washed by the waters of the Hudson, and in his magnificent
+mausoleum there is room for his wife by his
+side.</p>
+<p>Several members of the Society of Friends from Boston
+and Philadelphia, who had attended the World's
+Anti-slavery Convention in London, joined our party
+for a trip on the Continent. Though opposed to war,
+they all took a deep interest in the national excitement
+and in the pageants that heralded the expected arrival
+of the hero from Saint Helena. As they all wore military
+coats of the time of George Fox, the soldiers, supposing
+they belonged to the army of some country,
+gave them the military salute wherever we went, much
+to their annoyance and our amusement.</p>
+<p>In going the rounds, Miss Pugh amused us by reading
+aloud the description of what we were admiring and
+the historical events connected with that particular
+building or locality. We urged her to spend the time
+taking in all she could see and to read up afterward; but
+no, a history of France and Galignani's guide she carried
+everywhere, and, while the rest of us looked until
+we were fully satisfied, she took a bird's-eye view and
+read the description. Dear little woman! She was a
+fine scholar, a good historian, was well informed on all
+subjects and countries, proved an invaluable traveling
+companion, and could tell more of what we saw than all
+the rest of us together.</p>
+<p>On several occasions we chanced to meet Louis
+Philippe dashing by in an open barouche. We felt
+great satisfaction in remembering that at one time he
+<a name="Page_98"></a>was an exile in our country, where he earned his
+living
+by teaching school. What an honor for Yankee children
+to have been taught, by a French king, the rudiments
+of his language.</p>
+<p>Having been accustomed to the Puritan Sunday of
+restraint and solemnity, I found that day in Paris gay
+and charming. The first time I entered into some of
+the festivities, I really expected to be struck by lightning.
+The libraries, art galleries, concert halls, and
+theaters were all open to the people. Bands of music
+were playing in the parks, where whole families, with
+their luncheons, spent the day&#8212;husbands, wives, and
+children, on an excursion together. The boats on the
+Seine and all public conveyances were crowded. Those
+who had but this one day for pleasure seemed determined
+to make the most of it. A wonderful contrast
+with that gloomy day in London, where all places
+of amusement were closed and nothing open to the people
+but the churches and drinking saloons. The streets
+and houses in which Voltaire, La Fayette, Mme. de
+Sta&euml;l, Mme. Roland, Charlotte Corday, and other
+famous men and women lived and died, were pointed
+out to us. We little thought, then, of all the terrible
+scenes to be enacted in Paris, nor that France would
+emerge from the dangers that beset her on every side
+into a sister republic. It has been a wonderful
+achievement, with kings and Popes all plotting against
+her experiment, that she has succeeded in putting kingcraft
+under her feet and proclaimed liberty, equality,
+fraternity for her people.</p>
+<p>After a few weeks in France, we returned to London,
+traveling through England, Ireland, and Scotland for several
+months. We visited the scenes that Shakespeare,
+<a name="Page_99"></a>Burns, and Dickens had made classic. We spent a
+few
+days at Huntingdon, the home of Oliver Cromwell, and
+visited the estate where he passed his early married life.
+While there, one of his great admirers read aloud to us
+a splendid article in one of the reviews, written by Carlyle,
+giving "The Protector," as his friend said, his true
+place in history. It was long the fashion of England's
+historians to represent Cromwell as a fanatic and hypocrite,
+but his character was vindicated by later writers.
+"Never," says Macaulay, "was a ruler so conspicuously
+born for sovereignty. The cup which has intoxicated
+almost all others sobered him."</p>
+<p>We saw the picturesque ruins of Kenilworth Castle,
+the birthplace of Shakespeare, the homes of Byron and
+Mary Chaworth, wandered through Newstead Abbey,
+saw the monument to the faithful dog, and the large dining
+room where Byron and his boon companions used
+to shoot at a mark. It was a desolate region. We
+stopped a day or two at Ayr and drove out to the birthplace
+of Burns. The old house that had sheltered him
+was still there, but its walls now echoed to other voices,
+and the fields where he had toiled were plowed by
+other hands. We saw the stream and banks where he
+and Mary sat together, the old stone church where the
+witches held their midnight revels, the two dogs, and
+the bridge of Ayr. With Burns, as with Sappho, it
+was love that awoke his heart to song. A bonny lass
+who worked with him in the harvest field inspired his
+first attempts at rhyme. Life, with Burns, was one
+long, hard struggle. With his natural love for the
+beautiful, the terrible depression of spirits he suffered
+from his dreary surroundings was inevitable. The
+interest great men took in him, when they awoke to
+<a name="Page_100"></a>his genius, came too late for his safety and
+encouragement.
+In a glass of whisky he found, at last, the rest
+and cheer he never knew when sober. Poverty and
+ignorance are the parents of intemperance, and that
+vice will never be suppressed until the burdens of life
+are equally shared by all.</p>
+<p>We saw Melrose by moonlight, spent several hours at
+Abbotsford, and lingered in the little sanctum sanctorum
+where Scott wrote his immortal works. It was so small
+that he could reach the bookshelves on every side.
+We went through the prisons, castles, and narrow
+streets of Edinburgh, where the houses are seven and
+eight stories high, each story projecting a few feet until,
+at the uppermost, opposite neighbors could easily shake
+hands and chat together. All the intervals from
+active sight-seeing we spent in reading the lives of historical
+personages in poetry and prose, until our sympathies
+flowed out to the real and ideal characters.
+Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots,
+Ellen Douglas, Jeanie and Effie Deans, Highland Mary,
+Rebecca the Jewess, Di Vernon, and Rob Roy all alike
+seemed real men and women, whose shades or descendants
+we hoped to meet on their native heath.</p>
+<p>Here among the Scotch lakes and mountains Mr.
+Stanton and I were traveling alone for the first time
+since our marriage, and as we both enjoyed walking, we
+made many excursions on foot to points that could not
+be reached in any other way. We spent some time
+among the Grampian Hills, so familiar to every schoolboy,
+walking, and riding about on donkeys. We sailed
+up and down Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond. My
+husband was writing letters for some New York newspapers
+on the entire trip, and aimed to get exact knowl<a name="Page_101"></a>edge
+of all we saw; thus I had the advantage of the information
+he gathered. On these long tramps I wore
+a short dress, reaching just below the knee, of dark-blue
+cloth, a military cap of the same material that
+shaded my eyes, and a pair of long boots, made on the
+masculine pattern then generally worn&#8212;the most easy
+style for walking, as the pressure is equal on the whole
+foot and the ankle has free play. Thus equipped, and
+early trained by my good brother-in-law to long walks,
+I found no difficulty in keeping pace with my husband.</p>
+<p>Being self-reliant and venturesome in our explorations,
+we occasionally found ourselves involved in grave
+difficulties by refusing to take a guide. For instance,
+we decided to go to the top of Ben Nevis alone. It
+looked to us a straightforward piece of business to walk
+up a mountain side on a bee line, and so, in the face of
+repeated warnings by our host, we started. We knew
+nothing of zigzag paths to avoid the rocks, the springs,
+and swamps; in fact we supposed all mountains smooth
+and dry, like our native hills that we were accustomed
+to climb. The landlord shook his head and smiled
+when we told him we should return at noon to dinner,
+and we smiled, too, thinking he placed a low estimate
+on our capacity for walking. But we had not gone far
+when we discovered the difficulties ahead. Some places
+were so steep that I had to hold on to my companion's
+coat tails, while he held on to rocks and twigs, or braced
+himself with a heavy cane. By the time we were halfway
+up we were in a dripping perspiration, our feet
+were soaking wet, and we were really too tired to proceed.
+But, after starting with such supreme confidence
+in ourselves, we were ashamed to confess our fatigue to
+each other, and much more to return and verify all the
+<a name="Page_102"></a>prognostications of the host and his guides. So
+we
+determined to push on and do what we had proposed.
+With the prospect of a magnificent view and an hour's
+delicious rest on the top, we started with renewed courage.
+A steady climb of six hours brought us to the
+goal of promise; our ascent was accomplished. But
+alas! it was impossible to stop there&#8212;the cold wind
+chilled us to the bone in a minute. So we took one
+glance at the world below and hurried down the south
+side to get the mountain between us and the cold northeaster.</p>
+<p>When your teeth are chattering with the cold, and
+the wind threatening to make havoc with your raiment,
+you are not in a favorable condition to appreciate
+grand scenery. Like the king of France with
+twice ten thousand men, we marched up the hill and
+then, marched down again. We found descending still
+more difficult, as we were in constant fear of slipping,
+losing our hold, and rolling to the bottom. We were
+tired, hungry, and disappointed, and the fear of not
+reaching the valley before nightfall pressed heavily
+upon us. Neither confessed to the other the fatigue
+and apprehension each felt, but, with fresh endeavor and
+words of encouragement, we cautiously went on. We
+accidentally struck a trail that led us winding down
+comfortably some distance, but we lost it, and went
+clambering down as well as we could in our usual way.
+To add to our misery, a dense Scotch mist soon enveloped
+us, so that we could see but a short distance
+ahead, and not knowing the point from which we
+started, we feared we might be going far out of our way.
+The coming twilight, too, made the prospect still
+darker. Fortunately our host, having less faith in us
+<a name="Page_103"></a>than we had in ourselves, sent a guide to
+reconnoiter,
+and, just at the moment when we began to realize our
+danger of spending the night on the mountain, and to
+admit it to each other, the welcome guide hailed us in
+his broad accent. His shepherd dog led the way into
+the beaten path. As I could hardly stand I took the
+guide's arm, and when we reached the bottom two
+donkeys were in readiness to take us to the hotel.</p>
+<p>We did not recover from the fatigue of that expedition
+in several days, and we made no more experiments
+of exploring strange places without guides. We
+learned, too, that mountains are not so hospitable as
+they seem nor so gently undulating as they appear in
+the distance, and that guides serve other purposes besides
+extorting money from travelers. If, under their
+guidance, we had gone up and down easily, we should
+always have thought we might as well have gone alone.
+So our experience gave us a good lesson in humility.
+We had been twelve hours on foot with nothing to eat,
+when at last we reached the hotel. We were in no
+mood for boasting of the success of our excursion, and
+our answers were short to inquiries as to how we had
+passed the day.</p>
+<p>Being tired of traveling and contending about
+woman's sphere with the Rev. John Scoble, an Englishman,
+who escorted Mr. Birney and Mr. Stanton on
+their tour through the country, I decided to spend a
+month in Dublin; while the gentlemen held meetings
+in Cork, Belfast, Waterford, Limerick, and other chief
+towns, finishing the series with a large, enthusiastic
+gathering in Dublin, at which O'Connell made one of
+his most withering speeches on American slavery; the
+inconsistency of such an "institution" with the princi<a name="Page_104"></a>ples
+of a republican government giving full play to his
+powers of sarcasm. On one occasion, when introduced
+to a slaveholder, he put his hands behind his back, refusing
+to recognize a man who bought and sold his
+fellow-beings. The Rev. John Scoble was one of the
+most conceited men I ever met. His narrow ideas in
+regard to woman, and the superiority of the royal and
+noble classes in his own country, were to me so exasperating
+that I grew more and more bellicose every
+day we traveled in company. He was terribly seasick
+crossing the Channel, to my intense satisfaction. As
+he always boasted of his distinguished countrymen, I
+suggested, in the midst of one of his most agonizing
+spasms, that he ought to find consolation in the fact
+that Lord Nelson was always seasick on the slightest
+provocation.</p>
+<p>The poverty in Ireland was a continual trial to our
+sensibilities; beggars haunted our footsteps everywhere,
+in the street and on the highways, crouching on the
+steps of the front door and on the curbstones, and surrounding
+our carriage wherever and whenever we
+stopped to shop or make a visit. The bony hands and
+sunken eyes and sincere gratitude expressed for every
+penny proved their suffering real. As my means were
+limited and I could not pass one by, I got a pound
+changed into pennies, and put them in a green bag,
+which I took in the carriage wherever I went. It was
+but a drop in the ocean, but it was all I could do to relieve
+that unfathomed misery. The poverty I saw
+everywhere in the Old World, and especially in Ireland,
+was a puzzling problem to my mind, but I rejected the
+idea that it was a necessary link in human experience&#8212;that
+it always had been and always must be.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_105"></a>As we drove, day by day, in that magnificent
+Phoenix
+Park, of fifteen hundred acres, one of the largest
+parks, I believe, in the world, I would often put
+the question to myself, what right have the few to make
+a pleasure ground of these acres, while the many have
+nowhere to lay their heads, crouching under stiles and
+bridges, clothed in rags, and feeding on sea-weed with
+no hope, in the slowly passing years, of any change for
+the better? The despair stamped on every brow told
+the sad story of their wrongs. Those accustomed to
+such everyday experiences brush beggars aside as they
+would so many flies, but those to whom such sights
+are new cannot so easily quiet their own consciences.
+Everyone in the full enjoyment of all the blessings of
+life, in his normal condition, feels some individual responsibility
+for the poverty of others. When the
+sympathies are not blunted by any false philosophy,
+one feels reproached by one's own abundance. I once
+heard a young girl, about to take her summer outing,
+when asked by her grandmother if she had all the
+dresses she needed, reply, "Oh, yes! I was oppressed
+with a constant sense of guilt, when packing, to see how
+much I had, while so many girls have nothing decent
+to wear."</p>
+<p>More than half a century has rolled by since I stood
+on Irish soil, and shed tears of pity for the wretchedness
+I saw, and no change for the better has as yet come to
+that unhappy people&#8212;yet this was the land of Burke,
+Grattan, Shiel, and Emmett; the land into which Christianity
+was introduced in the fifth century, St. Patrick
+being the chief apostle of the new faith. In the sixth
+century Ireland sent forth missionaries from her monasteries
+to convert Great Britain and the nations of
+<a name="Page_106"></a>Northern Europe. From the eighth to the twelfth
+century Irish scholars held an enviable reputation. In
+fact, Ireland was the center of learning at one time. The
+arts, too, were cultivated by her people; and the round
+towers, still pointed out to travelers, are believed to
+be the remains of the architecture of the tenth century.
+The ruin of Ireland must be traced to other causes than
+the character of the people or the Catholic religion.
+Historians give us facts showing English oppressions
+sufficient to destroy any nation.</p>
+<p>The short, dark days of November intensified, in
+my eyes, the gloomy prospects of that people, and
+made the change to the <i>Sirius</i> of the Cunard Line, the
+first regular Atlantic steamship to cross the ocean,
+most enjoyable. Once on the boundless ocean, one sees
+no beggars, no signs of human misery, no crumbling
+ruins of vast cathedral walls, no records of the downfall
+of mighty nations, no trace, even, of the mortal agony
+of the innumerable host buried beneath her bosom.
+Byron truly says:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow&#8212;</p>
+<p>Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>When we embarked on the <i>Sirius</i>, we had grave
+doubts as to our safety and the probability of our reaching
+the other side, as we did not feel that ocean steamers
+had yet been fairly tried. But, after a passage of
+eighteen days, eleven hours, and fifteen minutes, we
+reached Boston, having spent six hours at Halifax. We
+little thought that the steamer <i>Sirius</i> of fifty years ago
+would ever develop into the magnificent floating palaces
+of to-day&#8212;three times as large and three times as
+swift. In spite of the steamer, however, we had a cold,
+<a name="Page_107"></a>rough, dreary voyage, and I have no pleasant
+memories
+connected with it. Our fellow-passengers were all in
+their staterooms most of the time. Our good friend
+Mr. Birney had sailed two weeks before us, and as Mr.
+Stanton was confined to his berth, I was thrown on my
+own resources. I found my chief amusement in reading
+novels and playing chess with a British officer on his
+way to Canada. When it was possible I walked on
+deck with the captain, or sat in some sheltered corner,
+watching the waves. We arrived in New York, by
+rail, the day before Christmas. Everything looked
+bright and gay in our streets. It seemed to me that
+the sky was clearer, the air more refreshing, and the
+sunlight more brilliant than in any other land!</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_108"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<h2>MOTHERHOOD.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>We found my sister Harriet in a new home in Clinton
+Place (Eighth Street), New York city, then considered
+so far up town that Mr. Eaton's friends were continually
+asking him why he went so far away from the social
+center, though in a few months they followed him.
+Here we passed a week. I especially enjoyed seeing
+my little niece and nephew, the only grandchildren in
+the family. The girl was the most beautiful child I
+ever saw, and the boy the most intelligent and amusing.
+He was very fond of hearing me recite the poem by
+Oliver Wendell Holmes entitled "The Height of the
+Ridiculous," which I did many times, but he always
+wanted to see the lines that almost killed the man with
+laughing. He went around to a number of the bookstores
+one day and inquired for them. I told him
+afterward they were never published; that when Mr.
+Holmes saw the effect on his servant he suppressed
+them, lest they should produce the same effect on the
+typesetters, editors, and the readers of the Boston newspapers.
+My explanation never satisfied him. I told
+him he might write to Mr. Holmes, and ask the privilege
+of reading the original manuscript, if it still was or
+ever had been in existence. As one of my grand-nephews
+was troubled in exactly the same way, I decided
+to appeal myself to Dr. Holmes for the enlightenment
+of this second generation. So I wrote him the
+<a name="Page_109"></a>following letter, which he kindly answered,
+telling us
+that his "wretched man" was a myth like the heroes
+in "Mother Goose's Melodies":</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"DEAR DR. HOLMES:</p>
+<p>"I have a little nephew to whom I often recite 'The
+Height of the Ridiculous,' and he invariably asks for
+the lines that produced the fatal effect on your servant.
+He visited most of the bookstores in New York city to
+find them, and nothing but your own word, I am sure,
+will ever convince him that the 'wretched man' is but
+a figment of your imagination. I tried to satisfy him
+by saying you did not dare to publish the lines lest they
+should produce a similar effect on the typesetters, editors,
+and the readers of the Boston journals.</p>
+<p>"However, he wishes me to ask you whether you
+kept a copy of the original manuscript, or could reproduce
+the lines with equal power. If not too much
+trouble, please send me a few lines on this point, and
+greatly oblige,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"Yours sincerely,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 160px;">"ELIZABETH CADY STANTON."</p>
+<br>
+<p>"MY DEAR MRS. STANTON:</p>
+<p>"I wish you would explain to your little nephew that
+the story of the poor fellow who almost died laughing
+was a kind of a dream of mine, and not a real thing that
+happened, any more than that an old woman 'lived in
+a shoe and had so many children she didn't know what
+to do,' or that Jack climbed the bean stalk and found
+the giant who lived at the top of it. You can explain
+to him what is meant by imagination, and thus turn my
+youthful rhymes into a text for a discourse worthy of
+<a name="Page_110"></a>the Concord School of Philosophy. I have not my
+poems by me here, but I remember that 'The Height
+of the Ridiculous' ended with this verse:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye,</p>
+<p>I watched that wretched man,</p>
+<p>And since, I never dare to write</p>
+<p>As funny as I can."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"But tell your nephew he mustn't cry about it any
+more than because geese go barefoot and bald eagles
+have no nightcaps. The verses are in all the editions
+of my poems.</p>
+<div style="margin-left: 40px;">"Believe me, dear Mrs. Stanton,<br>
+<div style="margin-left: 40px;">"Very Truly and Respectfully Yours,</div>
+</div>
+<p style="text-align: left; margin-left: 160px;">"OLIVER WENDELL
+HOLMES."</p>
+</div>
+<p>After spending the holidays in New York city, we
+started for Johnstown in a "stage sleigh, conveying the
+United States mail," drawn by spanking teams of four
+horses, up the Hudson River valley. We were three
+days going to Albany, stopping over night at various
+points; a journey now performed in three hours. The
+weather was clear and cold, the sleighing fine, the
+scenery grand, and our traveling companions most
+entertaining, so the trip was very enjoyable. From Albany
+to Schenectady we went in the railway cars; then
+another sleighride of thirty miles brought us to Johnstown.
+My native hills, buried under two feet of snow,
+tinted with the last rays of the setting sun, were a beautiful
+and familiar sight. Though I had been absent but
+ten months, it seemed like years, and I was surprised to
+find how few changes had occurred since I left. My
+father and mother, sisters Madge and Kate, the old
+house and furniture, the neighbors, all looked precisely
+<a name="Page_111"></a>the same as when I left them. I had seen so much
+and
+been so constantly on the wing that I wondered that all
+things here should have stood still. I expected to hear
+of many births, marriages, deaths, and social upheavals,
+but the village news was remarkably meager. This
+hunger for home news on returning is common, I suppose,
+to all travelers.</p>
+<p>Our trunks unpacked, wardrobes arranged in closets
+and drawers, the excitement of seeing friends over, we
+spent some time in making plans for the future.</p>
+<p>My husband, after some consultation with my father,
+decided to enter his office and commence the study of
+the law. As this arrangement kept me under the
+parental roof, I had two added years of pleasure, walking,
+driving, and riding on horseback with my sisters.
+Madge and Kate were dearer to me than ever, as I saw
+the inevitable separation awaiting us in the near future.
+In due time they were married and commenced housekeeping&#8212;Madge
+in her husband's house near by, and
+Kate in Buffalo. All my sisters were peculiarly fortunate
+in their marriages; their husbands being men of
+fine presence, liberal education, high moral character,
+and marked ability. These were pleasant and profitable
+years. I devoted them to reading law, history, and
+political economy, with occasional interruptions to take
+part in some temperance or anti-slavery excitement.</p>
+<p>Eliza Murray and I had classes of colored children in
+the Sunday school. On one occasion, when there was
+to be a festival, speaking in the church, a procession
+through the streets, and other public performances for
+the Sunday-school celebration, some narrow-minded
+bigots objected to the colored children taking part.
+They approached Miss Murray and me with most per<a name="Page_112"></a>suasive
+tones on the wisdom of not allowing them to
+march in the procession to the church. We said, "Oh,
+no! It won't do to disappoint the children. They are
+all dressed, with their badges on, and looking forward
+with great pleasure to the festivities of the day. Besides,
+we would not cater to any of these contemptible
+prejudices against color." We were all assembled in
+the courthouse preparatory to forming in the line of
+march. Some were determined to drive the colored
+children home, but Miss Murray and I, like two defiant
+hens, kept our little brood close behind us, determined
+to conquer or perish in the struggle. At last
+milder counsels prevailed, and it was agreed that they
+might march in the rear. We made no objection and fell
+into line, but, when we reached the church door, it was
+promptly closed as the last white child went in. We
+tried two other doors, but all were guarded. We shed
+tears of vexation and pity for the poor children, and,
+when they asked us the reason why they could not go
+in, we were embarrassed and mortified with the explanation
+we were forced to give. However, I invited
+them to my father's house, where Miss Murray and I
+gave them refreshments and entertained them for the
+rest of the day.</p>
+<p>The puzzling questions of theology and poverty that
+had occupied so much of my thoughts, now gave place
+to the practical one, "what to do with a baby."
+Though motherhood is the most important of all the
+professions,&#8212;requiring more knowledge than any other
+department in human affairs,&#8212;yet there is not sufficient
+attention given to the preparation for this
+office. If we buy a plant of a horticulturist we
+ask him many questions as to its needs, whether
+<a name="Page_113"></a>it thrives best in sunshine or in shade, whether
+it
+needs much or little water, what degrees of heat
+or cold; but when we hold in our arms for the
+first time, a being of infinite possibilities, in whose
+wisdom may rest the destiny of a nation, we take
+it for granted that the laws governing its life, health,
+and happiness are intuitively understood, that there is
+nothing new to be learned in regard to it. Yet here is
+a science to which philosophers have, as yet, given but
+little attention. An important fact has only been discovered
+and acted upon within the last ten years, that
+children come into the world tired, and not hungry, exhausted
+with the perilous journey. Instead of being
+thoroughly bathed and dressed, and kept on the rack
+while the nurse makes a prolonged toilet and feeds it
+some nostrum supposed to have much needed medicinal
+influence, the child's face, eyes, and mouth should be
+hastily washed with warm water, and the rest of its
+body thoroughly oiled, and then it should be slipped
+into a soft pillow case, wrapped in a blanket, and laid
+to sleep. Ordinarily, in the proper conditions, with
+its face uncovered in a cool, pure atmosphere, it will
+sleep twelve hours. Then it should be bathed, fed, and
+clothed in a high-necked, long-sleeved silk shirt and a
+blanket, all of which could be done in five minutes. As
+babies lie still most of the time the first six weeks, they
+need no dressing. I think the nurse was a full hour
+bathing and dressing my firstborn, who protested with
+a melancholy wail every blessed minute.</p>
+<p>Ignorant myself of the initiative steps on the
+threshold of time, I supposed this proceeding was
+approved by the best authorities. However, I had
+been thinking, reading, observing, and had as lit<a name="Page_114"></a>tle
+faith in the popular theories in regard to babies
+as on any other subject. I saw them, on all
+sides, ill half the time, pale and peevish, dying
+early, having no joy in life. I heard parents complaining
+of weary days and sleepless nights, while each
+child, in turn, ran the gauntlet of red gum, jaundice,
+whooping cough, chicken-pox, mumps, measles, scarlet
+fever, and fits. They all seemed to think these
+inflictions were a part of the eternal plan&#8212;that Providence
+had a kind of Pandora's box, from which he scattered
+these venerable diseases most liberally among
+those whom he especially loved. Having gone through
+the ordeal of bearing a child, I was determined, if possible,
+to keep him, so I read everything I could find on
+the subject. But the literature on this subject was as
+confusing and unsatisfactory as the longer and shorter
+catechisms and the Thirty-nine Articles of our faith. I
+had recently visited our dear friends, Theodore and
+Angelina Grimke-Weld, and they warned me against
+books on this subject. They had been so misled by one
+author, who assured them that the stomach of a child
+could only hold one tablespoonful, that they nearly
+starved their firstborn to death. Though the child
+dwindled, day by day, and, at the end of a month, looked
+like a little old man, yet they still stood by the distinguished
+author. Fortunately, they both went off, one
+day, and left the child with Sister "Sarah," who
+thought she would make an experiment and see what
+a child's stomach could hold, as she had grave doubts
+about the tablespoonful theory. To her surprise the
+baby took a pint bottle full of milk, and had the sweetest
+sleep thereon he had known in his earthly career.
+After that he was permitted to take what he wanted,
+<a name="Page_115"></a>and "the author" was informed of his libel on
+the infantile
+stomach.</p>
+<p>So here, again, I was entirely afloat, launched on the
+seas of doubt without chart or compass. The life and
+well-being of the race seemed to hang on the slender
+thread of such traditions as were handed down by-ignorant
+mothers and nurses. One powerful ray of
+light illuminated the darkness; it was the work of
+Andrew Combe on "Infancy." He had, evidently
+watched some of the manifestations of man in the first
+stages of his development, and could tell, at least, as
+much of babies as naturalists could of beetles and bees.
+He did give young mothers some hints of what to do,
+the whys and wherefores of certain lines of procedure
+during antenatal life, as well as the proper care thereafter.
+I read several chapters to the nurse. Although,
+out of her ten children, she had buried
+five, she still had too much confidence in her own
+wisdom and experience to pay much attention to
+any new idea that might be suggested to her. Among
+other things, Combe said that a child's bath should be
+regulated by the thermometer, in order to be always of
+the same temperature. She ridiculed the idea, and said
+her elbow was better than any thermometer, and, when
+I insisted on its use, she would invariably, with a smile
+of derision, put her elbow in first, to show how exactly
+it tallied with the thermometer. When I insisted that
+the child should not be bandaged, she rebelled outright,
+and said she would not take the responsibility of nursing
+a child without a bandage. I said, "Pray, sit down,
+dear nurse, and let us reason together. Do not think
+I am setting up my judgment against yours, with all
+your experience. I am simply trying to act on the
+<a name="Page_116"></a>opinions of a distinguished physician, who says
+there
+should be no pressure on a child anywhere; that
+the limbs and body should be free; that it is cruel to
+bandage an infant from hip to armpit, as is usually done
+in America; or both body and legs, as is done in Europe;
+or strap them to boards, as is done by savages on
+both continents. Can you give me one good reason,
+nurse, why a child should be bandaged?"</p>
+<p>"Yes," she said emphatically, "I can give you a
+dozen."</p>
+<p>"I only asked for one," I replied.</p>
+<p>"Well," said she, after much hesitation, "the bones
+of a newborn infant are soft, like cartilage, and, unless
+you pin them up snugly, there is danger of their falling
+apart."</p>
+<p>"It seems to me," I replied, "you have given the
+strongest reason why they should be carefully guarded
+against the slightest pressure. It is very remarkable
+that kittens and puppies should be so well put together
+that they need no artificial bracing, and the human
+family be left wholly to the mercy of a bandage. Suppose
+a child was born where you could not get a bandage,
+what then? Now I think this child will remain
+intact without a bandage, and, if I am willing to take
+the risk, why should you complain?"</p>
+<p>"Because," said she, "if the child should die, it
+would injure my name as a nurse. I therefore wash
+my hands of all these new-fangled notions."</p>
+<p>So she bandaged the child every morning, and I as
+regularly took it off. It has been fully proved since to
+be as useless an appendage as the vermiform. She had
+several cups with various concoctions of herbs standing
+on the chimney-corner, ready for insomnia, colic, indi<a name="Page_117"></a>gestion,
+etc., etc., all of which were spirited away when
+she was at her dinner. In vain I told her we were
+homeopathists, and afraid of everything in the animal,
+vegetable, or mineral kingdoms lower than the two-hundredth
+dilution. I tried to explain the Hahnemann
+system of therapeutics, the philosophy of the principle
+<i>similia similibus curantur</i>, but she had no capacity for
+first principles, and did not understand my discourse. I
+told her that, if she would wash the baby's mouth with
+pure cold water morning and night and give it a teaspoonful
+to drink occasionally during the day, there
+would be no danger of red gum; that if she would keep
+the blinds open and let in the air and sunshine, keep the
+temperature of the room at sixty-five degrees, leave
+the child's head uncovered so that it could breathe
+freely, stop rocking and trotting it and singing such
+melancholy hymns as "Hark, from the tombs a doleful
+sound!" the baby and I would both be able to
+weather the cape without a bandage. I told her I
+should nurse the child once in two hours, and that she
+must not feed it any of her nostrums in the meantime;
+that a child's stomach, being made on the same general
+plan as our own, needed intervals of rest as well as ours.
+She said it would be racked with colic if the stomach
+was empty any length of time, and that it would surely
+have rickets if it were kept too still. I told her if the
+child had no anodynes, nature would regulate its sleep
+and motions. She said she could not stay in a room
+with the thermometer at sixty-five degrees, so I told
+her to sit in the next room and regulate the heat to
+suit herself; that I would ring a bell when her services
+were needed.</p>
+<p>The reader will wonder, no doubt, that I kept such a
+<a name="Page_118"></a>cantankerous servant. I could get no other. Dear
+"Mother Monroe," as wise as she was good, and as
+tender as she was strong, who had nursed two generations
+of mothers in our village, was engaged at that
+time, and I was compelled to take an exotic. I had
+often watched "Mother Monroe" with admiration, as
+she turned and twisted my sister's baby. It lay as
+peacefully in her hands as if they were lined with eider
+down. She bathed and dressed it by easy stages, turning
+the child over and over like a pancake. But she
+was so full of the magnetism of human love, giving the
+child, all the time, the most consoling assurance that
+the operation was to be a short one, that the whole proceeding
+was quite entertaining to the observer and
+seemingly agreeable to the child, though it had a rather
+surprised look as it took a bird's-eye view, in quick succession,
+of the ceiling and the floor. Still my nurse had
+her good points. She was very pleasant when she had
+her own way. She was neat and tidy, and ready to
+serve me at any time, night or day. She did not wear
+false teeth that rattled when she talked, nor boots that
+squeaked when she walked. She did not snuff nor chew
+cloves, nor speak except when spoken to. Our discussions,
+on various points, went on at intervals, until
+I succeeded in planting some ideas in her mind, and
+when she left me, at the end of six weeks, she confessed
+that she had learned some valuable lessons. As
+the baby had slept quietly most of the time, had no
+crying spells, nor colic, and I looked well, she naturally
+came to the conclusion that pure air, sunshine, proper
+dressing, and regular feeding were more necessary for
+babies than herb teas and soothing syrups.</p>
+<p>Besides the obstinacy of the nurse, I had the igno<a name="Page_119"></a>rance
+of physicians to contend with. When the child
+was four days old we discovered that the collar bone
+was bent. The physician, wishing to get a pressure on
+the shoulder, braced the bandage round the wrist.
+"Leave that," he said, "ten days, and then it will be
+all right." Soon after he left I noticed that the child's
+hand was blue, showing that the circulation was impeded.
+"That will never do," said I; "nurse, take it
+off." "No, indeed," she answered, "I shall never interfere
+with the doctor." So I took it off myself, and
+sent for another doctor, who was said to know more of
+surgery. He expressed great surprise that the first
+physician called should have put on so severe a bandage.
+"That," said he, "would do for a grown man, but ten
+days of it on a child would make him a cripple." However,
+he did nearly the same thing, only fastening it
+round the hand instead of the wrist. I soon saw that
+the ends of the fingers were all purple, and that to leave
+that on ten days would be as dangerous as the first.
+So I took that off.</p>
+<p>"What a woman!" exclaimed the nurse. "What
+do you propose to do?"</p>
+<p>"Think out something better, myself; so brace me
+up with some pillows and give the baby to me."</p>
+<p>She looked at me aghast and said, "You'd better trust
+the doctors, or your child will be a helpless cripple."</p>
+<p>"Yes," I replied, "he would be, if we had left either
+of those bandages on, but I have an idea of something
+better."</p>
+<p>"Now," said I, talking partly to myself and partly to
+her, "what we want is a little pressure on that bone;
+that is what both those men aimed at. How can we
+get it without involving the arm, is the question?"</p>
+<p>"<a name="Page_120"></a>I am sure I don't know," said she, rubbing
+her
+hands and taking two or three brisk turns round the
+room.</p>
+<p>"Well, bring me three strips of linen, four double."
+I then folded one, wet in arnica and water, and laid it
+on the collar bone, put two other bands, like a pair of
+suspenders, over the shoulders, crossing them both in
+front and behind, pinning the ends to the diaper, which
+gave the needed pressure without impeding the circulation
+anywhere. As I finished she gave me a look of
+budding confidence, and seemed satisfied that all was
+well. Several times, night and day, we wet the compress
+and readjusted the bands, until all appearances of
+inflammation had subsided.</p>
+<p>At the end of ten days the two sons of Aesculapius
+appeared and made their examination and said all was
+right, whereupon I told them how badly their bandages
+worked and what I had done myself. They smiled at
+each other, and one said:</p>
+<p>"Well, after all, a mother's instinct is better than a
+man's reason."</p>
+<p>"Thank you, gentlemen, there was no instinct about
+it. I did some hard thinking before I saw how I could
+get a pressure on the shoulder without impeding the
+circulation, as you did."</p>
+<p>Thus, in the supreme moment of a young mother's
+life, when I needed tender care and support, I felt the
+whole responsibility of my child's supervision; but
+though uncertain at every step of my own knowledge,
+I learned another lesson in self-reliance. I trusted
+neither men nor books absolutely after this, either in
+regard to the heavens above or the earth beneath,
+but continued to use my "mother's instinct," if "rea<a name="Page_121"></a>son"
+is too dignified a term to apply to woman's
+thoughts. My advice to every mother is, above all
+other arts and sciences, study first what relates to babyhood,
+as there is no department of human action in
+which there is such lamentable ignorance.</p>
+<p>At the end of six weeks my nurse departed, and I had
+a good woman in her place who obeyed my orders,
+and now a new difficulty arose from an unexpected
+quarter. My father and husband took it into their
+heads that the child slept too much. If not awake
+when they wished to look at him or to show him to
+their friends, they would pull him out of his crib on all
+occasions. When I found neither of them was amenable
+to reason on this point, I locked the door, and no
+amount of eloquent pleading ever gained them admittance
+during the time I considered sacred to the baby's
+slumbers. At six months having, as yet, had none of
+the diseases supposed to be inevitable, the boy weighed
+thirty pounds. Then the stately Peter came again into
+requisition, and in his strong arms the child spent many
+of his waking hours. Peter, with a long, elephantine
+gait, slowly wandered over the town, lingering
+especially in the busy marts of trade. Peter's curiosity
+had strengthened with years, and, wherever a crowd
+gathered round a monkey and hand organ, a vender's
+wagon, an auction stand, or the post office at mail time,
+there stood Peter, black as coal, with "the beautiful
+boy in white," the most conspicuous figure in the
+crowd. As I told Peter never to let children kiss the
+baby, for fear of some disease, he kept him well aloft,
+allowing no affectionate manifestations except toward
+himself.</p>
+<p>My reading, at this time, centered on hygiene. I
+<a name="Page_122"></a>came to the conclusion, after much thought and
+observation,
+that children never cried unless they were uncomfortable.
+A professor at Union College, who used
+to combat many of my theories, said he gave one of his
+children a sound spanking at six weeks, and it never
+disturbed him a night afterward. Another Solomon
+told me that a very weak preparation of opium would
+keep a child always quiet and take it through the dangerous
+period of teething without a ripple on the surface
+of domestic life. As children cannot tell what ails
+them, and suffer from many things of which parents are
+ignorant, the crying of the child should arouse them to
+an intelligent examination. To spank it for crying is
+to silence the watchman on the tower through fear, to
+give soothing syrup is to drug the watchman while the
+evils go on. Parents may thereby insure eight hours'
+sleep at the time, but at the risk of greater trouble in the
+future with sick and dying children. Tom Moore tells
+us "the heart from love to one, grows bountiful to all."
+I know the care of one child made me thoughtful of
+all. I never hear a child cry, now, that I do not feel
+that I am bound to find out the reason.</p>
+<p>In my extensive travels on lecturing tours, in after
+years, I had many varied experiences with babies. One
+day, in the cars, a child was crying near me, while the
+parents were alternately shaking and slapping it. First
+one would take it with an emphatic jerk, and then the
+other. At last I heard the father say in a spiteful tone,
+"If you don't stop I'll throw you out of the window."
+One naturally hesitates about interfering between parents
+and children, so I generally restrain myself as long
+as I can endure the torture of witnessing such outrages,
+but at length I turned and said:</p>
+<p>"<a name="Page_123"></a>Let me take your child and see if I can find
+out what
+ails it."</p>
+<p>"Nothing ails it," said the father, "but bad temper."</p>
+<p>The child readily came to me. I felt all around to see
+if its clothes pinched anywhere, or if there were any
+pins pricking. I took off its hat and cloak to see if
+there were any strings cutting its neck or choking it.
+Then I glanced at the feet, and lo! there was the trouble.
+The boots were at least one size too small. I took
+them off, and the stockings, too, and found the feet as
+cold as ice and the prints of the stockings clearly traced
+on the tender flesh. We all know the agony of tight
+boots. I rubbed the feet and held them in my hands
+until they were warm, when the poor little thing fell
+asleep. I said to the parents, "You are young people,
+I see, and this is probably your first child." They said,
+"Yes." "You don't intend to be cruel, I know, but
+if you had thrown those boots out of the window, when
+you threatened to throw the child, it would have been
+wiser. This poor child has suffered ever since it
+was dressed this morning." I showed them the marks
+on the feet, and called their attention to the fact that
+the child fell asleep as soon as its pain was relieved. The
+mother said she knew the boots were tight, as it was
+with difficulty she could get them on, but the old ones
+were too shabby for the journey and they had no time
+to change the others.</p>
+<p>"Well," said the husband, "if I had known those
+boots were tight, I would have thrown them out of the
+window."</p>
+<p>"Now," said I, "let me give you one rule: when
+your child cries, remember it is telling you, as well as it
+can, that something hurts it, either outside or in, and
+<a name="Page_124"></a>do not rest until you find what it is. Neither
+spanking,
+shaking, or scolding can relieve pain."</p>
+<p>I have seen women enter the cars with their babies'
+faces completely covered with a blanket shawl. I have
+often thought I would like to cover their faces for an
+hour and see how they would bear it. In such circumstances,
+in order to get the blanket open, I have asked
+to see the baby, and generally found it as red as a beet.
+Ignorant nurses and mothers have discovered that children
+sleep longer with their heads covered. They don't
+know why, nor the injurious effect of breathing over
+and over the same air that has been thrown off the lungs
+polluted with carbonic acid gas. This stupefies the
+child and prolongs the unhealthy slumber.</p>
+<p>One hot day, in the month of May, I entered a
+crowded car at Cedar Rapids, Ia., and took the only
+empty seat beside a gentleman who seemed very nervous
+about a crying child. I was scarcely seated when
+he said:</p>
+<p>"Mother, do you know anything about babies?"</p>
+<p>"Oh, yes!" I said, smiling, "that is a department of
+knowledge on which I especially pride myself."</p>
+<p>"Well," said he, "there is a child that has cried most
+of the time for the last twenty-four hours. What do
+you think ails it?"</p>
+<p>Making a random supposition, I replied, "It probably
+needs a bath."</p>
+<p>He promptly rejoined, "If you will give it one, I
+will provide the necessary means."</p>
+<p>I said, "I will first see if the child will come to me
+and if the mother is willing."</p>
+<p>I found the mother only too glad to have a few
+minutes' rest, and the child too tired to care who took
+<a name="Page_125"></a>it. She gave me a suit of clean clothes
+throughout,
+the gentleman spread his blanket shawl on the seat,
+securing the opposite one for me and the bathing appliances.
+Then he produced a towel, sponge, and an
+india-rubber bowl full of water, and I gave the child a
+generous drink and a thorough ablution. It stretched
+and seemed to enjoy every step of the proceeding, and,
+while I was brushing its golden curls as gently as I
+could, it fell asleep; so I covered it with the towel and
+blanket shawl, not willing to disturb it for dressing.
+The poor mother, too, was sound asleep, and the gentleman
+very happy. He had children of his own and,
+like me, felt great pity for the poor, helpless little victim
+of ignorance and folly. I engaged one of the ladies
+to dress it when it awoke, as I was soon to leave the
+train. It slept the two hours I remained&#8212;how much
+longer I never heard.</p>
+<p>A young man, who had witnessed the proceeding, got
+off at the same station and accosted me, saying:</p>
+<p>"I should be very thankful if you would come and
+see my baby. It is only one month old and cries all the
+time, and my wife, who is only sixteen years old, is
+worn out with it and neither of us know what to do, so
+we all cry together, and the doctor says he does not see
+what ails it."</p>
+<p>So I went on my mission of mercy and found the
+child bandaged as tight as a drum. When I took out
+the pins and unrolled it, it fairly popped like the cork
+out of a champagne bottle. I rubbed its breast and its
+back and soon soothed it to sleep. I remained a long
+time, telling them how to take care of the child and the
+mother, too. I told them everything I could think of
+in regard to clothes, diet, and pure air. I asked the
+<a name="Page_126"></a>mother why she bandaged her child as she did.
+She
+said her nurse told her that there was danger of hernia
+unless the abdomen was well bandaged. I told her that
+the only object of a bandage was to protect the navel,
+for a few days, until it was healed, and for that purpose
+all that was necessary was a piece of linen four inches
+square, well oiled, folded four times double, with a hole
+in the center, laid over it. I remembered, next day,
+that I forgot to tell them to give the child water, and
+so I telegraphed them, "Give the baby water six times
+a day." I heard of that baby afterward. It lived and
+flourished, and the parents knew how to administer to
+the wants of the next one. The father was a telegraph
+operator and had many friends&#8212;knights of the key&#8212;throughout
+Iowa. For many years afterward, in leisure
+moments, these knights would "call up" this parent
+and say, over the wire, "Give the baby water six times
+a day." Thus did they "repeat the story, and spread
+the truth from pole to pole."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_127"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<h2>BOSTON AND CHELSEA.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>In the autumn of 1843 my husband was admitted to
+the bar and commenced the practice of law in Boston
+with Mr. Bowles, brother-in-law of the late General
+John A. Dix. This gave me the opportunity to make
+many pleasant acquaintances among the lawyers in Boston,
+and to meet, intimately, many of the noble men
+and women among reformers, whom I had long worshiped
+at a distance. Here, for the first time, I met
+Lydia Maria Child, Abby Kelly, Paulina Wright, Elizabeth
+Peabody, Maria Chapman and her beautiful sisters,
+the Misses Weston, Oliver and Marianna Johnson,
+Joseph and Thankful Southwick and their three bright
+daughters. The home of the Southwicks was always
+a harbor of rest for the weary, where the anti-slavery
+hosts were wont to congregate, and where one was
+always sure to meet someone worth knowing. Their
+hospitality was generous to an extreme, and so boundless
+that they were, at last, fairly eaten out of house
+and home. Here, too, for the first time, I met Theodore
+Parker, John Pierpont, John G. Whittier, Emerson,
+Alcott, Lowell, Hawthorne, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel
+E. Sewall, Sidney Howard Gay, Pillsbury, Foster,
+Frederick Douglass, and last though not least, those
+noble men, Charles Hovey and Francis Jackson, the
+only men who ever left any money to the cause of
+woman suffrage. I also met Miss Jackson, afterward
+<a name="Page_128"></a>Mrs. Eddy, who left half her fortune, fifty
+thousand dollars,
+for the same purpose.</p>
+<p>I was a frequent visitor at the home of William
+Lloyd Garrison. Though he had a prolonged battle
+to fight in the rough outside world, his home was
+always a haven of rest. Mrs. Garrison was a sweet-tempered,
+conscientious woman, who tried, under
+all circumstances, to do what was right. She had
+sound judgment and rare common sense, was tall
+and fine-looking, with luxuriant brown hair, large
+tender blue eyes, delicate features, and affable manners.
+They had an exceptionally fine family of five sons and
+one daughter. Fanny, now the wife of Henry Villard,
+the financier, was the favorite and pet. All the children,
+in their maturer years, have fulfilled the promises
+of their childhood. Though always in straitened
+circumstances, the Garrisons were very hospitable. It
+was next to impossible for Mr. Garrison to meet a
+friend without inviting him to his house, especially at
+the close of a convention.</p>
+<p>I was one of twelve at one of his impromptu tea
+parties. We all took it for granted that his wife knew
+we were coming, and that her preparations were already
+made. Surrounded by half a dozen children, she was
+performing the last act in the opera of Lullaby, wholly
+unconscious of the invasion downstairs. But Mr. Garrison
+was equal to every emergency, and, after placing
+his guests at their ease in the parlor, he hastened to the
+nursery, took off his coat, and rocked the baby until
+his wife had disposed of the remaining children. Then
+they had a consultation about the tea, and when, basket
+in hand, the good man sallied forth for the desired
+viands, Mrs. Garrison, having made a hasty toilet, came
+<a name="Page_129"></a>down to welcome her guests. She was as genial
+and
+self-possessed as if all things had been prepared. She
+made no apologies for what was lacking in the general
+appearance of the house nor in the variety of the <i>menu</i>&#8212;it was
+sufficient for her to know that Mr. Garrison
+was happy in feeling free to invite his friends. The impromptu
+meal was excellent, and we had a most
+enjoyable evening. I have no doubt that Mrs. Garrison
+had more real pleasure than if she had been busy all
+day making preparations and had been tired out when
+her guests arrived.</p>
+<p>The anti-slavery conventions and fairs, held every
+year during the holidays, brought many charming people
+from other States, and made Boston a social center
+for the coadjutors of Garrison and Phillips. These conventions
+surpassed any meetings I had ever attended;
+the speeches were eloquent and the debates earnest and
+forcible. Garrison and Phillips were in their prime, and
+slavery was a question of national interest. The hall
+in which the fairs were held, under the auspices of Mrs.
+Chapman and her cohorts, was most artistically decorated.
+There one could purchase whatever the fancy
+could desire, for English friends, stimulated by the
+appeals of Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Pease, used
+to send boxes of beautiful things, gathered from all
+parts of the Eastern Continent. There, too, one could
+get a most <i>recherch&eacute;</i> luncheon in the society of the
+literati of Boston; for, however indifferent many were
+to slavery <i>per se</i>, they enjoyed these fairs, and all
+classes flocked there till far into the night. It was a
+kind of ladies' exchange for the holiday week, where
+each one was sure to meet her friends. The fair and the
+annual convention, coming in succession, intensified
+<a name="Page_130"></a>the interest in both. I never grew weary of the
+conventions,
+though I attended all the sessions, lasting,
+sometimes, until eleven o'clock at night. The fiery eloquence
+of the abolitionists, the amusing episodes that
+occurred when some crank was suppressed and borne
+out on the shoulders of his brethren, gave sufficient
+variety to the proceedings to keep the interest up to
+high-water mark.</p>
+<p>There was one old man dressed in white, carrying a
+scythe, who imagined himself the personification of
+"Time," though called "Father Lampson." Occasionally
+he would bubble over with some prophetic
+vision, and, as he could not be silenced, he was carried
+out. He usually made himself as limp as possible,
+which added to the difficulty of his exit and the amusement
+of the audience. A ripple of merriment would
+unsettle, for a moment, even the dignity of the platform
+when Abigail Folsom, another crank, would shout
+from the gallery, "Stop not, my brother, on the order
+of your going, but go." The abolitionists were making
+the experiment, at this time, of a free platform,
+allowing everyone to speak as moved by the spirit, but
+they soon found that would not do, as those evidently
+moved by the spirit of mischief were quite as apt to air
+their vagaries as those moved by the spirit of truth.</p>
+<p>However, the Garrisonian platform always maintained
+a certain degree of freedom outside its regular
+programme, and, although this involved extra
+duty in suppressing cranks, yet the meeting gained
+enthusiasm by some good spontaneous speaking on
+the floor as well as on the platform. A number of
+immense mass meetings were held in Faneuil Hall, a
+large, dreary place, with its bare walls and innumerable
+<a name="Page_131"></a>dingy windows. The only attempt at an ornament
+was
+the American eagle, with its wings spread and claws
+firmly set, in the middle of the gallery. The gilt was
+worn off its beak, giving it the appearance, as Edmund
+Quincy said, of having a bad cold in the head.</p>
+<p>This old hall was sacred to so many memories connected
+with the early days of the Revolution that it
+was a kind of Mecca for the lovers of liberty visiting
+Boston. The anti-slavery meetings held there were
+often disturbed by mobs that would hold the most
+gifted orator at bay hour after hour, and would listen
+only to the songs of the Hutchinson family. Although
+these songs were a condensed extract of the whole
+anti-slavery constitution and by-laws, yet the mob was
+as peaceful under these paeans to liberty as a child under
+the influence of an anodyne. What a welcome and
+beautiful vision that was when the four brothers,
+in blue broadcloth and white collars, turned down <i>&agrave;
+la</i> Byron, and little sister Abby in silk, soft lace, and blue
+ribbon, appeared on the platform to sing their quaint
+ballads of freedom! Fresh from the hills of New Hampshire,
+they looked so sturdy, so vigorous, so pure, so
+true that they seemed fitting representatives of all the
+cardinal virtues, and even a howling mob could not
+resist their influence. Perhaps, after one of their ballads,
+the mob would listen five minutes to Wendell Phillips
+or Garrison until he gave them some home thrusts,
+when all was uproar again. The Northern merchants
+who made their fortunes out of Southern cotton, the
+politicians who wanted votes, and the ministers who
+wanted to keep peace in the churches, were all as much
+opposed to the anti-slavery agitation as were the slaveholders
+themselves. These were the classes the mob
+<a name="Page_132"></a>represented, though seemingly composed of
+gamblers,
+liquor dealers, and demagogues. For years the anti-slavery
+struggle at the North was carried on against
+statecraft, priestcraft, the cupidity of the moneyed
+classes, and the ignorance of the masses, but, in spite
+of all these forces of evil, it triumphed at last.</p>
+<p>I was in Boston at the time that Lane and Wright,
+some metaphysical Englishmen, and our own Alcott
+held their famous philosophical conversations, in which
+Elizabeth Peabody took part. I went to them regularly.
+I was ambitious to absorb all the wisdom I
+could, but, really, I could not give an intelligent report
+of the points under discussion at any sitting.
+Oliver Johnson asked me, one day, if I enjoyed them.
+I thought, from a twinkle in his eye, that he thought I
+did not, so I told him I was ashamed to confess that I
+did not know what they were talking about. He said,
+"Neither do I,&#8212;very few of their hearers do,&#8212;so you
+need not be surprised that they are incomprehensible
+to you, nor think less of your own capacity."</p>
+<p>I was indebted to Mr. Johnson for several of the
+greatest pleasures I enjoyed in Boston. He escorted
+me to an entire course of Theodore Parker's lectures,
+given in Marlborough Chapel. This was soon after the
+great preacher had given his famous sermon on "The
+Permanent and Transient in Religion," when he was
+ostracised, even by the Unitarians, for his radical utterances,
+and not permitted to preach in any of their pulpits.
+His lectures were deemed still more heterodox
+than that sermon. He shocked the orthodox churches
+of that day&#8212;more, even, than Ingersoll has in our
+times.</p>
+<p>The lectures, however, were so soul-satisfying to me
+<a name="Page_133"></a>that I was surprised at the bitter criticisms I
+heard expressed.
+Though they were two hours long, I never
+grew weary, and, when the course ended, I said to
+Mr. Johnson:</p>
+<p>"I wish I could hear them over again."</p>
+<p>"Well, you can," said he, "Mr. Parker is to repeat
+them in Cambridgeport, beginning next week." Accordingly
+we went there and heard them again with
+equal satisfaction.</p>
+<p>During the winter in Boston I attended all the lectures,
+churches, theaters, concerts, and temperance,
+peace, and prison-reform conventions within my reach.
+I had never lived in such an enthusiastically literary and
+reform latitude before, and my mental powers were kept
+at the highest tension. We went to Chelsea, for the
+summer, and boarded with the Baptist minister, the
+Rev. John Wesley Olmstead, afterward editor of <i>The
+Watchman and Reflector</i>. He had married my cousin,
+Mary Livingston, one of the most lovely, unselfish
+characters I ever knew. There I had the opportunity
+of meeting several of the leading Baptist ministers in
+New England, and, as I was thoroughly imbued with
+Parker's ideas, we had many heated discussions on theology.
+There, too, I met Orestes Bronson, a remarkably
+well-read man, who had gone through every phase
+of religious experience from blank atheism to the
+bosom of the Catholic Church, where I believe he
+found repose at the end of his days. He was so arbitrary
+and dogmatic that most people did not like him;
+but I appreciated his acquaintance, as he was a liberal
+thinker and had a world of information which he readily
+imparted to those of a teachable spirit. As I was then
+in a hungering, thirsting condition for truth on every
+<a name="Page_134"></a>subject, the friendship of such a man was, to
+me, an inestimable
+blessing. Reading Theodore Parker's lectures,
+years afterward, I was surprised to find how little
+there was in them to shock anybody&#8212;the majority of
+thinking people having grown up to them.</p>
+<p>While living in Chelsea two years, I used to walk
+(there being no public conveyances running on Sunday)
+from the ferry to Marlborough Chapel to hear Mr.
+Parker preach. It was a long walk, over two miles, and
+I was so tired, on reaching the chapel, that I made it a
+point to sleep through all the preliminary service, so as
+to be fresh for the sermon, as the friend next whom I sat
+always wakened me in time. One Sunday, when my
+friend was absent, it being a very warm day and I unusually
+fatigued, I slept until the sexton informed me
+that he was about to close the doors! In an unwary
+moment I imparted this fact to my Baptist friends.
+They made all manner of fun ever afterward of the
+soothing nature of Mr. Parker's theology, and my long
+walk, every Sunday, to repose in the shadow of a heterodox
+altar. Still, the loss of the sermon was the only
+vexatious part of it, and I had the benefit of the walk
+and the refreshing slumber, to the music of Mr. Parker's
+melodious voice and the deep-toned organ.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Oliver Johnson and I spent two days at the
+Brook Farm Community when in the height of its prosperity.
+There I met the Ripleys,&#8212;who were, I believe,
+the backbone of the experiment,&#8212;William Henry Channing,
+Bronson Alcott, Charles A. Dana, Frederick
+Cabot, William Chase, Mrs. Horace Greeley, who was
+spending a few days there, and many others, whose
+names I cannot recall. Here was a charming family
+of intelligent men and women, doing their own farm and
+<a name="Page_135"></a>house work, with lectures, readings, music,
+dancing, and
+games when desired; realizing, in a measure, Edward
+Bellamy's beautiful vision of the equal conditions of the
+human family in the year 2000. The story of the beginning
+and end of this experiment of community life
+has been told so often that I will simply say that its
+failure was a grave disappointment to those most
+deeply interested in its success. Mr. Channing told
+me, years after, when he was pastor of the Unitarian
+church in Rochester, as we were wandering through
+Mount Hope one day, that, when the Roxbury community
+was dissolved and he was obliged to return to
+the old life of competition, he would gladly have been
+laid under the sod, as the isolated home seemed so solitary,
+silent, and selfish that the whole atmosphere was
+oppressive.</p>
+<p>In 1843 my father moved to Albany, to establish my
+brothers-in-law, Mr. Wilkeson and Mr. McMartin, in
+the legal profession. That made Albany the family
+rallying point for a few years. This enabled me to
+spend several winters at the Capital and to take an
+active part in the discussion of the Married Woman's
+Property Bill, then pending in the legislature. William
+H. Seward, Governor of the State from 1839 to 1843,
+recommended the Bill, and his wife, a woman of rare
+intelligence, advocated it in society. Together we had
+the opportunity of talking with many members, both of
+the Senate and the Assembly, in social circles, as well
+as in their committee rooms. Bills were pending from
+1836 until 1848, when the measure finally passed.</p>
+<p>My second son was born in Albany, in March, 1844,
+under more favorable auspices than the first, as I knew,
+then, what to do with a baby. Returning to Chelsea
+<a name="Page_136"></a>we commenced housekeeping, which afforded me
+another
+chapter of experience. A new house, newly furnished,
+with beautiful views of Boston Bay, was all I
+could desire. Mr. Stanton announced to me, in starting,
+that his business would occupy all his time, and
+that I must take entire charge of the housekeeping.
+So, with two good servants and two babies under my
+sole supervision, my time was pleasantly occupied.</p>
+<p>When first installed as mistress over an establishment,
+one has that same feeling of pride and satisfaction
+that a young minister must have in taking charge
+of his first congregation. It is a proud moment in a
+woman's life to reign supreme within four walls, to be
+the one to whom all questions of domestic pleasure and
+economy are referred, and to hold in her hand that
+little family book in which the daily expenses, the outgoings
+and incomings, are duly registered. I studied
+up everything pertaining to housekeeping, and enjoyed
+it all. Even washing day&#8212;that day so many people
+dread&#8212;had its charms for me. The clean clothes on
+the lines and on the grass looked so white, and smelled
+so sweet, that it was to me a pretty sight to contemplate.
+I inspired my laundress with an ambition to
+have her clothes look white and to get them out earlier
+than our neighbors, and to have them ironed and put
+away sooner.</p>
+<p>As Mr. Stanton did not come home to dinner, we
+made a picnic of our noon meal on Mondays, and
+all thoughts and energies were turned to speed the
+washing. No unnecessary sweeping or dusting, no
+visiting nor entertaining angels unawares on that day&#8212;it
+was held sacred to soap suds, blue-bags, and clotheslines.
+The children, only, had no deviation in the regu<a name="Page_137"></a>larity
+of their lives. They had their drives and walks,
+their naps and rations, in quantity and time, as usual. I
+had all the most approved cook books, and spent half
+my time preserving, pickling, and experimenting in new
+dishes. I felt the same ambition to excel in all departments
+of the culinary art that I did at school in the
+different branches of learning. My love of order and
+cleanliness was carried throughout, from parlor to
+kitchen, from the front door to the back. I gave a man
+an extra shilling to pile the logs of firewood with their
+smooth ends outward, though I did not have them
+scoured white, as did our Dutch grandmothers. I
+tried, too, to give an artistic touch to everything&#8212;the
+dress of my children and servants included. My dining
+table was round, always covered with a clean cloth of a
+pretty pattern and a centerpiece of flowers in their season,
+pretty dishes, clean silver, and set with neatness
+and care. I put my soul into everything, and hence
+enjoyed it. I never could understand how housekeepers
+could rest with rubbish all round their back
+doors; eggshells, broken dishes, tin cans, and old shoes
+scattered round their premises; servants ragged and
+dirty, with their hair in papers, and with the kitchen and
+dining room full of flies. I have known even artists to
+be indifferent to their personal appearance and their
+surroundings. Surely a mother and child, tastefully
+dressed, and a pretty home for a framework, is, as a picture,
+even more attractive than a domestic scene hung
+on the wall. The love of the beautiful can be illustrated
+as well in life as on canvas. There is such a
+struggle among women to become artists that I really
+wish some of their gifts could be illustrated in clean,
+orderly, beautiful homes.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_138"></a>Our house was pleasantly situated on the
+Chelsea
+Hills, commanding a fine view of Boston, the harbor,
+and surrounding country. There, on the upper piazza,
+I spent some of the happiest days of my life, enjoying,
+in turn, the beautiful outlook, my children, and my
+books. Here, under the very shadow of Bunker Hill
+Monument, my third son was born. Shortly after this
+Gerrit Smith and his wife came to spend a few days
+with us, so this boy, much against my will, was named
+after my cousin. I did not believe in old family names
+unless they were peculiarly euphonious. I had a list
+of beautiful names for sons and daughters, from which
+to designate each newcomer; but, as yet, not one on
+my list had been used. However, I put my foot down,
+at No. 4, and named him Theodore, and, thus far, he
+has proved himself a veritable "gift of God," doing
+his uttermost, in every way possible, to fight the battle
+of freedom for woman.</p>
+<p>During the visit of my cousin I thought I would
+venture on a small, select dinner party, consisting of
+the Rev. John Pierpont and his wife, Charles Sumner,
+John G. Whittier, and Joshua Leavitt. I had a new
+cook, Rose, whose viands, thus far, had proved delicious,
+so I had no anxiety on that score. But, unfortunately,
+on this occasion I had given her a bottle
+of wine for the pudding sauce and whipped cream, of
+which she imbibed too freely, and hence there were
+some glaring blunders in the <i>menu</i> that were exceedingly
+mortifying. As Mr. Smith and my husband were
+both good talkers, I told them they must cover all defects
+with their brilliant conversation, which they promised
+to do.</p>
+<p>Rose had all the points of a good servant, phreno<a name="Page_139"></a>logically
+and physiologically. She had a large head,
+with great bumps of caution and order, her eyes were
+large and soft and far apart. In selecting her, scientifically,
+I had told my husband, in triumph, several
+times what a treasure I had found. Shortly after dinner,
+one evening when I was out, she held the baby
+while the nurse was eating her supper, and carelessly
+burned his foot against the stove. Then Mr. Stanton
+suggested that, in selecting the next cook, I
+would better not trust to science, but inquire of the
+family where she lived as to her practical virtues. Poor
+Rose! she wept over her lapses when sober, and made
+fair promises for the future, but I did not dare to trust
+her, so we parted. The one drawback to the joys of
+housekeeping was then, as it is now, the lack of faithful,
+competent servants. The hope of co-operative housekeeping,
+in the near future, gives us some promise of a
+more harmonious domestic life.</p>
+<p>One of the books in my library I value most highly
+is the first volume of Whittier's poems, published in
+1838, "Dedicated to Henry B. Stanton, as a token of
+the author's personal friendship, and of his respect for
+the unreserved devotion of exalted talents to the cause
+of humanity and freedom." Soon after our marriage
+we spent a few days with our gifted Quaker poet, on
+his farm in Massachusetts.</p>
+<p>I shall never forget those happy days in June; the
+long walks and drives, and talks under the old trees of
+anti-slavery experiences, and Whittier's mirth and indignation
+as we described different scenes in the
+World's Anti-slavery Convention in London. He
+laughed immoderately at the Tom Campbell episode.
+Poor fellow! he had taken too much wine that day, and
+<a name="Page_140"></a>when Whittier's verses, addressed to the
+convention,
+were read, he criticised them severely, and wound up
+by saying that the soul of a poet was not in him. Mr.
+Stanton sprang to his feet and recited some of Whittier's
+stirring stanzas on freedom, which electrified the
+audience, and, turning to Campbell, he said: "What
+do you say to that?" "Ah! that's real poetry," he replied.
+"And John Greenleaf Whittier is its author,"
+said Mr. Stanton.</p>
+<p>I enjoyed, too, the morning and evening service,
+when the revered mother read the Scriptures and
+we all bowed our heads in silent worship. There
+was, at times, an atmosphere of solemnity pervading
+everything, that was oppressive in the midst of
+so much that appealed to my higher nature. There
+was a shade of sadness in even the smile of the mother
+and sister, and a rigid plainness in the house and its
+surroundings, a depressed look in Whittier himself that
+the songs of the birds, the sunshine, and the bracing
+New England air seemed powerless to chase away,
+caused, as I afterward heard, by pecuniary embarrassment,
+and fears in regard to the delicate health of the
+sister. She, too, had rare poetical talent, and in her
+Whittier found not only a helpful companion in the
+practical affairs of life, but one who sympathized with
+him in the highest flights of which his muse was capable.
+Their worst fears were realized in the death of the
+sister not long after. In his last volume several of her
+poems were published, which are quite worthy the place
+the brother's appreciation has given them. Whittier's
+love and reverence for his mother and sister, so marked
+in every word and look, were charming features of his
+<a name="Page_141"></a>home life. All his poems to our sex breathe the
+same
+tender, worshipful sentiments.</p>
+<p>Soon after this visit at Amesbury, our noble friend
+spent a few days with us in Chelsea, near Boston. One
+evening, after we had been talking a long time of the
+unhappy dissensions among anti-slavery friends, by way
+of dissipating the shadows I opened the piano, and proposed
+that we should sing some cheerful songs. "Oh,
+no!" exclaimed Mr. Stanton, "do not touch a note;
+you will put every nerve of Whittier's body on edge."
+It seemed, to me, so natural for a poet to love music
+that I was surprised to know that it was a torture to
+him.</p>
+<p>From our upper piazza we had a fine view of Boston
+harbor. Sitting there late one moonlight night, admiring
+the outlines of Bunker Hill Monument and the
+weird effect of the sails and masts of the vessels lying
+in the harbor, we naturally passed from the romance
+of our surroundings to those of our lives. I have often
+noticed that the most reserved people are apt to grow
+confidential at such an hour. It was under such circumstances
+that the good poet opened to me a deeply
+interesting page of his life, a sad romance of love and
+disappointment, that may not yet be told, as some
+who were interested in the events are still among the
+living.</p>
+<p>Whittier's poems were not only one of the most important
+factors in the anti-slavery war and victory, but
+they have been equally potent in emancipating the
+minds of his generation from the gloomy superstitions
+of the puritanical religion. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in
+his eulogy of Whittier, says that his influence on the re<a
+ name="Page_142"></a>ligious
+thought of the American people has been far
+greater than that of the occupant of any pulpit.</p>
+<p>As my husband's health was delicate, and the New
+England winters proved too severe for him, we left Boston,
+with many regrets, and sought a more genial climate
+in Central New York.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_143"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<h2>THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>In the spring of 1847 we moved to Seneca Falls.
+Here we spent sixteen years of our married life, and
+here our other children&#8212;two sons and two daughters&#8212;were
+born.</p>
+<p>Just as we were ready to leave Boston, Mr. and Mrs.
+Eaton and their two children arrived from Europe, and
+we decided to go together to Johnstown, Mr. Eaton
+being obliged to hurry to New York on business, and
+Mr. Stanton to remain still in Boston a few months.
+At the last moment my nurse decided she could not
+leave her friends and go so far away. Accordingly my
+sister and I started, by rail, with five children and seventeen
+trunks, for Albany, where we rested over night and
+part of the next day. We had a very fatiguing journey,
+looking after so many trunks and children, for my
+sister's children persisted in standing on the platform
+at every opportunity, and the younger ones would follow
+their example. This kept us constantly on the
+watch. We were thankful when safely landed once
+more in the old homestead in Johnstown, where we
+arrived at midnight. As our beloved parents had received
+no warning of our coming, the whole household
+was aroused to dispose of us. But now in safe harbor,
+'mid familiar scenes and pleasant memories, our slumbers
+were indeed refreshing. How rapidly one throws
+off all care and anxiety under the parental roof, and how
+<a name="Page_144"></a>at sea one feels, no matter what the age may be,
+when
+the loved ones are gone forever and the home of childhood
+is but a dream of the past.</p>
+<p>After a few days of rest I started, alone, for my new
+home, quite happy with the responsibility of repairing
+a house and putting all things in order. I was already
+acquainted with many of the people and the surroundings
+in Seneca Falls, as my sister, Mrs. Bayard, had
+lived there several years, and I had frequently made her
+long visits. We had quite a magnetic circle of reformers,
+too, in central New York. At Rochester were
+William Henry Channing, Frederick Douglass, the
+Anthonys, Posts, Hallowells, Stebbins,&#8212;some grand
+old Quaker families at Farmington,&#8212;the Sedgwicks,
+Mays, Mills, and Matilda Joslyn Gage at Syracuse; Gerrit
+Smith at Peterboro, and Beriah Green at Whitesboro.</p>
+<p>The house we were to occupy had been closed for
+some years and needed many repairs, and the grounds,
+comprising five acres, were overgrown with weeds.
+My father gave me a check and said, with a smile, "You
+believe in woman's capacity to do and dare; now go
+ahead and put your place in order." After a minute
+survey of the premises and due consultation with one or
+two sons of Adam, I set the carpenters, painters, paper-hangers,
+and gardeners at work, built a new kitchen and
+woodhouse, and in one month took possession. Having
+left my children with my mother, there were no impediments
+to a full display of my executive ability.
+In the purchase of brick, timber, paint, etc., and
+in making bargains with workmen, I was in frequent
+consultation with Judge Sackett and Mr. Bascom.
+The latter was a member of the Constitutional
+<a name="Page_145"></a>Convention, then in session in Albany, and as he
+used to
+walk down whenever he was at home, to see how my
+work progressed, we had long talks, sitting on boxes
+in the midst of tools and shavings, on the status of
+women. I urged him to propose an amendment to
+Article II, Section 3, of the State Constitution, striking
+out the word "male," which limits the suffrage to
+men. But, while he fully agreed with all I had to say
+on the political equality of women, he had not the courage
+to make himself the laughing-stock of the convention.
+Whenever I cornered him on this point, manlike
+he turned the conversation to the painters and carpenters.
+However, these conversations had the effect of
+bringing him into the first woman's convention, where
+he did us good service.</p>
+<p>In Seneca Falls my life was comparatively solitary,
+and the change from Boston was somewhat depressing.
+There, all my immediate friends were reformers, I had
+near neighbors, a new home with all the modern conveniences,
+and well-trained servants. Here our residence
+was on the outskirts of the town, roads very
+often muddy and no sidewalks most of the way, Mr.
+Stanton was frequently from home, I had poor servants,
+and an increasing number of children. To keep a house
+and grounds in good order, purchase every article for
+daily use, keep the wardrobes of half a dozen human
+beings in proper trim, take the children to dentists,
+shoemakers, and different schools, or find teachers at
+home, altogether made sufficient work to keep one brain
+busy, as well as all the hands I could impress into the
+service. Then, too, the novelty of housekeeping had
+passed away, and much that was once attractive in
+domestic life was now irksome. I had so many cares
+<a name="Page_146"></a>that the company I needed for intellectual
+stimulus was
+a trial rather than a pleasure.</p>
+<p>There was quite an Irish settlement at a short
+distance, and continual complaints were coming
+to me that my boys threw stones at their pigs,
+cows, and the roofs of their houses. This involved
+constant diplomatic relations in the settlement
+of various difficulties, in which I was so successful
+that, at length, they constituted me a kind of
+umpire in all their own quarrels. If a drunken
+husband was pounding his wife, the children would
+run for me. Hastening to the scene of action, I would
+take Patrick by the collar, and, much to his surprise
+and shame, make him sit down and promise to behave
+himself. I never had one of them offer the least resistance,
+and in time they all came to regard me
+as one having authority. I strengthened my influence
+by cultivating good feeling. I lent the men
+papers to read, and invited their children into our
+grounds; giving them fruit, of which we had abundance,
+and my children's old clothes, books, and toys. I was
+their physician, also&#8212;with my box of homeopathic
+medicines I took charge of the men, women, and children
+in sickness. Thus the most amicable relations
+were established, and, in any emergency, these poor
+neighbors were good friends and always ready to serve
+me.</p>
+<p>But I found police duty rather irksome, especially
+when called out dark nights to prevent drunken fathers
+from disturbing their sleeping children, or to minister
+to poor mothers in the pangs of maternity. Alas! alas!
+who can measure the mountains of sorrow and suffering
+endured in unwelcome motherhood in the abodes of
+<a name="Page_147"></a>ignorance, poverty, and vice, where
+terror-stricken
+women and children are the victims of strong men
+frenzied with passion and intoxicating drink?</p>
+<p>Up to this time life had glided by with comparative
+ease, but now the real struggle was upon me. My
+duties were too numerous and varied, and none sufficiently
+exhilarating or intellectual to bring into play
+my higher faculties. I suffered with mental hunger,
+which, like an empty stomach, is very depressing. I had
+books, but no stimulating companionship. To add to
+my general dissatisfaction at the change from Boston,
+I found that Seneca Falls was a malarial region, and in
+due time all the children were attacked with chills and
+fever which, under homeopathic treatment in those
+days, lasted three months. The servants were afflicted
+in the same way. Cleanliness, order, the love of the
+beautiful and artistic, all faded away in the struggle to
+accomplish what was absolutely necessary from hour to
+hour. Now I understood, as I never had before, how
+women could sit down and rest in the midst of general
+disorder. Housekeeping, under such conditions, was
+impossible, so I packed our clothes, locked up the
+house, and went to that harbor of safety, home, as I did
+ever after in stress of weather.</p>
+<p>I now fully understood the practical difficulties most
+women had to contend with in the isolated household,
+and the impossibility of woman's best development if
+in contact, the chief part of her life, with servants and
+children. Fourier's phalansterie community life and
+co-operative households had a new significance for me.
+Emerson says, "A healthy discontent is the first step
+to progress." The general discontent I felt with
+woman's portion as wife, mother, housekeeper, physi<a name="Page_148"></a>cian,
+and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into
+which everything fell without her constant supervision,
+and the wearied, anxious look of the majority of
+women impressed me with a strong feeling that some
+active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs
+of society in general, and of women in particular. My
+experience at the World's Anti-slavery Convention,
+all I had read of the legal status of women, and the
+oppression I saw everywhere, together swept across my
+soul, intensified now by many personal experiences. It
+seemed as if all the elements had conspired to impel
+me to some onward step. I could not see what to do
+or where to begin&#8212;my only thought was a public meeting
+for protest and discussion.</p>
+<p>In this tempest-tossed condition of mind I received
+an invitation to spend the day with Lucretia Mott, at
+Richard Hunt's, in Waterloo. There I met several
+members of different families of Friends, earnest,
+thoughtful women. I poured out, that day, the torrent
+of my long-accumulating discontent, with such vehemence
+and indignation that I stirred myself, as well
+as the rest of the party, to do and dare anything. My
+discontent, according to Emerson, must have been
+healthy, for it moved us all to prompt action, and we
+decided, then and there, to call a "Woman's Rights
+Convention." We wrote the call that evening and
+published it in the <i>Seneca County Courier</i> the next day,
+the 14th of July, 1848, giving only five days' notice,
+as the convention was to be held on the 19th and 20th.
+The call was inserted without signatures,&#8212;in fact it
+was a mere announcement of a meeting,&#8212;but the chief
+movers and managers were Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann
+McClintock, Jane Hunt, Martha C. Wright, and my<a name="Page_149"></a>self.
+The convention, which was held two days in the
+Methodist Church, was in every way a grand success.
+The house was crowded at every session, the speaking
+good, and a religious earnestness dignified all the proceedings.</p>
+<p>These were the hasty initiative steps of "the most
+momentous reform that had yet been launched on the
+world&#8212;the first organized protest against the injustice
+which had brooded for ages over the character and
+destiny of one-half the race." No words could express
+our astonishment on finding, a few days afterward, that
+what seemed to us so timely, so rational, and so sacred,
+should be a subject for sarcasm and ridicule to the entire
+press of the nation. With our Declaration of Rights
+and Resolutions for a text, it seemed as if every man
+who could wield a pen prepared a homily on "woman's
+sphere." All the journals from Maine to Texas
+seemed to strive with each other to see which could
+make our movement appear the most ridiculous. The
+anti-slavery papers stood by us manfully and so did
+Frederick Douglass, both in the convention and in his
+paper, <i>The North Star</i>, but so pronounced was the popular
+voice against us, in the parlor, press, and pulpit, that
+most of the ladies who had attended the convention
+and signed the declaration, one by one, withdrew their
+names and influence and joined our persecutors. Our
+friends gave us the cold shoulder and felt themselves
+disgraced by the whole proceeding.</p>
+<p>If I had had the slightest premonition of all that
+was to follow that convention, I fear I should not have
+had the courage to risk it, and I must confess that it
+was with fear and trembling that I consented to attend
+another, one month afterward, in Rochester. Fortu<a name="Page_150"></a>nately,
+the first one seemed to have drawn all the fire,
+and of the second but little was said. But we had set
+the ball in motion, and now, in quick succession, conventions
+were held in Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts,
+Pennsylvania, and in the City of New York, and have
+been kept up nearly every year since.</p>
+<p>The most noteworthy of the early conventions were
+those held in Massachusetts, in which such men as Garrison,
+Phillips, Channing, Parker, and Emerson took
+part. It was one of these that first attracted the attention
+of Mrs. John Stuart Mill, and drew from her pen
+that able article on "The Enfranchisement of Woman,"
+in the <i>Westminster Review</i> of October, 1852.</p>
+<p>The same year of the convention, the Married
+Woman's Property Bill, which had given rise to some
+discussion on woman's rights in New York, had passed
+the legislature. This encouraged action on the part
+of women, as the reflection naturally arose that, if the
+men who make the laws were ready for some onward
+step, surely the women themselves should express some
+interest in the legislation. Ernestine L. Rose, Paulina
+Wright (Davis), and I had spoken before committees
+of the legislature years before, demanding equal property
+rights for women. We had circulated petitions
+for the Married Woman's Property Bill for many
+years, and so also had the leaders of the Dutch aristocracy,
+who desired to see their life-long accumulations
+descend to their daughters and grandchildren rather
+than pass into the hands of dissipated, thriftless sons-in-law.
+Judge Hertell, Judge Fine, and Mr. Geddes of
+Syracuse prepared and championed the several bills, at
+different times, before the legislature. Hence the demands
+made in the convention were not entirely new
+<a name="Page_151"></a>to the reading and thinking public of New
+York&#8212;the
+first State to take any action on the question. As New
+York was the first State to put the word "male" in
+her constitution in 1778, it was fitting that she should
+be first in more liberal legislation. The effect of the
+convention on my own mind was most salutary. The
+discussions had cleared my ideas as to the primal steps
+to be taken for woman's enfranchisement, and the opportunity
+of expressing myself fully and freely on a
+subject I felt so deeply about was a great relief. I think
+all women who attended the convention felt better for
+the statement of their wrongs, believing that the first
+step had been taken to right them.</p>
+<p>Soon after this I was invited to speak at several
+points in the neighborhood. One night, in the Quaker
+Meeting House at Farmington, I invited, as usual, discussion
+and questions when I had finished. We all
+waited in silence for a long time; at length a middle-aged
+man, with a broad-brimmed hat, arose and responded
+in a sing-song tone: "All I have to say is, if a
+hen can crow, let her crow," emphasizing "crow" with
+an upward inflection on several notes of the gamut.
+The meeting adjourned with mingled feelings of surprise
+and merriment. I confess that I felt somewhat chagrined
+in having what I considered my unanswerable
+arguments so summarily disposed of, and the serious
+impression I had made on the audience so speedily dissipated.
+The good man intended no disrespect, as he
+told me afterward. He simply put the whole argument
+in a nutshell: "Let a woman do whatever she
+can."</p>
+<p>With these new duties and interests, and a broader
+outlook on human life, my petty domestic annoyances
+<a name="Page_152"></a>gradually took a subordinate place. Now I began
+to
+write articles for the press, letters to conventions held
+in other States, and private letters to friends, to arouse
+them to thought on this question.</p>
+<p>The pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Bogue,
+preached several sermons on Woman's Sphere, criticising
+the action of the conventions in Seneca Falls and
+Rochester. Elizabeth McClintock and I took notes
+and answered him in the county papers. Gradually we
+extended our labors and attacked our opponents in the
+New York <i>Tribune</i>, whose columns were open to us in
+the early days, Mr. Greeley being, at that time, one of
+our most faithful champions.</p>
+<p>In answering all the attacks, we were compelled to
+study canon and civil law, constitutions, Bibles, science,
+philosophy, and history, sacred and profane. Now my
+mind, as well as my hands, was fully occupied, and instead
+of mourning, as I had done, over what I had lost
+in leaving Boston, I tried in every way to make the
+most of life in Seneca Falls. Seeing that elaborate refreshments
+prevented many social gatherings, I often
+gave an evening entertainment without any. I told
+the young people, whenever they wanted a little dance
+or a merry time, to make our house their rallying point,
+and I would light up and give them a glass of water
+and some cake. In that way we had many pleasant
+informal gatherings. Then, in imitation of Margaret
+Fuller's Conversationals, we started one which lasted
+several years. We selected a subject each week on
+which we all read and thought; each, in turn, preparing
+an essay ten minutes in length.</p>
+<p>These were held, at different homes, Saturday of each
+week. On coming together we chose a presiding offi<a name="Page_153"></a>cer
+for the evening, who called the meeting to order,
+and introduced the essayist. That finished, he asked
+each member, in turn, what he or she had read or
+thought on the subject, and if any had criticisms to
+make on the essay. Everyone was expected to contribute
+something. Much information was thus gained,
+and many spicy discussions followed. All the ladies,
+as well as the gentlemen, presided in turn, and so became
+familiar with parliamentary rules. The evening
+ended with music, dancing, and a general chat. In this
+way we read and thought over a wide range of subjects
+and brought together the best minds in the community.
+Many young men and women who did not
+belong to what was considered the first circle,&#8212;for in
+every little country village there is always a small
+clique that constitutes the aristocracy,&#8212;had the advantages
+of a social life otherwise denied them. I think
+that all who took part in this Conversation Club would
+testify to its many good influences.</p>
+<p>I had three quite intimate young friends in the
+village who spent much of their spare time with
+me, and who added much to my happiness: Frances
+Hoskins, who was principal of the girls' department
+in the academy, with whom I discussed
+politics and religion; Mary Bascom, a good talker
+on the topics of the day, and Mary Crowninshield,
+who played well on the piano. As I was very fond of
+music, Mary's coming was always hailed with delight.
+Her mother, too, was a dear friend of mine, a woman of
+rare intelligence, refinement, and conversational talent.
+She was a Schuyler, and belonged to the Dutch aristocracy
+in Albany. She died suddenly, after a short
+illness. I was with her in the last hours and held her
+<a name="Page_154"></a>hand until the gradually fading spark of life
+went out.
+Her son is Captain A.S. Crowninshield of our Navy.</p>
+<p>My nearest neighbors were a very agreeable, intelligent
+family of sons and daughters. But I always
+felt that the men of that household were given to
+domineering. As the mother was very amiable and
+self-sacrificing, the daughters found it difficult to
+rebel. One summer, after general house-cleaning, when
+fresh paint and paper had made even the kitchen look
+too dainty for the summer invasion of flies, the queens
+of the household decided to move the sombre cook-stove
+into a spacious woodhouse, where it maintained
+its dignity one week, in the absence of the head
+of the home. The mother and daughters were delighted
+with the change, and wondered why they had
+not made it before during the summer months. But
+their pleasure was shortlived. Father and sons rose
+early the first morning after his return and moved the
+stove back to its old place. When the wife and daughters
+came down to get their breakfast (for they did all
+their own work) they were filled with grief and disappointment.
+The breakfast was eaten in silence, the
+women humbled with a sense of their helplessness, and
+the men gratified with a sense of their power. These
+men would probably all have said "home is woman's
+sphere," though they took the liberty of regulating
+everything in her sphere.</p>
+<div style="text-align: center;"><a name="img006"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 572px;" alt="MRS. STANTON AND SON, 1854."
+ title="MRS. STANTON AND SON, 1854." src="image/006.jpg"></div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;"><a name="CHAPTER_X"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_155"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<h2>SUSAN B. ANTHONY.</h2>
+<br>
+<p style="text-align: center;"><a name="img007"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 619px;"
+ alt="Susan B. Anthony 1820-Feb. 15, 1858&#8212;"
+ title="Susan B. Anthony 1820-Feb. 15, 1858&#8212;" src="image/007.jpg"><br>
+</p>
+<p style="text-align: left;">The reports of the conventions held in
+Seneca Falls
+and Rochester, N.Y., in 1848, attracted the attention
+of one destined to take a most important part
+in the new movement&#8212;Susan B. Anthony, who, for her
+courage and executive ability, was facetiously called
+by William Henry Channing, the Napoleon of our
+struggle. At this time she was teaching in the academy
+at Canajoharie, a little village in the beautiful valley
+of the Mohawk.</p>
+<p>"The Woman's Declaration of Independence" issued
+from those conventions startled and amused her, and
+she laughed heartily at the novelty and presumption of
+the demand. But, on returning home to spend her vacation,
+she was surprised to find that her sober Quaker
+parents and sister, having attended the Rochester
+meetings, regarded them as very profitable and interesting,
+and the demands made as proper and reasonable.
+She was already interested in the anti-slavery
+and temperance reforms, was an active member of an
+organization called "The Daughters of Temperance,"
+and had spoken a few times in their public meetings.
+But the new gospel of "Woman's Rights," found a
+ready response in her mind, and, from that time, her
+best efforts have been given to the enfranchisement of
+women.</p>
+<p>As, from this time, my friend is closely connected
+<a name="Page_156"></a>with my narrative and will frequently appear
+therein,
+a sketch of her seems appropriate.</p>
+<p>Lord Bacon has well said: "He that hath wife and
+children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are
+impediments to great enterprises either of virtue or
+mischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest
+merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried
+or childless men; which, both in affection and
+means, have married and endowed the public."</p>
+<p>This bit of Baconian philosophy, as alike applicable
+to women, was the subject, not long since, of a conversation
+with a remarkably gifted Englishwoman. She
+was absorbed in many public interests and had conscientiously
+resolved never to marry, lest the cares necessarily
+involved in matrimony should make inroads
+upon her time and thought, to the detriment of the
+public good. "Unless," said she, "some women dedicate
+themselves to the public service, society is robbed
+of needed guardians for the special wants of the weak
+and unfortunate. There should be, in the secular
+world, certain orders corresponding in a measure to the
+grand sisterhoods of the Catholic Church, to the members
+of which, as freely as to men, all offices, civic and
+ecclesiastical, should be open." That this ideal will be
+realized may be inferred from the fact that exceptional
+women have, in all ages, been leaders in great projects
+of charity and reform, and that now many stand waiting
+only the sanction of their century, ready for wide
+altruistic labors.</p>
+<p>The world has ever had its vestal virgins, its holy
+women, mothers of ideas rather than of men; its Marys,
+as well as its Marthas, who, rather than be busy
+housewives, preferred to sit at the feet of divine wis<a name="Page_157"></a>dom,
+and ponder the mysteries of the unknown. All
+hail to Maria Mitchell, Harriet Hosmer, Charlotte
+Cushman, Alice and Phoebe Gary, Louisa Alcott, Dr.
+Elizabeth Blackwell, Frances Willard, and Clara Barton!
+All honor to the noble women who have devoted earnest
+lives to the intellectual and moral needs of mankind!</p>
+<p>Susan B. Anthony was of sturdy New England
+stock, and it was at the foot of Old Greylock, South
+Adams, Mass., that she gave forth her first rebellious
+cry. There the baby steps were taken, and
+at the village school the first stitches were learned,
+and the A B C duly mastered. When five winters
+had passed over Susan's head, there came a time
+of great domestic commotion, and, in her small
+way, the child seized the idea that permanence is not
+the rule of life. The family moved to Battenville, N.Y.,
+where Mr. Anthony became one of the wealthiest
+men in Washington County. Susan can still recall the
+stately coldness of the great house&#8212;how large the bare
+rooms, with their yellow-painted floors, seemed, in contrast
+with her own diminutiveness, and the outlook of
+the schoolroom where for so many years, with her
+brothers and sisters, she pursued her studies under
+private tutors.</p>
+<p>Mr. Anthony was a stern Hicksite Quaker. In
+Susan's early life he objected on principle to all forms
+of frivolous amusement, such as music, dancing, or novel
+reading, while games and even pictures were regarded
+as meaningless luxuries. Such puritanical convictions
+might have easily degenerated into mere cant; but
+underlying all was a broad and firm basis of wholesome
+respect for individual freedom and a brave
+adherence to truth. He was a man of good busi<a name="Page_158"></a>ness
+capacity, and a thorough manager of his wide
+and lucrative interests. He saw that compensation
+and not chance ruled in the commercial world,
+and he believed in the same just, though often
+severe, law in the sphere of morals. Such a man
+was not apt to walk humbly in the path mapped out
+by his religious sect. He early offended by choosing a
+Baptist for a wife. For this first offense he was "disowned,"
+and, according to Quaker usage, could only be
+received into fellowship again by declaring himself
+"sorry" for his crime in full meeting. He was full
+of devout thankfulness for the good woman by
+his side, and destined to be thankful to the very
+end for this companion, so calm, so just, so far-seeing.
+He rose in meeting, and said he was
+"sorry" that the rules of the society were such
+that, in marrying the woman he loved, he had committed
+offense! He admitted that he was "sorry" for
+something, so was taken back into the body of the faithful!
+But his faith had begun to weaken in many minor
+points of discipline. His coat soon became a cause of
+offense and called forth another reproof from those
+buttoned up in conforming garments. The petty forms
+of Quakerism began to lose their weight with him altogether,
+and he was finally disowned for allowing the
+village youth to be taught dancing in an upper room
+of his dwelling. He was applied to for this favor
+on the ground that young men were under great temptation
+to drink if the lessons were given in the hotel;
+and, being a rigid temperance man, he readily consented,
+though his principles, in regard to dancing,
+would not allow his own sons and daughters to join in
+the amusement. But the society could accept no such
+<a name="Page_159"></a>discrimination in what it deemed sin, nor such
+compromise
+with worldly frivolity, and so Mr. Anthony was
+seen no more in meeting. But, in later years, in Rochester
+he was an attentive listener to Rev. William Henry
+Channing.</p>
+<p>The effect of all this on Susan is the question of interest.
+No doubt she early weighed the comparative
+moral effects of coats cut with capes and those cut
+without, of purely Quaker conjugal love and that deteriorated
+with Baptist affection. Susan had an
+earnest soul and a conscience tending to morbidity; but
+a strong, well-balanced body and simple family life
+soothed her too active moral nature and gave the
+world, instead of a religious fanatic, a sincere, concentrated
+worker. Every household art was taught her
+by her mother, and so great was her ability that the
+duty demanding especial care was always given into her
+hands. But ever, amid school and household tasks,
+her day-dream was that, in time, she might be a "high-seat"
+Quaker. Each Sunday, up to the time of the
+third disobedience, Mr. Anthony went to the Quaker
+meeting house, some thirteen miles from home, his
+wife and children usually accompanying him, though,
+as non-members, they were rigidly excluded from all
+business discussions. Exclusion was very pleasant in
+the bright days of summer; but, on one occasion in
+December, decidedly unpleasant for the seven-year-old
+Susan. When the blinds were drawn, at the close of the
+religious meeting, and non-members retired, Susan sat
+still. Soon she saw a thin old lady with blue goggles
+come down from the "high seat." Approaching her,
+the Quakeress said softly, "Thee is not a member&#8212;thee
+must go out." "No; my mother told me not to go
+<a name="Page_160"></a>out in the cold," was the child's firm response.
+"Yes,
+but thee must go out&#8212;thee is not a member." "But
+my father is a member." "Thee is not a member," and
+Susan felt as if the spirit was moving her and soon found
+herself in outer coldness. Fingers and toes becoming
+numb, and a bright fire in a cottage over the way
+beckoning warmly to her, the exile from the chapel
+resolved to seek secular shelter. But alas! she was confronted
+by a huge dog, and just escaped with whole
+skin though capeless jacket. We may be sure there
+was much talk, that night, at the home fireside, and the
+good Baptist wife declared that no child of hers should
+attend meeting again till made a member. Thereafter,
+by request of her father, Susan became a member of
+the Quaker church.</p>
+<p>Later, definite convictions took root in Miss Anthony's
+heart. Hers is, indeed, a sincerely religious
+nature. To be a simple, earnest Quaker was the
+aspiration of her girlhood; but she shrank from adopting
+the formal language and plain dress. Dark hours
+of conflict were spent over all this, and she interpreted
+her disinclination as evidence of unworthiness. Poor
+little Susan! As we look back with the knowledge of
+our later life, we translate the heart-burnings as unconscious
+protests against labeling your free soul,
+against testing your reasoning conviction of to-morrow
+by any shibboleth of to-day's belief. We
+hail this child-intuition as a prophecy of the uncompromising
+truthfulness of the mature woman.
+Susan Anthony was taught simply that she must
+enter into the holy of holies of her own self, meet
+herself, and be true to the revelation. She first
+found words to express her convictions in listen<a name="Page_161"></a>ing
+to Rev. William Henry Channing, whose teaching
+had a lasting spiritual influence upon her. To-day
+Miss Anthony is an agnostic. As to the nature of the
+Godhead and of the life beyond her horizon she does
+not profess to know anything. Every energy of her
+soul is centered upon the needs of this world. To her,
+work is worship. She has not stood aside, shivering in
+the cold shadows of uncertainty, but has moved on with
+the whirling world, has done the good given her to do,
+and thus, in darkest hours, has been sustained by
+an unfaltering faith in the final perfection of all things.
+Her belief is not orthodox, but it is religious. In
+ancient Greece she would have been a Stoic; in the era
+of the Reformation, a Calvinist; in King Charles' time,
+a Puritan; but in this nineteenth century, by the very
+laws of her being, she is a Reformer.</p>
+<p>For the arduous work that awaited Miss Anthony her
+years of young womanhood had given preparation.
+Her father, though a man of wealth, made it a matter of
+conscience to train his girls, as well as his boys, to
+self-support. Accordingly Susan chose the profession
+of teacher, and made her first essay during a summer
+vacation in a school her father had established for
+the children of his employ&eacute;s. Her success was so
+marked, not only in imparting knowledge, but also as
+a disciplinarian, that she followed this career steadily for
+fifteen years, with the exception of some months given
+in Philadelphia to her own training. Of the many
+school rebellions which she overcame, one rises before
+me, prominent in its ludicrous aspect. This was in the
+district school at Center Falls, in the year 1839. Bad
+reports were current there of male teachers driven out
+by a certain strapping lad. Rumor next told of a
+<a name="Page_162"></a>Quaker maiden coming to teach&#8212;a Quaker maiden of
+peace principles. The anticipated day and Susan arrived.
+She looked very meek to the barbarian of
+fifteen, so he soon began his antics. He was called to
+the platform, told to lay aside his jacket, and, thereupon,
+with much astonishment received from the mild
+Quaker maiden, with a birch rod applied calmly but
+with precision, an exposition of the <i>argumentum ad
+hominem</i> based on the <i>a posteriori</i> method of reasoning.
+Thus Susan departed from her principles, but not from
+the school.</p>
+<p>But, before long, conflicts in the outside world disturbed
+our young teacher. The multiplication table
+and spelling book no longer enchained her thoughts;
+larger questions began to fill her mind. About the
+year 1850 Susan B. Anthony hid her ferule away.
+Temperance, anti-slavery, woman suffrage,&#8212;three pregnant
+questions,&#8212;presented themselves, demanding her
+consideration. Higher, ever higher, rose their appeals,
+until she resolved to dedicate her energy and thought
+to the burning needs of the hour. Owing to early experience
+of the disabilities of her sex, the first demand
+for equal rights for women found echo in Susan's heart.
+And, though she was in the beginning startled to hear
+that women had actually met in convention, and by
+speeches and resolutions had declared themselves man's
+peer in political rights, and had urged radical changes
+in State constitutions and the whole system of American
+jurisprudence; yet the most casual review convinced
+her that these claims were but the logical outgrowth
+of the fundamental theories of our republic.</p>
+<p>At this stage of her development I met my future
+friend and coadjutor for the first time. How well I
+<a name="Page_163"></a>remember the day! George Thompson and William
+Lloyd Garrison having announced an anti-slavery meeting
+in Seneca Falls, Miss Anthony came to attend it.
+These gentlemen were my guests. Walking home,
+after the adjournment, we met Mrs. Bloomer and Miss
+Anthony on the corner of the street, waiting to greet
+us. There she stood, with her good, earnest face and
+genial smile, dressed in gray delaine, hat and all the
+same color, relieved with pale blue ribbons, the perfection
+of neatness and sobriety. I liked her thoroughly,
+and why I did not at once invite her home with
+me to dinner, I do not know. She accuses me of that
+neglect, and has never forgiven me, as she wished to see
+and hear all she could of our noble friends. I suppose
+my mind was full of what I had heard, or my coming
+dinner, or the probable behavior of three mischievous
+boys who had been busily exploring the premises while
+I was at the meeting.</p>
+<p>That I had abundant cause for anxiety in regard
+to the philosophical experiments these young savages
+might try the reader will admit, when informed
+of some of their performances. Henry imagined
+himself possessed of rare powers of invention (an ancestral
+weakness for generations), and so made a life
+preserver of corks, and tested its virtues on his brother,
+who was about eighteen months old. Accompanied
+by a troop of expectant boys, the baby was drawn
+in his carriage to the banks of the Seneca, stripped, the
+string of corks tied under his arms, and set afloat in the
+river, the philosopher and his satellites, in a rowboat,
+watching the experiment. The baby, accustomed to a
+morning bath in a large tub, splashed about joyfully,
+keeping his head above water. He was as blue as
+<a name="Page_164"></a>indigo and as cold as a frog when rescued by his
+anxious
+mother. The next day the same victimized infant was
+seen, by a passing friend, seated on the chimney, on the
+highest peak of the house. Without alarming anyone,
+the friend hurried up to the housetop and rescued the
+child. Another time the three elder brothers entered
+into a conspiracy, and locked up the fourth, Theodore,
+in the smoke-house. Fortunately, he sounded the
+alarm loud and clear, and was set free in safety, whereupon
+the three were imprisoned in a garret with two
+barred windows. They summarily kicked out the bars,
+and, sliding down on the lightning rod, betook themselves
+to the barn for liberty. The youngest boy, Gerrit,
+then only five years old, skinned his hands in the
+descent. This is a fair sample of the quiet happiness I
+enjoyed in the first years of motherhood.</p>
+<p>It was 'mid such exhilarating scenes that Miss
+Anthony and I wrote addresses for temperance,
+anti-slavery, educational, and woman's rights conventions.
+Here we forged resolutions, protests,
+appeals, petitions, agricultural reports, and constitutional
+arguments; for we made it a matter
+of conscience to accept every invitation to speak on
+every question, in order to maintain woman's right to
+do so. To this end we took turns on the domestic
+watchtowers, directing amusements, settling disputes,
+protecting the weak against the strong, and trying to
+secure equal rights to all in the home as well as the
+nation. I can recall many a stern encounter between
+my friend and the young experimenter. It is pleasant
+to remember that he never seriously injured any of his
+victims, and only once came near fatally shooting himself
+with a pistol. The ball went through his hand;
+<a name="Page_165"></a>happily a brass button prevented it from
+penetrating his
+heart.</p>
+<p>It is often said, by those who know Miss Anthony
+best, that she has been my good angel, always pushing
+and goading me to work, and that but for her pertinacity
+I should never have accomplished the little I
+have. On the other hand it has been said that I forged
+the thunderbolts and she fired them. Perhaps all this
+is, in a measure, true. With the cares of a large family
+I might, in time, like too many women, have become
+wholly absorbed in a narrow family selfishness, had not
+my friend been continually exploring new fields for
+missionary labors. Her description of a body of men
+on any platform, complacently deciding questions in
+which woman had an equal interest, without an equal
+voice, readily roused me to a determination to throw
+a firebrand into the midst of their assembly.</p>
+<p>Thus, whenever I saw that stately Quaker girl coming
+across my lawn, I knew that some happy convocation
+of the sons of Adam was to be set by the ears, by
+one of our appeals or resolutions. The little portmanteau,
+stuffed with facts, was opened, and there we had
+what the Rev. John Smith and Hon. Richard Roe had
+said: false interpretations of Bible texts, the statistics
+of women robbed of their property, shut out of some
+college, half paid for their work, the reports of some disgraceful
+trial; injustice enough to turn any woman's
+thoughts from stockings and puddings. Then we
+would get out our pens and write articles for papers, or
+a petition to the legislature; indite letters to the faithful,
+here and there; stir up the women in Ohio, Pennsylvania,
+or Massachusetts; call on <i>The Lily, The Una,
+The Liberator, The Standard</i> to remember our wrongs as
+<a name="Page_166"></a>well as those of the slave. We never met without
+issuing
+a pronunciamento on some question. In thought
+and sympathy we were one, and in the division of labor
+we exactly complemented each other. In writing we
+did better work than either could alone. While she is
+slow and analytical in composition, I am rapid and synthetic.
+I am the better writer, she the better critic.
+She supplied the facts and statistics, I the philosophy
+and rhetoric, and, together, we have made arguments
+that have stood unshaken through the storms of long
+years; arguments that no one has answered. Our
+speeches may be considered the united product of our
+two brains.</p>
+<p>So entirely one are we that, in all our associations,
+ever side by side on the same platform, not one feeling
+of envy or jealousy has ever shadowed our lives. We
+have indulged freely in criticism of each other when
+alone, and hotly contended whenever we have differed,
+but in our friendship of years there has never been the
+break of one hour. To the world we always seem to
+agree and uniformly reflect each other. Like husband
+and wife, each has the feeling that we must have no differences
+in public. Thus united, at an early day we began
+to survey the state and nation, the future field of
+our labors. We read, with critical eyes, the proceedings
+of Congress and legislatures, of general assemblies and
+synods, of conferences and conventions, and discovered
+that, in all alike, the existence of woman was entirely
+ignored.</p>
+<p>Night after night, by an old-fashioned fireplace, we
+plotted and planned the coming agitation; how, when,
+and where each entering wedge could be driven, by
+which women might be recognized and their rights se<a name="Page_167"></a>cured.
+Speedily the State was aflame with disturbances
+in temperance and teachers' conventions, and the press
+heralded the news far and near that women delegates
+had suddenly appeared, demanding admission in men's
+conventions; that their rights had been hotly contested
+session after session, by liberal men on the one side, the
+clergy and learned professors on the other; an overwhelming
+majority rejecting the women with terrible anathemas
+and denunciations. Such battles were fought
+over and over in the chief cities of many of the Northern
+States, until the bigotry of men in all the reforms and
+professions was thoroughly exposed. Every right
+achieved, to enter a college, to study a profession, to
+labor in some new industry, or to advocate a reform
+measure was contended for inch by inch.</p>
+<p>Many of those enjoying all these blessings now complacently
+say, "If these pioneers in reform had only
+pressed their measures more judiciously, in a more ladylike
+manner, in more choice language, with a more
+deferential attitude, the gentlemen could not have behaved
+so rudely." I give, in these pages, enough of the
+characteristics of these women, of the sentiments they
+expressed, of their education, ancestry, and position to
+show that no power could have met the prejudice and
+bigotry of that period more successfully than they did
+who so bravely and persistently fought and conquered
+them.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony first carried her flag of rebellion
+into the State conventions of teachers, and there
+fought, almost single-handed, the battle for equality.
+At the close of the first decade she had compelled conservatism
+to yield its ground so far as to permit women
+to participate in all debates, deliver essays, vote, and
+<a name="Page_168"></a>hold honored positions as officers. She labored
+as sincerely
+in the temperance movement, until convinced
+that woman's moral power amounted to little as a
+civil agent, until backed by ballot and coined into State
+law. She still never loses an occasion to defend co-education
+and prohibition, and solves every difficulty
+with the refrain, "woman suffrage," as persistent as
+the "never more" of Poe's raven.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_169"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<h2>SUSAN B. ANTHONY&#8212;<i>Continued</i>.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>It was in 1852 that anti-slavery, through the eloquent
+lips of such men as George Thompson, Phillips,
+and Garrison, first proclaimed to Miss Anthony its pressing
+financial necessities. To their inspired words she
+gave answer, four years afterward, by becoming a regularly
+employed agent in the Anti-slavery Society. For
+her espoused cause she has always made boldest demands.
+In the abolition meetings she used to tell each
+class why it should support the movement financially;
+invariably calling upon Democrats to give liberally, as
+the success of the cause would enable them to cease
+bowing the knee to the slave power.</p>
+<p>There is scarce a town, however small, from New
+York to San Francisco, that has not heard her ringing
+voice. Who can number the speeches she has made
+on lyceum platforms, in churches, schoolhouses, halls,
+barns, and in the open air, with a lumber wagon or a
+cart for her rostrum? Who can describe the varied
+audiences and social circles she has cheered and interested?
+Now we see her on the far-off prairies, entertaining,
+with sterling common sense, large gatherings
+of men, women, and children, seated on rough boards
+in some unfinished building; again, holding public debates
+in some town with half-fledged editors and
+<a name="Page_170"></a>clergymen; next, sailing up the Columbia River
+and,
+in hot haste to meet some appointment, jolting over the
+rough mountains of Oregon and Washington; and
+then, before legislative assemblies, constitutional conventions,
+and congressional committees, discussing
+with senators and judges the letter and spirit of constitutional
+law.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony's style of speaking is rapid and
+vehement. In debate she is ready and keen, and she is
+always equal to an emergency. Many times in traveling
+with her through the West, especially on our first
+trip to Kansas and California, we were suddenly called
+upon to speak to the women assembled at the stations.
+Filled with consternation, I usually appealed to her to
+go first; and, without a moment's hesitation, she could
+always fill five minutes with some appropriate words
+and inspire me with thoughts and courage to follow.
+The climax of these occasions was reached in an institution
+for the deaf and dumb in Michigan. I had just
+said to my friend, "There is one comfort in visiting
+this place; we shall not be asked to speak," when the
+superintendent, approaching us, said, "Ladies, the
+pupils are assembled in the chapel, ready to hear you.
+I promised to invite you to speak to them as soon as I
+heard you were in town." The possibility of addressing
+such an audience was as novel to Miss Anthony as
+to me; yet she promptly walked down the aisle to the
+platform, as if to perform an ordinary duty, while I,
+half distracted with anxiety, wondering by what process
+I was to be placed in communication with the deaf
+and dumb, reluctantly followed. But the manner was
+simple enough, when illustrated. The superintendent,
+standing by our side, repeated, in the sign language,
+<a name="Page_171"></a>what was said as fast as uttered; and by
+laughter, tears,
+and applause, the pupils showed that they fully appreciated
+the pathos, humor, and argument.</p>
+<p>One night, crossing the Mississippi at McGregor,
+Iowa, we were icebound in the middle of the river. The
+boat was crowded with people, hungry, tired, and cross
+with the delay. Some gentlemen, with whom we had
+been talking on the cars, started the cry, "Speech on
+woman suffrage!" Accordingly, in the middle of the
+Mississippi River, at midnight, we presented our claims
+to political representation, and debated the question of
+universal suffrage until we landed. Our voyagers were
+quite thankful that we had shortened the many hours,
+and we equally so at having made several converts and
+held a convention on the very bosom of the great
+"Mother of Waters." Only once in all these wanderings
+was Miss Anthony taken by surprise, and that was
+on being asked to speak to the inmates of an insane
+asylum. "Bless me!" said she, "it is as much as I
+can do to talk to the sane! What could I say to an
+audience of lunatics?" Her companion, Virginia L.
+Minor of St. Louis, replied: "This is a golden moment
+for you, the first opportunity you have ever had,
+according to the constitutions, to talk to your 'peers,'
+for is not the right of suffrage denied to 'idiots, criminals,
+lunatics, and women'?"</p>
+<p>Much curiosity has been expressed as to the love-life
+of Miss Anthony; but, if she has enjoyed or suffered
+any of the usual triumphs or disappointments of her
+sex, she has not yet vouchsafed this information to her
+biographers. While few women have had more sincere
+and lasting friendships, or a more extensive correspondence
+with a large circle of noble men, yet I
+<a name="Page_172"></a>doubt if one of them can boast of having
+received from
+her any exceptional attention. She has often playfully
+said, when questioned on this point, that she could not
+consent that the man she loved, described in the Constitution
+as a white male, native born, American citizen,
+possessed of the right of self-government, eligible
+to the office of President of the great Republic, should
+unite his destinies in marriage with a political slave
+and pariah. "No, no; when I am crowned with all the
+rights, privileges, and immunities of a citizen, I may
+give some consideration to this social institution; but
+until then I must concentrate all my energies on the enfranchisement
+of my own sex." Miss Anthony's love-life,
+like her religion, has manifested itself in steadfast,
+earnest labors for men in general. She has been a
+watchful and affectionate daughter, sister, friend, and
+those who have felt the pulsations of her great heart
+know how warmly it beats for all.</p>
+<p>As the custom has long been observed, among married
+women, of celebrating the anniversaries of their
+wedding-day, quite properly the initiative has been
+taken, in late years, of doing honor to the great events
+in the lives of single women. Being united in closest
+bonds to her profession, Dr. Harriet K. Hunt of Boston
+celebrated her twenty-fifth year of faithful services
+as a physician by giving to her friends and patrons a
+large reception, which she called her silver wedding.
+From a feeling of the sacredness of her life work, the
+admirers of Susan B. Anthony have been moved to
+mark, by reception and convention, her rapid-flowing
+years and the passing decades of the suffrage movement.
+To the most brilliant occasion of this kind, the
+invitation cards were as follows:<a name="Page_173"></a>
+</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>The ladies of the Woman's Bureau invite you to a reception on
+Tuesday evening, February 15th, to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of
+Susan B. Anthony, when her friends will have an opportunity to show
+their appreciation of her long services in behalf of woman's
+emancipation.</p>
+<div style="margin-left: 40px;">No. 49 East 23d St., New York,<br>
+<div style="margin-left: 40px;">February 10, 1870.</div>
+</div>
+<p style="margin-left: 160px; font-weight: bold;">Elizabeth B. Phelps,<br>
+Anna B. Darling,<br>
+Charlotte Beebe Wilbour.</p>
+</div>
+<p>In response to the invitation, the parlors of the bureau
+were crowded with friends to congratulate Miss Anthony
+on the happy event, many bringing valuable
+gifts as an expression of their gratitude. Among
+other presents were a handsome gold watch and
+checks to the amount of a thousand dollars. The
+guests were entertained with music, recitations,
+the reading of many piquant letters of regret from
+distinguished people, and witty rhymes written for
+the occasion by the Cary sisters. Miss Anthony
+received her guests with her usual straightforward
+simplicity, and in a few earnest words expressed
+her thanks for the presents and praises showered upon
+her. The comments of the leading journals, next day,
+were highly complimentary, and as genial as amusing.
+All dwelt on the fact that, at last, a woman had arisen
+brave enough to assert her right to grow old and openly
+declare that half a century had rolled over her head.</p>
+<p>Of carefully prepared written speeches Miss Anthony
+has made few; but these, by the high praise they
+called forth, prove that she can&#8212;in spite of her own
+declaration to the contrary&#8212;put her sterling thoughts
+on paper concisely and effectively. After her exhaustive
+plea, in 1880, for a Sixteenth Amendment before
+<a name="Page_174"></a>the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, Senator
+Edmunds
+accosted her, as she was leaving the Capitol, and
+said he neglected to tell her, in the committee room,
+that she had made an argument, no matter what his
+personal feelings were as to the conclusions reached,
+which was unanswerable&#8212;an argument, unlike the
+usual platform oratory given at hearings, suited to a
+committee of men trained to the law.</p>
+<p>It was in 1876 that Miss Anthony gave her much
+criticised lecture on "Social Purity" in Boston. As
+to the result she felt very anxious; for the intelligence
+of New England composed her audience, and it did not
+still her heart-beats to see, sitting just in front of the
+platform, her revered friend, William Lloyd Garrison.
+But surely every fear vanished when she felt the grand
+old abolitionist's hand warmly pressing hers, and heard
+him say that to listen to no one else would he have had
+courage to leave his sick room, and that he felt fully repaid
+by her grand speech, which neither in matter nor
+manner would he have changed in the smallest particular.
+But into Miss Anthony's private correspondence
+one must look for examples of her most effective writing.
+Verb or substantive is often wanting, but you
+can always catch the thought, and will ever find it clear
+and suggestive. It is a strikingly strange dialect, but
+one that touches, at times, the deepest chords of pathos
+and humor, and, when stirred by some great event, is
+highly eloquent.</p>
+<p>From being the most ridiculed and mercilessly persecuted
+woman, Miss Anthony has become the most
+honored and respected in the nation. Witness the
+praises of press and people, and the enthusiastic ovations
+she received on her departure for Europe in
+<a name="Page_175"></a>1883. Never were warmer expressions of regret
+for
+an absence, nor more sincere prayers for a speedy return,
+accorded to any American on leaving his native
+shores. This slow awaking to the character of her
+services shows the abiding sense of justice in the human
+soul. Having spent the winter of 1882-83 in Washington,
+trying to press to a vote the bill for a Sixteenth
+Amendment before Congress, and the autumn in a
+vigorous campaign through Nebraska, where a constitutional
+amendment to enfranchise women had been
+submitted to the people, she felt the imperative need of
+an entire change in the current of her thoughts. Accordingly,
+after one of the most successful conventions
+ever held at the national capital, and a most flattering
+ovation in the spacious parlors of the Riggs House, and
+a large reception in Philadelphia, she sailed for Europe.</p>
+<p>Fortunate in being perfectly well during the entire
+voyage, our traveler received perpetual enjoyment in
+watching the ever varying sea and sky. To the captain's
+merry challenge to find anything so grand as the
+ocean, she replied, "Yes, these mighty forces in nature
+do indeed fill me with awe; but this vessel, with deep-buried
+fires, powerful machinery, spacious decks, and
+tapering masts, walking the waves like a thing of life,
+and all the work of man, impresses one still more deeply.
+Lo! in man's divine creative power is fulfilled the
+prophecy, 'Ye shall be as Gods!'"</p>
+<p>In all her journeyings through Germany, Italy, and
+France, Miss Anthony was never the mere sight-seer,
+but always the humanitarian and reformer in traveler's
+guise. Few of the great masterpieces of art gave
+her real enjoyment. The keen appreciation of the
+beauties of sculpture, painting, and architecture, which
+<a name="Page_176"></a>one would have expected to find in so deep a
+religious
+nature, was wanting, warped, no doubt, by her early
+Quaker training. That her travels gave her more pain
+than pleasure was, perhaps, not so much that she had
+no appreciation of aesthetic beauty, but that she quickly
+grasped the infinitude of human misery; not because
+her soul did not feel the heights to which art had
+risen, but that it vibrated in every fiber to the depths
+to which mankind had fallen. Wandering through
+a gorgeous palace one day, she exclaimed, "What
+do you find to admire here? If it were a school
+of five hundred children being educated into the
+right of self-government I could admire it, too;
+but standing for one man's pleasure, I say no!" In the
+quarters of one of the devotees, at the old monastery
+of the Certosa, at Florence, there lies, on a small table,
+an open book, in which visitors register. On the occasion
+of Miss Anthony's visit the pen and ink proved
+so unpromising that her entire party declined this opportunity
+to make themselves famous, but she made the
+rebellious pen inscribe, "Perfect equality for women,
+civil, political, religious. Susan B. Anthony, U.S.A."
+Friends, who visited the monastery next day, reported
+that lines had been drawn through this heretical
+sentiment.</p>
+<p>During her visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sargent,
+in Berlin, Miss Anthony quite innocently posted
+her letters in the official envelopes of our Suffrage
+Association, which bore the usual mottoes, "No
+just government can be formed without the consent
+of the governed," etc. In a few days an official
+brought back a large package, saying, "Such sentiments
+are not allowed to pass through the post office."
+<a name="Page_177"></a>Probably nothing saved her from arrest as a
+socialist,
+under the tyrannical police regulations, but the fact that
+she was the guest of the Minister Plenipotentiary of the
+United States.</p>
+<p>My son Theodore wrote of Miss Anthony's visit in
+Paris: "I had never before seen her in the role of tourist.
+She seemed interested only in historical monuments,
+and in the men and questions of the hour. The
+galleries of the Louvre had little attraction for her, but
+she gazed with deep pleasure at Napoleon's tomb,
+Notre Dame, and the ruins of the Tuileries. She was
+always ready to listen to discussions on the political
+problems before the French people, the prospects of the
+Republic, the divorce agitation, and the education of
+women. 'I had rather see Jules Ferry than all the
+pictures of the Louvre, Luxembourg, and Salon,' she
+remarked at table. A day or two later she saw Ferry
+at Laboulaye's funeral. The three things which made
+the deepest impression on Miss Anthony, during her
+stay at Paris, were probably the interment of Laboulaye
+(the friend of the United States and of the woman
+movement); the touching anniversary demonstration of
+the Communists, at the Cemetery of P&egrave;re La Chaise,
+on the very spot where the last defenders of the Commune
+of 1871 were ruthlessly shot and buried in a common
+grave; and a woman's rights meeting, held in a
+little hall in the Rue de Rivoli, at which the brave, far-seeing
+Mlle. Hubertine Auchet was the leading spirit."</p>
+<p>While on the Continent Miss Anthony experienced
+the unfortunate sensation of being deaf and dumb; to
+speak and not to be understood, to hear and not to comprehend,
+were to her bitter realities. We can imagine
+to what desperation she was brought when her Quaker
+<a name="Page_178"></a>prudishness could hail an emphatic oath in
+English
+from a French official with the exclamation, "Well, it
+sounds good to hear someone even swear in old Anglo-Saxon!"
+After two months of enforced silence, she
+was buoyant in reaching the British Islands once more,
+where she could enjoy public speaking and general conversation.
+Here she was the recipient of many generous
+social attentions, and, on May 25, a large public
+meeting of representative people, presided over by
+Jacob Bright, was called, in our honor, by the National
+Association of Great Britain. She spoke on the educational
+and political status of women in America, I
+of their religious and social position.</p>
+<p>Before closing my friend's biography I shall trace two
+golden threads in this closely woven life of incident.
+One of the greatest services rendered by Miss Anthony
+to the suffrage cause was in casting a vote in the Presidential
+election of 1872, in order to test the rights of
+women under the Fourteenth Amendment. For this
+offense the brave woman was arrested, on Thanksgiving
+Day, the national holiday handed down to us by Pilgrim
+Fathers escaped from England's persecutions. She
+asked for a writ of habeas corpus. The writ being flatly
+refused, in January, 1873, her counsel gave bonds. The
+daring defendant finding, when too late, that this not
+only kept her out of jail, but her case out of the Supreme
+Court of the United States, regretfully determined
+to fight on, and gain the uttermost by a decision
+in the United States Circuit Court. Her trial was set
+down for the Rochester term in May. Quickly she canvassed
+the whole county, laying before every probable
+juror the strength of her case. When the time for the
+trial arrived, the District Attorney, fearing the result,
+<a name="Page_179"></a>if the decision were left to a jury drawn from
+Miss Anthony's
+enlightened county, transferred the trial to the
+Ontario County term, in June, 1873.</p>
+<p>It was now necessary to instruct the citizens of another
+county. In this task Miss Anthony received valuable
+assistance from Matilda Joslyn Gage; and, to meet
+all this new expense, financial aid was generously
+given, unsolicited, by Thomas Wentworth Higginson,
+Gerrit Smith, and other sympathizers. But in
+vain was every effort; in vain the appeal of Miss
+Anthony to her jurors; in vain the moral influence
+of the leading representatives of the bar of Central
+New York filling the courtroom, for Judge
+Hunt, without precedent to sustain him, declaring it a
+case of law and not of fact, refused to give the case to
+the jury, reserving to himself final decision. Was it
+not an historic scene which was enacted there in that
+little courthouse in Canandaigua? All the inconsistencies
+were embodied in that Judge, punctilious in manner,
+scrupulous in attire, conscientious in trivialities, and
+obtuse on great principles, fitly described by Charles
+O'Conor&#8212;"A very ladylike Judge." Behold him sitting
+there, balancing all the niceties of law and equity in
+his Old World scales, and at last saying, "The prisoner
+will stand up." Whereupon the accused arose. "The
+sentence of the court is that you pay a fine of one hundred
+dollars and the costs of the prosecution." Then
+the unruly defendant answers: "May it please your
+Honor, I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty,"
+and more to the same effect, all of which she has lived
+up to. The "ladylike" Judge had gained some insight
+into the determination of the prisoner; so, not wishing
+to incarcerate her to all eternity, he added gently:
+"<a name="Page_180"></a>Madam, the court will not order you committed
+until the fine is paid."</p>
+<p>It was on the 17th of June that the verdict was given.
+On that very day, a little less than a century before,
+the brave militia was driven back at Bunker Hill&#8212;back,
+back, almost wiped out; yet truth was in their ranks,
+and justice, too. But how ended that rebellion of weak
+colonists? The cause of American womanhood, embodied
+for the moment in the liberty of a single individual,
+received a rebuff on June 17, 1873; but, just as
+surely as our Revolutionary heroes were in the end victorious,
+so will the inalienable rights of our heroines of
+the nineteenth century receive final vindication.</p>
+<p>In his speech of 1880, before the Phi Beta Kappa
+Society at Harvard, Wendell Phillips said&#8212;what as a
+rule is true&#8212;that "a reformer, to be conscientious,
+must be free from bread-winning." I will open Miss
+Anthony's accounts and show that this reformer,
+being, perhaps, the exception which proves the
+rule, has been consistently and conscientiously in
+debt. Turning over her year-books the pages give a
+fair record up to 1863. Here began the first herculean
+labor. The Woman's Loyal League, sadly in need of
+funds, was not an incorporated association, so its secretary
+assumed the debts. Accounts here became
+quite lamentable, the deficit reaching five thousand
+dollars. It must be paid, and, in fact, will be paid.
+Anxious, weary hours were spent in crowding the
+Cooper Institute, from week to week, with paying audiences,
+to listen to such men as Phillips, Curtis, and
+Douglass, who contributed their services, and lifted the
+secretary out of debt. At last, after many difficulties,
+her cash-book of 1863 was honorably pigeon-holed. In
+<a name="Page_181"></a>1867 we can read account of herculean labor the
+second. Twenty thousand tracts are needed to convert
+the voters of Kansas to woman suffrage. Traveling
+expenses to Kansas, and the tracts, make the debtor
+column overreach the creditor some two thousand dollars.
+There is recognition on these pages of more than
+one thousand dollars obtained by soliciting advertisements,
+but no note is made of the weary, burning July
+days spent in the streets of New York to procure this
+money, nor of the ready application of the savings made
+by petty economies from her salary from the Hovey
+Committee.</p>
+<p>It would have been fortunate for my brave friend, if
+cash-books 1868, 1869, and 1870 had never come down
+from their shelves; for they sing and sing, in notes of
+debts, till all unite in one vast chorus of far more than
+ten thousand dollars. These were the days of the
+<i>Revolution</i>, the newspaper, not the war, though it
+was warfare for the debt-ridden manager. Several
+thousand dollars she paid with money earned by lecturing,
+and with money given her for personal use. One
+Thanksgiving was, in truth, a time for returning
+thanks; for she received, canceled, from her cousin,
+Anson Lapham, her note for four thousand dollars.
+After the funeral of Paulina Wright Davis, the bereaved
+widower pressed into Miss Anthony's hand canceled
+notes for five hundred dollars, bearing on the back the
+words, "In memory of my beloved wife." One other
+note was canceled in recognition of her perfect forgetfulness
+of self-interest and ready sacrifice to the needs
+of others. When laboring, in 1874, to fill every engagement,
+in order to meet her debts, her mother's
+sudden illness called her home. Without one selfish
+<a name="Page_182"></a>regret, the anxious daughter hastened to
+Rochester.
+When recovery was certain, and Miss Anthony was
+about to return to her fatiguing labors, her mother
+gave her, at parting, her note for a thousand dollars,
+on which was written, in trembling lines, "In just consideration
+of the tender sacrifice made to nurse me in
+severe illness." At last all the <i>Revolution</i> debt was
+paid, except that due to her generous sister, Mary
+Anthony, who used often humorously to assure her she
+was a fit subject for the bankrupt act.</p>
+<p>There is something humorously pathetic in the death
+of the <i>Revolution</i>&#8212;that firstborn of Miss Anthony.
+Mrs. Laura Curtis Bullard generously assumed the
+care of the troublesome child, and, in order to make the
+adoption legal, gave the usual consideration&#8212;one dollar.
+The very night of the transfer Miss Anthony went
+to Rochester with the dollar in her pocket, and the little
+change left after purchasing her ticket. She arrived
+safely with her debts, but nothing more&#8212;her pocket
+had been picked! Oh, thief, could you but know what
+value of faithful work you purloined!</p>
+<p>From the close of the year 1876 Miss Anthony's accounts
+showed favorable signs as to the credit column.
+Indeed, at the end of five years there was a solid balance
+of several thousand dollars earned on lecturing tours.
+But alas! the accounts grow dim again&#8212;in fact the
+credit column fades away. "The History of Woman
+Suffrage" ruthlessly swallowed up every vestige of Miss
+Anthony's bank account. But, in 1886, by the will of
+Mrs. Eddy, daughter of Francis Jackson of Boston,
+Miss Anthony received twenty-four thousand dollars
+for the Woman's Suffrage Movement, which lifted her
+out of debt once more.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_183"></a>In vain will you search these telltale books
+for evidence
+of personal extravagance; for, although Miss
+Anthony thinks it true economy to buy the best, her
+tastes are simple. Is there not something very touching
+in the fact that she never bought a book or picture
+for her own enjoyment? The meager personal balance-sheets
+show four lapses from discipline,&#8212;lapses that she
+even now regards as ruthless extravagance,&#8212;viz.: the
+purchase of two inexpensive brooches, a much needed
+watch, and a pair of cuffs to match a point-lace collar
+presented by a friend. Those interested in Miss Anthony's
+personal appearance long ago ceased to trust
+her with the purchase-money for any ornament; for,
+however firm her resolution to comply with their wish,
+the check invariably found its way to the credit column
+of those little cash-books as "money received for the
+cause." Now, reader, you have been admitted to a
+private view of Miss Anthony's financial records, and
+you can appreciate her devotion to an idea. Do you not
+agree with me that a "bread-winner" can be a conscientious
+reformer?</p>
+<p>In finishing this sketch of the most intimate friend
+I have had for the past forty-five years,&#8212;with whom I
+have spent weeks and months under the same roof,&#8212;I
+can truly say that she is the most upright, courageous,
+self-sacrificing, magnanimous human being I have ever
+known. I have seen her beset on every side with the
+most petty annoyances, ridiculed and misrepresented,
+slandered and persecuted; I have known women refuse
+to take her extended hand; women to whom she
+presented copies of "The History of Woman Suffrage,"
+return it unnoticed; others to keep it without one word
+of acknowledgment; others to write most insulting
+<a name="Page_184"></a>letters in answer to hers of affectionate
+conciliation.
+And yet, under all the cross-fires incident to a reform,
+never has her hope flagged, her self-respect wavered,
+or a feeling of resentment shadowed her mind. Oftentimes,
+when I have been sorely discouraged, thinking
+that the prolonged struggle was a waste of force which
+in other directions might be rich in achievement, with
+her sublime faith in humanity, she would breathe into
+my soul renewed inspiration, saying, "Pity rather than
+blame those who persecute us." So closely interwoven
+have been our lives, our purposes, and experiences that,
+separated, we have a feeling of incompleteness&#8212;united,
+such strength of self-assertion that no ordinary obstacles,
+difficulties, or dangers ever appear to us insurmountable.
+Reviewing the life of Susan B. Anthony,
+I ever liken her to the Doric column in Grecian architecture,
+so simply, so grandly she stands, free from
+every extraneous ornament, supporting her one vast
+idea&#8212;the enfranchisement of woman.</p>
+<p>As our estimate of ourselves and our friendship may
+differ somewhat from that taken from an objective
+point of view, I will give an extract from what our common
+friend Theodore Tilton wrote of us in 1868:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"Miss Susan B. Anthony, a well-known, indefatigable,
+and lifelong advocate of temperance, anti-slavery,
+and woman's rights, has been, since 1851, Mrs. Stanton's
+intimate associate in reformatory labors. These celebrated
+women are of about equal age, but of the most
+opposite characteristics, and illustrate the theory of
+counterparts in affection by entertaining for each other
+a friendship of extraordinary strength.</p>
+<p>"Mrs. Stanton is a fine writer, but a poor executant;
+Miss Anthony is a thorough manager, but a poor
+<a name="Page_185"></a>writer. Both have large brains and great hearts;
+neither has any selfish ambition for celebrity; but
+each vies with the other in a noble enthusiasm for the
+cause to which they are devoting their lives.</p>
+<p>"Nevertheless, to describe them critically, I ought
+to say that, opposites though they be, each does not so
+much supplement the other's deficiencies as augment
+the other's eccentricities. Thus they often stimulate
+each other's aggressiveness, and, at the same time, diminish
+each other's discretion.</p>
+<p>"But, whatever may be the imprudent utterances of
+the one or the impolitic methods of the other, the animating
+motives of both are evermore as white as the
+light. The good that they do is by design; the harm
+by accident. These two women, sitting together in
+their parlors, have, for the last thirty years, been diligent
+forgers of all manner of projectiles, from fireworks
+to thunderbolts, and have hurled them with unexpected
+explosion into the midst of all manner of educational,
+reformatory, religious, and political assemblies; sometimes
+to the pleasant surprise and half welcome of the
+members, more often to the bewilderment and prostration
+of numerous victims; and, in a few signal instances,
+to the gnashing of angry men's teeth. I know of no
+two more pertinacious incendiaries in the whole country.
+Nor will they, themselves deny the charge. In
+fact this noise-making twain are the two sticks of a
+drum, keeping up what Daniel Webster called 'The
+rub-a-dub of agitation.'"</p>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_186"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<h2>MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>Women had been willing so long to hold a subordinate
+position, both in private and public affairs,
+that a gradually growing feeling of rebellion among
+them quite exasperated the men, and their manifestations
+of hostility in public meetings were often as
+ridiculous as humiliating.</p>
+<p>True, those gentlemen were all quite willing that
+women should join their societies and churches to do
+the drudgery; to work up the enthusiasm in fairs and
+revivals, conventions and flag presentations; to pay a
+dollar apiece into their treasury for the honor of being
+members of their various organizations; to beg money
+for the Church; to circulate petitions from door to door;
+to visit saloons; to pray with or defy rumsellers; to
+teach school at half price, and sit round the outskirts
+of a hall, in teachers' State conventions, like so many
+wallflowers; but they would not allow them to sit on the
+platform, address the assembly, or vote for men and
+measures.</p>
+<p>Those who had learned the first lessons of human
+rights from the lips of Henry B. Stanton, Samuel J.
+May, and Gerrit Smith would not accept any such position.
+When women abandoned the temperance reform,
+all interest in the question gradually died out in
+the State, and practically nothing was done in New
+<a name="Page_187"></a>York for nearly twenty years. Gerrit Smith made
+one
+or two attempts toward an "anti-dramshop" party,
+but, as women could not vote, they felt no interest in
+the measure, and failure was the result.</p>
+<p>I soon convinced Miss Anthony that the ballot was
+the key to the situation; that when we had a voice in
+the laws we should be welcome to any platform. In
+turning the intense earnestness and religious enthusiasm
+of this great-souled woman into this channel, I
+soon felt the power of my convert in goading me forever
+forward to more untiring work. Soon fastened,
+heart to heart, with hooks of steel in a friendship that
+years of confidence and affection have steadily strengthened,
+we have labored faithfully together.</p>
+<p>From the year 1850 conventions were held in various
+States, and their respective legislatures were continually
+besieged; New York was thoroughly canvassed by
+Miss Anthony and others. Appeals, calls for meetings,
+and petitions were circulated without number. In 1854
+I prepared my first speech for the New York legislature.
+That was a great event in my life. I felt so
+nervous over it, lest it should not be worthy the occasion,
+that Miss Anthony suggested that I should slip
+up to Rochester and submit it to the Rev. William
+Henry Channing, who was preaching there at that time.
+I did so, and his opinion was so favorable as to the merits
+of my speech that I felt quite reassured. My father felt
+equally nervous when he saw, by the Albany <i>Evening
+Journal</i>, that I was to speak at the Capitol, and asked
+me to read my speech to him also. Accordingly, I
+stopped at Johnstown on my way to Albany, and, late
+one evening, when he was alone in his office, I entered
+and took my seat on the opposite side of his table. On
+<a name="Page_188"></a>no occasion, before or since, was I ever more
+embarrassed&#8212;an
+audience of one, and that the one of
+all others whose approbation I most desired, whose
+disapproval I most feared. I knew he condemned the
+whole movement, and was deeply grieved at the active
+part I had taken. Hence I was fully aware that I was
+about to address a wholly unsympathetic audience.
+However, I began, with a dogged determination to give
+all the power I could to my manuscript, and not to be
+discouraged or turned from my purpose by any tender
+appeals or adverse criticisms. I described the widow
+in the first hours of her grief, subject to the intrusions
+of the coarse minions of the law, taking inventory of the
+household goods, of the old armchair in which her loved
+one had breathed his last, of the old clock in the corner
+that told the hour he passed away. I threw all the
+pathos I could into my voice and language at this point,
+and, to my intense satisfaction, I saw tears filling my
+father's eyes. I cannot express the exultation I felt,
+thinking that now he would see, with my eyes, the injustice
+women suffered under the laws he understood
+so well.</p>
+<p>Feeling that I had touched his heart I went on with
+renewed confidence, and, when I had finished, I saw he
+was thoroughly magnetized. With beating heart I
+waited for him to break the silence. He was evidently
+deeply pondering over all he had heard, and did not
+speak for a long time. I believed I had opened to him
+a new world of thought. He had listened long to
+the complaints of women, but from the lips of his own
+daughter they had come with a deeper pathos and
+power. At last, turning abruptly, he said: "Surely you
+have had a happy, comfortable life, with all your wants
+<a name="Page_189"></a>and needs supplied; and yet that speech fills me
+with
+self-reproach; for one might naturally ask, how can a
+young woman, tenderly brought up, who has had no
+bitter personal experience, feel so keenly the wrongs of
+her sex? Where did you learn this lesson?" "I
+learned it here," I replied, "in your office, when a child,
+listening to the complaints women made to you. They
+who have sympathy and imagination to make the sorrows
+of others their own can readily learn all the hard
+lessons of life from the experience of others." "Well,
+well!" he said, "you have made your points clear and
+strong; but I think I can find you even more cruel laws
+than those you have quoted." He suggested some improvements
+in my speech, looked up other laws, and it
+was one o'clock in the morning before we kissed each
+other good-night. How he felt on the question after
+that I do not know, as he never said anything in favor
+of or against it. He gladly gave me any help I needed,
+from time to time, in looking up the laws, and was very
+desirous that whatever I gave to the public should be
+carefully prepared.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony printed twenty thousand copies of this
+address, laid it on the desk of every member of the legislature,
+both in the Assembly and Senate, and, in her
+travels that winter, she circulated it throughout the
+State. I am happy to say I never felt so anxious about
+the fate of a speech since.</p>
+<p>The first woman's convention in Albany was held at
+this time, and we had a kind of protracted meeting for
+two weeks after. There were several hearings before
+both branches of the legislature, and a succession of
+meetings in Association Hall, in which Phillips, Channing,
+Ernestine L. Rose, Antoinette L. Brown, and
+<a name="Page_190"></a>Susan B. Anthony took part. Being at the capital
+of
+the State, discussion was aroused at every fireside, while
+the comments of the press were numerous and varied.
+Every little country paper had something witty or silly
+to say about the uprising of the "strong-minded."
+Those editors whose heads were about the size of an
+apple were the most opposed to the uprising of women,
+illustrating what Sidney Smith said long ago: "There
+always was, and there always will be a class of men so
+small that, if women were educated, there would be
+nobody left below them." Poor human nature loves to
+have something to look down upon!</p>
+<p>Here is a specimen of the way such editors talked
+at that time. The <i>Albany Register</i>, in an article
+on "Woman's Rights in the Legislature," dated March
+7, 1854, says:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"While the feminine propagandists of women's rights
+confined themselves to the exhibition of short petticoats
+and long-legged boots, and to the holding of
+conventions and speech-making in concert rooms, the
+people were disposed to be amused by them, as they
+are by the wit of the clown in the circus, or the performances
+of Punch and Judy on fair days, or the minstrelsy
+of gentlemen with blackened faces, on banjos,
+the tambourine, and bones. But the joke is becoming
+stale. People are getting cloyed with these performances,
+and are looking for some healthier and more
+intellectual amusement. The ludicrous is wearing
+away, and disgust is taking the place of pleasurable sensations,
+arising from the novelty of this new phase of
+hypocrisy and infidel fanaticism.</p>
+<p>"People are beginning to inquire how far public sentiment
+should sanction or tolerate these unsexed women,
+<a name="Page_191"></a>who would step out from the true sphere of the
+mother,
+the wife, and the daughter, and taking upon themselves
+the duties and the business of men, stalk into the public
+gaze, and, by engaging in the politics, the rough controversies
+and trafficking of the world, upheave existing
+institutions, and overrun all the social relations of life.</p>
+<p>"It is a melancholy reflection that, among our
+American women, who have been educated to better
+things, there should be found any who are willing to
+follow the lead of such foreign propagandists as the
+ringleted, gloved exotic, Ernestine L. Rose. We can
+understand how such a man as the Rev. Mr. May, or
+the sleek-headed Dr. Channing, may be deluded by her
+into becoming one of her disciples. They are not the
+first instances of infatuation that may overtake weak-minded
+men, if they are honest in their devotion to her
+and her doctrines; nor would they be the first examples
+of a low ambition that seeks notoriety as a substitute
+for true fame, if they are dishonest. Such men there
+are always, and, honest or dishonest, their true position
+is that of being tied to the apron strings of some strong-minded
+woman, and to be exhibited as rare specimens
+of human wickedness or human weakness and folly.
+But that one educated American should become her
+disciple and follow her insane teachings is a marvel."</p>
+</div>
+<p>When we see the abuse and ridicule to which the best
+of men were subjected for standing on our platform in
+the early days, we need not wonder that so few have
+been brave enough to advocate our cause in later years,
+either in conventions or in the halls of legislation.</p>
+<p>After twelve added years of agitation, following the
+passage of the Property Bill, New York conceded other
+civil rights to married women. Pending the discussion
+<a name="Page_192"></a>of these various bills, Susan B. Anthony
+circulated petitions,
+both for the civil and political rights of women,
+throughout the State, traveling in stage coaches, open
+wagons, and sleighs in all seasons, and on foot, from
+door to door through towns and cities, doing her uttermost
+to rouse women to some sense of their natural
+rights as human beings, and to their civil and political
+rights as citizens of a republic. And while expending
+her time, strength, and money to secure these blessings
+for the women of the State, they would gruffly tell her
+that they had all the rights they wanted, or rudely shut
+the door in her face; leaving her to stand outside, petition
+in hand, treating her with as much contempt as
+if she was asking alms for herself. None but those who
+did that work in the early days, for the slaves and the
+women, can ever know the hardships and humiliations
+that were endured. But it was done because it was
+only through petitions&#8212;a power seemingly so inefficient&#8212;that
+disfranchised classes could be heard in the
+State and National councils; hence their importance.</p>
+<p>The frivolous objections some women made to our
+appeals were as exasperating as they were ridiculous.
+To reply to them politely, at all times, required a divine
+patience. On one occasion, after addressing the legislature,
+some of the ladies, in congratulating me, inquired,
+in a deprecating tone, "What do you do with
+your children?" "Ladies," I said, "it takes me no
+longer to speak, than you to listen; what have you done
+with your children the two hours you have been sitting
+here? But, to answer your question, I never leave
+my children to go to Saratoga, Washington, Newport,
+or Europe, or even to come here. They are, at this
+moment, with a faithful nurse at the Delevan House,
+<a name="Page_193"></a>and, having accomplished my mission, we shall
+all return
+home together."</p>
+<p>When my children reached the magic number of
+seven, my good angel, Susan B. Anthony, would sometimes
+take one or two of them to her own quiet home,
+just out of Rochester, where, on a well-cultivated little
+farm, one could enjoy uninterrupted rest and the
+choicest fruits of the season. That was always a safe
+harbor for my friend, as her family sympathized fully
+in the reforms to which she gave her life. I have many
+pleasant memories of my own flying visits to that
+hospitable Quaker home and the broad catholic spirit
+of Daniel and Lucy Anthony. Whatever opposition
+and ridicule their daughter endured elsewhere, she enjoyed
+the steadfast sympathy and confidence of her own
+home circle. Her faithful sister Mary, a most successful
+teacher in the public schools of Rochester for a
+quarter of a century, and a good financier, who with her
+patrimony and salary had laid by a competence, took
+on her shoulders double duty at home in cheering the
+declining years of her parents, that Susan might do the
+public work in the reforms in which they were
+equally interested. Now, with life's earnest work
+nearly accomplished, the sisters are living happily together;
+illustrating another of the many charming
+homes of single women, so rapidly multiplying of late.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony, who was a frequent guest at my
+home, sometimes stood guard when I was absent. The
+children of our household say that among their earliest
+recollections is the tableau of "Mother and Susan,"
+seated by a large table covered with books and papers,
+always writing and talking about the Constitution, interrupted
+with occasional visits from others of the faith<a name="Page_194"></a>ful.
+Hither came Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Paulina
+Wright Davis, Frances Dana Gage, Dr. Harriet Hunt,
+Rev. Antoinette Brown, Lucy Stone, and Abby Kelly,
+until all these names were as familiar as household
+words to the children.</p>
+<p>Martha C. Wright of Auburn was a frequent visitor
+at the center of the rebellion, as my sequestered cottage
+on Locust Hill was facetiously called. She brought
+to these councils of war not only her own wisdom,
+but that of the wife and sister of William H.
+Seward, and sometimes encouraging suggestions from
+the great statesman himself, from whose writings we
+often gleaned grand and radical sentiments. Lucretia
+Mott, too, being an occasional guest of her sister,
+Martha C. Wright, added the dignity of her presence
+at many of these important consultations. She
+was uniformly in favor of toning down our fiery
+pronunciamentos. For Miss Anthony and myself,
+the English language had no words strong enough
+to express the indignation we felt at the prolonged
+injustice to women. We found, however,
+that, after expressing ourselves in the most vehement
+manner and thus in a measure giving our
+feelings an outlet, we were reconciled to issue the
+documents in milder terms. If the men of the State
+could have known the stern rebukes, the denunciations,
+the wit, the irony, the sarcasm that were
+garnered there, and then judiciously pigeonholed and
+milder and more persuasive appeals substituted, they
+would have been truly thankful that they fared no
+worse.</p>
+<p>Senator Seward frequently left Washington to visit
+in our neighborhood, at the house of Judge G.V.
+<a name="Page_195"></a>Sackett, a man of wealth and political
+influence. One
+of the Senator's standing anecdotes, at dinner, to
+illustrate the purifying influence of women at the polls,
+which he always told with great zest for my especial
+benefit, was in regard to the manner in which his wife's
+sister exercised the right of suffrage.</p>
+<p>He said: "Mrs. Worden having the supervision of a
+farm near Auburn, was obliged to hire two or three men
+for its cultivation. It was her custom, having examined
+them as to their capacity to perform the required
+labor, their knowledge of tools, horses, cattle, and
+horticulture, to inquire as to their politics. She informed
+them that, being a widow and having no
+one to represent her, she must have Republicans to do
+her voting and to represent her political opinions, and
+it always so happened that the men who offered their
+services belonged to the Republican party. I remarked
+to her, one day, 'Are you sure your men vote as they
+promise?' 'Yes,' she replied, 'I trust nothing to their
+discretion. I take them in my carriage within sight of
+the polls and put them in charge of some Republican
+who can be trusted. I see that they have the right
+tickets and then I feel sure that I am faithfully represented,
+and I know I am right in so doing. I have
+neither husband, father, nor son; I am responsible for
+my own taxes; am amenable to all the laws of the State;
+must pay the penalty of my own crimes if I commit
+any; hence I have the right, according to the principles
+of our government, to representation, and so long as I
+am not permitted to vote in person, I have a right to
+do so by proxy; hence I hire men to vote my
+principles.'"</p>
+<p>These two sisters, Mrs. Worden and Mrs. Seward,
+<a name="Page_196"></a>daughters of Judge Miller, an influential man,
+were
+women of culture and remarkable natural intelligence,
+and interested in all progressive ideas. They had rare
+common sense and independence of character, great
+simplicity of manner, and were wholly indifferent to the
+little arts of the toilet.</p>
+<p>I was often told by fashionable women that they objected
+to the woman's rights movement because of the
+publicity of a convention, the immodesty of speaking
+from a platform, and the trial of seeing one's name in
+the papers. Several ladies made such remarks to me
+one day, as a bevy of us were sitting together in one of
+the fashionable hotels in Newport. We were holding
+a convention there at that time, and some of them had
+been present at one of the sessions. "Really," said I,
+"ladies, you surprise me; our conventions are not as
+public as the ballroom where I saw you all dancing last
+night. As to modesty, it may be a question, in many
+minds, whether it is less modest to speak words of
+soberness and truth, plainly dressed on a platform, than
+gorgeously arrayed, with bare arms and shoulders, to
+waltz in the arms of strange gentlemen. And as to the
+press, I noticed you all reading, in this morning's papers,
+with evident satisfaction, the personal compliments and
+full descriptions of your dresses at the last ball.
+I presume that any one of you would have felt slighted
+if your name had not been mentioned in the general
+description. When my name is mentioned, it is in connection
+with some great reform movement. Thus we
+all suffer or enjoy the same publicity&#8212;we are alike ridiculed.
+Wise men pity and ridicule you, and fools pity
+and ridicule me&#8212;you as the victims of folly and fashion,
+me as the representative of many of the disagreeable
+<a name="Page_197"></a>'isms' of the age, as they choose to style
+liberal
+opinions. It is amusing, in analyzing prejudices, to see
+on what slender foundation they rest." And the ladies
+around me were so completely cornered that no one
+attempted an answer.</p>
+<p>I remember being at a party at Secretary Seward's
+home, at Auburn, one evening, when Mr. Burlingame,
+special ambassador from China to the United States,
+with a Chinese delegation, were among the guests. As
+soon as the dancing commenced, and young ladies and
+gentlemen, locked in each other's arms, began to whirl
+in the giddy waltz, these Chinese gentlemen were so
+shocked that they covered their faces with their fans,
+occasionally peeping out each side and expressing their
+surprise to each other. They thought us the most immodest
+women on the face of the earth. Modesty and
+taste are questions of latitude and education; the more
+people know,&#8212;the more their ideas are expanded by
+travel, experience, and observation,&#8212;the less easily they
+are shocked. The narrowness and bigotry of women
+are the result of their circumscribed sphere of thought
+and action.</p>
+<p>A few years after Judge Hurlbert had published his
+work on "Human Rights," in which he advocated
+woman's right to the suffrage, and I had addressed the
+legislature, we met at a dinner party in Albany.
+Senator and Mrs. Seward were there. The Senator
+was very merry on that occasion and made Judge
+Hurlbert and myself the target for all his ridicule
+on the woman's rights question, in which the most
+of the company joined, so that we stood quite
+alone. Sure that we had the right on our side
+and the arguments clearly defined in our minds,
+<a name="Page_198"></a>and both being cool and self-possessed, and in
+wit
+and sarcasm quite equal to any of them, we fought
+the Senator, inch by inch, until he had a very narrow
+platform to stand on. Mrs. Seward maintained an unbroken
+silence, while those ladies who did open their
+lips were with the opposition, supposing, no doubt, that
+Senator Seward represented his wife's opinions.</p>
+<p>When we ladies withdrew from the table my embarrassment
+may be easily imagined. Separated from
+the Judge, I would now be an hour with a bevy of
+ladies who evidently felt repugnance to all my most
+cherished opinions. It was the first time I had met
+Mrs. Seward, and I did not then know the broad, liberal
+tendencies of her mind. What a tide of disagreeable
+thoughts rushed through me in that short passage
+from the dining room to the parlor. How gladly I
+would have glided out the front door! But that was impossible,
+so I made up my mind to stroll round as if
+self-absorbed, and look at the books and paintings
+until the Judge appeared; as I took it for granted that,
+after all I had said at the table on the political, religious,
+and social equality of women, not a lady would have
+anything to say to me.</p>
+<p>Imagine, then, my surprise when, the moment the
+parlor door was closed upon us, Mrs. Seward, approaching
+me most affectionately, said:</p>
+<p>"Let me thank you for the brave words you uttered
+at the dinner table, and for your speech before the
+legislature, that thrilled my soul as I read it over and
+over."</p>
+<p>I was filled with joy and astonishment. Recovering
+myself, I said, "Is it possible, Mrs. Seward, that you
+agree with me? Then why, when I was so hard pressed
+<a name="Page_199"></a>by foes on every side, did you not come to the
+defense?
+I supposed that all you ladies were hostile to every one
+of my ideas on this question."</p>
+<p>"No, no!" said she; "I am with you thoroughly,
+but I am a born coward; there is nothing I dread more
+than Mr. Seward's ridicule. I would rather walk up to
+the cannon's mouth than encounter it." "I, too, am
+with you," "And I," said two or three others, who had
+been silent at the table.</p>
+<p>I never had a more serious, heartfelt conversation
+than with these ladies. Mrs. Seward's spontaneity and
+earnestness had moved them all deeply, and when the
+Senator appeared the first words he said were:</p>
+<p>"Before we part I must confess that I was fairly vanquished
+by you and the Judge, on my own principles"
+(for we had quoted some of his most radical utterances).
+"You have the argument, but custom and prejudice are
+against you, and they are stronger than truth and
+logic."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_200"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<h2>REFORMS AND MOBS.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>There was one bright woman among the many in
+our Seneca Falls literary circle to whom I would give
+more than a passing notice&#8212;Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, who
+represented three novel phases of woman's life. She
+was assistant postmistress; an editor of a reform paper
+advocating temperance and woman's rights; and an advocate
+of the new costume which bore her name!</p>
+<p>In 1849 her husband was appointed postmaster, and
+she became his deputy, was duly sworn in, and, during
+the administration of Taylor and Fillmore, served in
+that capacity. When she assumed her duties the improvement
+in the appearance and conduct of the office
+was generally acknowledged. A neat little room adjoining
+the public office became a kind of ladies' exchange,
+where those coming from different parts of the
+town could meet to talk over the news of the day and
+read the papers and magazines that came to Mrs.
+Bloomer as editor of the <i>Lily</i>. Those who enjoyed the
+brief reign of a woman in the post office can readily
+testify to the void felt by the ladies of the village when
+Mrs. Bloomer's term expired and a man once more
+reigned in her stead. However, she still edited the
+<i>Lily</i>, and her office remained a fashionable center for
+several years. Although she wore the bloomer dress,
+its originator was Elizabeth Smith Miller, the only
+<a name="Page_201"></a>daughter of Gerrit Smith. In the winter of 1852
+Mrs. Miller came to visit me in Seneca Falls,
+dressed somewhat in the Turkish style&#8212;short skirt,
+full trousers of fine black broadcloth; a Spanish
+cloak, of the same material, reaching to the knee;
+beaver hat and feathers and dark furs; altogether
+a most becoming costume and exceedingly convenient
+for walking in all kinds of weather. To see my cousin,
+with a lamp in one hand and a baby in the other, walk
+upstairs with ease and grace, while, with flowing robes,
+I pulled myself up with difficulty, lamp and baby out of
+the question, readily convinced me that there was sore
+need of reform in woman's dress, and I promptly
+donned a similar attire. What incredible freedom I
+enjoyed for two years! Like a captive set free from his
+ball and chain, I was always ready for a brisk walk
+through sleet and snow and rain, to climb a mountain,
+jump over a fence, work in the garden, and, in fact, for
+any necessary locomotion.</p>
+<p>Bloomer is now a recognized word in the English
+language. Mrs. Bloomer, having the <i>Lily</i> in which to
+discuss the merits of the new dress, the press generally
+took up the question, and much valuable information
+was elicited on the physiological results of woman's
+fashionable attire; the crippling effect of tight waists
+and long skirts, the heavy weight on the hips, and high
+heels, all combined to throw the spine out of plumb
+and lay the foundation for all manner of nervous
+diseases. But, while all agreed that some change was
+absolutely necessary for the health of women, the press
+stoutly ridiculed those who were ready to make the
+experiment.</p>
+<p>A few sensible women, in different parts of the coun<a
+ name="Page_202"></a>try,
+adopted the costume, and farmers' wives especially
+proved its convenience. It was also worn by skaters,
+gymnasts, tourists, and in sanitariums. But, while
+the few realized its advantages, the many laughed it to
+scorn, and heaped such ridicule on its wearers that they
+soon found that the physical freedom enjoyed did not
+compensate for the persistent persecution and petty
+annoyances suffered at every turn. To be rudely gazed
+at in public and private, to be the conscious subjects of
+criticism, and to be followed by crowds of boys in the
+streets, were all, to the very last degree, exasperating.
+A favorite doggerel that our tormentors chanted, when
+we appeared in public places, ran thus:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Heigh! ho! in rain and snow,</p>
+<p>The bloomer now is all the go.</p>
+<p>Twenty tailors take the stitches,</p>
+<p>Twenty women wear the breeches.</p>
+<p>Heigh! ho! in rain or snow,</p>
+<p>The bloomer now is all the go."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>The singers were generally invisible behind some
+fence or attic window. Those who wore the dress can
+recall countless amusing and annoying experiences.
+The patience of most of us was exhausted in about two
+years; but our leader, Mrs. Miller, bravely adhered to
+the costume for nearly seven years, under the most trying
+circumstances. While her father was in Congress,
+she wore it at many fashionable dinners and receptions
+in Washington. She was bravely sustained, however,
+by her husband, Colonel Miller, who never flinched in
+escorting his wife and her coadjutors, however inartistic
+their costumes might be. To tall, gaunt women with
+large feet and to those who were short and stout, it was
+equally trying. Mrs. Miller was also encouraged by
+<a name="Page_203"></a>the intense feeling of her father on the
+question of
+woman's dress. To him the whole revolution in
+woman's position turned on her dress. The long skirt
+was the symbol of her degradation.</p>
+<p>The names of those who wore the bloomer costume,
+besides those already mentioned, were Paulina Wright
+Davis, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Sarah and
+Angelina Grimke, Mrs. William Burleigh, Celia Burleigh,
+Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, Helen Jarvis, Lydia
+Jenkins, Amelia Willard, Dr. Harriet N. Austin, and
+many patients in sanitariums, whose names I cannot
+recall. Looking back to this experiment, I am not
+surprised at the hostility of men in general to the dress,
+as it made it very uncomfortable for them to go anywhere
+with those who wore it. People would stare,
+many men and women make rude remarks, boys followed
+in crowds, with jeers and laughter, so that gentlemen
+in attendance would feel it their duty to show
+fight, unless they had sufficient self-control to pursue
+the even tenor of their way, as the ladies themselves
+did, without taking the slightest notice of the commotion
+they created. But Colonel Miller went through the
+ordeal with coolness and dogged determination, to the
+vexation of his acquaintances, who thought one of his
+duties as a husband was to prescribe his wife's costume.</p>
+<p>Though we did not realize the success we hoped for
+by making the dress popular, yet the effort was not
+lost. We were well aware that the dress was not artistic,
+and though we made many changes, our own good
+taste was never satisfied until we threw aside the loose
+trousers and adopted buttoned leggins. After giving
+up the experiment, we found that the costume in which
+Diana the Huntress is represented, and that worn on the
+<a name="Page_204"></a>stage by Ellen Tree in the play of "Ion," would
+have
+been more artistic and convenient. But we, who had
+made the experiment, were too happy to move about
+unnoticed and unknown, to risk, again, the happiness of
+ourselves and our friends by any further experiments.
+I have never wondered since that the Chinese women
+allow their daughters' feet to be encased in iron shoes,
+nor that the Hindoo widows walk calmly to the funeral
+pyre; for great are the penalties of those who dare resist
+the behests of the tyrant Custom.</p>
+<p>Nevertheless the agitation has been kept up, in a
+mild form, both in England and America. Lady
+Harberton, in 1885, was at the head of an organized
+movement in London to introduce the bifurcated skirt;
+Mrs. Jenness Miller, in this country, is making an
+entire revolution in every garment that belongs to a
+woman's toilet; and common-sense shoemakers have
+vouchsafed to us, at last, a low, square heel to our boots
+and a broad sole in which the five toes can spread themselves
+at pleasure. Evidently a new day of physical
+freedom is at last dawning for the most cribbed and
+crippled of Eve's unhappy daughters.</p>
+<p>It was while living in Seneca Falls, and at one
+of the most despairing periods of my young life, that
+one of the best gifts of the gods came to me in the form
+of a good, faithful housekeeper. She was indeed a
+treasure, a friend and comforter, a second mother to my
+children, and understood all life's duties and gladly bore
+its burdens. She could fill any department in domestic
+life, and for thirty years was the joy of our household.
+But for this noble, self-sacrificing woman, much
+of my public work would have been quite impossible.
+If by word or deed I have made the journey of life easier
+<a name="Page_205"></a>for any struggling soul, I must in justice share
+the
+meed of praise accorded me with my little Quaker
+friend Amelia Willard.</p>
+<p>There are two classes of housekeepers&#8212;one that will
+get what they want, if in the range of human possibilities,
+and then accept the inevitable inconveniences with
+cheerfulness and heroism; the other, from a kind
+of chronic inertia and a fear of taking responsibility,
+accept everything as they find it, though with gentle,
+continuous complainings. The latter are called amiable
+women. Such a woman was our congressman's wife
+in 1854, and, as I was the reservoir of all her sorrows,
+great and small, I became very weary of her amiable
+non-resistance. Among other domestic trials, she had
+a kitchen stove that smoked and leaked, which could
+neither bake nor broil,&#8212;a worthless thing,&#8212;and too
+small for any purpose. Consequently half their viands
+were spoiled in the cooking, and the cooks left in disgust,
+one after another.</p>
+<p>In telling me, one day, of these kitchen misadventures,
+she actually shed tears, which so roused my
+sympathies that, with surprise, I exclaimed: "Why do
+you not buy a new stove?" To my unassisted common
+sense that seemed the most practical thing to do.
+"Why," she replied, "I have never purchased a darning
+needle, to put the case strongly, without consulting
+Mr. S., and he does not think a new stove necessary."
+"What, pray," said I, "does he know about stoves,
+sitting in his easy-chair in Washington? If he had a
+dull old knife with broken blades, he would soon get a
+new one with which to sharpen his pens and pencils,
+and, if he attempted to cook a meal&#8212;granting he knew
+how&#8212;on your old stove, he would set it out of doors
+<a name="Page_206"></a>the next hour. Now my advice to you is to buy a
+new
+one this very day!"</p>
+<p>"Bless me!" she said, "that would make him furious;
+he would blow me sky-high." "Well," I replied, "suppose
+he did go into a regular tantrum and use all the
+most startling expletives in the vocabulary for fifteen
+minutes! What is that compared with a good stove
+365 days in the year? Just put all he could say on one
+side, and all the advantages you would enjoy on the
+other, and you must readily see that his wrath would
+kick the beam." As my logic was irresistible, she said,
+"Well, if you will go with me, and help select a stove,
+I think I will take the responsibility."</p>
+<p>Accordingly we went to the hardware store and
+selected the most approved, largest-sized stove, with
+all the best cooking utensils, best Russian pipe, etc.
+"Now," said she, "I am in equal need of a good stove
+in my sitting room, and I would like the pipes of
+both stoves to lead into dumb stoves above, and thus
+heat two or three rooms upstairs for my children to
+play in, as they have no place except the sitting room,
+where they must be always with me; but I suppose it
+is not best to do too much at one time." "On the contrary,"
+I replied, "as your husband is wealthy, you had
+better get all you really need now. Mr. S. will probably
+be no more surprised with two stoves than with
+one, and, as you expect a hot scene over the matter,
+the more you get out of it the better."</p>
+<p>So the stoves and pipes were ordered, holes cut
+through the ceiling, and all were in working order next
+day. The cook was delighted over her splendid stove
+and shining tins, copper-bottomed tea kettle and boiler,
+and warm sleeping room upstairs; the children were de<a name="Page_207"></a>lighted
+with their large playrooms, and madam jubilant
+with her added comforts and that newborn feeling
+of independence one has in assuming responsibility.</p>
+<p>She was expecting Mr. S. home in the holidays, and
+occasionally weakened at the prospect of what she
+feared might be a disagreeable encounter. At such
+times she came to consult with me, as to what she would
+say and do when the crisis arrived. Having studied the
+<i>genus homo</i> alike on the divine heights of exaltation
+and in the valleys of humiliation, I was able to make
+some valuable suggestions.</p>
+<p>"Now," said I, "when your husband explodes, as you
+think he will, neither say nor do anything; sit and gaze
+out of the window with that far-away, sad look women
+know so well how to affect. If you can summon tears
+at pleasure, a few would not be amiss; a gentle shower,
+not enough to make the nose and eyes red or to detract
+from your beauty. Men cannot resist beauty and
+tears. Never mar their effect with anything bordering
+on sobs and hysteria; such violent manifestations being
+neither refined nor artistic. A scene in which one person
+does the talking must be limited in time. No ordinary
+man can keep at white heat fifteen minutes; if his
+victim says nothing, he will soon exhaust himself. Remember
+every time you speak in the way of defense,
+you give him a new text on which to branch out again.
+If silence is ever golden, it is when a husband is in a
+tantrum."</p>
+<p>In due time Mr. S. arrived, laden with Christmas
+presents, and Charlotte came over to tell me that she
+had passed through the ordeal. I will give the scene
+in her own words as nearly as possible. "My husband
+came yesterday, just before dinner, and, as I expected
+<a name="Page_208"></a>him, I had all things in order. He seemed very
+happy
+to see me and the children, and we had a gay time looking
+at our presents and chatting about Washington and
+all that had happened since we parted. It made me sad,
+in the midst of our happiness, to think how soon the
+current of his feelings would change, and I wished in
+my soul that I had not bought the stoves. But, at
+last, dinner was announced, and I knew that the hour
+had come. He ran upstairs to give a few touches to his
+toilet, when lo! the shining stoves and pipes caught his
+eyes. He explored the upper apartments and came
+down the back stairs, glanced at the kitchen stove, then
+into the dining room, and stood confounded, for a moment,
+before the nickel-plated 'Morning Glory.' Then
+he exclaimed, 'Heavens and earth! Charlotte, what
+have you been doing?' I remembered what you told
+me and said nothing, but looked steadily out of the
+window. I summoned no tears, however, for I felt
+more like laughing than crying; he looked so ridiculous
+flying round spasmodically, like popcorn on a hot griddle,
+and talking as if making a stump speech on the
+corruptions of the Democrats. The first time he
+paused to take breath I said, in my softest tones: 'William,
+dinner is waiting; I fear the soup will be cold.'
+Fortunately he was hungry, and that great central
+organ of life and happiness asserted its claims on his
+attention, and he took his seat at the table. I broke
+what might have been an awkward silence, chatting
+with the older children about their school lessons.
+Fortunately they were late, and did not know what had
+happened, so they talked to their father and gradually
+restored his equilibrium. We had a very good dinner,
+and I have not heard a word about the stoves since. I
+<a name="Page_209"></a>suppose we shall have another scene when the
+bill is
+presented."</p>
+<p>A few years later, Horace Greeley came to Seneca
+Falls to lecture on temperance. As he stayed with us,
+we invited Mr. S., among others, to dinner. The chief
+topic at the table was the idiosyncrasies of women.
+Mr. Greeley told many amusing things about his wife,
+of her erratic movements and sudden decisions to do
+and dare what seemed most impracticable. Perhaps,
+on rising some morning, she would say: "I think I'll
+go to Europe by the next steamer, Horace. Will you
+get tickets to-day for me, the nurse, and children?"
+"Well," said Mr. S., "she must be something like our
+hostess. Every time her husband goes away she cuts
+a door or window. They have only ten doors to lock
+every night, now."</p>
+<p>"Yes," I said, "and your own wife, too, Mrs. S., has
+the credit of some high-handed measures when you are
+in Washington." Then I told the whole story, amid
+peals of laughter, just as related above. The dinner
+table scene fairly convulsed the Congressman. The
+thought that he had made such a fool of himself in the
+eyes of Charlotte that she could not even summon a
+tear in her defense, particularly pleased him. When
+sufficiently recovered to speak, he said: "Well, I never
+could understand how it was that Charlotte suddenly
+emerged from her thraldom and manifested such rare
+executive ability. Now I see to whom I am indebted
+for the most comfortable part of my married life. I
+am a thousand times obliged to you; you did just right
+and so did she, and she has been a happier woman ever
+since. She now gets what she needs, and frets no more,
+to me, about ten thousand little things. How can a
+<a name="Page_210"></a>man know what implements are necessary for the
+work
+he never does? Of all agencies for upsetting the
+equanimity of family life, none can surpass an old,
+broken-down kitchen stove!"</p>
+<p>In the winter of 1861, just after the election of Lincoln,
+the abolitionists decided to hold a series of conventions
+in the chief cities of the North. All their
+available speakers were pledged for active service. The
+Republican party, having absorbed the political abolitionists
+within its ranks by its declared hostility to the
+extension of slavery, had come into power with overwhelming
+majorities. Hence the Garrisonian abolitionists,
+opposed to all compromises, felt that this
+was the opportune moment to rouse the people to
+the necessity of holding that party to its declared principles,
+and pushing it, if possible, a step or two forward.</p>
+<p>I was invited to accompany Miss Anthony and
+Beriah Green to a few points in Central New York.
+But we soon found, by the concerted action of Republicans
+all over the country, that anti-slavery conventions
+would not be tolerated. Thus Republicans and Democrats
+made common cause against the abolitionists.
+The John Brown raid, the year before, had intimidated
+Northern politicians as much as Southern slaveholders,
+and the general feeling was that the discussion of the
+question at the North should be altogether suppressed.</p>
+<p>From Buffalo to Albany our experience was the same,
+varied only by the fertile resources of the actors and
+their surroundings. Thirty years of education had
+somewhat changed the character of Northern mobs.
+They no longer dragged men through the streets with
+ropes around their necks, nor broke up women's prayer
+meetings; they no longer threw eggs and brickbats at
+<a name="Page_211"></a>the apostles of reform, nor dipped them in
+barrels of
+tar and feathers, they simply crowded the halls, and,
+with laughing, groaning, clapping, and cheering, effectually
+interrupted the proceedings. Such was our experience
+during the two days we attempted to hold
+a convention in St. James' Hall, Buffalo. As we paid
+for the hall, the mob enjoyed themselves, at our expense,
+in more ways than one. Every session, at the
+appointed time, we took our places on the platform,
+making, at various intervals of silence, renewed efforts
+to speak. Not succeeding, we sat and conversed with
+each other and the many friends who crowded the platform
+and anterooms. Thus, among ourselves, we had
+a pleasant reception and a discussion of many phases of
+the question that brought us together. The mob not
+only vouchsafed to us the privilege of talking to our
+friends without interruption, but delegations of their
+own came behind the scenes, from time to time, to discuss
+with us the right of free speech and the constitutionality
+of slavery.</p>
+<p>These Buffalo rowdies were headed by ex-Justice
+Hinson, aided by younger members of the Fillmore and
+Seymour families, and the chief of police and fifty subordinates,
+who were admitted to the hall free, for the
+express purpose of protecting our right of free speech,
+but who, in defiance of the mayor's orders, made not
+the slightest effort in our defense. At Lockport there
+was a feeble attempt in the same direction. At Albion
+neither hall, church, nor schoolhouse could be obtained,
+so we held small meetings in the dining room of the
+hotel. At Rochester, Corinthian Hall was packed long
+before the hour advertised. This was a delicately appreciative,
+jocose mob. At this point Aaron Powell
+<a name="Page_212"></a>joined us. As he had just risen from a bed of
+sickness,
+looking pale and emaciated, he slowly mounted the
+platform. The mob at once took in his look of exhaustion,
+and, as he seated himself, they gave an audible
+simultaneous sigh, as if to say, what a relief it is to be
+seated! So completely did the tender manifestation
+reflect Mr. Powell's apparent condition that the whole
+audience burst into a roar of laughter. Here, too, all
+attempts to speak were futile. At Port Byron a
+generous sprinkling of cayenne pepper on the stove
+soon cut short all constitutional arguments and paeans
+to liberty.</p>
+<p>And so it was all the way to Albany. The whole
+State was aflame with the mob spirit, and from Boston
+and various points in other States the same news
+reached us. As the legislature was in session, and we
+were advertised in Albany, a radical member sarcastically
+moved "That as Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony
+were about to move on Albany, the militia be ordered
+out for the protection of the city." Happily, Albany
+could then boast of a Democratic mayor, a man
+of courage and conscience, who said the right of
+free speech should never be trodden under foot where
+he had the right to prevent it. And grandly did
+that one determined man maintain order in his jurisdiction.
+Through all the sessions of the convention
+Mayor Thatcher sat on the platform, his police stationed
+in different parts of the hall and outside the
+building, to disperse the crowd as fast as it collected.
+If a man or boy hissed or made the slightest interruption,
+he was immediately ejected. And not only did
+the mayor preserve order in the meetings, but, with a
+company of armed police, he escorted us, every time,
+<a name="Page_213"></a>to and from the Delevan House. The last night
+Gerrit
+Smith addressed the mob from the steps of the hotel,
+after which they gave him three cheers and dispersed
+in good order.</p>
+<p>When proposing for the Mayor a vote of thanks, at
+the close of the convention, Mr. Smith expressed his
+fears that it had been a severe ordeal for him to listen
+to these prolonged anti-slavery discussions. He
+smiled, and said: "I have really been deeply interested
+and instructed. I rather congratulate myself that a
+convention of this character has, at last, come in the
+line of my business; otherwise I should have probably
+remained in ignorance of many important facts and
+opinions I now understand and appreciate."</p>
+<p>While all this was going on publicly, an equally trying
+experience was progressing, day by day, behind the
+scenes. Miss Anthony had been instrumental in helping
+a much abused mother, with her child, to escape from
+a husband who had immured her in an insane asylum.
+The wife belonged to one of the first families of New
+York, her brother being a United States senator, and
+the husband, also, a man of position; a large circle of
+friends and acquaintances was interested in the result.
+Though she was incarcerated in an insane asylum for
+eighteen months, yet members of her own family again
+and again testified that she was not insane. Miss Anthony,
+knowing that she was not, and believing fully
+that the unhappy mother was the victim of a conspiracy,
+would not reveal her hiding place.</p>
+<p>Knowing the confidence Miss Anthony felt in the
+wisdom of Mr. Garrison and Mr. Phillips, they were
+implored to use their influence with her to give up the
+fugitives. Letters and telegrams, persuasions, argu<a name="Page_214"></a>ments,
+and warnings from Mr. Garrison, Mr. Phillips,
+and the Senator on the one side, and from Lydia Mott,
+Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet, and Abby Hopper Gibbons,
+on the other, poured in upon her, day after day; but
+Miss Anthony remained immovable, although she knew
+that she was defying and violating the law and might
+be arrested any moment on the platform. We had
+known so many aggravated cases of this kind that,
+in daily counsel, we resolved that this woman should
+not be recaptured if it were possible to prevent it. To
+us it looked as imperative a duty to shield a sane mother,
+who had been torn from a family of little children and
+doomed to the companionship of lunatics, and to aid
+her in fleeing to a place of safety, as to help a fugitive
+from slavery to Canada. In both cases an unjust law
+was violated; in both cases the supposed owners of the
+victims were defied; hence, in point of law and morals,
+the act was the same in both cases. The result proved
+the wisdom of Miss Anthony's decision, as all with
+whom Mrs. P. came in contact for years afterward, expressed
+the opinion that she was, and always had been,
+perfectly sane. Could the dark secrets of insane asylums
+be brought to light we should be shocked to know
+the great number of rebellious wives, sisters, and daughters
+who are thus sacrificed to false customs and barbarous
+laws made by men for women.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_215"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+<h2>VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.</h2>
+<p>The widespread discussion we are having, just now,
+on the subject of marriage and divorce, reminds me of
+an equally exciting one in 1860. A very liberal bill, introduced
+into the Indiana legislature by Robert Dale
+Owen, and which passed by a large majority, roused
+much public thought on the question, and made that
+State free soil for unhappy wives and husbands. A
+similar bill was introduced into the legislature of New
+York by Mr. Ramsey, which was defeated by four votes,
+owing, mainly, to the intense opposition of Horace
+Greeley. He and Mr. Owen had a prolonged discussion,
+in the New York <i>Tribune</i>, in which Mr. Owen got
+decidedly the better of the argument.</p>
+<p>There had been several aggravated cases of cruelty
+to wives among the Dutch aristocracy, so that strong
+influences in favor of the bill had been brought to bear
+on the legislature, but the <i>Tribune</i> thundered every
+morning in its editorial column its loudest peals, which
+reverberated through the State. So bitter was the opposition
+to divorce, for any cause, that but few dared
+to take part in the discussion. I was the only woman,
+for many years, who wrote and spoke on the question.
+Articles on divorce, by a number of women, recently
+published in the <i>North American Review</i>, are a sign of
+progress, showing that women dare speak out now
+<a name="Page_216"></a>more freely on the relations that most deeply
+concern
+them.</p>
+<p>My feelings had been stirred to their depths very early
+in life by the sufferings of a dear friend of mine, at
+whose wedding I was one of the bridesmaids. In
+listening to the facts in her case, my mind was fully
+made up as to the wisdom of a liberal divorce law.
+We read Milton's essays on divorce, together, and were
+thoroughly convinced as to the right and duty not only
+of separation, but of absolute divorce. While the New
+York bill was pending, I was requested, by Lewis Benedict,
+one of the committee who had the bill in charge,
+to address the legislature. I gladly accepted, feeling
+that here was an opportunity not only to support my
+friend in the step she had taken, but to make the path
+clear for other unhappy wives who might desire to follow
+her example. I had no thought of the persecution
+I was drawing down on myself for thus attacking so
+venerable an institution. I was always courageous in
+saying what I saw to be true, for the simple reason that
+I never dreamed of opposition. What seemed to me
+to be right I thought must be equally plain to all other
+rational beings. Hence I had no dread of denunciation.
+I was only surprised when I encountered it, and no
+number of experiences have, as yet, taught me to fear
+public opinion. What I said on divorce thirty-seven
+years ago seems quite in line with what many say now.
+The trouble was not in what I said, but that I said it too
+soon, and before the people were ready to hear it. It
+may be, however, that I helped them to get ready; who
+knows?</p>
+<p>As we were holding a woman suffrage convention in
+Albany, at the time appointed for the hearing, Ernes<a name="Page_217"></a>tine
+L. Rose and Lucretia Mott briefly added their
+views on the question. Although Mrs. Mott had urged
+Mrs. Rose and myself to be as moderate as possible in
+our demands, she quite unconsciously made the most
+radical utterance of all, in saying that marriage was a
+question beyond the realm of legislation, that must be
+left to the parties themselves. We rallied Lucretia on
+her radicalism, and some of the journals criticised us
+severely; but the following letter shows that she had no
+thought of receding from her position:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p style="text-align: right;">"Roadside, near Philadelphia,<br>
+"4th Mo., 30th, '61.</p>
+<p>"My Dear Lydia Mott:</p>
+<p>"I have wished, ever since parting with thee and our
+other dear friends in Albany, to send thee a line, and
+have only waited in the hope of contributing a little
+'substantial aid' toward your neat and valuable 'depository.'
+The twenty dollars inclosed is from our
+Female Anti-slavery Society.</p>
+<p>"I see the annual meeting, in New York, is not to be
+held this spring. Sister Martha is here, and was expecting
+to attend both anniversaries. But we now
+think the woman's rights meeting had better not be
+attempted, and she has written Elizabeth C. Stanton
+to this effect.</p>
+<p>"I was well satisfied with being at the Albany meeting.
+I have since met with the following, from a speech
+of Lord Brougham's, which pleased me, as being as
+radical as mine in your stately Hall of Representatives:</p>
+<p>"'Before women can have any justice by the laws of
+England, there must be a total reconstruction of the
+whole marriage system; for any attempt to amend it
+<a name="Page_218"></a>would prove useless. The great charter, in
+establishing
+the supremacy of law over prerogative, provides
+only for justice between man and man; for woman nothing
+is left but common law, accumulations and modifications
+of original Gothic and Roman heathenism,
+which no amount of filtration through ecclesiastical
+courts could change into Christian laws. They are declared
+unworthy a Christian people by great jurists;
+still they remain unchanged.'</p>
+<p>"So Elizabeth Stanton will see that I have authority
+for going to the root of the evil.</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Thine,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"LUCRETIA MOTT."</p>
+</div>
+<p>Those of us who met in Albany talked the matter
+over in regard to a free discussion of the divorce question
+at the coming convention in New York. It was
+the opinion of those present that, as the laws on
+marriage and divorce were very unequal for man and
+woman, this was a legitimate subject for discussion on
+our platform; accordingly I presented a series of resolutions,
+at the annual convention, in New York city, to
+which I spoke for over an hour. I was followed by
+Antoinette L, Brown, who also presented a series of
+resolutions in opposition to mine. She was, in turn,
+answered by Ernestine L. Rose. Wendell Phillips then
+arose, and, in an impressive manner pronounced the
+whole discussion irrelevant to our platform, and moved
+that neither the speeches nor resolutions go on the
+records of the convention. As I greatly admired
+Wendell Phillips, and appreciated his good opinion, I
+was surprised and humiliated to find myself under the
+ban of his disapprobation. My face was scarlet, and I
+<a name="Page_219"></a>trembled with mingled feelings of doubt and
+fear&#8212;doubt
+as to the wisdom of my position and fear lest the
+convention should repudiate the whole discussion. My
+emotion was so apparent that Rev. Samuel Longfellow,
+a brother of the poet, who sat beside me, whispered in
+my ear, "Nevertheless you are right, and the convention
+will sustain you."</p>
+<p>Mr. Phillips said that as marriage concerned man
+and woman alike, and the laws bore equally on them,
+women had no special ground for complaint, although,
+in my speech, I had quoted many laws
+to show the reverse. Mr. Garrison and Rev. Antoinette
+L. Brown were alike opposed to Mr. Phillips'
+motion, and claimed that marriage and divorce
+were legitimate subjects for discussion on our platform.
+Miss Anthony closed the debate. She said:
+"I hope Mr. Phillips will withdraw his motion that
+these resolutions shall not appear on the records of
+the convention. I am very sure that it would be contrary
+to all parliamentary usage to say that, when the
+speeches which enforced and advocated the resolutions
+are reported and published in the proceedings, the resolutions
+shall not be placed there. And as to the point
+that this question does not belong to this platform&#8212;from
+that I totally dissent. Marriage has ever been a
+one-sided matter, resting most unequally upon the
+sexes. By it man gains all; woman loses all; tyrant law
+and lust reign supreme with him; meek submission and
+ready obedience alone befit her. Woman has never
+been consulted; her wish has never been taken into consideration
+as regards the terms of the marriage compact.
+By law, public sentiment, and religion,&#8212;from the time
+of Moses down to the present day,&#8212;woman has never
+<a name="Page_220"></a>been thought of other than as a piece of
+property, to be
+disposed of at the will and pleasure of man. And at
+this very hour, by our statute books, by our (so-called)
+enlightened Christian civilization, she has no voice
+whatever in saying what shall be the basis of the relation.
+She must accept marriage as man proffers it, or
+not at all.</p>
+<p>"And then, again, on Mr. Phillips' own ground,
+the discussion is perfectly in order, since nearly all
+the wrongs of which we complain grow out of the inequality
+of the marriage laws, that rob the wife of
+the right to herself and her children; that make her the
+slave of the man she marries. I hope, therefore, the
+resolutions will be allowed to go out to the public; that
+there may be a fair report of the ideas which have
+actually been presented here; that they may not be left
+to the mercy of the secular press, I trust the convention
+will not vote to forbid the publication of those
+resolutions with the proceedings."</p>
+<p>Rev. William Hoisington (the blind preacher) followed
+Miss Anthony, and said: "Publish all that you
+have done here, and let the public know it."</p>
+<p>The question was then put, on the motion of Mr.
+Phillips, and it was lost.</p>
+<p>As Mr. Greeley, in commenting on the convention,
+took the same ground with Mr. Phillips, that the laws
+on marriage and divorce were equal for man and
+woman, I answered them in the following letter to the
+New York <i>Tribune</i>.</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"<i>To the Editor of the New York Tribune</i>:</p>
+<p>"Sir: At our recent National Woman's Rights Convention
+many were surprised to hear Wendell Phillips
+<a name="Page_221"></a>object to the question of marriage and divorce
+as irrelevant
+to our platform. He said: 'We had no right to
+discuss here any laws or customs but those where inequality
+existed for the sexes; that the laws on marriage
+and divorce rested equally on man and woman; that he
+suffers, as much as she possibly could, the wrongs and
+abuses of an ill-assorted marriage.'</p>
+<p>"Now it must strike every careful thinker that an immense
+difference rests in the fact that man has made
+the laws cunningly and selfishly for his own purpose.
+From Coke down to Kent, who can cite one clause of
+the marriage contract where woman has the advantage?
+When man suffers from false legislation he has his
+remedy in his own hands. Shall woman be denied the
+right of protest against laws in which she had no voice;
+laws which outrage the holiest affections of her nature;
+laws which transcend the limits of human legislation, in
+a convention called for the express purpose of considering
+her wrongs? He might as well object to a protest
+against the injustice of hanging a woman, because
+capital punishment bears equally on man and woman.</p>
+<p>"The contract of marriage is by no means equal. The
+law permits the girl to marry at twelve years of age,
+while it requires several years more of experience on the
+part of the boy. In entering this compact, the man
+gives up nothing that he before possessed, he is a man
+still; while the legal existence of the woman is suspended
+during marriage, and, henceforth, she is known
+but in and through the husband. She is nameless,
+purseless, childless&#8212;though a woman, an heiress, and
+a mother.</p>
+<p>"Blackstone says: 'The husband and wife are one,
+and that one is the husband.' Chancellor Kent, in his
+<a name="Page_222"></a>'Commentaries' says: 'The legal effects of
+marriage are
+generally deducible from the principle of the common
+law, by which the husband and wife are regarded as one
+person, and her legal existence and authority lost or
+suspended during the continuance of the matrimonial
+union.'</p>
+<p>"The wife is regarded by all legal authorities as a
+<i>feme covert</i>, placed wholly <i>sub potestate viri</i>. Her moral
+responsibility, even, is merged in her husband. The
+law takes it for granted that the wife lives in fear of
+her husband; that his command is her highest law;
+hence a wife is not punishable for the theft committed
+in the presence of her husband. An unmarried woman
+can make contracts, sue and be sued, enjoy the rights of
+property, to her inheritance&#8212;to her wages&#8212;to her
+person&#8212;to her children; but, in marriage, she is robbed
+by law of all and every natural and civil right. Kent
+further says: 'The disability of the wife to contract, so
+as to bind herself, arises not from want of discretion,
+but because she has entered into an indissoluble connection
+by which she is placed under the power and protection
+of her husband.' She is possessed of certain
+rights until she is married; then all are suspended, to
+revive, again, the moment the breath goes out of the
+husband's body. (See 'Cowen's Treatise,' vol. 2,
+p. 709.)</p>
+<p>"If the contract be equal, whence come the terms
+'marital power,' 'marital rights,' 'obedience and restraint,'
+'dominion and control,' 'power and protection,'
+etc., etc.? Many cases are stated, showing the
+exercise of a most questionable power over the wife, sustained
+by the courts. (See 'Bishop on Divorce,' p. 489.)</p>
+<p>"The laws on divorce are quite as unequal as those on
+<a name="Page_223"></a>marriage; yea, far more so. The advantages seem
+to
+be all on one side and the penalties on the other. In
+case of divorce, if the husband be not the guilty party,
+the wife goes out of the partnership penniless. (Kent,
+vol. 2, p. 33; 'Bishop on Divorce,' p. 492.)</p>
+<p>"In New York, and some other States, the wife of the
+guilty husband can now sue for a divorce in her own
+name, and the costs come out of the husband's estate;
+but, in the majority of the States, she is still compelled
+to sue in the name of another, as she has no means for
+paying costs, even though she may have brought her
+thousands into the partnership. 'The allowance to the
+innocent wife of <i>ad interim</i> alimony and money to sustain
+the suit, is not regarded as a strict right in her, but
+of sound discretion in the court.' ('Bishop on Divorce,'
+p. 581.)</p>
+<p>"'Many jurists,' says Kent, 'are of opinion that the
+adultery of the husband ought not to be noticed or
+made subject to the same animadversions as that of the
+wife, because it is not evidence of such entire depravity
+nor equally injurious in its effects upon the morals, good
+order, and happiness of the domestic life. Montesquieu,
+Pothier, and Dr. Taylor all insist that the cases
+of husband and wife ought to be distinguished, and that
+the violation of the marriage vow, on the part of the
+wife, is the most mischievous, and the prosecution ought
+to be confined to the offense on her part. ("Esprit des
+Lois," tom. 3, 186; "Trait&eacute; du Contrat de Mariage,"
+No. 516; "Elements of Civil Law," p. 254).'</p>
+<p>"Say you, 'These are but the opinions of men'? On
+what else, I ask, are the hundreds of women depending,
+who, this hour, demand in our courts a release from
+burdensome contracts? Are not these delicate matters
+<a name="Page_224"></a>left wholly to the discretion of courts? Are not
+young
+women from the first families dragged into our courts,&#8212;into assemblies
+of
+men exclusively,&#8212;the judges all
+men, the jurors all men? No true woman there to shield
+them, by her presence, from gross and impertinent
+questionings, to pity their misfortunes, or to protest
+against their wrongs?</p>
+<p>"The administration of justice depends far more on
+the opinions of eminent jurists than on law alone, for
+law is powerless when at variance with public sentiment.</p>
+<p>"Do not the above citations clearly prove inequality?
+Are not the very letter and spirit of the marriage contract
+based on the idea of the supremacy of man as the
+keeper of woman's virtue&#8212;her sole protector and support?
+Out of marriage, woman asks nothing, at this
+hour, but the elective franchise. It is only in marriage
+that she must demand her right to person, children,
+property, wages, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
+How can we discuss all the laws and conditions
+of marriage, without perceiving its essential essence, end,
+and aim? Now, whether the institution of marriage be
+human or divine, whether regarded as indissoluble by
+ecclesiastical courts or dissoluble by civil courts,
+woman, finding herself equally degraded in each and
+every phase of it, always the victim of the institution, it
+is her right and her duty to sift the relation and the
+compact through and through, until she finds out the
+true cause of her false position. How can we go before
+the legislatures of our respective States and demand
+new laws, or no laws, on divorce, until we have
+some idea of what the true relation is?</p>
+<p>"We decide the whole question of slavery by settling
+the sacred rights of the individual. We assert that man
+<a name="Page_225"></a>cannot hold property in man, and reject the
+whole code
+of laws that conflicts with the self-evident truth of the
+assertion.</p>
+<p>"Again, I ask, is it possible to discuss all the laws of
+a relation, and not touch the relation itself?</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Yours respectfully,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"Elizabeth Cady Stanton."</p>
+</div>
+<p>The discussion on the question of marriage and
+divorce occupied one entire session of the convention,
+and called down on us severe criticisms from the metropolitan
+and State press. So alarming were the comments
+on what had been said that I began to feel that
+I had inadvertently taken out the underpinning from
+the social system. Enemies were unsparing in their
+denunciations, and friends ridiculed the whole proceeding.
+I was constantly called on for a definition of marriage
+and asked to describe home life as it would be
+when men changed their wives every Christmas. Letters
+and newspapers poured in upon me, asking all
+manner of absurd questions, until I often wept with
+vexation. So many things, that I had neither thought
+nor said, were attributed to me that, at times, I really
+doubted my own identity.</p>
+<p>However, in the progress of events the excitement
+died away, the earth seemed to turn on its axis as usual,
+women were given in marriage, children were born, fires
+burned as brightly as ever at the domestic altars, and
+family life, to all appearances, was as stable as usual.</p>
+<p>Public attention was again roused to this subject by
+the McFarland-Richardson trial, in which the former
+shot the latter, being jealous of his attentions to his
+wife. McFarland was a brutal, improvident husband,
+<a name="Page_226"></a>who had completely alienated his wife's
+affections, while
+Mr. Richardson, who had long been a cherished acquaintance
+of the family, befriended the wife in the
+darkest days of her misery. She was a very refined, attractive
+woman, and a large circle of warm friends stood
+by her through the fierce ordeal of her husband's trial.</p>
+<p>Though McFarland did not deny that he killed Richardson,
+yet he was acquitted on the plea of insanity,
+and was, at the same time, made the legal guardian of
+his child, a boy, then, twelve years of age, and walked
+out of the court with him, hand in hand. What a
+travesty on justice and common sense that, while a
+man is declared too insane to be held responsible for
+taking the life of another, he might still be capable of
+directing the life and education of a child! And what
+an insult to that intelligent mother, who had devoted
+twelve years of her life to his care, while his worthless
+father had not provided for them the necessaries of life!</p>
+<p>She married Mr. Richardson on his deathbed. The
+ceremony was performed by Henry Ward Beecher and
+Rev. O.B. Frothingham, while such men as Horace
+Greeley and Joshua Leavitt witnessed the solemn service.
+Though no shadow had ever dimmed Mrs.
+Richardson's fair fame, yet she was rudely treated in
+the court and robbed of her child, though by far the
+most fitting parent to be intrusted with his care.</p>
+<p>As the indignation among women was general and at
+white heat with regard to her treatment, Miss Anthony
+suggested to me, one day, that it would be a golden
+opportunity to give women a lesson on their helplessness
+under the law&#8212;wholly in the power of man as to
+their domestic relations, as well as to their civil and
+political rights. Accordingly we decided to hold some
+<a name="Page_227"></a>meetings, for women alone, to protest against
+the decision
+of this trial, the general conduct of the case, the
+tone of the press, and the laws that made it possible
+to rob a mother of her child.</p>
+<p>Many ladies readily enlisted in the movement. I was
+invited to make the speech on the occasion, and Miss
+Anthony arranged for two great meetings, one in
+Apollo Hall, New York city, and one in the Academy of
+Music, in Brooklyn. The result was all that we could
+desire. Miss Anthony, with wonderful executive
+ability, made all the arrangements, taking on her own
+shoulders the whole financial responsibility.</p>
+<p>My latest thought on this question I gave in <i>The
+Arena</i> of April, 1894, from which I quote the following:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"There is a demand just now for an amendment to
+the United States Constitution that shall make the laws
+of marriage and divorce the same in all the States of
+the Union. As the suggestion comes uniformly from
+those who consider the present divorce laws too liberal,
+we may infer that the proposed national law is to place
+the whole question on a narrower basis, rendering null
+and void the laws that have been passed in a broader
+spirit, according to the needs and experiences, in certain
+sections, of the sovereign people. And here let us bear
+in mind that the widest possible law would not make divorce
+obligatory on anyone, while a restricted law, on
+the contrary, would compel many, marrying, perhaps,
+under more liberal laws, to remain in uncongenial
+relations.</p>
+<p>"As we are still in the experimental stage on this
+question, we are not qualified to make a perfect law
+that would work satisfactorily over so vast an area
+as our boundaries now embrace. I see no evidence in
+<a name="Page_228"></a>what has been published on this question, of
+late, by
+statesmen, ecclesiastics, lawyers, and judges, that any
+of them have thought sufficiently on the subject to prepare
+a well-digested code, or a comprehensive amendment
+to the national Constitution. Some view it
+as a civil contract, though not governed by the
+laws of other contracts; some view it as a religious
+ordinance&#8212;a sacrament; some think it a relation to
+be regulated by the State, others by the Church, and
+still others think it should be left wholly to the individual.
+With this wide divergence of opinion among
+our leading minds, it is quite evident that we are not
+prepared for a national law.</p>
+<p>"Moreover, as woman is the most important factor
+in the marriage relation, her enfranchisement is the
+primal step in deciding the basis of family life. Before
+public opinion on this question crystallizes into an
+amendment to the national Constitution, the wife and
+mother must have a voice in the governing power and
+must be heard, on this great problem, in the halls of
+legislation.</p>
+<p>"There are many advantages in leaving all these
+questions, as now, to the States. Local self-government
+more readily permits of experiments on mooted
+questions, which are the outcome of the needs and convictions
+of the community. The smaller the area over
+which legislation extends, the more pliable are the
+laws. By leaving the States free to experiment in their
+local affairs, we can judge of the working of different
+laws under varying circumstances, and thus learn their
+comparative merits. The progress education has
+achieved in America is due to the fact that we have
+left our system of public instruction in the hands of
+<a name="Page_229"></a>local authorities. How different would be the
+solution
+of the great educational question of manual labor in the
+schools, if the matter had to be settled at Washington!</p>
+<p>"The whole nation might find itself pledged to a
+scheme that a few years would prove wholly impracticable.
+Not only is the town meeting, as Emerson says,
+'the cradle of American liberties,' but it is the nursery
+of Yankee experiment and wisdom. England, with its
+clumsy national code of education, making one inflexible
+standard of scholarship for the bright children of
+the manufacturing districts and the dull brains of the
+agricultural counties, should teach us a lesson as to
+the wisdom of keeping apart state and national
+government.</p>
+<p>"Before we can decide the just grounds for divorce,
+we must get a clear idea of what constitutes marriage.
+In a true relation the chief object is the loving
+companionship of man and woman, their capacity for
+mutual help and happiness and for the development of
+all that is noblest in each other. The second object is
+the building up a home and family, a place of rest, peace,
+security, in which child-life can bud and blossom like
+flowers in the sunshine.</p>
+<p>"The first step toward making the ideal the real, is
+to educate our sons and daughters into the most exalted
+ideas of the sacredness of married life and the responsibilities
+of parenthood. I would have them give, at
+least, as much thought to the creation of an immortal
+being as the artist gives to his landscape or statue.
+Watch him in his hours of solitude, communing with
+great Nature for days and weeks in all her changing
+moods, and when at last his dream of beauty is realized
+and takes a clearly defined form, behold how patiently
+<a name="Page_230"></a>he works through long months and years on sky
+and
+lake, on tree and flower; and when complete, it represents
+to him more love and life, more hope and ambition,
+than the living child at his side, to whose conception
+and antenatal development not one soulful thought
+was ever given. To this impressible period of human
+life, few parents give any thought; yet here we must
+begin to cultivate virtues that can alone redeem the
+world.</p>
+<p>"The contradictory views in which woman is represented
+are as pitiful as varied. While the Magnificat to
+the Virgin is chanted in all our cathedrals round the
+globe on each returning Sabbath day, and her motherhood
+extolled by her worshipers, maternity for the
+rest of womankind is referred to as a weakness, a disability,
+a curse, an evidence of woman's divinely ordained
+subjection. Yet surely the real woman should have
+some points of resemblance in character and position
+with the ideal one, whom poets, novelists, and artists
+portray.</p>
+<p>"It is folly to talk of the sacredness of marriage
+and maternity, while the wife is practically regarded
+as an inferior, a subject, a slave. Having
+decided that companionship and conscientious parenthood
+are the only true grounds for marriage, if the
+relation brings out the worst characteristics of each
+party, or if the home atmosphere is unwholesome for
+children, is not the very <i>raison d'&ecirc;tre</i> of the union
+wanting,
+and the marriage practically annulled? It cannot
+be called a holy relation,&#8212;no, not a desirable one,&#8212;when
+love and mutual respect are wanting. And let
+us bear in mind one other important fact: the lack of
+sympathy and content in the parents indicates radical
+<a name="Page_231"></a>physical unsuitability, which results in badly
+organized
+offspring. If, then, the real object of marriage is defeated,
+it is for the interest of the State, as well as the
+individual concerned, to see that all such pernicious
+unions be legally dissolved. Inasmuch, then, as incompatibility
+of temper defeats the two great objects
+of marriage, it should be the primal cause for divorce.</p>
+<p>"The true standpoint from which to view this question
+is individual sovereignty, individual happiness. It
+is often said that the interests of society are paramount,
+and first to be considered. This was the Roman idea,
+the Pagan idea, that the individual was made for the
+State. The central idea of barbarism has ever been the
+family, the tribe, the nation&#8212;never the individual. But
+the great doctrine of Christianity is the right of individual
+conscience and judgment. The reason it took
+such a hold on the hearts of the people was because it
+taught that the individual was primary; the State, the
+Church, society, the family, secondary. However, a
+comprehensive view of any question of human interest,
+shows that the highest good and happiness of the individual
+and society lie in the same direction.</p>
+<p>"The question of divorce, like marriage, should be
+settled, as to its most sacred relations, by the parties
+themselves; neither the State nor the Church having
+any right to intermeddle therein. As to property and
+children, it must be viewed and regulated as a civil contract.
+Then the union should be dissolved with at least
+as much deliberation and publicity as it was formed.
+There might be some ceremony and witnesses to add
+to the dignity and solemnity of the occasion. Like the
+Quaker marriage, which the parties conduct themselves,
+so, in this case, without any statement of their disagree<a
+ name="Page_232"></a>ments,
+the parties might simply declare that, after living
+together for several years, they found themselves
+unsuited to each other, and incapable of making a happy
+home.</p>
+<p>"If divorce were made respectable, and recognized
+by society as a duty, as well as a right, reasonable men
+and women could arrange all the preliminaries, often,
+even, the division of property and guardianship of children,
+quite as satisfactorily as it could be done in the
+courts. Where the mother is capable of training
+the children, a sensible father would leave them to
+her care rather than place them in the hands of a
+stranger.</p>
+<p>"But, where divorce is not respectable, men who
+have no paternal feeling will often hold the child, not
+so much for its good or his own affection, as to punish
+the wife for disgracing him. The love of children is not
+strong in most men, and they feel but little responsibility
+in regard to them. See how readily they turn off young
+sons to shift for themselves, and, unless the law compelled
+them to support their illegitimate children, they
+would never give them a second thought. But on the
+mother-soul rest forever the care and responsibility of
+human life. Her love for the child born out of wedlock
+is often intensified by the infinite pity she feels
+through its disgrace. Even among the lower animals
+we find the female ever brooding over the young and
+helpless.</p>
+<p>"Limiting the causes of divorce to physical defects
+or delinquencies; making the proceedings public; prying
+into all the personal affairs of unhappy men and
+women; regarding the step as quasi criminal; punishing
+the guilty party in the suit; all this will not strengthen
+<a name="Page_233"></a>frail human nature, will not insure happy homes,
+will
+not banish scandals and purge society of prostitution.</p>
+<p>"No, no; the enemy of marriage, of the State, of
+society is not liberal divorce laws, but the unhealthy
+atmosphere that exists in the home itself. A legislative
+act cannot make a unit of a divided family."</p>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_234"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+<h2>WOMEN AS PATRIOTS.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>On April 15, 1861, the President of the United States
+called out seventy-five thousand militia, and summoned
+Congress to meet July 4, when four hundred thousand
+men were called for, and four hundred millions of dollars
+were voted to suppress the Rebellion.</p>
+<p>These startling events roused the entire people, and
+turned the current of their thoughts in new directions.
+While the nation's life hung in the balance, and the
+dread artillery of war drowned, alike, the voices of commerce,
+politics, religion, and reform, all hearts were
+filled with anxious forebodings, all hands were busy in
+solemn preparations for the awful tragedies to come.</p>
+<p>At this eventful hour the patriotism of woman shone
+forth as fervently and spontaneously as did that of man;
+and her self-sacrifice and devotion were displayed in as
+many varied fields of action. While he buckled on his
+knapsack and marched forth to conquer the enemy, she
+planned the campaigns which brought the nation victory;
+fought in the ranks, when she could do so without
+detection; inspired the sanitary commission; gathered
+needed supplies for the grand army; provided nurses
+for the hospitals; comforted the sick; smoothed the pillows
+of the dying; inscribed the last messages of lave
+to those far away; and marked the resting places where
+the brave men fell. The labor women accomplished,
+<a name="Page_235"></a>the hardships they endured, the time and
+strength they
+sacrificed in the War that summoned three million men
+to arms, can never be fully appreciated.</p>
+<p>Indeed, we may safely say that there is scarcely a
+loyal woman in the North who did not do something in
+aid of the cause; who did not contribute time, labor, and
+money to the comfort of our soldiers and the success
+of our arms. The story of the War will never be fully
+written if the achievements of women are left untold.
+They do not figure in the official reports; they
+are not gazetted for gallant deeds; the names of thousands
+are unknown beyond the neighborhood where
+they lived, or the hospitals where they loved to labor;
+yet there is no feature in our War more creditable to us
+as a nation, none from its positive newness so well
+worthy of record.</p>
+<p>While the mass of women never philosophize on the
+principles that underlie national existence, there were
+those in our late War who understood the political significance
+of the struggle; the "irrepressible conflict"
+between freedom and slavery, between National and
+State rights. They saw that to provide lint, bandages,
+and supplies for the army, while the War was not conducted
+on a wise policy, was to labor in vain; and while
+many organizations, active, vigilant, and self-sacrificing,
+were multiplied to look after the material wants of the
+army, these few formed themselves into a National Loyal
+League, to teach sound principles of government and
+to impress on the nation's conscience that freedom for
+the slaves was the only way to victory. Accustomed,
+as most women had been to works of charity and to the
+relief of outward suffering, it was difficult to rouse their
+enthusiasm for an idea, to persuade them to labor for
+<a name="Page_236"></a>a principle. They clamored for practical work,
+something
+for their hands to do; for fairs and sewing societies
+to raise money for soldier's families, for tableaux, readings,
+theatricals&#8212;anything but conventions to discuss
+principles and to circulate petitions for emancipation.
+They could not see that the best service they could
+render the army was to suppress the Rebellion, and that
+the most effective way to accomplish that was to transform
+the slaves into soldiers. This Woman's Loyal
+League voiced the solemn lessons of the War: Liberty
+to all; national protection for every citizen under our
+flag; universal suffrage, and universal amnesty.</p>
+<p>After consultation with Horace Greeley, William
+Lloyd Garrison, Governor Andrews, and Robert Dale
+Owen, Miss Anthony and I decided to call a meeting of
+women in Cooper Institute and form a Woman's Loyal
+League, to advocate the immediate emancipation and
+enfranchisement of the Southern slaves, as the most
+speedy way of ending the War, so we issued, in tract
+form, and extensively circulated the following call:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"In this crisis of our country's destiny, it is the duty
+of every citizen to consider the peculiar blessings of a
+republican form of government, and decide what sacrifices
+of wealth and life are demanded for its defense and
+preservation. The policy of the War, our whole future
+life, depend on a clearly defined idea of the end proposed
+and the immense advantages to be secured to
+ourselves and all mankind by its accomplishment. No
+mere party or sectional cry, no technicalities of constitutional
+or military law, no mottoes of craft or policy are
+big enough to touch the great heart of a nation in the
+midst of revolution. A grand idea&#8212;such as freedom
+<a name="Page_237"></a>or justice&#8212;is needful to kindle and sustain the
+fires of
+a high enthusiasm.</p>
+<p>"At this hour, the best word and work of every man
+and woman are imperatively demanded. To man, by
+common consent, are assigned the forum, camp, and
+field. What is woman's legitimate work and how she
+may best accomplish it, is worthy our earnest counsel
+one with another. We have heard many complaints of
+the lack of enthusiasm, among Northern women; but
+when a mother lays her son on the altar of her country,
+she asks an object equal to the sacrifice. In nursing the
+sick and wounded, knitting socks, scraping lint, and
+making jellies the bravest and best may weary if the
+thoughts mount not in faith to something beyond and
+above it all. Work is worship only when a noble purpose
+fills the soul. Woman is equally interested and
+responsible with man in the final settlement of this
+problem of self-government; therefore let none stand
+idle spectators now. When every hour is big with
+destiny, and each delay but complicates our difficulties,
+it is high time for the daughters of the Revolution, in
+solemn council, to unseal the last will and testaments of
+the fathers, lay hold of their birthright of freedom, and
+keep it a sacred trust for all coming generations.</p>
+<p>"To this end we ask the Loyal Women of the Nation
+to meet in the Church of the Puritans (Dr. Cheever's),
+New York, on Thursday, the 14th of May next.</p>
+<p>"Let the women of every State be largely represented
+in person or by letter.</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 40px;">"On behalf of the Woman's Central
+Committee,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"Elizabeth Cady Stanton,<br>
+"Susan B. Anthony."</p>
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_238"></a>Among other resolutions adopted at the
+meeting
+were the following:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, There never can be a true peace in this
+Republic until the civil and political rights of all citizens
+of African descent and all women are practically
+established.</p>
+<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That the women of the Revolution were
+not wanting in heroism and self-sacrifice, and we, their
+daughters, are ready, in this War, to pledge our time,
+our means, our talents, and our lives, if need be, to
+secure the final and complete consecration of America
+to freedom."</p>
+</div>
+<p>It was agreed that the practical work to be done to
+secure freedom for the slaves was to circulate petitions
+through all the Northern States. For months these
+petitions were circulated diligently everywhere, as the
+signatures show&#8212;some signed on fence posts, plows,
+the anvil, the shoemaker's bench&#8212;by women of
+fashion and those in the industries, alike in the parlor
+and the kitchen; by statesmen, professors in colleges,
+editors, bishops; by sailors, and soldiers, and
+the hard-handed children of toil, building railroads and
+bridges, and digging canals, and in mines in the bowels
+of the earth. Petitions, signed by three hundred thousand
+persons, can now be seen in the national archives
+in the Capitol at Washington. Three of my sons spent
+weeks in our office in Cooper Institute, rolling up the
+petitions from each State separately, and inscribing on
+the outside the number of names of men and women
+contained therein. We sent appeals to the President
+the House of Representatives, and the Senate, from
+time to time, urging emancipation and the passage of
+<a name="Page_239"></a>the proposed Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
+Fifteenth
+Amendments to the National Constitution. During
+these eventful months we received many letters from
+Senator Sumner, saying, "Send on the petitions as fast
+as received; they give me opportunities for speech."</p>
+<p>Robert Dale Owen, chairman of the Freedman's
+Commission, was most enthusiastic in the work of the
+Loyal League, and came to our rooms frequently to
+suggest new modes of agitation and to give us an inkling
+of what was going on behind the scenes in Washington.
+Those who had been specially engaged in the
+Woman Suffrage movement suspended their conventions
+during the war, and gave their time and thought
+wholly to the vital issues of the hour. Seeing the political
+significance of the war, they urged the emancipation
+of the slaves as the sure, quick way of cutting the
+Gordian knot of the Rebellion. To this end they
+organized a national league, and rolled up a mammoth
+petition, urging Congress so to amend the Constitution
+as to prohibit the existence of slavery in the United
+States. From their headquarters in Cooper Institute,
+New York city, they sent out the appeals to the President,
+Congress, and the people at large; tracts and
+forms of petition, franked by members of Congress, were
+scattered like snowflakes from Maine to Texas. Meetings
+were held every week, in which the policy of the
+Government was freely discussed, and approved or condemned.</p>
+<p>That this League did a timely educational work is
+manifested by the letters received from generals, statesmen,
+editors, and from women in most of the Northern
+States, fully indorsing its action and principles. The
+clearness to thinking women of the cause of the War;
+<a name="Page_240"></a>the true policy in waging it; their
+steadfastness in
+maintaining the principles of freedom, are worthy of
+consideration. With this League abolitionists and Republicans
+heartily co-operated. A course of lectures
+was delivered for its benefit in Cooper Institute, by
+such men as Horace Greeley, George William Curtis,
+William D. Kelly, Wendell Phillips, E.P. Whipple,
+Frederick Douglass, Theodore D. Weld, Rev. Dr.
+Tyng, and Dr. Bellows. Many letters are on its
+files from Charles Sumner, approving its measures,
+and expressing great satisfaction at the large number
+of emancipation petitions being rolled into
+Congress. The Republican press, too, was highly
+complimentary. The New York Tribune said: "The
+women of the Loyal League have shown great practical
+wisdom in restricting their efforts to one subject,
+the most important which any society can aim at
+in this hour, and great courage in undertaking to do
+what never has been done in the world before, to obtain
+one million of names to a petition."</p>
+<p>The leading journals vied with each other in praising
+the patience and prudence, the executive ability, the
+loyalty, and the patriotism of the women of the League,
+and yet these were the same women who, when demanding
+civil and political rights, privileges, and immunities
+for themselves, had been uniformly denounced as "unwise,"
+"imprudent," "fanatical," and "impracticable."
+During the six years they held their own claims in
+abeyance to those of the slaves of the South, and
+labored to inspire the people with enthusiasm for the
+great measures of the Republican party, they were
+highly honored as "wise, loyal, and clear-sighted." But
+when the slaves were emancipated, and these women
+<a name="Page_241"></a>asked that they should be recognized in the
+reconstruction
+as citizens of the Republic, equal before the law, all
+these transcendent virtues vanished like dew before the
+morning sun. And thus it ever is: so long as woman
+labors to second man's endeavors and exalt his sex above
+her own, her virtues pass unquestioned; but when she
+dares to demand rights and privileges for herself, her
+motives, manners, dress, personal appearance, and character
+are subjects for ridicule and detraction.</p>
+<p>Liberty, victorious over slavery on the battlefield, had
+now more powerful enemies to encounter at Washington.
+The slaves set free, the master conquered, the
+South desolate; the two races standing face to face,
+sharing alike the sad results of war, turned with appealing
+looks to the general government, as if to say,
+"How stand we now?" "What next?" Questions
+our statesmen, beset with dangers, with fears for the
+nation's life, of party divisions, of personal defeat, were
+wholly unprepared to answer. The reconstruction of
+the South involved the reconsideration of the fundamental
+principles of our Government and the natural
+rights of man. The nation's heart was thrilled with
+prolonged debates in Congress and State legislatures,
+in the pulpits and public journals, and at every fireside
+on these vital questions, which took final shape in the
+three historic amendments to the Constitution.</p>
+<p>The first point, his emancipation, settled, the political
+status of the negro was next in order; and to this end
+various propositions were submitted to Congress. But
+to demand his enfranchisement on the broad principle
+of natural rights was hedged about with difficulties, as
+the logical result of such action must be the enfranchisement
+of all ostracized classes; not only the white
+<a name="Page_242"></a>women of the entire country, but the slave women
+of
+the South. Though our senators and representatives
+had an honest aversion to any proscriptive legislation
+against loyal women, in view of their varied and self-sacrificing
+work during the War, yet the only way they
+could open the constitutional door just wide enough to
+let the black man pass in was to introduce the word
+"male" into the national Constitution. After the
+generous devotion of such women as Anna Carroll and
+Anna Dickinson in sustaining the policy of the Republicans,
+both in peace and war, they felt it would come
+with a bad grace from that party to place new barriers
+in woman's path to freedom. But how could the
+amendment be written without the word "male," was
+the question.</p>
+<p>Robert Dale Owen being at Washington, and behind
+the scenes at the time, sent copies of the various bills
+to the officers of the Loyal League, in New York, and
+related to us some of the amusing discussions. One of
+the committee proposed "persons" instead of "males."
+"That will never do," said another, "it would enfranchise
+wenches." "Suffrage for black men will be all
+the strain the Republican party can stand," said another.
+Charles Sumner said, years afterward, that he
+wrote over nineteen pages of foolscap to get rid of the
+word "male" and yet keep "negro suffrage" as a
+party measure intact; but it could not be done.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony and I were the first to see the full significance
+of the word "male" in the Fourteenth
+Amendment, and we at once sounded the alarm, and
+sent out petitions for a constitutional amendment to
+"prohibit the States from disfranchising any of their
+citizens on the ground of sex." Miss Anthony, who
+<a name="Page_243"></a>had spent the year in Kansas, started for New
+York the
+moment she saw the proposition before Congress to put
+the word "male" into the national Constitution, and
+made haste to rouse the women in the East to the fact
+that the time had come to begin vigorous work again
+for woman's enfranchisement.</p>
+<p>Leaving Rochester, October 11, she called on Martha
+Wright at Auburn; Phebe Jones and Lydia Mott at
+Albany; Mmes. Rose, Gibbons, Davis, at New York
+city; Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown Blackwell in
+New Jersey; Stephen and Abby Foster at Worcester;
+Mmes. Severance, Dall, Nowell, Dr. Harriet K. Hunt,
+Dr. M.E. Zackesewska, and Messrs. Phillips and Garrison
+in Boston, urging them to join in sending protests
+to Washington against the pending legislation. Mr.
+Phillips at once consented to devote five hundred dollars
+from the "Jackson Fund" to commence the work.
+Miss Anthony and I spent all our Christmas holidays
+in writing letters and addressing appeals and petitions
+to every part of the country, and, before the close of
+the session of 1865-66, petitions with ten thousand signatures
+were poured into Congress.</p>
+<p>One of my letters was as follows:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"<i>To the Editor of the Standard</i>:</p>
+<p>"Sir: Mr. Broomall of Pennsylvania, Mr. Schenck of
+Ohio, Mr. Jenckes of Rhode Island, and Mr. Stevens
+of Pennsylvania, have each a resolution before Congress
+to amend the Constitution.</p>
+<p>"Article First, Section Second, reads thus: 'Representatives
+and direct taxes shall be apportioned among
+the several States which may be included within this
+Union, according to their respective numbers.'</p>
+<p>"<a name="Page_244"></a>Mr. Broomall proposes to amend by saying,
+'male
+electors'; Mr. Schenck,'male citizens'; Mr. Jenckes,
+'male citizens'; Mr. Stevens, 'male voters,' as, in process
+of time, women may be made 'legal voters' in
+the several States, and would then meet that requirement
+of the Constitution. But those urged by the
+other gentlemen, neither time, effort, nor State Constitutions
+could enable us to meet, unless, by a liberal interpretation
+of the amendment, a coat of mail to be worn
+at the polls might be judged all-sufficient. Mr. Jenckes
+and Mr. Schenck, in their bills, have the grace not to say
+a word about taxes, remembering, perhaps, that 'taxation
+without representation is tyranny.' But Mr.
+Broomall, though unwilling that we should share in the
+honors of government, would fain secure us a place in
+its burdens; for, while he apportions representatives to
+"male electors" only, he admits "all the inhabitants"
+into the rights, privileges, and immunities of taxation.
+Magnanimous M.C.!</p>
+<p>"I would call the attention of the women of the
+nation to the fact that, under the Federal Constitution,
+as it now exists, there is not one word that limits the
+right of suffrage to any privileged class. This attempt
+to turn the wheels of civilization backward, on the part
+of Republicans claiming to be the liberal party, should
+rouse every woman in the nation to a prompt exercise
+of the only right she has in the Government, the right
+of petition. To this end a committee in New York
+have sent out thousands of petitions, which should be
+circulated in every district and sent to its representative
+at Washington as soon as possible.</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Elizabeth Cady Stanton.</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"New York, January 2, 1866."</p>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_245"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+<h2>PIONEER LIFE IN KANSAS&#8212;OUR NEWSPAPER, "THE
+REVOLUTION."</h2>
+<br>
+<p>In 1867 the proposition to extend the suffrage to
+women and to colored men was submitted to the people
+of the State of Kansas, and, among other Eastern
+speakers, I was invited to make a campaign through
+the State. As the fall elections were pending, there
+was great excitement everywhere. Suffrage for colored
+men was a Republican measure, which the press and
+politicians of that party advocated with enthusiasm.</p>
+<p>As woman suffrage was not a party question, we
+hoped that all parties would favor the measure; that we
+might, at last, have one green spot on earth where
+women could enjoy full liberty as citizens of the United
+States. Accordingly, in July, Miss Anthony and I
+started, with high hopes of a most successful trip, and,
+after an uneventful journey of one thousand five hundred
+miles, we reached the sacred soil where John
+Brown and his sons had helped to fight the battles that
+made Kansas a free State.</p>
+<p>Lucy Stone, Mr. Blackwell, and Olympia Brown had
+preceded us and opened the campaign with large meetings
+in all the chief cities. Miss Anthony and I did the
+same. Then it was decided that, as we were to go to
+the very borders of the State, where there were no
+railroads, we must take carriages, and economize our
+forces by taking different routes. I was escorted by
+<a name="Page_246"></a>ex-Governor Charles Robinson. We had a low, easy
+carriage, drawn by two mules, in which we stored about
+a bushel of tracts, two valises, a pail for watering the
+mules, a basket of apples, crackers, and other such refreshments
+as we could purchase on the way. Some
+things were suspended underneath the carriage, some
+packed on behind, and some under the seat and at our
+feet. It required great skill to compress the necessary
+baggage into the allotted space. As we went to the
+very verge of civilization, wherever two dozen voters
+could be assembled, we had a taste of pioneer life. We
+spoke in log cabins, in depots, unfinished schoolhouses,
+churches, hotels, barns, and in the open air.</p>
+<p>I spoke in a large mill one night. A solitary tallow
+candle shone over my head like a halo of glory; a few
+lanterns around the outskirts of the audience made the
+darkness perceptible; but all I could see of my audience
+was the whites of their eyes in the dim distance. People
+came from twenty miles around to these meetings,
+held either in the morning, afternoon, or evening, as
+was most convenient.</p>
+<p>As the regular State election was to take place in the
+coming November, the interest increased from week to
+week, until the excitement of the people knew no
+bounds. There were speakers for and against every
+proposition before the people. This involved frequent
+debates on all the general principles of government,
+and thus a great educational work was accomplished,
+which is one of the advantages of our frequent elections.</p>
+<p>The friends of woman suffrage were doomed to disappointment.
+Those in the East, on whom they relied
+for influence through the liberal newspapers, were
+silent, and we learned, afterward, that they used what
+<a name="Page_247"></a>influence they had to keep the abolitionists and
+Republicans
+of the State silent, as they feared the discussion
+of the woman question would jeopardize the enfranchisement
+of the black man. However, we worked
+untiringly and hopefully, not seeing through the game
+of the politicians until nearly the end of the canvass,
+when we saw that our only chance was in getting the
+Democratic vote. Accordingly, George Francis Train,
+then a most effective and popular speaker, was invited
+into the State to see what could be done to win the
+Democracy. He soon turned the tide, strengthened
+the weak-kneed Republicans and abolitionists, and
+secured a large Democratic vote.</p>
+<p>For three months we labored diligently, day after
+day, enduring all manner of discomforts in traveling,
+eating, and sleeping. As there were no roads or guide-posts,
+we often lost our way. In going through ca&ntilde;ons
+and fording streams it was often so dark that the Governor
+was obliged to walk ahead to find the way, taking
+off his coat so that I could see his white shirt and slowly
+drive after him. Though seemingly calm and cool, I
+had a great dread of these night adventures, as I was
+in constant fear of being upset on some hill and rolled
+into the water. The Governor often complimented me
+on my courage, when I was fully aware of being tempest-tossed
+with anxiety. I am naturally very timid,
+but, being silent under strong emotions of either pleasure
+or pain, I am credited with being courageous in the
+hour of danger.</p>
+<p>For days, sometimes, we could find nothing at a
+public table that we could eat. Then passing through
+a little settlement we could buy dried herring, crackers,
+gum arabic, and slippery elm; the latter, we were told,
+<a name="Page_248"></a>was very nutritious. We frequently sat down to a
+table
+with bacon floating in grease, coffee without milk,
+sweetened with sorghum, and bread or hot biscuit,
+green with soda, while vegetables and fruit were seldom
+seen. Our nights were miserable, owing to the general
+opinion among pioneers that a certain species of insect
+must necessarily perambulate the beds in a young civilization.
+One night, after traveling over prairies all day,
+eating nothing but what our larder provided, we saw
+a light in a cottage in the distance which seemed
+to beckon to us. Arriving, we asked the usual question,&#8212;if
+we could get a night's lodging,&#8212;to which
+the response was inevitably a hearty, hospitable
+"Yes." One survey of the premises showed me what
+to look for in the way of midnight companionship, so I
+said to the Governor, "I will resign in your favor the
+comforts provided for me to-night, and sleep in the
+carriage, as you do so often." I persisted against all
+the earnest persuasions of our host, and in due time I
+was ensconced for the night, and all about the house was
+silent.</p>
+<p>I had just fallen into a gentle slumber, when a chorus
+of pronounced grunts and a spasmodic shaking of the
+carriage revealed to me the fact that I was surrounded
+by those long-nosed black pigs, so celebrated for their
+courage and pertinacity. They had discovered that
+the iron steps of the carriage made most satisfactory
+scratching posts, and each one was struggling for his
+turn. This scratching suggested fleas. Alas! thought
+I, before morning I shall be devoured. I was mortally
+tired and sleepy, but I reached for the whip and plied it
+lazily from side to side; but I soon found nothing but a
+constant and most vigorous application of the whip
+<a name="Page_249"></a>could hold them at bay one moment. I had heard
+that
+this type of pig was very combative when thwarted in
+its desires, and they seemed in such sore need of relief
+that I thought there was danger of their jumping into
+the carriage and attacking me. This thought was more
+terrifying than that of the fleas, so I decided to go to
+sleep and let them alone to scratch at their pleasure. I
+had a sad night of it, and never tried the carriage again,
+though I had many equally miserable experiences
+within four walls.</p>
+<p>After one of these border meetings we stopped another
+night with a family of two bachelor brothers and
+two spinster sisters. The home consisted of one large
+room, not yet lathed and plastered. The furniture included
+a cooking stove, two double beds in remote
+corners, a table, a bureau, a washstand, and six wooden
+chairs. As it was late, there was no fire in the stove
+and no suggestion of supper, so the Governor and I
+ate apples and chewed slippery elm before retiring to
+dream of comfortable beds and well-spread tables in the
+near future.</p>
+<p>The brothers resigned their bed to me just as it was.
+I had noticed that there was no ceremonious changing
+of bed linen under such circumstances, so I
+had learned to nip all fastidious notions of individual
+cleanliness in the bud, and to accept the inevitable.
+When the time arrived for retiring, the
+Governor and the brothers went out to make astronomical
+observations or smoke, as the case might
+be, while the sisters and I made our evening toilet, and
+disposed ourselves in the allotted corners. That done,
+the stalwart sons of Adam made their beds with skins
+and blankets on the floor. When all was still and dark<a name="Page_250"></a>ness
+reigned, I reviewed the situation with a heavy
+heart, seeing that I was bound to remain a prisoner in
+the corner all night, come what might. I had just congratulated
+myself on my power of adaptability to circumstances,
+when I suddenly started with an emphatic
+"What is that?" A voice from the corner asked, "Is
+your bed comfortable?" "Oh, yes," I replied, "but
+I thought I felt a mouse run over my head." "Well,"
+said the voice from the corner, "I should not wonder.
+I have heard such squeaking from that corner during
+the past week that I told sister there must be a mouse
+nest in that bed." A confession she probably would
+not have made unless half asleep. This announcement
+was greeted with suppressed laughter from the floor.
+But it was no laughing matter to me. Alas! what a
+prospect&#8212;to have mice running over one all night.
+But there was no escape. The sisters did not offer to
+make any explorations, and, in my fatigue costume, I
+could not light a candle and make any on my own account.
+The house did not afford an armchair in which
+I could sit up. I could not lie on the floor, and the
+other bed was occupied. Fortunately, I was very tired
+and soon fell asleep. What the mice did the remainder
+of the night I never knew, so deep were my slumbers.
+But, as my features were intact, and my facial
+expression as benign as usual next morning, I inferred
+that their gambols had been most innocently and decorously
+conducted. These are samples of many similar
+experiences which we encountered during the three
+months of those eventful travels.</p>
+<p>Heretofore my idea had been that pioneer life was a
+period of romantic freedom. When the long, white-covered
+wagons, bound for the far West, passed by, I
+<a name="Page_251"></a>thought of the novelty of a six-months' journey
+through
+the bright spring and summer days in a house on
+wheels, meals under shady trees and beside babbling
+brooks, sleeping in the open air, and finding a home, at
+last, where land was cheap, the soil rich and deep, and
+where the grains, vegetables, fruit, and flowers grew
+bountifully with but little toil. But a few months
+of pioneer life permanently darkened my rosy ideal
+of the white-covered wagon, the charming picnics
+by the way, and the paradise at last. I found many
+of these adventurers in unfinished houses and racked
+with malaria; in one case I saw a family of eight,
+all ill with chills and fever. The house was half a
+mile from the spring water on which they depended
+and from which those best able, from day to day, carried
+the needed elixir to others suffering with the usual
+thirst. Their narrations of all the trials of the long
+journey were indeed heartrending.</p>
+<p>In one case a family of twelve left their comfortable
+farm in Illinois, much against the earnest protests
+of the mother; she having ten children, the
+youngest a baby then in her arms. All their earthly
+possessions were stored in three wagons, and the
+farm which the mother owned was sold before
+they commenced their long and perilous journey.
+There was no reason for going except that the husband
+had the Western fever. They were doing well in Illinois,
+on a large farm within two miles of a village, but
+he had visions of a bonanza near the setting sun. Accordingly
+they started. At the end of one month the
+baby died. A piece of wood from the cradle was all
+they had to mark its lonely resting place. With sad
+hearts they went on, and, in a few weeks, with grief for
+<a name="Page_252"></a>her child, her old home, her kindred and
+friends, the
+mother also died. She, too, was left alone on the far-off
+prairies, and the sad pageant moved on. Another
+child soon shared the same fate, and then a span of
+horses died, and one wagon, with all the things they
+could most easily spare, was abandoned. Arrived at
+their destination none of the golden dreams was realized.
+The expensive journey, the struggles in starting
+under new circumstances, and the loss of the mother's
+thrift and management, made the father so discouraged
+and reckless that much of his property was wasted, and
+his earthly career was soon ended. Through the heroic
+energy and good management of the eldest daughter,
+the little patrimony, in time, was doubled, and the children
+well brought up and educated in the rudiments of
+learning, so that all became respectable members of
+society. Her advice to all young people is, if you are
+comfortably established in the East, stay there. There
+is no royal road to wealth and ease, even in the Western
+States!</p>
+<p>In spite of the discomforts we suffered in the Kansas
+campaign, I was glad of the experience. It gave me
+added self-respect to know that I could endure such
+hardships and fatigue with a great degree of cheerfulness.
+The Governor and I often laughed heartily, as we
+patiently chewed our gum arabic and slippery elm, to
+think on what a gentle stimulus we were accomplishing
+such wonderful feats as orators and travelers. It was
+fortunate our intense enthusiasm for the subject gave
+us all the necessary inspiration, as the supplies we
+gathered by the way were by no means sufficiently invigorating
+for prolonged propagandism.</p>
+<p>I enjoyed these daily drives over the vast prairies, lis<a
+ name="Page_253"></a>tening
+to the Governor's descriptions of the early days
+when the "bushwhackers and jayhawkers" made their
+raids on the inhabitants of the young free State. The
+courage and endurance of the women, surrounded by
+dangers and discomforts, surpassed all description.
+I count it a great privilege to have made the acquaintance
+of so many noble women and men who had passed
+through such scenes and conquered such difficulties.
+They seemed to live in an atmosphere altogether beyond
+their surroundings. Many educated families from
+New England, disappointed in not finding the much
+talked of bonanzas, were living in log cabins, in solitary
+places, miles from any neighbors. But I found Emerson,
+Parker, Holmes, Hawthorne, Whittier, and Lowell
+on their bookshelves to gladden their leisure hours.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony and I often comforted ourselves mid
+adverse winds with memories of the short time we spent
+under Mother Bickerdyke's hospitable roof at Salina.
+There we had clean, comfortable beds, delicious viands,
+and everything was exquisitely neat. She entertained
+us with her reminiscences of the War. With great self-denial
+she had served her country in camp and hospital,
+and was with Sherman's army in that wonderful march
+to the sea, and here we found her on the outpost of
+civilization, determined to start what Kansas most
+needed&#8212;a good hotel. But alas! it was too good for
+that latitude and proved a financial failure. It was, to
+us, an oasis in the desert, where we would gladly have
+lingered if the opposition would have come to us for
+conversion. But, as we had to carry the gospel of
+woman's equality into the highways and hedges, we left
+dear Mother Bickerdyke with profound regret. The
+seed sown in Kansas in 1867 is now bearing its
+<a name="Page_254"></a>legitimate fruits. There was not a county in the
+State
+where meetings were not held or tracts scattered with
+a generous hand. If the friends of our cause in the East
+had been true and had done for woman what they did
+for the colored man, I believe both propositions would
+have been carried; but with a narrow policy, playing off
+one against the other, both were defeated. A policy
+of injustice always bears its own legitimate fruit in
+failure.</p>
+<p>However, women learned one important lesson&#8212;namely,
+that it is impossible for the best of men
+to understand women's feelings or the humiliation
+of their position. When they asked us to be silent
+on our question during the War, and labor for the
+emancipation of the slave, we did so, and gave
+five years to his emancipation and enfranchisement.
+To this proposition my friend, Susan B. Anthony,
+never consented, but was compelled to yield because
+no one stood with her. I was convinced, at
+the time, that it was the true policy. I am now equally
+sure that it was a blunder, and, ever since, I have
+taken my beloved Susan's judgment against the world.
+I have always found that, when we see eye to eye, we
+are sure to be right, and when we pull together we are
+strong. After we discuss any point together and fully
+agree, our faith in our united judgment is immovable
+and no amount of ridicule and opposition has the
+slightest influence, come from what quarter it may.</p>
+<p>Together we withstood the Republicans and abolitionists,
+when, a second time, they made us the most
+solemn promises of earnest labor for our enfranchisement,
+when the slaves were safe beyond a peradventure.
+They never redeemed their promise made during the
+<a name="Page_255"></a>War, hence, when they urged us to silence in the
+Kansas
+campaign, we would not for a moment entertain the
+proposition. The women generally awoke to their
+duty to themselves. They had been deceived once and
+could not be again. If the leaders in the Republican
+and abolition camps could deceive us, whom could we
+trust?</p>
+<p>Again we were urged to be silent on our rights, when
+the proposition to take the word "white" out of the
+New York Constitution was submitted to a vote of the
+people of the State, or, rather, to one-half the people, as
+women had no voice in the matter. Again we said
+"No, no, gentlemen! if the 'white' comes out of the
+Constitution, let the 'male' come out also. Women
+have stood with the negro, thus far, on equal ground as
+ostracized classes, outside the political paradise; and
+now, when the door is open, it is but fair that we both
+should enter and enjoy all the fruits of citizenship.
+Heretofore ranked with idiots, lunatics, and criminals
+in the Constitution, the negro has been the only respectable
+compeer we had; so pray do not separate us
+now for another twenty years, ere the constitutional
+door will again be opened."</p>
+<p>We were persistently urged to give all our efforts to
+get the word "white" out, and thus secure the enfranchisement
+of the colored man, as that, they said,
+would prepare the way for us to follow. Several editors
+threatened that, unless we did so, their papers should
+henceforth do their best to defeat every measure we
+proposed. But we were deaf alike to persuasions and
+threats, thinking it wiser to labor for women, constituting,
+as they did, half the people of the State, rather
+than for a small number of colored men; who, viewing
+<a name="Page_256"></a>all things from the same standpoint as white
+men, would
+be an added power against us.</p>
+<p>The question settled in Kansas, we returned, with
+George Francis Train, to New York. He offered to
+pay all the expenses of the journey and meetings in all
+the chief cities on the way, and see that we were fully
+and well reported in their respective journals. After
+prolonged consultation Miss Anthony and I thought
+best to accept the offer and we did so. Most of our
+friends thought it a grave blunder, but the result proved
+otherwise. Mr. Train was then in his prime&#8212;a large,
+fine-looking man, a gentleman in dress and manner,
+neither smoking, chewing, drinking, nor gormandizing.
+He was an effective speaker and actor, as one of his
+speeches, which he illustrated, imitating the poor wife
+at the washtub and the drunken husband reeling in,
+fully showed. He gave his audience charcoal sketches
+of everyday life rather than argument. He always
+pleased popular audiences, and even the most fastidious
+were amused with his caricatures. As the newspapers
+gave several columns to our meetings at every
+point through all the States, the agitation was widespread
+and of great value. To be sure our friends, on
+all sides, fell off, and those especially who wished us to
+be silent on the question of woman's rights, declared
+"the cause too sacred to be advocated by such a charlatan
+as George Francis Train." We thought otherwise,
+as the accession of Mr. Train increased the agitation
+twofold. If these fastidious ladies and gentlemen had
+come out to Kansas and occupied the ground and provided
+"the sinews of war," there would have been no
+field for Mr. Train's labors, and we should have accepted
+their services. But, as the ground was unoccupied, he
+<a name="Page_257"></a>had, at least, the right of a reform "squatter"
+to cultivate
+the cardinal virtues and reap a moral harvest
+wherever he could.</p>
+<p>Reaching New York, Mr. Train made it possible for
+us to establish a newspaper, which gave another impetus
+to our movement. The <i>Revolution</i>, published by
+Susan B. Anthony and edited by Parker Pillsbury and
+myself, lived two years and a half and was then consolidated
+with the New York <i>Christian Enquirer</i>, edited
+by the Rev. Henry Bellows, D.D. I regard the brief
+period in which I edited the <i>Revolution</i> as one of the
+happiest of my life, and I may add the most useful. In
+looking over the editorials I find but one that I sincerely
+regret, and that was a retort on Mr. Garrison, written
+under great provocation, but not by me, which circumstances,
+at the time, forbade me to disown. Considering
+the pressure brought to bear on Miss Anthony
+and myself, I feel now that our patience and forbearance
+with our enemies in their malignant attacks on our
+good, name, which we never answered, were indeed
+marvelous.</p>
+<p>We said at all times and on all other subjects just
+what we thought, and advertised nothing that we did
+not believe in. No advertisements of quack remedies
+appeared in our columns. One of our clerks once published
+a bread powder advertisement, which I did not
+see until the paper appeared; so, in the next number,
+I said, editorially, what I thought of it. I was alone in
+the office, one day, when a man blustered in. "Who,"
+said he, "runs this concern?" "You will find the
+names of the editors and publishers," I replied, "on
+the editorial page." "Are you one of them?" "I am,"
+I replied. "Well, do you know that I agreed to pay
+<a name="Page_258"></a>twenty dollars to have that bread powder
+advertised
+for one month, and then you condemn it editorially?"
+"I have nothing to do with the advertising;
+Miss Anthony pays me to say what I think."
+"Have you any more thoughts to publish on that bread
+powder?" "Oh, yes," I replied, "I have not exhausted
+the subject yet." "Then," said he, "I will
+have the advertisement taken out. What is there to
+pay for the one insertion?" "Oh, nothing," I replied,
+"as the editorial probably did you more injury than the
+advertisement did you good." On leaving, with prophetic
+vision, he said, "I prophesy a short life for this
+paper; the business world is based on quackery, and you
+cannot live without it." With melancholy certainty,
+I replied, "I fear you are right."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_259"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+<h2>LYCEUMS AND LECTURERS.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>The Lyceum Bureau was, at one time, a great
+feature in American life. The three leading bureaus
+were in Boston, New York, and Chicago. The managers,
+map in hand, would lay out trips, more or less
+extensive according to the capacity or will of the
+speakers, and then, with a dozen or more victims in
+hand, make arrangements with the committees in various
+towns and cities to set them all in motion. As the
+managers of the bureaus had ten per cent. of what the
+speakers made, it was to their interest to keep the time
+well filled. Hence the engagements were made without
+the slightest reference to the comfort of the travelers.
+With our immense distances, it was often necessary
+to travel night and day, sometimes changing cars
+at midnight, and perhaps arriving at the destination
+half an hour or less before going on the platform, and
+starting again on the journey immediately upon leaving
+it. The route was always carefully written out,
+giving the time the trains started from and arrived at
+various points; but as cross trains often failed to connect,
+one traveled, guidebook in hand, in a constant
+fever of anxiety. As, in the early days, the fees were
+from one to two hundred dollars a night, the speakers
+themselves were desirous of accomplishing as much as
+possible.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_260"></a>In 1869 I gave my name, for the first time,
+to the
+New York Bureau, and on November 14 began the
+long, weary pilgrimages, from Maine to Texas, that
+lasted twelve years; speaking steadily for eight
+months&#8212;from October to June&#8212;every season. That
+was the heyday of the lecturing period, when a long
+list of bright men and women were constantly on the
+wing. Anna Dickinson, Olive Logan, Kate Field,&#8212;later,
+Mrs. Livermore and Mrs. Howe, Alcott, Phillips,
+Douglass, Tilton, Curtis, Beecher, and, several years
+later, General Kilpatrick, with Henry Vincent, Bradlaugh,
+and Matthew Arnold from England; these and
+many others were stars of the lecture platform.</p>
+<p>Some of us occasionally managed to spend Sunday
+together, at a good hotel in some city, to rest and feast
+and talk over our joys and sorrows, the long journeys,
+the hard fare in the country hotels, the rainy nights
+when committees felt blue and tried to cut down our
+fees; the being compelled by inconsiderate people to
+talk on the train; the overheated, badly ventilated cars;
+the halls, sometimes too warm, sometimes too cold;
+babies crying in our audiences; the rain pattering on
+the roof overhead or leaking on the platform&#8212;these
+were common experiences. In the West, women with
+babies uniformly occupied the front seats so that the
+little ones, not understanding what you said, might be
+amused with your gestures and changing facial expression.
+All these things, so trying, at the time, to concentrated
+and enthusiastic speaking, afterward served
+as subjects of amusing conversation. We unanimously
+complained of the tea and coffee. Mrs. Livermore had
+the wisdom to carry a spirit lamp with her own tea and
+coffee, and thus supplied herself with the needed stimu<a
+ name="Page_261"></a>lants
+for her oratorical efforts. The hardships of these
+lyceum trips can never be appreciated except by those
+who have endured them. With accidents to cars and
+bridges, with floods and snow blockades, the pitfalls in
+one of these campaigns were without number.</p>
+<div style="text-align: center;"><a name="img008"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 287px;" alt="ELIZABETH SMITH MILLER."
+ title="ELIZABETH SMITH MILLER." src="image/008.jpg"><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+</div>
+<p style="text-align: center;"><a name="img009"></a><img
+ title="The Stanton" style="width: 400px; height: 522px;"
+ alt="The Stanton" src="image/009.jpg"></p>
+<p>On one occasion, when engaged to speak at Maquoketa,
+Iowa, I arrived at Lyons about noon, to find the
+road was blocked with snow, and no chance of the cars
+running for days. "Well," said I to the landlord, "I
+must be at Maquoketa at eight o'clock to-night; have
+you a sleigh, a span of fleet horses, and a skillful driver?
+If so, I will go across the country." "Oh, yes,
+madam!" he replied, "I have all you ask; but you could
+not stand a six-hours' drive in this piercing wind."
+Having lived in a region of snow, with the thermometer
+down to twenty degrees below zero, I had no fears of
+winds and drifts, so I said, "Get the sleigh ready and I
+will try it." Accordingly I telegraphed the committee
+that I would be there, and started. I was well bundled
+up in a fur cloak and hood, a hot oak plank at my feet,
+and a thick veil over my head and face. As the landlord
+gave the finishing touch, by throwing a large buffalo
+robe over all and tying the two tails together at
+the back of my head and thus effectually preventing me
+putting my hand to my nose, he said, "There, if you
+can only sit perfectly still, you will come out all right
+at Maquoketa; that is, if you get there, which I very
+much doubt." It was a long, hard drive against the
+wind and through drifts, but I scarcely moved a finger,
+and, as the clock struck eight, we drove into the town.
+The hall was warm, and the church bell having announced
+my arrival, a large audience was assembled.
+As I learned that all the roads in Northern Iowa were
+<a name="Page_262"></a>blocked, I made the entire circuit, from point
+to point,
+in a sleigh, traveling forty and fifty miles a day.</p>
+<p>At the Sherman House, in Chicago, three weeks
+later, I met Mr. Bradlaugh and General Kilpatrick, who
+were advertised on the same route ahead of me.
+"Well," said I, "where have you gentlemen been?"
+"Waiting here for the roads to be opened. We have
+lost three weeks' engagements," they replied. As the
+General was lecturing on his experiences in Sherman's
+march to the sea, I chaffed him on not being able, in
+an emergency, to march across the State of Iowa.
+They were much astonished and somewhat ashamed,
+when I told them of my long, solitary drives over the
+prairies from day to day. It was the testimony of all
+the bureaus that the women could endure more fatigue
+and were more conscientious than the men in filling
+their appointments.</p>
+<p>The pleasant feature of these trips was the great educational
+work accomplished for the people through
+their listening to lectures on all the vital questions of
+the hour. Wherever any of us chanced to be on Sunday,
+we preached in some church; and wherever I had a
+spare afternoon, I talked to women alone, on marriage,
+maternity, and the laws of life and health. We made
+many most charming acquaintances, too, scattered all
+over our Western World, and saw how comfortable and
+happy sensible people could be, living in most straitened
+circumstances, with none of the luxuries of life. If
+most housekeepers could get rid of one-half their
+clothes and furniture and put their bric-a-brac in the
+town museum, life would be simplified and they would
+begin to know what leisure means. When I see so
+many of our American women struggling to be artists,
+<a name="Page_263"></a>who cannot make a good loaf of bread nor a
+palatable
+cup of coffee, I think of what Theodore Parker said
+when art was a craze in Boston. "The fine arts do
+not interest me so much as the coarse arts which feed,
+clothe, house, and comfort a people. I would rather
+be a great man like Franklin than a Michael Angelo&#8212;nay,
+if I had a son, I should rather see him a mechanic,
+like the late George Stephenson, in England, than a
+great painter like Rubens, who only copied beauty."</p>
+<p>One day I found at the office of the <i>Revolution</i> an
+invitation to meet Mrs. Moulton in the Academy of
+Music, where she was to try her voice for the coming
+concert for the benefit of the Woman's Medical College.
+And what a voice for power, pathos, pliability! I never
+heard the like. Seated beside her mother, Mrs. W.H.
+Greenough, I enjoyed alike the mother's anxious pride
+and the daughter's triumph. I felt, as I listened, the
+truth of what Vieuxtemps said the first time he heard
+her, "That is the traditional voice for which the ages
+have waited and longed." When, on one occasion,
+Mrs. Moulton sang a song of Mozart's to Auber's accompaniment,
+someone present asked, "What could be
+added to make this more complete?" Auber looked up
+to heaven, and, with a sweet smile, said, "Nothing but
+that Mozart should have been here to listen." Looking
+and listening, "Here," thought I, "is another jewel in
+the crown of womanhood, to radiate and glorify the
+lives of all." I have such an intense pride of sex that
+the triumphs of woman in art, literature, oratory,
+science, or song rouse my enthusiasm as nothing
+else can.</p>
+<p>Hungering, that day, for gifted women, I called on
+Alice and Phebe Cary and Mary Clemmer Ames, and
+<a name="Page_264"></a>together we gave the proud white male such a
+serving
+up as did our souls good and could not hurt him, intrenched,
+as he is, behind creeds, codes, customs, and
+constitutions, with vizor and breastplate of self-complacency
+and conceit. In criticising Jessie Boucherett's
+essay on "Superfluous Women," in which she
+advises men in England to emigrate in order to leave
+room and occupation for women, the <i>Tribune</i> said:
+"The idea of a home without a man in it!" In visiting
+the Carys one always felt that there was a home&#8212;a
+very charming one, too&#8212;without a man in it.</p>
+<p>Once when Harriet Beecher Stowe was at Dr.
+Taylor's, I had the opportunity to make her acquaintance.
+In her sanctum, surrounded by books and
+papers, she was just finishing her second paper on
+the Byron family, and her sister Catherine was
+preparing papers on her educational work, preparatory
+to a coming meeting of the ladies of the
+school board. The women of the Beecher family,
+though most of them wives and mothers, all had
+a definite life-work outside the family circle, and other
+objects of intense interest beside husbands, babies, cook
+stoves, and social conversations. Catherine said she was
+opposed to woman suffrage, and if she thought there
+was the least danger of our getting it, she would write
+and talk against it vehemently. But, as the nation was
+safe against such a calamity, she was willing to let the
+talk go on, because the agitation helped her work. "It
+is rather paradoxical," I said to her, "that the pressing
+of a false principle can help a true one; but when you
+get the women all thoroughly educated, they will step
+off to the polls and vote in spite of you."</p>
+<p>One night on the train from New York to Williams<a name="Page_265"></a>port,
+Pennsylvania, I found abundant time to think over
+the personal peculiarities of the many noble women who
+adorn this nineteenth century, and, as I recalled them,
+one by one, in America, England, France, and Germany,
+and all that they are doing and saying, I wandered that
+any man could be so blind as not to see that woman
+has already taken her place as the peer of man. While
+the lords of creation have been debating her sphere and
+drawing their chalk marks here and there, woman has
+quietly stepped outside the barren fields where she was
+compelled to graze for centuries, and is now in green
+pastures and beside still waters, a power in the world of
+thought.</p>
+<p>These pleasant cogitations were cut short by my
+learning that I had taken the wrong train, and must
+change at Harrisburg at two o'clock in the morning.
+How soon the reflection that I must leave my comfortable
+berth at such an unchristian hour changed the whole
+hue of glorious womanhood and every other earthly
+blessing! However, I lived through the trial and arrived
+at Williamsport as the day dawned. I had a good
+audience at the opera house that evening, and was
+introduced to many agreeable people, who declared
+themselves converted to woman suffrage by my ministrations.
+Among the many new jewels in my crown, I
+added, that night, Judge Bently.</p>
+<p>In November, 1869, I passed one night in Philadelphia,
+with Miss Anthony, at Anna Dickinson's home&#8212;a
+neat, three-story brick house in Locust Street. This
+haven of rest, where the world-famous little woman
+came, ever and anon, to recruit her overtaxed energies,
+was very tastefully furnished, adorned with engravings,
+books, and statuary. Her mother, sister, and brother
+<a name="Page_266"></a>made up the household&#8212;a pleasing, cultivated
+trio.
+The brother was a handsome youth of good judgment,
+and given to sage remarks; the sister, witty, intuitive,
+and incisive in speech; the mother, dressed in rich
+Quaker costume, and though nearly seventy, still possessed
+of great personal beauty. She was intelligent,
+dignified, refined, and, in manner and appearance, reminded
+one of Angelina Grimk&eacute; as she looked in her
+younger days. Everything about the house and its
+appointments indicated that it was the abode of genius
+and cultivation, and, although Anna was absent, the
+hospitalities were gracefully dispensed by her family.
+Napoleon and Shakespeare seemed to be Anna's patron
+saints, looking down, on all sides, from the wall. The
+mother amused us with the sore trials her little orator
+had inflicted on the members of the household by her
+vagaries in the world of fame.</p>
+<p>On the way to Kennett Square, a young gentleman
+pointed out to us the home of Benjamin West,
+who distinguished himself, to the disgust of broadbrims
+generally, as a landscape painter. In commencing
+his career, it is said he made use of the
+tail of a cat in lieu of a brush. Of course Benjamin's
+first attempts were on the sly, and he could
+not ask paterfamilias for money to buy a brush
+without encountering the good man's scorn. Whether,
+in the hour of his need and fresh enthusiasm,
+poor puss was led to the sacrificial altar, or whether
+he found her reposing by the roadside, having paid the
+debt of Nature, our informant could not say; enough
+that, in time, he owned a brush and immortalized himself
+by his skill in its use. Such erratic ones as Whittier,
+West, and Anna Dickinson go to prove that even
+<a name="Page_267"></a>the prim, proper, perfect Quakers are subject to
+like infirmities
+with the rest of the human family.</p>
+<p>I had long heard of the "Progressive Friends" in
+the region round Longwood; had read the many bulls
+they issued from their "yearly meetings" on every
+question, on war, capital punishment, temperance,
+slavery, woman's rights; had learned that they were
+turning the cold shoulder on the dress, habits, and
+opinions of their Fathers; listening to the ministrations
+of such worldlings as William Lloyd Garrison, Theodore
+Tilton, and Oliver Johnson, in a new meeting house, all
+painted and varnished, with cushions, easy seats, carpets,
+stoves, a musical instrument&#8212;shade of George
+Fox, forgive&#8212;and three brackets with vases on the
+"high seat," and, more than all that, men and women
+were indiscriminately seated throughout the house.</p>
+<p>All this Miss Anthony and I beheld with our own
+eyes, and, in company with Sarah Pugh and Chandler
+Darlington, did sit together in the high seat and talk
+in the congregation of the people. There, too, we met
+Hannah Darlington and Dinah Mendenhall,&#8212;names
+long known in every good work,&#8212;and, for the space
+of one day, did enjoy the blissful serenity of that earthly
+paradise. The women of Kennett Square were celebrated
+not only for their model housekeeping but also
+for their rare cultivation on all subjects of general
+interest.</p>
+<p>In November I again started on one of my Western
+trips, but, alas! on the very day the trains were changed,
+and so I could not make connections to meet my engagements
+at Saginaw and Marshall, and just saved myself
+at Toledo by going directly from the cars before the
+audience, with the dust of twenty-four hours' travel on
+<a name="Page_268"></a>my garments. Not being able to reach Saginaw, I
+went straight to Ann Arbor, and spent three days
+most pleasantly in visiting old friends, making new
+ones, and surveying the town, with its grand University.
+I was invited to Thanksgiving dinner at
+the home of Mr. Seaman, a highly cultivated Democratic
+editor, author of "Progress of Nations."
+A choice number of guests gathered round his
+hospitable board on that occasion, over which his
+wife presided with dignity and grace. Woman suffrage
+was the target for the combined wit and satire of
+the company, and, after four hours of uninterrupted
+sharpshooting, pyrotechnics, and laughter, we dispersed
+to our several abodes, fairly exhausted with the excess
+of enjoyment.</p>
+<p>One gentleman had the moral hardihood to assert
+that men had more endurance than women, whereupon
+a lady remarked that she would like to see the thirteen
+hundred young men in the University laced up in steel-ribbed
+corsets, with hoops, heavy skirts, trains, high
+heels, panniers, chignons, and dozens of hairpins sticking
+in their scalps, cooped up in the house year after year,
+with no exhilarating exercise, no hopes, aims, nor ambitions
+in life, and know if they could stand it as well as
+the girls. "Nothing," said she, "but the fact that
+women, like cats, have nine lives, enables them to survive
+the present <i>r&eacute;gime</i> to which custom dooms the
+sex."</p>
+<p>While in Ann Arbor I gave my lecture on "Our
+Girls" in the new Methodist church&#8212;a large building,
+well lighted, and filled with a brilliant audience. The
+students, in large numbers, were there, and strengthened
+the threads of my discourse with frequent and
+<a name="Page_269"></a>generous applause; especially when I urged on
+the
+Regents of the University the duty of opening its
+doors to the daughters of the State. There were several
+splendid girls in Michigan, at that time, preparing
+themselves for admission to the law department. As
+Judge Cooley, one of the professors, was a very liberal
+man, as well as a sound lawyer, and strongly in favor
+of opening the college to girls, I had no doubt the
+women of Michigan would soon distinguish themselves
+at the bar. Some said the chief difficulty in the way of
+the girls of that day being admitted to the University
+was the want of room. That could have been easily
+obviated by telling the young men from abroad to betake
+themselves to the colleges in their respective
+States, that Michigan might educate her daughters.
+As the women owned a good share of the property of
+the State, and had been heavily taxed to build and endow
+that institution, it was but fair that they should
+share in its advantages.</p>
+<p>The Michigan University, with its extensive grounds,
+commodious buildings, medical and law schools, professors'
+residences, and the finest laboratory in the
+country, was an institution of which the State was justly
+proud, and, as the tuition was free, it was worth the
+trouble of a long, hard siege by the girls of Michigan to
+gain admittance there. I advised them to organize
+their forces at once, get their minute guns, battering
+rams, monitors, projectiles, bombshells, cannon, torpedoes,
+and crackers ready, and keep up a brisk cannonading
+until the grave and reverend seigniors opened
+the door, and shouted, "Hold, enough!"</p>
+<p>The ladies of Ann Arbor had a fine library of their
+own, where their clubs met once a week. They had
+<a name="Page_270"></a>just formed a suffrage association. My visit
+ended with
+a pleasant reception, at which I was introduced to the
+chaplain, several professors, and many ladies and gentlemen
+ready to accept the situation. Judge Cooley
+gave me a glowing account of the laws of Michigan&#8212;how
+easy it was for wives to get possession of all the
+property, and then sunder the marriage tie and leave
+the poor husband to the charity of the cold world, with
+their helpless children about him. I heard of a rich
+lady, there, who made a will, giving her husband a handsome
+annuity as long as he remained her widower. It
+was evident that the poor "white male," sooner or
+later, was doomed to try for himself the virtue of the
+laws he had made for women. I hope, for the sake of
+the race, he will not bear oppression with the stupid
+fortitude we have for six thousand years.</p>
+<p>At Flint I was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Jenny.
+Mr. Jenny was a Democratic editor who believed in
+progress, and in making smooth paths for women in
+this great wilderness of life. His wife was a remarkable
+woman. She inaugurated the Ladies' Libraries in
+Michigan. In Flint they had a fine brick building and
+nearly two thousand volumes of choice books, owned by
+the association, and money always in the treasury.
+Here, too, I had a fine audience and gave my lecture
+entitled "Open the Door."</p>
+<p>At Coldwater, in spite of its name, I found a warm,
+appreciative audience. The president of the lyceum
+was a sensible young man who, after graduating at Ann
+Arbor, decided, instead of starving at the law, to work
+with his hands and brains at the same time. When all
+men go to their legitimate business of creating wealth,
+developing the resources of the country, and leave its
+<a name="Page_271"></a>mere exchange to the weaker sex, we shall not
+have so
+many superfluous women in the world with nothing to
+do. It is evident the time has come to hunt man into
+his appropriate sphere. Coming from Chicago, I met
+Governor Fairchild and Senator Williams of Wisconsin.
+It was delightful to find them thoroughly
+grounded in the faith of woman suffrage. They had
+been devout readers of the <i>Revolution</i> ever since Miss
+Anthony induced them to subscribe, the winter before,
+at Madison. Of course a new glow of intelligence irradiated
+their fine faces (for they were remarkably handsome
+men) and there was a new point to all their words.
+Senator Williams, like myself, was on a lecturing tour.
+"Man" was his theme, for which I was devoutly thankful;
+for, if there are any of God's creatures that need
+lecturing, it is this one that is forever advising us. I
+thought of all men, from Father Gregory down to
+Horace Bushnell, who had wearied their brains to
+describe woman's sphere, and how signally they had
+failed.</p>
+<p>Throughout my lyceum journeys I was of great use
+to the traveling public, in keeping the ventilators in
+the cars open, and the dampers in fiery stoves shut up,
+especially in sleeping cars at night. How many times a
+day I thought what the sainted Horace Mann tried to
+impress on his stupid countrymen, that, inasmuch as the
+air is forty miles deep around the globe, it is a useless
+piece of economy to breathe any number of cubic feet
+over more than seven times! The babies, too, need to
+be thankful that I was in a position to witness their
+wrongs. Many, through my intercessions, received
+their first drink of water, and were emancipated from
+woolen hoods, veils, tight strings under their chins, and
+<a name="Page_272"></a>endless swaddling bands. It is a startling
+assertion, but
+true, that I have met few women who know how to
+take care of a baby. And this fact led me, on one trip,
+to lecture to my fair countrywomen on "Marriage and
+Maternity," hoping to aid in the inauguration of a new
+era of happy, healthy babies.</p>
+<p>After twenty-four hours in the express I found myself
+in a pleasant room in the International Hotel at La
+Crosse, looking out on the Great Mother of Waters, on
+whose cold bosom the ice and the steamers were
+struggling for mastery. Beyond stretched the snow-clad
+bluffs, sternly looking down on the Mississippi,
+as if to say, "'Thus far shalt thou come and no
+farther'&#8212;though sluggish, you are aggressive, ever
+pushing where you should not; but all attempts
+in this direction are alike vain; since creation's
+dawn, we have defied you, and here we stand, to-day,
+calm, majestic, immovable. Coquette as you will
+in other latitudes, with flowery banks and youthful
+piers in the busy marts of trade, and undermine them,
+one and all, with your deceitful wooings, but bow in
+reverence as you gaze on us. We have no eyes for your
+beauty; no ears for your endless song; our heads are in
+the clouds, our hearts commune with gods; you have
+no part in the eternal problems of the ages that fill our
+thoughts, yours the humble duty to wash our feet, and
+then pass on, remembering to keep in your appropriate
+sphere, within the barks that wise geographers have
+seen fit to mark."</p>
+<p>As I listened to these complacent hills and watched
+the poor Mississippi weeping as she swept along, to lose
+her sorrows in ocean's depths, I thought how like the
+attitude of man to woman. Let these proud hills re<a name="Page_273"></a>member
+that they, too, slumbered for centuries in deep
+valleys down, down, when, perchance, the sparkling
+Mississippi rolled above their heads, and but for some
+generous outburst, some upheaval of old Mother
+Earth, wishing that her rock-ribbed sons, as well as
+graceful daughters, might enjoy the light, the sunshine
+and the shower&#8212;but for this soul of love in matter as
+well as mind&#8212;these bluffs and the sons of Adam, too,
+might not boast the altitude they glory in to-day.
+Those who have ears to hear discern low, rumbling
+noises that foretell convulsions in our social world that
+may, perchance, in the next upheaval, bring woman to
+the surface; up, up, from gloomy ocean depths, dark
+caverns, and damper valleys. The struggling daughters
+of earth are soon to walk in the sunlight of a higher
+civilization.</p>
+<p>Escorted by Mr. Woodward, a member of the bar, I
+devoted a day to the lions of La Crosse. First we explored
+the courthouse, a large, new brick building, from
+whose dome we had a grand view of the surrounding
+country. The courtroom where justice is administered
+was large, clean, airy&#8212;the bench carpeted and adorned
+with a large, green, stuffed chair, in which I sat down,
+and, in imagination, summoned up advocates, jurors,
+prisoners, and people, and wondered how I should feel
+pronouncing sentence of death on a fellow-being, or,
+like Portia, wisely checkmating the Shylocks of our
+times. Here I met Judge Hugh Cameron, formerly of
+Johnstown. He invited us into his sanctum, where we
+had a pleasant chat about our native hills, Scotch affiliations,
+the bench and bar of New York, and the Wisconsin
+laws for women. The Judge, having maintained a
+happy bachelor state, looked placidly on the aggressive
+<a name="Page_274"></a>movements of the sex, as his domestic felicity
+would
+be no way affected, whether woman was voted up or
+down.</p>
+<p>We next surveyed the Pomeroy building, which contained
+a large, tastefully finished hall and printing establishment,
+where the La Crosse <i>Democrat</i> was formerly
+published. As I saw the perfection, order, and good
+taste, in all arrangements throughout, and listened to
+Mr. Huron's description of the life and leading characteristics
+of its chief, it seemed impossible to reconcile
+the tone of the <i>Democrat</i> with the moral status of its
+editor. I never saw a more complete business establishment,
+and the editorial sanctum looked as if it might
+be the abiding place of the Muses. Mirrors, pictures,
+statuary, books, music, rare curiosities, and fine specimens
+of birds and minerals were everywhere. Over the
+editor's table was a beautiful painting of his youthful
+daughter, whose flaxen hair, blue eyes, and angelic face
+should have inspired a father to nobler, purer, utterances
+than he was wont, at that time, to give to the
+world.</p>
+<p>But Pomeroy's good deeds will live long after his
+profane words are forgotten. Throughout the establishment
+cards, set up in conspicuous places, said,
+"Smoking here is positively forbidden." Drinking, too,
+was forbidden to all his employ&eacute;s. The moment a man
+was discovered using intoxicating drinks, he was dismissed.
+In the upper story of the building was a large,
+pleasant room, handsomely carpeted and furnished,
+where the employ&eacute;s, in their leisure hours, could talk,
+write, read, or amuse themselves in any rational way.</p>
+<p>Mr. Pomeroy was humane and generous with his
+employ&eacute;s, honorable in his business relations, and
+<a name="Page_275"></a>boundless in his charities to the poor. His
+charity,
+business honor, and public spirit were highly spoken of
+by those who knew him best. That a journal does not
+always reflect the editor is as much the fault of society
+as of the man. So long as the public will pay for gross
+personalities, obscenity, and slang, decent journals will
+be outbidden in the market. The fact that the La
+Crosse <i>Democrat</i> found a ready sale in all parts of the
+country showed that Mr. Pomeroy fairly reflected the
+popular taste. While multitudes turned up the whites
+of their eyes and denounced him in public, they bought
+his paper and read it in private.</p>
+<p>I left La Crosse in a steamer, just as the rising sun
+lighted the hilltops and gilded the Mississippi. It was
+a lovely morning, and, in company with a young girl of
+sixteen, who had traveled alone from some remote part
+of Canada, bound for a northern village in Wisconsin, I
+promenaded the deck most of the way to Winona, a
+pleased listener to the incidents of my young companion's
+experiences. She said that, when crossing
+Lake Huron, she was the only woman on board, but the
+men were so kind and civil that she soon forgot she was
+alone. I found many girls, traveling long distances,
+who had never been five miles from home before, with a
+self-reliance that was remarkable. They all spoke in the
+most flattering manner of the civility of our American
+men in looking after their baggage and advising them
+as to the best routes.</p>
+<p>As you approach St. Paul, at Fort Snelling, where
+the Mississippi and Minnesota join forces, the country
+grows bold and beautiful. The town itself, then boasting
+about thirty thousand inhabitants, is finely situated,
+with substantial stone residences. It was in one of
+<a name="Page_276"></a>these charming homes I found a harbor of rest
+during
+my stay in the city. Mrs. Stuart, whose hospitalities I
+enjoyed, was a woman of rare common sense and sound
+health. Her husband, Dr. Jacob H. Stuart, was one
+of the very first surgeons to volunteer in the late war.
+In the panic at Bull Run, instead of running, as everybody
+else did, he stayed with the wounded, and was
+taken prisoner while taking a bullet from the head of a
+rebel. When exchanged, Beauregard gave him his
+sword for his devotion to the dying and wounded.</p>
+<p>I had the pleasure of seeing several of the leading
+gentlemen and ladies of St. Paul at the Orphans' Fair,
+where we all adjourned, after my lecture, to discuss
+woman's rights, over a bounteous supper. Here I met
+William L. Banning, the originator of the Lake Superior
+and Mississippi Railroad. He besieged Congress
+and capitalists for a dozen years to build this road,
+but was laughed at and put off with sneers and contempt,
+until, at last, Jay Cooke became so weary of his
+continual coming that he said: "I will build the road to
+get rid of you."</p>
+<p>Whittier seems to have had a prophetic vision of the
+peopling of this region. When speaking of the
+Yankee, he says:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"He's whittling by St. Mary's Falls,</p>
+<p>Upon his loaded wain;</p>
+<p>He's measuring o'er the Pictured Rocks,</p>
+<p>With eager eyes of gain.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"I hear the mattock in the mine,</p>
+<p>The ax-stroke in the dell,</p>
+<p>The clamor from the Indian lodge,</p>
+<p>The Jesuits' chapel bell!</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza"><a name="Page_277"></a>
+<p>"I hear the tread of pioneers</p>
+<p>Of nations yet to be;</p>
+<p>The first low wash of waves, where soon</p>
+<p>Shall roll a human sea."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>The opening of these new outlets and mines of
+wealth was wholly due to the forecast and perseverance
+of Mr. Banning. The first engine that went
+over a part of the road had been christened at St.
+Paul, with becoming ceremonies; the officiating priestess
+being a beautiful maiden. A cask of water from the
+Pacific was sent by Mr. Banning's brother from California,
+and a small keg was brought from Lake Superior
+for the occasion. A glass was placed in the
+hands of Miss Ella B. Banning, daughter of the president,
+who then christened the engine, saying: "With
+the waters of the Pacific Ocean in my right hand, and
+the waters of Lake Superior in my left, invoking the
+Genius of Progress to bring together, with iron band,
+two great commercial systems of the globe, I dedicate
+this engine to the use of the Lake Superior and Mississippi
+Railroad, and name it William L. Banning."</p>
+<p>From St. Paul to Dubuque, as the boats had ceased
+running, a circuitous route and a night of discomfort
+were inevitable. Leaving the main road to Chicago at
+Clinton Junction, I had the pleasure of waiting at a small
+country inn until midnight for a freight train. This
+was indeed dreary, but, having Mrs. Child's sketches
+of Mmes. De Sta&euml;l and Roland at hand, I read of
+Napoleon's persecutions of the one and Robespierre's
+of the other, until, by comparison, my condition was
+tolerable, and the little meagerly furnished room, with
+its dull fire and dim lamp, seemed a paradise compared
+with years of exile from one's native land or the prison
+<a name="Page_278"></a>cell and guillotine. How small our ordinary,
+petty
+trials seem in contrast with the mountains of sorrow
+that have been piled up on the great souls of the past!
+Absorbed in communion with them twelve o'clock soon
+came, and with it the train.</p>
+<p>A burly son of Adam escorted me to the passenger
+car filled with German immigrants, with tin cups, babies,
+bags, and bundles innumerable. The ventilators were
+all closed, the stoves hot, and the air was like that of the
+Black Hole of Calcutta. So, after depositing my cloak
+and bag in an empty seat, I quietly propped both doors
+open with a stick of wood, shut up the stoves, and
+opened all the ventilators with the poker. But the
+celestial breeze, so grateful to me, had the most unhappy
+effect on the slumbering exiles. Paterfamilias
+swore outright; the companion of his earthly pilgrimage
+said, "We must be going north," and, as the heavy
+veil of carbonic acid gas was lifted from infant faces,
+and the pure oxygen filled their lungs and roused them
+to new life, they set up one simultaneous shout of joy
+and gratitude, which their parents mistook for agony.
+Altogether there was a general stir. As I had quietly
+slipped into my seat and laid my head down to sleep, I
+remained unobserved&#8212;the innocent cause of the general
+purification and vexation.</p>
+<p>We reached Freeport at three o'clock in the morning.
+As the depot for Dubuque was nearly half a mile on the
+other side of the town, I said to a solitary old man who
+stood shivering there to receive us, "How can I get to
+the other station?" "Walk, madam." "But I do
+not know the way." "There is no one to go with you."
+"How is my trunk going?" said I. "I have a donkey
+and cart to take that." "Then," said I, "you, the
+<a name="Page_279"></a>donkey, the trunk, and I will go together." So I
+stepped into the cart, sat down on the trunk, and the
+old man laughed heartily as we jogged along through
+the mud of that solitary town in the pale morning
+starlight. Just as the day was dawning, Dubuque, with
+its rough hills and bold scenery, loomed up. Soon,
+under the roof of Myron Beach, one of the distinguished
+lawyers of the West, with a good breakfast and sound
+nap, my night's sorrows were forgotten.</p>
+<p>I was sorry to find that Mrs. Beach, though a native
+of New York, and born on the very spot where the first
+woman's rights convention was held in this country,
+was not sound on the question of woman suffrage. She
+seemed to have an idea that voting and housekeeping
+could not be compounded; but I suggested that, if the
+nation could only enjoy a little of the admirable system
+with which she and other women administered their
+domestic affairs, Uncle Sam's interests would be better
+secured. This is just what the nation needs to-day,
+and women must wake up to the consideration that
+they, too, have duties as well as rights in the State. A
+splendid audience greeted me in the Opera House, and
+I gave "Our Girls," bringing many male sinners to repentance,
+and stirring up some lethargic <i>femmes
+coverts</i> to a state of rebellion against the existing order
+of things.</p>
+<p>From Dubuque I went to Dixon, a large town, where
+I met a number of pleasant people, but I have one
+cause of complaint against the telegraph operator,
+whose negligence to send a dispatch to Mt. Vernon,
+written and paid for, came near causing me a solitary
+night on the prairie, unsheltered and unknown. Hearing
+that the express train went out Sunday afternoon,
+<a name="Page_280"></a>I decided to go, so as to have all day at Mt.
+Vernon
+before speaking; but on getting my trunk checked, the
+baggageman said the train did not stop there. "Well,"
+said I, "check the trunk to the nearest point at which
+it does stop," resolving that I would persuade the conductor
+to stop one minute, anyway. Accordingly,
+when the conductor came round, I presented my case
+as persuasively and eloquently as possible, telling him
+that I had telegraphed friends to meet me, etc., etc.
+He kindly consented to do so and had my trunk re-checked.
+On arriving, as there was no light, no sound,
+and the depot was half a mile from the town, the conductor
+urged me to go to Cedar Rapids and come back
+the next morning, as it was Sunday night and the depot
+might not be opened, and I might be compelled to stay
+there on the platform all night in the cold.</p>
+<p>But, as I had telegraphed, I told him I thought someone
+would be there, and I would take the risk. So
+off went the train, leaving me solitary and alone. I
+could see the lights in the distant town and the dark
+outlines of two great mills near by, which suggested
+dams and races. I heard, too, the distant barking of
+dogs, and I thought there might be wolves, too; but no
+human sound. The platform was high and I could see
+no way down, and I should not have dared to go down
+if I had. So I walked all round the house, knocked at
+every door and window, called "John!" "James!"
+"Patrick!" but no response. Dressed in all their best,
+they had, no doubt, gone to visit Sally, and I knew they
+would stay late. The night wind was cold. What
+could I do? The prospect of spending the night there
+filled me with dismay. At last I thought I would try
+my vocal powers; so I hallooed as loud as I could, in
+<a name="Page_281"></a>every note of the gamut, until I was hoarse. At
+last
+I heard a distant sound, a loud halloo, which I returned,
+and so we kept it up until the voice grew near, and,
+when I heard a man's heavy footsteps close at hand, I
+was relieved. He proved to be the telegraph operator,
+who had been a brave soldier in the late war. He said
+that no message had come from Dixon. He escorted
+me to the hotel, where some members of the Lyceum
+Committee came in and had a hearty laugh at my adventure,
+especially that, in my distress, I should have
+called on James and John and Patrick, instead of Jane,
+Ann, and Bridget. They seemed to argue that that
+was an admission, on my part, of man's superiority, but
+I suggested that, as my sex had not yet been exalted to
+the dignity of presiding in depots and baggage rooms,
+there would have been no propriety in calling Jane and
+Ann.</p>
+<p>Mt. Vernon was distinguished for a very flourishing
+Methodist college, open to boys and girls alike. The
+president and his wife were liberal and progressive people.
+I dined with them in their home near the
+college, and met some young ladies from Massachusetts,
+who were teachers in the institution. All
+who gathered round the social board on that occasion
+were of one mind on the woman question.
+Even the venerable mother of the president seemed
+to light up with the discussion of the theme. I gave
+"Our Girls" in the Methodist church, and took
+the opportunity to compliment them for taking the
+word "obey" out of their marriage ceremony. I
+heard the most encouraging reports of the experiment
+of educating the sexes together. It was
+the rule in all the Methodist institutions in Iowa,
+<a name="Page_282"></a>and I found that the young gentlemen fully
+approved
+of it.</p>
+<p>At Mt. Vernon I also met Mr. Wright, former
+Secretary of State, who gave me several interesting
+facts in regard to the women of Iowa. The
+State could boast one woman who was an able
+lawyer, Mrs. Mansfield. Mrs. Berry and Mrs. Stebbins
+were notaries public. Miss Addington was
+superintendent of schools in Mitchell County. She
+was nominated by a convention in opposition to a
+Mr. Brown. When the vote was taken, lo! there was
+a tie. Mr. Brown offered to yield through courtesy,
+but she declined; so they drew lots and Miss Addington
+was the victor. She once made an abstract of
+titles of all the lands in the county where she
+lived, and had received an appointment to office
+from the Governor of the State, who requested the
+paper to be made out "L." instead of Laura Addington.
+He said it was enough for Iowa to appoint women
+to such offices, without having it known the world over.
+I was sorry to tell the Governor's secrets,&#8212;which I
+did everywhere,&#8212;but the cause of womanhood made it
+necessary.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_283"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+<h2>WESTWARD HO!</h2>
+<br>
+<p>In the month of June, 1871, Miss Anthony and I
+went to California, holding suffrage meetings in many
+of the chief cities from New York to San Francisco,
+where we arrived about the middle of July, in time to
+experience the dry, dusty season.</p>
+<p>We tarried, on the way, one week in Salt Lake City.
+It was at the time of the Godby secession, when several
+hundred Mormons abjured that portion of the faith of
+their fathers which authorized polygamy. A decision
+had just been rendered by the United States Supreme
+Court declaring the first wife and her children the only
+legal heirs. Whether this decision hastened the secession
+I do not know; however, it gave us the advantage
+of hearing all the arguments for and against the system.
+Those who were opposed to it said it made slaves
+of men. To support four wives and twenty children
+was a severe strain on any husband. The women who
+believed in polygamy had much to say in its favor, especially
+in regard to the sacredness of motherhood during
+the period of pregnancy and lactation; a lesson of
+respect for that period being religiously taught all
+Mormons.</p>
+<p>We were very thankful for the privilege granted
+us of speaking to the women alone in the smaller
+Tabernacle. Our meeting opened at two o'clock
+and lasted until seven, giving us five hours of un<a name="Page_284"></a>interrupted
+conversation. Judge McKeon had informed
+me of the recent decisions and the legal aspects
+of the questions, which he urged me to present to them
+fully and frankly, as no one had had such an opportunity
+before to speak to Mormon women alone. So I made
+the most of my privilege. I gave a brief history of the
+marriage institution in all times and countries, of
+the matriarchate, when the mother was the head
+of the family and owned the property and children;
+of the patriarchate, when man reigned supreme
+and woman was enslaved; of polyandry, polygamy,
+monogamy, and prostitution. We had a full
+and free discussion of every phase of the question,
+and we all agreed that we were still far from having
+reached the ideal position for woman in marriage,
+however satisfied man might be with his various experiments.
+Though the Mormon women, like all
+others, stoutly defend their own religion, yet they are no
+more satisfied than any other sect. All women are
+dissatisfied with their position as inferiors, and their
+dissatisfaction increases in exact ratio with their
+intelligence and development.</p>
+<p>After this convocation the doors of the Tabernacle
+were closed to our ministrations, as we thought they
+would be, but we had crowded an immense amount of
+science, philosophy, history, and general reflections into
+the five hours of such free talk as those women had
+never heard before. As the seceders had just built a
+new hall, we held meetings there every day, discussing
+all the vital issues of the hour; the Mormon men and
+women taking an active part.</p>
+<p>We attended the Fourth of July celebration, and saw
+the immense Tabernacle filled to its utmost capacity.
+<a name="Page_285"></a>The various States of the Union were represented
+by
+young girls, gayly dressed, carrying beautiful flags and
+banners. When that immense multitude joined in our
+national songs, and the deep-toned organ filled the vast
+dome the music was very impressive, and the spirit of
+patriotism manifested throughout was deep and sincere.</p>
+<p>As I stood among these simple people, so earnest in
+making their experiment in religion and social life, and
+remembered all the persecutions they had suffered and
+all they had accomplished in that desolate, far-off region,
+where they had, indeed, made "the wilderness
+blossom like the rose," I appreciated, as never before,
+the danger of intermeddling with the religious ideas of
+any people. Their faith finds abundant authority in the
+Bible, in the example of God's chosen people. When
+learned ecclesiastics teach the people that they can
+safely take that book as the guide of their lives, they
+must expect them to follow the letter and the specific
+teachings that lie on the surface. The ordinary mind
+does not generalize nor see that the same principles of
+conduct will not do for all periods and latitudes. When
+women understand that governments and religions are
+human inventions; that Bibles, prayerbooks, catechisms,
+and encyclical letters are all emanations from
+the brain of man, they will no longer be oppressed by
+the injunctions that come to them with the divine
+authority of "Thus saith the Lord."</p>
+<p>That thoroughly democratic gathering in the Tabernacle
+impressed me more than any other Fourth of July
+celebration I ever attended. As most of the Mormon
+families keep no servants, mothers must take their children
+wherever they go&#8212;to churches, theatres, concerts,
+and military reviews&#8212;everywhere and anywhere.
+<a name="Page_286"></a>Hence the low, pensive wail of the individual
+baby,
+combining in large numbers, becomes a deep monotone,
+like the waves of the sea, a sort of violoncello accompaniment
+to all their holiday performances. It was
+rather trying to me at first to have my glowing periods
+punctuated with a rhythmic wail from all sides of the
+hall; but as soon as I saw that it did not distract my
+hearers, I simply raised my voice, and, with a little
+added vehemence, fairly rivaled the babies. Commenting
+on this trial, to one of the theatrical performers, he
+replied: "It is bad enough for you, but alas! imagine me
+in a tender death scene, when the most profound stillness
+is indispensable, having my last gasp, my farewell
+message to loved ones, accentuated with the joyful
+crowings or impatient complainings of fifty babies." I
+noticed in the Tabernacle that the miseries of the infantile
+host were in a measure mitigated by constant
+draughts of cold water, borne around in buckets by
+four old men.</p>
+<p>The question of the most profound interest to us
+at that time, in the Mormon experiment, was the exercise
+of the suffrage by women. Emeline B. Wells,
+wife of the Mayor of the city, writing to a Washington
+convention, in 1894, said of the many complications
+growing out of various bills before Congress to rob
+women of this right:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"Women have voted in Utah fourteen years, but, because
+of the little word 'male' that still stands upon
+the statutes, no woman is eligible to any office of
+emolument or trust. In three successive legislatures,
+bills have been passed, providing that the word
+'male' be erased; but, each time, the Governor of
+the Territory, who has absolute veto power, has
+<a name="Page_287"></a>refused his signature. Yet women attend primary
+meetings in the various precincts and are chosen
+as delegates. They are also members of county and
+territorial central committees, and are thus gaining
+practical political experience, and preparing themselves
+for positions of trust.</p>
+<p>"In 1882 a convention was held to frame a constitution
+to be submitted to the people and presented to
+the Congress of the United States. Women were delegates
+to this convention, and took part in all its deliberations,
+and were appointed to act on committees
+with equal privileges. It is the first instance on record,
+I think, where women have been members and taken
+an active part in a constitutional convention.</p>
+<p>"Much has been said and written, and justly, too, of
+suffrage for women in Wyoming; but, in my humble
+opinion, had Utah stood on the same ground as Wyoming,
+and women been eligible to office, as they are in
+that Territory, they would, ere this, have been elected
+to the legislative Assembly of Utah.</p>
+<p>"It is currently reported that Mormon women vote
+as they are told by their husbands. I most emphatically
+deny the assertion. All Mormon women vote
+who are privileged to register. Every girl born here,
+as soon as she is twenty-one years old, registers, and
+considers it as much a duty as to say her prayers. Our
+women vote with the same freedom that characterizes
+any class of people in the most conscientious acts of
+their lives."</p>
+</div>
+<p>These various questions were happily solved in 1895,
+when Utah became a State. Its Constitution gives
+women the right to vote on all questions, and makes
+them eligible to any office.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_288"></a>The journey over the Rocky Mountains was more
+interesting and wonderful than I had imagined. A
+heavy shower the morning we reached the alkali plains
+made the trip through that region, where travelers suffer
+so much, quite endurable. Although we reached
+California in its hot, dry season, we found the atmosphere
+in San Francisco delightful, fanned with the
+gentle breezes of the Pacific, cooled with the waters of
+its magnificent harbor. The Golden Gate does indeed
+open to the eye of the traveler one of the most beautiful
+harbors in the world.</p>
+<p>Friends had engaged for us a suite of apartments
+at the Grand Hotel, then just opened. Our rooms
+were constantly decked with fresh flowers, which
+our "suffrage children," as they called themselves,
+brought us from day to day. So many brought
+tokens of their good will&#8212;in fact, all our visitors
+came with offerings of fruits and flowers&#8212;that not
+only our apartments, but the public tables were
+crowded with rare and beautiful specimens of all
+varieties. We spoke every night, to crowded houses,
+on all phases of the woman question, and had a succession
+of visitors during the day. In fact, for one
+week, we had a perfect ovation. As Senator Stanford
+and his wife were at the same hotel, we had many pleasant
+interviews with them.</p>
+<p>While in San Francisco we had many delightful sails
+in the harbor and drives to the seashore and for miles
+along the beach. We spent several hours at the little
+Ocean House, watching the gambols of the celebrated
+seals. These, like the big trees, were named
+after distinguished statesmen. One very black fellow
+was named Charles Sumner, in honor of his love of the
+<a name="Page_289"></a>black race; another, with a little squint in his
+eye, was
+called Ben Butler; a stout, rotund specimen that
+seemed to take life philosophically, was named Senator
+Davis of Illinois; a very belligerent one, who appeared
+determined to crowd his confr&egrave;res into the sea, was
+called Secretary Stanton. Grant and Lincoln, on a
+higher ledge of the rocks, were complacently observing
+the gambols of the rest.</p>
+<p>California was on the eve of an important election,
+and John A. Bingham of Ohio and Senator Cole were
+stumping the State for the Republican party. At several
+points we had the use of their great tents for our
+audiences, and of such of their able arguments as applied
+to woman. As Mr. Bingham's great speech was on the
+Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments,
+every principle he laid down literally enfranchised the
+women of the nation. I met the Ohio statesman one
+morning at breakfast, after hearing him the night before.
+I told him his logic must compel him to advocate
+woman suffrage. With a most cynical smile he
+said "he was not the puppet of logic, but the slave of
+practical politics."</p>
+<p>We met most of our suffrage coadjutors in different
+parts of California. I spent a few days with
+Mrs. Elizabeth B. Schenck, one of the earliest
+pioneers in the suffrage movement. She was a cultivated,
+noble woman, and her little cottage was a
+gem of beauty and comfort, surrounded with beautiful
+gardens and a hedge of fish-geraniums over ten feet
+high, covered with scarlet flowers. It seemed altogether
+more like a fairy bower than a human habitation.
+The windmills all over California, for pumping water,
+make a very pretty feature in the landscape, as well as an
+<a name="Page_290"></a>important one, as people are obliged to irrigate
+their
+gardens during the dry season. In August the hills are
+as brown as ours in December.</p>
+<p>Here, too, I first met Senator Sargent's family, and
+visited them in Sacramento City, where we had a suffrage
+meeting in the evening and one for women alone
+next day. At a similar meeting in San Francisco six
+hundred women were present in Platt's Hall. We discussed
+marriage, maternity, and social life in general.
+Supposing none but women were present, as all
+were dressed in feminine costume, the audience were
+quite free in their questions, and I equally so in my
+answers. To our astonishment, the next morning, a
+verbatim report of all that was said appeared in one of
+the leading papers, with most respectful comments.
+As I always wrote and read carefully what I had to say
+on such delicate subjects, the language was well chosen
+and the presentation of facts and philosophy quite unobjectionable;
+hence, the information being as important
+for men as for women, I did not regret the publication.
+During the day a committee of three gentlemen
+called to know if I would give a lecture to men
+alone. As I had no lecture prepared, I declined, with
+the promise to do so the next time I visited California.
+The idea was novel, but I think women could do much
+good in that way.</p>
+<p>My readers may be sure that such enterprising
+travelers as Miss Anthony and myself visited all the
+wonders, saw the geysers, big trees, the Yosemite
+Valley, and the immense mountain ranges, piled
+one above another, until they seemed to make a
+giant pathway from earth to heaven. We drove down
+the mountain sides with Fox, the celebrated whip; six<a name="Page_291"></a>teen
+people in an open carriage drawn by six horses,
+down, down, down, as fast as we could go. I expected
+to be dashed to pieces, but we safely descended in one
+hour, heights we had taken three to climb. Fox held a
+steady rein, and seemed as calm as if we were trotting
+on a level, though any accident, such as a hot axle, a
+stumbling horse, or a break in the harness would have
+sent us down the mountain side, two thousand feet, to
+inevitable destruction. He had many amusing anecdotes
+to tell of Horace Greeley's trip to the Geysers.
+The distinguished journalist was wholly unprepared for
+the race down the mountains and begged Fox to hold
+up. Sitting in front he made several efforts to seize the
+lines. But Fox assured him that was the only possible
+way they could descend in safety, as the horses could
+guide the stage, but they could not hold it.</p>
+<p>At Stockton we met a party of friends just returning
+from the Yosemite, who gave us much valuable information
+for the journey. Among other things, I was advised
+to write to Mr. Hutchins, the chief authority
+there, to have a good, strong horse in readiness to take
+me down the steep and narrow path into the valley.
+We took the same driver and carriage which our
+friends had found trustworthy, and started early in the
+morning. The dust and heat made the day's journey
+very wearisome, but the prospect of seeing the wonderful
+valley made all hardships of little consequence.
+Quite a large party were waiting to mount their donkeys
+and mules when we arrived. One of the attendants,
+a man about as thin as a stair rod, asked me if I
+was the lady who had ordered a strong horse; I being
+the stoutest of the party, he readily arrived at that conclusion,
+so my steed was promptly produced. But I
+<a name="Page_292"></a>knew enough of horses and riding to see at a
+glance
+that he was a failure, with his low withers and high
+haunches, for descending steep mountains. In addition
+to his forward pitch, his back was immensely broad.
+Miss Anthony and I decided to ride astride and had suits
+made for that purpose; but alas! my steed was so broad
+that I could not reach the stirrups, and the moment we
+began to descend, I felt as if I were going over his head.
+So I fell behind, and, when the party had all gone forward,
+I dismounted, though my slender guide assured
+me there was no danger, he "had been up and down a
+thousand times." But, as I had never been at all, his
+repeated experiences did not inspire me with courage.
+I decided to walk. That, the guide said, was impossible.
+"Well," said I, by way of compromise, "I will walk as
+far as I can, and when I reach the impossible, I will try
+that ill-constructed beast. I cannot see what you men
+were thinking of when you selected such an animal for
+this journey." And so we went slowly down, arguing
+the point whether it were better to ride or walk; to trust
+one's own legs, or, by chance, be precipitated thousands
+of feet down the mountain side.</p>
+<p>It was a hot August day; the sun, in the zenith, shining
+with full power. My blood was at boiling heat with
+exercise and vexation. Alternately sliding and walking,
+catching hold of rocks and twigs, drinking at every
+rivulet, covered with dust, dripping with perspiration,
+skirts, gloves, and shoes in tatters, for four long
+hours I struggled down to the end, when I laid myself
+out on the grass, and fell asleep, perfectly exhausted,
+having sent the guide to tell Mr. Hutchins that I had
+reached the valley, and, as I could neither ride nor walk,
+to send a wheelbarrow, or four men with a blanket to
+<a name="Page_293"></a>transport me to the hotel. That very day the
+Mariposa
+Company had brought the first carriage into the valley,
+which, in due time, was sent to my relief. Miss Anthony,
+who, with a nice little Mexican pony and narrow
+saddle, had made her descent with grace and dignity,
+welcomed me on the steps of the hotel, and laughed immoderately
+at my helpless plight.</p>
+<p>As hour after hour had passed, she said, there had
+been a general wonderment as to what had become of
+me; "but did you ever see such magnificent scenery?"
+"Alas!" I replied, "I have been in no mood for scenery.
+I have been constantly watching my hands and feet
+lest I should come to grief." The next day I was too
+stiff and sore to move a finger. However, in due time
+I awoke to the glory and grandeur of that wonderful
+valley, of which no descriptions nor paintings can give
+the least idea. With Sunset Cox, the leading Democratic
+statesman, and his wife, we had many pleasant
+excursions through the valley, and chats, during the
+evening, on the piazza. There was a constant succession
+of people going and coming, even in that far-off
+region, and all had their adventures to relate. But none
+quite equaled my experiences.</p>
+<p>We spent a day in the Calaveras Grove, rested beneath
+the "big trees," and rode on horseback through
+the fallen trunk of one of them. Some vandals sawed
+off one of the most magnificent specimens twenty feet
+above the ground, and, on this the owners of the hotel
+built a little octagonal chapel. The polished wood,
+with bark for a border, made a very pretty floor. Here
+they often had Sunday services, as it held about one
+hundred people. Here, too, we discussed the suffrage
+question, amid these majestic trees that had battled
+<a name="Page_294"></a>with the winds two thousand years, and had
+probably
+never before listened to such rebellion as we preached
+to the daughters of earth that day.</p>
+<p>Here, again, we found our distinguished statesmen
+immortalized, each with his namesake among these
+stately trees. We asked our guide if there were
+any not yet appropriated, might we name them
+after women. As he readily consented, we wrote on
+cards the names of a dozen leading women, and tacked
+them on their respective trees. Whether Lucretia
+Mott, Lucy Stone, Phoebe Couzins, and Anna Dickinson
+still retain their identity, and answer when called
+by the goddess Sylvia in that majestic grove, I know
+not. Twenty-five years have rolled by since then, and
+a new generation of visitors and guides may have left
+no trace of our work behind them. But we whispered
+our hopes and aspirations to the trees, to be wafted to
+the powers above, and we left them indelibly pictured
+on the walls of the little chapel, and for more mortal
+eyes we scattered leaflets wherever we went, and made
+all our pleasure trips so many propaganda for woman's
+enfranchisement.</p>
+<p>Returning from California I made the journey
+straight through from San Francisco to New York.
+Though a long trip to make without a break, yet I enjoyed
+every moment, as I found most charming companions
+in Bishop Janes and his daughter. The Bishop
+being very liberal in his ideas, we discussed the various
+theologies, and all phases of the woman question. I
+shall never forget those pleasant conversations as we
+sat outside on the platform, day after day, and in the soft
+moonlight late at night. We took up the thread of
+our debate each morning where we had dropped it the
+<a name="Page_295"></a>night before. The Bishop told me about the
+resolution
+to take the word "obey" from the marriage ceremony
+which he introduced, two years before, into the Methodist
+General Conference and carried with but little opposition.
+All praise to the Methodist Church! When
+our girls are educated into a proper self-respect and
+laudable pride of sex, they will scout all these old barbarisms
+of the past that point in any way to the subject
+condition of women in either the State, the Church, or
+the home. Until the other sects follow her example,
+I hope our girls will insist on having their conjugal
+knots all tied by Methodist bishops.</p>
+<p>The Episcopal marriage service not only still clings
+to the word "obey," but it has a most humiliating
+ceremony in giving the bride away. I was never
+more struck with its odious and ludicrous features
+than on once seeing a tall, queenly-looking woman,
+magnificently arrayed, married by one of the tiniest
+priests that ever donned a surplice and gown,
+given away by the smallest guardian that ever
+watched a woman's fortunes, to the feeblest, bluest-looking
+little groom that ever placed a wedding ring
+on bridal finger. Seeing these Lilliputians around
+her, I thought, when the little priest said, "Who gives
+this woman to this man," that she would take the responsibility
+and say, "I do," but no! there she stood,
+calm, serene, as if it were no affair of hers, while the
+little guardian, placing her hand in that of the little
+groom, said, "I do." Thus was this stately woman
+bandied about by these three puny men, all of whom she
+might have gathered up in her arms and borne off to
+their respective places of abode.</p>
+<p>But women are gradually waking up to the degrada<a name="Page_296"></a>tion
+of these ceremonies. Not long since, at a wedding
+in high life, a beautiful girl of eighteen was struck
+dumb at the word "obey." Three times the priest pronounced
+it with emphasis and holy unction, each
+time slower, louder, than before. Though the magnificent
+parlors were crowded, a breathless silence reigned.
+Father, mother, and groom were in agony. The bride,
+with downcast eyes, stood speechless. At length the
+priest slowly closed his book and said, "The ceremony
+is at an end." One imploring word from the groom,
+and a faint "obey" was heard in the solemn stillness.
+The priest unclasped his book and the knot was tied.
+The congratulations, feast, and all, went on as though
+there had been no break in the proceedings, but the lesson
+was remembered, and many a rebel made by that
+short pause.</p>
+<p>I think all these reverend gentlemen who insist on
+the word "obey" in the marriage service should be removed
+for a clear violation of the Thirteenth Amendment
+to the Federal Constitution, which says there shall
+be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude within the
+United States. As I gave these experiences to Bishop
+Janes he laughed heartily, and asked me to repeat
+them to each newcomer. Our little debating society
+was the center of attraction. One gentleman asked me
+if our woman suffrage conventions were as entertaining.
+I told him yes; that there were no meetings in
+Washington so interesting and so well attended as
+ours.</p>
+<p>As I had some woman-suffrage literature in my valise,
+I distributed leaflets to all earnest souls who plied me
+with questions. Like all other things, it requires great
+discretion in sowing leaflets, lest you expose yourself to
+<a name="Page_297"></a>a rebuff. I never offer one to a man with a
+small head
+and high heels on his boots, with his chin in the air,
+because I know, in the nature of things, that he will
+be jealous of superior women; nor to a woman whose
+mouth has the "prunes and prisms" expression, for
+I know she will say, "I have all the rights I want."
+Going up to London one day, a few years later, I noticed
+a saintly sister, belonging to the Salvation Army,
+timidly offering some leaflets to several persons on
+board; all coolly declined to receive them. Having had
+much experience in the joys and sorrows of propagandism,
+I put out my hand and asked her to give them to
+me. I thanked her and read them before reaching London.
+It did me no harm and her much good in thinking
+that she might have planted a new idea in my
+mind. Whatever is given to us freely, I think, in common
+politeness, we should accept graciously.</p>
+<p>While I was enjoying once more the comforts of
+home, on the blue hills of Jersey, Miss Anthony was
+lighting the fires of liberty on the mountain tops of
+Oregon and Washington Territory. All through the
+months of October, November, and December, 1871,
+she was jolting about in stages, over rough roads, speaking
+in every hamlet where a schoolhouse was to be
+found, and scattering our breezy leaflets to the four
+winds of heaven.</p>
+<p>From 1869 to 1873 Miss Anthony and I made several
+trips through Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Nebraska,
+holding meetings at most of the chief towns; I speaking
+in the afternoons to women alone on "Marriage and
+Maternity." As Miss Anthony had other pressing engagements
+in Kansas and Nebraska, I went alone to
+Texas, speaking in Dallas, Sherman, and Houston,
+<a name="Page_298"></a>where I was delayed two weeks by floods and thus
+prevented
+from going to Austin, Galveston, and some
+points in Louisiana, where I was advertised to lecture.
+In fact I lost all my appointments for a month. However,
+there was a fine hotel in Houston and many
+pleasant people, among whom I made some valuable
+acquaintances. Beside several public meetings, I had
+parlor talks and scattered leaflets, so that my time was
+not lost.</p>
+<p>As the floods had upset my plans for the winter, I
+went straight from Houston to New York over the Iron
+Mountain Railroad. I anticipated a rather solitary trip;
+but, fortunately, I met General Baird, whom I knew,
+and some other army officers, who had been down on the
+Mexican border to settle some troubles in the "free
+zone." We amused ourselves on the long journey with
+whist and woman suffrage discussions. We noticed
+a dyspeptic-looking clergyman, evidently of a bilious
+temperament, eying us very steadily and disapprovingly
+the first day, and in a quiet way we warned
+each other that, in due time, he would give us a sermon
+on the sin of card playing.</p>
+<p>Sitting alone, early next morning, he seated himself
+by my side, and asked me if I would allow
+him to express his opinion on card playing. I
+said "Oh, yes! I fully believe in free speech."
+"Well," said he, "I never touch cards. I think they
+are an invention of the devil to lead unwary souls from
+all serious thought of the stern duties of life and the
+realities of eternity! I was sorry to see you, with your
+white hair, probably near the end of your earthly career,
+playing cards and talking with those reckless army officers,
+who delight in killing their fellow-beings. No! I
+<a name="Page_299"></a>do not believe in war or card playing; such
+things do
+not prepare the soul for heaven." "Well," said I, "you
+are quite right, with your views, to abjure the society
+of army officers and all games of cards. You, no doubt,
+enjoy your own thoughts and the book you are reading,
+more than you would the conversation of those gentlemen
+and a game of whist. We must regulate our conduct
+by our own highest ideal. While I deplore the
+necessity of war, yet I know in our Army many of the
+noblest types of manhood, whose acquaintance I prize
+most highly. I enjoy all games, too, from chess down
+to dominoes. There is so much that is sad and stern
+in life that we need sometimes to lay down its burdens
+and indulge in innocent amusements. Thus, you see,
+what is wise from my standpoint is unwise from yours.
+I am sorry that you repudiate all amusements, as they
+contribute to the health of body and soul. You are
+sorry that I do not think as you do and regulate my
+life accordingly. You are sure that you are right. I am
+equally sure that I am. Hence there is nothing to be
+done in either case but to let each other alone, and wait
+for the slow process of evolution to give to each of us a
+higher standard." Just then one of the officers asked
+me if I was ready for a game of whist, and I excused
+myself from further discussion. I met many of those
+dolorous saints in my travels, who spent so much
+thought on eternity and saving their souls that they
+lost all the joys of time, as well as those sweet virtues
+of courtesy and charity that might best fit them for
+good works on earth and happiness in heaven.</p>
+<p>In the spring I went to Nebraska, and Miss Anthony
+and I again made a Western tour, sometimes together
+and sometimes by different routes. A constitutional
+<a name="Page_300"></a>convention was in session in Lincoln, and it was
+proposed
+to submit an amendment to strike the word
+"male" from the Constitution. Nebraska became a
+State in March, 1867, and took "Equality before the
+law" as her motto. Her Territorial legislature had
+discussed, many times, proposed liberal legislation for
+women, and her State legislature had twice considered
+propositions for woman's enfranchisement. I had a
+valise with me containing Hon. Benjamin F. Butler's
+minority reports as a member of the Judiciary Committee
+of the United States House of Representatives, in
+favor of woman's right to vote under the Fourteenth
+Amendment. As we were crossing the Platte River,
+in transferring the baggage to the boat, my valise fell
+into the river. My heart stood still at the thought of
+such a fate for all those able arguments. After the
+great General had been in hot water all his life, it was
+grievous to think of any of his lucubrations perishing in
+cold water at last. Fortunately they were rescued.
+On reaching Lincoln I was escorted to the home of the
+Governor, where I spread the documents in the sunshine,
+and they were soon ready to be distributed among
+the members of the constitutional convention.</p>
+<p>After I had addressed the convention, some of the
+members called on me to discuss the points of my
+speech. All the gentlemen were serious and respectful
+with one exception. A man with an unusually small
+head, diminutive form, and crooked legs tried, at my
+expense, to be witty and facetious. During a brief
+pause in the conversation he brought his chair directly
+before me and said, in a mocking tone, "Don't you
+think that the best thing a woman can do is to perform
+well her part in the role of wife and mother? My wife
+<a name="Page_301"></a>has presented me with eight beautiful children;
+is not
+this a better life-work than that of exercising the right
+of suffrage?"</p>
+<p>I had had my eye on this man during the whole interview,
+and saw that the other members were annoyed
+at his behavior. I decided, when the opportune moment
+arrived, to give him an answer not soon to be forgotten;
+so I promptly replied to his question, as I
+slowly viewed him from head to foot, "I have met few
+men, in my life, worth repeating eight times." The
+members burst into a roar of laughter, and one of them,
+clapping him on the shoulder, said: "There, sonny, you
+have read and spelled; you better go." This scene was
+heralded in all the Nebraska papers, and, wherever the
+little man went, he was asked why Mrs. Stanton
+thought he was not worth repeating eight times.</p>
+<p>During my stay in Lincoln there was a celebration
+of the opening of some railroad. An immense crowd
+from miles about assembled on this occasion. The
+collation was spread and speeches were made in the open
+air. The men congratulated each other on the wonderful
+progress the State had made since it became an
+organized Territory in 1854. There was not the slightest
+reference, at first, to the women. One speaker said:
+"This State was settled by three brothers, John, James,
+and Joseph, and from them have sprung the great concourse
+of people that greet us here to-day." I turned,
+and asked the Governor if all these people had sprung,
+Minerva-like, from the brains of John, James, and
+Joseph. He urged me to put that question to the
+speaker; so, in one of his eloquent pauses, I propounded
+the query, which was greeted with loud and prolonged
+cheers, to the evident satisfaction of the women pres<a name="Page_302"></a>ent.
+The next speaker took good care to give the due
+meed of praise to Ann, Jane, and Mary, and to every
+mention of the mothers of Nebraska the crowd heartily
+responded.</p>
+<p>In toasting "the women of Nebraska," at the
+collation, I said: "Here's to the mothers, who came
+hither by long, tedious journeys, closely packed
+with restless children in emigrant wagons, cooking
+the meals by day, and nursing the babies by night, while
+the men slept. Leaving comfortable homes in the
+East, they endured all the hardships of pioneer life,
+suffered, with the men, the attacks of the Dakota Indians
+and the constant apprehension of savage raids, of prairie
+fires, and the devastating locusts. Man's trials, his
+fears, his losses, all fell on woman with double force; yet
+history is silent concerning the part woman performed
+in the frontier life of the early settlers. Men make no
+mention of her heroism and divine patience; they take
+no thought of the mental or physical agonies women
+endure in the perils of maternity, ofttimes without nurse
+or physician in the supreme hour of their need, going,
+as every mother does, to the very gates of death in giving
+life to an immortal being!"</p>
+<p>Traveling all over these Western States in the early
+days, seeing the privations women suffered, and listening
+to the tales of sorrow at the fireside, I wondered
+that men could ever forget the debt of gratitude they
+owed to their mothers, or fail to commemorate their
+part in the growth of a great people. Yet the men of
+Nebraska have twice defeated the woman suffrage
+amendment.</p>
+<p>In 1874 Michigan was the point of interest to all
+those who had taken part in the woman-suffrage move<a name="Page_303"></a>ment.
+The legislature, by a very large majority,
+submitted to a vote of the electors an amendment of the
+Constitution, in favor of striking out the word "male"
+and thus securing civil and political rights to the women
+of the State. It was a very active campaign. Crowded
+meetings were held in all the chief towns and cities.
+Professor Moses Coit Tyler, and a large number of
+ministers preached, every Sunday, on the subject of
+woman's position. The Methodist conference passed
+a resolution in favor of the amendment by a unanimous
+vote. I was in the State during the intense heat of
+May and June, speaking every evening to large audiences;
+in the afternoon to women alone, and preaching
+every Sunday in some pulpit. The Methodists, Universalists,
+Unitarians, and Quakers all threw open their
+churches to the apostles of the new gospel of equality
+for women. We spoke in jails, prisons, asylums,
+depots, and the open air. Wherever there were ears
+to hear, we lifted up our voices, and, on the wings of the
+wind, the glad tidings were carried to the remote corners
+of the State, and the votes of forty thousand men,
+on election day, in favor of the amendment were so
+many testimonials to the value of the educational work
+accomplished.</p>
+<p>I made many valuable acquaintances, on that trip,
+with whom I have maintained lifelong friendships.
+One pleasant day I passed in the home of Governor
+Bagley and his wife, with a group of pretty children.
+I found the Governor deeply interested in
+prison reform. He had been instrumental in passing a
+law giving prisoners lights in their cells and pleasant
+reading matter until nine o'clock. His ideas of what
+prisons should be, as unfolded that day, have since been
+<a name="Page_304"></a>fully realized in the grand experiment now being
+successfully tried at Elmira, New York.</p>
+<p>I visited the State prison at Jackson, and addressed
+seven hundred men and boys, ranging from seventy
+down to seventeen years of age. Seated on the dais
+with the chaplain, I saw them file in to dinner, and,
+while they were eating, I had an opportunity to study
+the sad, despairing faces before me. I shall never forget
+the hopeless expression of one young man, who had
+just been sentenced for twenty years, nor how ashamed
+I felt that one of my own sex, trifling with two lovers,
+had fanned the jealousy of one against the other, until
+the tragedy ended in the death of one and the almost
+lifelong imprisonment of the other. If girls should be
+truthful and transparent in any relations in life, surely
+it is in those of love, involving the strongest passions
+of which human nature is capable. As the chaplain
+told me the sad story, and I noticed the prisoner's refined
+face and well-shaped head, I felt that the young
+man was not under the right influences to learn the
+lesson he needed. Fear, coercion, punishment, are the
+masculine remedies for moral weakness, but statistics
+show their failure for centuries. Why not change the
+system and try the education of the moral and intellectual
+faculties, cheerful surroundings, inspiring influences?
+Everything in our present system tends to
+lower the physical vitality, the self-respect, the moral
+tone, and to harden instead of reforming the criminal.</p>
+<p>My heart was so heavy I did not know what to say to
+such an assembly of the miserable. I asked the chaplain
+what I should say. "Just what you please," he replied.
+Thinking they had probably heard enough of
+their sins, their souls, and the plan of salvation, I
+<a name="Page_305"></a>thought I would give them the news of the day.
+So I
+told them about the woman suffrage amendment, what
+I was doing in the State, my amusing encounters with
+opponents, their arguments, my answers. I told them
+of the great changes that would be effected in prison
+life when the mothers of the nation had a voice in the
+buildings and discipline. I told them what Governor
+Bagley said, and of the good time coming when prisons
+would no longer be places of punishment but schools of
+reformation. To show them what women would do to
+realize this beautiful dream, I told them of Elizabeth
+Fry and Dorothea L. Dix, of Mrs. Farnham's experiment
+at Sing Sing, and Louise Michel's in New Caledonia,
+and, in closing, I said: "Now I want all of you
+who are in favor of the amendment to hold up your
+right hands." They gave a unanimous vote, and
+laughed heartily when I said, "I do wish you could all
+go to the polls in November and that we could lock our
+opponents up here until after the election." I felt satisfied
+that they had had one happy hour, and that I had
+said nothing to hurt the feelings of the most unfortunate.
+As they filed off to their respective workshops
+my faith and hope for brighter days went with them.
+Then I went all through the prison. Everything
+looked clean and comfortable on the surface, but I met
+a few days after a man, just set free, who had been there
+five years for forgery. He told me the true inwardness
+of the system; of the wretched, dreary life they suffered,
+and the brutality of the keepers. He said the prison
+was infested with mice and vermin, and that, during the
+five years he was there, he had never lain down one
+night to undisturbed slumber. The sufferings endured
+in summer for want of air, he said, were indescrib<a name="Page_306"></a>able.
+In this prison the cells were in the center of the
+building, the corridors running all around by the windows,
+so the prisoners had no outlook and no direct
+contact with the air. Hence, if a careless keeper
+forgot to open the windows after a storm, the
+poor prisoners panted for air in their cells, like fish
+out of water. My informant worked in the mattress
+department, over the room where prisoners
+were punished. He said he could hear the lash
+and the screams of the victims from morning till
+night. "Hard as the work is all day," said he, "it is
+a blessed relief to get out of our cells to march across
+the yard and get one glimpse of the heavens above, and
+one breath of pure air, and to be in contact with other
+human souls in the workshops, for, although we could
+never speak to each other, yet there was a hidden current
+of sympathy conveyed by look that made us one
+in our misery."</p>
+<p>Though the press of the State was largely in our
+favor, yet there were some editors who, having no arguments,
+exercised the little wit they did possess in low
+ridicule. It was in this campaign that an editor in a
+Kalamazoo journal said: "That ancient daughter
+of Methuselah, Susan B. Anthony, passed through our
+city yesterday, on her way to the Plainwell meeting,
+with a bonnet on her head looking as if it had recently
+descended from Noah's ark." Miss Anthony often referred
+to this description of herself, and said, "Had I
+represented twenty thousand voters in Michigan, that
+political editor would not have known nor cared
+whether I was the oldest or the youngest daughter of
+Methuselah, or whether my bonnet came from the ark
+or from Worth's."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_307"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+<h2>THE SPIRIT OF '76.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>The year 1876 was one of intense excitement and laborious
+activity throughout the country. The anticipation
+of the centennial birthday of the Republic, to be
+celebrated in Philadelphia, stirred the patriotism of the
+people to the highest point of enthusiasm. As each
+State was to be represented in the great exhibition,
+local pride added another element to the public interest.
+Then, too, everyone who could possibly afford the journey
+was making busy preparations to spend the Fourth
+of July, the natal day of the Republic, mid the scenes
+where the Declaration of Independence was issued in
+1776, the Government inaugurated, and the first national
+councils were held. Those interested in women's
+political rights decided to make the Fourth a woman's
+day, and to celebrate the occasion, in their various
+localities, by delivering orations and reading their own
+declaration of rights, with dinners and picnics in the
+town halls or groves, as most convenient. But many
+from every State in the Union made their arrangements
+to spend the historic period in Philadelphia. Owing,
+also, to the large number of foreigners who came over
+to join in the festivities, that city was crammed to its
+utmost capacity. With the crowd and excessive heat,
+comfort was everywhere sacrificed to curiosity.</p>
+<p>The enthusiasm throughout the country had given a
+<a name="Page_308"></a>fresh impulse to the lyceum bureaus. Like the
+ferryboats
+in New York harbor, running hither and thither,
+crossing each other's tracks, the whole list of lecturers
+were on the wing, flying to every town and city from
+San Francisco to New York. As soon as a new railroad
+ran through a village of five hundred inhabitants
+that could boast a schoolhouse, a church, or a hotel,
+and one enterprising man or woman, a course of lectures
+was at once inaugurated as a part of the winter's entertainments.</p>
+<p>On one occasion I was invited, by mistake, to a
+little town to lecture the same evening when the
+Christy Minstrels were to perform. It was arranged,
+as the town had only one hall, that I should speak from
+seven to eight o'clock and the minstrels should have the
+remainder of the time. One may readily see that, with
+the minstrels in anticipation, a lecture on any serious
+question would occupy but a small place in the hearts
+of the people in a town where they seldom had
+entertainments of any kind. All the time I was speaking
+there was a running to and fro behind the scenes, where
+the minstrels were transforming themselves with paints
+and curly wigs into Africans, and laughing at each other's
+jests. As it was a warm evening, and the windows
+were open, the hilarity of the boys in the street added
+to the general din. Under such circumstances it was
+difficult to preserve my equilibrium. I felt like laughing
+at my own comical predicament, and I decided to
+make my address a medley of anecdotes and stories,
+like a string of beads, held together by a fine thread of
+argument and illustration. The moment the hand of
+the clock pointed at eight o'clock the band struck
+up, thus announcing that the happy hour for the min<a name="Page_309"></a>strels
+had come. Those of my audience who wished to
+stay were offered seats at half price; those who did not,
+slipped out, and the crowd rushed in, soon packing the
+house to its utmost capacity. I stayed, and enjoyed the
+performance of the minstrels more than I had my own.</p>
+<p>As the lyceum season lasted from October to June,
+I was late in reaching Philadelphia. Miss Anthony and
+Mrs. Gage had already been through the agony of finding
+appropriate headquarters for the National Suffrage
+Association. I found them pleasantly situated on the
+lower floor of No. 1431 Chestnut Street, with the work
+for the coming month clearly mapped out. As it was
+the year for nominating candidates for the presidency
+of the United States, the Republicans and
+Democrats were about to hold their great' conventions.
+Hence letters were to be written to them
+recommending a woman suffrage plank in their platforms,
+and asking seats for women in the conventions,
+with the privilege of being heard in their own behalf.
+On these letters our united wisdom was concentrated,
+and twenty thousand copies of each were published.</p>
+<p>Then it was thought pre-eminently proper that a
+Woman's Declaration of Rights should be issued.
+Days and nights were spent over that document. After
+many twists from our analytical tweezers, with a critical
+consideration of every word and sentence, it was at
+last, by a consensus of the competent, pronounced very
+good. Thousands were ordered to be printed, and were
+folded, put in envelopes, stamped, directed, and
+scattered. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, and I worked
+sixteen hours, day and night, pressing everyone who
+came in, into the service, and late at night carrying
+immense bundles to be mailed. With meetings, recep<a name="Page_310"></a>tions,
+and a succession of visitors, all of whom we plied
+with woman suffrage literature, we felt we had accomplished
+a great educational work.</p>
+<p>Among the most enjoyable experiences at our headquarters
+were the frequent visits of our beloved Lucretia
+Mott, who used to come from her country home bringing
+us eggs, cold chickens, and fine Oolong tea. As
+she had presented us with a little black teapot that, like
+Mercury's mysterious pitcher of milk, filled itself for
+every coming guest, we often improvised luncheons
+with a few friends. At parting, Lucretia always
+made a contribution to our depleted treasury. Here
+we had many prolonged discussions as to the part we
+should take, on the Fourth of July, in the public celebration.
+We thought it would be fitting for us to read
+our Declaration of Rights immediately after that of the
+Fathers was read, as an impeachment of them and their
+male descendants for their injustice and oppression.
+Ours contained as many counts, and quite as important,
+as those against King George in 1776. Accordingly,
+we applied to the authorities to allow us seats on the
+platform and a place in the programme of the public
+celebration, which was to be held in the historic old
+Independence Hall. As General Hawley was in charge
+of the arrangements for the day, I wrote him as
+follows:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p style="text-align: right;">"1431 Chestnut Street, July 1, 1876.</p>
+<p>"General Hawley.</p>
+<p>"<i>Honored Sir</i>: As President of the National Woman's
+Suffrage Association, I am authorized to ask you for
+tickets to the platform, at Independence Hall, for the
+celebration on the Fourth of July. We should like to
+<a name="Page_311"></a>have seats for at least one representative woman
+from
+each State. We also ask your permission to read our
+Declaration of Rights immediately after the reading of
+the Declaration of Independence of the Fathers is finished.
+Although these are small favors to ask as representatives
+of one-half of the nation, yet we shall be under
+great obligations to you if granted.</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Respectfully Yours,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"Elizabeth Cady Stanton."</p>
+</div>
+<p>To this I received the following reply:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p style="text-align: right;">"U.S.C.C. Headquarters, July 2.</p>
+<p>"Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton.</p>
+<p>"<i>Dear Madam</i>: I send you, with pleasure, half a dozen
+cards of invitation. As the platform is already crowded,
+it is impossible to reserve the number of seats you desire.
+I regret to say it is also impossible for us to make
+any change in the programme at this late hour. We
+are crowded for time to carry out what is already
+proposed.</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Yours Very Respectfully,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"Joseph R. Hawley,<br>
+"President, U.S.C.C."</p>
+</div>
+<p>With this rebuff, Mrs. Mott and I decided that we
+would not accept the offered seats, but would be ready
+to open our own convention called for that day, at the
+First Unitarian church, where the Rev. William H. Furness
+had preached for fifty years. But some of our
+younger coadjutors decided that they would occupy
+the seats and present our Declaration of Rights. They
+said truly, women will be taxed to pay the expenses of
+<a name="Page_312"></a>this celebration, and we have as good a right to
+that
+platform and to the ears of the people as the men have,
+and we will be heard.</p>
+<p>That historic Fourth of July dawned at last, one of
+the most oppressive days of that heated season.
+Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Sara Andrews
+Spencer, Lillie Devereux Blake, and Phoebe W. Couzins
+made their way through the crowds under the broiling
+sun of Independence Square, carrying the Woman's
+Declaration of Rights. This Declaration had been
+handsomely engrossed by one of their number, and
+signed by the oldest and most prominent advocates of
+woman's enfranchisement. Their tickets of admission
+proved an "open sesame" through the military barriers,
+and, a few moments before the opening of the
+ceremonies, these women found themselves within the
+precincts from which most of their sex were excluded.</p>
+<p>The Declaration of 1776 was read by Richard Henry
+Lee of Virginia, about whose family clusters so much
+historic fame. The moment he finished reading was
+determined upon as the appropriate time for the
+presentation of the Woman's Declaration. Not quite sure
+how their approach might be met, not quite certain if,
+at this final moment, they would be permitted to reach
+the presiding officer, those ladies arose and made their
+way down the aisle. The bustle of preparation for the
+Brazilian hymn covered their advance. The foreign
+guests and the military and civil officers who filled the
+space directly in front of the speaker's stand, courteously
+made way, while Miss Anthony, in fitting words,
+presented the Declaration to the presiding officer.
+Senator Ferry's face paled as, bowing low, with no word
+he received the Declaration, which thus became part of
+<a name="Page_313"></a>the day's proceedings. The ladies turned,
+scattering
+printed copies as they deliberately walked down the
+platform. On every side eager hands were outstretched,
+men stood on seats and asked for them, while General
+Hawley, thus defied and beaten in his audacious denial
+to women of the right to present their Declaration,
+shouted, "Order, order!"</p>
+<p>Passing out, these ladies made their way to a platform,
+erected for the musicians, in front of Independence
+Hall. Here, under the shadow of Washington's
+statue, back of them the old bell that proclaimed "liberty
+to all the land and all the inhabitants thereof," they
+took their places, and, to a listening, applauding crowd,
+Miss Anthony read the Woman's Declaration. During
+the reading of the Declaration, Mrs. Gage stood beside
+Miss Anthony and held an umbrella over her head,
+to shelter her friend from the intense heat of the noonday
+sun. And thus in the same hour, on opposite sides
+of old Independence Hall, did the men and women express
+their opinions on the great principles proclaimed
+on the natal day of the Republic. The Declaration was
+handsomely framed, and now hangs in the Vice President's
+room in the Capitol at Washington.</p>
+<p>These heroic ladies then hurried from Independence
+Hall to the church, already crowded with an expectant
+audience, to whom they gave a full report of the
+morning's proceedings. The Hutchinsons of worldwide
+fame were present in their happiest vein,
+interspersing the speeches with appropriate songs and
+felicitous remarks. For five long hours on that hot
+midsummer day a crowded audience, many standing,
+listened with profound interest and reluctantly
+dispersed at last, all agreeing that it was one of the
+<a name="Page_314"></a>most impressive and enthusiastic meetings they
+had
+ever attended.</p>
+<p>All through our Civil War the slaves on the Southern
+plantations had an abiding faith that the terrible conflict
+would result in freedom for their race. Just so
+through all the busy preparations of the Centennial, the
+women of the nation felt sure that the great national
+celebration could not pass without the concession of
+some new liberties to them. Hence they pressed their
+claims at every point, at the Fourth of July celebration
+in the exposition buildings, and in the Republican and
+Democratic nominating conventions; hoping to get a
+plank in the platforms of both the great political parties.</p>
+<p>The Woman's Pavilion upon the centennial grounds
+was an afterthought, as theologians claim woman herself
+to have been. The women of the country, after having
+contributed nearly one hundred thousand dollars to
+the centennial stock, found there had been no provision
+made for the separate exhibition of their work. The
+centennial board, of which Mrs. Gillespie was president,
+then decided to raise funds for the erection of a separate
+building, to be known as the Woman's Pavilion.
+It covered an acre of ground, and was erected at an expense
+of thirty thousand dollars&#8212;a small sum in comparison
+with the money which had been raised by women
+and expended on the other buildings, not to speak of
+the State and national appropriations, which the taxes
+levied on them had largely helped to swell.</p>
+<p>The Pavilion was no true exhibit of woman's art.
+Few women are, as yet, owners of the business which
+their industry largely makes remunerative. Cotton
+factories, in which thousands of women work, are owned
+by men. The shoe business, in some branches of which
+<a name="Page_315"></a>women are doing more than half the work, is
+under the
+ownership of men. Rich embroideries from India, rugs
+of downy softness from Turkey, the muslin of Decca,
+anciently known as "The Woven Wind," the pottery
+and majolica ware of P. Pipsen's widow, the cartridges
+and envelopes of Uncle Sam, Waltham watches, whose
+finest mechanical work is done by women, and ten thousand
+other industries found no place in the pavilion.
+Said United States Commissioner Meeker of Colorado,
+"Woman's work comprises three-fourths of the exposition;
+it is scattered through every building; take it
+away, and there would be no exposition."</p>
+<p>But this pavilion rendered one good service to
+woman in showing her capabilities as an engineer. The
+boiler, which furnished the force for running its work,
+was under the charge of a young Canadian girl, Miss
+Allison, who, from childhood, had loved machinery,
+spending much time in the large saw and grist mills of
+her father, run by engines of two and three hundred
+horse-power, which she sometimes managed for amusement.
+When her name was proposed for running the
+pavilion machinery, it caused much opposition. It was
+said that the committee would, some day, find the pavilion
+blown to atoms; that the woman engineer would
+spend her time reading novels instead of watching the
+steam gauge; that the idea was impracticable and
+should not be thought of. But Miss Allison soon
+proved her capabilities and the falseness of these
+prophecies by taking her place in the engine room and
+managing its workings with perfect ease. Six power
+looms, on which women wove carpets, webbing, silks,
+etc., were run by this engine. At a later period the
+printing of <i>The New Century for Woman</i>, a paper pub<a
+ name="Page_316"></a>lished
+by the centennial commission in the woman's
+building, was done by its means. Miss Allison declared
+the work to be more cleanly, more pleasant, and infinitely
+less fatiguing than cooking over a kitchen
+stove. "Since I have been compelled to earn my own
+living," she said, "I have never been engaged in work
+I like so well. Teaching school is much harder, and one
+is not paid so well." She expressed her confidence in her
+ability to manage the engines of an ocean steamer,
+and said that there were thousands of small engines
+in use in various parts of the country, and no reason
+existed why women should not be employed to manage
+them,&#8212;following the profession of engineer as a regular
+business,&#8212;an engine requiring far less attention than
+is given by a nursemaid or a mother to a child.</p>
+<p>But to have made the Woman's Pavilion grandly
+historic, upon its walls should have been hung the
+yearly protest of Harriet K. Hunt against taxation
+without representation; the legal papers served
+upon the Smith sisters when, for their refusal to
+pay taxes while unrepresented, their Alderney cows
+were seized and sold; the papers issued by the
+city of Worcester for the forced sale of the house
+and lands of Abby Kelly Foster, the veteran abolitionist,
+because she refused to pay taxes, giving the
+same reason our ancestors gave when they resisted
+taxation; a model of Bunker Hill monument, its foundation
+laid by Lafayette in 1825, but which remained
+unfinished nearly twenty years, until the famous German
+danseuse, Fanny Ellsler, gave the proceeds of a public
+performance for that purpose. With these should have
+been exhibited framed copies of all the laws bearing
+unjustly upon women&#8212;those which rob her of her name,
+<a name="Page_317"></a>her earnings, her property, her children, her
+person; also
+the legal papers in the case of Susan B. Anthony, who
+was tried and fined for claiming her right to vote under
+the Fourteenth Amendment, and the decision of Mr.
+Justice Miller in the case of Myra Bradwell, denying
+national protection for woman's civil rights; and the
+later decision of Chief Justice Waite of the United
+States Supreme Court against Virginia L. Minor, denying
+women national protection for their political
+rights; decisions in favor of State rights which imperil
+the liberties not only of all women, but of every white
+man in the nation.</p>
+<p>Woman's most fitting contributions to the Centennial
+Exposition would have been these protests, laws,
+and decisions, which show her political slavery. But
+all this was left for rooms outside of the centennial
+grounds, upon Chestnut Street, where the National
+Woman's Suffrage Association hoisted its flag, made its
+protests, and wrote the Declaration of Rights of the
+women of the United States.</p>
+<p>To many thoughtful people it seemed captious and
+unreasonable for women to complain of injustice in this
+free land, amidst such universal rejoicings. When the
+majority of women are seemingly happy, it is natural to
+suppose that the discontent of the minority is the result
+of their unfortunate individual idiosyncrasies, and
+not of adverse influences in established conditions.
+But the history of the world shows that the vast
+majority, in every generation, passively accept the
+conditions into which they are born, while those who
+demanded larger liberties are ever a small, ostracized minority,
+whose claims are ridiculed and ignored. From
+our standpoint we would honor any Chinese woman
+<a name="Page_318"></a>who claimed the right to her feet and powers of
+locomotion;
+the Hindoo widows who refused to ascend the
+funeral pyre of their husbands; the Turkish women who
+threw off their masks and veils and left the harem; the
+Mormon women who abjured their faith and demanded
+monogamic relations. Why not equally honor the intelligent
+minority of American women who protest
+against the artificial disabilities by which their freedom
+is limited and their development arrested? That only
+a few, under any circumstances, protest against the injustice
+of long-established laws and customs, does not
+disprove the fact of the oppressions, while the satisfaction
+of the many, if real, only proves their apathy
+and deeper degradation. That a majority of the
+women of the United States accept, without protest,
+the disabilities which grow out of their disfranchisement
+is simply an evidence of their ignorance and
+cowardice, while the minority who demand a higher
+political status clearly prove their superior intelligence
+and wisdom.</p>
+<p>At the close of the Forty-seventh Congress we made
+two new demands: First, for a special committee to consider
+all questions in regard to the civil and political
+rights of women. We naturally asked the question, As
+Congress has a special committee on the rights of Indians,
+why not on those of women? Are not women, as a
+factor in civilization, of more importance than Indians?
+Secondly, we asked for a room, in the Capitol, where
+our committee could meet, undisturbed, whenever they
+saw fit. Though these points were debated a long time,
+our demands were acceded to at last. We now have
+our special committee, and our room, with "Woman
+Suffrage" in gilt letters, over the door. In our strug<a name="Page_319"></a>gle
+to achieve this, while our champion, the senior
+Senator from Massachusetts, stood up bravely in the
+discussion, the opposition not only ridiculed the special
+demand, but all attempts to secure the civil and
+political rights of women. As an example of the arguments
+of the opposition, I give what the Senator from
+Missouri said. It is a fair specimen of all that was produced
+on that side of the debate. Mr. Vest's poetical
+flights are most inspiring:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"The Senate now has forty-one committees, with a
+small army of messengers and clerks, one-half of whom,
+without exaggeration, are literally without employment.
+I shall not pretend to specify the committees
+of this body which have not one single bill, resolution,
+or proposition of any sort pending before them, and
+have not had for months. But, Mr. President, out of all
+committees without business, and habitually without
+business, in this body, there is one that, beyond any
+question, could take jurisdiction of this matter and do
+it ample justice. I refer to that most respectable and
+antique institution, the Committee on Revolutionary
+Claims. For thirty years it has been without business.
+For thirty long years the placid surface of that parliamentary
+sea has been without one single ripple. If
+the Senator from Massachusetts desires a tribunal for a
+calm, judicial equilibrium and examination&#8212;a tribunal
+far from the 'madding crowd's ignoble strife'&#8212;a tribunal
+eminently respectable, dignified and unique; why not
+send this question to the Committee on Revolutionary
+Claims? It is eminently proper that this subject
+should go to that committee because, if there is any
+revolutionary claim in this country, it is that of woman
+suffrage. (Laughter.) It revolutionizes society; it
+<a name="Page_320"></a>revolutionizes religion; it revolutionizes the
+Constitution
+and laws; and it revolutionizes the opinions
+of those so old-fashioned among us as to believe that
+the legitimate and proper sphere of woman is the family
+circle, as wife and mother, and not as politician and
+voter&#8212;those of us who are proud to believe that</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Woman's noblest station is retreat:</p>
+<p>Her fairest virtues fly from public sight;</p>
+<p>Domestic worth&#8212;that shuns too strong a light.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"Before that Committee on Revolutionary Claims
+why could not this most revolutionary of all claims receive
+immediate and ample attention? More than
+that, as I said before, if there is any tribunal that could
+give undivided time and dignified attention, is it not
+this committee? If there is one peaceful haven of rest,
+never disturbed by any profane bill or resolution of any
+sort, it is the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. It
+is, in parliamentary life, described by that ecstatic verse
+in Watts' hymn&#8212;</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"There shall I bathe my wearied soul</p>
+<p>In seas of endless rest.</p>
+<p>And not one wave of trouble roll</p>
+<p>Across my peaceful breast.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"By all natural laws, stagnation breeds disease and
+death, and what could stir up this most venerable and
+respectable institution more than an application of the
+strong-minded, with short hair and shorter skirts, invading
+its dignified realm and elucidating all the excellences
+of female suffrage. Moreover, if these ladies
+could ever succeed in the providence of God in obtaining
+a report from that committee, it would end this
+<a name="Page_321"></a>question forever; for the public at large and
+myself included,
+in view of that miracle of female blandishment
+and female influence, would surrender at once, and female
+suffrage would become constitutional and lawful.
+Sir, I insist upon it that, in deference to this committee,
+in deference to the fact that it needs this sort of regimen
+and medicine, this whole subject should be so referred."</p>
+</div>
+<p>This gives a very fair idea of the character of the
+arguments produced by our opponents, from the inauguration
+of the movement. But, as there are no
+arguments in a republican government in favor of an
+aristocracy of sex, ridicule was really the only available
+weapon. After declaring "that no just government
+can be formed without the consent of the governed,"
+"that taxation without representation is tyranny," it is
+difficult to see on what basis one-half the people are
+disfranchised.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XX"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_322"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+<h2>WRITING "THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE."</h2>
+<br>
+<p>The four years following the Centennial were busy,
+happy ones, of varied interests and employments, public
+and private. Sons and daughters graduating from
+college, bringing troops of young friends to visit us; the
+usual matrimonial entanglements, with all their promises
+of celestial bliss intertwined with earthly doubts and
+fears; weddings, voyages to Europe, business ventures&#8212;in
+this whirl of plans and projects our heads, hearts,
+and hands were fully occupied. Seven boys and girls
+dancing round the fireside, buoyant with all life's joys
+opening before them, are enough to keep the most apathetic
+parents on the watch-towers by day and anxious
+even in dreamland by night. My spare time, if it can
+be said that I ever had any, was given during these days
+to social festivities. The inevitable dinners, teas, picnics,
+and dances with country neighbors, all came round
+in quick succession. We lived, at this time, at Tenafly,
+New Jersey, not far from the publisher of the <i>Sun</i>,
+Isaac W. England, who also had seven boys and girls
+as full of frolic as our own. Mrs. England and I
+entered into all their games with equal zest. The
+youngest thought half the fun was to see our enthusiasm
+in "blindman's buff," "fox and geese," and
+"bean bags." It thrills me with delight, even now, to
+see these games!</p>
+<p>Mr. England was the soul of hospitality. He was
+<a name="Page_323"></a>never more happy than when his house was crowded
+with guests, and his larder with all the delicacies of the
+season. Though he and Mr. Stanton were both connected
+with that dignified journal, the New York <i>Sun</i>,
+yet they often joined in the general hilarity. I laugh,
+as I write, at the memory of all the frolics we had on the
+blue hills of Jersey.</p>
+<p>In addition to the domestic cares which a large family
+involved, Mrs. Gage, Miss Anthony, and I were
+already busy collecting material for "The History of
+Woman Suffrage." This required no end of correspondence.
+Then my lecturing trips were still a part of the
+annual programme. Washington conventions, too,
+with calls, appeals, resolutions, speeches and hearings
+before the Committees of Congress and State legislatures,
+all these came round in the year's proceedings
+as regularly as pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving,
+plum pudding for Christmas, and patriotism for Washington's
+birthday. Those who speak for glory or
+philanthropy are always in demand for college commencements
+and Fourth of July orations, hence much
+of Miss Anthony's eloquence, as well as my own, was
+utilized in this way.</p>
+<p>On October 18, 1880, I had an impromptu dinner
+party. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, May Wright
+Thompson (now Sewall), Phoebe W. Couzins, and
+Arethusa Forbes, returning from a Boston convention,
+all by chance met under my roof. We had a very
+merry time talking over the incidents of the convention,
+Boston proprieties, and the general situation. As I
+gave them many early reminiscences, they asked if I
+had kept a diary. "No," I said, "not a pen scratch
+of the past have I except what might be gathered from
+<a name="Page_324"></a>many family letters." They urged me to begin a
+diary
+at once; so I promised I would on my coming birthday.</p>
+<p>My great grief that day was that we were putting
+in a new range, and had made no preparations
+for dinner. This completely upset the presiding
+genius of my culinary department, as she could
+not give us the bounteous feast she knew was expected
+on such occasions. I, as usual, when there was
+any lack in the viands, tried to be as brilliant as possible
+in conversation; discussing Nirvana, Karma, reincarnation,
+and thus turning attention from the evanescent
+things of earth to the joys of a life to come,&#8212;not an
+easy feat to perform with strong-minded women,&#8212;but,
+in parting, they seemed happy and refreshed, and all
+promised to come again.</p>
+<p>But we shall never meet there again, as the old,
+familiar oaks and the majestic chestnut trees have passed
+into other hands. Strange lovers now whisper their
+vows of faith and trust under the tree where a most
+charming wedding ceremony&#8212;that of my daughter
+Margaret&#8212;was solemnized one bright October day.
+All Nature seemed to do her utmost to heighten the
+beauty of the occasion. The verdure was brilliant with
+autumnal tints, the hazy noonday sun lent a peculiar
+softness to every shadow&#8212;even the birds and insects
+were hushed to silence. As the wedding march rose
+soft and clear, two stately ushers led the way; then a
+group of Vassar classmates, gayly decked in silks of different
+colors, followed by the bride and groom. An immense
+Saint Bernard dog, on his own account brought
+up the rear, keeping time with measured tread. He
+took his seat in full view, watching, alternately, the officiating
+clergyman, the bride and groom, and guests, as
+<a name="Page_325"></a>if to say: "What does all this mean?" No one
+behaved
+with more propriety and no one looked more
+radiant than he, with a ray of sunlight on his beautiful
+coat of long hair, his bright brass collar, and his wonderful
+head. Bruno did not live to see the old home
+broken up, but sleeps peacefully there, under the chestnut
+trees, and fills a large place in many of our pleasant
+memories.</p>
+<p>On November 12, 1880, I was sixty-five years old,
+and, pursuant to my promise, I then began my diary.
+It was a bright, sunny day, but the frost king was at
+work; all my grand old trees, that stood like sentinels,
+to mark the boundary of my domain, were stripped of
+their foliage, and their brilliant colors had faded into
+a uniform brown; but the evergreens and the tall, prim
+cedars held their own, and, when covered with snow,
+their exquisite beauty brought tears to my eyes. One
+need never be lonely mid beautiful trees.</p>
+<p>My thoughts were with my absent children&#8212;Harriot
+in France, Theodore in Germany, Margaret with her
+husband and brother Gerrit, halfway across the continent,
+and Bob still in college. I spent the day writing
+letters and walking up and down the piazza, and enjoyed,
+from my windows, a glorious sunset. Alone, on birthdays
+or holidays, one is very apt to indulge in sad retrospections.
+The thought of how much more I might
+have done for the perfect development of my children
+than I had accomplished, depressed me. I thought of
+all the blunders in my own life and in their education.
+Little has been said of the responsibilities of parental
+life; accordingly little or nothing has been done. I had
+such visions of parental duties that day that I came to
+the conclusion that parents never could pay the debt
+<a name="Page_326"></a>they owe their children for bringing them into
+this
+world of suffering, unless they can insure them sound
+minds in sound bodies, and enough of the good things
+of this life to enable them to live without a continual
+struggle for the necessaries of existence. I have no sympathy
+with the old idea that children owe parents a
+debt of gratitude for the simple fact of existence, generally
+conferred without thought and merely for their
+own pleasure. How seldom we hear of any high or
+holy preparation for the office of parenthood! Here,
+in the most momentous act of life, all is left to chance.
+Men and women, intelligent and prudent in all other
+directions, seem to exercise no forethought here, but
+hand down their individual and family idiosyncrasies in
+the most reckless mariner.</p>
+<p>On November 13 the New York <i>Tribune</i> announced
+the death of Lucretia Mott, eighty-eight years old.
+Having known her in the flush of life, when all her faculties
+were at their zenith, and in the repose of age,
+when her powers began to wane, her withdrawal from
+among us seemed as beautiful and natural as the changing
+foliage, from summer to autumn, of some grand old
+oak I have watched and loved.</p>
+<p>The arrival of Miss Anthony and Mrs. Gage, on November
+20, banished all family matters from my mind.
+What planning, now, for volumes, chapters, footnotes,
+margins, appendices, paper, and type; of engravings,
+title, preface, and introduction! I had never
+thought that the publication of a book required
+the consideration of such endless details. We stood
+appalled before the mass of material, growing higher
+and higher with every mail, and the thought of all
+the reading involved made us feel as if our life<a name="Page_327"></a>work
+lay before us. Six weeks of steady labor
+all day, and often until midnight, made no visible decrease
+in the pile of documents. However, before the
+end of the month we had our arrangements all made
+with publishers and engravers, and six chapters in print.
+When we began to correct proof we felt as if something
+was accomplished. Thus we worked through the winter
+and far into the spring, with no change except
+the Washington Convention and an occasional evening
+meeting in New York city. We had frequent visits
+from friends whom we were glad to see. Hither came
+Edward M. Davis, Sarah Pugh, Adeline Thompson,
+Frederick Cabot of Boston, Dr. William F. Channing,
+and sweet little Clara Spence, who recited for us some
+of the most beautiful selections in her repertoire.</p>
+<p>In addition we had numberless letters from friends
+and foes, some praising and some condemning our proposed
+undertaking, and, though much alone, we were
+kept in touch with the outside world. But so conflicting
+was the tone of the letters that, if we had not
+taken a very fair gauge of ourselves and our advisers,
+we should have abandoned our project and buried all
+the valuable material collected, to sleep in pine boxes
+forever.</p>
+<p>At this time I received a very amusing letter from the
+Rev. Robert Collyer, on "literary righteousness," quizzing
+me for using one of his anecdotes in my sketch of
+Lucretia Mott, without giving him credit. I laughed
+him to scorn, that he should have thought it was
+my duty to have done so. I told him plainly that
+he belonged to a class of "white male citizens,"
+who had robbed me of all civil and political rights; of
+property, children, and personal freedom; and now it
+<a name="Page_328"></a>ill became him to call me to account for using
+one of
+his little anecdotes that, ten to one, he had cribbed
+from some woman. I told him that I considered his
+whole class as fair game for literary pilfering. That
+women had been taxed to build colleges to educate
+men, and if we could pick up a literary crumb that had
+fallen from their feasts, we surely had a right to it.
+Moreover, I told him that man's duty in the world was
+to work, to dig and delve for jewels, real and ideal, and
+lay them at woman's feet, for her to use as she might
+see fit; that he should feel highly complimented, instead
+of complaining, that he had written something I
+thought worth using. He answered like the nobleman
+he is; susceptible of taking in a new idea. He admitted
+that, in view of the shortcomings of his entire sex, he
+had not one word to say in the way of accusation, but
+lay prostrate at my feet in sackcloth and ashes, wondering
+that he had not taken my view of the case in
+starting.</p>
+<p>Only twice in my life have I been accused of quoting
+without giving due credit. The other case was
+that of Matilda Joslyn Gage. I had, on two or three
+occasions, used a motto of hers in autograph books,
+just as I had sentiments from Longfellow, Lowell,
+Shakespeare, Moses, or Paul. In long lyceum trips innumerable
+autograph books met one at every turn, in
+the cars, depots, on the platform, at the hotel and in
+the omnibus. "A sentiment, please," cry half a dozen
+voices. One writes hastily different sentiments for
+each. In this way I unfortunately used a pet sentiment
+of Matilda's. So, here and now, I say to my autograph
+admirers, from New York to San Francisco, whenever
+you see "There is a word sweeter than Mother, Home,
+<a name="Page_329"></a>or Heaven&#8212;that word is Liberty," remember it
+belongs
+to Matilda Joslyn Gage. I hope, now, that Robert and
+Matilda will say, in their posthumous works, that I made
+the <i>amende honorable</i>, as I always strive to do when
+friends feel they have not been fairly treated.</p>
+<p>In May, 1881, the first volume of our History appeared;
+it was an octavo, containing 871 pages, with
+good paper, good print, handsome engravings, and
+nicely bound. I welcomed it with the same feeling of
+love and tenderness as I did my firstborn. I took the
+same pleasure in hearing it praised and felt the same
+mortification in hearing it criticised. The most hearty
+welcome it received was from Rev. William Henry
+Channing. He wrote us that it was as interesting and
+fascinating as a novel. He gave it a most flattering
+notice in one of the London papers. John W. Forney,
+too, wrote a good review and sent a friendly letter.
+Mayo W. Hazeltine, one of the ablest critics in this country,
+in the New York <i>Sun</i>, also gave it a very careful
+and complimentary review. In fact, we received far
+more praise and less blame than we anticipated. We
+began the second volume in June. In reading over
+the material concerning woman's work in the War, I
+felt how little our labors are appreciated. Who can
+sum up all the ills the women of a nation suffer from
+war? They have all of the misery and none of the
+glory; nothing to mitigate their weary waiting and
+watching for the loved ones who will return no more.</p>
+<p>In the spring of 1881, to vary the monotony of
+the work on the history, we decided to hold a series
+of conventions through the New England States.
+We began during the Anniversary week in Boston,
+and had several crowded, enthusiastic meetings in
+<a name="Page_330"></a>Tremont Temple. In addition to our suffrage
+meetings,
+I spoke before the Free Religious, Moral
+Education, and Heredity associations. All our speakers
+stayed at the Parker House, and we had a very
+pleasant time visiting together in our leisure hours.
+We were received by Governor Long, at the State
+House. He made a short speech, in favor of woman
+suffrage, in reply to Mrs. Hooker. We also called on
+the Mayor, at the City Hall, and went through Jordan
+&amp; Marsh's great mercantile establishment, where the
+clerks are chiefly young girls, who are well fed and
+housed, and have pleasant rooms, with a good library,
+where they sit and read in the evening. We went
+through the Sherborn Reformatory Prison for Women,
+managed entirely by women. We found it clean and
+comfortable, more like a pleasant home than a place of
+punishment.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Robinson, Miss Anthony, and I were invited
+to dine with the Bird Club. No woman, other
+than I, had ever had that honor before. I dined
+with them in 1870, escorted by "Warrington" of
+the Springfield <i>Republican</i> and Edwin Morton. There
+I met Frank Sanborn for the first time. Frank Bird held
+about the same place in political life in Massachusetts,
+that Thurlow Weed did in the State of New York for
+forty years. In the evening we had a crowded reception
+at the home of Mrs. Fenno Tudor, who occupied
+a fine old residence facing the Common, where we met
+a large gathering of Boston reformers. On Decoration
+Day, May 30, we went to Providence, where I was
+the guest of Dr. William F. Channing. We had a very
+successful convention there. Senator Anthony and ex-Governor
+Sprague were in the audience and expressed
+<a name="Page_331"></a>great pleasure, afterward, in all they had
+heard. I
+preached in Rev. Frederick Hinckley's church the previous
+Sunday afternoon.</p>
+<p>From Providence I hurried home, to meet my son
+Theodore and his bride, who had just landed from
+France. We decorated our house and grounds with
+Chinese lanterns and national flags for their reception.
+As we had not time to send to New York for
+bunting, our flags&#8212;French and American&#8212;were all
+made of bright red and blue cambric. The effect was
+fine when they arrived; but, unfortunately, there came
+up a heavy thunderstorm in the night and so drenched
+our beautiful flags that they became colorless rags.
+My little maid announced to me early in the morning
+that "the French and Americans had had a great battle
+during the night and that the piazza was covered with
+blood." This was startling news to one just awakening
+from a sound sleep. "Why, Emma!" I said, "what
+do you mean?" "Why," she replied, "the rain has
+washed all the color out of our flags, and the piazza is
+covered with red and blue streams of water." As the
+morning sun appeared in all its glory, chasing the dark
+clouds away, our decorations did indeed look pale and
+limp, and were promptly removed.</p>
+<p>I was happily surprised with my tall, stately daughter,
+Marguerite Berry. A fine-looking girl of twenty,
+straight, strong, and sound, modest and pleasing.
+She can walk miles, sketches from nature with great
+skill and rapidity, and speaks three languages. I had
+always said to my sons: "When you marry, choose a
+woman with a spine and sound teeth; remember the
+teeth show the condition of the bones in the rest of the
+body." So, when Theodore introduced his wife to me,
+<a name="Page_332"></a>he said, "You see I have followed your advice;
+her spine
+is as straight as it should be, and every tooth in her head
+as sound as ivory." This reminds me of a young man
+who used to put my stoves up for the winter. He told
+me one day that he thought of getting married.
+"Well," I said, "above all things get a wife with a
+spine and sound teeth." Stove pipe in hand he turned
+to me with a look of surprise, and said: "Do they ever
+come without spines?"</p>
+<p>In July, 1881, sitting under the trees, Miss Anthony
+and I read and discussed Wendell Phillips'
+magnificent speech before the Phi Beta Kappa
+Society at Harvard College. This society had often
+talked of inviting him, but was afraid of his
+radical utterances. At last, hoping that years might
+have modified his opinions and somewhat softened
+his speech, an invitation was given. The &eacute;lite of
+Boston, the presidents and college professors from far
+and near, were there. A great audience of the wise, the
+learned, the distinguished in State and Church assembled.
+Such a conservative audience, it was supposed,
+would surely hold this radical in check. Alas! they
+were all doomed, for once, to hear the naked truth, on
+every vital question of the day. Thinking this might
+be his only opportunity to rouse some liberal thought
+in conservative minds, he struck the keynote of every
+reform; defended labor strikes, the Nihilists of Russia,
+prohibition, woman suffrage, and demanded reformation
+in our prisons, courts of justice, and halls of legislation.
+On the woman question, he said:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"Social science affirms that woman's place in society
+marks the level of civilization. From its twilight in
+Greece, through the Italian worship of the Virgin, the
+<a name="Page_333"></a>dreams of chivalry, the justice of the civil
+law, and the
+equality of French society, we trace her gradual recognition,
+while our common law, as Lord Brougham confessed,
+was, with relation to women, the opprobrium of
+the age of Christianity. For forty years earnest men
+and women, working noiselessly, have washed away the
+opprobrium, the statute books of thirty States have
+been remodeled, and woman stands, to-day, almost face
+to face with her last claim&#8212;the ballot. It has been a
+weary and thankless, though successful struggle. But
+if there be any refuge from that ghastly curse, the vice
+of great cities, before which social science stands palsied
+and dumb, it is in this more equal recognition of women.</p>
+<p>"If, in this critical battle for universal suffrage, our
+fathers' noblest legacy to us and the greatest trust God
+leaves in our hands, there be any weapon, which, once
+taken from the armory, will make victory certain, it will
+be as it has been in art, literature, and society, summoning
+woman into the political arena. The literary class,
+until within half a dozen years, has taken no note of this
+great uprising; only to fling every obstacle in its way.</p>
+<p>"The first glimpse we get of Saxon blood in history
+is that line of Tacitus in his 'Germany,' which reads,
+'In all grave matters they consult their women.'
+Years hence, when robust Saxon sense has flung away
+Jewish superstition and Eastern prejudice, and put
+under its foot fastidious scholarship and squeamish
+fashion, some second Tacitus from the valley of the
+Mississippi will answer to him of the Seven Hills: 'In
+all grave questions, we consult our women.'</p>
+<p>"If the Alps, piled in cold and silence, be the emblem
+of despotism, we joyfully take the ever restless ocean for
+ours, only pure because never still. To be as good as
+<a name="Page_334"></a>our fathers, we must be better. They silenced
+their
+fears and subdued their prejudices, inaugurating free
+speech and equality with no precedent on the file. Let
+us rise to their level, crush appetite, and prohibit temptation
+if it rots great cities; intrench labor in sufficient
+bulwarks against that wealth which, without the tenfold
+strength of modern incorporations, wrecked the
+Grecian and Roman states; and, with a sterner effort
+still, summon woman into civil life, as re-enforcement to
+our laboring ranks, in the effort to make our civilization
+a success. Sit not like the figure on our silver
+coin, looking ever backward.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"'New occasions teach new duties,</p>
+<p>Time makes ancient good uncouth,</p>
+<p>They must upward still and onward,</p>
+<p>Who would keep abreast of truth.</p>
+<p>Lo! before us gleam her watch fires&#8212;</p>
+<p>We ourselves must pilgrims be,</p>
+<p>Launch our <i>Mayflower</i>, and steer boldly</p>
+<p>Through the desperate winter sea,</p>
+<p>Nor attempt the future's portal</p>
+<p>With the past's blood-rusted key.'"</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>That Harvard speech in the face of fashion, bigotry,
+and conservatism&#8212;so liberal, so eloquent, so brave&#8212;is a
+model for every young man, who, like the orator, would
+devote his talents to the best interests of the race,
+rather than to his personal ambition for mere worldly
+success.</p>
+<p>Toward the end of October, Miss Anthony returned,
+after a rest of two months, and we commenced work
+again on the second volume of the History. November
+2 being election day, the Republican carriage, decorated
+with flags and evergreens, came to the door for
+<a name="Page_335"></a>voters. As I owned the house and paid the taxes,
+and
+as none of the white males was home, I suggested that
+I might go down and do the voting, whereupon the
+gentlemen who represented the Republican committee
+urged me, most cordially, to do so. Accompanied by
+my faithful friend, Miss Anthony, we stepped into the
+carriage and went to the poll, held in the hotel
+where I usually went to pay taxes. When we entered
+the room it was crowded with men. I was introduced
+to the inspectors by Charles Everett, one of our
+leading citizens, who said: "Mrs. Stanton is here, gentlemen,
+for the purpose of voting. As she is a taxpayer,
+of sound mind, and of legal age, I see no reason why she
+should not exercise this right of citizenship."</p>
+<p>The inspectors were thunderstruck. I think they
+were afraid that I was about to capture the ballot
+box. One placed his arms round it, with one hand close
+over the aperture where the ballots were slipped in, and
+said, with mingled surprise and pity, "Oh, no, madam!
+Men only are allowed to vote." I then explained to
+him that, in accordance with the Constitution of New
+Jersey, women had voted in New Jersey down to 1801,
+when they were forbidden the further exercise of the
+right by an arbitrary act of the legislature, and, by a
+recent amendment to the national Constitution, Congress
+had declared that "all persons born or naturalized
+in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
+thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State
+wherein they reside" and are entitled to vote. I told
+them that I wished to cast my vote, as a citizen of the
+United States, for the candidates for United States
+offices. Two of the inspectors sat down and pulled
+their hats over their eyes, whether from shame or igno<a name="Page_336"></a>rance
+I do not know. The other held on to the box,
+and said "I know nothing about the Constitutions,
+State or national. I never read either; but I do
+know that in New Jersey, women have not voted in my
+day, and I cannot accept your ballot." So I laid my
+ballot in his hand, saying that I had the same right to
+vote that any man present had, and on him must rest
+the responsibility of denying me my rights of citizenship.</p>
+<p>All through the winter Miss Anthony and I worked
+diligently on the History. My daughter Harriot came
+from Europe in February, determined that I should return
+with her, as she had not finished her studies. To
+expedite my task on the History she seized the laboring
+oar, prepared the last chapter and corrected the proof
+as opportunity offered. As the children were scattered
+to the four points of the compass and my husband spent
+the winter in the city, we decided to lease our house and
+all take a holiday. We spent a month in New York
+city, busy on the History to the last hour, with occasional
+intervals of receiving and visiting friends. As I
+dreaded the voyage, the days flew by too fast for my
+pleasure.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_337"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+<h2>IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>Having worked diligently through nearly two years
+on the second volume of "The History of Woman Suffrage,"
+I looked forward with pleasure to a rest, in the
+Old World, beyond the reach and sound of my beloved
+Susan and the woman suffrage movement. On May
+27, 1892, I sailed with my daughter Harriot on the
+<i>Ch&acirc;teau L&eacute;oville</i> for Bordeaux. The many friends who
+came to see us off brought fruits and flowers, boxes of
+candied ginger to ward off seasickness, letters of introduction,
+and light literature for the voyage. We had
+all the daily and weekly papers, secular and religious,
+the new monthly magazines, and several novels. We
+thought we would do an immense amount of reading,
+but we did very little. Eating, sleeping, walking on
+deck, and watching the ever-changing ocean are about
+all that most people care to do. The sail down the
+harbor that bright, warm evening was beautiful, and,
+we lingered on deck in the moonlight until a late hour.</p>
+<p>I slept but little, that night, as two cats kept running
+in and out of my stateroom, and my berth was so narrow
+that I could only lie in one position&#8212;as straight
+as if already in my coffin. Under such circumstances
+I spent the night, thinking over everything that was
+painful in my whole life, and imagining all the different
+calamities that might befall my family in my absence.
+<a name="Page_338"></a>It was a night of severe introspection and
+intense dissatisfaction.
+I was glad when the morning dawned and
+I could go on deck. During the day my couch was
+widened one foot, and, at night, the cats relegated to
+other quarters.</p>
+<p>We had a smooth, pleasant, uneventful voyage, until
+the last night, when, on nearing the French coast, the
+weather became dark and stormy. The next morning
+our good steamer pushed slowly and carefully up the
+broad, muddy Gironde and landed us on the bustling
+quays of Bordeaux, where my son Theodore stood
+waiting to receive us. As we turned to say farewell to
+our sturdy ship&#8212;gazing up at its black iron sides besprinkled
+with salty foam&#8212;a feeling of deep thankfulness
+took possession of us, for she had been faithful to
+her trust, and had borne us safely from the New World
+to the Old, over thousands of miles of treacherous sea.</p>
+<p>We spent a day in driving about Bordeaux, enjoying
+the mere fact of restoration to <i>terra firma</i> after
+twelve days' imprisonment on the ocean. Maritime
+cities are much the same all the world over. The forests
+of masts, the heavily laden drays, the lounging sailors,
+the rough 'longshoremen, and the dirty quays, are
+no more characteristic of Bordeaux than New York,
+London, and Liverpool. But Bordeaux was interesting
+as the birthplace of Montesquieu and as the capital
+of ancient Guienne and Gascony.</p>
+<p>But I must not forget to mention an accident that
+happened on landing at Bordeaux. We had innumerable
+pieces of baggage, a baby carriage, rocking chair,
+a box of "The History of Woman Suffrage" for foreign
+libraries, besides the usual number of trunks and satchels,
+and one hamper, in which were many things we
+<a name="Page_339"></a>were undecided whether to take or leave. Into
+this, a
+loaded pistol had been carelessly thrown. The hamper
+being handled with an emphatic jerk by some jovial
+French sailor, the pistol exploded, shooting the bearer
+through the shoulder. He fell bleeding on the quay.
+The dynamite scare being just at its height, the general
+consternation was indescribable. Every Frenchman,
+with vehement gestures, was chattering to his utmost
+capacity, but keeping at a respectful distance from the
+hamper. No one knew what had caused the trouble;
+but Theodore was bound to make an investigation.
+He proceeded to untie the ropes and examine the contents,
+and there he found the pistol, from which, pointing
+upward, he fired two other bullets. "Alas!" said
+Hattie, "I put that pistol there, never dreaming it was
+loaded." The wounded man was taken to the hospital.
+His injuries were very slight, but the incident cost us
+two thousand francs and no end of annoyance. I was
+thankful that by some chance the pistol had not gone
+off in the hold of the vessel and set the ship on fire, and
+possibly sacrificed three hundred lives through one
+girl's carelessness. Verily we cannot be too careful in
+the use of firearms.</p>
+<p>Bordeaux is a queer old town, with its innumerable
+soldiers and priests perambulating in all directions.
+The priests, in long black gowns and large black hats,
+have a solemn aspect; but the soldiers, walking lazily
+along, or guarding buildings that seem in no danger
+from any living thing, are useless and ridiculous. The
+heavy carts and harness move the unaccustomed observer
+to constant pity for the horses. Besides everything
+that is necessary for locomotion, they have an
+endless number of ornaments, rising two or three feet
+<a name="Page_340"></a>above the horses' heads&#8212;horns, bells, feathers,
+and tassels.
+One of their carts would weigh as much as three
+of ours, and all their carriages are equally heavy.</p>
+<p>It was a bright, cool day on which we took the train
+for Toulouse, and we enjoyed the delightful run through
+the very heart of old Gascony and Languedoc. It was
+evident that we were in the South, where the sun is
+strong, for, although summer had scarcely begun, the
+country already wore a brown hue. But the narrow
+strips of growing grain, the acres of grape vines, looking
+like young currant bushes, and the fig trees scattered
+here and there, looked odd to the eye of a native
+of New York.</p>
+<p>We passed many historical spots during that afternoon
+journey up the valley of the Garonne. At Portets
+are the ruins of the Ch&acirc;teau of Langoiran, built before
+America was discovered, and, a few miles farther on, we
+came to the region of the famous wines of Sauterne and
+Ch&acirc;teau-Yquem. Saint Macaire is a very ancient
+Gallo-Roman town, where they show one churches,
+walls, and houses built fifteen centuries ago. One of
+the largest towns has a history typical of this part
+of France, where wars of religion and conquest
+were once the order of the day. It was taken and retaken
+by the Goths, Huns, Burgundians, and Saracens,
+nobody knows how many times, and belonged, successively,
+to the kings of France, to the dukes of Aquitaine,
+to the kings of England, and to the counts of Toulouse.
+I sometimes wonder whether the inhabitants of our
+American towns, whose growth and development have
+been free and untrammeled as that of a favorite child,
+appreciate the blessings that have been theirs. How
+true the lines of Goethe: "America, thou art much hap<a name="Page_341"></a>pier
+than our old continent; thou hast no castles in
+ruins, no fortresses; no useless remembrances, no
+vain enemies will interrupt the inward workings of
+thy life!"</p>
+<p>We passed through Moissac, with its celebrated
+organ, a gift of Mazarin; through Castle Sarrazin,
+founded by the Saracens in the eighth century; through
+Montauban, that stronghold of the early Protestants,
+which suffered martyrdom for its religious faith;
+through Grisolles, built on a Roman highway, and, at
+last, in the dusk of the evening, we reached "the Capital
+of the South," that city of learning&#8212;curious, interesting
+old Toulouse.</p>
+<p>Laura Curtis Bullard, in her sketch of me in "Our
+Famous Women," says: "In 1882, Mrs. Stanton went
+to France, on a visit to her son Theodore, and spent
+three months at the convent of La Sagesse, in the city
+of Toulouse." This is quite true; but I have sometimes
+tried to guess what her readers thought I was doing
+for three months in a convent. Weary of the trials
+and tribulations of this world, had I gone there to prepare
+in solitude for the next? Had I taken the veil in
+my old age? Or, like high-church Anglicans and
+Roman Catholics, had I made this my retreat? Not
+at all. My daughter wished to study French advantageously,
+my son lived in the mountains hard by, and
+the garden of La Sagesse, with its big trees, clean
+gravel paths, and cool shade, was the most delightful
+spot.</p>
+<p>In this religious retreat I met, from time to time,
+some of the most radical and liberal-minded residents
+of the South. Toulouse is one of the most important
+university centers of France, and bears with credit
+<a name="Page_342"></a>the proud title of "the learned city." With two
+distinguished
+members of the faculty, the late Dr. Nicholas
+Joly and Professor Moliner of the law school, I
+often had most interesting discussions on all the great
+questions of the hour. That three heretics&#8212;I should
+say, six, for my daughter, son, and his wife often joined
+the circle&#8212;could thus sit in perfect security, and debate,
+in the most unorthodox fashion, in these holy
+precincts, all the reforms, social, political, and religious,
+which the United States and France need in order to be
+in harmony with the spirit of the age, was a striking
+proof of the progress the world has made in freedom
+of speech. The time was when such acts would have
+cost us our lives, even if we had been caught expressing
+our heresies in the seclusion of our own homes. But
+here, under the oaks of a Catholic convent, with the
+gray-robed sisters all around us, we could point out the
+fallacies of Romanism itself, without fear or trembling.
+Glorious Nineteenth Century, what conquests are
+thine!</p>
+<p>I shall say nothing of the picturesque streets of
+antique Toulouse; nothing of the priests, who swarm
+like children in an English town; nothing of the beautifully
+carved stone fa&ccedil;ades of the ancient mansions,
+once inhabited by the nobility of Languedoc, but now
+given up to trade and commerce; nothing of the lofty
+brick cathedrals, whose exteriors remind one of London
+and whose interiors transfer you to "the gorgeous
+East"; nothing of the Capitol, with its gallery rich in
+busts of the celebrated sons of the South; nothing of
+the museum, the public garden, and the broad river
+winding through all. I must leave all these interesting
+features of Toulouse and hasten up into the Black
+<a name="Page_343"></a>Mountains, a few miles away, where I saw the
+country
+life of modern Languedoc.</p>
+<p>At Jacournassy, the country seat of Mme. Berry,
+whose daughter my son Theodore married, I spent
+a month full of surprises. How everything differed
+from America, and even from the plain below! The
+peasants, many of them at least, can neither speak
+French nor understand it. Their language is a patois,
+resembling both Spanish and Italian, and they cling
+to it with astonishing pertinacity. Their agricultural
+implements are not less quaint than their speech. The
+plow is a long beam with a most primitive share in
+the middle, a cow at one end, and a boy at the other.
+The grain is cut with a sickle and threshed with a flail
+on the barn floor, as in Scripture times. Manure is
+scattered over the fields with the hands. There was a
+certain pleasure in studying these old-time ways. I
+caught glimpses of the anti-revolutionary epoch, when
+the king ruled the state and the nobles held the lands.
+Here again I saw, as never before, what vast strides the
+world has made within one century.</p>
+<p>But, indoors, one returns to modern times. The
+table, beds, rooms of the ch&acirc;teau were much the same
+as those of Toulouse and New York city. The cooking
+is not like ours, however, unless Delmonico's skill
+be supposed to have extended to all the homes in Manhattan
+Island, which is, unfortunately, not the case.
+What an admirable product of French genius is the art
+of cooking! Of incalculable value have been the culinary
+teachings of Vatel and his followers.</p>
+<p>One of the sources of amusement, during my sojourn
+at Jacournassy, was of a literary nature. My
+son Theodore was then busy collecting the materials
+<a name="Page_344"></a>for his book entitled "The Woman Question in
+Europe,"
+and every post brought in manuscripts and letters from
+all parts of the continent, written in almost every
+tongue known to Babel. So just what I came abroad
+to avoid, I found on the very threshold where I came
+to rest. We had good linguists at the ch&acirc;teau, and
+every document finally came forth in English dress,
+which, however, often needed much altering and polishing.
+This was my part of the work. So, away off in
+the heart of France, high up in the Black Mountains,
+surrounded with French-speaking relatives and patois-speaking
+peasants, I found myself once more putting
+bad English into the best I could command, just as I
+had so often done in America, when editor of <i>The Revolution</i>,
+or when arranging manuscript for "The History
+of Woman Suffrage." But it was labor in the cause of
+my sex; it was aiding in the creation of "The Woman
+Question in Europe," and so my pen did not grow
+slack nor my hand weary.</p>
+<p>The scenery in the Black Mountains is very grand,
+and reminds one of the lofty ranges of mountains
+around the Yosemite Valley in California. In the distance
+are the snow-capped Pyrenees, producing a
+solemn beauty, a profound solitude. We used to go
+every evening where we could see the sun set and
+watch the changing shadows in the broad valley below.
+Another great pleasure here was watching the gradual
+development of my first grandchild, Elizabeth
+Cady Stanton, born at Paris, on the 3d of May, 1882.
+She was a fine child; though only three months old her
+head was covered with dark hair, and her large blue
+eyes looked out with intense earnestness from beneath
+her well-shaped brow.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_345"></a>One night I had a terrible fright. I was the
+only person
+sleeping on the ground floor of the ch&acirc;teau, and my
+room was at the extreme end of the building, with the
+staircase on the other side. I had frequently been cautioned
+not to leave my windows open, as someone
+might get in. But, as I always slept with an open window,
+winter and summer, I thought I would take the
+risk rather than endure a feeling of suffocation
+night after night. The blinds were solid, and to close
+them was to exclude all the air, so I left them open
+about a foot, braced by an iron hook. A favorite resort
+for a pet donkey was under my window, where he
+had uniformly slept in profound silence. But one
+glorious moonlight night, probably to arouse me to
+enjoy with him the exquisite beauty of our surroundings,
+he put his nose through this aperture and gave one
+of the most prolonged, resounding brays I ever heard.
+Startled from a deep sleep, I was so frightened that at
+first I could not move. My next impulse was to rush
+out and arouse the family, but, seeing a dark head in
+the window, I thought I would slam down the heavy
+sash and check the intruder before starting. But just
+as I approached the window, another agonizing bray
+announced the innocent character of my midnight
+visitor. Stretching out of the window to frighten him
+away, a gentleman in the room above me, for the
+same purpose, dashed down a pail of water, which the
+donkey and I shared equally. He ran off at a double-quick
+pace, while I made a hasty retreat.</p>
+<p>On August 20, I returned to Toulouse and our
+quiet convent. The sisters gave me a most affectionate
+welcome and I had many pleasant chats, sitting
+in the gardens, with the priests and professors.
+<a name="Page_346"></a>Several times my daughter and I attended High
+Mass
+in the cathedral, built in the eleventh century. Being
+entirely new to us it was a most entertaining spectacular
+performance. With our American ideas of religious
+devotion, it seemed to us that the people, as well as the
+building, belonged to the Dark Ages. About fifty
+priests, in mantles, gowns, and capes, some black, some
+yellow,&#8212;with tinseled fringes and ornamentation,&#8212;with
+all manner of gestures, genuflections, salutations, kneelings,
+and burning of incense; with prayers, admonitions,
+and sacraments, filled the altar with constant motion.</p>
+<p>A tall man, dressed in red, wheeled in a large basket
+filled with bread, which the priests, with cups of wine,
+passed up and down among those kneeling at the altar.
+At least half a dozen times the places at the altar were
+filled&#8212;chiefly with women. We counted the men,&#8212;only
+seven,&#8212;and those were old and tremulous, with
+one foot in the grave. The whole performance was
+hollow and mechanical. People walked in, crossed
+themselves at the door with holy water, and, while
+kneeling and saying their prayers, looked about examining
+the dress of each newcomer, their lips moving
+throughout, satisfied in reeling off the allotted number
+of prayers in a given time. The one redeeming feature
+in the whole performance was the grand music. The
+deep-toned organ, whose sounds reverberated through
+the lofty arches, was very impressive.</p>
+<p>The convent consisted of three large buildings, each
+three stories high, and a residence for the priests; also
+a chapel, where women, at their devotions, might be
+seen at various hours from four o'clock in the morning
+until evening. Inclosed within a high stone wall were
+beautiful gardens with fountains and shrines, where
+<a name="Page_347"></a>images of departed saints, in alcoves lighted
+with
+tapers were worshiped on certain days of the year.</p>
+<p>Such were our environments, and our minds naturally
+often dwelt on the nature and power of the religion
+that had built up and maintained for centuries
+these peaceful resorts, where cultivated, scholarly men,
+and women of fine sensibilities, could find rest from
+the struggles of the outside world. The sisters,
+who managed this large establishment, seemed happy
+in the midst of their severe and multifarious duties.
+Of the undercurrent of their lives I could not
+judge, but on the surface all seemed smooth and
+satisfactory. They evidently took great pleasure in
+the society of each other. Every evening, from six to
+eight, they all sat in the gardens in a circle together,
+sewing, knitting, and chatting, with occasional merry
+bursts of laughter. Their existence is not, by many degrees,
+as monotonous as that of most women in isolated
+households&#8212;especially of the farmer's wife in her solitary
+home, miles away from a village and a post office.
+They taught a school of fifty orphan girls, who lived in
+the convent, and for whom they frequently had entertainments.
+They also had a few boarders of the old
+aristocracy of France, who hate the Republic and still
+cling to their belief in Popes and Kings. For the
+purpose of perfecting herself in the language, my daughter
+embraced every opportunity to talk with all she met,
+and thus learned the secrets of their inner life. As
+Sister Rose spoke English, I gleaned from her what
+knowledge I could as to their views of time and eternity.
+I found their faith had not made much progress through
+the terrible upheavals of the French Revolution. Although
+the Jesuits have been driven out of France, and
+<a name="Page_348"></a>the pictures of Saints, the Virgin Mary, and
+Christ,
+have been banished from the walls of their schools and
+colleges, the sincere Catholics are more devoted to their
+religion because of these very persecutions.</p>
+<p>Theodore, his wife, and baby, and Mr. Blatch, a
+young Englishman, came to visit us. The sisters and
+school children manifested great delight in the baby,
+and the former equal pleasure in Mr. Blatch's marked
+attention to my daughter, as babies and courtships
+were unusual tableaux in a convent. As my daughter
+was studying for a university degree in mathematics, I
+went with her to the Lyc&eacute;e, a dreary apartment in a
+gloomy old building with bare walls, bare floors, dilapidated
+desks and benches, and an old rusty stove. Yet
+mid such surroundings, the professor always appeared
+in full dress, making a stately bow to his class. I had
+heard so much of the universities of France that I had
+pictured to myself grand buildings, like those of our
+universities; but, instead, I found that the lectures were
+given in isolated rooms, here, there, and anywhere&#8212;uniformly
+dreary inside and outside.</p>
+<p>The first day we called on Professor Depesyrons.
+After making all our arrangements for books and lectures,
+he suddenly turned to my daughter, and, pointing
+to the flounces on her dress, her jaunty hat, and some
+flowers in a buttonhole, he smiled, and said: "All this,
+and yet you love mathematics?" As we entered the
+court, on our way to the Lyc&eacute;e and inquired for the
+professor's lecture room, the students in little groups
+watched us closely. The one who escorted us asked
+several questions, and discovered, by our accent, that
+we were foreigners, a sufficient excuse for the novelty
+of our proceeding. The professor received us most
+<a name="Page_349"></a>graciously, and ordered the janitor to bring us
+chairs,
+table, paper, and pencils.</p>
+<p>Then we chatted pleasantly until the hour arrived for
+his lecture. As I had but little interest in the subject,
+and as the problems were pronounced in a foreign
+tongue, I took my afternoon nap. There was no danger
+of affronting the professor by such indifference to
+his eloquence, as he faced the blackboard, filling it with
+signs and figures as rapidly as possible; then expunging
+them to refill again and again, without a break in his
+explanations; talking as fast as his hand moved. Harriot
+struggled several days to follow him, but found it
+impossible, so we gave up the chase after cubes and
+squares, and she devoted herself wholly to the study
+of the language. These were days, for me, of perfect
+rest and peace. Everything moved as if by magic, no
+hurry and bustle, never a cross or impatient word
+spoken. As only one or two of the sisters spoke English,
+I could read under the trees uninterruptedly for
+hours. Emerson, Ruskin, and Carlyle were my chosen
+companions.</p>
+<p>We made several pleasant acquaintances among
+some Irish families who were trying to live on their
+reduced incomes in Toulouse. One of these gave
+us a farewell ball. As several companies of the French
+army were stationed there, we met a large number of
+officers at the ball. I had always supposed the French
+were graceful dancers. I was a quiet "looker on in
+Vienna," so I had an opportunity of comparing the
+skill of the different nationalities. All admitted that
+none glided about so easily and gracefully as the Americans.
+They seemed to move without the least effort,
+while the English, the French, and the Germans labored
+<a name="Page_350"></a>in their dancing, bobbing up and down, jumping
+and
+jerking, out of breath and red in the face in five
+minutes. One great pleasure we had in Toulouse was
+the music of the military band in the public gardens,
+where, for half a cent, we could have a chair and enjoy
+pure air and sweet music for two hours.</p>
+<p>We gave a farewell dinner at the Tivollier Hotel to
+some of our friends. With speeches and toasts we had
+a merry time. Professor Joly was the life of the occasion.
+He had been a teacher in France for forty
+years and had just retired on a pension. I presented
+to him "The History of Woman Suffrage," and he
+wrote a most complimentary review of it in one of the
+leading French journals. Every holiday must have its
+end. Other duties called me to England. So, after a
+hasty good-by to Jacournassy and La Sagesse, to the
+Black Mountains and Toulouse, to Languedoc and
+the South, we took train one day in October, just as
+the first leaves began to fall, and, in fourteen hours, were
+at Paris. I had not seen the beautiful French capital
+since 1840. My sojourn within its enchanting walls
+was short,&#8212;too short,&#8212;and I woke one morning to find
+myself, after an absence of forty-two years, again on the
+shores of England, and before my eyes were fairly open,
+grim old London welcomed me back. But the many
+happy hours spent in "merry England" during the
+winter of 1882-83 have not effaced from my memory
+the four months in Languedoc.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_351"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+<h2>REFORMS AND REFORMERS IN GREAT BRITAIN.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>Reaching London in the fogs and mists of November,
+1882, the first person I met, after a separation of
+many years, was our revered and beloved friend William
+Henry Channing. The tall, graceful form was somewhat
+bent; the sweet, thoughtful face somewhat sadder; the
+crimes and miseries of the world seemed heavy
+on his heart. With his refined, nervous organization,
+the gloomy moral and physical atmosphere of London
+was the last place on earth where that beautiful
+life should have ended. I found him in earnest
+conversation with my daughter and the young Englishman
+she was soon to marry, advising them not
+only as to the importance of the step they were about
+to take, but as to the minor points to be observed in
+the ceremony. At the appointed time a few friends
+gathered in Portland Street Chapel, and as we approached
+the altar our friend appeared in surplice and
+gown, his pale, spiritual face more tender and beautiful
+than ever. This was the last marriage service he ever
+performed, and it was as pathetic as original. His
+whole appearance was so in harmony with the exquisite
+sentiments he uttered, that we who listened felt as if,
+for the time being, we had entered with him into the
+Holy of Holies.</p>
+<p>Some time after, Miss Anthony and I called on him
+to return our thanks for the very complimentary review
+he had written of "The History of Woman Suf<a name="Page_352"></a>frage."
+He thanked us in turn for the many pleasant
+memories we had revived in those pages, "but," said
+he, "they have filled me with indignation, too, at the
+repeated insults offered to women so earnestly engaged
+in honest endeavors for the uplifting of mankind. I
+blushed for my sex more than once in reading these
+volumes." We lingered long, talking over the events
+connected with our great struggle for freedom. He
+dwelt with tenderness on our disappointments, and
+entered more fully into the humiliations suffered by
+women, than any man we ever met. His views were
+as appreciative of the humiliation of woman, through the
+degradation of sex, as those expressed by John Stuart
+Mill in his wonderful work on "The Subjection of
+Women." He was intensely interested in Frances
+Power Cobbe's efforts to suppress vivisection, and the
+last time I saw him he was presiding at a parlor meeting
+where Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell gave an admirable
+address on the cause and cure of the social evil. Mr.
+Channing spoke beautifully in closing, paying a warm
+and merited compliment to Dr. Blackwell's clear and
+concise review of all the difficulties involved in the
+question.</p>
+<p>Reading so much of English reformers in our journals,
+of the Brights, McLarens, the Taylors; of Lydia Becker,
+Josephine Butler, and Octavia Hill, and of their great
+demonstrations with lords and members of Parliament
+in the chair,&#8212;we had longed to compare the
+actors in those scenes with our speakers on this
+side of the water. At last we met them one and all in
+great public meetings and parlor reunions, at dinners
+and receptions. We listened to their public men in
+Parliament, the courts, and the pulpit; to the women
+<a name="Page_353"></a>in their various assemblies; and came to the
+conclusion
+that Americans surpass them in oratory and the conduct
+of their meetings. A hesitating, apologetic manner
+seems to be the national custom for an exordium
+on all questions. Even their ablest men who have
+visited this country, such as Kingsley, Stanley, Arnold,
+Tyndall, and Coleridge, have all been criticised by the
+American public for their elocutionary defects. They
+have no speakers to compare with Wendell Phillips,
+George William Curtis, or Anna Dickinson, although
+John Bright is without peer among his countrymen, as
+is Mrs. Besant among the women. The women, as a
+general rule, are more fluent than the men.</p>
+<p>I reached England in time to attend the great demonstration
+in Glasgow, to celebrate the extension of the
+municipal franchise to the women of Scotland. It was
+a remarkable occasion. St. Andrew's immense hall
+was packed with women; a few men were admitted to
+the gallery at half a crown apiece. Over five thousand
+people were present. When a Scotch audience is thoroughly
+roused, nothing can equal the enthusiasm. The
+arrival of the speakers on the platform was announced
+with the wildest applause; the entire audience rising,
+waving their handkerchiefs, and clapping their hands,
+and every compliment paid the people of Scotland was
+received with similar outbursts. Mrs. McLaren, a
+sister of John Bright, presided, and made the opening
+speech. I had the honor, on this occasion, of addressing
+an audience for the first time in the Old World.
+Many others spoke briefly. There were too many
+speakers; no one had time to warm up to the point of
+eloquence.</p>
+<p>Our system of conventions, of two or three days'
+<a name="Page_354"></a>duration, with long speeches discussing pointed
+and
+radical resolutions, is quite unknown in England.
+Their meetings consist of one session of a few hours,
+into which they crowd all the speakers they can summon.
+They have a few tame, printed resolutions, on
+which there can be no possible difference of opinion,
+with the names of those who are to speak appended.
+Each of these is read and a few short speeches are made,
+that may or may not have the slightest reference to the
+resolutions, which are then passed. The last is usually
+one of thanks to some lord or member of the
+House of Commons, who may have condescended to
+preside at the meeting or do something for the measure
+in Parliament. The Queen is referred to tenderly in
+most of the speeches, although she has never done anything
+to merit the approbation of the advocates of suffrage
+for women.</p>
+<p>From Glasgow quite a large party of the Brights and
+McLarens went to Edinburgh, where the Hon. Duncan
+McLaren gave us a warm welcome to Newington
+House, under the very shadow of the Salisbury crags.
+These and the Pentland Hills are remarkable features
+in the landscape as you approach this beautiful city with
+its mountains and castles. We passed a few charming
+days driving about, visiting old friends, and discussing
+the status of woman on both sides of the Atlantic.
+Here we met Elizabeth Pease Nichol and Jane and Eliza
+Wigham, whom I had not seen since we sat together in
+the World's Anti-slavery Convention, in London, in
+1840. Yet I knew Mrs. Nichol at once; her strongly
+marked face was not readily forgotten.</p>
+<p>I went with the family on Sunday to the Friends'
+meeting, where a most unusual manifestation for that
+<a name="Page_355"></a>decorous sect occurred. I had been told that, if
+I felt
+inclined, it would be considered quite proper for me to
+make some remarks, and just as I was revolving an
+opening sentence to a few thoughts I desired to present,
+a man arose in a remote part of the house and began, in
+a low voice, to give his testimony as to the truth that
+was in him. All eyes were turned toward him, when
+suddenly a Friend leaned over the back of the seat, seized
+his coat tails and jerked him down in a most emphatic
+manner. The poor man buried his face in his hands,
+and maintained a profound silence. I learned afterward
+that he was a bore, and the Friend in the rear thought it
+wise to nip him in the bud. This scene put to flight
+all intentions of speaking on my part lest I, too, might
+get outside the prescribed limits and be suppressed by
+force. I dined, that day, with Mrs. Nichol, at Huntly
+Lodge, where she has entertained in turn many of our
+American reformers. Her walls have echoed to the
+voices of Garrison, Rogers, Samuel J. May, Parker
+Pillsbury, Henry C. Wright, Douglass, Remond, and
+hosts of English philanthropists. Though over eighty
+years of age, she was still awake to all questions of the
+hour, and generous in her hospitalities as of yore.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Margaret Lucas, whose whole soul was in the
+temperance movement, escorted me from Edinburgh to
+Manchester, to be present at another great demonstration
+in the Town Hall, the finest building in that
+district. It had just been completed, and, with its ante-room,
+dining hall, and various apartments for social
+entertainments, was by far the most perfect hall I
+had seen in England. There I was entertained by
+Mrs. Matilda Roby, who, with her husband, gave me
+a most hospitable reception. She invited several
+<a name="Page_356"></a>friends to luncheon one day, among others Miss
+Lydia
+Becker, editor of the <i>Suffrage Journal</i> in that city, and
+the Rev. Mr. Steinthal, who had visited this country
+and spoken on our platform. The chief topic at the
+table was John Stuart Mill, his life, character, writings,
+and his position with reference to the political rights
+of women. In the evening we went to see Ristori in
+'"Queen Elizabeth." Having seen her, many years before,
+in America, I was surprised to find her still so
+vigorous. And thus, week after week, suffrage meetings,
+receptions, dinners, luncheons, and theaters pleasantly
+alternated.</p>
+<p>The following Sunday we heard in London a grand
+sermon from Moncure D. Conway, and had a pleasant
+interview with him and Mrs. Conway at the close of
+the session. Later we spent a few days at their artistic
+home, filled with books, pictures, and mementos
+from loving friends. A billiard room, with well-worn
+cues, balls, and table&#8212;quite a novel adjunct to a
+parsonage&#8212;may, in a measure, account for his vigorous
+sermons. A garden reception to Mr. and Mrs.
+Howells gave us an opportunity to see the American
+novelist surrounded by his English friends.</p>
+<p>Soon after this Mr. Conway asked me to fill his
+pulpit. I retired Saturday night, very nervous over my
+sermon for the next day, and the feeling steadily increased
+until I reached the platform; but once there
+my fears were all dissipated, and I never enjoyed speaking
+more than on that occasion, for I had been so long
+oppressed with the degradation of woman under canon
+law and church discipline, that I had a sense of relief
+in pouring out my indignation. My theme was, "What
+has Christianity done for Woman?" and by the
+<a name="Page_357"></a>facts of history I showed clearly that to no
+form of religion
+was woman indebted for one impulse of freedom,
+as all alike have taught her inferiority and subjection.
+No lofty virtues can emanate from such a
+condition. Whatever heights of dignity and purity
+women have individually attained can in no way be attributed
+to the dogmas of their religion.</p>
+<p>With my son Theodore, always deeply interested in
+my friends and public work, I called, during my stay in
+London, on Mrs. Grey, Miss Jessie Boucherett, and
+Dr. Hoggan, who had written essays for "The Woman
+Question in Europe"; on our American minister (Mr.
+Lowell), Mr. and Mrs. George W. Smalley, and many
+other notable men and women. By appointment we
+had an hour with the Hon. John Bright, at his residence
+on Piccadilly. As his photograph, with his fame, had
+reached America, his fine face and head, as well as his
+political opinions, were quite familiar to us. He received
+us with great cordiality, and manifested a clear
+knowledge and deep interest in regard to all American
+affairs. Free trade and woman suffrage formed the
+basis of our conversation; the literature of our respective
+countries and our great men and women were the
+lighter topics of the occasion. He was not sound in
+regard to the political rights of women, but it is not
+given to any one man to be equally clear on all questions.
+He voted for John Stuart Mill's amendment to
+the Household Suffrage Bill in 1867, but he said,
+"that was a personal favor to a friend, without any
+strong convictions as to the merits of what I considered
+a purely sentimental measure."</p>
+<p>We attended the meeting called to rejoice over the
+passage of the Married Women's Property Bill, which
+<a name="Page_358"></a>gave to the women of England, in 1882, what we
+had
+enjoyed in many States in this country since 1848.
+Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Elmy, and
+several members of Parliament made short speeches of
+congratulation to those who had been instrumental in
+carrying the measure. It was generally conceded that
+to the tact and persistence of Mrs. Jacob Bright, more
+than to any other person, belonged the credit of that
+achievement. Jacob Bright was at the time a member
+of Parliament, and fully in sympathy with the bill; and,
+while Mrs. Bright exerted all her social influence to
+make it popular with the members, her husband, thoroughly
+versed in Parliamentary tactics, availed himself
+of every technicality to push the bill through the
+House of Commons. Mrs. Bright's chief object in
+securing this bill, aside from establishing the right that
+every human being has to his own property, was to
+place married women on an even plane with widows and
+spinsters, thereby making them qualified voters.</p>
+<p>The next day we went out to Barn Elms to visit Mr.
+and Mrs. Charles McLaren. He was a member of Parliament,
+a Quaker by birth and education, and had
+sustained, to his uttermost ability, the suffrage movement.
+His charming wife, the daughter of Mrs.
+Pochin, is worthy of the noble mother who was
+among the earliest leaders on that question&#8212;speaking
+and writing with ability, on all phases of the
+subject. Barn Elms is a grand old estate, a few
+miles out of London. It was the dairy farm of
+Queen Elizabeth, and was presented by her to Sir
+Francis Walsingham. Since then it has been inhabited
+by many persons of note. It has existed as an
+estate since the time of the early Saxon kings, and the
+<a name="Page_359"></a>record of the sale of Barn Elms in the time of
+King
+Athelstane is still extant. What with its well-kept
+lawns, fine old trees, glimpses here and there of the
+Thames winding round its borders, and its wealth of
+old associations, it is, indeed, a charming spot. Our
+memory of those days will not go back to Saxon kings,
+but remain with the liberal host and hostess, the beautiful
+children, and the many charming acquaintances
+we met at that fireside. I doubt whether any of the
+ancient lords and ladies who dispensed their hospitalities
+under that roof did in any way surpass the present
+occupants. Mrs. McLaren, interested in all the reforms
+of the day, is radical in her ideas, a brilliant talker, and,
+for one so young, remarkably well informed on all political
+questions.</p>
+<p>It was at Barn Elms I met, for the first time, Mrs.
+Fannie Hertz, to whom I was indebted for many pleasant
+acquaintances afterward. She is said to know more
+distinguished literary people than any other woman in
+London. I saw her, too, several times in her home;
+meeting, at her Sunday-afternoon receptions, many persons
+I was desirous to know. On one occasion I found
+George Jacob Holyoake there, surrounded by several
+young ladies, all stoutly defending the Nihilists in
+Russia, and their right to plot their way to freedom.
+They counted a dynasty of Czars as nothing in the balance
+with the liberties of a whole people. As I joined
+the circle, Mr. Holyoake called my attention to the fact
+that he was the only one in favor of peaceful measures.
+"Now," said he, "I have often heard it said on your
+platform that the feminine element in politics would
+bring about perpetual peace in government, and here
+all these ladies are advocating: the worst forms of vio<a
+ name="Page_360"></a>lence
+in the name of liberty." "Ah!" said I, "lay on
+their shoulders the responsibility of governing, and they
+would soon become as mild and conservative as you
+seem to be." He then gave us his views on co-operation,
+the only remedy for many existing evils, which he
+thought would be the next step toward a higher
+civilization.</p>
+<p>There, too, I met some Positivists, who, though
+liberal on religious questions, were very narrow as
+to the sphere of woman. The difference in sex,
+which is the very reason why men and women should
+be associated in all forms of activity, is to them
+the strongest reason why they should be separated.
+Mrs. Hertz belongs to the Harrison school of Positivists.
+I went with her to one of Mrs. Orr's receptions,
+where we met Robert Browning, a fine-looking
+man of seventy years, with white hair and mustache.
+He was frank, easy, playful, and brilliant in
+conversation. Mrs. Orr seemed to be taking a very
+pessimistic view of our present sphere of action, which
+Mr. Browning, with poetic coloring, was trying to paint
+more hopefully.</p>
+<p>The next day I dined with Margaret Bright Lucas,
+in company with John P. Thomasson, member of
+Parliament, and his wife, and, afterward, we went
+to the House of Commons and had the good fortune
+to hear Gladstone, Parnell, and Sir Charles Dilke.
+Seeing Bradlaugh seated outside of the charmed circle,
+I sent my card to him, and, in the corridor, we had a
+few moments' conversation. I asked him if he thought
+he would eventually get his seat. He replied, "Most
+assuredly I will. I shall open the next campaign with
+such an agitation as will rouse our politicians to some
+<a name="Page_361"></a>consideration of the changes gradually coming
+over the
+face of things in this country."</p>
+<p>The place assigned ladies in the House of Commons
+is really a disgrace to a country ruled by a queen. This
+dark perch is the highest gallery, immediately over the
+speaker's desk and government seats, behind a fine wire
+netting, so that it is quite impossible to see or hear
+anything. The sixteen persons who can crowd into the
+front row, by standing with their noses partly through
+the open network, can have the satisfaction of seeing
+the cranial arch of their rulers and hearing an occasional
+paean to liberty, or an Irish growl at the lack of it. I
+was told that this network was to prevent the members
+on the floor from being disturbed by the beauty of the
+women. On hearing this I remarked that I was devoutly
+thankful that our American men were not so
+easily disturbed, and that the beauty of our women was
+not of so dangerous a type. I could but contrast
+our spacious galleries in that magnificent Capitol at
+Washington, as well as in our grand State Capitols,
+where hundreds of women can sit at their ease and see
+and hear their rulers, with these dark, dingy buildings.
+My son, who had a seat on the floor just opposite the
+ladies' gallery, said he could compare our appearance
+to nothing but birds in a cage. He could not distinguish
+an outline of anybody. All he could see was the
+moving of feathers and furs or some bright ribbon or
+flower.</p>
+<p>In the libraries, the courts, and the House of Lords,
+I found many suggestive subjects of thought. It was
+interesting to find, on the frescoed walls, many historical
+scenes in which women had taken a prominent part.
+Among others there was Jane Lane assisting Charles
+<a name="Page_362"></a>II. to escape, and Alice Lisle concealing the
+fugitives
+after the battle of Sedgemoor. Six wives of Henry
+VIII. stood forth, a solemn pageant when one recalled
+their sad fate. Alas! whether for good or ill, women
+must ever fill a large space in the tragedies of the
+world.</p>
+<p>I passed a few pleasant hours in the house where
+Macaulay spent his last years. The once spacious
+library and the large bow-window, looking out on a
+beautiful lawn, where he sat, from day to day, writing
+his glowing periods, possessed a peculiar charm for me,
+as the surroundings of genius always do. I thought,
+as I stood there, how often he had unconsciously gazed
+on each object in searching for words rich enough to
+gild his ideas. The house was owned and occupied by
+Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Winckworth. It was at one of
+their sociable Sunday teas that many pleasant memories
+of the great historian were revived.</p>
+<p>One of the most remarkable and genial women I met
+was Miss Frances Power Cobbe. She called one afternoon,
+and sipped with me the five o'clock tea, a uniform
+practice in England. She was of medium height, stout,
+rosy, and vigorous-looking, with a large, well-shaped
+head, a strong, happy face, and gifted with rare powers
+of conversation. I felt very strongly attracted to her.
+She was frank and cordial, and pronounced in all her
+views. She gave us an account of her efforts to rescue
+unhappy cats and dogs from the hands of the vivisectionists.
+We saw her, too, in her home, and in her
+office in Victoria Street. The perfect order in which
+her books and papers were arranged, and the exquisite
+neatness of the apartments, were refreshing to behold.</p>
+<p>My daughter, having decided opinions of her own,
+<a name="Page_363"></a>was soon at loggerheads with Miss Cobbe on the
+question
+of vivisection. After we had examined several
+German and French books, with illustrations showing
+the horrible cruelty inflicted on cats and dogs, she enlarged
+on the hypocrisy and wickedness of these scientists,
+and, turning to my daughter, said: "Would you
+shake hands with one of these vivisectionists? Yes,"
+said Harriot, "I should be proud to shake hands with
+Virchow, the great German scientist, for his kindness
+to a young American girl. She applied to several professors
+to be admitted to their classes, but all refused
+except Virchow; he readily assented, and requested his
+students to treat her with becoming courtesy. 'If any
+of you behave otherwise,' said he, 'I shall feel myself
+personally insulted.' She entered his classes and pursued
+her studies, unmolested and with great success.
+Now, would you, Miss Cobbe, refuse to shake hands
+with any of your statesmen, scientists, clergymen, lawyers,
+or physicians who treat women with constant indignities
+and insult?" "Oh, no!" said Miss Cobbe.
+"Then," said Harriot, "you estimate the physical suffering
+of cats and dogs as of more consequence than the
+humiliation of human beings. The man who tortures
+a cat for a scientific purpose is not as low in the scale
+of beings, in my judgment, as one who sacrifices his own
+daughter to some cruel custom."</p>
+<p>As we were, just then, reading Froude's "Life of
+Carlyle," we drove by the house where Carlyle had lived,
+and paused a moment at the door where poor Jennie
+went in and out so often with a heavy heart. The book
+gives a painful record of a great soul struggling with
+poverty and disappointment; the hope of success, as
+an author, so long deferred and never realized. His
+<a name="Page_364"></a>foolish pride of independence and headship, and
+his utter
+indifference to his domestic duties and the comfort of
+his wife made the picture still darker. Poor Jennie!
+fitted to shine in any circle, yet doomed, all her married
+life, to domestic drudgery, instead of associations
+with the great man for whose literary companionship
+she had sacrificed everything.</p>
+<p>At one of Miss Biggs' receptions Miss Anthony and
+I met Mr. Stansfeld, M.P., who had labored faithfully
+for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act, and had
+in a measure been successful. We had the honor of an
+interview with Lord Shaftesbury, at one of his crowded
+"at homes," and found him a little uncertain as to the
+wisdom of allowing married women to vote, for fear of
+disturbing the peace of the family. I have often wondered
+if men see, in this objection, what a fatal admission
+they make as to their love of domination.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony was present at the great Liberal Conference,
+at Leeds, on October 17, 1882, to which Mrs.
+Helen Bright Clark, Miss Jane Cobden, Mrs. Tanner,
+Mrs. Scatcherd, and several other ladies were duly
+elected delegates from their respective Liberal Leagues.
+Mrs. Clark and Miss Cobden, daughters of the
+great corn-law reformers, spoke eloquently in favor
+of the resolution to extend Parliamentary suffrage
+to women, which was presented by Walter McLaren
+of Bradford. As Mrs. Clark made her impassioned
+appeal for the recognition of woman's political
+equality in the next bill for extension of suffrage,
+that immense gathering of sixteen hundred delegates
+was hushed into profound silence. For a
+daughter to speak thus in that great representative convention,
+in opposition to her loved and honored father,
+<a name="Page_365"></a>the acknowledged leader of that party, was an
+act of
+heroism and fidelity to her own highest convictions
+almost without a parallel in English history, and the
+effect on the audience was as thrilling as it was surprising.
+The resolution was passed by a large majority.
+At the reception given to John Bright that evening,
+as Mrs. Clark approached the dais on which her
+noble father stood shaking the hands of passing friends,
+she remarked to her husband, "I wonder if father has
+heard of my speech this morning, and if he will forgive
+me for thus publicly differing with him?" The query
+was soon answered. As he caught the first glimpse of
+his daughter he stepped down, and, pressing her hand
+affectionately, kissed her on either cheek.</p>
+<p>The next evening the great Quaker statesman was
+heard by the admiring thousands who could crowd into
+Victoria Hall, while thousands, equally desirous to hear,
+failed to get tickets of admission. It was a magnificent
+sight, and altogether a most impressive gathering of
+the people. Miss Anthony, with her friends, sat in the
+gallery opposite the great platform, where they had a
+fine view of the whole audience. When John Bright,
+escorted by Sir Wilfrid Lawson, took his seat, the immense
+crowd rose, waving hats and handkerchiefs, and,
+with the wildest enthusiasm, gave cheer after cheer in
+honor of the great leader. Sir Wilfrid Lawson, in his
+introductory remarks, facetiously alluded to the resolution
+adopted by the Conference as somewhat in advance
+of the ideas of the speaker of the evening. The
+house broke into roars of laughter, while the Father of
+Liberalism, perfectly convulsed, joined in the general
+merriment.</p>
+<p>But when at length his time to speak had come, and
+<a name="Page_366"></a>Mr. Bright went over the many steps of progress
+that
+had been taken by the Liberal party, he cunningly
+dodged the question of the emancipation of the
+women of England. He skipped round the agitation
+of 1867, and John Stuart Mill's amendment presented
+at that time in the House of Commons; the extension
+of the municipal suffrage in 1869; the participation of
+women in the establishment of national schools under
+the law of 1870, both as voters and members of school
+boards; the Married Women's Property Bill of 1882;
+the large and increasing vote for the extension of Parliamentary
+suffrage in the House of Commons, and the
+adoption of the resolution by that great Conference the
+day before. All these successive steps toward woman's
+emancipation he carefully remembered to forget.</p>
+<p>While in London Miss Anthony and I attended several
+enthusiastic reform meetings. We heard Bradlaugh
+address his constituency on that memorable day
+at Trafalgar Square, at the opening of Parliament, when
+violence was anticipated and the Parliament Houses
+were surrounded by immense crowds, with the military
+and police in large numbers, to maintain order. We
+heard Michael Davitt and Miss Helen Taylor at a great
+meeting in Exeter Hall; the former on home rule for
+Ireland, and the latter on the nationalization of land.
+The facts and figures given in these two lectures, as to
+the abject poverty of the people and the cruel system
+by which every inch of land had been grabbed by their
+oppressors, were indeed appalling. A few days before
+sailing we made our last visit to Ernestine L. Rose, and
+found our noble coadjutor, though in delicate health,
+pleasantly situated in the heart of London, as deeply
+interested as ever in the struggles of the hour.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_367"></a>A great discomfort, in all English homes, is
+the inadequate
+system of heating. A moderate fire in the grate
+is the only mode of heating, and they seem quite oblivious
+to the danger of throwing a door open into a cold
+hall at one's back, while the servants pass in and out
+with the various courses at dinner. As we Americans
+were sorely tried, under such circumstances, it was decided,
+in the home of my son-in-law, Mr. Blatch, to
+have a hall-stove, which, after a prolonged search, was
+found in London and duly installed as a presiding deity
+to defy the dampness that pervades all those ivy-covered
+habitations, as well as the neuralgia that
+wrings their possessors. What a blessing it proved,
+more than any one thing making the old English house
+seem like an American home! The delightful summer
+heat we, in America, enjoy in the coldest seasons, is
+quite unknown to our Saxon cousins. Although many
+came to see our stove in full working order, yet we
+could not persuade them to adopt the American system
+of heating the whole house at an even temperature.
+They cling to the customs of their fathers with an obstinacy
+that is incomprehensible to us, who are always
+ready to try experiments. Americans complain bitterly
+of the same freezing experiences in France and
+Germany, and, in turn, foreigners all criticise our overheated
+houses and places of amusement.</p>
+<p>While attending a meeting in Birmingham I stayed
+with a relative of Joseph Sturge, whose home I had
+visited forty years before. The meeting was called to
+discuss the degradation of women under the Contagious
+Diseases Act. Led by Josephine Butler, the
+women of England were deeply stirred on the question
+of its repeal and have since secured it. I heard Mrs.
+<a name="Page_368"></a>Butler speak in many of her society meetings as
+well
+as on other occasions. Her style was not unlike that
+one hears in Methodist camp meetings from the best
+cultivated of that sect; her power lies in her deeply religious
+enthusiasm. In London we met Emily Faithful,
+who had just returned from a lecturing tour in the
+United States, and were much amused with her experiences.
+Having taken prolonged trips over the whole
+country, from Maine to Texas, for many successive
+years, Miss Anthony and I could easily add the superlative
+to all her narrations.</p>
+<p>It was a pleasant surprise to meet the large number
+of Americans usually at the receptions of Mrs. Peter
+Taylor. Graceful and beautiful, in full dress, standing
+beside her husband, who evidently idolized her, Mrs.
+Taylor appeared quite as refined in her drawing room as
+if she had never been exposed to the public gaze while
+presiding over a suffrage convention. Mrs. Taylor is
+called the mother of the suffrage movement. The reform
+has not been carried on in all respects to her taste,
+nor on what she considers the basis of high principle.
+Neither she nor Mrs. Jacob Bright has ever been satisfied
+with the bill asking the rights of suffrage for
+"widows and spinsters" only. To have asked this
+right "for all women duly qualified," as but few married
+women are qualified through possessing property in
+their own right, would have been substantially the
+same, without making any invidious distinctions. Mrs.
+Taylor and Mrs. Bright felt that, as married women
+were the greatest sufferers under the law, they should
+be the first rather than the last to be enfranchised. The
+others, led by Miss Becker, claimed that it was good
+policy to make the demand for "spinsters and widows,"
+<a name="Page_369"></a>and thus exclude the "family unit" and "man's
+headship"
+from the discussion; and yet these were the very
+points on which the objections were invariably based.
+They claimed that, if "spinsters and widows" were enfranchised,
+they would be an added power to secure to
+married women their rights. But the history of the
+past gives us no such assurance. It is not certain that
+women would be more just than men, and a small privileged
+class of aristocrats have long governed their fellow-countrymen.
+The fact that the spinsters in the
+movement advocated such a bill, shows that they were
+not to be trusted in extending it. John Stuart Mill,
+too, was always opposed to the exclusion of married
+women in the demand for suffrage.</p>
+<p>My sense of justice was severely tried by all I heard
+of the persecutions of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh
+for their publications on the right and duty of parents
+to limit population. Who can contemplate the sad
+condition of multitudes of young children in the Old
+World whose fate is to be brought up in ignorance and
+vice&#8212;a swarming, seething mass which nobody owns&#8212;without
+seeing the need of free discussion of the philosophical
+principles that underlie these tangled social
+problems? The trials of Foote and Ramsey, too, for
+blasphemy, seemed unworthy a great nation in the
+nineteenth century. Think of well-educated men of
+good moral standing thrown into prison in solitary confinement,
+for speaking lightly of the Hebrew idea of
+Jehovah and the New Testament account of the birth
+of Jesus! Our Protestant clergy never hesitate to
+make the dogmas and superstitions of the Catholic
+Church seem as absurd as possible, and why should not
+those who imagine they have outgrown Protestant
+<a name="Page_370"></a>superstitions make them equally ridiculous?
+Whatever
+is true can stand investigation and ridicule.</p>
+<p>In the last of April, when the wildflowers were in their
+glory, Mrs. Mellen and her lovely daughter, Daisy, came
+down to our home at Basingstoke to enjoy its beauty.
+As Mrs. Mellen had known Charles Kingsley and entertained
+him at her residence in Colorado, she felt a
+desire to see his former home. Accordingly, one bright
+morning, Mr. Blatch drove us to Eversley, through
+Strathfieldsaye, the park of the Duke of Wellington.
+This magnificent place was given to him by the English
+government after the battle of Waterloo. A lofty
+statue of the duke, that can be seen for miles around,
+stands at one entrance. A drive of a few miles further
+brought us to the parish church of Canon Kingsley,
+where he preached many years, and where all that is
+mortal of him now lies buried. We wandered through
+the old church, among the moss-covered tombstones,
+and into the once happy home, now silent and deserted&#8212;his
+loved ones being scattered in different quarters of
+the globe. Standing near the last resting place of the
+author of "Hypatia," his warning words for women, in
+a letter to John Stuart Mill, seemed like a voice from
+heaven saying, with new inspiration and power, "This
+will never be a good world for women until the last remnant
+of the canon law is civilized off the face of the
+earth."</p>
+<p>We heard Mr. Fawcett speak to his Hackney constituents
+at one of his campaign meetings. In the
+course of his remarks he mentioned with evident favor,
+as one of the coming measures, the disestablishment of
+the Church, and was greeted with loud applause. Soon
+after he spoke of woman suffrage as another question
+<a name="Page_371"></a>demanding consideration, but this was received
+with
+laughter and jeers, although the platform was crowded
+with advocates of the measure, among whom were the
+wife of the speaker and her sister, Dr. Garrett Anderson.
+The audience were evidently in favor of releasing themselves
+from being taxed to support the Church, forgetting
+that women were taxed not only to support a
+Church but also a State in the management of neither
+of which they had a voice. Mr. Fawcett was not an
+orator, but a simple, straightforward speaker. He
+made one gesture, striking his right clenched fist
+into the palm of his left hand at the close of all his
+strongest assertions, and, although more liberal
+than his party, he was a great favorite with his constituents.</p>
+<p>One pleasant trip I made in England was to Bristol,
+to visit the Misses Priestman and Mrs. Tanner, sisters-in-law
+of John Bright. I had stayed at their father's
+house forty years before, so we felt like old friends. I
+found them all liberal women, and we enjoyed a few
+days together, talking over our mutual struggles, and
+admiring the beautiful scenery for which that part of the
+country is celebrated. The women of England were
+just then organizing political clubs, and I was invited
+to speak before many of them. There is an
+earnestness of purpose among English women that
+is very encouraging under the prolonged disappointments
+reformers inevitably suffer. And the order
+of English homes, too, among the wealthy classes,
+is very enjoyable. All go on from year to year with the
+same servants, the same surroundings, no changes, no
+moving, no building even; in delightful contrast with
+our periodical upheavals, always uncertain where we
+<a name="Page_372"></a>shall go next, or how long our main dependents
+will
+stand by us.</p>
+<p>From Bristol I went to Greenbank to visit Mrs.
+Helen Bright Clark. One evening her parlors were
+crowded and I was asked to give an account of the
+suffrage movement in America. Some clergymen
+questioned me in regard to the Bible position of
+woman, whereupon I gave quite an exposition of its
+general principles in favor of liberty and equality. As
+two distinct lines of argument can be woven out of
+those pages on any subject, on this occasion I selected
+all the most favorable texts for justice to woman, and
+closed by stating the limits of its authority. Mrs.
+Clark, though thoroughly in sympathy with the views
+I had expressed, feared lest my very liberal utterances
+might have shocked some of the strictest of the laymen
+and clergy. "Well," said I, "if we who do see
+the absurdities of the old superstitions never unveil
+them to others, how is the world to make any progress
+in the theologies? I am in the sunset of life, and I feel
+it to be my special mission to tell people what they are
+not prepared to hear, instead of echoing worn-out opinions."
+The result showed the wisdom of my speaking
+out of my own soul. To the surprise of Mrs. Clark, the
+Primitive Methodist clergyman called on Sunday morning
+to invite me to occupy his pulpit in the afternoon
+and present the same line of thought I had the previous
+evening. I accepted his invitation. He led the services,
+and I took my text from Genesis i. 27, 28, showing
+that man and woman were a simultaneous creation, endowed,
+in the beginning, with equal power.</p>
+<p>Returning to London, I accepted an invitation to take
+tea one afternoon with Mrs. Jacob Bright, who, in
+<a name="Page_373"></a>earnest conversation, had helped us each to a
+cup
+of tea, and was turning to help us to something more,
+when over went table and all&#8212;tea, bread and butter,
+cake, strawberries and cream, silver, china, in one conglomerate
+mass. Silence reigned. No one started; no
+one said "Oh!" Mrs. Bright went on with what she
+was saying as if nothing unusual had occurred, rang the
+bell, and, when the servant appeared, pointing to the
+d&eacute;bris, she said, "Charles, remove this." I was filled
+with admiration at her coolness, and devoutly thankful
+that we Americans maintained an equally dignified
+silence.</p>
+<p>At a grand reception, given in our honor by the
+National Central Committee, in Princess' Hall, Jacob
+Bright, M.P., presided and made an admirable opening
+speech, followed by his sister, Mrs. McLaren,
+with a highly complimentary address of welcome. By
+particular request Miss Anthony explained the industrial,
+legal, and political status of American women,
+while I set forth their educational, social, and religious
+condition. John P. Thomasson, M.P., made the closing
+address, expressing his satisfaction with our addresses
+and the progress made in both countries.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Thomasson, daughter of Mrs. Lucas, gave several
+parties, receptions, and dinners,&#8212;some for ladies
+only,&#8212;where an abundant opportunity was offered for
+a critical analysis of the idiosyncrasies of the superior
+sex, especially in their dealings with women. The patience
+of even such heroic souls as Lydia Becker and
+Caroline Biggs was almost exhausted with the tergiversations
+of Members of the House of Commons.
+Alas for the many fair promises broken, the hopes deferred,
+the votes fully relied on and counted, all missing
+<a name="Page_374"></a>in the hour of action! One crack of Mr.
+Gladstone's
+whip put a hundred Liberal members to flight&#8212;members
+whom these noble women had spent years in educating.
+I never visited the House of Commons that I
+did not see Miss Becker and Miss Biggs trying to elucidate
+the fundamental principles of just government
+to some of the legislators. Verily their divine faith and
+patience merited more worthy action on the part of
+their alleged representatives!</p>
+<p>Miss Henrietta M&uuml;ller gave a farewell reception to
+Miss Anthony and me on the eve of our departure for
+America, when we had the opportunity of meeting once
+more most of the pleasant acquaintances we had made
+in London. Although it was announced for the afternoon,
+we did, in fact, receive all day, as many could not
+come at the hour appointed. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
+took breakfast with us; Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Saville, and
+Miss Lord were with us at luncheon; Harriet Hosmer
+and Olive Logan soon after; Mrs. Peter Taylor later,
+and from three to six o'clock the parlors were crowded.</p>
+<p>Returning from London I passed my birthday, November
+12, 1883, in Basingstoke. It was a sad day for
+us all, knowing that it was the last day with my loved
+ones before my departure for America. When I imprinted
+the farewell kiss on the soft cheek of
+my little granddaughter Nora in the cradle, she in the
+dawn and I in the sunset of life, I realized how widely
+the broad ocean would separate us. Miss Anthony,
+met me at Alderly Edge, where we spent a few days
+with Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bright. There we found
+their noble sisters, Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas,
+young Walter McLaren and his lovely bride, Eva
+M&uuml;ller, whom we had heard several times on the
+<a name="Page_375"></a>suffrage platform. We rallied her on the step
+she
+had lately taken, notwithstanding her sister's able paper
+on the blessedness of a single life. While there, we
+visited Dean Stanley's birthplace, but on his death the
+light and joy went out. The old church whose walls had
+once echoed to his voice, and the house where he had
+spent so many useful years, seemed sad and deserted.
+But the day was bright and warm, the scenery beautiful,
+cows and sheep were still grazing in the meadows,
+and the grass was as green as in June. This is England's
+chief charm,&#8212;it is forever green,&#8212;perhaps in
+compensation for the many cloudy days.</p>
+<p>As our good friends Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas
+had determined to see us safely on board the Servia,
+they escorted us to Liverpool, where we met Mrs. Margaret
+Parker and Mrs. Scatcherd. Another reception
+was given us at the residence of Dr. Ewing Whittle.
+Several short speeches were made, and all present cheered
+the parting guests with words of hope and encouragement
+for the good cause. Here the wisdom of forming
+an international association was first considered. The
+proposition met with such favor from those present that
+a committee was appointed to correspond with the
+friends in different nations. Miss Anthony and I
+were placed on the committee, and while this project
+has not yet been fully carried out, the idea of the
+intellectual co-operation of women to secure equal
+rights and opportunities for their sex was the basis of
+the International Council of Women, which was held
+under the auspices of the National Woman Suffrage
+Association in Washington, D. C, in March, 1888.</p>
+<p>On the Atlantic for ten days we had many opportunities
+to review all we had seen and heard. Sitting on
+<a name="Page_376"></a>deck, hour after hour, how often I queried with
+myself
+as to the significance of the boon for which we were so
+earnestly struggling. In asking for a voice in the government
+under which we live, have we been pursuing a
+shadow for fifty years? In seeking political power, are
+we abdicating that social throne where they tell us our
+influence is unbounded? No, no! the right of suffrage
+is no shadow, but a substantial entity that the citizen
+can seize and hold for his own protection and his country's
+welfare. A direct power over one's own person
+and property, an individual opinion to be counted, on
+all questions of public interest, are better than indirect
+influence, be that ever so far reaching.</p>
+<p>Though influence, like the pure white light, is all-pervading,
+yet it is ofttimes obscured with passing clouds
+and nights of darkness. Like the sun's rays, it may be
+healthy, genial, inspiring, though sometimes too direct
+for comfort, too oblique for warmth, too scattered for
+any purpose. But as the prism divides the rays, revealing
+the brilliant colors of the light, so does individual
+sovereignty reveal the beauty of representative
+government, and as the burning-glass shows the power
+of concentrating the rays, so does the combined power
+of the multitude reveal the beauty of united effort to
+carry a grand measure.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_377"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+<h2>WOMAN AND THEOLOGY.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>Returning from Europe in the autumn of 1883, after
+visiting a large circle of relatives and friends, I spent
+six weeks with my cousin, Elizabeth Smith Miller, at
+her home at Geneva, on Seneca Lake.</p>
+<p>Through Miss Frances Lord, a woman of rare culture
+and research, my daughter and I had become interested
+in the school of theosophy, and read "Isis
+Unveiled," by Madame Blavatsky, Sinnett's works on
+the "Occult World," and "The Perfect Way," by Anna
+Kingsford. Full of these ideas, I soon interested my
+cousins in the subject, and we resolved to explore, as
+far as possible, some of these Eastern mysteries, of which
+we had heard so much. We looked in all directions to
+find some pilot to start us on the right course. We
+heard that Gerald Massey was in New York city, lecturing
+on "The Devil," "Ghosts," and "Evil Spirits"
+generally, so we invited him to visit us and give a course
+of lectures in Geneva. But, unfortunately, he was ill,
+and could not open new fields of thought to us at that
+time, though we were very desirous to get a glimpse
+into the unknown world, and hold converse with the
+immortals. As I soon left Geneva with my daughter,
+Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, our occult studies were, for a
+time, abandoned.</p>
+<p>My daughter and I often talked of writing a story,
+<a name="Page_378"></a>she describing the characters and their
+environments
+and I attending to the philosophy and soliloquies.
+As I had no special duties in prospect, we decided
+that this was the time to make our experiment.
+Accordingly we hastened to the family homestead at
+Johnstown, New York, where we could be entirely
+alone. Friends on all sides wondered what had brought
+us there in the depth of the winter. But we kept our
+secret, and set ourselves to work with diligence, and
+after three months our story was finished to our entire
+satisfaction. We felt sure that everyone who read it
+would be deeply interested and that we should readily
+find a publisher. We thought of "Our Romance" the
+first thing in the morning and talked of it the last thing
+at night. But alas! friendly critics who read our story
+pointed out its defects, and in due time we reached their
+conclusions, and the unpublished manuscript now rests
+in a pigeonhole of my desk. We had not many days
+to mourn our disappointment, as Madge was summoned
+to her Western home, and Miss Anthony arrived armed
+and equipped with bushels of documents for vol. III. of
+"The History of Woman Suffrage." The summer and
+autumn of 1884 Miss Anthony and I passed at Johnstown,
+working diligently on the History, indulging only
+in an occasional drive, a stroll round the town in the
+evening, or a ride in the open street cars.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Devereux Blake was holding a series of conventions,
+at this time, through the State of New York, and
+we urged her to expend some of her missionary efforts
+in my native town, which she did with good results. As
+the school election was near at hand Miss Anthony and
+I had several preliminary meetings to arouse the women
+to their duty as voters, and to the necessity of nomi<a name="Page_379"></a>nating
+some woman for trustee. When the day for the
+election arrived the large upper room of the Academy
+was filled with ladies and gentlemen. Some timid souls
+who should have been there stayed at home, fearing
+there would be a row, but everything was conducted
+with decency and in order. The chairman, Mr. Rosa,
+welcomed the ladies to their new duties in a very complimentary
+manner. Donald McMartin stated the law
+as to what persons were eligible to vote in school elections.
+Mrs. Horace Smith filled the office of teller on
+the occasion with promptness and dignity, and Mrs.
+Elizabeth Wallace Yost was elected trustee by a majority
+of seven. It is strange that intelligent women,
+who are supposed to feel some interest in the question
+of education, should be so indifferent to the power they
+possess to make our schools all that they should be.</p>
+<p>This was the year of the presidential campaign. The
+Republicans and Democrats had each held their nominating
+conventions, and all classes participated in
+the general excitement. There being great dissatisfaction
+in the Republican ranks, we issued a manifesto:
+"Stand by the Republican Party," not that
+we loved Blaine more, but Cleveland less. The latter
+was elected, therefore it was evident that our efforts
+did not have much influence in turning the tide of
+national politics, though the Republican papers gave
+a broad circulation to our appeal. Dowden's description
+of the poet Shelley's efforts in scattering one of
+his suppressed pamphlets, reminded me of ours. He
+purchased bushels of empty bottles, in which he placed
+his pamphlets; having corked them up tight, he threw
+the bottles into the sea at various fashionable watering
+places, hoping they would wash ashore. Walking the
+<a name="Page_380"></a>streets of London in the evening he would slip
+his pamphlets
+into the hoods of old ladies' cloaks, throw them
+in shop doors, and leave them in cabs and omnibuses.
+We scattered ours in the cars, inclosed them in every
+letter we wrote or newspaper we sent through the
+country.</p>
+<p>The night before election Mr. Stanton and Professor
+Horace Smith spoke in the Johnstown courthouse,
+and took rather pessimistic views of the future
+of the Republic should James G. Blaine be defeated.
+Cleveland was elected, and we still live as a nation, and
+are able to digest the thousands of foreign immigrants
+daily landing at our shores. The night of the election
+a large party of us sat up until two o'clock to hear the
+news. Mr. Stanton had long been one of the editorial
+writers on the New York Sun, and they sent him telegrams
+from that office until a late hour. However, the
+election was so close that we were kept in suspense
+several days, before it was definitely decided.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony left in December, 1884, for Washington,
+and I went to work on an article for the North
+American Review, entitled, "What has Christianity
+done for Women?" I took the ground that woman was
+not indebted to any form of religion for the liberty she
+now enjoys, but that, on the contrary, the religious
+element in her nature had always been perverted for
+her complete subjection. Bishop Spaulding, in the
+same issue of the Review, took the opposite ground, but
+I did not feel that he answered my points.</p>
+<p>In January, 1885, my niece Mrs. Baldwin and I went
+to Washington to attend the Annual Convention of the
+National Woman Suffrage Association. It was held in
+the Unitarian church on the 20th, 21st, and 22d days
+<a name="Page_381"></a>of that month, and went off with great success,
+as did
+the usual reception given by Mrs. Spofford at the
+Riggs House. This dear friend, one of our most
+ardent coadjutors, always made the annual convention
+a time for many social enjoyments. The main feature
+in this convention was the attempt to pass the following
+resolutions:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"Whereas, The dogmas incorporated in religious
+creeds derived from Judaism, teaching that woman was
+an after-thought in the creation, her sex a misfortune,
+marriage a condition of subordination, and maternity a
+curse, are contrary to the law of God (as revealed in
+nature), and to the precepts of Christ, and,</p>
+<p>"Whereas, These dogmas are an insidious poison,
+sapping the vitality of our civilization, blighting
+woman, and, through her, paralyzing humanity; therefore
+be it</p>
+<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That we call on the Christian ministry,
+as leaders of thought, to teach and enforce the fundamental
+idea of creation, that man was made in the image
+of God, male and female, and given equal rights over
+the earth, but none over each other. And, furthermore,
+we ask their recognition of the scriptural declaration
+that, in the Christian religion, there is neither
+male nor female, bond nor free, but all are one in Christ
+Jesus."</p>
+</div>
+<p>As chairman of the committee I presented a series of
+resolutions, impeaching the Christian theology&#8212;as well
+as all other forms of religion, for their degrading teachings
+in regard to woman&#8212;which the majority of the committee
+thought too strong and pointed, and, after much
+<a name="Page_382"></a>deliberation, they substituted the above,
+handing over
+to the Jews what I had laid at the door of the Christians.
+They thought they had so sugar-coated my ideas that
+the resolutions would pass without discussion. But
+some Jews in the convention promptly repudiated this
+impression of their faith and precipitated the very discussion
+I desired, but which our more politic friends
+would fain have avoided.</p>
+<p>From the time of the decade meeting in Rochester, in
+1878, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Edward M. Davis, and I had
+sedulously labored to rouse women to a realization of
+their degraded position in the Church, and presented
+resolutions at every annual convention for that purpose.
+But they were either suppressed or so amended as to be
+meaningless. The resolutions of the annual convention
+of 1885, tame as they are, got into print and
+roused the ire of the clergy, and upon the following
+Sunday, Dr. Patton of Howard University preached a
+sermon on "Woman and Skepticism," in which he unequivocally
+took the ground that freedom for woman
+led to skepticism and immorality. He illustrated his
+position by pointing to Hypatia, Mary Wollstonecraft,
+Frances Wright, George Eliot, Harriet Martineau,
+Mme. Roland, Frances Power Cobbe, and Victoria
+Woodhull. He made a grave mistake in the last names
+mentioned, as Mrs. Woodhull was a devout believer in
+the Christian religion, and surely anyone conversant
+with Miss Cobbe's writings would never accuse her of
+skepticism. His sermon was received with intense indignation,
+even by the women of his own congregation.
+When he found what a whirlwind he had started, he
+tried to shift his position and explain away much that
+he had said. We asked him to let us have the sermon
+<a name="Page_383"></a>for publication, that we might not do him
+injustice.
+But as he contradicted himself flatly in trying to restate
+his discourse, and refused to let us see his sermon, those
+who heard him were disgusted with his sophistry and
+tergiversation.</p>
+<p>However, our labors in this direction are having an
+effect. Women are now making their attacks on the
+Church all along the line. They are demanding their
+right to be ordained as ministers, elders, deacons, and
+to be received as delegates in all the ecclesiastical convocations.
+At last they ask of the Church just what
+they have asked of the State for the last half century&#8212;perfect
+equality&#8212;and the clergy, as a body, are quite
+as hostile to their demands as the statesmen.</p>
+<p>On my way back to Johnstown I spent ten days at
+Troy, where I preached in the Unitarian church on Sunday
+evening. During this visit we had two hearings
+in the Capitol at Albany&#8212;one in the Senate Chamber
+and one in the Assembly, before the Committee on
+Grievances. On both occasions Mrs. Mary Seymour
+Howell, Mrs. Devereux Blake, Mrs. Caroline Gilkey
+Rogers, and I addressed the Committee. Being open
+to the public, the chamber was crowded. It was
+nearly forty years since I had made my first appeal in
+the old Capitol at Albany. My reflections were sad
+and discouraging, as I sat there and listened to the
+speakers and remembered how long we had made our
+appeals at that bar, from year to year, in vain. The
+members of the committee presented the same calm
+aspect as their predecessors, as if to say, "Be patient,
+dear sisters, eternity is before us; this is simply a
+question of time. What may not come in your day,
+future generations will surely possess." It is always
+<a name="Page_384"></a>pleasant to know that our descendants are to
+enjoy life,
+liberty, and happiness; but, when one is gasping for one
+breath of freedom, this reflection is not satisfying.</p>
+<p>Returning to my native hills, I found the Lenten
+season had fairly set in, which I always dreaded on account
+of the solemn, tolling bell, the Episcopal
+church being just opposite our residence. On Sunday
+we had the bells of six churches all going at the same
+time. It is strange how long customs continue after
+the original object has ceased to exist. At an early
+day, when the country was sparsely settled and the people
+lived at great distances, bells were useful to call them
+together when there was to be a church service. But
+now, when the churches are always open on Sunday, and
+every congregation knows the hour of services and all
+have clocks, bells are not only useless, but they are a
+terrible nuisance to invalids and nervous people. If I
+am ever so fortunate as to be elected a member of a
+town council, my first efforts will be toward the suppression
+of bells.</p>
+<p>To encourage one of my sex in the trying profession
+of book agent, I purchased, about this time, Dr. Lord's
+"Beacon Lights of History," and read the last volume
+devoted to women, Pagan and Christian, saints and
+sinners. It is very amusing to see the author's intellectual
+wriggling and twisting to show that no one can
+be good or happy without believing in the Christian religion.
+In describing great women who are not Christians,
+he attributes all their follies and miseries to that
+fact. In describing Pagan women, possessed of great
+virtues, he attributes all their virtues to Nature's gifts,
+which enable them to rise superior to superstitions.
+After dwelling on the dreary existence of those
+<a name="Page_385"></a>not of Christian faith, he forthwith pictures
+his St.
+Teresa going through twenty years of doubts and fears
+about the salvation of her soul. The happiest people
+I have known have been those who gave themselves no
+concern about their own souls, but did their uttermost
+to mitigate the miseries of others.</p>
+<p>In May, 1885, we left Johnstown and took possession
+of our house at Tenafly, New Jersey. It seemed very
+pleasant, after wandering in the Old World and the
+New, to be in my own home once more, surrounded by
+the grand trees I so dearly loved; to see the gorgeous
+sunsets, the twinkling fireflies; to hear the whippoorwills
+call their familiar note, while the June bugs and the mosquitoes
+buzz outside the nets through which they cannot
+enter. Many people complain of the mosquito in
+New Jersey, when he can so easily be shut out of the
+family circle by nets over all the doors and windows.
+I had a long piazza, encased in netting, where paterfamilias,
+with his pipe, could muse and gaze at the stars
+unmolested.</p>
+<p>June brought Miss Anthony and a box of fresh documents
+for another season of work on vol. III. of our History.
+We had a flying visit from Miss Eddy of Providence,
+daughter of Mrs. Eddy who gave fifty thousand
+dollars to the woman suffrage movement, and a granddaughter
+of Francis Jackson of Boston, who also left
+a generous bequest to our reform. We found Miss
+Eddy a charming young woman with artistic tastes.
+She showed us several pen sketches she had made of
+some of our reformers, that were admirable likenesses.</p>
+<p>Mr. Stanton's "Random Recollections" were published
+at this time and were well received. A dinner
+was given him, on his eightieth birthday (June 27,
+<a name="Page_386"></a>1885), by the Press Club of New York city, with
+speeches and toasts by his lifelong friends. As no ladies
+were invited I can only judge from the reports in the
+daily papers, and what I could glean from the honored
+guest himself, that it was a very interesting occasion.</p>
+<p>Sitting in the summerhouse, one day, I witnessed a
+most amusing scene. Two of the boys, in search of employment,
+broke up a hornets' nest. Bruno, our large
+Saint Bernard dog, seeing them jumping about, thought
+he would join in the fun. The boys tried to drive him
+away, knowing that the hornets would get in his long
+hair, but Bruno's curiosity outran his caution and he
+plunged into the midst of the swarm and was soon completely
+covered. The buzzing and stinging soon sent
+the poor dog howling on the run. He rushed as usual,
+in his distress, to Amelia in the kitchen, where she and
+the girls were making preserves and ironing. When
+they saw the hornets, they dropped irons, spoons, jars,
+everything, and rushed out of doors screaming. I
+appreciated the danger in time to get safely into
+the house before Bruno came to me for aid and
+comfort. At last they played the hose on him
+until he found some relief; the maidens, armed with
+towels, thrashed right and left, and the boys, with
+evergreen branches, fought bravely. I had often heard
+of "stirring up a hornets' nest," but I had never before
+seen a practical demonstration of its danger. For days
+after, if Bruno heard anything buzz, he would rush for
+the house at the top of his speed. But in spite of these
+occasional lively episodes, vol. III. went steadily on.</p>
+<p>My suffrage sons and daughters through all the
+Northern and Western States decided to celebrate, on
+the 12th of November, 1885, my seventieth birthday,
+<a name="Page_387"></a>by holding meetings or sending me gifts and
+congratulations.
+This honor was suggested by Mrs. Elizabeth
+Boynton Harbert in <i>The New Era</i>, a paper she was editing
+at that time. The suggestion met with a ready
+response. I was invited to deliver an essay on "The
+Pleasures of Age," before the suffrage association in
+New York city. It took me a week to think them up,
+but with the inspiration of Longfellow's "Morituri
+Salutamus," I was almost converted to the idea that
+"we old folks" had the best of it.</p>
+<p>The day was ushered in with telegrams, letters, and
+express packages, which continued to arrive during the
+week. From England, France, and Germany came
+cablegrams, presents, and letters of congratulation, and
+from all quarters came books, pictures, silver, bronzes,
+California blankets, and baskets of fruits and flowers.
+The eulogies in prose and verse were so hearty and
+numerous that the ridicule and criticism of forty years
+were buried so deep that I shall remember them no
+more. There is no class who enjoy the praise of their
+fellow-men like those who have had only blame most of
+their lives. The evening of the 12th we had a delightful
+reunion at the home of Dr. Clemence Lozier, where I
+gave my essay, after which Mrs. Lozier, Mrs. Blake, Miss
+Anthony, "Jenny June," and some of the younger converts
+to our platform, all made short speeches of praise
+and congratulation, which were followed by music, recitations,
+and refreshments.</p>
+<p>All during the autumn Miss Anthony and I looked
+forward to the spring, when we hoped to have completed
+the third and last volume of our History, and thus
+end the labors of ten years. We had neither time nor
+eyesight to read aught but the imperative documents
+<a name="Page_388"></a>for the History. I was hungering for some other
+mental
+pabulum.</p>
+<p>In January, 1886, I was invited to dine with Laura
+Curtis Bullard, to meet Mme. Durand (Henri Gr&eacute;ville),
+the novelist. She seemed a politic rather than an earnest
+woman of principle. As it was often very inconvenient
+for me to entertain distinguished visitors, who
+desired to meet me in my country home during the
+winter, Mrs. Bullard generously offered always to invite
+them to her home. She and her good mother
+have done their part in the reform movements in New
+York by their generous hospitalities.</p>
+<p>Reading the debates in Congress, at that time, on a
+proposed appropriation for a monument to General
+Grant, I was glad to see that Senator Plumb of Kansas
+was brave enough to express his opinion against it. I
+fully agree with him. So long as multitudes of our people
+who are doing the work of the world live in garrets
+and cellars, in ignorance, poverty, and vice, it is the
+duty of Congress to apply the surplus in the national
+treasury to objects which will feed, clothe, shelter, and
+educate these wards of the State. If we must keep
+on continually building monuments to great men, they
+should be handsome blocks of comfortable homes for
+the poor, such as Peabody built in London. Senator
+Hoar of Massachusetts favored the Grant monument,
+partly to cultivate the artistic tastes of our people. We
+might as well cultivate our tastes on useful dwellings as
+on useless monuments. Surely sanitary homes and
+schoolhouses for the living would be more appropriate
+monuments to wise statesmen than the purest Parian
+shafts among the sepulchers of the dead.</p>
+<p>The strikes and mobs and settled discontent of the
+<a name="Page_389"></a>masses warn us that, although we forget and
+neglect
+their interests and our duties, we do it at the peril of all.
+English statesmen are at their wits' end to-day with
+their tangled social and industrial problems, threatening
+the throne of a long line of kings. The impending
+danger cannot be averted by any surface measures;
+there must be a radical change in the relations of
+capital and labor.</p>
+<p>In April rumors of a domestic invasion, wafted on
+every Atlantic breeze, warned us that our children were
+coming from England and France&#8212;a party of six.
+Fortunately, the last line of the History was written, so
+Miss Anthony, with vol. III. and bushels of manuscripts,
+fled to the peaceful home of her sister Mary at
+Rochester. The expected party sailed from Liverpool
+the 26th of May, on the <i>America</i> After being out
+three days the piston rod broke and they were
+obliged to return. My son-in-law, W.H. Blatch,
+was so seasick and disgusted that he remained
+in England, and took a fresh start two months later,
+and had a swift passage without any accidents. The
+rest were transferred to the <i>Germanic</i>, and reached New
+York the 12th of June. Different divisions of the
+party were arriving until midnight. Five people and
+twenty pieces of baggage! The confusion of such an
+invasion quite upset the even tenor of our days, and it
+took some time for people and trunks to find their respective
+niches. However crowded elsewhere, there
+was plenty of room in our hearts, and we were unspeakably
+happy to have our flock all around us once more.</p>
+<p>I had long heard so many conflicting opinions about
+the Bible&#8212;some saying it taught woman's emancipation
+and some her subjection&#8212;that, during this visit of my
+<a name="Page_390"></a>children, the thought came to me that it Would
+be well
+to collect every biblical reference to women in one small
+compact volume, and see on which side the balance of
+influence really was. To this end I proposed to organize
+a committee of competent women, with some Latin,
+Greek, and Hebrew scholars in England and the United
+States, for a thorough revision of the Old and New
+Testaments, and to ascertain what the status of woman
+really was under the Jewish and Christian religion. As
+the Church has thus far interpreted the Bible as teaching
+woman's subjection, and none of the revisions by
+learned ecclesiastics have thrown any new light on the
+question, it seemed to me pre-eminently proper and
+timely for women themselves to review the book. As
+they are now studying theology in many institutions of
+learning, asking to be ordained as preachers, elders, deacons,
+and to be admitted, as delegates, to Synods and
+General Assemblies, and are refused on Bible grounds,
+it seemed to me high time for women to consider those
+scriptural arguments and authorities.</p>
+<p>A happy coincidence enabled me at last to begin this
+work. While my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, was
+with me, our friend Miss Frances Lord, on our earnest
+invitation, came to America to visit us. She landed
+in New York the 4th of August, 1886. As it was
+Sunday she could not telegraph, hence there was no
+one to meet her, and, as we all sat chatting on the
+front piazza, suddenly, to our surprise and delight, she
+drove up. After a few days' rest and general talk of
+passing events, I laid the subject so near my heart before
+her and my daughter. They responded promptly and
+heartily, and we immediately set to work. I wrote to
+every woman who I thought might join such a commit<a name="Page_391"></a>tee,
+and Miss Lord ran through the Bible in a few days,
+marking each chapter that in any way referred to
+women. We found that the work would not be so great
+as we imagined, as all the facts and teachings in regard
+to women occupied less than one-tenth of the whole
+Scriptures. We purchased some cheap Bibles, cut out
+the texts, pasted them at the head of the page, and,
+underneath, wrote our commentaries as clearly and concisely
+as possible. We did not intend to have sermons
+or essays, but brief comments, to keep "The Woman's
+Bible" as small as possible.</p>
+<p>Miss Lord and I worked several weeks together, and
+Mrs. Blatch and I, during the winter of 1887, wrote
+all our commentaries on the Pentateuch. But we could
+not succeed in forming the committee, nor, after writing
+innumerable letters, make the women understand what
+we wanted to do. I still have the commentaries of the
+few who responded, and the letters of those who declined&#8212;a
+most varied and amusing bundle of manuscripts
+in themselves. Some said the Bible had no
+special authority with them; that, like the American
+Constitution, it could be interpreted to mean anything&#8212;slavery,
+when we protected that "Institution," and
+freedom, when it existed no longer. Others said that
+woman's sphere was clearly marked out in the Scriptures,
+and all attempt at emancipation was flying in the
+face of Providence. Others said they considered all
+the revisions made by men thus far, had been so many
+acts of sacrilege, and they did hope women would not
+add their influence, to weaken the faith of the people in
+the divine origin of the Holy Book, for, if men and
+women could change it in one particular, they could in
+all. On the whole the correspondence was discouraging.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_392"></a>Later Miss Lord became deeply interested in
+psychical
+researches, and I could get no more work out of
+her. And as soon as we had finished the Pentateuch,
+Mrs. Blatch declared she would go no farther; that it
+was the driest history she had ever read, and most derogatory
+to women. My beloved coadjutor, Susan B.
+Anthony, said that she thought it a work of supererogation;
+that when our political equality was recognized
+and we became full-fledged American citizens, the
+Church would make haste to bring her Bibles and
+prayer books, creeds and discipline up to the same high-water
+mark of liberty.</p>
+<p>Helen Gardener said: "I consider this a most important
+proposal, and if you and I can ever stay on the
+same side of the Atlantic long enough, we will join
+hands and do the work. In fact, I have begun already
+with Paul's Epistles, and am fascinated with the work.
+The untenable and unscientific positions he takes in
+regard to women are very amusing. Although the first
+chapter of Genesis teaches the simultaneous creation of
+man and woman, Paul bases woman's subjection on the
+priority of man, and because woman was of the man.
+As the historical fact is that, as far back as history dates,
+the man has been of the woman, should he therefore be
+forever in bondage to her? Logically, according to
+Paul, he should."</p>
+<p>I consulted several friends, such as Dr. William F.
+Channing, Mr. and Mrs. Moncure D. Conway, Gertrude
+Garrison, Frederick Cabot, and Edward M. Davis, as
+to the advisability of the work, and they all agreed that
+such a volume, showing woman's position under the
+Jewish and Christian religions, would be valuable, but
+none of them had time to assist in the project.
+<a name="Page_393"></a>Though, owing to all these discouragements, I
+discontinued
+my work, I never gave up the hope of renewing
+it some time, when other of my coadjutors should
+awake to its importance and offer their services.</p>
+<p>On October 27, 1886, with my daughter, nurse, and
+grandchild, I again sailed for England. Going out of
+the harbor in the clear early morning, we had a fine
+view of Bartholdi's statue of Liberty Enlightening the
+World. We had a warm, gentle rain and a smooth sea
+most of the way, and, as we had a stateroom on deck,
+we could have the portholes open, and thus get all the
+air we desired. With novels and letters, chess and
+whist the time passed pleasantly, and, on the ninth day,
+we landed in Liverpool.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_394"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+<h2>ENGLAND AND FRANCE REVISITED.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>On arriving at Basingstoke we found awaiting
+us cordial letters of welcome from Miss Biggs,
+Miss Priestman, Mrs. Peter Taylor, Mrs. Priscilla
+McLaren, Miss M&uuml;ller, Mrs. Jacob Bright, and Mme.
+de Barrau. During the winter Mrs. Margaret Bright
+Lucas, Drs. Kate and Julia Mitchell, Mrs. Charles McLaren,
+Mrs. Saville, and Miss Balgarnie each spent a
+day or two with us. The full-dress costume of the
+ladies was a great surprise to my little granddaughter
+Nora. She had never seen bare shoulders in a drawing
+room, and at the first glance she could not believe her
+eyes. She slowly made the circuit of the room, coming
+nearer and nearer until she touched the lady's neck to
+see whether or not it was covered with some peculiar
+shade of dress, but finding the bare skin she said:
+"Why, you are not dressed, are you? I see your skin!"
+The scene suggested to me the amusing description in
+Holmes' "Elsie Venner," of the efforts of a young lady,
+seated between two old gentlemen, to show off her
+white shoulders. The vicar would not look, but
+steadily prayed that he might not be led into temptation;
+but the physician, with greater moral hardihood,
+deliberately surveyed the offered charms, with spectacles
+on his nose.</p>
+<p>In December Hattie and I finished Dowden's "Life
+of Shelley," which we had been reading together. Here
+<a name="Page_395"></a>we find a sensitive, refined nature, full of
+noble purposes,
+thrown out when too young to meet all life's emergencies,
+with no loving Mentor to guard him from blunders
+or to help to retrieve the consequences of his false positions.
+Had he been surrounded with a few true
+friends, who could appreciate what was great in him
+and pity what was weak, his life would have been different.
+His father was hard, exacting, and unreasonable;
+hence he had no influence. His mother had neither
+the wisdom to influence him, nor the courage to rebuke
+her husband; and alas! poor woman, she was in such
+thraldom herself to conventionalisms, that she could
+not understand a youth who set them all at defiance.</p>
+<div style="text-align: center;"><a name="img010"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 303px;" alt="THREE GENERATIONS."
+ title="THREE GENERATIONS." src="image/010.jpg"><br>
+</div>
+<br>
+<div style="text-align: center;"><a name="img011"></a><img
+ style="width: 400px; height: 551px;" alt="MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY."
+ title="MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY." src="image/011.jpg"></div>
+<p>We also read Cotton Morrison's "Service of Man,"
+which I hope will be a new inspiration to fresh labors
+by all for the elevation of humanity, and Carnegie's
+"Triumphant Democracy," showing the power our
+country is destined to wield and the vastness of our domain.
+This book must give every American citizen
+a feeling of deeper responsibility than ever before to
+act well his part. We read, too, Harriet Martineau's
+translation of the works of Auguste Comte, and found
+the part on woman most unsatisfactory. He criticises
+Aristotle's belief that slavery is a necessary element of
+social life, yet seems to think the subjection of woman
+in modern civilization a matter of no importance.</p>
+<p>All through that winter Hattie and I occupied our
+time studying the Bible and reading the commentaries
+of Clark, Scott, and Wordsworth (Bishop of Lincoln).
+We found nothing grand in the history of the Jews nor
+in the morals inculcated in the Pentateuch. Surely the
+writers had a very low idea of the nature of their God.
+They make Him not only anthropomorphic, but of the
+<a name="Page_396"></a>very lowest type, jealous and revengeful, loving
+violence
+rather than mercy. I know no other books that so
+fully teach the subjection and degradation of woman.
+Miriam, the eldest sister of Moses and Aaron, a genius,
+a prophetess, with the family aptitude for diplomacy
+and government, is continually set aside because of her
+sex&#8212;permitted to lead the women in singing and dancing,
+nothing more. No woman could offer sacrifices
+nor eat the holy meats because, according to the Jews,
+she was too unclean and unholy.</p>
+<p>But what is the use, say some, of attaching any importance
+to the customs and teachings of a barbarous
+people? None whatever. But when our bishops, archbishops,
+and ordained clergymen stand up in their
+pulpits and read selections from the Pentateuch with
+reverential voice, they make the women of their congregation
+believe that there really is some divine authority
+for their subjection. In the Thirty-First Chapter of
+Numbers, in speaking of the spoils taken from the
+Midianites, the live stock is thus summarized: "Five
+thousand sheep, threescore and twelve thousand
+beeves, threescore and one thousand asses, and
+thirty-two thousand women and women-children,"
+which Moses said the warriors might keep for themselves.
+What a pity a Stead had not been there, to
+protect the child-women of the Midianites and rebuke
+the Lord's chosen people as they deserved! In placing
+the women after the sheep, the beeves, and the asses,
+we have a fair idea of their comparative importance in
+the scale of being, among the Jewish warriors. No
+wonder the right reverend bishops and clergy of the
+Methodist Church, who believe in the divine origin and
+authority of the Pentateuch, exclude women from their
+<a name="Page_397"></a>great convocations in the American Republic in
+the
+nineteenth century. In view of the fact that our children
+are taught to reverence the book as of divine origin,
+I think we have a right to ask that, in the next revision,
+all such passages be expurgated, and to that end learned,
+competent women must have an equal place on the revising
+committee.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas came, in February, to
+spend a few days with us. She was greatly shocked
+with many texts in the Old Testament, to which we
+called her attention, and said: "Here is an insidious
+influence against the elevation of women, which but few
+of us have ever taken into consideration." She had just
+returned from a flying visit to America; having made
+two voyages across the Atlantic and traveled three
+thousand miles across the continent in two months, and
+this at the age of sixty-eight years. She was enthusiastic
+in her praises of the women she met in the
+United States. As her name was already on the committee
+to prepare "The Woman's Bible," we had her
+hearty approval of the undertaking.</p>
+<p>In October Hattie went to London, to attend a meeting
+to form a Woman's Liberal Federation. Mrs.
+Gladstone presided. The speeches made were simply
+absurd, asking women to organize themselves to help
+the Liberal party, which had steadily denied to them
+the political rights they had demanded for twenty years.
+Professor Stuart capped the climax of insult when he
+urged as "one great advantage in getting women to
+canvass for the Liberal party was that they would give
+their services free." The Liberals saw what enthusiasm
+the Primrose Dames had roused for the Tory party,
+really carrying the election, and they determined to util<a
+ name="Page_398"></a>ize
+a similar force in their ranks. But the whole movement
+was an insult to women.</p>
+<p>The one absorbing interest, then, was the Queen's
+Jubilee. Ladies formed societies to collect funds to
+place at the disposal of the Queen. Every little village
+was divided into districts, and different ladies took
+the rounds, begging pennies at every door of servants
+and the laboring masses, and pounds of the wealthy
+people. One of them paid us a visit. She asked the
+maid who opened the door to see the rest of the servants,
+and she begged a penny of each of them. She
+then asked to see the mistress. My daughter descended;
+but, instead of a pound, she gave her a lecture
+on the Queen's avarice. When the fund was started the
+people supposed the Queen was to return it all to the
+people in liberal endowments of charitable institutions,
+but her Majesty proposed to build a monument to
+Prince Albert, although he already had one in London.
+"The Queen," said my daughter, "should celebrate her
+Jubilee by giving good gifts to her subjects, and not
+by filching from the poor their pennies. To give half
+her worldly possessions to her impoverished people, to
+give Home Rule to Ireland, or to make her public
+schools free, would be deeds worthy her Jubilee; but to
+take another cent from those who are hopelessly poor
+is a sin against suffering humanity." The young
+woman realized the situation and said: "I shall go no
+farther. I wish I could return every penny I have taken
+from the needy."</p>
+<p>The most fitting monuments this nation can build
+are schoolhouses and homes for those who do the work
+of the world. It is no answer to say that they are accustomed
+to rags and hunger. In this world of plenty
+<a name="Page_399"></a>every human being has a right to food, clothes,
+decent
+shelter, and the rudiments of education. "Something
+is rotten in the state of Denmark" when one-tenth of
+the human family, booted and spurred, ride the masses
+to destruction. I detest the words "royalty" and
+"nobility," and all the ideas and institutions based on
+their recognition. In April the great meeting in Hyde
+Park occurred&#8212;a meeting of protest against the Irish
+Coercion Bill. It was encouraging to see that there
+is a democratic as well as an aristocratic England. The
+London journals gave very different accounts of the
+meeting. The Tories said it was a mob of inconsequential
+cranks. Reason teaches us, however, that you cannot
+get up a large, enthusiastic meeting unless there is
+some question pending that touches the heart of the
+people. Those who say that Ireland has no grievances
+are ignorant alike of human nature and the facts of
+history.</p>
+<p>On April 14 I went to Paris, my daughter escorting
+me to Dover, and my son meeting me at Calais. It was
+a bright, pleasant day, and I sat on deck and enjoyed
+the trip, though many of my fellow passengers were pale
+and limp. Whirling to Paris in an easy car, through
+the beautiful wheatfields and vineyards, I thought of
+the old lumbering diligence, in which we went up to
+Paris at a snail's pace forty years before. I remained
+in Paris until October, and never enjoyed six months
+more thoroughly. One of my chief pleasures was making
+the acquaintance of my fourth son, Theodore. I
+had seen but little of him since he was sixteen years old,
+as he then spent five years at Cornell University, and
+as many more in Germany and France. He had already
+published two works, "The Life of Thiers," and "The
+<a name="Page_400"></a>Woman Question in Europe." To have a son
+interested
+in the question to which I have devoted my life, is a
+source of intense satisfaction. To say that I have realized
+in him all I could desire, is the highest praise a
+fond mother can give.</p>
+<p>My first experience in an apartment, living on an even
+plane, no running up and down stairs, was as pleasant
+as it was surprising. I had no idea of the comfort and
+convenience of this method of keeping house. Our
+apartment in Paris consisted of drawing room, dining
+room, library, a good-sized hall, in which stood a large
+American stove, five bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen,
+and a balcony fifty-two feet long and four feet wide.
+The first few days it made me dizzy to look down from
+this balcony to the street below. I was afraid the whole
+structure would give way, it appeared so light and
+airy, hanging midway between earth and heaven. But
+my confidence in its steadfastness and integrity grew
+day by day, and it became my favorite resort, commanding,
+as it did, a magnificent view of the whole city and
+distant surroundings.</p>
+<p>There were so many Americans in town, and French
+reformers to be seen, that I gave Wednesday afternoon
+receptions during my whole visit. To one of our "at
+homes" came Mlle. Maria Deraismes, the only female
+Free Mason in France, and the best woman orator in the
+country; her sister, Mme. F&eacute;resse-Deraismes, who takes
+part in all woman movements; M. L&eacute;on Richer, then
+actively advocating the civil and political rights of
+women through the columns of his vigorous journal;
+Mme. Griess Traut, who makes a specialty of Peace
+work; Mme. Isabelle Bogelot, who afterward attended
+the Washington Council of 1888, and who is a leader in
+<a name="Page_401"></a>charity work; the late Mme. Emilie de Morsier,
+who
+afterward was the soul of the International Congress
+of 1889, at Paris; Mme. Pauline Kergomard, the first
+woman to be made a member of the Superior Council
+of public Instruction in France, and Mme. Henri Gr&eacute;ville,
+the novelist.</p>
+<p>Among the American guests at our various Wednesday
+receptions were Mr. and Mrs. John Bigelow, Mr. and
+Mrs. James G. Blaine, Mr. Daniel C. French, the Concord
+sculptor; Mrs. J.C. Ayer, Mr. L. White Busbey, one of
+the editors of the Chicago <i>Inter-Ocean</i>; Rev. Dr. Henry
+M. Field, Charles Gifford Dyer, the painter and father
+of the gifted young violinist, Miss Hella Dyer; the late
+Rev. Mr. Moffett, then United States Consul at
+Athens, Mrs. Governor Bagley and daughter of Michigan;
+Grace Greenwood and her talented daughter, who
+charmed everyone with her melodious voice, and Miss
+Bryant, daughter of the poet. One visitor who interested
+us most was the Norwegian novelist and republican,
+Bjornstjorne Bjornson.</p>
+<p>We had several pleasant interviews with Frederick
+Douglass and his wife, some exciting games of chess
+with Theodore Tilton, in the pleasant apartments of the
+late W.J.A. Fuller, Esq., and his daughter, Miss Kate
+Fuller. At this time I also met our brilliant countrywoman,
+Louise Chandler Moulton. Seeing so many
+familiar faces, I could easily imagine myself in New
+York rather than in Paris. I attended several receptions
+and dined with Mrs. Charlotte Beebe Wilbour,
+greatly enjoying her clever descriptions of a
+winter on the Nile in her own dahabeeyeh. I heard
+P&egrave;re Hyacinthe preach, and met his American wife on
+several occasions. I took long drives every day
+<a name="Page_402"></a>through the parks and pleasant parts of the
+city. With
+garden concerts, operas, theaters, and the Hippodrome
+I found abundant amusement. I never grew weary of
+the latter performance&#8212;the wonderful intelligence displayed
+there by animals, being a fresh surprise to me
+every time I went.</p>
+<p>I attended a reception at the Elys&eacute;e Palace, escorted
+by M. Joseph Fabre, then a deputy and now a senator.
+M. Fabre is the author of a play and several volumes
+devoted to Joan of Arc. He presented me to the President
+and to Mme. Jules Gr&eacute;vy. I was also introduced
+to M. Jules Ferry, then Prime Minister, who said, among
+other things: "I am sorry to confess it, but it is only too
+true, our French women are far behind their sisters in
+America." The beautiful, large garden was thrown
+open that evening,&#8212;it was in July,&#8212;and the fine band
+of the Republican Guard gave a delightful concert under
+the big trees. I also met M. Gr&eacute;vy's son-in-law, M.
+Daniel Wilson. He was then a deputy and one of the
+most powerful politicians in France. A few months
+later he caused his father's political downfall. I have
+a vivid recollection of him because he could speak English,
+his father having been a British subject.</p>
+<p>I visited the picture galleries once more, after a lapse
+of nearly fifty years, and was struck by the fact that, in
+that interval, several women had been admitted to
+places of honor. This was especially noticeable in the
+Luxembourg Sculpture Gallery, where two women,
+Mme. Bertaux and the late Claude Vignon, wife of M.
+Rouvier, were both represented by good work&#8212;the first
+and only women sculptors admitted to that gallery.</p>
+<p>At a breakfast party which we gave, I made the acquaintance
+of General Cluseret, who figured in our
+<a name="Page_403"></a>Civil War, afterward became War Minister of the
+Paris
+Commune, and is now member of the Chamber of Deputies.
+He learned English when in America, and had not
+entirely forgotten it. He told anecdotes of Lincoln,
+Stanton, Sumner, Fremont, Garibaldi, the Count of
+Paris, and many other famous men whom he once knew,
+and proved to be a very interesting conversationalist.</p>
+<p>Old bookstands were always attractive centers of interest
+to Theodore, and, among other treasure-troves,
+he brought home one day a boy of fourteen years, whose
+office it had been to watch the books. He was a bright,
+cheery little fellow of mixed French and German descent,
+who could speak English, French, and German.
+He was just what we had desired, to run errands and
+tend the door. As he was delighted with the idea of
+coming to us, we went to see his parents. We were
+pleased with their appearance and surroundings. We
+learned that they were members of the Lutheran
+Church, that the boy was one of the shining lights in
+Sunday school, and the only point in our agreement
+on which they were strenuous was that he should go
+regularly to Sunday school and have time to learn his
+lessons.</p>
+<p>So "Immanuel" commenced a new life with us, and
+as we had unbounded confidence in the boy's integrity,
+we excused his shortcomings, and, for a time, believed
+all he said. But before long we found out that the
+moment we left the house he was in the drawing room,
+investigating every drawer, playing on the piano, or
+sleeping on the sofa. Though he was told never to
+touch the hall stove, he would go and open all the
+draughts and make it red-hot. Then we adopted the
+plan of locking up every part of the apartment but the
+<a name="Page_404"></a>kitchen. He amused himself burning holes through
+the
+pantry shelves, when the cook was out, and boring holes,
+with a gimlet, through a handsomely carved bread
+board. One day, in making up a spare bed for a friend,
+under the mattress were found innumerable letters he
+was supposed to have mailed at different times. When
+we reprimanded him for his pranks he would look at us
+steadily, but sorrowfully, and, immediately afterward,
+we would hear him dancing down the corridor singing,
+"Safe in the Arms of Jesus." If he had given heed to
+one-half we said to him, he would have been safer in
+our hands than in those of his imaginary protector. He
+turned out a thief, an unmitigated liar, a dancing dervish,
+and, through all our experiences of six weeks with
+him, his chief reading was his Bible and Sunday-school
+books. The experience, however, was not lost on
+Theodore&#8212;he has never suggested a boy since, and a
+faithful daughter of Eve reigns in his stead.</p>
+<p>During the summer I was in the hands of two artists,
+Miss Anna Klumpke, who painted my portrait, and
+Paul Bartlett, who molded my head in clay. To
+shorten the operation, sometimes I sat for both at the
+same time. Although neither was fully satisfied with
+the results of their labors, we had many pleasant
+hours together, discussing their art, their early trials,
+and artists in general. Each had good places in the
+<i>Salon</i>, and honorable mention that year. It is sad
+to see so many American girls and boys, who have
+no genius for painting or sculpture, spending their days
+in garrets, in solitude and poverty, with the vain hope
+of earning distinction. Women of all classes are awaking
+to the necessity of self-support, but few are willing to
+do the ordinary useful work for which they are fitted.
+<a name="Page_405"></a>In the <i>Salon</i> that year six thousand
+pictures were
+offered, and only two thousand accepted, and many of
+these were "skyed."</p>
+<p>It was lovely on our balcony at night to watch the
+little boats, with their lights, sailing up and down the
+Seine, especially the day of the great annual f&ecirc;te,&#8212;the
+14th of July,&#8212;when the whole city was magnificently
+illuminated. We drove about the city on several
+occasions at midnight, to see the life&#8212;men, women, and
+children enjoying the cool breezes, and the restaurants
+all crowded with people.</p>
+<p>Sunday in Paris is charming&#8212;it is the day for the
+masses of the people. All the galleries of art, the libraries,
+concert halls, and gardens are open to them. All
+are dressed in their best, out driving, walking, and having
+picnics in the various parks and gardens; husbands,
+wives, and children laughing and talking happily together.
+The seats in the streets and parks are all filled
+with the laboring masses. The benches all over Paris&#8212;along
+the curbstones in every street and highway&#8212;show
+the care given to the comfort of the people. You
+will see mothers and nurses with their babies and children
+resting on these benches, laboring men eating their
+lunches and sleeping there at noon, the organ grinders
+and monkeys, too, taking their comfort. In France
+you see men and women everywhere together; in England
+the men generally stagger about alone, caring
+more for their pipes and beer than their mothers, wives,
+and sisters. Social life, among the poor especially, is
+far more natural and harmonious in France than in England,
+because women mix more freely in business and
+amusements.</p>
+<p>Coming directly from Paris to London, one is forci<a name="Page_406"></a>bly
+struck with the gloom of the latter city, especially
+at night. Paris with its electric lights is brilliant everywhere,
+while London, with its meager gas jets here and
+there struggling with the darkness, is as gloomy and
+desolate as Dore's pictures of Dante's Inferno. On
+Sunday, when the shops are closed, the silence and solitude
+of the streets, the general smoky blackness of the
+buildings and the atmosphere give one a melancholy
+impression of the great center of civilization. Now
+that it has been discovered that smoke can be utilized
+and the atmosphere cleared, it is astonishing that the
+authorities do not avail themselves of the discovery,
+and thus bring light and joy and sunshine into that
+city, and then clean the soot of centuries from their
+blackened buildings.</p>
+<p>On my return to England I spent a day with Miss
+Emily Lord, at her kindergarten establishment. She
+had just returned from Sweden, where she spent six
+weeks in the carpenter's shop, studying the Swedish
+Sl&ouml;jd system, in which children of twelve years old
+learn to use tools, making spoons, forks, and other implements.
+Miss Lord showed us some of her work,
+quite creditable for her first attempts. She said the children
+in the higher grades of her school enjoyed the
+carpenter work immensely and became very deft in the
+use of tools.</p>
+<p>On November 1, 1887, we reached Basingstoke once
+more, and found all things in order. My diary tells of
+several books I read during the winter and what the
+authors say of women; one the "Religio Medici," by
+Sir Thomas Browne, M.D., in which the author discourses
+on many high themes, God, Creation, Heaven,
+Hell, and vouchsafes one sentence on woman. Of her
+<a name="Page_407"></a>he says: "I was never married but once and
+commend
+their resolution who never marry twice, not that I disallow
+of second, nor in all cases of polygamy, which, considering
+the unequal number of the sexes, may also be
+necessary. The whole world was made for man, but the
+twelfth part of man for woman. Man is the whole
+world&#8212;the breath of God; woman the rib and crooked
+piece of man. I speak not in prejudice nor am averse
+from that sweet sex, but naturally amorous of all that
+is beautiful. I can look all day at a handsome picture,
+though it be but a horse."</p>
+<p>Turning to John Paul Friedrich Richter, I found
+in his chapter on woman many equally ridiculous
+statements mixed up with much fulsome admiration.
+After reading some volumes of Richter, I
+took up Heinrich Heine, the German poet and
+writer. He said: "Oh, the women! We must forgive
+them much, for they love much and many. Their
+hate is, properly, only love turned inside out. Sometimes
+they attribute some delinquency to us, because
+they think they can, in this way, gratify another man.
+When they write they have always one eye on the paper
+and the other eye on some man. This is true of all
+authoresses except the Countess Hahn Hahn, who has
+only one eye." John Ruskin's biography he gives
+us a glimpse of his timidity in regard to the sex, when
+a young man. He was very fond of the society of girls,
+but never knew how to approach them. He said he
+"was perfectly happy in serving them, would gladly
+make a bridge of himself for them to walk over, a beam
+to fasten a swing to for them&#8212;anything but to talk to
+them." Such are some of the choice specimens of
+masculine wit I collected during my winter's reading!</p>
+<p><a name="Page_408"></a>At a reception given to me by Drs. Julia and
+Kate
+Mitchell, sisters practicing medicine in London, I met
+Stepniak, the Russian Nihilist, a man of grand presence
+and fine conversational powers. He was about to go to
+America, apprehensive lest our Government should
+make an extradition treaty with Russia to return political
+offenders, as he knew that proposal had been made.
+A few weeks later he did visit the United States, and
+had a hearing before a committee of the Senate. He
+pointed out the character of the Nihilist movement,
+declaring Nihilists to be the real reformers, the true
+lovers of liberty, sacrificing themselves for the best interests
+of the people, and yet, as political prisoners, they
+are treated worse than the lowest class of criminals in
+the prisons and mines of Siberia.</p>
+<p>I had a very unpleasant interview, during this visit
+to London, with Miss Lydia Becker, Miss Caroline
+Biggs, and Miss Blackburn, at the Metropole, about
+choosing delegates to the International Council of
+Women soon to be held in Washington. As there had
+been some irreconcilable dissensions in the suffrage
+association, and they could not agree as to whom their
+delegate should be, they decided to send none at all. I
+wrote at once to Mrs. Priscilla Bright McLaren, pointing
+out what a shame it would be if England, above all
+countries, should not be represented in the first International
+Council ever called by a suffrage association.
+She replied promptly that must not be, and immediately
+moved in the matter, and through her efforts three
+delegates were soon authorized to go, representing
+different constituencies&#8212;Mrs. Alice Cliff Scatcherd,
+Mrs. Ormiston Chant, and Mrs. Ashton Dilke.</p>
+<p>Toward the last of February, 1888, we went again to
+<a name="Page_409"></a>London to make a few farewell visits to dear
+friends.
+We spent a few days with Mrs. Mona Caird, who was
+then reading Karl Pearson's lectures on "Woman," and
+expounding her views on marriage, which she afterward
+gave to the Westminster Review, and stirred the
+press to white heat both in England and America. "Is
+Marriage a Failure?" furnished the heading for our
+quack advertisements for a long time after. Mrs.
+Caird was a very graceful, pleasing woman, and so gentle
+in manner and appearance that no one would deem
+her capable of hurling such thunderbolts at the long-suffering
+Saxon people.</p>
+<p>We devoted one day to Prince Krapotkine, who lives
+at Harrow, in the suburbs of London. A friend of his,
+Mr. Lieneff, escorted us there. We found the prince,
+his wife, and child in very humble quarters; uncarpeted
+floors, books and papers on pine shelves, wooden chairs,
+and the bare necessaries of life&#8212;nothing more. They
+indulge in no luxuries, but devote all they can spare to
+the publication of liberal opinions to be scattered in
+Russia, and to help Nihilists in escaping from the dominions
+of the Czar. The prince and princess took
+turns in holding and amusing the baby&#8212;then only
+one year old; fortunately it slept most of the
+time, so that the conversation flowed on for some
+hours. Krapotkine told us of his sad prison experiences,
+both in France and Russia. He said the
+series of articles by George Kennan in the <i>Century</i> were
+not too highly colored, that the sufferings of men and
+women in Siberia and the Russian prisons could not be
+overdrawn. One of the refinements of cruelty they
+practice on prisoners is never to allow them to hear
+the human voice. A soldier always accompanies the
+<a name="Page_410"></a>warder who distributes the food, to see that no
+word is
+spoken. In vain the poor prisoner asks questions, no
+answer is ever made, no tidings from the outside world
+ever given. One may well ask what devil in human
+form has prescribed such prison life and discipline! I
+wonder if we could find a man in all Russia who would
+defend the system, yet someone is responsible for its
+terrible cruelties!</p>
+<p>We returned to Basingstoke, passed the few remaining
+days in looking over papers and packing for the
+voyage, and, on March 4, 1888, Mrs. Blatch went with
+me to Southampton. On the train I met my companions
+for the voyage, Mrs. Gustafsen, Mrs. Ashton
+Dilke, and Baroness Gripenberg, from Finland, a very
+charming woman, to whom I felt a strong attraction.
+The other delegates sailed from Liverpool. We had a
+rough voyage and most of the passengers were very
+sick. Mrs. Dilke and I were well, however, and on deck
+every day, always ready to play whist and chess with a
+few gentlemen who were equally fortunate. I was
+much impressed with Mrs. Dilke's kindness and generosity
+in serving others. There was a lady on board with
+two children, whose nurse at the last minute refused to
+go with her. The mother was sick most of the way,
+and Mrs. Dilke did all in her power to relieve her, by
+amusing the little boy, telling him stories, walking with
+him on deck, and watching him throughout the day, no
+easy task to perform for an entire stranger. The poor
+little mother with a baby in her arms must have appreciated
+such kindly attention.</p>
+<p>When the pilot met us off Sandy Hook, he brought
+news of the terrible blizzard New York had just experienced,
+by which all communication with the world at
+<a name="Page_411"></a>large was practically suspended. The captain
+brought
+him down into the saloon to tell us all about it. The
+news was so startling that at first we thought the pilot
+was joking, but when he produced the metropolitan
+journals to verify his statements, we listened to the
+reading and what he had to say with profound astonishment.
+The second week in March, 1888, will be memorable
+in the history of storms in the vicinity of New
+York. The snow was ten feet deep in some places, and
+the side streets impassable either for carriages or sleighs.
+I hoped the city would be looking its best, for the first
+impression on my foreign friends, but it never looked
+worse, with huge piles of snow everywhere covered with
+black dust.</p>
+<p>I started for Washington at three o'clock, the day
+after our arrival, reached there at ten o'clock, and found
+my beloved friends, Miss Anthony and Mrs. Spofford,
+with open arms and warm hearts to receive me. As the
+vessel was delayed two days, our friends naturally
+thought we, too, had encountered a blizzard, but we had
+felt nothing of it; on the contrary the last days were the
+most pleasant of the voyage.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_412"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+<h2>THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>Pursuant to the idea of the feasibility and need of an
+International Council of Women, mentioned in a preceding
+chapter, it was decided to celebrate the fourth
+decade of the woman suffrage movement in the United
+States by calling together such a council. At its nineteenth
+annual convention, held in January, 1887, the
+National Woman Suffrage Association resolved to
+assume the entire responsibility of holding a council, and
+to extend an invitation, for that purpose, to all associations
+of women in the trades, professions, and reforms,
+as well as those advocating political rights.
+Early in June, 1887, a call was issued for such a council
+to convene under the auspices of the National Woman
+Suffrage Association at Washington, D. C, on March
+25, 1888. The grand assemblage of women, coming
+from all the countries of the civilized globe, proved that
+the call for such a council was opportune, while the
+order and dignity of the proceedings proved the women
+worthy the occasion. No one doubts now the wisdom
+of that initiative step nor the added power women have
+gained over popular thought through the International
+Council.</p>
+<p>As the proceedings of the contention were fully and
+graphically reported in the <i>Woman's Tribune</i> at that
+time, and as its reports were afterward published in
+book form, revised and corrected by Miss Anthony,
+<a name="Page_413"></a>Miss Foster, and myself, I will merely say that
+our most
+sanguine expectations as to its success were more than
+realized. The large theater was crowded for an entire
+week, and hosts of able women spoke, as if specially inspired,
+on all the vital questions of the hour. Although
+the council was called and conducted by the suffrage
+association, yet various other societies were represented.
+Miss Anthony was the financier of the occasion and
+raised twelve thousand dollars for the purpose, which
+enabled her to pay all the expenses of the delegates in
+Washington, and for printing the report in book form.
+As soon as I reached Washington, Miss Anthony
+ordered me to remain conscientiously in my own apartment
+and to prepare a speech for delivery before the
+committees of the Senate and House, and another, as
+President, for the opening of the council. However,
+as Mrs. Spofford placed her carriage at our service, I
+was permitted to drive an hour or two every day about
+that magnificent city.</p>
+<p>One of the best speeches at the council was made by
+Helen H. Gardener. It was a criticism of Dr. Hammond's
+position in regard to the inferior size and quality
+of woman's brain. As the doctor had never had the opportunity
+of examining the brains of the most distinguished
+women, and, probably, those only of paupers
+and criminals, she felt he had no data on which to base
+his conclusions. Moreover, she had the written opinion
+of several leading physicians, that it was quite impossible
+to distinguish the male from the female brain.</p>
+<p>The hearing at the Capitol, after the meeting of the
+council, was very interesting, as all the foreign delegates
+were invited to speak each in the language of her
+own country; to address their alleged representatives
+<a name="Page_414"></a>in the halls of legislation was a privilege they
+had never
+enjoyed at home. It is very remarkable that English
+women have never made the demand for a hearing in
+the House of Commons, nor even for a decent place to
+sit, where they can hear the debates and see the fine proportions
+of the representatives. The delegates had
+several brilliant receptions at the Riggs House, and at
+the houses of Senator Stanford of California and Senator
+Palmer of Michigan. Miss Anthony and I spent
+two months in Washington, that winter. One of the
+great pleasures of our annual conventions was the
+reunion of our friends at the Riggs House, where we
+enjoyed the boundless hospitality of Mr. and Mrs.
+Spofford.</p>
+<p>The month of June I spent in New York city, where
+I attended several of Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll's receptions
+and saw the great orator and iconoclast at his
+own fireside, surrounded by his admirers, and heard
+his beautiful daughters sing, which gave all who listened
+great pleasure, as they have remarkably fine voices.
+One has since married, and is now pouring out her richest
+melodies in the opera of lullaby in her own nursery.</p>
+<p>In the fall of 1888, as Ohio was about to hold a Constitutional
+convention, at the request of the suffrage
+association I wrote an appeal to the women of the State
+to demand their right to vote for delegates to such convention.
+Mrs. Southworth had five thousand copies of
+my appeal published and distributed at the exposition
+in Columbus. If ten righteous men could save Sodom,
+all the brilliant women I met in Cleveland should have
+saved Ohio from masculine domination.</p>
+<p>The winter of 1888-89 I was to spend with my
+daughter in Omaha. I reached there in time to wit<a name="Page_415"></a>ness
+the celebration of the completion of the first bridge
+between that city and Council Bluffs. There was a
+grand procession in which all the industries of both
+towns were represented, and which occupied six hours
+in passing. We had a desirable position for reviewing
+the pageant, and very pleasant company to interpret the
+mottoes, symbols, and banners. The bridge practically
+brings the towns together, as electric street cars now
+run from one to the other in ten minutes. Here, for the
+first time, I saw the cable cars running up hill and down
+without any visible means of locomotion.</p>
+<p>As the company ran an open car all winter, I took my
+daily ride of nine miles in it for fifteen cents. My son
+Daniel, who escorted me, always sat inside the car, while
+I remained on an outside seat. He was greatly amused
+with the remarks he heard about that "queer old lady
+that always rode outside in all kinds of wintry weather."
+One day someone remarked loud enough for all to hear:
+"It is evident that woman does not know enough to
+come in when it rains." "Bless me!" said the conductor,
+who knew me, "that woman knows as much
+as the Queen of England; too much to come in here by
+a hot stove." How little we understand the comparative
+position of those whom we often criticise. There
+I sat enjoying the bracing air, the pure fresh breezes,
+indifferent to the fate of an old cloak and hood that had
+crossed the Atlantic and been saturated with salt water
+many times, pitying the women inside breathing air
+laden with microbes that dozens of people had been
+throwing off from time to time, sacrificing themselves
+to their stylish bonnets, cloaks, and dresses, suffering
+with the heat of the red-hot stove; and yet they, in turn,
+pitying me.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_416"></a>My seventy-third birthday I spent with my son
+Gerrit
+Smith Stanton, on his farm near Portsmouth, Iowa.
+As we had not met in several years, it took us a long
+time, in the network of life, to pick up all the stitches
+that had dropped since we parted. I amused myself
+darning stockings and drawing plans for an addition to
+his house. But in the spring my son and his wife
+came to the conclusion that they had had enough of the
+solitude of farm life and turned their faces eastward.</p>
+<p>Soon after my return to Omaha, the editor of the
+<i>Woman's Tribune</i>, Mrs. Clara B. Colby, called and
+lunched with us one day. She announced the coming
+State convention, at which I was expected "to make
+the best speech of my life." She had all the arrangements
+to make, and invited me to drive round with her,
+in order that she might talk by the way. She engaged
+the Opera House, made arrangements at the
+Paxton House for a reception, called on all her faithful
+coadjutors to arouse enthusiasm in the work, and
+climbed up to the sanctums of the editors,&#8212;Democratic
+and Republican alike,&#8212;asking them to advertise the
+convention and to say a kind word for our oppressed
+class in our struggle for emancipation. They all promised
+favorable notices and comments, and they kept their
+promises. Mrs. Colby, being president of the Nebraska
+Suffrage Association, opened the meeting with an able
+speech, and presided throughout with tact and dignity.</p>
+<p>I came very near meeting with an unfortunate experience
+at this convention. The lady who escorted me
+in her carriage to the Opera House carried the manuscript
+of my speech, which I did not miss until it was
+nearly time to speak, when I told a lady who sat by my
+side that our friend had forgotten to give me my manu<a name="Page_417"></a>script.
+She went at once to her and asked for it.
+She remembered taking it, but what she had done
+with it she did not know. It was suggested that
+she might have dropped it in alighting from the carriage.
+And lo! they found it lying in the gutter. As
+the ground was frozen hard it was not even soiled.
+When I learned of my narrow escape, I trembled, for I
+had not prepared any train of thought for extemporaneous
+use. I should have been obliged to talk when
+my turn came, and if inspired by the audience or the
+good angels, might have done well, or might have failed
+utterly. The moral of this episode is, hold on to your
+manuscript.</p>
+<p>Owing to the illness of my son-in-law, Frank E.
+Lawrence, he and my daughter went to California
+to see if the balmy air of San Diego would restore his
+health, and so we gave up housekeeping in Omaha, and,
+on April 20, 1889, in company with my eldest son I returned
+East and spent the summer at Hempstead, Long
+Island, with my son Gerrit and his wife.</p>
+<p>We found Hempstead a quiet, old Dutch town, undisturbed
+by progressive ideas. Here I made the acquaintance
+of Chauncey C. Parsons and wife, formerly of
+Boston, who were liberal in their ideas on most questions.
+Mrs. Parsons and I attended one of the Seidl
+club meetings at Coney Island, where Seidl was then
+giving some popular concerts. The club was composed
+of two hundred women, to whom I spoke for an hour in
+the dining room of the hotel. With the magnificent
+ocean views, the grand concerts, and the beautiful
+women, I passed two very charming days by the seaside.</p>
+<p>My son Henry had given me a phaeton, low and easy
+as a cradle, and I enjoyed many drives about Long
+<a name="Page_418"></a>Island. We went to Bryant's home on the north
+side,
+several times, and in imagination I saw the old poet in
+the various shady nooks, inditing his lines of love and
+praise of nature in all her varying moods. Walking
+among the many colored, rustling leaves in the dark
+days of November, I could easily enter into his thought
+as he penned these lines:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,</p>
+<p>Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear.</p>
+<p>Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;</p>
+<p>They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>In September, 1889, my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence,
+came East to attend a school of physical culture,
+and my other daughter, Mrs. Stanton Blatch,
+came from England to enjoy one of our bracing winters.
+Unfortunately we had rain instead of snow, and fogs
+instead of frost. However, we had a pleasant reunion
+at Hempstead. After a few days in and about New
+York visiting friends, we went to Geneva and spent
+several weeks in the home of my cousin, the daughter of
+Gerrit Smith.</p>
+<p>She and I have been most faithful, devoted friends all
+our lives, and regular correspondents for more than
+fifty years. In the family circle we are ofttimes referred
+to as "Julius" and "Johnson." These euphonious
+names originated in this way: When the Christy
+Minstrels first appeared, we went one evening to hear
+them. On returning home we amused our seniors with,
+as they said, a capital rehearsal. The wit and philosopher
+of the occasion were called, respectively, Julius
+and Johnson; so we took their parts and reproduced all
+the bright, humorous remarks they made. The next
+morning as we appeared at the breakfast table, Cousin
+<a name="Page_419"></a>Gerrit Smith, in his deep, rich voice said:
+"Good-morning,
+Julius and Johnson," and he kept it up the few days
+we were in Albany together. One after another our
+relatives adopted the pseudonyms, and Mrs. Miller has
+been "Julius" and I "Johnson" ever since.</p>
+<p>From Geneva we went to Buffalo, but, as I had a bad
+cold and a general feeling of depression, I decided to
+go to the Dansville Sanatorium and see what Doctors
+James and Kate Jackson could do for me. I was there
+six weeks and tried all the rubbings, pinchings, steamings;
+the Swedish movements of the arms, hands, legs,
+feet; dieting, massage, electricity, and, though I succeeded
+in throwing off only five pounds of flesh, yet I
+felt like a new being. It is a charming place to be in&#8212;the
+home is pleasantly situated and the scenery very
+fine. The physicians are all genial, and a cheerful
+atmosphere pervades the whole establishment.</p>
+<p>As Christmas was at hand, the women were all half
+crazy about presents, and while good Doctors James and
+Kate were doing all in their power to cure the nervous
+affections of their patients, they would thwart the
+treatment by sitting in the parlor with the thermometer
+at seventy-two degrees, embroidering all kinds of
+fancy patterns,&#8212;some on muslin, some on satin, and
+some with colored worsteds on canvas,&#8212;inhaling the
+poisonous dyes, straining the optic nerves, counting
+threads and stitches, hour after hour, until utterly exhausted.
+I spoke to one poor victim of the fallacy of
+Christmas presents, and of her injuring her health in
+such useless employment. "What can I do?" she
+replied, "I must make presents and cannot afford to buy
+them." "Do you think," said I, "any of your friends
+would enjoy a present you made at the risk of your
+<a name="Page_420"></a>health? I do not think there is any 'must' in
+the
+matter. I never feel that I must give presents, and
+never want any, especially from those who make some
+sacrifice to give them." This whole custom of presents
+at Christmas, New Year's, and at weddings has come to
+be a bore, a piece of hypocrisy leading to no end of
+unhappiness. I do not know a more pitiful sight than
+to see a woman tatting, knitting, embroidering&#8212;working
+cats on the toe of some slipper, or tulips on an
+apron. The amount of nervous force that is expended
+in this way is enough to make angels weep. The necessary
+stitches to be taken in every household are quite
+enough without adding fancy work.</p>
+<p>From Dansville my daughters and I went on to
+Washington to celebrate the seventieth birthday of
+Miss Anthony, who has always been to them as a second
+mother. Mrs. Blatch made a speech at the celebration,
+and Mrs. Lawrence gave a recitation. First
+came a grand supper at the Riggs House. The
+dining room was beautifully decorated; in fact, Mr.
+and Mrs. Spofford spared no pains to make the occasion
+one long to be remembered. May Wright Sewall
+was the mistress of ceremonies. She read the toasts
+and called on the different speakers. Phoebe Couzins,
+Rev. Anna Shaw, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, Clara B. Colby, Senator Blair of
+New Hampshire, and many others responded. I am
+ashamed to say that we kept up the festivities till after
+two o'clock. Miss Anthony, dressed in dark velvet and
+point lace, spoke at the close with great pathos. Those
+of us who were there will not soon forget February 15,
+1890.</p>
+<p>After speaking before committees of the Senate and
+<a name="Page_421"></a>House, I gave the opening address at the annual
+convention.
+Mrs. Stanton Blatch spoke a few minutes on
+the suffrage movement in England, after which we hurried
+off to New York, and went on board the <i>Aller</i>, one
+of the North German Lloyd steamers, bound for Southampton.
+At the ship we found Captain Milinowski
+and his wife and two of my sons waiting our arrival.
+As we had eighteen pieces of baggage it took Mrs.
+Blatch some time to review them. My phaeton,
+which we decided to take, filled six boxes. An
+easy carriage for two persons is not common in England.
+The dogcarts prevail, the most uncomfortable
+vehicles one can possibly use. Why some of our
+Americans drive in those uncomfortable carts is a
+question. I think it is because they are "so English."
+The only reason the English use them is because
+they are cheap. The tax on two wheels is one-half what
+it is on four, and in England all carriages are taxed.
+Before we Americans adopt fashions because they are
+English, we had better find out the <i>raison d'&ecirc;tre</i> for
+their existence.</p>
+<p>We had a very pleasant, smooth voyage, unusually
+so for blustering February and March. As I dislike
+close staterooms, I remained in the ladies' saloon night
+and day, sleeping on a sofa. After a passage of eleven
+days we landed at Southampton, March 2, 1890. It
+was a beautiful moonlight night and we had a pleasant
+ride on the little tug to the wharf. We reached Basingstoke
+at eleven o'clock, found the family well and all
+things in order.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_422"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>
+<h2>MY LAST VISIT TO ENGLAND.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>As soon as we got our carriage put together Hattie
+and I drove out every day, as the roads in England are
+in fine condition all the year round. We had lovely
+weather during the spring, but the summer was wet
+and cold. With reading, writing, going up to London,
+and receiving visitors, the months flew by without
+our accomplishing half the work we proposed.</p>
+<p>As my daughter was a member of the Albemarle
+Club, we invited several friends to dine with us
+there at different times. There we had a long talk
+with Mr. Stead, the editor of the <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, on
+his position in regard to Russian affairs, "The Deceased
+Wife's Sister Bill," and the divorce laws of England.
+Mr. Stead is a fluent talker as well as a good writer.
+He is the leader of the social purity movement in England.
+The wisdom of his course toward Sir Charles
+Dilke and Mr. Parnell was questioned by many; but
+there is a touch of the religious fanatic in Mr. Stead, as
+in many of his followers.</p>
+<p>There were several problems in social ethics that
+deeply stirred the English people in the year of our
+Lord 1890. One was Charles Stewart Parnell's platonic
+friendship with Mrs. O'Shea, and the other was the
+Lord Chancellor's decision in the case of Mrs. Jackson.
+The pulpit, the press, and the people vied with each
+<a name="Page_423"></a>other in trying to dethrone Mr. Parnell as the
+great
+Irish leader, but the united forces did not succeed in
+destroying his self-respect, nor in hounding him out of
+the British Parliament, though, after a brave and protracted
+resistance on his part, they did succeed in
+hounding him into the grave.</p>
+<p>It was pitiful to see the Irish themselves, misled by
+a hypocritical popular sentiment in England, turn
+against their great leader, the only one they had had
+for half a century who was able to keep the Irish question
+uppermost in the House of Commons year after
+year. The course of events since his death has proved
+the truth of what he told them, to wit: that there was no
+sincerity in the interest English politicians manifested
+in the question of Home Rule, and that the debates on
+that point would cease as soon as it was no longer
+forced on their consideration. And now when they
+have succeeded in killing their leader, they begin to
+realize their loss. The question evolved through the
+ferment of social opinions was concisely stated, thus:
+"Can a man be a great leader, a statesman, a general,
+an admiral, a learned chief justice, a trusted lawyer, or
+skillful physician, if he has ever broken the Seventh
+Commandment?"</p>
+<p>I expressed my opinion in the <i>Westminster Review</i>, at
+the time, in the affirmative. Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs.
+Ellen Battelle Dietrick of Boston, Kate Field, in her
+<i>Washington</i>, agreed with me. Many other women
+spoke out promptly in the negative, and with a bitterness
+against those who took the opposite view that was
+lamentable.</p>
+<p>The Jackson case was a profitable study, as it brought
+out other questions of social ethics, as well as points of
+<a name="Page_424"></a>law which were ably settled by the Lord
+Chancellor.
+It seems that immediately after Mr. and Mrs. Jackson
+were married, the groom was compelled to go to Australia.
+After two years he returned and claimed his
+bride, but in the interval she felt a growing aversion
+and determined not to live with him. As she would not
+even see him, with the assistance of friends he kidnaped
+her one day as she was coming out of church,
+and carried her to his home, where he kept her under
+surveillance until her friends, with a writ of <i>habeas
+corpus</i>, compelled him to bring her into court. The
+popular idea "based on the common law of England,"
+was, that the husband had this absolute right.
+The lower court, in harmony with this idea, maintained
+the husband's right, and remanded her to his keeping,
+but the friends appealed to the higher court and the
+Lord Chancellor reversed the decision.</p>
+<p>With regard to the right so frequently claimed, giving
+husbands the power to seize, imprison, and chastise
+their wives, he said: "I am of the opinion that no such
+right exists in law. I am of the opinion that no such
+right ever did exist in law. I say that no English subject
+has the right to imprison another English subject,
+whether his wife or not." Through this decision the
+wife walked out of the court a free woman. The passage
+of the Married Women's Property Bill in England
+in 1882 was the first blow at the old idea of
+coverture, giving to wives their rights of property,
+the full benefit of which they are yet to realize when
+clearer-minded men administer the laws. The decision
+of the Lord Chancellor, rendered March 18, 1891,
+declaratory of the personal rights of married women, is
+a still more important blow by just so much as the
+<a name="Page_425"></a>rights of person are more sacred than the rights
+of
+property.</p>
+<p>One hundred years ago, Lord Chief Justice Mansfield
+gave his famous decision in the Somerset case,
+"That no slave could breathe on British soil," and the
+slave walked out of court a free man. The decision of
+the Lord Chancellor, in the Jackson case, is far more
+important, more momentous in its consequences, as it
+affects not only one race but one-half of the entire
+human family. From every point of view this
+is the greatest legal decision of the century. Like
+the great Chief Justice of the last century, the Lord
+Chancellor, with a clearer vision than those about
+him, rises into a purer atmosphere of thought, and
+vindicates the eternal principles of justice and the dignity
+of British law, by declaring all statutes that make
+wives the bond slaves of their husbands, obsolete.</p>
+<p>How long will it be in our Republic before some man
+will arise, great enough to so interpret our National
+Constitution as to declare that women, as citizens of the
+United States, cannot be governed by laws in the
+making of which they have no part? It is not Constitutional
+amendments nor statute laws we need,
+but judges on the bench of our Supreme Court,
+who, in deciding great questions of human rights, shall
+be governed by the broad principles of justice rather
+than precedent. One interesting feature in the trial of
+the Jackson case, was that both Lady Coleridge and
+the wife of the Lord Chancellor were seated on the
+bench, and evidently much pleased with the decision.</p>
+<p>It is difficult to account for the fact that, while
+women of the highest classes in England take the deepest
+interest in politics and court decisions, American
+<a name="Page_426"></a>women of wealth and position are wholly
+indifferent to
+all public matters. While English women take an active
+part in elections, holding meetings and canvassing
+their districts, here, even the wives of judges, governors,
+and senators speak with bated breath of political
+movements, and seem to feel that a knowledge of laws
+and constitutions would hopelessly unsex them.</p>
+<p>Toward the last of April, with my little granddaughter
+and her nurse, I went down to Bournemouth,
+one of the most charming watering places in England.
+We had rooms in the Cliff House with windows opening
+on the balcony, where we had a grand view of the
+bay and could hear the waves dashing on the shore.
+While Nora, with her spade and pail, played all day in
+the sands, digging trenches and filling them with
+water, I sat on the balcony reading "Diana of the
+Crossways," and Bjornson's last novel, "In God's
+Way," both deeply interesting. As all the characters
+in the latter come to a sad end, I could not see the significance
+of the title. If they walked in God's way their
+career should have been successful.</p>
+<p>I took my first airing along the beach in an invalid
+chair. These bath chairs are a great feature in all the
+watering places of England. They are drawn by a man
+or a donkey. The first day I took a man, an old sailor,
+who talked incessantly of his adventures, stopping to
+rest every five minutes, dissipating all my pleasant
+reveries, and making an unendurable bore of himself.
+The next day I told the proprietor to get me a man
+who would not talk all the time. The man he supplied
+jogged along in absolute silence; he would not even
+answer my questions. Supposing he had his orders to
+keep profound silence, after one or two attempts I said
+<a name="Page_427"></a>nothing. When I returned home, the proprietor
+asked
+me how I liked this man. "Ah!" I said, "he was indeed
+silent and would not even answer a question nor
+go anywhere I told him; still I liked him better than
+the talkative man." He laughed heartily and said:
+"This man is deaf and dumb. I thought I would make
+sure that you should not be bored." I joined in the
+laugh and said: "Well, to-morrow get me a man who
+can hear but cannot speak, if you can find one constructed
+on that plan."</p>
+<p>Bournemouth is noteworthy now as the burial place
+of Mary Wolstonecraft and the Shelleys. I went to
+see the monument that had been recently reared to their
+memory. On one side is the following inscription:
+"William Godwin, author of 'Political Justice,' born
+March 3rd, 1756, died April 7th, 1836. Mary Wolstonecraft
+Godwin, author of the 'Vindication of the Rights
+of Women,' born April 27th, 1759, died September 10th,
+1797." These remains were brought here, in 1851,
+from the churchyard of St. Pancras, London. On the
+other side are the following inscriptions: "Mary Wolstonecraft
+Godwin, daughter of William Godwin and
+widow of the late Percy Bysshe Shelley, born August
+30th, 1797, died February 1st, 1851. Percy Florence
+Shelley, son of Percy Shelley and Mary Wolstonecraft,
+third baronet, born November 12th, 1819, died December
+5th, 1889. "In Christ's Church, six miles from
+Bournemouth, is a bas-relief in memory of the great
+poet. He is represented, dripping with seaweed, in the
+arms of the Angel of Death.</p>
+<p>As I sat on my balcony hour after hour, reading and
+thinking of the Shelleys, watching the changing hues
+of the clouds and the beautiful bay, and listening to the
+<a name="Page_428"></a>sad monotone of the waves, these sweet lines of
+Whittier's
+came to my mind:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Its waves are kneeling on the strand,</p>
+<p>As kneels the human knee,&#8212;</p>
+<p>Their white locks bowing to the sand,</p>
+<p>The priesthood of the sea!</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"The blue sky is the temple's arch,</p>
+<p>Its transept earth and air,</p>
+<p>The music of its starry march</p>
+<p>The chorus of a prayer."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>American letters, during this sojourn abroad, told of
+many losses, one after another, from our family circle;
+nine passed away within two years. The last was my
+sister Mrs. Bayard, who died in May, 1891. She was
+the oldest of our family, and had always been a second
+mother to her younger sisters, and her house our second
+home.</p>
+<p>The last of June my son Theodore's wife and daughter
+came over from France to spend a month with us.
+Lisette and Nora, about the same size, played and quarreled
+most amusingly together. They spent their
+mornings in the kindergarten school, and the afternoons
+with their pony, but rainy days I was impressed
+into their service to dress dolls and tell stories. I had
+the satisfaction to hear them say that their dolls were
+never so prettily dressed before, and that my stories
+were better than any in the books. As I composed the
+wonderful yarns as I went along, I used to get very
+tired, and sometimes, when I heard the little feet coming,
+I would hide, but they would hunt until they found
+me. When my youngest son was ten years old and
+could read for himself, I graduated in story telling, having
+practiced in that line twenty-one years. I vowed
+<a name="Page_429"></a>that I would expend no more breath in that
+direction,
+but the eager face of a child asking for stories is too
+much for me, and my vow has been often broken. All
+the time I was in England Nora claimed the twilight
+hour, and, in France, Lisette was equally pertinacious.
+When Victor Hugo grew tired telling his grandchildren
+stories, he would wind up with the story of an old gentleman
+who, after a few interesting experiences, took up
+his evening paper and began to read aloud. The children
+would listen a few moments and then, one by one,
+slip out of the room. Longfellow's old gentleman,
+after many exciting scenes in his career, usually
+stretched himself on the lounge and feigned sleep. But
+grandmothers are not allowed to shelter themselves
+with such devices; they are required to spin on until the
+bedtime really arrives.</p>
+<p>On July 16, one of the hottest days of the season,
+Mrs. Jacob Bright and daughter, Herbert Burroughs,
+and Mrs. Parkhurst came down from London, and we
+sat out of doors, taking our luncheon under the trees
+and discussing theosophy. Later in the month
+Hattie and I went to Yorkshire to visit Mr. and
+Mrs. Scatcherd at Morley Hall, and there spent several
+days. We had a prolonged discussion on personal
+rights. One side was against all governmental interference,
+such as compulsory education and the protection
+of children against cruel parents; the other side
+in favor of state interference that protected the individual
+in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and happiness.
+I took the latter position. Many parents are not fit
+to have the control of children, hence the State should
+see that they are sheltered, fed, clothed, and educated.
+It is far better for the State to make good citizens of
+<a name="Page_430"></a>its children in the beginning, than, in the end,
+to be compelled
+to care for them as criminals.</p>
+<p>While in the north of England we spent a few days at
+Howard Castle, the summer residence of Lord and
+Lady Carlisle and their ten children. So large a family
+in high life is unusual. As I had known Lord and Lady
+Amberley in America, when they visited this country in
+1867, I enjoyed meeting other members of their family.
+Lady Carlisle is in favor of woman suffrage and frequently
+speaks in public. She is a woman of great force
+of character, and of very generous impulses. She is
+trying to do her duty in sharing the good things of life
+with the needy. The poor for miles round often have
+picnics in her park, and large numbers of children from
+manufacturing towns spend weeks with her cottage
+tenants at her expense. Lord Carlisle is an artist and
+a student. As he has a poetical temperament and is
+aesthetic in all his tastes, Lady Carlisle is the business
+manager of the estate. She is a practical
+woman with immense executive ability. The castle
+with its spacious dining hall and drawing rooms, with
+its chapel, library, galleries of paintings and statuary,
+its fine outlook, extensive gardens and lawns was
+well worth seeing. We enjoyed our visit very much
+and discussed every imaginable subject.</p>
+<p>When we returned to Basingstoke we had a visit
+from Mrs. Cobb, the wife of a member of Parliament,
+and sister-in-law of Karl Pearson, whose lectures on
+woman I had enjoyed so much. It was through reading
+his work, "The Ethic of Free Thought," that the Matriarchate
+made such a deep impression on my mind and
+moved me to write a tract on the subject. People who
+have neither read nor thought on this point, question
+<a name="Page_431"></a>the facts as stated by Bachofen, Morgan, and
+Wilkeson;
+but their truth, I think, cannot be questioned.
+They seem so natural in the chain of reasoning
+and the progress of human development. Mrs. Cobb
+did a very good thing a few days before visiting
+us. At a great meeting called to promote Mr. Cobb's
+election, John Morley spoke. He did not even say
+"Ladies and gentlemen" in starting, nor make the
+slightest reference to the existence of such beings
+as women. When he had finished, Mrs. Cobb
+arose mid great cheering and criticised his speech,
+making some quotations from his former speeches
+of a very liberal nature. The audience laughed and
+cheered, fully enjoying the rebuke. The next day in
+his speech he remembered his countrywomen, and on
+rising said, "Ladies and gentlemen."</p>
+<p>During August, 1891, I was busy getting ready for
+my voyage, as I was to sail on the <i>Ems</i> on August 23.
+Although I had crossed the ocean six times in the prior
+ten years I dreaded the voyage more than words can
+describe. The last days were filled with sadness, in
+parting with those so dear to me in foreign countries&#8212;especially
+those curly-headed little girls, so bright, so
+pretty, so winning in all their ways. Hattie and Theodore
+went with me from Southampton in the little tug
+to the great ship <i>Ems</i>. It was very hard for us to say
+the last farewell, but we all tried to be as brave as
+possible.</p>
+<p>We had a rough voyage, but I was not seasick one
+moment. I was up and dressed early in the morning,
+and on deck whenever the weather permitted. I made
+many pleasant acquaintances with whom I played chess
+and whist; wrote letters to all my foreign friends, ready
+<a name="Page_432"></a>to mail on landing; read the "Egotist," by
+George
+Meredith, and Ibsen's plays as translated by my friend
+Frances Lord. I had my own private stewardess, a
+nice German woman who could speak English. She
+gave me most of my meals on deck or in the ladies'
+saloon, and at night she would open the porthole two or
+three times and air our stateroom; that made the nights
+endurable. The last evening before landing we got up
+an entertainment with songs, recitations, readings, and
+speeches. I was invited to preside and introduce the
+various performers. We reached Sandy Hook the
+evening of the 29th day of August and lay there all
+night, and the next morning we sailed up our beautiful
+harbor, brilliant with the rays of the rising sun.</p>
+<p>Being fortunate in having children in both hemispheres,
+here, too, I found a son and daughter
+waiting to welcome me to my native land. Our
+chief business for many weeks was searching for an
+inviting apartment where my daughter, Mrs. Stanton
+Lawrence, my youngest son, Bob, and I could set up
+our family altar and sing our new psalm of life together.
+After much weary searching we found an apartment.
+Having always lived in a large house in the country, the
+quarters seemed rather contracted at first, but I soon
+realized the immense saving in labor and expense in
+having no more room than is absolutely necessary, and
+all on one floor. To be transported from the street to
+your apartment in an elevator in half a minute, to have
+all your food and fuel sent to your kitchen by an elevator
+in the rear, to have your rooms all warmed with
+no effort of your own, seemed like a realization of some
+fairy dream. With an extensive outlook of the heavens
+above, of the Park and the Boulevard beneath, I had a
+<a name="Page_433"></a>feeling of freedom, and with a short flight of
+stairs to
+the roof (an easy escape in case of fire), of safety, too.</p>
+<p>No sooner was I fully established in my eyrie, than
+I was summoned to Rochester, by my friend Miss Anthony,
+to fill an appointment she had made for me
+with Miss Adelaide Johnson, the artist from Washington,
+who was to idealize Miss Anthony and myself in
+marble for the World's Fair. I found my friend demurely
+seated in her mother's rocking-chair hemming
+table linen and towels for her new home, anon bargaining
+with butchers, bakers, and grocers, making cakes
+and puddings, talking with enthusiasm of palatable
+dishes and the beauties of various articles of furniture
+that different friends had presented her. All
+there was to remind one of the "Napoleon of the
+Suffrage Movement" was a large escritoire covered
+with documents in the usual state of confusion&#8212;Miss
+Anthony never could keep her papers in order. In
+search of any particular document she roots out every
+drawer and pigeon hole, although her mother's little
+spinning wheel stands right beside her desk, a constant
+reminder of all the domestic virtues of the good housewife,
+with whom "order" is of the utmost importance
+and "heaven's first law." The house was exquisitely
+clean and orderly, the food appetizing, the conversation
+pleasant and profitable, and the atmosphere genial.</p>
+<p>A room in an adjoining house was assigned to Miss
+Johnson and myself, where a strong pedestal and huge
+mass of clay greeted us. And there, for nearly a month,
+I watched the transformation of that clay into human
+proportions and expressions, until it gradually emerged
+with the familiar facial outlines ever so dear to one's self.
+Sitting there four or five hours every day I used to get
+<a name="Page_434"></a>very sleepy, so my artist arranged for a series
+of little
+naps. When she saw the crisis coming she would say:
+"I will work now for a time on the ear, the nose, or
+the hair, as you must be wide awake when I am trying
+to catch the expression." I rewarded her for her patience
+and indulgence by summoning up, when awake,
+the most intelligent and radiant expression that I could
+command. As Miss Johnson is a charming, cultured
+woman, with liberal ideas and brilliant in conversation,
+she readily drew out all that was best in me.</p>
+<p>Before I left Rochester, Miss Anthony and her sister
+Mary gave a reception to me at their house. As
+some of the professors and trustees of the Rochester
+University were there, the question of co-education was
+freely discussed, and the authorities urged to open the
+doors of the University to the daughters of the people.
+It was rather aggravating to contemplate those fine
+buildings and grounds, while every girl in that city must
+go abroad for higher education. The wife of President
+Hill of the University had just presented him with twins,
+a girl and a boy, and he facetiously remarked, "that
+if the Creator could risk placing sexes in such near relations,
+he thought they might with safety walk on
+the same campus and pursue the same curriculum
+together."</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony and I went to Geneva the next day to
+visit Mrs. Miller and to meet, by appointment, Mrs. Eliza
+Osborne, the niece of Lucretia Mott, and eldest daughter
+of Martha C. Wright. We anticipated a merry
+meeting, but Miss Anthony and I were so tired that we
+no doubt appeared stupid. In a letter to Mrs. Miller
+afterward, Mrs. Osborne inquired why I was "so
+solemn." As I pride myself on being impervious to
+<a name="Page_435"></a>fatigue or disease, I could not own up to any
+disability,
+so I turned the tables on her in the following letter:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p style="text-align: right;">"New York, 26 West 61st Street,</p>
+<p style="text-align: right;">November 12, 1891.</p>
+<p>"Dear Eliza:</p>
+<p>"In a recent letter to Mrs. Miller, speaking of the
+time when we last met, you say, 'Why was Mrs. Stanton
+so solemn?' to which I reply: Ever since an old
+German emperor issued an edict, ordering all the women
+under that flag to knit when walking on the highway,
+when selling apples in the market place, when sitting in
+the parks, because 'to keep women out of mischief their
+hands must be busy,' ever since I read that, I have felt
+'solemn' whenever I have seen any daughters of
+our grand Republic knitting, tatting, embroidering, or
+occupied with any of the ten thousand digital absurdities
+that fill so large a place in the lives of Eve's
+daughters.</p>
+<p>"Looking forward to the scintillations of wit, the
+philosophical researches, the historical traditions, the
+scientific discoveries, the astronomical explorations,
+the mysteries of theosophy, palmistry, mental science,
+the revelations of the unknown world where angels and
+devils do congregate, looking forward to discussions of
+all these grand themes, in meeting the eldest daughter
+of David and Martha Wright, the niece of Lucretia
+Mott, the sister-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison, a
+queenly-looking woman five feet eight in height, and
+well proportioned, with glorious black eyes, rivaling
+even De Sta&euml;l's in power and pathos, one can readily
+imagine the disappointment I experienced when such
+a woman pulled a cotton wash rag from her pocket and
+<a name="Page_436"></a>forthwith began to knit with bowed head. Fixing
+her
+eyes and concentrating her thoughts on a rag one foot
+square; it was impossible for conversation to rise above
+the wash-rag level! It was enough to make the most
+aged optimist 'solemn' to see such a wreck of glorious
+womanhood.</p>
+<p>"And, still worse, she not only knit steadily, hour
+after hour, but she bestowed the sweetest words of encouragement
+on a young girl from the Pacific Coast,
+who was embroidering rosebuds on another rag, the
+very girl I had endeavored to rescue from the maelstrom
+of embroidery, by showing her the unspeakable
+folly of giving her optic nerves to such base uses, when
+they were designed by the Creator to explore the planetary
+world, with chart and compass to guide mighty
+ships across the sea, to lead the sons of Adam with divinest
+love from earth to heaven. Think of the great
+beseeching optic nerves and muscles by which we express
+our admiration of all that is good and glorious in
+earth and heaven, being concentrated on a cotton wash
+rag! Who can wonder that I was 'solemn' that day!
+I made my agonized protest on the spot, but it fell unheeded,
+and with satisfied sneer Eliza knit on, and
+the young Californian continued making the rosebuds.
+I gazed into space, and, when alone, wept for my degenerate
+countrywoman. I not only was 'solemn'
+that day, but I am profoundly 'solemn' whenever I
+think of that queenly woman and that cotton wash rag.
+(One can buy a whole dozen of these useful appliances,
+with red borders and fringed, for twenty-five cents.)
+Oh, Eliza, I beseech you, knit no more!</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Affectionately yours,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 80px;">"Elizabeth Cady Stanton."</p>
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_437"></a>To this Mrs. Osborne sent the following reply:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"Dear Mrs. Stanton:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"In your skit</p>
+<p>Against your sisterhood who knit,</p>
+<p>Or useful make their fingers,</p>
+<p>I wonder if&#8212;deny it not&#8212;</p>
+<p>The habit of Lucretia Mott</p>
+<p>Within your memory lingers!</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"In retrospective vision bright,</p>
+<p>Can you recall dear Martha Wright</p>
+<p>Without her work or knitting?</p>
+<p>The needles flying in her hands,</p>
+<p>On washing rags or baby's bands,</p>
+<p>Or other work as fitting?</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"I cannot think they thought the less,</p>
+<p>Or ceased the company to bless</p>
+<p>With conversation's riches,</p>
+<p>Because they thus improved their time,</p>
+<p>And never deemed it was a crime</p>
+<p>To fill the hours with stitches.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"They even used to preach and plan</p>
+<p>To spread the fashion, so that man</p>
+<p>Might have this satisfaction;</p>
+<p>Instead of idling as men do,</p>
+<p>With nervous meddling fingers too,</p>
+<p>Why not mate talk with action?</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"But as a daughter and a niece,</p>
+<p>I pride myself on every piece</p>
+<p>Of handiwork created;</p>
+<p>While reveling in social chat,</p>
+<p>Or listening to gossip flat,</p>
+<p>My gain is unabated.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"That German emperor you scorn,</p>
+<p>Seems to my mind a monarch born,</p>
+<p>Worthy to lead a column;</p>
+<a name="Page_438"></a>
+<p>I'll warrant he could talk and work,</p>
+<p>And, neither being used to shirk,</p>
+<p>Was rarely very solemn.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"I could say more upon this head,</p>
+<p>But must, before I go to bed.</p>
+<p>Your idle precepts mocking,</p>
+<p>Get out my needle and my yarn</p>
+<p>And, caring not a single darn.</p>
+<p>Just finish up this stocking."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>
+<h2><a name="Page_439"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+<h2>SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLASS OF 1832&#8212;THE WOMAN'S BIBLE.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>I returned from Geneva to New York city in time to
+celebrate my seventy-sixth birthday with my children.
+I had traveled about constantly for the last twenty years
+in France, England, and my own country, and had so
+many friends and correspondents, and pressing invitations
+to speak in clubs and conventions, that now I decided
+to turn over a new leaf and rest in an easy-chair.
+But so complete a change in one's life could not be
+easily accomplished. In spite of my resolution to
+abide in seclusion, my daughter and I were induced to
+join the Botta Club, which was to meet once a month,
+alternately, at the residences of Mrs. Moncure D. Conway
+and Mrs. Abby Sage Richardson. Though composed
+of ladies and gentlemen it proved dull and
+unprofitable. As the subject for discussion was not announced
+until each meeting, no one was prepared with
+any well-digested train of thought. It was also decided
+to avoid all questions about which there might
+be grave differences of opinion. This negative position
+reminded me of a book on etiquette which I read
+in my young days, in which gentlemen were warned,
+"In the presence of ladies discuss neither politics, religion,
+nor social duties, but confine yourself to art,
+poetry, and abstract questions which women cannot
+understand. The less they know of a subject the more
+<a name="Page_440"></a>respectfully they will listen." This club was
+named in
+honor of Mrs. Botta, formerly Miss Anne Lynch, whose
+drawing room for many years was the social center of
+the literati of New York.</p>
+<p>On January 16, 1892, we held the Annual Suffrage
+Convention in Washington, and, as usual, had a hearing
+before the Congressional Committee. My speech on the
+"Solitude of Self" was well received and was published
+in the Congressional Record. The <i>Woman's Tribune</i>
+struck off many hundreds of copies and it was extensively
+circulated.</p>
+<p>Notwithstanding my determination to rest, I spoke
+to many clubs, wrote articles for papers and magazines,
+and two important leaflets, one on "Street Cleaning,"
+another on "Opening the Chicago Exposition on Sunday."
+As Sunday was the only day the masses could
+visit that magnificent scene, with its great lake, extensive
+park, artificial canals, and beautiful buildings, I
+strongly advocated its being open on that day. One
+hundred thousand religious bigots petitioned Congress
+to make no appropriation for this magnificent Exposition,
+unless the managers pledged themselves to close
+the gates on Sunday, and hide this vision of beauty
+from the common people. Fortunately, this time a
+sense of justice outweighed religious bigotry. I sent
+my leaflets to every member of Congress and of the
+State legislatures, and to the managers of the Exposition,
+and made it a topic of conversation at every opportunity.
+The park and parts of the Exposition were kept
+open on Sunday, but some of the machinery was stopped
+as a concession to narrow Christian sects.</p>
+<p>In June, 1892, at the earnest solicitation of Mrs.
+Russell Sage, I attended the dedication of the Gurley
+<a name="Page_441"></a>Memorial Building, presented to the Emma Willard
+Seminary, at Troy, New York, and made the following
+address:</p>
+<div class="blkquot">
+<p>"MRS. PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNAE:</p>
+<p>"It is just sixty years since the class of '32, to which
+I belonged, celebrated a commencement in this same
+room. This was the great event of the season to many
+families throughout this State. Parents came from all
+quarters; the <i>&eacute;lite</i> of Troy and Albany assembled here.
+Principals from other schools, distinguished legislators,
+and clergymen all came to hear girls scan Latin verse,
+solve problems in Euclid, and read their own compositions
+in a promiscuous assemblage. A long line of
+teachers anxiously waited the calling of their classes,
+and over all, our queenly Madame Willard presided with
+royal grace and dignity. Two hundred girls in gala
+attire, white dresses, bright sashes, and coral ornaments,
+with their curly hair, rosy cheeks, and sparkling eyes,
+flitted to and fro, some rejoicing that they had passed
+through their ordeal, some still on the tiptoe of expectation,
+some laughing, some in tears&#8212;altogether a most
+beautiful and interesting picture.</p>
+<p>"Conservatives then, as now, thought the result
+of the higher education of girls would be to destroy
+their delicacy and refinement. But as the graduates
+of the Troy Seminary were never distinguished in after
+life for the lack of these feminine virtues, the most timid,
+even, gradually accepted the situation and trusted their
+daughters with Mrs. Willard. But that noble woman
+endured for a long period the same ridicule and persecution
+that women now do who take an onward step in
+the march of progress.</p>
+<p>"I see around me none of the familiar faces that
+<a name="Page_442"></a>greeted my coming or said farewell in parting. I
+do
+not know that one of my classmates still lives. Friendship
+with those I knew and loved best lasted but a few
+years, then our ways in life parted. I should not know
+where to find one now, and if I did, probably our ideas
+would differ on every subject, as I have wandered in
+latitudes beyond the prescribed sphere of women. I suppose
+it is much the same with many of you&#8212;the familiar
+faces are all gone, gone to the land of shadows, and I
+hope of sunshine too, where we in turn will soon follow.
+"And yet, though we who are left are strangers to
+one another, we have the same memories of the past, of
+the same type of mischievous girls and staid teachers,
+though with different names. The same long, bare
+halls and stairs, the recitation rooms with the same old
+blackboards and lumps of chalk taken for generation
+after generation, I suppose, from the same pit; the dining
+room, with its pillars inconveniently near some of
+the tables, with its thick, white crockery and black-handled
+knives, and viands that never suited us, because,
+forsooth, we had boxes of delicacies from home, or we
+had been out to the baker's or confectioner's and bought
+pies and cocoanut cakes, candy and chewing gum, all
+forbidden, but that added to the relish. There, too,
+were the music rooms, with their old, second-hand
+pianos, some with rattling keys and tinny sound, on
+which we were supposed to play our scales and exercises
+for an hour, though we often slyly indulged in the
+'Russian March,' 'Napoleon Crossing the Rhine,' or
+our national airs, when, as slyly, Mr. Powell, our music
+teacher, a bumptious Englishman, would softly open
+the door and say in a stern voice, 'Please practice the
+lesson I just gave you!'</p>
+<p>"<a name="Page_443"></a>Our chief delight was to break the rules,
+but we did
+not like to be caught at it. As we were forbidden to
+talk with our neighbors in study hours, I frequently
+climbed on top of my bureau to talk through a pipe
+hole with a daughter of Judge Howell of Canandaigua.
+We often met afterward, laughed and talked over the
+old days, and kept our friendship bright until the day
+of her death. Once while rooming with Harriet Hudson,
+a sister of Mrs. John Willard, I was moved to a
+very erratic performance. Miss Theresa Lee had rung
+the bell for retiring, and had taken her rounds, as usual,
+to see that the lights were out and all was still, when I
+peeped out of my door, and seeing the bell at the head
+of the stairs nearby, I gave it one kick and away it went
+rolling and ringing to the bottom. The halls were instantly
+filled with teachers and scholars, all in white
+robes, asking what was the matter. Harriet and I ran
+around questioning the rest, and what a frolic we had,
+helter-skelter, up and down stairs, in each other's rooms,
+pulling the beds to pieces, changing girls' clothes from
+one room to another, etc., etc. The hall lamps, dimly
+burning, gave us just light enough for all manner of
+depredations without our being recognized, hence
+the unbounded latitude we all felt for mischief. In
+our whole seminary course&#8212;and I was there nearly
+three years&#8212;we never had such a frolic as that night.
+It took all the teachers to restore order and quiet us
+down again for the night. No suspicion of any irregularities
+were ever attached to Harriet and myself. Our
+standing for scholarship was good, hence we were supposed
+to reflect all the moralities.</p>
+<p>"Though strangers, we have a bond of union in all
+these memories, of our bright companions, our good
+<a name="Page_444"></a>teachers, who took us through the pitfalls of
+logic,
+rhetoric, philosophy, and the sciences, and of the noble
+woman who founded the institution, and whose unselfish
+devotion in the cause of education we are here to
+celebrate. The name of Emma Willard is dear to all
+of us; to know her was to love and venerate her. She
+was not only good and gifted, but she was a beautiful
+woman. She had a finely developed figure, well-shaped
+head, classic features, most genial manners, and
+a profound self-respect (a rare quality in woman), that
+gave her a dignity truly royal in every position.
+Traveling in the Old World she was noticed everywhere
+as a distinguished personage. And all these gifts she
+dedicated to the earnest purpose of her life, the higher
+education of women.</p>
+<p>"In opening this seminary she could not find young
+women capable of teaching the higher branches, hence
+her first necessity was to train herself. Amos B. Eaton,
+who was the principal of the Rensselaer Polytechnic
+School for boys here in Troy, told me Mrs. Willard
+studied with him every branch he was capable of teaching,
+and trained a corps of teachers and regular scholars
+at the same time. She took lessons of the Professor
+every evening when he had leisure, and studied half the
+night the branches she was to teach the next day, thus
+keeping ahead of her classes. Her intense earnestness
+and mental grasp, the readiness with which she turned
+from one subject to another, and her retentive memory
+of every rule and fact he gave her, was a constant surprise
+to the Professor.</p>
+<p>"All her vacation she devoted to training teachers.
+She was the first to suggest the normal-school system.
+Remembering her deep interest in the education of
+<a name="Page_445"></a>women, we can honor her in no more worthy manner
+than to carry on her special lifework. As we look
+around at all the educated women assembled here to-day
+and try to estimate what each has done in her own
+sphere of action, the schools founded, the teachers sent
+forth, the inspiration given to girls in general, through
+the long chain of influences started by our alma mater,
+we can form some light estimate of the momentous and
+far-reaching consequences of Emma Willard's life. We
+have not her difficulties to overcome, her trials to endure,
+but the imperative duty is laid on each of us to
+finish the work she so successfully began. Schools and
+colleges of a high order are now everywhere open to
+women, public sentiment welcomes them to whatever
+career they may desire, and our work is to help
+worthy girls struggling for a higher education, by
+founding scholarships in desirable institutions in every
+State in the Union. The most fitting tribute we can
+pay to Emma Willard is to aid in the production of a
+generation of thoroughly educated women.</p>
+<p>"There are two kinds of scholarships, equally desirable;
+a permanent one, where the interest of a fund
+from year to year will support a succession of students,
+and a temporary one, to help some worthy individual
+as she may require. Someone has suggested that this
+association should help young girls in their primary
+education. But as our public schools possess all the advantages
+for a thorough education in the rudiments of
+learning and are free to all, our scholarships should be
+bestowed on those whose ability and earnestness in the
+primary department have been proved, and whose
+capacity for a higher education is fully shown.</p>
+<p>"This is the best work women of wealth can do, and
+<a name="Page_446"></a>I hope in the future they will endow
+scholarships for
+their own sex instead of giving millions of dollars to institutions
+for boys, as they have done in the past. After
+all the bequests women have made to Harvard see how
+niggardly that institution, in its 'annex,' treats their
+daughters. I once asked a wealthy lady to give a
+few thousands of dollars to start a medical college
+and hospital for women in New York. She said before
+making bequests she always consulted her minister
+and her Bible. He told her there was nothing said
+in the Bible about colleges for women. I said, 'Tell him
+he is mistaken. If he will turn to 2 'Chron. xxxiv.
+22, he will find that when Josiah, the king, sent the
+wise men to consult Huldah, the prophetess, about the
+book of laws discovered in the temple, they found
+Huldah in the college in Jerusalem, thoroughly well informed
+on questions of state, while Shallum, her husband,
+was keeper of the robes. I suppose his business
+was to sew on the royal buttons.' But in spite of this
+Scriptural authority, the rich lady gave thirty thousand
+dollars to Princeton and never one cent for the education
+of her own sex.</p>
+<p>"Of all the voices to which these walls have echoed
+for over half a century, how few remain to tell the
+story of the early days, and when we part, how few of us
+will ever meet again; but I know we shall carry with us
+some new inspiration for the work that still remains for
+us to do. Though many of us are old in years, we may
+still be young in heart. Women trained to concentrate
+all their thoughts on family life are apt to think&#8212;when
+their children are grown up, their loved ones gone, their
+servants trained to keep the domestic machinery in motion&#8212;that
+their work in life is done, that no one needs
+<a name="Page_447"></a>now their thought and care, quite forgetting
+that the
+hey-day of woman's life is on the shady side of fifty,
+when the vital forces heretofore expended in other ways
+are garnered in the brain, when their thoughts and sentiments
+flow out in broader channels, when philanthropy
+takes the place of family selfishness, and when from the
+depths of poverty and suffering the wail of humanity
+grows as pathetic to their ears as once was the cry of
+their own children.</p>
+<p>"Or, perhaps, the pressing cares of family life ended,
+the woman may awake to some slumbering genius in
+herself for art, science, or literature, with which to gild
+the sunset of her life. Longfellow's beautiful poem,
+'Morituri Salutamus,' written for a similar occasion
+to this, is full of hope and promise for all of us. He
+says:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"'Something remains for us to do or dare;</p>
+<p>Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear.</p>
+<p>Cato learned Greek at eighty; Sophocles</p>
+<p>Wrote his grand Oedipus, and Simonides</p>
+<p>Bore off the prize of verse from his compeers,</p>
+<p>When each had numbered more than four-score years.</p>
+<p>And Theophrastus, at three-score and ten,</p>
+<p>Had but begun his Characters of Men;</p>
+<p>Chaucer, at Woodstock with the nightingales,</p>
+<p>At sixty wrote the Canterbury Tales;</p>
+<p>Goethe at Weimar, toiling to the last,</p>
+<p>Completed Faust when eighty years were past.</p>
+<p>These are indeed exceptions; but they show</p>
+<p>How far the gulf-stream of our youth may flow</p>
+<p>Into the Arctic regions of our lives,</p>
+<p>Where little else than life itself survives.</p>
+<p>For age is opportunity no less</p>
+<p>Than youth itself, though in another dress,</p>
+<p>And as the evening twilight fades away</p>
+<p>The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.'"</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_448"></a>On December 21, 1892, we celebrated, for the
+first
+time, "Foremothers' Day." Men had celebrated
+"Forefathers' Day" for many years, but as women
+were never invited to join in their festivities, Mrs.
+Devereux Blake introduced the custom of women having
+a dinner in celebration of that day. Mrs. Isabella
+Beecher Hooker spent two days with me, and together
+we attended the feast and made speeches. This custom
+is now annually observed, and gentlemen sit in the gallery
+just as ladies had done on similar occasions.</p>
+<p>My son Theodore arrived from France in April, 1893,
+to attend the Chicago Exposition, and spent most of
+the summer with me at Glen Cove, Long Island, where
+my son Gerrit and his wife were domiciled. Here we
+read Captain Charles King's stories of life at military
+posts, Sanborn's "Biography of Bronson Alcott," and
+Lecky's "History of Rationalism."</p>
+<p>Here I visited Charles A. Dana, the Nestor of journalism,
+and his charming family. He lived on a beautiful
+island near Glen Cove. His refined, artistic taste,
+shown in his city residence in paintings, statuary, and
+rare bric-a-brac, collected in his frequent travels in the
+Old World, displayed itself in his island home in the
+arrangement of an endless variety of trees, shrubs, and
+flowers, through which you caught glimpses of the
+Sound and distant shores. One seldom meets so
+gifted a man as the late editor of the <i>Sun</i>. He was a
+scholar, speaking several languages; an able writer and
+orator, and a most genial companion in the social circle.
+His wife and daughter are cultivated women. The
+name of this daughter, Zoe Dana Underhill, often appears
+in our popular magazines as the author of short
+stories, remarkable for their vivid descriptions.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_449"></a>I met Mr. Dana for the first time at the
+Brook Farm
+Community in 1843, in that brilliant circle of Boston
+transcendentalists, who hoped in a few years to transform
+our selfish, competitive civilization into a Paradise
+where all the altruistic virtues might make co-operation
+possible. But alas! the material at hand was not sufficiently
+plastic for that higher ideal. In due time the
+community dissolved and the members returned
+to their ancestral spheres. Margaret Fuller, who
+was a frequent visitor there, betook herself to matrimony
+in sunny Italy, William Henry Channing to
+the Church, Bronson Alcott to the education of the
+young, Frank Cabot to the world of work, Mr. and
+Mrs. Ripley to literature, and Charles A. Dana to the
+press. Mr. Dana was very fortunate in his family relations.
+His wife, Miss Eunice MacDaniel, and her
+relatives sympathized with him in all his most liberal
+opinions. During the summer at Glen Cove I had the
+pleasure of several long conversations with Miss Frances
+L. MacDaniel and her brother Osborne, whose wife
+is the sister of Mr. Dana, and who is now assisting Miss
+Prestona Mann in trying an experiment, similar to the
+one at Brook Farm, in the Adirondacks.</p>
+<p>Miss Anthony spent a week with us in Glen Cove.
+She came to stir me up to write papers for every Congress
+at the Exposition, which I did, and she read them
+in the different Congresses, adding her own strong
+words at the close. Mrs. Russell Sage also came
+and spent a day with us to urge me to write a
+paper to be read at Chicago at the Emma Willard
+Reunion, which I did. A few days afterward Theodore
+and I returned her visit. We enjoyed a few
+hours' conversation with Mr Sage, who had made
+<a name="Page_450"></a>a very generous gift of a building to the Emma
+Willard
+Seminary at Troy. This school was one of the first
+established (1820) for girls in our State, and received an
+appropriation from the New York legislature on the
+recommendation of the Governor, De Witt Clinton.
+Mr. Sage gave us a description that night of the time
+his office was blown up with dynamite thrown by a
+crank, and of his narrow escape. We found the great financier
+and his wife in an unpretending cottage with a fine
+outlook on the sea. Though possessed of great wealth
+they set a good example of simplicity and economy,
+which many extravagant people would do well to follow.</p>
+<p>Having visited the World's Exposition at Chicago
+and attended a course of lectures at Chautauqua, my
+daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, returned to the city,
+and as soon as our apartment was in order I joined her.
+She had recently been appointed Director of Physical
+Training at the Teachers' College in New York city. I
+attended several of her exhibitions and lectures, which
+were very interesting. She is doing her best to develop,
+with proper exercises and sanitary dress, a new type of
+womanhood.</p>
+<p>My time passed pleasantly these days with a drive in
+the Park and an hour in the land of Nod, also in reading
+Henry George's "Progress and Poverty," William Morris
+on industrial questions, Stevenson's novels, the
+"Heavenly Twins," and "Marcella," and at twilight,
+when I could not see to read and write, in playing and
+singing the old tunes and songs I loved in my youth.
+In the evening we played draughts and chess. I am
+fond of all games, also of music and novels, hence the
+days fly swiftly by; I am never lonely, life is ever very
+sweet to me and full of interest.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_451"></a>The winter of 1893-94 was full of excitement,
+as the
+citizens of New York were to hold a Constitutional
+Convention. Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi endeavored to
+rouse a new class of men and women to action in favor
+of an amendment granting to women the right to vote.
+Appeals were sent throughout the State, gatherings were
+held in parlors, and enthusiastic meetings in Cooper
+Institute and at the Savoy Hotel. My daughter, Mrs.
+Stanton Blatch, who was visiting this country, took an
+active part in the canvass, and made an eloquent speech
+in Cooper Institute. Strange to say, some of the leading
+ladies formed a strong party against the proposed
+amendment and their own enfranchisement. They
+were called the "Antis." This opposing organization
+adopted the same plan for the campaign as those in
+favor of the amendment. They issued appeals, circulated
+petitions, and had hearings before the Convention.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Russell Sage, Mrs. Henry M. Sanders, Mrs. Edward
+Lauterbach, Mrs. Runkle, and some liberal clergymen
+did their uttermost to secure the insertion of the
+amendment in the proposed new constitution, but the
+Committee on Suffrage of the Constitutional Convention
+refused even to submit the proposed amendment
+to a vote of the people, though half a million of our
+most intelligent and respectable citizens had signed the
+petition requesting them to do so. Joseph H. Choate
+and Elihu Root did their uttermost to defeat the amendment,
+and succeeded.</p>
+<p>I spent the summer of 1894 with my son Gerrit, in
+his home at Thomaston, Long Island. Balzac's novels,
+and the "Life of Thomas Paine" by Moncure D. Conway,
+with the monthly magazines and daily papers, were
+my mental pabulum. My daughter, Mrs. Stanton Law<a name="Page_452"></a>rence,
+returned from England in September, 1894, having
+had a pleasant visit with her sister in Basingstoke.
+In December Miss Anthony came, and we wrote the
+woman suffrage article for the new edition of Johnson's
+Cyclopedia.</p>
+<p>On March 3, 1895, Lady Somerset and Miss Frances
+Willard, on the eve of their departure for England,
+called to see me. We discussed my project of a
+"Woman's Bible." They consented to join a revising
+committee, but before the committee was organized they
+withdrew their names, fearing the work would be too
+radical. I especially desired to have the opinions of
+women from all sects, but those belonging to the orthodox
+churches declined to join the committee or express
+their views. Perhaps they feared their faith might be
+disturbed by the strong light of investigation. Some
+half dozen members of the Revising Committee began
+with me to write "Comments on the Pentateuch."</p>
+<p>The chief thought revolving in my mind during the
+years of 1894 and 1895 had been "The Woman's Bible."
+In talking with friends I began to feel that I might
+realize my long-cherished plan. Accordingly, I began
+to read the commentators on the Bible and was surprised
+to see how little they had to say about the greatest
+factor in civilization, the mother of the race, and
+that little by no means complimentary. The more I
+read, the more keenly I felt the importance of convincing
+women that the Hebrew mythology had no special
+claim to a higher origin than that of the Greeks, being
+far less attractive in style and less refined in sentiment.
+Its objectionable features would long ago have been
+apparent had they not been glossed over with a faith in
+their divine inspiration. For several months I de<a name="Page_453"></a>voted
+all my time to Biblical criticism and ecclesiastical
+history, and found no explanation for the degraded
+status of women under all religions, and in all the so-called
+"Holy Books."</p>
+<p>When Part I. of "The Woman's Bible" was finally
+published in November, 1895, it created a great sensation.
+Some of the New York city papers gave a page
+to its review, with pictures of the commentators, of its
+critics, and even of the book itself. The clergy denounced
+it as the work of Satan, though it really was
+the work of Ellen Battelle Dietrick, Lillie Devereux
+Blake, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Clara Bewick Colby,
+Ursula N. Gestefeld, Louisa Southworth, Frances Ellen
+Burr, and myself. Extracts from it, and criticisms of
+the commentators, were printed in the newspapers
+throughout America, Great Britain, and Europe. A
+third edition was found necessary, and finally an edition
+was published in England. The Revising Committee
+was enlarged, and it now consists of over thirty of the
+leading women of America and Europe.<a name="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a
+ href="#Footnote_A_1"><sup>[A]</sup></a></p>
+<p>The month of August, 1895, we spent in Peterboro,
+on the grand hills of Madison County, nine hundred
+feet above the valley. Gerrit Smith's fine old mansion
+still stands, surrounded with magnificent trees,
+where I had played in childhood, chasing squirrels over
+lawn and gardens and wading in a modest stream that
+still creeps slowly round the grounds. I recalled as I
+sat on the piazza how one time, when Frederick Douglass
+came to spend a few days at Peterboro, some
+Southern visitors wrote a note to Mr. Smith asking if
+Mr. Douglass was to sit in the parlor and at the
+<a name="Page_454"></a>dining table; if so, during his visit they would
+remain
+in their own apartments. Mr. Smith replied that
+his visitors were always treated by his family as equals,
+and such would be the case with Mr. Douglass, who
+was considered one of the ablest men reared under
+"The Southern Institution." So these ladies had their
+meals in their own apartments, where they stayed most
+of the time, and, as Mr. Douglass prolonged his visit,
+they no doubt wished in their hearts that they had
+never taken that silly position. The rest of us walked
+about with him, arm in arm, played games, and sang
+songs together, he playing the accompaniment on the
+guitar. I suppose if our prejudiced countrywomen had
+been introduced to Dumas in a French salon, they
+would at once have donned their bonnets and ran away.</p>
+<p>Sitting alone under the trees I recalled the different
+generations that had passed away, all known to me.
+Here I had met the grandfather, Peter Sken Smith,
+partner of John Jacob Astor. In their bargains with the
+Indians they acquired immense tracts of land in the
+Northern part of the State of New York, which were
+the nucleus of their large fortunes. I have often heard
+Cousin Gerrit complain of the time he lost managing the
+estate. His son Greene was an enthusiast in the natural
+sciences and took but little interest in property matters.
+Later, his grandson, Gerrit Smith Miller, assumed the
+burden of managing the estate and, in addition, devoted
+himself to agriculture. He imported a fine breed of
+Holstein cattle, which have taken the first prize at several
+fairs. His son, bearing the same name, is devoted
+to the natural sciences, like his uncle Greene;
+whose fine collection of birds was presented by his
+widow to Harvard College.</p>
+<p><a name="Page_455"></a>The only daughter of Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth
+Smith
+Miller, is a remarkable woman, possessing many of the
+traits of her noble father. She has rare executive
+ability, as shown in the dispatch of her extensive correspondence
+and in the perfect order of her house and
+grounds. She has done much in the way of education,
+especially for the colored race, in helping to establish
+schools and in distributing literature. She subscribes
+for many of the best books, periodicals, and papers for
+friends not able to purchase for themselves. We
+cannot estimate the good she has done in this way.
+Every mail brings her letters from all classes, from
+charitable institutions, prisons, Southern plantations,
+army posts, and the far-off prairies. To all these
+pleas for help she gives a listening ear. Her charities
+are varied and boundless, and her hospitalities to the
+poor as well as the rich, courteous and generous. The
+refinement and artistic taste of the Southern mother
+and the heroic virtues of the father are happily blended
+in their daughter. In her beautiful home on Seneca
+Lake, one is always sure to meet some of the most
+charming representatives of the progressive thought
+of our times. Representatives of all these generations
+now rest in the cemetery at Peterboro, and as in
+review they passed before me they seemed to say, "Why
+linger you here alone so long?"</p>
+<p>My son Theodore arrived from Paris in September,
+1895, and rendered most important service during the
+preparations for my birthday celebration, in answering
+letters, talking with reporters, and making valuable
+suggestions to the managers as to many details in
+the arrangements, and encouraging me to go through
+the ordeal with my usual heroism. I never felt so nerv<a name="Page_456"></a>ous
+in my life, and so unfitted for the part I was in duty
+bound to perform. From much speaking through
+many years my voice was hoarse, from a severe fall I
+was quite lame, and as standing, and distinct speaking
+are important to graceful oratory, I felt like the king's
+daughter in Shakespeare's play of "Titus Andronicus,"
+when rude men who had cut her hands off and her
+tongue out, told her to call for water and wash her
+hands. However, I lived through the ordeal, as the
+reader will see in the next chapter.</p>
+<p>After my birthday celebration, the next occasion of
+deep interest to me was the Chicago Convention of
+1896, the platform there adopted, and the nomination
+and brilliant campaign of William J. Bryan. I had
+long been revolving in my mind questions relating to
+the tariff and finance, and in the demands of liberal
+democrats, populists, socialists, and the laboring men
+and women, I heard the clarion notes of the coming
+revolution.</p>
+<p>During the winter of 1895-96 I was busy writing
+alternately on this autobiography and "The Woman's
+Bible," and articles for magazines and journals on every
+possible subject from Venezuela and Cuba to the bicycle.
+On the latter subject many timid souls were greatly
+distressed. Should women ride? What should they
+wear? What are "God's intentions" concerning
+them? Should they ride on Sunday? These questions
+were asked with all seriousness. We had a symposium
+on these points in one of the daily papers. To me the
+answer to all these questions was simple&#8212;if woman
+could ride, it was evidently "God's intention" that
+she be permitted to do so. As to what she should
+wear, she must decide what is best adapted to her
+<a name="Page_457"></a>comfort and convenience. Those who prefer a spin
+of a few hours on a good road in the open air to a
+close church and a dull sermon, surely have the
+right to choose, whether with trees and flowers and
+singing birds to worship in "That temple not made with
+hands, eternal in the heavens," or within four walls to
+sleep during the intonation of that melancholy service
+that relegates us all, without distinction of sex or
+color, to the ranks of "miserable sinners." Let each
+one do what seemeth right in her own eyes, provided
+she does not encroach on the rights of others.</p>
+<p>In May, 1896, I again went to Geneva and found the
+bicycle craze had reached there, with all its most pronounced
+symptoms; old and young, professors, clergymen,
+and ladies of fashion were all spinning merrily
+around on business errands, social calls, and excursions
+to distant towns. Driving down the avenue one day,
+we counted eighty bicycles before reaching the post-office.
+The ancient bandbox, so detested by our sires
+and sons, has given place to this new machine which our
+daughters take with them wheresoever they go, boxing
+and unboxing and readjusting for each journey. It
+has been a great blessing to our girls in compelling
+them to cultivate their self-reliance and their mechanical
+ingenuity, as they are often compelled to mend the
+wheel in case of accident. Among the visitors at Geneva
+were Mr. Douglass and his daughter from the island of
+Cuba. They gave us very sad accounts of the desolate
+state of the island and the impoverished condition of the
+people. I had long felt that the United States should
+interfere in some way to end that cruel warfare, for
+Spain has proved that she is incompetent to restore
+order and peace.</p>
+<h4 style="text-align: left;"><a name="Page_458"></a>NOTES:</h4>
+<a name="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1">[A]</a>
+<div class="note">
+<p> Part II. of "The Woman's Bible," which completes the work,
+will be
+issued in January, 1898.</p>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2>
+<h2>MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY.</h2>
+<br>
+<p>Without my knowledge or consent, my lifelong
+friend, Susan B. Anthony, who always seems to appreciate
+homage tendered to me more highly than even to
+herself, made arrangements for the celebration of my
+eightieth birthday, on the 12th day of November, 1895.
+She preferred that this celebration should be conducted
+by the National Council of Women, composed of a large
+number of organizations representing every department
+of woman's labor, though, as the enfranchisement of
+woman had been my special life work, it would have
+been more appropriate if the celebration had been under
+the auspices of the National Woman's Suffrage Association.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Mary Lowe Dickinson, President of the National
+Council of Women, assumed the financial
+responsibility and the extensive correspondence involved,
+and with rare tact, perseverance, and executive
+ability made the celebration a complete success. In
+describing this occasion I cannot do better than to
+reproduce, in part, Mrs. Dickinson's account, published
+in <i>The Arena</i>:</p>
+<p>"In the month of June, 1895, the National Council
+of Women issued the following invitation:</p>
+<p>"'Believing that the progress made by women in the
+last half century may be promoted by a more general
+notice of their achievements, we propose to hold, in
+<a name="Page_459"></a>New York city, a convention for this purpose. As
+an
+appropriate time for such a celebration, the eightieth
+birthday of Elizabeth Cady Stanton has been chosen.
+Her half century of pioneer work for the rights of
+women makes her name an inspiration for such an occasion
+and her life a fitting object for the homage of all
+women.</p>
+<p>"'This National Council is composed of twenty
+organizations; these and all other societies interested are
+invited to co-operate in grateful recognition of the debt
+the present generation owes to the pioneers of the past.
+From their interest in the enfranchisement of women,
+the influence of Mrs. Stanton and her coadjutor, Miss
+Anthony, has permeated all departments of progress
+and made them a common center round which all interested
+in woman's higher development may gather.'</p>
+<p>"To this invitation came responses, from the Old
+World and the New, expressing sympathy with the proposed
+celebration, which was intended to emphasize a
+great principle by showing the loftiness of character that
+had resulted from its embodiment in a unique personality.
+The world naturally thinks of the personality
+before it thinks of the principle. It has, at least, so
+much unconscious courtesy left as to honor a noble
+woman, even when failing to rightly apprehend a noble
+cause. To afford this feeling its proper expression, to
+render more tangible all vague sympathy, to crystallize
+the growing sentiment in favor of human freedom, to
+give youth the opportunity to reverence the glory of
+age, to give hearts their utterances in word and song
+was perhaps the most popular purpose of the reunion.
+In other words, it gave an opportunity for those who
+revered Mrs. Stanton as a queen among women to show
+<a name="Page_460"></a>their reverence, and to recognize the work her
+life had
+wrought, and to see in it an epitome of the progress
+of a century.</p>
+<p>"The celebration was also an illustration of the distinctive
+idea of the National Council of Women, which
+aims to give recognition to all human effort without
+demanding uniformity of opinion as a basis of co-operation.
+It claims to act upon a unity of service, notwithstanding
+differences of creed and methods. The things
+that separate, shrank back into the shadows where they
+belong, and all hearts brave enough to think, and tender
+enough to feel, found it easy to unite in homage
+to a life which had known a half century of struggle
+to lift humanity from bondage and womanhood from
+shame.</p>
+<p>"This reunion was the first general recognition of
+the debt the present owes to the past. It was the first
+effort to show the extent to which later development
+has been inspired and made possible by the freedom to
+think and work claimed in that earlier time by women
+like Lucretia Mott, Lucy Stone, Mrs. Stanton, and
+many others whose names stand as synonyms of noble
+service for the race. To those who looked at the reunion
+from this point of view it could not fail of
+inspiration.</p>
+<p>"For the followers in lines of philanthropic work to
+look in the faces and hear the voices of women like Clara
+Barton and Mary Livermore; for the multitude enlisted
+in the crowded ranks of literature to feel in the living
+presence, what literature owes to women like Julia Ward
+Howe; for the white ribbon army to turn from its one
+great leader of to-day whose light, spreading to the
+horizon, does not obscure or dim the glory of the cru<a name="Page_461"></a>sade
+leaders of the past; for art lovers and art students
+to call to mind sculptors like Harriet Hosmer and Anna
+Whitney, and remember the days when art was a
+sealed book to women; for the followers of the truly
+divine art of healing to honor the Blackwell sisters and
+the memory of Mme. Clemence Lozier; for the mercy
+of surgery to reveal itself in the face of Dr. Cushier, who
+has proved for us that heart of pity and hand of skill need
+never be divorced; for women lifting their eyes to meet
+the face of Phebe A. Hanaford and Anna Shaw and
+other women who to-day in the pulpit, as well as out of
+it, may use a woman's right to minister to needy souls;
+for the ofttime sufferers from unrighteous law to welcome
+women lawyers; for the throng of working women
+to read backward through the story of four hundred
+industries to their beginning in the 'four,' and remember
+that each new door had opened because some
+women toiled and strove; for all these the exercises were
+a part of a great thanksgiving paean, each phase of progress
+striking its own chord, and finding each its echo
+in the hearts that held it dear.</p>
+<p>"To the student of history, or to him who can read
+the signs of the times, there was such a profound significance
+in this occasion as makes one shrink from
+dwelling too much upon the external details. Yet as a
+pageant only it was a most inspiring sight, and one truly
+worthy of a queen. Indeed as we run the mind back
+over the pages of history, what queen came to a more
+triumphant throne in the hearts of a grateful people?
+What woman ever before sat silver-crowned, canopied
+with flowers, surrounded not by servile followers but by
+men and women who brought to her court the grandest
+service they had wrought, their best thought crystallized
+<a name="Page_462"></a>in speech and song. Greater than any triumphal
+procession
+that ever marked a royal passage through a
+kingdom was it to know that in a score or more of cities,
+in many a village church on that same night festive fires
+were lighted, and the throng kept holiday, bringing for
+tribute not gold and gems but noblest aspirations,
+truest gratitude, and highest ideals for the nation and
+the race.</p>
+<p>"The great meeting was but one link in a chain; yet
+with its thousands of welcoming faces, with its eloquence
+of words, with its offering of sweetest song from the
+children of a race that once was bound but now is free,
+with its pictured glimpses of the old time and the new
+flashing out upon the night, with the home voices offering
+welcome and gratitude and love, with numberless
+greetings, from the great, true, brave souls of many
+lands, it was indeed a wonderful tribute, worthy of the
+great warm heart of a nation that offered it, and worthy
+of the woman so revered.</p>
+<p>"It seemed fitting that Mme. Antoinette Sterling,
+who, twenty years ago, took her wonderful voice away
+to England, where it won for her a unique place in the
+hearts of the nation, should, on returning to her country,
+give her first service to the womanhood of her
+native land. 'I am coming a week earlier,' so she had
+written, 'that my first work in my own beloved America
+may be done for women. I am coming as a woman and
+not as an artist, and because I so glory in that which the
+women of my country have achieved.' So when she
+sang out of her heart, 'O rest in the Lord; wait patiently
+for him!' no marvel that it seemed to lift all listening
+hearts to a recognition of the divine secret and
+source of power for all work.</p>
+<p>"<a name="Page_463"></a>One charming feature of the entertainment
+was a
+series of pictures called 'Then and Now,' each illustrating
+the change in woman's condition during the last fifty
+years. And after this, upon the dimness there shone
+out, one after another, the names of noble women like
+Mary Lyon, Maria Mitchell, Emma Willard, and many
+others who have passed away. Upon the shadows and
+the silence broke Mme. Sterling's voice in Tennyson's
+'Crossing the Bar.' And when this was over, as with
+one voice, the whole audience sang softly 'Auld Lang
+Syne.'</p>
+<p>"And last but not least should be mentioned the
+greetings that poured in a shower of telegrams and letters
+from every section of the country, and many from
+over the sea. These expressions, not only of personal
+congratulation for Mrs. Stanton, but utterances of
+gladness for the progress in woman's life and thought,
+for the conditions, already so much better than in the
+past, and for the hope for the future, would make
+of themselves a most interesting and wonderful chapter.
+Among them may be mentioned letters from Lord and
+Lady Aberdeen, from Lady Henry Somerset and Frances
+E. Willard, from Canon Wilberforce, and many
+others, including an address from thirty members of the
+family of John Bright, headed by his brother, the Right
+Honorable Jacob Bright; a beautifully engrossed address,
+on parchment, from the National Woman
+Suffrage Society of Scotland, an address from the London
+Women's Franchise League, and a cablegram from
+the Bristol Women's Liberal Association; a letter from
+the Women's Rights Society of Finland, signed by its
+president, Baroness Gripenberg of Helsingfors; telegrams
+from the California Suffrage Pioneers; and others
+<a name="Page_464"></a>from the Chicago Woman's Club, from the Toledo
+and
+Ohio Woman's Suffrage Society, from the son of the
+Rev. Dr. William Ellery Channing, and a telegram and
+letter from citizens and societies of Seneca Falls, New
+York, accompanied with flowers and many handsome
+pieces of silver from the different societies. There were
+also letters from Hon. Oscar S. Strauss, ex-minister to
+Turkey, Miss Ellen Terry, and scores of others. An
+address was received from the Women's Association of
+Utah, accompanied by a beautiful onyx and silver ballot
+box; and from the Shaker women of Mount Lebanon
+came an ode; a solid silver loving cup from the New
+York City Suffrage League, presented on the platform
+with a few appropriate words by its President, Mrs.
+Devereux Blake.</p>
+<p>"Hundreds of organizations and societies, both in
+this country and abroad, wished to have their names
+placed on record as in sympathy with the movement.
+Many organizations were present in a body, and one was
+reminded, by the variety and beauty of the decorations
+of their boxes, of the Venetian Carnival, as the occupants
+gazed down from amid the silken banners and the
+flowers, upon the throng below. The whole occasion
+was indeed a unique festival, unique in its
+presentation, as well as in its purpose, plan, character,
+and spirit. No woman present could fail to
+be impressed with what we owe to the women of the
+past, and especially to this one woman who was the
+honored guest of the occasion. And no young woman
+could desire to forget the picture of this aged form as,
+leaning upon her staff, Mrs. Stanton spoke to the great
+audience of over six thousand, as she had spoken hundreds
+of times before in legislative halls, and whenever
+<a name="Page_465"></a>her word could influence the popular sentiment
+in favor
+of justice for all mankind."</p>
+<p>My birthday celebration, with all the testimonials of
+love and friendship I received, was an occasion of such
+serious thought and deep feeling as I had never before
+experienced. Having been accustomed for half a century
+to blame rather than praise, I was surprised with
+such a manifestation of approval; I could endure any
+amount of severe criticism with complacency, but such
+an outpouring of homage and affection stirred me profoundly.
+To calm myself during that week of excitement,
+I thought many times of Michelet's wise motto,
+"Let the weal and woe of humanity be everything to
+you, their praise and blame of no effect; be not puffed
+up with the one nor cast down with the other."</p>
+<p>Naturally at such a time I reviewed my life, its march
+and battle on the highways of experience, and counted
+its defeats and victories. I remembered when a few
+women called the first convention to discuss their disabilities,
+that our conservative friends said: "You have
+made a great mistake, you will be laughed at from Maine
+to Texas and beyond the sea; God has set the bounds of
+woman's sphere and she should be satisfied with her
+position." Their prophecy was more than realized; we
+were unsparingly ridiculed by the press and pulpit both
+in England and America. But now many conventions
+are held each year in both countries to discuss the same
+ideas; social customs have changed; laws have been
+modified; municipal suffrage has been granted to women
+in England and some of her colonies; school suffrage has
+been granted to women in half of our States, municipal
+suffrage in Kansas, and full suffrage in four States of the
+Union. Thus the principle scouted in 1848 was ac<a name="Page_466"></a>cepted
+in England in 1870, and since then, year by year,
+it has slowly progressed in America until the fourth star
+shone out on our flag in 1896, and Idaho enfranchised
+her women! That first convention, considered a
+"grave mistake" in 1848, is now referred to as "a
+grand step in progress."</p>
+<p>My next mistake was when, as president of the New
+York State Woman's Temperance Association, I demanded
+the passage of a statute allowing wives an absolute
+divorce for the brutality and intemperance of their
+husbands. I addressed the Legislature of New York a
+few years later when a similar bill was pending, and also
+large audiences in several of our chief cities, and for this
+I was severely denounced. To-day fugitives from such
+unholy ties can secure freedom in many of the Western
+States, and enlightened public sentiment sustains
+mothers in refusing to hand down an appetite fraught
+with so many evil consequences. This, also called a
+"mistake" in 1860, was regarded as a "step in progress"
+a few years later.</p>
+<p>Again, I urged my coadjutors by speeches, letters, and
+resolutions, as a means of widespread agitation, to make
+the same demands of the Church that we had already
+made of the State. They objected, saying, "That is too
+revolutionary, an attack on the Church would injure the
+suffrage movement." But I steadily made the demand,
+as opportunity offered, that women be ordained to
+preach the Gospel and to fill the offices as elders, deacons,
+and trustees. A few years later some of these
+suggestions were accepted. Some churches did ordain
+women as pastors over congregations of their own,
+others elected women deaconesses, and a few churches
+allowed women, as delegates, to sit in their conferences.
+<a name="Page_467"></a>Thus this demand was in a measure honored and
+another
+"step in progress" taken.</p>
+<p>In 1882 I tried to organize a committee to consider
+the status of women in the Bible, and the claim that the
+Hebrew Writings were the result of divine inspiration.
+It was thought very presumptuous for women not
+learned in languages and ecclesiastical history to undertake
+such work. But as we merely proposed to comment
+on what was said of women in plain English, and
+found these texts composed only one-tenth of the Old
+and New Testaments, it did not seem to me a difficult or
+dangerous undertaking. However, when Part I. of
+"The Woman's Bible" was published, again there was
+a general disapproval by press and pulpit, and even by
+women themselves, expressed in resolutions in suffrage
+and temperance conventions. Like other "mistakes,"
+this too, in due time, will be regarded as "a step
+in progress."</p>
+<p>Such experiences have given me confidence in my
+judgment, and patience with the opposition of my coadjutors,
+with whom on so many points I disagree. It
+requires no courage now to demand the right of suffrage,
+temperance legislation, liberal divorce laws, or for
+women to fill church offices&#8212;these battles have been
+fought and won and the principle governing these demands
+conceded. But it still requires courage to
+question the divine inspiration of the Hebrew Writings
+as to the position of woman. Why should the
+myths, fables, and allegories of the Hebrews be held
+more sacred than those of the Assyrians and Egyptians,
+from whose literature most of them were derived?
+Seeing that the religious superstitions of women perpetuate
+their bondage more than all other adverse in<a name="Page_468"></a>fluences,
+I feel impelled to reiterate my demands for
+justice, liberty, and equality in the Church as well as in
+the State.</p>
+<p>The birthday celebration was to me more than a beautiful
+pageant; more than a personal tribute. It was the
+dawn of a new day for the Mothers of the Race! The
+harmonious co-operation of so many different organizations,
+with divers interests and opinions, in one grand
+jubilee was, indeed, a heavenly vision of peace and hope;
+a prophecy that with the exaltation of Womanhood
+would come new Life, Light, and Liberty to all
+mankind.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="INDEX_OF_NAMES"></a>
+<h2>INDEX OF NAMES.</h2>
+Aberdeen, <i>Lord</i> and <i>Lady</i>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>
+<br>
+Addington, Laura, <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br>
+Albert, <i>Prince</i>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a><br>
+Alcott, A. Bronson, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>,
+<a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Alcott, Louisa M., <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br>
+Allison, Miss, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br>
+Amberly, <i>Lord</i> and <i>Lady</i>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a><br>
+Ames, Mary Clemmer, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br>
+Anderson, Dr. Garrett, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br>
+Andr&eacute;, <i>Major</i> John, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br>
+Andrews, <i>Governor</i> John A., <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br>
+Anthony, Daniel, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>,
+<a href="#Page_193">193</a><br>
+Anthony, <i>Senator</i> Henry B., <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br>
+Anthony, Lucy, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br>
+Anthony, Mary, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>,
+<a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a><br>
+Anthony, Susan B., <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>,
+<a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_192">192</a>-<a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_203">203</a>,<a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_212">212</a>-<a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br>
+<a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_256">256</a>-<a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_271">271</a>,<a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>,<a
+ href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_334">334</a>-<a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_351">351</a>,<a href="#Page_364">364</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_373">373</a>-<a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>,<a
+ href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_411">411</a>-<a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_452">452</a>,<a href="#Page_458">458</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_459">459</a><br>
+Arnold, <i>General</i> Benedict, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br>
+Arnold, Matthew, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br>
+Astor, John Jacob, <a href="#Page_454">454</a><br>
+Auchet, Hubertine, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br>
+Austin, <i>Dr</i>. Harriet N., <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br>
+Ayer, Mrs. J.C., <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+<br>
+Backus, Wealthea, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br>
+Bagley, <i>Governor</i>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_305">305</a><br>
+Bagley, Mrs., <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Baird, <i>General</i>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br>
+Baldwin, Elizabeth McMartin, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br>
+Balgarnie, Miss, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+Banning, Ella B., <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br>
+Banning, William L., <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br>
+Barclay, Cornelia, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br>
+Barrau, Caroline de, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+Bartlett, Paul, <a href="#Page_404">404</a><br>
+Barton, Clara, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a><br>
+Bascom, Mr., <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br>
+Bascora, Mary, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br>
+Bayard, <i>Dr</i>. Edward, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>,
+<a href="#Page_46">46</a><br>
+Bayard, Henry, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>,
+<a href="#Page_34">34</a><br>
+Bayard, Thomas F., <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br>
+Bayard, Tryphena Cady, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>,
+<a href="#Page_428">428</a><br>
+Beach, Myron, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br>
+Beaman, <i>Rev. Dr</i>., <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br>
+Becker, Lydia, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>,
+<a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+Beecher, Catharine, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br>
+Beecher, <i>Rev</i>. Henry Ward, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_260">260</a><br>
+Bellamy, Edward, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br>
+Bellows, Rev. Henry, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a><br>
+Benedict, Lewis, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br>
+Bently, <i>Judge</i>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br>
+Berry, Mme., <a href="#Page_343">343</a><br>
+Berry, Marguerite, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br>
+Berry, Mrs., <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br>
+Bertaux, Mme. L&eacute;on, <a href="#Page_403">403</a><br>
+Besant, Annie, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br>
+Bickerdyke, <i>Mother</i>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br>
+Biddle, Chapman, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br>
+Biddle, George, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br>
+Biggs, Caroline, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>,
+<a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+Bigelow, John, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Bigelow, Mrs. John, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Bingham, John A., <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br>
+Bird, Frank W., <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br>
+Birney, James Gr., <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>,
+<a href="#Page_85">85</a>,<a href="#Page_89">89</a> <a href="#Page_103">103</a>,
+<a href="#Page_107">107</a><br>
+Bjornson, Bjornstjorne, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Blackburn, Miss, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+Blackwell, Antoinette Brown, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Blackwell, <i>Dr</i>. Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Blackwell, H.B., <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br>
+Blaine, <i>Senator</i> James G., <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Blaine, Mrs. James G., <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Blair, <i>Senator</i> Henry W., <a href="#Page_420">420</a><br>
+Blake, Lillie Devereux, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a><br>
+Blatch, Harriot Stanton, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_390">390</a>-<a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Blatch, Nora Stanton, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>,
+<a href="#Page_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Blatch, William H., <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>,
+<a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br>
+Blavatsky, Mme., <a href="#Page_377">377</a><br>
+Bloomer, Amelia, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>,
+<a href="#Page_201">201</a><br>
+Bogelot, Isabella, <a href="#Page_400">400</a><br>
+Bogue, <i>Rev. Dr</i>., <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br>
+Bonaparte, Napoleon, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>,
+<a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br>
+Botta, Anne Lynch, <a href="#Page_440">440</a><br>
+Boucherett, Jessie, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br>
+Bowles, Samuel, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Bradburn, George, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br>
+Bradlaugh, <i>Hon</i>. Charles, M, P., <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br>
+Bradwell, Myra, <a href="#Page_317">317</a><br>
+Bright, <i>Hon</i>. Jacob, M.P., <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Bright, Mrs. Jacob, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>,
+<a href="#Page_372">372</a>-<a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Bright, <i>Hon</i>. John, M.P., <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Broomall, John M., <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br>
+Brougham, Henry, Lord, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>,
+<a href="#Page_333">333</a><br>
+Brown, Antoinette L., <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>,
+<a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br>
+Brown, John, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_245">245</a><br>
+Brown, Olympia, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br>
+Brown, Mr., <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br>
+Browne, Sir Thomas, M.D., <a href="#Page_406">406</a><br>
+Browning, Robert, <a href="#Page_360">360</a><br>
+Brownson, Orestes A., <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br>
+Bryan, William J.. <a href="#Page_456">456</a><br>
+Bryant, Miss, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Bryant, William Cullen, <a href="#Page_418">418</a><br>
+Bullard, Laura Curtis, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br>
+Burlingame, Anson, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br>
+Burleigh, Celia, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br>
+Burleigh, Mrs. William, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br>
+Burnet, Rev. J., <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Burr, Frances Ellen, <a href="#Page_453">453</a><br>
+Burroughs, Herbert, <a href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Busbey, L. White, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Bushnell, Horace, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br>
+Butler, General Benjamin F., <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br>
+Butler, Josephine, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a><br>
+Byron, Lady, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br>
+Byron, Lord, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br>
+<br>
+Cabot, Frederick, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>,
+<a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Cady, Judge Daniel, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>,
+<a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br>
+Cady, Eleazer, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br>
+Cady, Margaret Livingston, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br>
+Caird, Mona, <a href="#Page_409">409</a><br>
+Cameron, Judge Hugh, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br>
+Carlisle, Lora and Lady, <a href="#Page_430">430</a><br>
+Carlyle, Thomas, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br>
+Carnegie, Andrew, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br>
+Carroll, Anna, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br>
+Cary, Alice, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>,
+<a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br>
+Cary, Phoebe, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>,
+<a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br>
+Channing, Rev. Dr. William Ellery, <a href="#Page_464">464</a><br>
+Channing, Dr. William F., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_330">330</a>,<br>
+Channing, Rev. William Henry, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_464">464</a><br>
+Chant, Ormiston, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+Chapman, Maria, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>,
+<a href="#Page_129">129</a><br>
+Chase, William, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br>
+Cheever, Rev. George B., <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_237">237</a><br>
+Child, Lydia Maria, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>,
+<a href="#Page_277">277</a><br>
+Choate, Joseph H., <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Christie, Margaret, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br>
+Clark, Helen Bright, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>,
+<a href="#Page_372">372</a><br>
+Clarkson, Thomas, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br>
+Cleveland, Grover, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br>
+Clinton, Governor De Witt C, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br>
+Cluseret, General, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Cobb, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a><br>
+Cobbe, Frances Power, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>,
+<a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a><br>
+Cobden, Jane, <a href="#Page_364">364</a><br>
+Cochrane, James, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br>
+Cochrane, <i>General</i> John, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br>
+Cochrane, Mary, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br>
+Colby, Clara B., <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>,
+<a href="#Page_453">453</a><br>
+Cole, Senator Cornelius, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br>
+Coleridge, Lady, <a href="#Page_425">425</a><br>
+Collyer, Rev. Robert, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br>
+Combe, Andrew, <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br>
+Comte, Auguste, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br>
+Conkling, Judge Alfred, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br>
+Conkling, Roscoe, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br>
+Conway, Rev. Moncure D., <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Conway, Mrs. Moncure D., <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a><br>
+Cooley, Judge Thomas M., <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_270">270</a><br>
+Couzins, Phoebe W., <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>,
+<a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a><br>
+Croly, Jennie C, <a href="#Page_387">387</a><br>
+Crowninshield, Captain A.S., <a href="#Page_154">154</a><br>
+Crowninshield, Mary, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br>
+Cox, S.S., <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br>
+Coxe, Bishop, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br>
+Curtis, George William, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>,<a
+ href="#Page_353">353</a><br>
+Cushier, Dr., <a href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Cushman, Charlotte, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br>
+<br>
+Dana, Charles A., <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>,
+<a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Dana, Eunice MacDaniel, <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Darling, Anna B., <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br>
+Darlington, Chandler, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br>
+Darlington, Hannah, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br>
+Davis, Edward M., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>,
+<a href="#Page_392">392</a><br>
+Davis. Paulina Wright, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br>
+Davitt, Michael. <a href="#Page_366">366</a><br>
+Depesyrons, Professor, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br>
+Deraismes, Mme. F&eacute;resse, <a href="#Page_400">400</a><br>
+Deraismes, Maria, <a href="#Page_400">400</a><br>
+Dickinson, Anna E., <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>,
+<a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br>
+Dickinson, Mary Lowe, <a href="#Page_458">458</a><br>
+Dietrick, Ellen Battelle, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_453">453</a><br>
+Dilke, Mrs. Ashton, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a><br>
+Dilke, Sir Charles, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a><br>
+Dix, Dorothy, L., <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br>
+Dix, General John A., <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Douglass, Frederick, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>,
+<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_454">454</a><br>
+Douglass, Mr., <a href="#Page_457">457</a><br>
+Dowden, Professor, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+Dudley, Blandina Bleecker, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br>
+Dumas, Alexandre, <a href="#Page_454">454</a><br>
+Durand, Mme. M.E., <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Dyer, Charles Gifford, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Dyer, Hella, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+<br>
+Eaton, Professor Amos B., <a href="#Page_444">444</a><br>
+Eaton, Daniel C, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>,
+<a href="#Page_143">143</a><br>
+Eaton, Harriet Cady, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>,
+<a href="#Page_143">143</a><br>
+Eddy, Miss, <a href="#Page_385">385</a><br>
+Eddy, Mrs. Jackson, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>,
+<a href="#Page_385">385</a><br>
+Edmunds, Senator George F., <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br>
+Eliot, George, <a href="#Page_382">382</a><br>
+Euet, Elizabeth F., <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br>
+Ellsler, Fanny, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br>
+Elmy, Mrs., <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br>
+Emerson, Ralph Waldo, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>,
+<a href="#Page_150">150</a><br>
+England, Isaac W., <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br>
+England, Mrs. Isaac W., <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br>
+Everett, Charles, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br>
+<br>
+Fabre, Senator Joseph, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Fairchild, Governor Lucius, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br>
+Faithful, Emily, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br>
+Farnham, Mrs., <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br>
+Fawcett, Henry, M.P., <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br>
+Fawcett, Milicent J., <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br>
+Ferry, Jules, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Ferry, Senator Thomas W., <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br>
+Field, Rev. Dr. Henry M., <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Field, Kate, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a><br>
+Fine, Judge, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br>
+Finney, Rev. Charles G., <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br>
+Fitzhugh, Ann Carroll, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br>
+Fitzhugh, Miss, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br>
+Folsom, Abigail, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br>
+Forbes, Arethusa, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br>
+Forney, John W., <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br>
+Foster, Abby Kelly, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br>
+Foster, Rachel, <a href="#Page_413">413</a><br>
+Foster, Stephen, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>,
+<a href="#Page_243">243</a><br>
+Frederic, Harold, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br>
+Fremont, <i>General</i> John C, <a href="#Page_403">403</a><br>
+French, Daniel C, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Frothingham, <i>Rev</i>. O.B., <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br>
+Fronde, James Anthony, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br>
+Fry, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>,
+<a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br>
+Fuller, Kate, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Fuller, Margaret, <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Fuller, W.J.A., <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Furness, <i>Rev</i>. William H., <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br>
+<br>
+Gage, Frances Dana, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br>
+Gage, Matilda Joslyn, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>,
+<a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_420">420</a><br>
+Gardener, Helen H., <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a><br>
+Garibaldi, <i>General</i> G., <a href="#Page_403">403</a><br>
+Garrison, Gertrude, <a href="#Page_392">392</a><br>
+Garrison, William Lloyd, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>,
+<a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a><br>
+Garrison, Mrs. W.L., <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br>
+Gay, Sidney Howard, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Geddes, Mr., <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br>
+George, Henry, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br>
+Gestefeld, Ursula N., <a href="#Page_453">453</a><br>
+Gibbons, Abby Hopper, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br>
+Gillespie, Mrs., <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br>
+Gladstone, <i>Right Hon</i>., William E., <a href="#Page_360">360</a><br>
+Gladstone, Mrs. W.E., <a href="#Page_397">397</a><br>
+Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, <a href="#Page_427">427</a><br>
+Godwin, William, <a href="#Page_427">427</a><br>
+Grant, <i>General</i>, Ulysses S., <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_388">388</a><br>
+Greeley, Horace, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>,
+<a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br>
+Greeley, Mrs. Horace, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br>
+Greene, Beriah, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>,
+<a href="#Page_210">210</a><br>
+Greenough, Mrs. W.H., <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br>
+Greenwood, Grace, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Gr&eacute;ville, Henri, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Gr&eacute;vy, <i>President</i> Jules, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Gr&eacute;vy, Mme. Jules, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Grew, Mary, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br>
+Grey, Maria G., <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br>
+Grimk&eacute;, Angelina, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br>
+Grimk&eacute;, Sarah, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br>
+Gripenberg, <i>Baroness</i> Alexandra, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Gurney, John Joseph, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br>
+Gurney, Samuel, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_88">88</a><br>
+Gustafsen, Mrs., <a href="#Page_410">410</a><br>
+<br>
+Hammond, <i>Dr</i>. William A., <a href="#Page_413">413</a><br>
+Hanaford, <i>Rev</i>. Phebe A., <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Harbert, Elizabeth Boynton, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_387">387</a><br>
+Harberton, <i>Lady</i>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br>
+Harvey, <i>Rev</i>. A., <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Hawley, <i>General</i> Joseph R., <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_311">311</a>,<br>
+Hawthorne, Nathaniel, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br>
+Hazeltine, Mayo W., <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br>
+Heine, Heinrich, <a href="#Page_407">407</a><br>
+Hertell, <i>Judge</i> <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br>
+Hertz, Fannie, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a><br>
+Hicks, Elias, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br>
+Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br>
+Hill, Octavia, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br>
+Hill, <i>President</i>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a><br>
+Hinckley, <i>Rev</i>. Frederick A., <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br>
+Hoar, <i>Senator</i> George F., <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br>
+Hoggan, <i>Dr</i>. Frances E., <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br>
+Hoisington, Rev. William, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br>
+Holmes, Oliver Wendell, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+Hooker, Isabella Beecher, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a><br>
+Holyoake, George Jacob, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br>
+Hosack, <i>Rev</i>. Simon, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_21">21</a><br>
+Hoskins, Frances, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br>
+Hosmer, Harriet, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>,
+<a href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Hovey, Charles, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Howe, Julia Ward, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a><br>
+Howell, <i>Judge</i>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a><br>
+Howell, Mary Seymour, <a href="#Page_383">383</a><br>
+Howells, William D., <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br>
+Howells, Mrs. William D., <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br>
+Howitt, Mary, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br>
+Hudson, Harriet, <a href="#Page_443">443</a><br>
+Hugo, Victor, <a href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Hunt, Jane, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br>
+Hunt, <i>Dr</i>. Harriet K., <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_316">316</a><br>
+Hunt, <i>Judge</i> Ward, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br>
+Hunt, Richard, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br>
+Hurlbert, <i>Judge</i>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br>
+Huron, Mr., <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br>
+Hutchinson, <i>Family</i>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_313">313</a><br>
+Hutchins, Mr., <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br>
+Hyacinthe, <i>P&egrave;re</i>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+<br>
+Ingersoll, Robert G., <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a><br>
+<br>
+Jackson, Francis, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>,
+<a href="#Page_385">385</a><br>
+Jackson, <i>Dr</i>. James, <a href="#Page_419">419</a><br>
+Jackson, <i>Dr</i>. Kate, <a href="#Page_419">419</a><br>
+Jackson, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_424">424</a><br>
+Jackson, Mrs., <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a><br>
+Jacobi, <i>Dr</i>. Mary Putnam, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Jameson, Anna, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Janes, <i>Bishop</i>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_295">295</a><br>
+Jarvis, Helen, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br>
+Jenckes, Thomas A., <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br>
+Jenkins, Lydia, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br>
+Jenney, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br>
+Johnson, Adelaide, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a><br>
+Johnson, Mariana, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br>
+Johnson, Oliver, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>,
+<a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br>
+Johnson, <i>Sir</i> William, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_18">18</a><br>
+Joly, <i>Professor</i> Nicholas, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_350">350</a><br>
+Jones, Phoebe, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br>
+June, Jennie, <a href="#Page_387">387</a><br>
+<br>
+Kelley, William D., <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br>
+Kelley, Abby, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br>
+Kennan, George, <a href="#Page_409">409</a><br>
+Kent, <i>Chancellor</i>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_223">223</a><br>
+Kergomard, Pauline, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Kilpatrick, <i>General</i>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_262">262</a><br>
+Kimber, Abby, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br>
+King, <i>Captain</i> Charles, <a href="#Page_448">448</a><br>
+Kingsford, Anna, <a href="#Page_377">377</a><br>
+Kingsley, <i>Canon</i> Charles, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_370">370</a><br>
+Klumpke, Anna, <a href="#Page_404">404</a><br>
+Krapotkine, <i>Prince</i>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a><br>
+<br>
+Laboulaye, Edouard R.L., <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br>
+LaFayette, <i>Marquis</i> de, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br>
+Lampson, <i>Father</i>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br>
+Lapham, Anson, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br>
+Lauterbach, Mrs. Edward, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Lawrence, Frank E., <a href="#Page_417">417</a><br>
+Lawrence, Margaret Stanton, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Lawson, <i>Sir</i> Wilfrid, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br>
+Leavitt, Joshua, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br>
+Lecky, W.E.H., <a href="#Page_448">448</a><br>
+Lee, Richard Henry, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br>
+Lee, Theresa, <a href="#Page_443">443</a><br>
+Lieneff, Mr., <a href="#Page_409">409</a><br>
+Lincoln, Abraham, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a><br>
+Livermore, Mary A., <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a><br>
+Livingston, Colonel James, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br>
+Livingston, Margaret, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br>
+Livingston, Mary, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br>
+Logan, Olive, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br>
+Long, Governor John D., <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br>
+Longfellow, Henry W., <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>,
+<a href="#Page_447">447</a><br>
+Longfellow, Rev. Samuel, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br>
+Lord, Dr., <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br>
+Lord, Emily, <a href="#Page_406">406</a><br>
+Lord, Frances, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>,
+<a href="#Page_390">390</a>-<a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_432">432</a><br>
+Louis Philippe, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a><br>
+Lowell, James Russell, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_357">357</a><br>
+Lozier, Dr. Clemence S., <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Lucas, Margaret Bright, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_397">397</a><br>
+Lyon, Mary, <a href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+<br>
+McClintock, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br>
+McClintock, Mary Ann, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br>
+McKeon, Judge, <a href="#Page_284">284</a><br>
+McLaren, Charles, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br>
+McLaren, Mrs. Charles, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+McLaren, Hon. Duncan, M.P., <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br>
+McLaren, Priscilla Bright, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_373">373</a>-<a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+McLaren, Walter, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br>
+McMartin, Donald, <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br>
+McMartin, Duncan, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br>
+McMartin, Margaret Cady, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>,
+<a href="#Page_48">48</a>,<a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>,
+<a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br>
+MacDaniel, Eunice, <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+MacDaniel, Frances L., <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+MacDaniel, Osborne, <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Macaulay, Thomas Babbington, <a href="#Page_362">362</a><br>
+Maire, Rev. Hugh, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br>
+Mann, Horace, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br>
+Mann, Prestona, <a href="#Page_440">440</a><br>
+Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, <a href="#Page_425">425</a><br>
+Mansfield, Mrs. A.A., <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br>
+Marsh, Luther R., <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br>
+Martineau, Harriet, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>,
+<a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br>
+Massey, Gerald, <a href="#Page_377">377</a><br>
+May, Rev. Samuel J., <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>,
+<a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br>
+Mellen, Mrs. William, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br>
+Mendenhall, Dinah, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br>
+Meredith, George, <a href="#Page_432">432</a><br>
+Michel, Louise, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br>
+Michelet, Jules, <a href="#Page_465">465</a><br>
+Milinowski, Captain Arthur, <a href="#Page_421">421</a><br>
+Mill, John Stuart, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>,
+<a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_369">369</a>,<br>
+Mill, Mrs. John Stuart, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br>
+Miller, Charles Dudley, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>,
+<a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br>
+Miller, Colonel, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br>
+Miller, Elizabeth Smith, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>,
+<a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_455">455</a><br>
+Miller, Gerrit Smith, <a href="#Page_454">454</a><br>
+Miller, Jenness, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br>
+Miller, John B., <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br>
+Miller, Judge, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br>
+Miller, Justice Samuel F., <a href="#Page_317">317</a><br>
+Minor, Virginia L., <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a><br>
+Mitchell, Dr. Julia, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+Mitchell, Dr. Kate, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+Mitchell, Professor Maria, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Moffett, Rev. Dr., <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Moliner, Professor, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br>
+Morley, John, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a><br>
+Morpeth, Lord, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br>
+Morris, William, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br>
+Morrison, Cotton, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br>
+Morsier, Emilie de, <a href="#Page_400">400</a><br>
+Morton, Edwin, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br>
+Mott, Lucretia, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>,
+<a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_84">84</a>,
+<a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>,<a
+ href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a><br>
+Mott, Lydia, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>,
+<a href="#Page_243">243</a><br>
+Moulton, Louise Chandler, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Moulton, Mrs., <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br>
+M&uuml;ller, Eva, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br>
+M&uuml;ller, Henrietta, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br>
+Murray, Eliza, in, <a href="#Page_112">112</a><br>
+<br>
+Napoleon, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br>
+Neal, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br>
+Nichol, Elizabeth Pease, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br>
+<br>
+O'Connell, Daniel, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>,
+<a href="#Page_103">103</a><br>
+O'Conor, Charles, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br>
+Olmstead, Rev. John W., <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br>
+Olmstead, Mary Livingston, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br>
+Opie, Amelia, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Orr, Mrs., <a href="#Page_360">360</a><br>
+Osborne, Eliza W., <a href="#Page_434">434</a>-<a href="#Page_437">437</a><br>
+O'Shea, Mrs. Kitty, <a href="#Page_422">422</a><br>
+Owen, Robert Dale, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>,
+<a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br>
+<br>
+Palmer, Senator John M., <a href="#Page_414">414</a><br>
+Parker, Margaret, <a href="#Page_375">375</a><br>
+Parker, Theodore, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_263">263</a><br>
+Parkhurst, Mrs., <a href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Parnell, Charles Stewart, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a><br>
+Parsons, Chauncey C, <a href="#Page_417">417</a><br>
+Parsons, Mrs. Chauncey C, <a href="#Page_417">417</a><br>
+Patton, Rev. Dr., <a href="#Page_382">382</a><br>
+Peabody, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br>
+Pearson, Karl, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a><br>
+Pease, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br>
+Phelps, Elizabeth B., <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br>
+Phillips, Ann Green, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Phillips, Wendell, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>,
+<a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br>
+Pierpont, John, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br>
+Pillsbury, Parker, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>,
+<a href="#Page_355">355</a><br>
+Plumb, Senator Preston B., <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br>
+Pochin, Mrs.,<a href="#Page_338">338</a><br>
+Pomeroy, "Brick," <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br>
+Powell, Aaron, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br>
+Powell, Professor, <a href="#Page_442">442</a><br>
+Priestman, Annie, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+Priestman, Mary, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br>
+Pugh, Sarah, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_327">327</a><br>
+<br>
+Quincy, Edmund, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br>
+<br>
+Ramsey, Mr., <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br>
+Reid, Mrs. Hugo, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Remond, Charles, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br>
+Richer, L&eacute;on, <a href="#Page_400">400</a><br>
+Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich, <a href="#Page_407">407</a><br>
+Ripley, George, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Ripley, Mrs. George, <a href="#Page_449">449</a><br>
+Richardson, Abby Sage, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_439">439</a><br>
+Ristori, Marchionesse Adelaide, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br>
+Robinson, Governor Charles, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_253">253</a><br>
+Roby, Matilda, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br>
+Rogers, Caroline Gilkey, <a href="#Page_383">383</a><br>
+Rogers, Nathaniel P., <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br>
+Roland, Mme., <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>,
+<a href="#Page_382">382</a><br>
+Rosa, Mr., <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br>
+Rose, Ernestine L., <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>,
+<a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_366">366</a><br>
+Root, Elihu, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Rouvier, M., <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Runkle, Mrs., <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Ruskin, John, <a href="#Page_407">407</a><br>
+<br>
+Sackett, fudge Gerrit V., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_195">195</a><br>
+Sage, Russell, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br>
+Sage, Mrs. Russell, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>,
+<a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Sanborn, Frank, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>,
+<a href="#Page_448">448</a><br>
+Sanders, Mrs. Henry M., <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Sargent, Senator Aaron A., <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_290">290</a><br>
+Sargent, Mrs. Aaron A., <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br>
+Saville, Mrs., <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+Scatcherd, Alice Cliff, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Scatcherd, Mr., <a href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Schenck, Elizabeth B., <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br>
+Schenck, Robert C, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br>
+Scoble, Rev. John, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br>
+Seaman, Mr., <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br>
+Seidl, Professor, <a href="#Page_417">417</a><br>
+Sewall, May Wright, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a><br>
+Sewall, Samuel E., <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Sewall, Mrs. Samuel E., <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Seward, Governor William H., <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_199">199</a><br>
+Seward, Mrs. William H., <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a><br>
+Shaftesbury, Lord, <a href="#Page_364">364</a><br>
+Shaw, Rev. Anna, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Shelley, Percy Bysshe, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a><br>
+Shelley, Percy Florence, <a href="#Page_427">427</a><br>
+Smalley, George W., <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br>
+Smith, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_70">70</a><br>
+Smith, Elizabeth Oakes, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br>
+Smith, Gerrit, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>,
+<a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_455">455</a><br>
+Smith, Greene, <a href="#Page_454">454</a><br>
+Smith, Professor Horace, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br>
+Smith, Mrs. Horace, <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br>
+Smith, Peter Sken, <a href="#Page_454">454</a><br>
+Smith, Sidney, <a href="#Page_190">190</a><br>
+Smith, Sisters, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br>
+Somerset, Lady Henry, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Southwick, Abby, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br>
+Southwick, Joseph, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Southwick. Thankful, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br>
+Southworth, Louisa, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a><br>
+Spaulding, Bishop, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br>
+Spence, Clara, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br>
+Spencer, John C, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br>
+Spencer, Sarah Andrews, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br>
+Spofford, Jane Snow, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>,
+<a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_420">420</a><br>
+Spofford, Mr., <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a><br>
+Sprague, Governor William, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br>
+Sta&euml;l, Mme. de, <a href="#Page_435">435</a><br>
+Stanford, Senator Leland, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_414">414</a><br>
+Stanley, Dean, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a><br>
+Stansfeld, Mr., M.P., <a href="#Page_364">364</a><br>
+Stanton, Hon. Daniel Cady, <a href="#Page_415">415</a><br>
+Stanton, Edwin M., <a href="#Page_403">403</a><br>
+Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, Granddaughter of author, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>,
+<a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a><br>
+Stanton, <i>Hon</i>. Gerrit Smith, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Stanton, Harriot Eaton, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_390">390</a>-<a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Stanton, Henry, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a><br>
+Stanton, <i>Hon</i>. Henry Brewster, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>,
+<a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>,
+<a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a><br>
+Stanton, Margaret Livingston, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br>
+Stanton, Marguerite Berry, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_428">428</a><br>
+Stanton, Robert Livingston, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a><br>
+Stanton, Theodore, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>,
+<a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a><br>
+Stead, William T., <a href="#Page_422">422</a><br>
+Stebbins, Catharine F., <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br>
+Stebbins, Giles, <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br>
+Stebbins, Mrs., <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br>
+Steinthal, <i>Rev</i>. Mr., <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br>
+Stepniak, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br>
+Sterling, Antoinette, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Stevens, Thaddeus, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br>
+Stevenson, Robert Louis, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br>
+Stewart, Alvin, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br>
+Stone, Lucy, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>,
+<a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a><br>
+Stout, <i>Rev</i>. C., <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Stowe, Harriet Beecher, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br>
+Straus, Oscar S., <a href="#Page_464">464</a><br>
+Stuart, Charles, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br>
+Stuart, <i>Dr</i>. Jacob H., <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br>
+Stuart, Mrs. Jacob H., <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br>
+Stuart, <i>Professor</i>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a><br>
+Sturge, Joseph, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a><br>
+Sumner, Charles, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>,
+<a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_403">403</a><br>
+Sutherland, <i>Duchess</i> of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br>
+Swift, Isabella, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>,
+<a href="#Page_67">67</a><br>
+Swift, <i>Lieutenant</i>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br>
+<br>
+Tanner, Mrs., <a href="#Page_364">364</a><br>
+Taylor, Helen, <a href="#Page_366">366</a><br>
+Taylor, Mrs. Peter A., <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br>
+Terry, Ellen, <a href="#Page_464">464</a><br>
+Thacher, <i>Mayor</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br>
+Thomson, Adeline, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br>
+Thomasson, <i>Hon</i>. John P., <i>M. P</i>., <a href="#Page_360">360</a>,
+<a href="#Page_373">373</a><br>
+Thomasson, Mrs. John P., <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br>
+Thompkins, <i>Governor</i> Daniel D., <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br>
+Thompson, George, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>,
+<a href="#Page_169">169</a><br>
+Thompson, May Wright, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br>
+Tilton, Theodore, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>,
+<a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Train, George Francis, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a><br>
+Traut, Mme. Griess, <a href="#Page_400">400</a><br>
+Tree, Ellen, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br>
+Tudor, Mrs. Fenno, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br>
+Tyler, <i>Professor</i>, Moses Coit, <a href="#Page_303">303</a><br>
+Tyng, <i>Dr</i>. Stephen, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br>
+<br>
+Underhill, Zoe Dana, <a href="#Page_448">448</a><br>
+<br>
+Van Vechten, Abraham, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br>
+Vest, <i>Senator</i> George G., <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br>
+Victoria, <i>Queen</i>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_415">415</a><br>
+Vignon, Claude, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Villard, Fanny Garrison, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br>
+Villard, Henry, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br>
+Vincent, Henry, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br>
+Virchow, <i>Professor</i>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br>
+Waite, <i>Chief Justice</i> Morrison R., <a href="#Page_317">317</a><br>
+Walter, Ellen Cochrane, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br>
+Walsingham, <i>Sir</i> Francis, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br>
+"Warrington," <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br>
+Washington, <i>General</i> George, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br>
+Weed, Thurlow, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br>
+Weld, Angelina Grimke, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br>
+Weld, Theodore D., <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br>
+Wellington, <i>Duke</i> of, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br>
+Wells, Emeline B., <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br>
+West, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br>
+Weston, Deborah, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br>
+Whipple, E.P., <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br>
+Whitney, Anna, <a href="#Page_461">461</a><br>
+Whittier, John G., <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>-<a
+ href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_276">276</a><br>
+Whittle, <i>Dr.</i> Ewing, <a href="#Page_375">375</a><br>
+Wigham, Eliza, <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br>
+Wigham, Jane, <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br>
+Wilberforce, Canon, <a href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Wilberforce, William, <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br>
+Wilbour, Charlotte Beebe, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br>
+Wilkeson, Catherine Cady, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_111">111</a><br>
+Wilkeson, Samuel, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br>
+Willard, Amelia, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>,
+<a href="#Page_386">386</a><br>
+Willard, Emma, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Willard, Frances E., <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a><br>
+Willard, Mrs. John, <a href="#Page_443">443</a><br>
+Williams, <i>Senator</i> C.G., <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br>
+Williams, Elisha, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br>
+Wilson, Daniel, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br>
+Winckworth, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen, <a href="#Page_362">362</a><br>
+Winslow, Emily, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br>
+Woodhull, Victoria, <a href="#Page_382">382</a><br>
+Wollstonecraft, Mary, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a><br>
+Woodward, Mr., <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br>
+Worden, Mrs., <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br>
+Wright, David, <a href="#Page_435">435</a><br>
+Wright, Frances, <a href="#Page_382">382</a><br>
+Wright, Henry C., <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br>
+Wright, Martha C., <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>,
+<a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a><br>
+Wright, Mr., <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br>
+Wright, Paulina, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>,
+<a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a
+ href="#Page_243">243</a><br>
+<br>
+Yost, Elizabeth W., <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br>
+Yost, Maria, <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br>
+<br>
+Zackesewska, <i>Dr.</i> M.E., <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br>
+<p>[<i>Portions of Chapters X. and XI. of this book are taken by
+permission
+from
+an article written by Mrs. Stanton for "Our Famous Women," published by
+A.D. Worthington &amp; Co.</i>]</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences
+1815-1897, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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+</body>
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@@ -0,0 +1,13859 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences
+1815-1897, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897
+
+Author: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+Release Date: April 10, 2004 [EBook #11982]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Grenet and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Elizabeth Cady Stanton]
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE
+
+REMINISCENCES 1815-1897
+
+
+ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
+
+
+
+"Social science affirms that woman's place in society marks the level of
+civilization."
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME TO
+
+SUSAN B. ANTHONY,
+
+MY STEADFAST FRIEND FOR HALF A CENTURY.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I. CHILDHOOD
+II. SCHOOL DAYS
+III. GIRLHOOD
+IV. LIFE AT PETERBORO
+V. OUR WEDDING JOURNEY
+VI. HOMEWARD BOUND
+VII. MOTHERHOOD
+VIII. BOSTON AND CHELSEA
+IX. THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION
+X. SUSAN B. ANTHONY
+XI. SUSAN B. ANTHONY (_Continued_)
+XII. MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE
+XIII. REFORMS AND MOBS
+XIV. VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
+XV. WOMEN AS PATRIOTS
+XVI. PIONEER LIFE IN KANSAS--OUR NEWSPAPER "THE
+REVOLUTION"
+XVII. LYCEUMS AND LECTURERS
+XVIII. WESTWARD HO!
+XIX. THE SPIRIT OF '76
+XX. WRITING "THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE"
+XXI. IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
+XXII. REFORMS AND REFORMERS IN GREAT BRITAIN
+XXIII. WOMAN AND THEOLOGY
+XXIV. ENGLAND AND FRANCE REVISITED
+XXV. THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN
+XXVI. MY LAST VISIT TO ENGLAND
+XXVII. SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLASS OF 1832--THE
+WOMAN'S BIBLE
+XXVIII. MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY
+INDEX OF NAMES
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF PORTRAITS.
+
+The Author, _Frontispiece_
+Margaret Livingston Cady
+Judge Daniel Cady
+Henry Brewster Stanton
+The Author and Daughter
+The Author and Son
+Susan B. Anthony
+Elizabeth Smith Miller
+Children and Grandchildren
+The Author, Mrs. Blatch, and Nora
+The Author, Mrs. Lawrence, and Robert Livingston Stanton
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CHILDHOOD.
+
+
+The psychical growth of a child is not influenced by days and years, but
+by the impressions passing events make on its mind. What may prove a
+sudden awakening to one, giving an impulse in a certain direction that
+may last for years, may make no impression on another. People wonder why
+the children of the same family differ so widely, though they have had
+the same domestic discipline, the same school and church teaching, and
+have grown up under the same influences and with the same environments.
+As well wonder why lilies and lilacs in the same latitude are not all
+alike in color and equally fragrant. Children differ as widely as these
+in the primal elements of their physical and psychical life.
+
+Who can estimate the power of antenatal influences, or the child's
+surroundings in its earliest years, the effect of some passing word or
+sight on one, that makes no impression on another? The unhappiness of
+one child under a certain home discipline is not inconsistent with the
+content of another under this same discipline. One, yearning for broader
+freedom, is in a chronic condition of rebellion; the other, more easily
+satisfied, quietly accepts the situation. Everything is seen from a
+different standpoint; everything takes its color from the mind of the
+beholder.
+
+I am moved to recall what I can of my early days, what I thought and
+felt, that grown people may have a better understanding of children and
+do more for their happiness and development. I see so much tyranny
+exercised over children, even by well-disposed parents, and in so many
+varied forms,--a tyranny to which these parents are themselves
+insensible,--that I desire to paint my joys and sorrows in as vivid
+colors as possible, in the hope that I may do something to defend the
+weak from the strong. People never dream of all that is going on in the
+little heads of the young, for few adults are given to introspection,
+and those who are incapable of recalling their own feelings under
+restraint and disappointment can have no appreciation of the sufferings
+of children who can neither describe nor analyze what they feel. In
+defending themselves against injustice they are as helpless as dumb
+animals. What is insignificant to their elders is often to them a source
+of great joy or sorrow.
+
+With several generations of vigorous, enterprising ancestors behind me,
+I commenced the struggle of life under favorable circumstances on the
+12th day of November, 1815, the same year that my father, Daniel Cady, a
+distinguished lawyer and judge in the State of New York, was elected to
+Congress. Perhaps the excitement of a political campaign, in which my
+mother took the deepest interest, may have had an influence on my
+prenatal life and given me the strong desire that I have always felt to
+participate in the rights and duties of government.
+
+My father was a man of firm character and unimpeachable integrity, and
+yet sensitive and modest to a painful degree. There were but two places
+in which he felt at ease--in the courthouse and at his own fireside.
+Though gentle and tender, he had such a dignified repose and reserve of
+manner that, as children, we regarded him with fear rather than
+affection.
+
+My mother, Margaret Livingston, a tall, queenly looking woman, was
+courageous, self-reliant, and at her ease under all circumstances and in
+all places. She was the daughter of Colonel James Livingston, who took
+an active part in the War of the Revolution.
+
+Colonel Livingston was stationed at West Point when Arnold made the
+attempt to betray that stronghold into the hands of the enemy. In the
+absence of General Washington and his superior officer, he took the
+responsibility of firing into the _Vulture_, a suspicious looking
+British vessel that lay at anchor near the opposite bank of the Hudson
+River. It was a fatal shot for Andre, the British spy, with whom Arnold
+was then consummating his treason. Hit between wind and water, the
+vessel spread her sails and hastened down the river, leaving Andre, with
+his papers, to be captured while Arnold made his escape through the
+lines, before his treason was suspected.
+
+On General Washington's return to West Point, he sent for my grandfather
+and reprimanded him for acting in so important a matter without orders,
+thereby making himself liable to court-martial; but, after fully
+impressing the young officer with the danger of such self-sufficiency on
+ordinary occasions, he admitted that a most fortunate shot had been sent
+into the _Vulture_, "for," he said, "we are in no condition just now to
+defend ourselves against the British forces in New York, and the
+capture of this spy has saved us."
+
+My mother had the military idea of government, but her children, like
+their grandfather, were disposed to assume the responsibility of their
+own actions; thus the ancestral traits in mother and children modified,
+in a measure, the dangerous tendencies in each.
+
+Our parents were as kind, indulgent, and considerate as the Puritan
+ideas of those days permitted, but fear, rather than love, of God and
+parents alike, predominated. Add to this our timidity in our intercourse
+with servants and teachers, our dread of the ever present devil, and the
+reader will see that, under such conditions, nothing but strong
+self-will and a good share of hope and mirthfulness could have saved an
+ordinary child from becoming a mere nullity.
+
+The first event engraved on my memory was the birth of a sister when I
+was four years old. It was a cold morning in January when the brawny
+Scotch nurse carried me to see the little stranger, whose advent was a
+matter of intense interest to me for many weeks after. The large,
+pleasant room with the white curtains and bright wood fire on the
+hearth, where panada, catnip, and all kinds of little messes which we
+were allowed to taste were kept warm, was the center of attraction for
+the older children. I heard so many friends remark, "What a pity it is
+she's a girl!" that I felt a kind of compassion for the little baby.
+True, our family consisted of five girls and only one boy, but I did not
+understand at that time that girls were considered an inferior order of
+beings.
+
+To form some idea of my surroundings at this time, imagine a two-story
+white frame house with a hall through the middle, rooms on either side,
+and a large back building with grounds on the side and rear, which
+joined the garden of our good Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Simon
+Hosack, of whom I shall have more to say in another chapter. Our
+favorite resorts in the house were the garret and cellar. In the former
+were barrels of hickory nuts, and, on a long shelf, large cakes of maple
+sugar and all kinds of dried herbs and sweet flag; spinning wheels, a
+number of small white cotton bags filled with bundles, marked in ink,
+"silk," "cotton," "flannel," "calico," etc., as well as ancient
+masculine and feminine costumes. Here we would crack the nuts, nibble
+the sharp edges of the maple sugar, chew some favorite herb, play ball
+with the bags, whirl the old spinning wheels, dress up in our ancestors'
+clothes, and take a bird's-eye view of the surrounding country from an
+enticing scuttle hole. This was forbidden ground; but, nevertheless, we
+often went there on the sly, which only made the little escapades more
+enjoyable.
+
+The cellar of our house was filled, in winter, with barrels of apples,
+vegetables, salt meats, cider, butter, pounding barrels, washtubs, etc.,
+offering admirable nooks for playing hide and seek. Two tallow candles
+threw a faint light over the scene on certain occasions. This cellar was
+on a level with a large kitchen where we played blind man's buff and
+other games when the day's work was done. These two rooms are the center
+of many of the merriest memories of my childhood days.
+
+I can recall three colored men, Abraham, Peter, and Jacob, who acted as
+menservants in our youth. In turn they would sometimes play on the banjo
+for us to dance, taking real enjoyment in our games. They are all at
+rest now with "Old Uncle Ned in the place where the good niggers go."
+Our nurses, Lockey Danford, Polly Bell, Mary Dunn, and Cornelia
+Nickeloy--peace to their ashes--were the only shadows on the gayety of
+these winter evenings; for their chief delight was to hurry us off to
+bed, that they might receive their beaux or make short calls in the
+neighborhood. My memory of them is mingled with no sentiment of
+gratitude or affection. In expressing their opinion of us in after
+years, they said we were a very troublesome, obstinate, disobedient set
+of children. I have no doubt we were in constant rebellion against their
+petty tyranny. Abraham, Peter, and Jacob viewed us in a different light,
+and I have the most pleasant recollections of their kind services.
+
+In the winter, outside the house, we had the snow with which to build
+statues and make forts, and huge piles of wood covered with ice, which
+we called the Alps, so difficult were they of ascent and descent. There
+we would climb up and down by the hour, if not interrupted, which,
+however, was generally the case. It always seemed to me that, in the
+height of our enthusiasm, we were invariably summoned to some
+disagreeable duty, which would appear to show that thus early I keenly
+enjoyed outdoor life. Theodore Tilton has thus described the place where
+I was born: "Birthplace is secondary parentage, and transmits character.
+Johnstown was more famous half a century ago than since; for then,
+though small, it was a marked intellectual center; and now, though
+large, it is an unmarked manufacturing town. Before the birth of
+Elizabeth Cady it was the vice-ducal seat of Sir William Johnson, the
+famous English negotiator with the Indians. During her girlhood it was
+an arena for the intellectual wrestlings of Kent, Tompkins, Spencer,
+Elisha Williams, and Abraham Van Vechten, who, as lawyers, were among
+the chiefest of their time. It is now devoted mainly to the fabrication
+of steel springs and buckskin gloves. So, like Wordsworth's early star,
+it has faded into the light of common day. But Johnstown retains one of
+its ancient splendors--a glory still fresh as at the foundation of the
+world. Standing on its hills, one looks off upon a country of enameled
+meadow lands, that melt away southward toward the Mohawk, and northward
+to the base of those grand mountains which are 'God's monument over the
+grave of John Brown.'"
+
+Harold Frederic's novel, "In the Valley," contains many descriptions of
+this region that are true to nature, as I remember the Mohawk Valley,
+for I first knew it not so many years after the scenes which he lays
+there. Before I was old enough to take in the glory of this scenery and
+its classic associations, Johnstown was to me a gloomy-looking town. The
+middle of the streets was paved with large cobblestones, over which the
+farmer's wagons rattled from morning till night, while the sidewalks
+were paved with very small cobblestones, over which we carefully picked
+our way, so that free and graceful walking was out of the question. The
+streets were lined with solemn poplar trees, from which small yellow
+worms were continually dangling down. Next to the Prince of Darkness, I
+feared these worms. They were harmless, but the sight of one made me
+tremble. So many people shared in this feeling that the poplars were all
+cut down and elms planted in their stead. The Johnstown academy and
+churches were large square buildings, painted white, surrounded by these
+same sombre poplars, each edifice having a doleful bell which seemed to
+be ever tolling for school, funerals, church, or prayer meetings. Next
+to the worms, those clanging bells filled me with the utmost dread; they
+seemed like so many warnings of an eternal future. Visions of the
+Inferno were strongly impressed on my childish imagination. It was
+thought, in those days, that firm faith in hell and the devil was the
+greatest help to virtue. It certainly made me very unhappy whenever my
+mind dwelt on such teachings, and I have always had my doubts of the
+virtue that is based on the fear of punishment.
+
+Perhaps I may be pardoned a word devoted to my appearance in those days.
+I have been told that I was a plump little girl, with very fair skin,
+rosy cheeks, good features, dark-brown hair, and laughing blue eyes. A
+student in my father's office, the late Henry Bayard of Delaware (an
+uncle of our recent Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Thomas F.
+Bayard), told me one day, after conning my features carefully, that I
+had one defect which he could remedy. "Your eyebrows should be darker
+and heavier," said he, "and if you will let me shave them once or twice,
+you will be much improved." I consented, and, slight as my eyebrows
+were, they seemed to have had some expression, for the loss of them had
+a most singular effect on my appearance. Everybody, including even the
+operator, laughed at my odd-looking face, and I was in the depths of
+humiliation during the period while my eyebrows were growing out again.
+It is scarcely necessary for me to add that I never allowed the young
+man to repeat the experiment, although strongly urged to do so.
+
+I cannot recall how or when I conquered the alphabet, words in three
+letters, the multiplication table, the points of the compass, the
+chicken pox, whooping cough, measles, and scarlet fever. All these
+unhappy incidents of childhood left but little impression on my mind. I
+have, however, most pleasant memories of the good spinster, Maria Yost,
+who patiently taught three generations of children the rudiments of the
+English language, and introduced us to the pictures in "Murray's
+Spelling-book," where Old Father Time, with his scythe, and the farmer
+stoning the boys in his apple trees, gave rise in my mind to many
+serious reflections. Miss Yost was plump and rosy, with fair hair, and
+had a merry twinkle in her blue eyes, and she took us by very easy
+stages through the old-fashioned school-books. The interesting Readers
+children now have were unknown sixty years ago. We did not reach the
+temple of knowledge by the flowery paths of ease in which our
+descendants now walk.
+
+I still have a perfect vision of myself and sisters, as we stood up in
+the classes, with our toes at the cracks in the floor, all dressed alike
+in bright red flannel, black alpaca aprons, and, around the neck, a
+starched ruffle that, through a lack of skill on the part of either the
+laundress or the nurse who sewed them in, proved a constant source of
+discomfort to us. I have since seen full-grown men, under slighter
+provocation than we endured, jerk off a collar, tear it in two, and
+throw it to the winds, chased by the most soul-harrowing expletives. But
+we were sternly rebuked for complaining, and if we ventured to introduce
+our little fingers between the delicate skin and the irritating linen,
+our hands were slapped and the ruffle readjusted a degree closer. Our
+Sunday dresses were relieved with a black sprig and white aprons. We had
+red cloaks, red hoods, red mittens, and red stockings. For one's self to
+be all in red six months of the year was bad enough, but to have this
+costume multiplied by three was indeed monotonous. I had such an
+aversion to that color that I used to rebel regularly at the beginning
+of each season when new dresses were purchased, until we finally passed
+into an exquisite shade of blue. No words could do justice to my dislike
+of those red dresses. My grandfather's detestation of the British
+redcoats must have descended to me. My childhood's antipathy to wearing
+red enabled me later to comprehend the feelings of a little niece, who
+hated everything pea green, because she had once heard the saying, "neat
+but not gaudy, as the devil said when he painted his tail pea green." So
+when a friend brought her a cravat of that color she threw it on the
+floor and burst into tears, saying, "I could not wear that, for it is
+the color of the devil's tail." I sympathized with the child and had it
+changed for the hue she liked. Although we cannot always understand the
+ground for children's preferences, it is often well to heed them.
+
+I am told that I was pensively looking out of the nursery window one
+day, when Mary Dunn, the Scotch nurse, who was something of a
+philosopher, and a stern Presbyterian, said: "Child, what are you
+thinking about; are you planning some new form of mischief?" "No, Mary,"
+I replied, "I was wondering why it was that everything we like to do is
+a sin, and that everything we dislike is commanded by God or someone on
+earth. I am so tired of that everlasting no! no! no! At school, at home,
+everywhere it is _no_! Even at church all the commandments begin 'Thou
+shalt not.' I suppose God will say 'no' to all we like in the next
+world, just as you do here." Mary was dreadfully shocked at my
+dissatisfaction with the things of time and prospective eternity, and
+exhorted me to cultivate the virtues of obedience and humility.
+
+I well remember the despair I felt in those years, as I took in the
+whole situation, over the constant cribbing and crippling of a child's
+life. I suppose I found fit language in which to express my thoughts,
+for Mary Dunn told me, years after, how our discussion roused my sister
+Margaret, who was an attentive listener. I must have set forth our
+wrongs in clear, unmistakable terms; for Margaret exclaimed one day, "I
+tell you what to do. Hereafter let us act as we choose, without asking."
+"Then," said I, "we shall be punished." "Suppose we are," said she, "we
+shall have had our fun at any rate, and that is better than to mind the
+everlasting 'no' and not have any fun at all." Her logic seemed
+unanswerable, so together we gradually acted on her suggestions. Having
+less imagination than I, she took a common-sense view of life and
+suffered nothing from anticipation of troubles, while my sorrows were
+intensified fourfold by innumerable apprehensions of possible
+exigencies.
+
+Our nursery, a large room over a back building, had three barred windows
+reaching nearly to the floor. Two of these opened on a gently slanting
+roof over a veranda. In our night robes, on warm summer evenings we
+could, by dint of skillful twisting and compressing, get out between the
+bars, and there, snugly braced against the house, we would sit and enjoy
+the moon and stars and what sounds might reach us from the streets,
+while the nurse, gossiping at the back door, imagined we were safely
+asleep.
+
+I have a confused memory of being often under punishment for what, in
+those days, were called "tantrums." I suppose they were really
+justifiable acts of rebellion against the tyranny of those in authority.
+I have often listened since, with real satisfaction, to what some of our
+friends had to say of the high-handed manner in which sister Margaret
+and I defied all the transient orders and strict rules laid down for our
+guidance. If we had observed them we might as well have been embalmed as
+mummies, for all the pleasure and freedom we should have had in our
+childhood. As very little was then done for the amusement of children,
+happy were those who _conscientiously_ took the liberty of amusing
+themselves.
+
+One charming feature of our village was a stream of water, called the
+Cayadutta, which ran through the north end, in which it was our delight
+to walk on the broad slate stones when the water was low, in order to
+pick up pretty pebbles. These joys were also forbidden, though indulged
+in as opportunity afforded, especially as sister Margaret's philosophy
+was found to work successfully and we had finally risen above our
+infantile fear of punishment.
+
+Much of my freedom at this time was due to this sister, who afterward
+became the wife of Colonel Duncan McMartin of Iowa. I can see her now,
+hat in hand, her long curls flying in the wind, her nose slightly
+retrousse, her large dark eyes flashing with glee, and her small
+straight mouth so expressive of determination. Though two years my
+junior, she was larger and stronger than I and more fearless and
+self-reliant. She was always ready to start when any pleasure offered,
+and, if I hesitated, she would give me a jerk and say, emphatically:
+"Oh, come along!" and away we went.
+
+About this time we entered the Johnstown Academy, where we made the
+acquaintance of the daughters of the hotel keeper and the county
+sheriff. They were a few years my senior, but, as I was ahead of them in
+all my studies, the difference of age was somewhat equalized and we
+became fast friends. This acquaintance opened to us two new sources of
+enjoyment--the freedom of the hotel during "court week" (a great event
+in village life) and the exploration of the county jail. Our Scotch
+nurse had told us so many thrilling tales of castles, prisons, and
+dungeons in the Old World that, to see the great keys and iron doors,
+the handcuffs and chains, and the prisoners in their cells seemed like a
+veritable visit to Mary's native land. We made frequent visits to the
+jail and became deeply concerned about the fate of the prisoners, who
+were greatly pleased with our expressions of sympathy and our gifts of
+cake and candy. In time we became interested in the trials and sentences
+of prisoners, and would go to the courthouse and listen to the
+proceedings. Sometimes we would slip into the hotel where the judges and
+lawyers dined, and help our little friend wait on table. The rushing of
+servants to and fro, the calling of guests, the scolding of servants in
+the kitchen, the banging of doors, the general hubbub, the noise and
+clatter, were all idealized by me into one of those royal festivals Mary
+so often described. To be allowed to carry plates of bread and butter,
+pie and cheese I counted a high privilege. But more especially I enjoyed
+listening to the conversations in regard to the probable fate of our
+friends the prisoners in the jail. On one occasion I projected a few
+remarks into a conversation between two lawyers, when one of them turned
+abruptly to me and said, "Child, you'd better attend to your business;
+bring me a glass of water." I replied indignantly, "I am not a servant;
+I am here for fun."
+
+In all these escapades we were followed by Peter, black as coal and six
+feet in height. It seems to me now that his chief business was to
+discover our whereabouts, get us home to dinner, and take us back to
+school. Fortunately he was overflowing with curiosity and not averse to
+lingering a while where anything of interest was to be seen or heard,
+and, as we were deemed perfectly safe under his care, no questions were
+asked when we got to the house, if we had been with him. He had a long
+head and, through his diplomacy, we escaped much disagreeable
+surveillance. Peter was very fond of attending court. All the lawyers
+knew him, and wherever Peter went, the three little girls in his charge
+went, too. Thus, with constant visits to the jail, courthouse, and my
+father's office, I gleaned some idea of the danger of violating the law.
+
+The great events of the year were the Christmas holidays, the Fourth of
+July, and "general training," as the review of the county militia was
+then called. The winter gala days are associated, in my memory, with
+hanging up stockings and with turkeys, mince pies, sweet cider, and
+sleighrides by moonlight. My earliest recollections of those happy days,
+when schools were closed, books laid aside, and unusual liberties
+allowed, center in that large cellar kitchen to which I have already
+referred. There we spent many winter evenings in uninterrupted
+enjoyment. A large fireplace with huge logs shed warmth and cheerfulness
+around. In one corner sat Peter sawing his violin, while our youthful
+neighbors danced with us and played blindman's buff almost every evening
+during the vacation. The most interesting character in this game was a
+black boy called Jacob (Peter's lieutenant), who made things lively for
+us by always keeping one eye open--a wise precaution to guard himself
+from danger, and to keep us on the jump. Hickory nuts, sweet cider, and
+_olie-koeks_ (a Dutch name for a fried cake with raisins inside) were
+our refreshments when there came a lull in the fun.
+
+As St. Nicholas was supposed to come down the chimney, our stockings
+were pinned on a broomstick, laid across two chairs in front of the
+fireplace. We retired on Christmas Eve with the most pleasing
+anticipations of what would be in our stockings next morning. The
+thermometer in that latitude was often twenty degrees below zero, yet,
+bright and early, we would run downstairs in our bare feet over the cold
+floors to carry stockings, broom, etc., to the nursery. The gorgeous
+presents that St. Nicholas now distributes show that he, too, has been
+growing up with the country. The boys and girls of 1897 will laugh when
+they hear of the contents of our stockings in 1823. There was a little
+paper of candy, one of raisins, another, of nuts, a red apple, an
+_olie-koek_, and a bright silver quarter of a dollar in the toe. If a
+child had been guilty of any erratic performances during the year, which
+was often my case, a long stick would protrude from the stocking; if
+particularly good, an illustrated catechism or the New Testament would
+appear, showing that the St. Nicholas of that time held decided views
+on discipline and ethics.
+
+During the day we would take a drive over the snow-clad hills and
+valleys in a long red lumber sleigh. All the children it could hold made
+the forests echo with their songs and laughter. The sleigh bells and
+Peter's fine tenor voice added to the chorus seemed to chant, as we
+passed, "Merry Christmas" to the farmers' children and to all we met on
+the highway.
+
+Returning home, we were allowed, as a great Christmas treat, to watch
+all Peter's preparations for dinner. Attired in a white apron and
+turban, holding in his hand a tin candlestick the size of a dinner
+plate, containing a tallow candle, with stately step he marched into the
+spacious cellar, with Jacob and three little girls dressed in red
+flannel at his heels. As the farmers paid the interest on their
+mortgages in barrels of pork, headcheese, poultry, eggs, and cider, the
+cellars were well crowded for the winter, making the master of an
+establishment quite indifferent to all questions of finance. We heard
+nothing in those days of greenbacks, silver coinage, or a gold basis.
+Laden with vegetables, butter, eggs, and a magnificent turkey, Peter and
+his followers returned to the kitchen. There, seated on a big ironing
+table, we watched the dressing and roasting of the bird in a tin oven in
+front of the fire. Jacob peeled the vegetables, we all sang, and Peter
+told us marvelous stories. For tea he made flapjacks, baked in a pan
+with a long handle, which he turned by throwing the cake up and
+skillfully catching it descending.
+
+Peter was a devout Episcopalian and took great pleasure in helping the
+young people decorate the church. He would take us with him and show us
+how to make evergreen wreaths. Like Mary's lamb, where'er he went we
+were sure to go. His love for us was unbounded and fully returned. He
+was the only being, visible or invisible, of whom we had no fear. We
+would go to divine service with Peter, Christmas morning and sit with
+him by the door, in what was called "the negro pew." He was the only
+colored member of the church and, after all the other communicants had
+taken the sacrament, he went alone to the altar. Dressed in a new suit
+of blue with gilt buttons, he looked like a prince, as, with head erect,
+he walked up the aisle, the grandest specimen of manhood in the whole
+congregation; and yet so strong was prejudice against color in 1823 that
+no one would kneel beside him. On leaving us, on one of these occasions,
+Peter told us all to sit still until he returned; but, no sooner had he
+started, than the youngest of us slowly followed after him and seated
+herself close beside him. As he came back, holding the child by the
+hand, what a lesson it must have been to that prejudiced congregation!
+The first time we entered the church together the sexton opened a white
+man's pew for us, telling Peter to leave the Judge's children there.
+"Oh," he said, "they will not stay there without me." But, as he could
+not enter, we instinctively followed him to the negro pew.
+
+Our next great fete was on the anniversary of the birthday of our
+Republic. The festivities were numerous and protracted, beginning then,
+as now, at midnight with bonfires and cannon; while the day was ushered
+in with the ringing of bells, tremendous cannonading, and a continuous
+popping of fire-crackers and torpedoes. Then a procession of soldiers
+and citizens marched through the town, an oration was delivered, the
+Declaration of Independence read, and a great dinner given in the open
+air under the trees in the grounds of the old courthouse. Each toast was
+announced with the booming of cannon. On these occasions Peter was in
+his element, and showed us whatever he considered worth seeing; but I
+cannot say that I enjoyed very much either "general training" or the
+Fourth of July, for, in addition to my fear of cannon and torpedoes, my
+sympathies were deeply touched by the sadness of our cook, whose drunken
+father always cut antics in the streets on gala days, the central figure
+in all the sports of the boys, much to the mortification of his worthy
+daughter. She wept bitterly over her father's public exhibition of
+himself, and told me in what a condition he would come home to his
+family at night. I would gladly have stayed in with her all day, but the
+fear of being called a coward compelled me to go through those trying
+ordeals. As my nerves were all on the surface, no words can describe
+what I suffered with those explosions, great and small, and my fears
+lest King George and his minions should reappear among us. I thought
+that, if he had done all the dreadful things stated in the Declaration
+of '76, he might come again, burn our houses, and drive us all into the
+street. Sir William Johnson's mansion of solid masonry, gloomy and
+threatening, still stood in our neighborhood. I had seen the marks of
+the Indian's tomahawk on the balustrades and heard of the bloody deeds
+there enacted. For all the calamities of the nation I believed King
+George responsible. At home and at school we were educated to hate the
+English. When we remember that, every Fourth of July, the Declaration
+was read with emphasis, and the orator of the day rounded all his
+glowing periods with denunciations of the mother country, we need not
+wonder at the national hatred of everything English. Our patriotism in
+those early days was measured by our dislike of Great Britain.
+
+In September occurred the great event, the review of the county militia,
+popularly called "Training Day." Then everybody went to the race course
+to see the troops and buy what the farmers had brought in their wagons.
+There was a peculiar kind of gingerbread and molasses candy to which we
+were treated on those occasions, associated in my mind to this day with
+military reviews and standing armies.
+
+Other pleasures were, roaming in the forests and sailing on the mill
+pond. One day, when there were no boys at hand and several girls were
+impatiently waiting for a sail on a raft, my sister and I volunteered to
+man the expedition. We always acted on the assumption that what we had
+seen done, we could do. Accordingly we all jumped on the raft, loosened
+it from its moorings, and away we went with the current. Navigation on
+that mill pond was performed with long poles, but, unfortunately, we
+could not lift the poles, and we soon saw we were drifting toward the
+dam. But we had the presence of mind to sit down and hold fast to the
+raft. Fortunately, we went over right side up and gracefully glided down
+the stream, until rescued by the ever watchful Peter. I did not hear the
+last of that voyage for a long time. I was called the captain of the
+expedition, and one of the boys wrote a composition, which he read in
+school, describing the adventure and emphasizing the ignorance of the
+laws of navigation shown by the officers in command. I shed tears many
+times over that performance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SCHOOL DAYS.
+
+
+When I was eleven years old, two events occurred which changed
+considerably the current of my life. My only brother, who had just
+graduated from Union College, came home to die. A young man of great
+talent and promise, he was the pride of my father's heart. We early felt
+that this son filled a larger place in our father's affections and
+future plans than the five daughters together. Well do I remember how
+tenderly he watched my brother in his last illness, the sighs and tears
+he gave vent to as he slowly walked up and down the hall, and, when the
+last sad moment came, and we were all assembled to say farewell in the
+silent chamber of death, how broken were his utterances as he knelt and
+prayed for comfort and support. I still recall, too, going into the
+large darkened parlor to see my brother, and finding the casket,
+mirrors, and pictures all draped in white, and my father seated by his
+side, pale and immovable. As he took no notice of me, after standing a
+long while, I climbed upon his knee, when he mechanically put his arm
+about me and, with my head resting against his beating heart, we both
+sat in silence, he thinking of the wreck of all his hopes in the loss of
+a dear son, and I wondering what could be said or done to fill the void
+in his breast. At length he heaved a deep sigh and said: "Oh, my
+daughter, I wish you were a boy!" Throwing my arms about his neck, I
+replied: "I will try to be all my brother was."
+
+[Illustration: MARGARET LIVINGSTON CADY.] [Illustration: JUDGE DANIEL
+CADY.] Then and there I resolved that I would not give so much time as
+heretofore to play, but would study and strive to be at the head of all
+my classes and thus delight my father's heart. All that day and far into
+the night I pondered the problem of boyhood. I thought that the chief
+thing to be done in order to equal boys was to be learned and
+courageous. So I decided to study Greek and learn to manage a horse.
+Having formed this conclusion I fell asleep. My resolutions, unlike many
+such made at night, did not vanish with the coming light. I arose early
+and hastened to put them into execution. They were resolutions never to
+be forgotten--destined to mold my character anew. As soon as I was
+dressed I hastened to our good pastor, Rev. Simon Hosack, who was always
+early at work in his garden.
+
+"Doctor," said I, "which do you like best, boys or girls?"
+
+"Why, girls, to be sure; I would not give you for all the boys in
+Christendom."
+
+"My father," I replied, "prefers boys; he wishes I was one, and I intend
+to be as near like one as possible. I am going to ride on horseback and
+study Greek. Will you give me a Greek lesson now, doctor? I want to
+begin at once."
+
+"Yes, child," said he, throwing down his hoe, "come into my library and
+we will begin without delay."
+
+He entered fully into the feeling of suffering and sorrow which took
+possession of me when I discovered that a girl weighed less in the scale
+of being than a boy, and he praised my determination to prove the
+contrary. The old grammar which he had studied in the University of
+Glasgow was soon in my hands, and the Greek article was learned before
+breakfast.
+
+Then came the sad pageantry of death, the weeping of friends, the dark
+rooms, the ghostly stillness, the exhortation to the living to prepare
+for death, the solemn prayer, the mournful chant, the funeral cortege,
+the solemn, tolling bell, the burial. How I suffered during those sad
+days! What strange undefined fears of the unknown took possession of me!
+For months afterward, at the twilight hour, I went with my father to the
+new-made grave. Near it stood two tall poplar trees, against one of
+which I leaned, while my father threw himself on the grave, with
+outstretched arms, as if to embrace his child. At last the frosts and
+storms of November came and threw a chilling barrier between the living
+and the dead, and we went there no more.
+
+During all this time I kept up my lessons at the parsonage and made
+rapid progress. I surprised even my teacher, who thought me capable of
+doing anything. I learned to drive, and to leap a fence and ditch on
+horseback. I taxed every power, hoping some day to hear my father say:
+"Well, a girl is as good as a boy, after all." But he never said it.
+When the doctor came over to spend the evening with us, I would whisper
+in his ear: "Tell my father how fast I get on," and he would tell him,
+and was lavish in his praises. But my father only paced the room,
+sighed, and showed that he wished I were a boy; and I, not knowing why
+he felt thus, would hide my tears of vexation on the doctor's shoulder.
+
+Soon after this I began to study Latin, Greek, and mathematics with a
+class of boys in the Academy, many of whom were much older than I. For
+three years one boy kept his place at the head of the class, and I
+always stood next. Two prizes were offered in Greek. I strove for one
+and took the second. How well I remember my joy in receiving that prize.
+There was no sentiment of ambition, rivalry, or triumph over my
+companions, nor feeling of satisfaction in receiving this honor in the
+presence of those assembled on the day of the exhibition. One thought
+alone filled my mind. "Now," said I, "my father will be satisfied with
+me." So, as soon as we were dismissed, I ran down the hill, rushed
+breathless into his office, laid the new Greek Testament, which was my
+prize, on his table and exclaimed: "There, I got it!" He took up the
+book, asked me some questions about the class, the teachers, the
+spectators, and, evidently pleased, handed it back to me. Then, while I
+stood looking and waiting for him to say something which would show that
+he recognized the equality of the daughter with the son, he kissed me on
+the forehead and exclaimed, with a sigh, "Ah, you should have been a
+boy!"
+
+My joy was turned to sadness. I ran to my good doctor. He chased my
+bitter tears away, and soothed me with unbounded praises and visions of
+future success. He was then confined to the house with his last illness.
+He asked me that day if I would like to have, when he was gone, the old
+lexicon, Testament, and grammar that we had so often thumbed together.
+"Yes, but I would rather have you stay," I replied, "for what can I do
+when you are gone?" "Oh," said he tenderly, "I shall not be gone; my
+spirit will still be with you, watching you in all life's struggles."
+Noble, generous friend! He had but little on earth to bequeath to
+anyone, but when the last scene in his life was ended, and his will was
+opened, sure enough there was a clause saying: "My Greek lexicon,
+Testament, and grammar, and four volumes of Scott's commentaries, I will
+to Elizabeth Cady." I never look at these books without a feeling of
+thankfulness that in childhood I was blessed with such a friend and
+teacher.
+
+I can truly say, after an experience of seventy years, that all the
+cares and anxieties, the trials and disappointments of my whole life,
+are light, when balanced with my sufferings in childhood and youth from
+the theological dogmas which I sincerely believed, and the gloom
+connected with everything associated with the name of religion, the
+church, the parsonage, the graveyard, and the solemn, tolling bell.
+Everything connected with death was then rendered inexpressibly
+dolorous. The body, covered with a black pall, was borne on the
+shoulders of men; the mourners were in crape and walked with bowed
+heads, while the neighbors who had tears to shed, did so copiously and
+summoned up their saddest facial expressions. At the grave came the
+sober warnings to the living and sometimes frightful prophesies as to
+the state of the dead. All this pageantry of woe and visions of the
+unknown land beyond the tomb, often haunted my midnight dreams and
+shadowed the sunshine of my days. The parsonage, with its bare walls and
+floors, its shriveled mistress and her blind sister, more like ghostly
+shadows than human flesh and blood; the two black servants, racked with
+rheumatism and odoriferous with a pungent oil they used in the vain hope
+of making their weary limbs more supple; the aged parson buried in his
+library in the midst of musty books and papers--all this only added to
+the gloom of my surroundings. The church, which was bare, with no
+furnace to warm us, no organ to gladden our hearts, no choir to lead our
+songs of praise in harmony, was sadly lacking in all attractions for the
+youthful mind. The preacher, shut up in an octagonal box high above our
+heads, gave us sermons over an hour long, and the chorister, in a
+similar box below him, intoned line after line of David's Psalms, while,
+like a flock of sheep at the heels of their shepherd, the congregation,
+without regard to time or tune, straggled after their leader.
+
+Years later, the introduction of stoves, a violoncello, Wesley's hymns,
+and a choir split the church in twain. These old Scotch Presbyterians
+were opposed to all innovations that would afford their people paths of
+flowery ease on the road to Heaven. So, when the thermometer was twenty
+degrees below zero on the Johnstown Hills, four hundred feet above the
+Mohawk Valley, we trudged along through the snow, foot-stoves in hand,
+to the cold hospitalities of the "Lord's House," there to be chilled to
+the very core by listening to sermons on "predestination,"
+"justification by faith," and "eternal damnation."
+
+To be restless, or to fall asleep under such solemn circumstances was a
+sure evidence of total depravity, and of the machinations of the devil
+striving to turn one's heart from God and his ordinances. As I was
+guilty of these shortcomings and many more, I early believed myself a
+veritable child of the Evil One, and suffered endless fears lest he
+should come some night and claim me as his own. To me he was a personal,
+ever-present reality, crouching in a dark corner of the nursery. Ah! how
+many times I have stolen out of bed, and sat shivering on the stairs,
+where the hall lamp and the sound of voices from the parlor would, in a
+measure, mitigate my terror. Thanks to a vigorous constitution and
+overflowing animal spirits, I was able to endure for years the strain of
+these depressing influences, until my reasoning powers and common sense
+triumphed at last over my imagination. The memory of my own suffering
+has prevented me from ever shadowing one young soul with any of the
+superstitions of the Christian religion. But there have been many
+changes, even in my native town, since those dark days. Our old church
+was turned into a mitten factory, and the pleasant hum of machinery and
+the glad faces of men and women have chased the evil spirits to their
+hiding places. One finds at Johnstown now, beautiful churches,
+ornamented cemeteries, and cheerful men and women, quite emancipated
+from the nonsense and terrors of the old theologies.
+
+An important event in our family circle was the marriage of my oldest
+sister, Tryphena, to Edward Bayard of Wilmington, Delaware. He was a
+graduate of Union College, a classmate of my brother, and frequently
+visited at my father's house. At the end of his college course, he came
+with his brother Henry to study law in Johnstown. A quiet, retired
+little village was thought to be a good place in which to sequester
+young men bent on completing their education, as they were there safe
+from the temptations and distracting influences of large cities. In
+addition to this consideration, my father's reputation made his office a
+desirable resort for students, who, furthermore, not only improved their
+opportunities by reading Blackstone, Kent, and Story, but also by making
+love to the Judge's daughters. We thus had the advantage of many
+pleasant acquaintances from the leading families in the country, and, in
+this way, it was that four of the sisters eventually selected most
+worthy husbands.
+
+Though only twenty-one years of age when married, Edward Bayard was a
+tall, fully developed man, remarkably fine looking, with cultivated
+literary taste and a profound knowledge of human nature. Warm and
+affectionate, generous to a fault in giving and serving, he was soon a
+great favorite in the family, and gradually filled the void made in all
+our hearts by the loss of the brother and son.
+
+My father was so fully occupied with the duties of his profession, which
+often called him from home, and my mother so weary with the cares of a
+large family, having had ten children, though only five survived at this
+time, that they were quite willing to shift their burdens to younger
+shoulders. Our eldest sister and her husband, therefore, soon became our
+counselors and advisers. They selected our clothing, books, schools,
+acquaintances, and directed our reading and amusements. Thus the reins
+of domestic government, little by little, passed into their hands, and
+the family arrangements were in a manner greatly improved in favor of
+greater liberty for the children.
+
+The advent of Edward and Henry Bayard was an inestimable blessing to us.
+With them came an era of picnics, birthday parties, and endless
+amusements; the buying of pictures, fairy books, musical instruments and
+ponies, and frequent excursions with parties on horseback. Fresh from
+college, they made our lessons in Latin, Greek, and mathematics so easy
+that we studied with real pleasure and had more leisure for play. Henry
+Bayard's chief pleasures were walking, riding, and playing all manner of
+games, from jack-straws to chess, with the three younger sisters, and we
+have often said that the three years he passed in Johnstown were the
+most delightful of our girlhood.
+
+Immediately after the death of my brother, a journey was planned to
+visit our grandmother Cady, who lived in Canaan, Columbia County, about
+twenty miles from Albany. My two younger sisters and myself had never
+been outside of our own county before, and the very thought of a journey
+roused our enthusiasm to the highest pitch. On a bright day in September
+we started, packed in two carriages. We were wild with delight as we
+drove down the Mohawk Valley, with its beautiful river and its many
+bridges and ferryboats. When we reached Schenectady, the first city we
+had ever seen, we stopped to dine at the old Given's Hotel, where we
+broke loose from all the moorings of propriety on beholding the paper on
+the dining-room wall, illustrating in brilliant colors the great events
+in sacred history. There were the Patriarchs, with flowing beards and in
+gorgeous attire; Abraham, offering up Isaac; Joseph, with his coat of
+many colors, thrown into a pit by his brethren; Noah's ark on an ocean
+of waters; Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; Rebecca at the well, and
+Moses in the bulrushes. All these distinguished personages were familiar
+to us, and to see them here for the first time in living colors, made
+silence and eating impossible. We dashed around the room, calling to
+each other: "Oh, Kate, look here!" "Oh, Madge, look there!" "See little
+Moses!" "See the angels on Jacob's ladder!" Our exclamations could not
+be kept within bounds. The guests were amused beyond description, while
+my mother and elder sisters were equally mortified; but Mr. Bayard, who
+appreciated our childish surprise and delight, smiled and said: "I'll
+take them around and show them the pictures, and then they will be able
+to dine," which we finally did.
+
+On our way to Albany we were forced to listen to no end of dissertations
+on manners, and severe criticisms on our behavior at the hotel, but we
+were too happy and astonished with all we saw to take a subjective view
+of ourselves. Even Peter in his new livery, who had not seen much more
+than we had, while looking out of the corners of his eyes, maintained a
+quiet dignity and conjured us "not to act as if we had just come out of
+the woods and had never seen anything before." However, there are
+conditions in the child soul in which repression is impossible, when the
+mind takes in nothing but its own enjoyment, and when even the sense of
+hearing is lost in that of sight. The whole party awoke to that fact at
+last. Children are not actors. We never had experienced anything like
+this journey, and how could we help being surprised and delighted?
+
+When we drove into Albany, the first large city we had ever visited, we
+exclaimed, "Why, it's general training, here!" We had acquired our ideas
+of crowds from our country militia reviews. Fortunately, there was no
+pictorial wall paper in the old City Hotel. But the decree had gone
+forth that, on the remainder of the journey, our meals would be served
+in a private room, with Peter to wait on us. This seemed like going back
+to the nursery days and was very humiliating. But eating, even there,
+was difficult, as we could hear the band from the old museum, and, as
+our windows opened on the street, the continual panorama of people and
+carriages passing by was quite as enticing as the Bible scenes in
+Schenectady. In the evening we walked around to see the city lighted, to
+look into the shop windows, and to visit the museum. The next morning we
+started for Canaan, our enthusiasm still unabated, though strong hopes
+were expressed that we would be toned down with the fatigues of the
+first day's journey.
+
+The large farm with its cattle, sheep, hens, ducks, turkeys, and geese;
+its creamery, looms, and spinning wheel; its fruits and vegetables; the
+drives among the grand old hills; the blessed old grandmother, and the
+many aunts, uncles, and cousins to kiss, all this kept us still in a
+whirlpool of excitement. Our joy bubbled over of itself; it was beyond
+our control. After spending a delightful week at Canaan, we departed,
+with an addition to our party, much to Peter's disgust, of a bright,
+coal-black boy of fifteen summers. Peter kept grumbling that he had
+children enough to look after already, but, as the boy was handsome and
+intelligent, could read, write, play on the jewsharp and banjo, sing,
+dance, and stand on his head, we were charmed with this new-found
+treasure, who proved later to be a great family blessing. We were less
+vivacious on the return trip. Whether this was due to Peter's untiring
+efforts to keep us within bounds, or whether the novelty of the journey
+was in a measure gone, it is difficult to determine, but we evidently
+were not so buoyant and were duly complimented on our good behavior.
+
+When we reached home and told our village companions what we had seen in
+our extensive travels (just seventy miles from home) they were filled
+with wonder, and we became heroines in their estimation. After this we
+took frequent journeys to Saratoga, the Northern Lakes, Utica, and
+Peterboro, but were never again so entirely swept from our feet as with
+the biblical illustrations in the dining room of the old Given's Hotel.
+
+As my father's office joined the house, I spent there much of my time,
+when out of school, listening to the clients stating their cases,
+talking with the students, and reading the laws in regard to woman. In
+our Scotch neighborhood many men still retained the old feudal ideas of
+women and property. Fathers, at their death, would will the bulk of
+their property to the eldest son, with the proviso that the mother was
+to have a home with him. Hence it was not unusual for the mother, who
+had brought all the property into the family, to be made an unhappy
+dependent on the bounty of an uncongenial daughter-in-law and a
+dissipated son. The tears and complaints of the women who came to my
+father for legal advice touched my heart and early drew my attention to
+the injustice and cruelty of the laws. As the practice of the law was my
+father's business, I could not exactly understand why he could not
+alleviate the sufferings of these women. So, in order to enlighten me,
+he would take down his books and show me the inexorable statutes. The
+students, observing my interest, would amuse themselves by reading to me
+all the worst laws they could find, over which I would laugh and cry by
+turns. One Christmas morning I went into the office to show them, among
+other of my presents, a new coral necklace and bracelets. They all
+admired the jewelry and then began to tease me with hypothetical cases
+of future ownership. "Now," said Henry Bayard, "if in due time you
+should be my wife, those ornaments would be mine; I could take them and
+lock them up, and you could never wear them except with my permission. I
+could even exchange them for a box of cigars, and you could watch them
+evaporate in smoke."
+
+With this constant bantering from students and the sad complaints of the
+women, my mind was sorely perplexed. So when, from time to time, my
+attention was called to these odious laws, I would mark them with a
+pencil, and becoming more and more convinced of the necessity of taking
+some active measures against these unjust provisions, I resolved to
+seize the first opportunity, when alone in the office, to cut every one
+of them out of the books; supposing my father and his library were the
+beginning and the end of the law. However, this mutilation of his
+volumes was never accomplished, for dear old Flora Campbell, to whom I
+confided my plan for the amelioration of the wrongs of my unhappy sex,
+warned my father of what I proposed to do. Without letting me know that
+he had discovered my secret, he explained to me one evening how laws
+were made, the large number of lawyers and libraries there were all over
+the State, and that if his library should burn up it would make no
+difference in woman's condition. "When you are grown up, and able to
+prepare a speech," said he, "you must go down to Albany and talk to the
+legislators; tell them all you have seen in this office--the sufferings
+of these Scotchwomen, robbed of their inheritance and left dependent on
+their unworthy sons, and, if you can persuade them to pass new laws, the
+old ones will be a dead letter." Thus was the future object of my life
+foreshadowed and my duty plainly outlined by him who was most opposed
+to my public career when, in due time, I entered upon it.
+
+Until I was sixteen years old, I was a faithful student in the Johnstown
+Academy with a class of boys. Though I was the only girl in the higher
+classes of mathematics and the languages, yet, in our plays, all the
+girls and boys mingled freely together. In running races, sliding
+downhill, and snowballing, we made no distinction of sex. True, the boys
+would carry the school books and pull the sleighs up hill for their
+favorite girls, but equality was the general basis of our school
+relations. I dare say the boys did not make their snowballs quite so
+hard when pelting the girls, nor wash their faces with the same
+vehemence as they did each other's, but there was no public evidence of
+partiality. However, if any boy was too rough or took advantage of a
+girl smaller than himself, he was promptly thrashed by his fellows.
+There was an unwritten law and public sentiment in that little Academy
+world that enabled us to study and play together with the greatest
+freedom and harmony.
+
+From the academy the boys of my class went to Union College at
+Schenectady. When those with whom I had studied and contended for prizes
+for five years came to bid me good-by, and I learned of the barrier that
+prevented me from following in their footsteps--"no girls admitted
+here"--my vexation and mortification knew no bounds. I remember, now,
+how proud and handsome the boys looked in their new clothes, as they
+jumped into the old stage coach and drove off, and how lonely I felt
+when they were gone and I had nothing to do, for the plans for my future
+were yet undetermined. Again I felt more keenly than ever the
+humiliation of the distinctions made on the ground of sex.
+
+My time was now occupied with riding on horseback, studying the game of
+chess, and continually squabbling with the law students over the rights
+of women. Something was always coming up in the experiences of everyday
+life, or in the books we were reading, to give us fresh topics for
+argument. They would read passages from the British classics quite as
+aggravating as the laws. They delighted in extracts from Shakespeare,
+especially from "The Taming of the Shrew," an admirable satire in itself
+on the old common law of England. I hated Petruchio as if he were a real
+man. Young Bayard would recite with unction the famous reply of Milton's
+ideal woman to Adam: "God thy law, thou mine." The Bible, too, was
+brought into requisition. In fact it seemed to me that every book taught
+the "divinely ordained" headship of man; but my mind never yielded to
+this popular heresy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+GIRLHOOD.
+
+
+Mrs. Willard's Seminary at Troy was the fashionable school in my
+girlhood, and in the winter of 1830, with upward of a hundred other
+girls, I found myself an active participant in all the joys and sorrows
+of that institution. When in family council it was decided to send me to
+that intellectual Mecca, I did not receive the announcement with unmixed
+satisfaction, as I had fixed my mind on Union College. The thought of a
+school without boys, who had been to me such a stimulus both in study
+and play, seemed to my imagination dreary and profitless.
+
+The one remarkable feature of my journey to Troy was the railroad from
+Schenectady to Albany, the first ever laid in this country. The manner
+of ascending a high hill going out of the city would now strike
+engineers as stupid to the last degree. The passenger cars were pulled
+up by a train, loaded with stones, descending the hill. The more
+rational way of tunneling through the hill or going around it had not
+yet dawned on our Dutch ancestors. At every step of my journey to Troy I
+felt that I was treading on my pride, and thus in a hopeless frame of
+mind I began my boarding-school career. I had already studied everything
+that was taught there except French, music, and dancing, so I devoted
+myself to these accomplishments. As I had a good voice I enjoyed
+singing, with a guitar accompaniment, and, having a good ear for time, I
+appreciated the harmony in music and motion and took great delight in
+dancing. The large house, the society of so many girls, the walks about
+the city, the novelty of everything made the new life more enjoyable
+than I had anticipated. To be sure I missed the boys, with whom I had
+grown up, played with for years, and later measured my intellectual
+powers with, but, as they became a novelty, there was new zest in
+occasionally seeing them. After I had been there a short time, I heard a
+call one day: "Heads out!" I ran with the rest and exclaimed, "What is
+it?" expecting to see a giraffe or some other wonder from Barnum's
+Museum. "Why, don't you see those boys?" said one. "Oh," I replied, "is
+that all? I have seen boys all my life." When visiting family friends in
+the city, we were in the way of making the acquaintance of their sons,
+and as all social relations were strictly forbidden, there was a new
+interest in seeing them. As they were not allowed to call upon us or
+write notes, unless they were brothers or cousins, we had, in time, a
+large number of kinsmen.
+
+There was an intense interest to me now in writing notes, receiving
+calls, and joining the young men in the streets for a walk, such as I
+had never known when in constant association with them at school and in
+our daily amusements. Shut up with girls, most of them older than
+myself, I heard many subjects discussed of which I had never thought
+before, and in a manner it were better I had never heard. The healthful
+restraint always existing between boys and girls in conversation is apt
+to be relaxed with either sex alone. In all my intimate association with
+boys up to that period, I cannot recall one word or act for criticism,
+but I cannot say the same of the girls during the three years I passed
+at the seminary in Troy. My own experience proves to me that it is a
+grave mistake to send boys and girls to separate institutions of
+learning, especially at the most impressible age. The stimulus of sex
+promotes alike a healthy condition of the intellectual and the moral
+faculties and gives to both a development they never can acquire alone.
+
+Mrs. Willard, having spent several months in Europe, did not return
+until I had been at the seminary some time. I well remember her arrival,
+and the joy with which she was greeted by the teachers and pupils who
+had known her before. She was a splendid-looking woman, then in her
+prime, and fully realized my idea of a queen. I doubt whether any royal
+personage in the Old World could have received her worshipers with more
+grace and dignity than did this far-famed daughter of the Republic. She
+was one of the remarkable women of that period, and did a great
+educational work for her sex. She gave free scholarships to a large
+number of promising girls, fitting them for teachers, with a proviso
+that, when the opportunity arose, they should, in turn, educate others.
+
+I shall never forget one incident that occasioned me much unhappiness. I
+had written a very amusing composition, describing my room. A friend
+came in to see me just as I had finished it, and, as she asked me to
+read it to her, I did so. She enjoyed it very much and proposed an
+exchange. She said the rooms were all so nearly alike that, with a
+little alteration, she could use it. Being very susceptible to flattery,
+her praise of my production won a ready assent; but when I read her
+platitudes I was sorry I had changed, and still more so in the
+_denouement_.
+
+Those selected to prepare compositions read them before the whole
+school. My friend's was received with great laughter and applause. The
+one I read not only fell flat, but nearly prostrated me also. As soon as
+I had finished, one of the young ladies left the room and, returning in
+a few moments with her composition book, laid it before the teacher who
+presided that day, showing her the same composition I had just read. I
+was called up at once to explain, but was so amazed and confounded that
+I could not speak, and I looked the personification of guilt. I saw at a
+glance the contemptible position I occupied and felt as if the last day
+had come, that I stood before the judgment seat and had heard the awful
+sentence pronounced, "Depart ye wicked into everlasting punishment." How
+I escaped from that scene to my own room I do not know. I was too
+wretched for tears. I sat alone for a long time when a gentle tap
+announced my betrayer. She put her arms around me affectionately and
+kissed me again and again.
+
+"Oh!" she said, "you are a hero. You went through that trying ordeal
+like a soldier. I was so afraid, when you were pressed with questions,
+that the whole truth would come out and I be forced to stand in your
+place. I am not so brave as you; I could not endure it. Now that you are
+through it and know how bitter a trial it is, promise that you will save
+me from the same experience. You are so good and noble I know you will
+not betray me."
+
+In this supreme moment of misery and disgrace, her loving words and warm
+embrace were like balm to my bruised soul and I readily promised all
+she asked. The girl had penetrated the weak point in my character. I
+loved flattery. Through that means she got my composition in the first
+place, pledged me to silence in the second place, and so confused my
+moral perceptions that I really thought it praiseworthy to shelter her
+from what I had suffered. However, without betrayal on my part, the
+trick came to light through the very means she took to make concealment
+sure. After compositions were read they were handed over to a certain
+teacher for criticism. Miss ---- had copied mine, and returned to me the
+original. I had not copied hers, so the two were in the same
+handwriting--one with my name outside and one with Miss ----'s.
+
+As I stood well in school, both for scholarship and behavior, my sudden
+fall from grace occasioned no end of discussion. So, as soon as the
+teacher discovered the two compositions in Miss ----'s writing, she came
+to me to inquire how I got one of Miss ----'s compositions. She said,
+"Where is yours that you wrote for that day?"
+
+Taking it from my portfolio, I replied, "Here it is."
+
+She then asked, "Did you copy it from her book?"
+
+I replied, "No; I wrote it myself."
+
+"Then why did you not read your own?"
+
+"We agreed to change," said I.
+
+"Did you know that Miss ---- had copied that from the book of another
+young lady?"
+
+"No, not until I was accused of doing it myself before the whole
+school."
+
+"Why did you not defend yourself on the spot?"
+
+"I could not speak, neither did I know what to say."
+
+"Why have you allowed yourself to remain in such a false position for a
+whole week?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Suppose I had not found this out, did you intend to keep silent?"
+
+"Yes," I replied.
+
+"Did Miss ---- ask you to do so?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+I had been a great favorite with this teacher, but she was so disgusted
+with my stupidity, as she called my timidity, that she said:
+
+"Really, my child, you have not acted in this matter as if you had
+ordinary common sense."
+
+So little do grown people, in familiar surroundings, appreciate the
+confusion of a child's faculties, under new and trying experiences. When
+poor Miss ----'s turn came to stand up before the whole school and take
+the burden on her own shoulders she had so cunningly laid on mine, I
+readily shed the tears for her I could not summon for myself. This was
+my first sad lesson in human duplicity.
+
+This episode, unfortunately, destroyed in a measure my confidence in my
+companions and made me suspicious even of those who came to me with
+appreciative words. Up to this time I had accepted all things as they
+seemed on the surface. Now I began to wonder what lay behind the visible
+conditions about me. Perhaps the experience was beneficial, as it is
+quite necessary for a young girl, thrown wholly on herself for the first
+time among strangers, to learn caution in all she says and does. The
+atmosphere of home life, where all disguises and pretensions are thrown
+off, is quite different from a large school of girls, with the petty
+jealousies and antagonisms that arise in daily competition in their
+dress, studies, accomplishments, and amusements.
+
+The next happening in Troy that seriously influenced my character was
+the advent of the Rev. Charles G. Finney, a pulpit orator, who, as a
+terrifier of human souls, proved himself the equal of Savonarola. He
+held a protracted meeting in the Rev. Dr. Beaman's church, which many of
+my schoolmates attended. The result of six weeks of untiring effort on
+the part of Mr. Finney and his confreres was one of those intense
+revival seasons that swept over the city and through the seminary like
+an epidemic, attacking in its worst form the most susceptible. Owing to
+my gloomy Calvinistic training in the old Scotch Presbyterian church,
+and my vivid imagination, I was one of the first victims. We attended
+all the public services, beside the daily prayer and experience meetings
+held in the seminary. Our studies, for the time, held a subordinate
+place to the more important duty of saving our souls.
+
+To state the idea of conversion and salvation as then understood, one
+can readily see from our present standpoint that nothing could be more
+puzzling and harrowing to the young mind. The revival fairly started,
+the most excitable were soon on the anxious seat. There we learned the
+total depravity of human nature and the sinner's awful danger of
+everlasting punishment. This was enlarged upon until the most innocent
+girl believed herself a monster of iniquity and felt certain of eternal
+damnation. Then God's hatred of sin was emphasized and his
+irreconcilable position toward the sinner so justified that one felt
+like a miserable, helpless, forsaken worm of the dust in trying to
+approach him, even in prayer.
+
+Having brought you into a condition of profound humility, the only
+cardinal virtue for one under conviction, in the depths of your despair
+you were told that it required no herculean effort on your part to be
+transformed into an angel, to be reconciled to God, to escape endless
+perdition. The way to salvation was short and simple. We had naught to
+do but to repent and believe and give our hearts to Jesus, who was ever
+ready to receive them. How to do all this was the puzzling question.
+Talking with Dr. Finney one day, I said:
+
+"I cannot understand what I am to do. If you should tell me to go to the
+top of the church steeple and jump off, I would readily do it, if
+thereby I could save my soul; but I do not know how to go to Jesus."
+
+"Repent and believe," said he, "that is all you have to do to be happy
+here and hereafter."
+
+"I am very sorry," I replied, "for all the evil I have done, and I
+believe all you tell me, and the more sincerely I believe, the more
+unhappy I am."
+
+With the natural reaction from despair to hope many of us imagined
+ourselves converted, prayed and gave our experiences in the meetings,
+and at times rejoiced in the thought that we were Christians--chosen
+children of God--rather than sinners and outcasts.
+
+But Dr. Finney's terrible anathemas on the depravity and deceitfulness
+of the human heart soon shortened our newborn hopes. His appearance in
+the pulpit on these memorable occasions is indelibly impressed on my
+mind. I can see him now, his great eyes rolling around the congregation
+and his arms flying about in the air like those of a windmill. One
+evening he described hell and the devil and the long procession of
+sinners being swept down the rapids, about to make the awful plunge
+into the burning depths of liquid fire below, and the rejoicing hosts in
+the inferno coming up to meet them with the shouts of the devils echoing
+through the vaulted arches. He suddenly halted, and, pointing his index
+finger at the supposed procession, he exclaimed:
+
+"There, do you not see them!"
+
+I was wrought up to such a pitch that I actually jumped up and gazed in
+the direction to which he pointed, while the picture glowed before my
+eyes and remained with me for months afterward. I cannot forbear saying
+that, although high respect is due to the intellectual, moral, and
+spiritual gifts of the venerable ex-president of Oberlin College, such
+preaching worked incalculable harm to the very souls he sought to save.
+Fear of the judgment seized my soul. Visions of the lost haunted my
+dreams. Mental anguish prostrated my health. Dethronement of my reason
+was apprehended by friends. But he was sincere, so peace to his ashes!
+Returning home, I often at night roused my father from his slumbers to
+pray for me, lest I should be cast into the bottomless pit before
+morning.
+
+To change the current of my thoughts, a trip was planned to Niagara, and
+it was decided that the subject of religion was to be tabooed
+altogether. Accordingly our party, consisting of my sister, her husband,
+my father and myself, started in our private carriage, and for six weeks
+I heard nothing on the subject. About this time Gall and Spurzheim
+published their works on phrenology, followed by Combe's "Constitution
+of Man," his "Moral Philosophy," and many other liberal works, all so
+rational and opposed to the old theologies that they produced a profound
+impression on my brother-in-law's mind. As we had these books with us,
+reading and discussing by the way, we all became deeply interested in
+the new ideas. Thus, after many months of weary wandering in the
+intellectual labyrinth of "The Fall of Man," "Original Sin," "Total
+Depravity," "God's Wrath," "Satan's Triumph," "The Crucifixion," "The
+Atonement," and "Salvation by Faith," I found my way out of the darkness
+into the clear sunlight of Truth. My religious superstitions gave place
+to rational ideas based on scientific facts, and in proportion, as I
+looked at everything from a new standpoint, I grew more and more happy,
+day by day. Thus, with a delightful journey in the month of June, an
+entire change in my course of reading and the current of my thoughts, my
+mind was restored to its normal condition. I view it as one of the
+greatest crimes to shadow the minds of the young with these gloomy
+superstitions; and with fears of the unknown and the unknowable to
+poison all their joy in life.
+
+After the restraints of childhood at home and in school, what a period
+of irrepressible joy and freedom comes to us in girlhood with the first
+taste of liberty. Then is our individuality in a measure recognized and
+our feelings and opinions consulted; then we decide where and when we
+will come and go, what we will eat, drink, wear, and do. To suit one's
+own fancy in clothes, to buy what one likes, and wear what one chooses
+is a great privilege to most young people. To go out at pleasure, to
+walk, to ride, to drive, with no one to say us nay or question our right
+to liberty, this is indeed like a birth into a new world of happiness
+and freedom. This is the period, too, when the emotions rule us, and we
+idealize everything in life; when love and hope make the present an
+ecstasy and the future bright with anticipation.
+
+Then comes that dream of bliss that for weeks and months throws a halo
+of glory round the most ordinary characters in every-day life, holding
+the strongest and most common-sense young men and women in a thraldom
+from which few mortals escape. The period when love, in soft silver
+tones, whispers his first words of adoration, painting our graces and
+virtues day by day in living colors in poetry and prose, stealthily
+punctuated ever and anon with a kiss or fond embrace. What dignity it
+adds to a young girl's estimate of herself when some strong man makes
+her feel that in her hands rest his future peace and happiness! Though
+these seasons of intoxication may come once to all, yet they are seldom
+repeated. How often in after life we long for one more such rapturous
+dream of bliss, one more season of supreme human love and passion!
+
+After leaving school, until my marriage, I had the most pleasant years
+of my girlhood. With frequent visits to a large circle of friends and
+relatives in various towns and cities, the monotony of home life was
+sufficiently broken to make our simple country pleasures always
+delightful and enjoyable. An entirely new life now opened to me. The old
+bondage of fear of the visible and the invisible was broken and, no
+longer subject to absolute authority, I rejoiced in the dawn of a new
+day of freedom in thought and action.
+
+My brother-in-law, Edward Bayard, ten years my senior, was an
+inestimable blessing to me at this time, especially as my mind was just
+then opening to the consideration of all the varied problems of life. To
+me and my sisters he was a companion in all our amusements, a teacher
+in the higher departments of knowledge, and a counselor in all our
+youthful trials and disappointments. He was of a metaphysical turn of
+mind, and in the pursuit of truth was in no way trammeled by popular
+superstitions. He took nothing for granted and, like Socrates, went
+about asking questions. Nothing pleased him more than to get a bevy of
+bright young girls about him and teach them how to think clearly and
+reason logically.
+
+One great advantage of the years my sisters and myself spent at the Troy
+Seminary was the large number of pleasant acquaintances we made there,
+many of which ripened into lifelong friendships. From time to time many
+of our classmates visited us, and all alike enjoyed the intellectual
+fencing in which my brother-in-law drilled them. He discoursed with us
+on law, philosophy, political economy, history, and poetry, and together
+we read novels without number. The long winter evenings thus passed
+pleasantly, Mr. Bayard alternately talking and reading aloud Scott,
+Bulwer, James, Cooper, and Dickens, whose works were just then coming
+out in numbers from week to week, always leaving us in suspense at the
+most critical point of the story. Our readings were varied with
+recitations, music, dancing, and games.
+
+As we all enjoyed brisk exercise, even with the thermometer below zero,
+we took long walks and sleighrides during the day, and thus the winter
+months glided quickly by, while the glorious summer on those blue hills
+was a period of unmixed enjoyment. At this season we arose at five in
+the morning for a long ride on horseback through the beautiful Mohawk
+Valley and over the surrounding hills. Every road and lane in that
+region was as familiar to us and our ponies, as were the trees to the
+squirrels we frightened as we cantered by their favorite resorts.
+
+Part of the time Margaret Christie, a young girl of Scotch descent, was
+a member of our family circle. She taught us French, music, and dancing.
+Our days were too short for all we had to do, for our time was not
+wholly given to pleasure. We were required to keep our rooms in order,
+mend and make our clothes, and do our own ironing. The latter was one of
+my mother's politic requirements, to make our laundry lists as short as
+possible.
+
+Ironing on hot days in summer was a sore trial to all of us; but Miss
+Christie, being of an inventive turn of mind, soon taught us a short way
+out of it. She folded and smoothed her undergarments with her hands and
+then sat on them for a specified time. We all followed her example and
+thus utilized the hours devoted to our French lessons and, while reading
+"Corinne" and "Telemaque," in this primitive style we ironed our
+clothes. But for dresses, collars and cuffs, and pocket handkerchiefs,
+we were compelled to wield the hot iron, hence with these articles we
+used all due economy, and my mother's object was thus accomplished.
+
+As I had become sufficiently philosophical to talk over my religious
+experiences calmly with my classmates who had been with me through the
+Finney revival meetings, we all came to the same conclusion--that we had
+passed through no remarkable change and that we had not been born again,
+as they say, for we found our tastes and enjoyments the same as ever. My
+brother-in-law explained to us the nature of the delusion we had all
+experienced, the physical conditions, the mental processes, the church
+machinery by which such excitements are worked up, and the impositions
+to which credulous minds are necessarily subjected. As we had all been
+through that period of depression and humiliation, and had been
+oppressed at times with the feeling that all our professions were arrant
+hypocrisy and that our last state was worse than our first, he helped us
+to understand these workings of the human mind and reconciled us to the
+more rational condition in which we now found ourselves. He never grew
+weary of expounding principles to us and dissipating the fogs and mists
+that gather over young minds educated in an atmosphere of superstition.
+
+We had a constant source of amusement and vexation in the students in my
+father's office. A succession of them was always coming fresh from
+college and full of conceit. Aching to try their powers of debate on
+graduates from the Troy Seminary, they politely questioned all our
+theories and assertions. However, with my brother-in-law's training in
+analysis and logic, we were a match for any of them. Nothing pleased me
+better than a long argument with them on woman's equality, which I tried
+to prove by a diligent study of the books they read and the games they
+played. I confess that I did not study so much for a love of the truth
+or my own development, in these days, as to make those young men
+recognize my equality. I soon noticed that, after losing a few games of
+chess, my opponent talked less of masculine superiority. Sister Madge
+would occasionally rush to the defense with an emphatic "Fudge for these
+laws, all made by men! I'll never obey one of them. And as to the
+students with their impertinent talk of superiority, all they need is
+such a shaking up as I gave the most disagreeable one yesterday. I
+invited him to take a ride on horseback. He accepted promptly, and said
+he would be most happy to go. Accordingly I told Peter to saddle the
+toughest-mouthed, hardest-trotting carriage horse in the stable. Mounted
+on my swift pony, I took a ten-mile canter as fast as I could go, with
+that superior being at my heels calling, as he found breath, for me to
+stop, which I did at last and left him in the hands of Peter, half dead
+at his hotel, where he will be laid out, with all his marvelous
+masculine virtues, for a week at least. Now do not waste your arguments
+on these prigs from Union College. Take each, in turn, the ten-miles'
+circuit on 'Old Boney' and they'll have no breath left to prate of
+woman's inferiority. You might argue with them all day, and you could
+not make them feel so small as I made that popinjay feel in one hour. I
+knew 'Old Boney' would keep up with me, if he died for it, and that my
+escort could neither stop nor dismount, except by throwing himself from
+the saddle."
+
+"Oh, Madge!" I exclaimed; "what will you say when he meets you again?"
+
+"If he complains, I will say 'the next time you ride see that you have a
+curb bit before starting.' Surely, a man ought to know what is necessary
+to manage a horse, and not expect a woman to tell him."
+
+Our lives were still further varied and intensified by the usual number
+of flirtations, so called, more or less lasting or evanescent, from all
+of which I emerged, as from my religious experiences, in a more rational
+frame of mind. We had been too much in the society of boys and young
+gentlemen, and knew too well their real character, to idealize the sex
+in general. In addition to our own observations, we had the advantage
+of our brother-in-law's wisdom. Wishing to save us as long as possible
+from all matrimonial entanglements, he was continually unveiling those
+with whom he associated, and so critically portraying their intellectual
+and moral condition that it was quite impossible, in our most worshipful
+moods, to make gods of any of the sons of Adam.
+
+However, in spite of all our own experiences and of all the warning
+words of wisdom from those who had seen life in its many phases, we
+entered the charmed circle at last, all but one marrying into the legal
+profession, with its odious statute laws and infamous decisions. And
+this, after reading Blackstone, Kent, and Story, and thoroughly
+understanding the status of the wife under the old common law of
+England, which was in force at that time in most of the States of the
+Union.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+LIFE AT PETERBORO.
+
+
+The year, with us, was never considered complete without a visit to
+Peterboro, N.Y., the home of Gerrit Smith. Though he was a reformer and
+was very radical in many of his ideas, yet, being a man of broad
+sympathies, culture, wealth, and position, he drew around him many
+friends of the most conservative opinions. He was a man of fine
+presence, rare physical beauty, most affable and courteous in manner,
+and his hospitalities were generous to an extreme, and dispensed to all
+classes of society.
+
+Every year representatives from the Oneida tribe of Indians visited him.
+His father had early purchased of them large tracts of land, and there
+was a tradition among them that, as an equivalent for the good bargains
+of the father, they had a right to the son's hospitality, with annual
+gifts of clothing and provisions. The slaves, too, had heard of Gerrit
+Smith, the abolitionist, and of Peterboro as one of the safe points _en
+route_ for Canada. His mansion was, in fact, one of the stations on the
+"underground railroad" for slaves escaping from bondage. Hence they,
+too, felt that they had a right to a place under his protecting roof. On
+such occasions the barn and the kitchen floor were utilized as chambers
+for the black man from the southern plantation and the red man from his
+home in the forest.
+
+The spacious home was always enlivened with choice society from every
+part of the country. There one would meet members of the families of the
+old Dutch aristocracy, the Van Rensselaers, the Van Vechtens, the
+Schuylers, the Livingstons, the Bleeckers, the Brinkerhoffs, the Ten
+Eycks, the Millers, the Seymours, the Cochranes, the Biddles, the
+Barclays, the Wendells, and many others.
+
+As the lady of the house, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, was the daughter of a
+wealthy slaveholder of Maryland, many agreeable Southerners were often
+among the guests. Our immediate family relatives were well represented
+by General John Cochrane and his sisters, General Baird and his wife
+from West Point, the Fitzhughs from Oswego and Geneseo, the Backuses and
+Tallmans from Rochester, and the Swifts from Geneva. Here one was sure
+to meet scholars, philosophers, philanthropists, judges, bishops,
+clergymen, and statesmen.
+
+Judge Alfred Conkling, the father of Roscoe Conkling, was, in his late
+years, frequently seen at Peterboro. Tall and stately, after all life's
+troubled scenes, financial losses and domestic sorrows, he used to say
+there was no spot on earth that seemed so like his idea of Paradise. The
+proud, reserved judge was unaccustomed to manifestations of affection
+and tender interest in his behalf, and when Gerrit, taking him by both
+hands would, in his softest tones say, "Good-morning," and inquire how
+he had slept and what he would like to do that day, and Nancy would
+greet him with equal warmth and pin a little bunch of roses in his
+buttonhole, I have seen the tears in his eyes. Their warm sympathies and
+sweet simplicity of manner melted the sternest natures and made the most
+reserved amiable. There never was such an atmosphere of love and peace,
+of freedom and good cheer, in any other home I visited. And this was the
+universal testimony of those who were guests at Peterboro. To go
+anywhere else, after a visit there, was like coming down from the divine
+heights into the valley of humiliation.
+
+How changed from the early days when, as strict Presbyterians, they
+believed in all the doctrines of Calvin! Then, an indefinite gloom
+pervaded their home. Their consciences were diseased. They attached such
+undue importance to forms that they went through three kinds of baptism.
+At one time Nancy would read nothing but the Bible, sing nothing but
+hymns, and play only sacred music. She felt guilty if she talked on any
+subject except religion. She was, in all respects, a fitting mate for
+her attractive husband. Exquisitely refined in feeling and manner,
+beautiful in face and form, earnest and sincere, she sympathized with
+him in all his ideas of religion and reform. Together they passed
+through every stage of theological experience, from the uncertain ground
+of superstition and speculation to the solid foundation of science and
+reason. The position of the Church in the anti-slavery conflict, opening
+as it did all questions of ecclesiastical authority, Bible
+interpretation, and church discipline, awakened them to new thought and
+broader views on religious subjects, and eventually emancipated them
+entirely from the old dogmas and formalities of their faith, and lifted
+them into the cheerful atmosphere in which they passed the remainder of
+their lives. Their only daughter, Elizabeth, added greatly to the
+attractions of the home circle, as she drew many young people round her.
+Beside her personal charm she was the heiress of a vast estate and had
+many admirers. The favored one was Charles Dudley Miller of Utica,
+nephew of Mrs. Blandina Bleecker Dudley, founder of the Albany
+Observatory. At the close of his college life Mr. Miller had not only
+mastered the languages, mathematics, rhetoric, and logic, but had
+learned the secret windings of the human heart. He understood the art of
+pleasing.
+
+These were the times when the anti-slavery question was up for hot
+discussion. In all the neighboring towns conventions were held in which
+James G. Birney, a Southern gentleman who had emancipated his slaves,
+Charles Stuart of Scotland, and George Thompson of England, Garrison,
+Phillips, May, Beriah Greene, Foster, Abby Kelly, Lucretia Mott,
+Douglass, and others took part. Here, too, John Brown, Sanborn, Morton,
+and Frederick Douglass met to talk over that fatal movement on Harper's
+Ferry. On the question of temperance, also, the people were in a
+ferment. Dr. Cheever's pamphlet, "Deacon Giles' Distillery," was
+scattered far and wide, and, as he was sued for libel, the question was
+discussed in the courts as well as at every fireside. Then came the
+Father Matthew and Washingtonian movements, and the position of the
+Church on these questions intensified and embittered the conflict. This
+brought the Cheevers, the Pierponts, the Delevans, the Nortons, and
+their charming wives to Peterboro. It was with such company and varied
+discussions on every possible phase of political, religious, and social
+life that I spent weeks every year. Gerrit Smith was cool and calm in
+debate, and, as he was armed at all points on these subjects, he could
+afford to be patient and fair with an opponent, whether on the platform
+or at the fireside. These rousing arguments at Peterboro made social
+life seem tame and profitless elsewhere, and the youngest of us felt
+that the conclusions reached in this school of philosophy were not to be
+questioned. The sisters of General Cochrane, in disputes with their
+Dutch cousins in Schenectady and Albany, would end all controversy by
+saying, "This question was fully discussed at Peterboro, and settled."
+
+The youngsters frequently put the lessons of freedom and individual
+rights they heard so much of into practice, and relieved their brains
+from the constant strain of argument on first principles, by the wildest
+hilarity in dancing, all kinds of games, and practical jokes carried
+beyond all bounds of propriety. These romps generally took place at Mr.
+Miller's. He used to say facetiously, that they talked a good deal about
+liberty over the way, but he kept the goddess under his roof. One
+memorable occasion in which our enthusiasm was kept at white heat for
+two hours I must try to describe, though words cannot do it justice, as
+it was pre-eminently a spectacular performance. The imagination even
+cannot do justice to the limp, woe-begone appearance of the actors in
+the closing scene. These romps were conducted on a purely democratic
+basis, without regard to color, sex, or previous condition of servitude.
+
+It was rather a cold day in the month of March, when "Cousin Charley,"
+as we called Mr. Miller, was superintending some men who were laying a
+plank walk in the rear of his premises. Some half dozen of us were
+invited to an early tea at good Deacon Huntington's. Immediately after
+dinner, Miss Fitzhugh and Miss Van Schaack decided to take a nap, that
+they might appear as brilliant as possible during the evening. That they
+might not be late, as they invariably were, Cousin Lizzie and I decided
+to rouse them in good season with a generous sprinkling of cold water.
+In vain they struggled to keep the blankets around them; with equal
+force we pulled them away, and, whenever a stray finger or toe appeared,
+we brought fresh batteries to bear, until they saw that passive
+resistance must give place to active hostility. We were armed with two
+watering pots. They armed themselves with two large-sized syringes used
+for showering potato bugs. With these weapons they gave us chase
+downstairs. We ran into a closet and held the door shut. They quietly
+waited our forthcoming. As soon as we opened the door to peep out, Miss
+Fitzhugh, who was large and strong, pulled it wide open and showered us
+with a vengeance. Then they fled into a large pantry where stood several
+pans of milk.
+
+At this stage Cousin Charley, hearing the rumpus, came to our
+assistance. He locked them in the pantry and returned to his work,
+whereupon they opened the window and showered him with milk, while he,
+in turn, pelted them with wet clothes, soaking in tubs near by. As they
+were thinly clad, wet to the skin, and the cold March wind blew round
+them (we were all in fatigue costume in starting) they implored us to
+let them out, which we did, and, in return for our kindness, they gave
+us a broadside of milk in our faces. Cousin Lizzie and I fled to the
+dark closet, where they locked us in. After long, weary waiting they
+came to offer us terms of capitulation. Lizzie agreed to fill their guns
+with milk, and give them our watering pots full of water, and I agreed
+to call Cousin Charley under my window until they emptied the contents
+of guns and pots on his head. My room was on the first floor, and Miss
+Fitzhugh's immediately overhead. On these terms we accepted our freedom.
+Accordingly, I gently raised the window and called Charley
+confidentially within whispering distance, when down came a shower of
+water. As he stepped back to look up and see whence it came, and who
+made the attack, a stream of milk hit him on the forehead, his heels
+struck a plank, and he fell backward, to all appearance knocked down
+with a stream of milk. His humiliation was received with shouts of
+derisive laughter, and even the carpenters at work laid down their
+hammers and joined in the chorus; but his revenge was swift and capped
+the climax. Cold and wet as we all were, and completely tired out, we
+commenced to disrobe and get ready for the tea party. Unfortunately I
+had forgotten to lock my door, and in walked Cousin Charley with a quart
+bottle of liquid blacking, which he prepared to empty on my devoted
+head. I begged so eloquently and trembled so at the idea of being dyed
+black, that he said he would let me off on one condition, and that was
+to get him, by some means, into Miss Fitzhugh's room. So I ran screaming
+up the stairs, as if hotly pursued by the enemy, and begged her to let
+me in. She cautiously opened the door, but when she saw Charley behind
+me she tried to force it shut. However, he was too quick for her. He had
+one leg and arm in; but, at that stage of her toilet, to let him in was
+impossible, and there they stood, equally strong, firmly braced, she on
+one side of the door and he on the other. But the blacking he was
+determined she should have; so, gauging her probable position, with one
+desperate effort he squeezed in a little farther and, raising the
+bottle, he poured the contents on her head. The blacking went streaming
+down over her face, white robe, and person, and left her looking more
+like a bronze fury than one of Eve's most charming daughters. A yard or
+more of the carpet was ruined, the wallpaper and bedclothes spattered,
+and the poor victim was unfit to be seen for a week at least. Charley
+had a good excuse for his extreme measures, for, as we all by turn
+played our tricks on him, it was necessary to keep us in some fear of
+punishment. This was but one of the many outrageous pranks we
+perpetrated on each other. To see us a few hours later, all absorbed in
+an anti-slavery or temperance convention, or dressed in our best, in
+high discourse with the philosophers, one would never think we could
+have been guilty of such consummate follies. It was, however, but the
+natural reaction from the general serious trend of our thoughts.
+
+It was in Peterboro, too, that I first met one who was then considered
+the most eloquent and impassioned orator on the anti-slavery platform,
+Henry B. Stanton. He had come over from Utica with Alvin Stewart's
+beautiful daughter, to whom report said he was engaged; but, as she soon
+after married Luther R. Marsh, there was a mistake somewhere. However,
+the rumor had its advantages. Regarding him as not in the matrimonial
+market, we were all much more free and easy in our manners with him than
+we would otherwise have been. A series of anti-slavery conventions was
+being held in Madison County, and there I had the pleasure of hearing
+him for the first time. As I had a passion for oratory, I was deeply
+impressed with his power. He was not so smooth and eloquent as Phillips,
+but he could make his audience both laugh and cry; the latter, Phillips
+himself said he never could do. Mr. Stanton was then in his prime, a
+fine-looking, affable young man, with remarkable conversational talent,
+and was ten years my senior, with the advantage that number of years
+necessarily gives.
+
+Two carriage-loads of ladies and gentlemen drove off every morning,
+sometimes ten miles, to one of these conventions, returning late at
+night. I shall never forget those charming drives over the hills in
+Madison County, the bright autumnal days, and the bewitching moonlight
+nights. The enthusiasm of the people in these great meetings, the
+thrilling oratory, and lucid arguments of the speakers, all conspired to
+make these days memorable as among the most charming in my life. It
+seemed to me that I never had so much happiness crowded into one short
+month. I had become interested in the anti-slavery and temperance
+questions, and was deeply impressed with the appeals and arguments. I
+felt a new inspiration in life and was enthused with new ideas of
+individual rights and the basic principles of government, for the
+anti-slavery platform was the best school the American people ever had
+on which to learn republican principles and ethics. These conventions
+and the discussions at my cousin's fireside I count among the great
+blessings of my life.
+
+One morning, as we came out from breakfast, Mr. Stanton joined me on the
+piazza, where I was walking up and down enjoying the balmy air and the
+beauty of the foliage. "As we have no conventions," said he, "on hand,
+what do you say to a ride on horseback this morning?" I readily accepted
+the suggestion, ordered the horses, put on my habit, and away we went.
+The roads were fine and we took a long ride. As we were returning home
+we stopped often to admire the scenery and, perchance, each other. When
+walking slowly through a beautiful grove, he laid his hand on the horn
+of the saddle and, to my surprise, made one of those charming
+revelations of human feeling which brave knights have always found
+eloquent words to utter, and to which fair ladies have always listened
+with mingled emotions of pleasure and astonishment.
+
+One outcome of those glorious days of October, 1839, was a marriage, in
+Johnstown, the 10th day of May, 1840, and a voyage to the Old World.
+
+Six weeks of that charming autumn, ending in the Indian summer with its
+peculiarly hazy atmosphere, I lingered in Peterboro. It seems in
+retrospect like a beautiful dream. A succession of guests was constantly
+coming and going, and I still remember the daily drives over those grand
+old hills crowned with trees now gorgeous in rich colors, the more
+charming because we knew the time was short before the cold winds of
+November would change all.
+
+The early setting sun warned us that the shortening days must soon end
+our twilight drives, and the moonlight nights were too chilly to linger
+long in the rustic arbors or shady nooks outside. With the peculiar
+charm of this season of the year there is always a touch of sadness in
+nature, and it seemed doubly so to me, as my engagement was not one of
+unmixed joy and satisfaction. Among all conservative families there was
+a strong aversion to abolitionists and the whole anti-slavery movement.
+Alone with Cousin Gerrit in his library he warned me, in deep, solemn
+tones, while strongly eulogizing my lover, that my father would never
+consent to my marriage with an abolitionist. He felt in duty bound, as
+my engagement had occurred under his roof, to free himself from all
+responsibility by giving me a long dissertation on love, friendship,
+marriage, and all the pitfalls for the unwary, who, without due
+consideration, formed matrimonial relations. The general principles laid
+down in this interview did not strike my youthful mind so forcibly as
+the suggestion that it was better to announce my engagement by letter
+than to wait until I returned home, as thus I might draw the hottest
+fire while still in safe harbor, where Cousin Gerrit could help me
+defend the weak points in my position. So I lingered at Peterboro to
+prolong the dream of happiness and postpone the conflict I feared to
+meet.
+
+But the Judge understood the advantage of our position as well as we
+did, and wasted no ammunition on us. Being even more indignant at my
+cousin than at me, he quietly waited until I returned home, when I
+passed through the ordeal of another interview, with another
+dissertation on domestic relations from a financial standpoint. These
+were two of the most bewildering interviews I ever had. They succeeded
+in making me feel that the step I proposed to take was the most
+momentous and far-reaching in its consequences of any in this mortal
+life. Heretofore my apprehensions had all been of death and eternity;
+now life itself was filled with fears and anxiety as to the
+possibilities of the future. Thus these two noble men, who would have
+done anything for my happiness, actually overweighted my conscience and
+turned the sweetest dream of my life into a tragedy. How little strong
+men, with their logic, sophistry, and hypothetical examples, appreciate
+the violence they inflict on the tender sensibilities of a woman's
+heart, in trying to subjugate her to their will! The love of protecting
+too often degenerates into downright tyranny. Fortunately all these
+sombre pictures of a possible future were thrown into the background by
+the tender missives every post brought me, in which the brilliant
+word-painting of one of the most eloquent pens of this generation made
+the future for us both, as bright and beautiful as Spring with her
+verdure and blossoms of promise.
+
+However, many things were always transpiring at Peterboro to turn one's
+thoughts and rouse new interest in humanity at large. One day, as a bevy
+of us girls were singing and chattering in the parlor, Cousin Gerrit
+entered and, in mysterious tones, said: "I have a most important secret
+to tell you, which you must keep to yourselves religiously for
+twenty-four hours."
+
+We readily pledged ourselves in the most solemn manner, individually and
+collectively.
+
+"Now," said he, "follow me to the third story."
+
+This we did, wondering what the secret could be. At last, opening a
+door, he ushered us into a large room, in the center of which sat a
+beautiful quadroon girl, about eighteen years of age. Addressing her, he
+said:
+
+"Harriet, I have brought all my young cousins to see you. I want you to
+make good abolitionists of them by telling them the history of your
+life--what you have seen and suffered in slavery."
+
+Turning to us he said:
+
+"Harriet has just escaped from her master, who is visiting in Syracuse,
+and is on her way to Canada. She will start this evening and you may
+never have another opportunity of seeing a slave girl face to face, so
+ask her all you care to know of the system of slavery."
+
+For two hours we listened to the sad story of her childhood and youth,
+separated from all her family and sold for her beauty in a New Orleans
+market when but fourteen years of age. The details of her story I need
+not repeat. The fate of such girls is too well known to need rehearsal.
+We all wept together as she talked, and, when Cousin Gerrit returned to
+summon us away, we needed no further education to make us earnest
+abolitionists.
+
+Dressed as a Quakeress, Harriet started at twilight with one of Mr.
+Smith's faithful clerks in a carriage for Oswego, there to cross the
+lake to Canada. The next day her master and the marshals from Syracuse
+were on her track in Peterboro, and traced her to Mr. Smith's premises.
+He was quite gracious in receiving them, and, while assuring them that
+there was no slave there, he said that they were at liberty to make a
+thorough search of the house and grounds. He invited them to stay and
+dine and kept them talking as long as possible, as every hour helped
+Harriet to get beyond their reach; for, although she had eighteen hours
+the start of them, yet we feared some accident might have delayed her.
+The master was evidently a gentleman, for, on Mr. Smith's assurance that
+Harriet was not there, he made no search, feeling that they could not do
+so without appearing to doubt his word. He was evidently surprised to
+find an abolitionist so courteous and affable, and it was interesting to
+hear them in conversation, at dinner, calmly discussing the problem of
+slavery, while public sentiment was at white heat on the question. They
+shook hands warmly at parting and expressed an equal interest in the
+final adjustment of that national difficulty.
+
+In due time the clerk returned with the good news that Harriet was safe
+with friends in a good situation in Canada. Mr. Smith then published an
+open letter to the master in the New York _Tribune_, saying "that he
+would no doubt rejoice to know that his slave Harriet, in whose fate he
+felt so deep an interest, was now a free woman, safe under the shadow of
+the British throne. I had the honor of entertaining her under my roof,
+sending her in my carriage to Lake Ontario, just eighteen hours before
+your arrival: hence my willingness to have you search my premises."
+
+Like the varied combinations of the kaleidoscope, the scenes in our
+social life at Peterboro were continually changing from grave to gay.
+Some years later we had a most hilarious occasion at the marriage of
+Mary Cochrane, sister of General John Cochrane, to Chapman Biddle, of
+Philadelphia. The festivities, which were kept up for three days,
+involved most elaborate preparations for breakfasts, dinners, etc.,
+there being no Delmonico's in that remote part of the country. It was
+decided in family council that we had sufficient culinary talent under
+the roof to prepare the entire _menu_ of substantials and delicacies,
+from soup and salmon to cakes and creams. So, gifted ladies and
+gentlemen were impressed into the service. The Fitzhughs all had a
+natural talent for cooking, and chief among them was Isabella, wife of a
+naval officer,--Lieutenant Swift of Geneva,--who had made a profound
+study of all the authorities from Archestratus, a poet in Syracuse, the
+most famous cook among the Greeks, down to our own Miss Leslie.
+Accordingly she was elected manager of the occasion, and to each one was
+assigned the specialty in which she claimed to excel. Those who had no
+specialty were assistants to those who had. In this humble
+office--"assistant at large"--I labored throughout.
+
+Cooking is a high art. A wise Egyptian said, long ago: "The degree of
+taste and skill manifested by a nation in the preparation of food may be
+regarded as to a very considerable extent proportioned to its culture
+and refinement." In early times men, only, were deemed capable of
+handling fire, whether at the altar or the hearthstone. We read in the
+Scriptures that Abraham prepared cakes of fine meal and a calf tender
+and good, which, with butter and milk, he set before the three angels in
+the plains of Mamre. We are told, too, of the chief butler and chief
+baker as officers in the household of King Pharaoh. I would like to call
+the attention of my readers to the dignity of this profession, which
+some young women affect to despise. The fact that angels eat, shows that
+we may be called upon in the next sphere to cook even for cherubim and
+seraphim. How important, then, to cultivate one's gifts in that
+direction!
+
+With such facts before us, we stirred and pounded, whipped and ground,
+coaxed the delicate meats from crabs and lobsters and the succulent peas
+from the pods, and grated corn and cocoanut with the same cheerfulness
+and devotion that we played Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" on the
+piano, the Spanish Fandango on our guitars, or danced the minuet, polka,
+lancers, or Virginia reel.
+
+During the day of the wedding, every stage coach was crowded with guests
+from the North, South, East, and West, and, as the twilight deepened,
+carriages began to roll in with neighbors and friends living at short
+distances, until the house and grounds were full. A son of Bishop Coxe,
+who married the tall and stately sister of Roscoe Conkling, performed
+the ceremony. The beautiful young bride was given away by her Uncle
+Gerrit. The congratulations, the feast, and all went off with fitting
+decorum in the usual way. The best proof of the excellence of our viands
+was that they were all speedily swept from mortal view, and every
+housewife wanted a recipe for something.
+
+As the grand dinner was to come off the next day, our thoughts now
+turned in that direction. The responsibility rested heavily on the heads
+of the chief actors, and they reported troubled dreams and unduly early
+rising. Dear Belle Swift was up in season and her white soup stood
+serenely in a tin pan, on an upper shelf, before the town clock struck
+seven. If it had not taken that position so early, it might have been
+incorporated with higher forms of life than that into which it
+eventually fell. Another artist was also on the wing early, and in
+pursuit of a tin pan in which to hide her precious compound, she
+unwittingly seized this one, and the rich white soup rolled down her
+raven locks like the oil on Aaron's beard, and enveloped her in a veil
+of filmy whiteness. I heard the splash and the exclamation of surprise
+and entered the butler's pantry just in time to see the heiress of the
+Smith estate standing like a statue, tin pan in hand, soup in her curls,
+her eyebrows and eyelashes,--collar, cuffs, and morning dress
+saturated,--and Belle, at a little distance, looking at her and the soup
+on the floor with surprise and disgust depicted on every feature. The
+tableau was inexpressibly comical, and I could not help laughing
+outright; whereupon Belle turned on me, and, with indignant tones, said,
+"If you had been up since four o'clock making that soup you would not
+stand there like a laughing monkey, without the least feeling of pity!"
+Poor Lizzie was very sorry, and would have shed tears, but they could
+not penetrate that film of soup. I tried to apologize, but could only
+laugh the more when I saw Belle crying and Lizzie standing as if hoping
+that the soup might be scraped off her and gathered from the floor and
+made to do duty on the occasion.
+
+After breakfast, ladies and gentlemen, alike in white aprons, crowded
+into the dining room and kitchen, each to perform the allotted task.
+George Biddle of Philadelphia and John B. Miller of Utica, in holiday
+spirits, were irrepressible--everywhere at the same moment, helping or
+hindering as the case might be. Dear Belle, having only partially
+recovered from the white-soup catastrophe, called Mr. Biddle to hold the
+ice-cream freezer while she poured in the luscious compound she had just
+prepared. He held it up without resting it on anything, while Belle
+slowly poured in the cream. As the freezer had no indentations round the
+top or rim to brace the thumbs and fingers, when it grew suddenly
+heavier his hands slipped and down went the whole thing, spattering poor
+Belle and spoiling a beautiful pair of gaiters in which, as she had very
+pretty feet, she took a laudable pride. In another corner sat Wealthea
+Backus, grating some cocoanut. While struggling in that operation, John
+Miller, feeling hilarious, was annoying her in divers ways; at length
+she drew the grater across his nose, gently, as she intended, but alas!
+she took the skin off, and John's beauty, for the remainder of the
+festivities, was marred with a black patch on that prominent feature.
+One can readily imagine the fun that must have transpired where so many
+amateur cooks were at work round one table, with all manner of culinary
+tools and ingredients.
+
+As assistant-at-large I was summoned to the cellar, where Mrs. Cornelia
+Barclay of New York was evolving from a pan of flour and water that
+miracle in the pie department called puff paste. This, it seems, can
+only be accomplished where the thermometer is below forty, and near a
+refrigerator where the compound can be kept cold until ready to be
+popped into the oven. No jokes or nonsense here. With queenly dignity
+the flour and water were gently compressed. Here one hand must not know
+what the other doeth. Bits of butter must be so deftly introduced that
+even the rolling pin may be unconscious of its work. As the artist gave
+the last touch to an exquisite lemon pie, with a mingled expression of
+pride and satisfaction on her classic features, she ordered me to bear
+it to the oven. In the transit I met Madam Belle. "Don't let that fall,"
+she said sneeringly. Fortunately I did not, and returned in triumph to
+transport another. I was then summoned to a consultation with the
+committee on toasts, consisting of James Cochrane, John Miller, and
+myself. Mr. Miller had one for each guest already written, all of which
+we accepted and pronounced very good.
+
+Strange to say, a most excellent dinner emerged from all this uproar and
+confusion. The table, with its silver, china, flowers, and rich viands,
+the guests in satins, velvets, jewels, soft laces, and bright cravats,
+together reflecting all the colors of the prism, looked as beautiful as
+the rainbow after a thunderstorm.
+
+Twenty years ago I made my last sad visit to that spot so rich with
+pleasant memories of bygone days. A few relatives and family friends
+gathered there to pay the last tokens of respect to our noble cousin.
+It was on one of the coldest days of gray December that we laid him in
+the frozen earth, to be seen no more. He died from a stroke of apoplexy
+in New York city, at the home of his niece, Mrs. Ellen Cochrane Walter,
+whose mother was Mr. Smith's only sister. The journey from New York to
+Peterboro was cold and dreary, and climbing the hills from Canastota in
+an open sleigh, nine hundred feet above the valley, with the thermometer
+below zero, before sunrise, made all nature look as sombre as the sad
+errand on which we came.
+
+Outside the mansion everything in its wintry garb was cold and still,
+and all within was silent as the grave. The central figure, the light
+and joy of that home, had vanished forever. He who had welcomed us on
+that threshold for half a century would welcome us no more. We did what
+we could to dissipate the gloom that settled on us all. We did not
+intensify our grief by darkening the house and covering ourselves with
+black crape, but wore our accustomed dresses of chastened colors and
+opened all the blinds that the glad sunshine might stream in. We hung
+the apartment where the casket stood with wreaths of evergreens, and
+overhead we wove his favorite mottoes in living letters, "Equal rights
+for all!" "Rescue Cuba now!" The religious services were short and
+simple; the Unitarian clergyman from Syracuse made a few remarks, the
+children from the orphan asylum, in which he was deeply interested, sang
+an appropriate hymn, and around the grave stood representatives of the
+Biddles, the Dixwells, the Sedgwicks, the Barclays, and Stantons, and
+three generations of his immediate family. With a few appropriate words
+from General John Cochrane we left our beloved kinsman alone in his
+last resting place. Two months later, on his birthday, his wife, Ann
+Carroll Fitzhugh, passed away and was laid by his side. Theirs was a
+remarkably happy union of over half a century, and they were soon
+reunited in the life eternal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+OUR WEDDING JOURNEY.
+
+
+My engagement was a season of doubt and conflict--doubt as to the wisdom
+of changing a girlhood of freedom and enjoyment for I knew not what, and
+conflict because the step I proposed was in opposition to the wishes of
+all my family. Whereas, heretofore, friends were continually suggesting
+suitable matches for me and painting the marriage relation in the most
+dazzling colors, now that state was represented as beset with dangers
+and disappointments, and men, of all God's creatures as the most
+depraved and unreliable. Hard pressed, I broke my engagement, after
+months of anxiety and bewilderment; suddenly I decided to renew it, as
+Mr. Stanton was going to Europe as a delegate to the World's
+Anti-slavery Convention, and we did not wish the ocean to roll between
+us.
+
+Thursday, May 10, 1840, I determined to take the fateful step, without
+the slightest preparation for a wedding or a voyage; but Mr. Stanton,
+coming up the North River, was detained on "Marcy's Overslaugh," a bar
+in the river where boats were frequently stranded for hours. This delay
+compelled us to be married on Friday, which is commonly supposed to be a
+most unlucky day. But as we lived together, without more than the usual
+matrimonial friction, for nearly a half a century, had seven children,
+all but one of whom are still living, and have been well sheltered,
+clothed, and fed, enjoying sound minds in sound bodies, no one need be
+afraid of going through the marriage ceremony on Friday for fear of bad
+luck. The Scotch clergyman who married us, being somewhat superstitious,
+begged us to postpone it until Saturday; but, as we were to sail early
+in the coming week, that was impossible. That point settled, the next
+difficulty was to persuade him to leave out the word "obey" in the
+marriage ceremony. As I obstinately refused to obey one with whom I
+supposed I was entering into an equal relation, that point, too, was
+conceded. A few friends were invited to be present and, in a simple
+white evening dress, I was married. But the good priest avenged himself
+for the points he conceded, by keeping us on the rack with a long prayer
+and dissertation on the sacred institution for one mortal hour. The Rev.
+Hugh Maire was a little stout fellow, vehement in manner and speech, who
+danced about the floor, as he laid down the law, in the most original
+and comical manner. As Mr. Stanton had never seen him before, the hour
+to him was one of constant struggle to maintain his equilibrium. I had
+sat under his ministrations for several years, and was accustomed to his
+rhetoric, accent, and gestures, and thus was able to go through the
+ordeal in a calmer state of mind.
+
+Sister Madge, who had stood by me bravely through all my doubts and
+anxieties, went with us to New York and saw us on board the vessel. My
+sister Harriet and her husband, Daniel C. Eaton, a merchant in New York
+city, were also there. He and I had had for years a standing game of
+"tag" at all our partings, and he had vowed to send me "tagged" to
+Europe. I was equally determined that he should not. Accordingly, I
+had a desperate chase after him all over the vessel, but in vain. He had
+the last "tag" and escaped. As I was compelled, under the circumstances,
+to conduct the pursuit with some degree of decorum, and he had the
+advantage of height, long limbs, and freedom from skirts, I really stood
+no chance whatever. However, as the chase kept us all laughing, it
+helped to soften the bitterness of parting.
+
+[Illustration: H.B. Stanton] [Illustration: MRS. STANTON AND DAUGHTER,
+1857.]
+
+Fairly at sea, I closed another chapter of my life, and my thoughts
+turned to what lay in the near future. James G. Birney, the anti-slavery
+nominee for the presidency of the United States, joined us in New York,
+and was a fellow-passenger on the Montreal for England. He and my
+husband were delegates to the World's Anti-slavery Convention, and both
+interested themselves in my anti-slavery education. They gave me books
+to read, and, as we paced the deck day by day, the question was the
+chief theme of our conversation.
+
+Mr. Birney was a polished gentleman of the old school, and was
+excessively proper and punctilious in manner and conversation. I soon
+perceived that he thought I needed considerable toning down before
+reaching England. I was quick to see and understand that his criticisms
+of others in a general way and the drift of his discourses on manners
+and conversation had a nearer application than he intended I should
+discover, though he hoped I would profit by them. I was always grateful
+to anyone who took an interest in my improvement, so I laughingly told
+him, one day, that he need not make his criticisms any longer in that
+roundabout way, but might take me squarely in hand and polish me up as
+speedily as possible. Sitting in the saloon at night after a game of
+chess, in which, perchance, I had been the victor, I felt complacent
+and would sometimes say:
+
+"Well, what have I said or done to-day open to criticism?"
+
+So, in the most gracious manner, he replied on one occasion:
+
+"You went to the masthead in a chair, which I think very unladylike. I
+heard you call your husband 'Henry' in the presence of strangers, which
+is not permissible in polite society. You should always say 'Mr.
+Stanton.' You have taken three moves back in this game."
+
+"Bless me!" I replied, "what a catalogue in one day! I fear my Mentor
+will despair of my ultimate perfection."
+
+"I should have more hope," he replied, "if you seemed to feel my rebukes
+more deeply, but you evidently think them of too little consequence to
+be much disturbed by them."
+
+As he found even more fault with my husband, we condoled with each other
+and decided that our friend was rather hypercritical and that we were as
+nearly perfect as mortals need be for the wear and tear of ordinary
+life. Being both endowed with a good degree of self-esteem, neither the
+praise nor the blame of mankind was overpowering to either of us. As the
+voyage lasted eighteen days--for we were on a sailing vessel--we had
+time to make some improvement, or, at least, to consider all friendly
+suggestions.
+
+At this time Mr. Birney was very much in love with Miss Fitzhugh of
+Geneseo, to whom he was afterward married. He suffered at times great
+depression of spirits, but I could always rouse him to a sunny mood by
+introducing her name. That was a theme of which he never grew weary,
+and, while praising her, a halo of glory was to him visible around my
+head and I was faultless for the time being. There was nothing in our
+fellow-passengers to break the monotony of the voyage. They were all
+stolid, middle-class English people, returning from various parts of the
+world to visit their native land.
+
+When out of their hearing, Mr. Birney used to ridicule them without
+mercy; so, one day, by way of making a point, I said with great
+solemnity, "Is it good breeding to make fun of the foibles of our
+fellow-men, who have not had our advantages of culture and education?"
+He felt the rebuke and blushed, and never again returned to that
+subject. I am sorry to say I was glad to find him once in fault.
+
+Though some amusement, in whatever extraordinary way I could obtain it,
+was necessary to my existence, yet, as it was deemed important that I
+should thoroughly understand the status of the anti-slavery movement in
+my own country, I spent most of my time reading and talking on that
+question. Being the wife of a delegate to the World's Convention, we all
+felt it important that I should be able to answer whatever questions I
+might be asked in England on all phases of the slavery question.
+
+The captain, a jolly fellow, was always ready to second me in my
+explorations into every nook and cranny of the vessel. He imagined that
+my reading was distasteful and enforced by the older gentlemen, so he
+was continually planning some diversion, and often invited me to sit
+with him and listen to his experiences of a sailor's life.
+
+But all things must end in this mortal life, and our voyage was near
+its termination, when we were becalmed on the Southern coast of England
+and could not make more than one knot an hour. When within sight of the
+distant shore, a pilot boat came along and offered to take anyone ashore
+in six hours. I was so delighted at the thought of reaching land that,
+after much persuasion, Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney consented to go.
+Accordingly we were lowered into the boat in an armchair, with a
+luncheon consisting of a cold chicken, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of
+wine, with just enough wind to carry our light craft toward our
+destination. But, instead of six hours, we were all day trying to reach
+the land, and, as the twilight deepened and the last breeze died away,
+the pilot said: "We are now two miles from shore, but the only way you
+can reach there to-night is by a rowboat."
+
+As we had no provisions left and nowhere to sleep, we were glad to avail
+ourselves of the rowboat. It was a bright moonlight night, the air
+balmy, the waters smooth, and, with two stout oarsmen, we glided swiftly
+along. As Mr. Birney made the last descent and seated himself, doubtful
+as to our reaching shore, turning to me he said: "The woman tempted me
+and I did leave the good ship." However, we did reach the shore at
+midnight and landed at Torquay, one of the loveliest spots in that
+country, and our journey to Exeter the next day lay through the most
+beautiful scenery in England.
+
+As we had no luggage with us, our detention by customs officers was
+brief, and we were soon conducted to a comfortable little hotel, which
+we found in the morning was a bower of roses. I had never imagined
+anything so beautiful as the drive up to Exeter on the top of a coach,
+with four stout horses, trotting at the rate of ten miles an hour. It
+was the first day of June, and the country was in all its glory. The
+foliage was of the softest green, the trees were covered with blossoms,
+and the shrubs with flowers. The roads were perfect; the large,
+fine-looking coachman, with his white gloves and reins, his rosy face
+and lofty bearing and the postman in red, blowing his horn as we passed
+through every village, made the drive seem like a journey in fairyland.
+We had heard that England was like a garden of flowers, but we were
+wholly unprepared for such wealth of beauty.
+
+In Exeter we had our first view of one of the great cathedrals in the
+Old World, and we were all deeply impressed with its grandeur. It was
+just at the twilight hour, when the last rays of the setting sun,
+streaming through the stained glass windows, deepened the shadows and
+threw a mysterious amber light over all. As the choir was practicing,
+the whole effect was heightened by the deep tones of the organ
+reverberating through the arched roof, and the sound of human voices as
+if vainly trying to fill the vast space above. The novelty and solemnity
+of the surroundings roused all our religious emotions and thrilled every
+nerve in our being. As if moved by the same impulse to linger there a
+while, we all sat down, silently waiting for something to break the
+spell that bound us. Can one wonder at the power of the Catholic
+religion for centuries, with such accessories to stimulate the
+imagination to a blind worship of the unknown?
+
+Sitting in the hotel that evening and wanting something to read, we
+asked the waiter for the daily papers. As there was no public table or
+drawing room for guests, but each party had its own apartment, we needed
+a little change from the society of each other. Having been, as it were,
+shut from the outside world for eighteen days, we had some curiosity to
+see whether our planet was still revolving from west to east. At the
+mention of papers in the plural number, the attendant gave us a look of
+surprise, and said he would get "it." He returned saying that the
+gentleman in No. 4 had "it," but he would be through in fifteen minutes.
+Accordingly, at the end of that time, he brought the newspaper, and,
+after we had had it the same length of time, he came to take it to
+another party. At our lodging house in London, a paper was left for half
+an hour each morning, and then it was taken to the next house, thus
+serving several families of readers.
+
+The next day brought us to London. When I first entered our lodging
+house in Queen Street, I thought it the gloomiest abode I had ever seen.
+The arrival of a delegation of ladies, the next day, from Boston and
+Philadelphia, changed the atmosphere of the establishment, and filled me
+with delightful anticipations of some new and charming acquaintances,
+which I fully realized in meeting Emily Winslow, Abby Southwick,
+Elizabeth Neal, Mary Grew, Abby Kimber, Sarah Pugh, and Lucretia Mott.
+There had been a split in the American anti-slavery ranks, and delegates
+came from both branches, and, as they were equally represented at our
+lodgings, I became familiar with the whole controversy. The potent
+element which caused the division was the woman question, and as the
+Garrisonian branch maintained the right of women to speak and vote in
+the conventions, all my sympathies were with the Garrisonians, though
+Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney belonged to the other branch, called
+political abolitionists. To me there was no question so important as the
+emancipation of women from the dogmas of the past, political, religious,
+and social. It struck me as very remarkable that abolitionists, who felt
+so keenly the wrongs of the slave, should be so oblivious to the equal
+wrongs of their own mothers, wives, and sisters, when, according to the
+common law, both classes occupied a similar legal status.
+
+Our chief object in visiting England at this time was to attend the
+World's Anti-slavery Convention, to meet June 12, 1840, in Freemasons'
+Hall, London. Delegates from all the anti-slavery societies of civilized
+nations were invited, yet, when they arrived, those representing
+associations of women were rejected. Though women were members of the
+National Anti-slavery Society, accustomed to speak and vote in all its
+conventions, and to take an equally active part with men in the whole
+anti-slavery struggle, and were there as delegates from associations of
+men and women, as well as those distinctively of their own sex, yet all
+alike were rejected because they were women. Women, according to English
+prejudices at that time, were excluded by Scriptural texts from sharing
+equal dignity and authority with men in all reform associations; hence
+it was to English minds pre-eminently unfitting that women should be
+admitted as equal members to a World's Convention. The question was
+hotly debated through an entire day. My husband made a very eloquent
+speech in favor of admitting the women delegates.
+
+When we consider that Lady Byron, Anna Jameson, Mary Howitt, Mrs. Hugo
+Reid, Elizabeth Fry, Amelia Opie, Ann Green Phillips, Lucretia Mott, and
+many remarkable women, speakers and leaders in the Society of Friends,
+were all compelled to listen in silence to the masculine platitudes on
+woman's sphere, one may form some idea of the indignation of
+unprejudiced friends, and especially that of such women as Lydia Maria
+Child, Maria Chapman, Deborah Weston, Angelina and Sarah Grimke, and
+Abby Kelly, who were impatiently waiting and watching on this side, in
+painful suspense, to hear how their delegates were received. Judging
+from my own feelings, the women on both sides of the Atlantic must have
+been humiliated and chagrined, except as these feelings were outweighed
+by contempt for the shallow reasoning of their opponents and their
+comical pose and gestures in some of the intensely earnest flights of
+their imagination.
+
+The clerical portion of the convention was most violent in its
+opposition. The clergymen seemed to have God and his angels especially
+in their care and keeping, and were in agony lest the women should do or
+say something to shock the heavenly hosts. Their all-sustaining conceit
+gave them abundant assurance that their movements must necessarily be
+all-pleasing to the celestials whose ears were open to the proceedings
+of the World's Convention. Deborah, Huldah, Vashti, and Esther might
+have questioned the propriety of calling it a World's Convention, when
+only half of humanity was represented there; but what were their
+opinions worth compared with those of the Rev. A. Harvey, the Rev. C.
+Stout, or the Rev. J. Burnet, who, Bible in hand, argued woman's
+subjection, divinely decreed when Eve was created.
+
+One of our champions in the convention, George Bradburn, a tall
+thick-set man with a voice like thunder, standing head and shoulders
+above the clerical representatives, swept all their arguments aside by
+declaring with tremendous emphasis that, if they could prove to him that
+the Bible taught the entire subjection of one-half of the race to the
+other, he should consider that the best thing he could do for humanity
+would be to bring together every Bible in the universe and make a grand
+bonfire of them.
+
+It was really pitiful to hear narrow-minded bigots, pretending to be
+teachers and leaders of men, so cruelly remanding their own mothers,
+with the rest of womankind, to absolute subjection to the ordinary
+masculine type of humanity. I always regretted that the women themselves
+had not taken part in the debate before the convention was fully
+organized and the question of delegates settled. It seemed to me then,
+and does now, that all delegates with credentials from recognized
+societies should have had a voice in the organization of the convention,
+though subject to exclusion afterward. However, the women sat in a low
+curtained seat like a church choir, and modestly listened to the French,
+British, and American Solons for twelve of the longest days in June, as
+did, also, our grand Garrison and Rogers in the gallery. They scorned a
+convention that ignored the rights of the very women who had fought,
+side by side, with them in the anti-slavery conflict. "After battling so
+many long years," said Garrison, "for the liberties of African slaves, I
+can take no part in a convention that strikes down the most sacred
+rights of all women." After coming three thousand miles to speak on the
+subject nearest his heart, he nobly shared the enforced silence of the
+rejected delegates. It was a great act of self-sacrifice that should
+never be forgotten by women.
+
+Thomas Clarkson was chosen president of the convention and made a few
+remarks in opening, but he soon retired, as his age and many infirmities
+made all public occasions too burdensome, and Joseph Sturge, a Quaker,
+was made chairman. Sitting next to Mrs. Mott, I said:
+
+"As there is a Quaker in the chair now, what could he do if the spirit
+should move you to speak?"
+
+"Ah," she replied, evidently not believing such a contingency possible,
+"where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
+
+She had not much faith in the sincerity of abolitionists who, while
+eloquently defending the natural rights of slaves, denied freedom of
+speech to one-half the people of their own race. Such was the
+consistency of an assemblage of philanthropists! They would have been
+horrified at the idea of burning the flesh of the distinguished women
+present with red-hot irons, but the crucifixion of their pride and
+self-respect, the humiliation of the spirit, seemed to them a most
+trifling matter. The action of this convention was the topic of
+discussion, in public and private, for a long time, and stung many women
+into new thought and action and gave rise to the movement for women's
+political equality both in England and the United States.
+
+As the convention adjourned, the remark was heard on all sides, "It is
+about time some demand was made for new liberties for women." As Mrs.
+Mott and I walked home, arm in arm, commenting on the incidents of the
+day, we resolved to hold a convention as soon as we returned home, and
+form a society to advocate the rights of women. At the lodging house on
+Queen Street, where a large number of delegates had apartments, the
+discussions were heated at every meal, and at times so bitter that, at
+last, Mr. Birney packed his valise and sought more peaceful quarters.
+Having strongly opposed the admission of women as delegates to the
+convention it was rather embarrassing to meet them, during the intervals
+between the various sessions, at the table and in the drawing room.
+
+These were the first women I had ever met who believed in the equality
+of the sexes and who did not believe in the popular orthodox religion.
+The acquaintance of Lucretia Mott, who was a broad, liberal thinker on
+politics, religion, and all questions of reform, opened to me a new
+world of thought. As we walked about to see the sights of London, I
+embraced every opportunity to talk with her. It was intensely gratifying
+to hear all that, through years of doubt, I had dimly thought, so freely
+discussed by other women, some of them no older than myself--women, too,
+of rare intelligence, cultivation, and refinement. After six weeks'
+sojourn under the same roof with Lucretia Mott, whose conversation was
+uniformly on a high plane, I felt that I knew her too well to sympathize
+with the orthodox Friends, who denounced her as a dangerous woman
+because she doubted certain dogmas they fully believed.
+
+As Mr. Birney and my husband were invited to speak all over England,
+Scotland, and Ireland, and we were uniformly entertained by orthodox
+Friends, I had abundant opportunity to know the general feeling among
+them toward Lucretia Mott. Even Elizabeth Fry seemed quite unwilling to
+breathe the same atmosphere with her. During the six weeks that many of
+us remained in London after the convention we were invited to a
+succession of public and private breakfasts, dinners, and teas, and on
+these occasions it was amusing to watch Mrs. Fry's sedulous efforts to
+keep Mrs. Mott at a distance. If Mrs. Mott was on the lawn, Mrs. Fry
+would go into the house; if Mrs. Mott was in the house, Mrs. Fry would
+stay out on the lawn. One evening, when we were all crowded into two
+parlors, and there was no escape, the word went round that Mrs. Fry felt
+moved to pray with the American delegates, whereupon a profound silence
+reigned. After a few moments Mrs. Fry's voice was heard deploring the
+schism among the American Friends; that sol many had been led astray by
+false doctrines; urging the Spirit of All Good to show them the error of
+their way, and gather them once more into the fold of the great Shepherd
+of our faith. The prayer was directed so pointedly at the followers of
+Elias Hicks, and at Lucretia Mott in particular, that I whispered to
+Lucretia, at the close, that she should now pray for Mrs. Fry, that her
+eyes might be opened to her bigotry and uncharitableness, and be led by
+the Spirit into higher light. "Oh, no!" she replied, "a prayer of this
+character, under the circumstances, is an unfair advantage to take of a
+stranger, but I would not resent it in the house of her friends."
+
+In these gatherings we met the leading Quaker families and many other
+philanthropists of different denominations interested in the
+anti-slavery movement. On all these occasions our noble Garrison spoke
+most effectively, and thus our English friends had an opportunity of
+enjoying his eloquence, the lack of which had been so grave a loss in
+the convention.
+
+We devoted a month sedulously to sightseeing in London, and, in the line
+of the traveler's duty, we explored St. Paul's Cathedral, the British
+Museum, the Tower, various prisons, hospitals, galleries of art, Windsor
+Castle, and St. James's Palace, the Zoological Gardens, the schools and
+colleges, the chief theaters and churches, Westminster Abbey, the Houses
+of Parliament, and the Courts. We heard the most famous preachers,
+actors, and statesmen. In fact, we went to the top and bottom of
+everything, from the dome of St. Paul to the tunnel under the Thames,
+just then in the process of excavation. We drove through the parks,
+sailed up and down the Thames, and then visited every shire but four in
+England, in all of which we had large meetings, Mr. Birney and Mr.
+Stanton being the chief speakers. As we were generally invited to stay
+with Friends, it gave us a good opportunity to see the leading families,
+such as the Ashursts, the Alexanders, the Priestmans, the Braithwaites,
+and Buxtons, the Gurneys, the Peases, the Wighams of Edinburgh, and the
+Webbs of Dublin. We spent a few days with John Joseph Gurney at his
+beautiful home in Norwich. He had just returned from America, having
+made a tour through the South. When asked how he liked America, he said,
+"I like everything but your pie crust and your slavery."
+
+Before leaving London, the whole American delegation, about forty in
+number, were invited to dine with Samuel Gurney. He and his brother,
+John Joseph Gurney, were, at that time, the leading bankers in London.
+Someone facetiously remarked that the Jews were the leading bankers in
+London until the Quakers crowded them out.
+
+One of the most striking women I met in England at this time was Miss
+Elizabeth Pease. I never saw a more strongly marked face. Meeting her,
+forty years after, on the platform of a great meeting in the Town Hall
+at Glasgow, I knew her at once. She is now Mrs. Nichol of Edinburgh,
+and, though on the shady side of eighty, is still active in all the
+reforms of the day.
+
+It surprised us very much at first, when driving into the grounds of
+some of these beautiful Quaker homes, to have the great bell rung at the
+lodge, and to see the number of liveried servants on the porch and in
+the halls, and then to meet the host in plain garb, and to be welcomed
+in plain language, "How does thee do, Henry?" "How does thee do
+Elizabeth?" This sounded peculiarly sweet to me--a stranger in a strange
+land. The wealthy English Quakers we visited at that time, taking them
+all in all, were the most charming people I had ever seen. They were
+refined and intelligent on all subjects, and though rather conservative
+on some points, were not aggressive in pressing their opinions on
+others. Their hospitality was charming and generous, their homes the
+beau ideal of comfort and order, the cuisine faultless, while peace
+reigned over all. The quiet, gentle manner and the soft tones in
+speaking, and the mysterious quiet in these well-ordered homes were like
+the atmosphere one finds in a modern convent, where the ordinary duties
+of the day seem to be accomplished by some magical influence.
+
+Before leaving London we spent a delightful day in June at the home of
+Samuel Gurney, surrounded by a fine park with six hundred deer roaming
+about--always a beautiful feature in the English landscape. As the
+Duchess of Sutherland and Lord Morpeth had expressed a wish to Mrs. Fry
+to meet some of the leading American abolitionists, it was arranged that
+they should call at her brother's residence on this occasion. Soon after
+we arrived, the Duchess, with her brother and Mrs. Fry, in her state
+carriage with six horses and outriders, drove up to the door. Mr. Gurney
+was evidently embarrassed at the prospect of a lord and a duchess under
+his roof. Leaning on the arm of Mrs. Fry, the duchess was formally
+introduced to us individually. Mrs. Mott conversed with the
+distinguished guests with the same fluency and composure as with her own
+countrywomen. However anxious the English people were as to what they
+should say and do, the Americans were all quite at their ease.
+
+As Lord Morpeth had some interesting letters from the island of Jamaica
+to read to us, we formed a circle on the lawn to listen. England had
+just paid one hundred millions of dollars to emancipate the slaves, and
+we were all interested in hearing the result of the experiment. The
+distinguished guest in turn had many questions to ask in regard to
+American slavery. We found none of that prejudice against color in
+England which is so inveterate among the American people; at my first
+dinner in England I found myself beside a gentleman from Jamaica, as
+black as the ace of spades. After the departure of the duchess, dinner
+was announced. It was a sumptuous meal, most tastefully served. There
+were half a dozen wineglasses at every plate, but abolitionists, in
+those days, were all converts to temperance, and, as the bottles went
+around there was a general headshaking, and the right hand extended
+over the glasses. Our English friends were amazed that none of us drank
+wine. Mr. Gurney said he had never before seen such a sight as forty
+ladies and gentlemen sitting down to dinner and none of them tasting
+wine. In talking with him on that point, he said:
+
+"I suppose your nursing mothers drink beer?"
+
+I laughed, and said, "Oh, no! We should be afraid of befogging the
+brains of our children."
+
+"No danger of that," said he; "we are all bright enough, and yet a cask
+of beer is rolled into the cellar for the mother with each newborn
+child."
+
+Colonel Miller from Vermont, one of our American delegation, was in the
+Greek war with Lord Byron. As Lady Byron had expressed a wish to see
+him, that her daughter might know something of her father's last days,
+an interview was arranged, and the colonel kindly invited me to
+accompany him. His account of their acquaintance and the many noble
+traits of character Lord Byron manifested, his generous impulses and
+acts of self-sacrifice, seemed particularly gratifying to the daughter.
+It was a sad interview, arranged chiefly for the daughter's
+satisfaction, though Lady Byron listened with a painful interest. As the
+colonel was a warm admirer of the great poet, he no doubt represented
+him in the best possible light, and his narration of his last days was
+deeply interesting. Lady Byron had a quiet, reserved manner, a sad face,
+and a low, plaintive voice, like one who had known deep sorrow. I had
+seen her frequently in the convention and at social teas, and had been
+personally presented to her before this occasion. Altogether I thought
+her a sweet, attractive-looking woman.
+
+We had a pleasant interview with Lord Brougham also. The Philadelphia
+Anti-slavery Society sent him an elaborately carved inkstand, made from
+the wood of Pennsylvania Hall, which was destroyed by a pro-slavery mob.
+Mr. Birney made a most graceful speech in presenting the memento, and
+Lord Brougham was equally happy in receiving it.
+
+One of the most notable characters we met at this time was Daniel
+O'Connell. He made his first appearance in the London convention a few
+days after the women were rejected. He paid a beautiful tribute to woman
+and said that, if he had been present when the question was under
+discussion, he should have spoken and voted for their admission. He was
+a tall, well-developed, magnificent-looking man, and probably one of the
+most effective speakers Ireland ever produced. I saw him at a great
+India meeting in Exeter Hall, where some of the best orators from
+France, America, and England were present. There were six natives from
+India on the platform who, not understanding anything that was said,
+naturally remained listless throughout the proceedings. But the moment
+O'Connell began to speak they were all attention, bending forward and
+closely watching every movement. One could almost tell what he said from
+the play of his expressive features, his wonderful gestures, and the
+pose of his whole body. When he finished, the natives joined in the
+general applause. He had all Wendell Phillips' power of sarcasm and
+denunciation, and added to that the most tender pathos. He could make
+his audience laugh or cry at pleasure. It was a rare sight to see him
+dressed in "Repeal cloth" in one of his Repeal meetings. We were in
+Dublin in the midst of that excitement, when the hopes of new liberties
+for that oppressed people all centered on O'Connell. The enthusiasm of
+the people for the Repeal of the Union was then at white-heat. Dining
+one day with the "Great Liberator," as he was called, I asked him if he
+hoped to carry that measure.
+
+"No," he said, "but it is always good policy to claim the uttermost and
+then you will be sure to get something."
+
+Could he have looked forward fifty years and have seen the present
+condition of his unhappy country, he would have known that English greed
+and selfishness could defeat any policy, however wise and far-seeing.
+The successive steps by which Irish commerce was ruined and religious
+feuds between her people continually fanned into life, and the nation
+subjugated, form the darkest page in the history of England. But the
+people are awakening at last to their duty, and, for the first time,
+organizing English public sentiment in favor of "Home Rule." I attended
+several large, enthusiastic meetings when last in England, in which the
+most radical utterances of Irish patriots were received with prolonged
+cheers. I trust the day is not far off when the beautiful Emerald Isle
+will unfurl her banner before the nations of the earth, enthroned as the
+Queen Republic of those northern seas!
+
+We visited Wordsworth's home at Grasmere, among the beautiful lakes, but
+he was not there. However, we saw his surroundings--the landscape that
+inspired some of his poetic dreams, and the dense rows of hollyhocks of
+every shade and color, leading from his porch to the gate. The gardener
+told us this was his favorite flower. Though it had no special beauty in
+itself, taken alone, yet the wonderful combination of royal colors was
+indeed striking and beautiful. We saw Harriet Martineau at her country
+home as well as at her house in town. As we were obliged to converse
+with her through an ear trumpet, we left her to do most of the talking.
+She gave us many amusing experiences of her travels in America, and her
+comments on the London Convention were rich and racy. She was not an
+attractive woman in either manner or appearance, though considered great
+and good by all who knew her.
+
+We spent a few days with Thomas Clarkson, in Ipswich. He lived in a very
+old house with long rambling corridors, surrounded by a moat, which we
+crossed' by means of a drawbridge. He had just written an article
+against the colonization scheme, which his wife read aloud to us. He was
+so absorbed in the subject that he forgot the article was written by
+himself, and kept up a running applause with "hear!" "hear!" the English
+mode of expressing approbation. He told us of the severe struggles he
+and Wilberforce had gone through in rousing the public sentiment of
+England to the demand for emancipation in Jamaica. But their trials were
+mild, compared with what Garrison and his coadjutors had suffered in
+America.
+
+Having read of all these people, it was difficult to realize, as I
+visited them in their own homes from day to day, that they were the same
+persons I had so long worshiped from afar!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+HOMEWARD BOUND.
+
+
+After taking a view of the wonders and surroundings of London we spent a
+month in Paris. Fifty years ago there was a greater difference in the
+general appearance of things between France and England than now. That
+countries only a few hours' journey apart should differ so widely was to
+us a great surprise. How changed the sights and sounds! Here was the old
+diligence, lumbering along with its various compartments and its
+indefinite number of horses, harnessed with rope and leather, sometimes
+two, sometimes three abreast, and sometimes one in advance, with an
+outrider belaboring the poor beasts without cessation, and the driver
+yelling and cracking his whip. The uproar, confusion, and squabbles at
+every stopping place are overwhelming; the upper classes, men and women
+alike, rushing into each other's arms, embrace and kiss, while drivers
+and hostlers on the slightest provocation hurl at each other all the
+denunciatory adjectives in the language, and with such vehemence that
+you expect every moment to see a deadly conflict. But to-day, as fifty
+years ago, they never arrive at that point. Theirs was and is purely an
+encounter of words, which they keep up, as they drive off in opposite
+directions, just as far as they can hear and see each other, with
+threats of vengeance to come. Such an encounter between two Englishmen
+would mean the death of one or the other.
+
+All this was in marked contrast with John Bull and his Island. There the
+people were as silent as if they had been born deaf and dumb. The
+English stagecoach was compact, clean, and polished from top to bottom,
+the horses and harness glossy and in order, the well-dressed, dignified
+coachman, who seldom spoke a loud word or used his whip, kept his seat
+at the various stages, while hostlers watered or changed the steeds; the
+postman blew his bugle blast to have the mail in readiness, and the
+reserved passengers made no remarks on what was passing; for, in those
+days, Englishmen were afraid to speak to each other for fear of
+recognizing one not of their class, while to strangers and foreigners
+they would not speak except in case of dire necessity. The Frenchman was
+ready enough to talk, but, unfortunately, we were separated by different
+languages. Thus the Englishman would not talk, the Frenchman could not,
+and the intelligent, loquacious American driver, who discourses on
+politics, religion, national institutions, and social gossip was unknown
+on that side of the Atlantic. What the curious American traveler could
+find out himself from observation and pertinacious seeking he was
+welcome to, but the Briton would waste no breath to enlighten Yankees as
+to the points of interest or customs of his country.
+
+Our party consisted of Miss Pugh, Abby Kimber, Mr. Stanton, and myself.
+I had many amusing experiences in making my wants known when alone,
+having forgotten most of my French. For instance, traveling night and
+day in the diligence to Paris, as the stops were short, one was
+sometimes in need of something to eat. One night as my companions were
+all asleep, I went out to get a piece of cake or a cracker, or whatever
+of that sort I could obtain, but, owing to my clumsy use of the
+language, I was misunderstood. Just as the diligence was about to start,
+and the shout for us to get aboard was heard, the waiter came running
+with a piping hot plate of sweetbreads nicely broiled. I had waited and
+wondered why it took so long to get a simple piece of cake or biscuit,
+and lo! a piece of hot meat was offered me. I could not take the
+frizzling thing in my hand nor eat it without bread, knife, or fork, so
+I hurried off to the coach, the man pursuing me to the very door. I was
+vexed and disappointed, while the rest of the party were convulsed with
+laughter at the parting salute and my attempt to make my way alone. It
+was some time before I heard the last of the "sweetbreads."
+
+When we reached Paris we secured a courier who could speak English, to
+show us the sights of that wonderful city. Every morning early he was at
+the door, rain or shine, to carry out our plans, which, with the aid of
+our guidebook, we had made the evening before. In this way, going
+steadily, day after day, we visited all points of interest for miles
+round and sailed up and down the Seine. The Palace of the Tuileries,
+with its many associations with a long line of more or less unhappy
+kings and queens, was then in its glory, and its extensive and beautiful
+grounds were always gay with crowds of happy people. These gardens were
+a great resort for nurses and children and were furnished with all
+manner of novel appliances for their amusement, including beautiful
+little carriages drawn by four goats with girls or boys driving, boats
+sailing in the air, seemingly propelled by oars, and hobby horses
+flying round on whirligigs with boys vainly trying to catch each other.
+No people have ever taken the trouble to invent so many amusements for
+children as have the French. The people enjoyed being always in the open
+air, night and day. The parks are crowded with amusement seekers, some
+reading and playing games, some sewing, knitting, playing on musical
+instruments, dancing, sitting around tables in bevies eating, drinking,
+and gayly chatting. And yet, when they drive in carriages or go to their
+homes at night, they will shut themselves in as tight as oysters in
+their shells. They have a theory that night air is very injurious,--in
+the house,--although they will sit outside until midnight. I found this
+same superstition prevalent in France fifty years later.
+
+We visited the Hotel des Invalides just as they were preparing the
+sarcophagus for the reception of the remains of Napoleon. We witnessed
+the wild excitement of that enthusiastic people, and listened with deep
+interest to the old soldiers' praises of their great general. The ladies
+of our party chatted freely with them. They all had interesting
+anecdotes to relate of their chief. They said he seldom slept over four
+hours, was an abstemious eater, and rarely changed a servant, as he
+hated a strange face about him. He was very fond of a game of chess, and
+snuffed continuously; talked but little, was a light sleeper,--the
+stirring of a mouse would awaken him,--and always on the watch-tower.
+They said that, in his great campaigns, he seemed to be omnipresent. A
+sentinel asleep at his post would sometimes waken to find Napoleon on
+duty in his place.
+
+The ship that brought back Napoleon's remains was the _Belle Poule_
+(the beautiful hen!), which landed at Cherbourg, November 30, 1840. The
+body was conveyed to the Church of the Invalides, which adjoins the
+tomb. The Prince de Joinville brought the body from Saint Helena, and
+Louis Philippe received it.
+
+At that time each soldier had a little patch of land to decorate as he
+pleased, in which many scenes from their great battles were illustrated.
+One represented Napoleon crossing the Alps. There were the cannon, the
+soldiers, Napoleon on horseback, all toiling up the steep ascent,
+perfect in miniature. In another was Napoleon, flag in hand, leading the
+charge across the bridge of Lodi. In still another was Napoleon in
+Egypt, before the Pyramids, seated, impassive, on his horse, gazing at
+the Sphinx, as if about to utter his immortal words to his soldiers:
+"Here, forty centuries look down upon us." These object lessons of the
+past are all gone now and the land used for more prosaic purposes.
+
+I little thought, as I witnessed that great event in France in 1840,
+that fifty-seven years later I should witness a similar pageant in the
+American Republic, when our nation paid its last tributes to General
+Grant. There are many points of similarity in these great events. As men
+they were alike aggressive and self-reliant. In Napoleon's will he
+expressed the wish that his last resting place might be in the land and
+among the people he loved so well. His desire is fulfilled. He rests in
+the chief city of the French republic, whose shores are washed by the
+waters of the Seine. General Grant expressed the wish that he might be
+interred in our metropolis and added: "Wherever I am buried, I desire
+that there shall be room for my wife by my side." His wishes, too, are
+fulfilled. He rests in the chief city of the American Republic, whose
+shores are washed by the waters of the Hudson, and in his magnificent
+mausoleum there is room for his wife by his side.
+
+Several members of the Society of Friends from Boston and Philadelphia,
+who had attended the World's Anti-slavery Convention in London, joined
+our party for a trip on the Continent. Though opposed to war, they all
+took a deep interest in the national excitement and in the pageants that
+heralded the expected arrival of the hero from Saint Helena. As they all
+wore military coats of the time of George Fox, the soldiers, supposing
+they belonged to the army of some country, gave them the military salute
+wherever we went, much to their annoyance and our amusement.
+
+In going the rounds, Miss Pugh amused us by reading aloud the
+description of what we were admiring and the historical events connected
+with that particular building or locality. We urged her to spend the
+time taking in all she could see and to read up afterward; but no, a
+history of France and Galignani's guide she carried everywhere, and,
+while the rest of us looked until we were fully satisfied, she took a
+bird's-eye view and read the description. Dear little woman! She was a
+fine scholar, a good historian, was well informed on all subjects and
+countries, proved an invaluable traveling companion, and could tell more
+of what we saw than all the rest of us together.
+
+On several occasions we chanced to meet Louis Philippe dashing by in an
+open barouche. We felt great satisfaction in remembering that at one
+time he was an exile in our country, where he earned his living by
+teaching school. What an honor for Yankee children to have been taught,
+by a French king, the rudiments of his language.
+
+Having been accustomed to the Puritan Sunday of restraint and solemnity,
+I found that day in Paris gay and charming. The first time I entered
+into some of the festivities, I really expected to be struck by
+lightning. The libraries, art galleries, concert halls, and theaters
+were all open to the people. Bands of music were playing in the parks,
+where whole families, with their luncheons, spent the day--husbands,
+wives, and children, on an excursion together. The boats on the Seine
+and all public conveyances were crowded. Those who had but this one day
+for pleasure seemed determined to make the most of it. A wonderful
+contrast with that gloomy day in London, where all places of amusement
+were closed and nothing open to the people but the churches and drinking
+saloons. The streets and houses in which Voltaire, La Fayette, Mme. de
+Stael, Mme. Roland, Charlotte Corday, and other famous men and women
+lived and died, were pointed out to us. We little thought, then, of all
+the terrible scenes to be enacted in Paris, nor that France would emerge
+from the dangers that beset her on every side into a sister republic. It
+has been a wonderful achievement, with kings and Popes all plotting
+against her experiment, that she has succeeded in putting kingcraft
+under her feet and proclaimed liberty, equality, fraternity for her
+people.
+
+After a few weeks in France, we returned to London, traveling through
+England, Ireland, and Scotland for several months. We visited the scenes
+that Shakespeare, Burns, and Dickens had made classic. We spent a few
+days at Huntingdon, the home of Oliver Cromwell, and visited the estate
+where he passed his early married life. While there, one of his great
+admirers read aloud to us a splendid article in one of the reviews,
+written by Carlyle, giving "The Protector," as his friend said, his true
+place in history. It was long the fashion of England's historians to
+represent Cromwell as a fanatic and hypocrite, but his character was
+vindicated by later writers. "Never," says Macaulay, "was a ruler so
+conspicuously born for sovereignty. The cup which has intoxicated almost
+all others sobered him."
+
+We saw the picturesque ruins of Kenilworth Castle, the birthplace of
+Shakespeare, the homes of Byron and Mary Chaworth, wandered through
+Newstead Abbey, saw the monument to the faithful dog, and the large
+dining room where Byron and his boon companions used to shoot at a mark.
+It was a desolate region. We stopped a day or two at Ayr and drove out
+to the birthplace of Burns. The old house that had sheltered him was
+still there, but its walls now echoed to other voices, and the fields
+where he had toiled were plowed by other hands. We saw the stream and
+banks where he and Mary sat together, the old stone church where the
+witches held their midnight revels, the two dogs, and the bridge of Ayr.
+With Burns, as with Sappho, it was love that awoke his heart to song. A
+bonny lass who worked with him in the harvest field inspired his first
+attempts at rhyme. Life, with Burns, was one long, hard struggle. With
+his natural love for the beautiful, the terrible depression of spirits
+he suffered from his dreary surroundings was inevitable. The interest
+great men took in him, when they awoke to his genius, came too late for
+his safety and encouragement. In a glass of whisky he found, at last,
+the rest and cheer he never knew when sober. Poverty and ignorance are
+the parents of intemperance, and that vice will never be suppressed
+until the burdens of life are equally shared by all.
+
+We saw Melrose by moonlight, spent several hours at Abbotsford, and
+lingered in the little sanctum sanctorum where Scott wrote his immortal
+works. It was so small that he could reach the bookshelves on every
+side. We went through the prisons, castles, and narrow streets of
+Edinburgh, where the houses are seven and eight stories high, each story
+projecting a few feet until, at the uppermost, opposite neighbors could
+easily shake hands and chat together. All the intervals from active
+sight-seeing we spent in reading the lives of historical personages in
+poetry and prose, until our sympathies flowed out to the real and ideal
+characters. Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, Ellen
+Douglas, Jeanie and Effie Deans, Highland Mary, Rebecca the Jewess, Di
+Vernon, and Rob Roy all alike seemed real men and women, whose shades or
+descendants we hoped to meet on their native heath.
+
+Here among the Scotch lakes and mountains Mr. Stanton and I were
+traveling alone for the first time since our marriage, and as we both
+enjoyed walking, we made many excursions on foot to points that could
+not be reached in any other way. We spent some time among the Grampian
+Hills, so familiar to every schoolboy, walking, and riding about on
+donkeys. We sailed up and down Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond. My husband
+was writing letters for some New York newspapers on the entire trip, and
+aimed to get exact knowledge of all we saw; thus I had the advantage of
+the information he gathered. On these long tramps I wore a short dress,
+reaching just below the knee, of dark-blue cloth, a military cap of the
+same material that shaded my eyes, and a pair of long boots, made on the
+masculine pattern then generally worn--the most easy style for walking,
+as the pressure is equal on the whole foot and the ankle has free play.
+Thus equipped, and early trained by my good brother-in-law to long
+walks, I found no difficulty in keeping pace with my husband.
+
+Being self-reliant and venturesome in our explorations, we occasionally
+found ourselves involved in grave difficulties by refusing to take a
+guide. For instance, we decided to go to the top of Ben Nevis alone. It
+looked to us a straightforward piece of business to walk up a mountain
+side on a bee line, and so, in the face of repeated warnings by our
+host, we started. We knew nothing of zigzag paths to avoid the rocks,
+the springs, and swamps; in fact we supposed all mountains smooth and
+dry, like our native hills that we were accustomed to climb. The
+landlord shook his head and smiled when we told him we should return at
+noon to dinner, and we smiled, too, thinking he placed a low estimate on
+our capacity for walking. But we had not gone far when we discovered the
+difficulties ahead. Some places were so steep that I had to hold on to
+my companion's coat tails, while he held on to rocks and twigs, or
+braced himself with a heavy cane. By the time we were halfway up we were
+in a dripping perspiration, our feet were soaking wet, and we were
+really too tired to proceed. But, after starting with such supreme
+confidence in ourselves, we were ashamed to confess our fatigue to each
+other, and much more to return and verify all the prognostications of
+the host and his guides. So we determined to push on and do what we had
+proposed. With the prospect of a magnificent view and an hour's
+delicious rest on the top, we started with renewed courage. A steady
+climb of six hours brought us to the goal of promise; our ascent was
+accomplished. But alas! it was impossible to stop there--the cold wind
+chilled us to the bone in a minute. So we took one glance at the world
+below and hurried down the south side to get the mountain between us and
+the cold northeaster.
+
+When your teeth are chattering with the cold, and the wind threatening
+to make havoc with your raiment, you are not in a favorable condition to
+appreciate grand scenery. Like the king of France with twice ten
+thousand men, we marched up the hill and then, marched down again. We
+found descending still more difficult, as we were in constant fear of
+slipping, losing our hold, and rolling to the bottom. We were tired,
+hungry, and disappointed, and the fear of not reaching the valley before
+nightfall pressed heavily upon us. Neither confessed to the other the
+fatigue and apprehension each felt, but, with fresh endeavor and words
+of encouragement, we cautiously went on. We accidentally struck a trail
+that led us winding down comfortably some distance, but we lost it, and
+went clambering down as well as we could in our usual way. To add to our
+misery, a dense Scotch mist soon enveloped us, so that we could see but
+a short distance ahead, and not knowing the point from which we started,
+we feared we might be going far out of our way. The coming twilight,
+too, made the prospect still darker. Fortunately our host, having less
+faith in us than we had in ourselves, sent a guide to reconnoiter, and,
+just at the moment when we began to realize our danger of spending the
+night on the mountain, and to admit it to each other, the welcome guide
+hailed us in his broad accent. His shepherd dog led the way into the
+beaten path. As I could hardly stand I took the guide's arm, and when we
+reached the bottom two donkeys were in readiness to take us to the
+hotel.
+
+We did not recover from the fatigue of that expedition in several days,
+and we made no more experiments of exploring strange places without
+guides. We learned, too, that mountains are not so hospitable as they
+seem nor so gently undulating as they appear in the distance, and that
+guides serve other purposes besides extorting money from travelers. If,
+under their guidance, we had gone up and down easily, we should always
+have thought we might as well have gone alone. So our experience gave us
+a good lesson in humility. We had been twelve hours on foot with nothing
+to eat, when at last we reached the hotel. We were in no mood for
+boasting of the success of our excursion, and our answers were short to
+inquiries as to how we had passed the day.
+
+Being tired of traveling and contending about woman's sphere with the
+Rev. John Scoble, an Englishman, who escorted Mr. Birney and Mr. Stanton
+on their tour through the country, I decided to spend a month in Dublin;
+while the gentlemen held meetings in Cork, Belfast, Waterford, Limerick,
+and other chief towns, finishing the series with a large, enthusiastic
+gathering in Dublin, at which O'Connell made one of his most withering
+speeches on American slavery; the inconsistency of such an "institution"
+with the principles of a republican government giving full play to his
+powers of sarcasm. On one occasion, when introduced to a slaveholder, he
+put his hands behind his back, refusing to recognize a man who bought
+and sold his fellow-beings. The Rev. John Scoble was one of the most
+conceited men I ever met. His narrow ideas in regard to woman, and the
+superiority of the royal and noble classes in his own country, were to
+me so exasperating that I grew more and more bellicose every day we
+traveled in company. He was terribly seasick crossing the Channel, to my
+intense satisfaction. As he always boasted of his distinguished
+countrymen, I suggested, in the midst of one of his most agonizing
+spasms, that he ought to find consolation in the fact that Lord Nelson
+was always seasick on the slightest provocation.
+
+The poverty in Ireland was a continual trial to our sensibilities;
+beggars haunted our footsteps everywhere, in the street and on the
+highways, crouching on the steps of the front door and on the
+curbstones, and surrounding our carriage wherever and whenever we
+stopped to shop or make a visit. The bony hands and sunken eyes and
+sincere gratitude expressed for every penny proved their suffering real.
+As my means were limited and I could not pass one by, I got a pound
+changed into pennies, and put them in a green bag, which I took in the
+carriage wherever I went. It was but a drop in the ocean, but it was all
+I could do to relieve that unfathomed misery. The poverty I saw
+everywhere in the Old World, and especially in Ireland, was a puzzling
+problem to my mind, but I rejected the idea that it was a necessary link
+in human experience--that it always had been and always must be.
+
+As we drove, day by day, in that magnificent Phoenix Park, of fifteen
+hundred acres, one of the largest parks, I believe, in the world, I
+would often put the question to myself, what right have the few to make
+a pleasure ground of these acres, while the many have nowhere to lay
+their heads, crouching under stiles and bridges, clothed in rags, and
+feeding on sea-weed with no hope, in the slowly passing years, of any
+change for the better? The despair stamped on every brow told the sad
+story of their wrongs. Those accustomed to such everyday experiences
+brush beggars aside as they would so many flies, but those to whom such
+sights are new cannot so easily quiet their own consciences. Everyone in
+the full enjoyment of all the blessings of life, in his normal
+condition, feels some individual responsibility for the poverty of
+others. When the sympathies are not blunted by any false philosophy, one
+feels reproached by one's own abundance. I once heard a young girl,
+about to take her summer outing, when asked by her grandmother if she
+had all the dresses she needed, reply, "Oh, yes! I was oppressed with a
+constant sense of guilt, when packing, to see how much I had, while so
+many girls have nothing decent to wear."
+
+More than half a century has rolled by since I stood on Irish soil, and
+shed tears of pity for the wretchedness I saw, and no change for the
+better has as yet come to that unhappy people--yet this was the land of
+Burke, Grattan, Shiel, and Emmett; the land into which Christianity was
+introduced in the fifth century, St. Patrick being the chief apostle of
+the new faith. In the sixth century Ireland sent forth missionaries from
+her monasteries to convert Great Britain and the nations of Northern
+Europe. From the eighth to the twelfth century Irish scholars held an
+enviable reputation. In fact, Ireland was the center of learning at one
+time. The arts, too, were cultivated by her people; and the round
+towers, still pointed out to travelers, are believed to be the remains
+of the architecture of the tenth century. The ruin of Ireland must be
+traced to other causes than the character of the people or the Catholic
+religion. Historians give us facts showing English oppressions
+sufficient to destroy any nation.
+
+The short, dark days of November intensified, in my eyes, the gloomy
+prospects of that people, and made the change to the _Sirius_ of the
+Cunard Line, the first regular Atlantic steamship to cross the ocean,
+most enjoyable. Once on the boundless ocean, one sees no beggars, no
+signs of human misery, no crumbling ruins of vast cathedral walls, no
+records of the downfall of mighty nations, no trace, even, of the mortal
+agony of the innumerable host buried beneath her bosom. Byron truly
+says:
+
+    "Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow--
+    Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now."
+
+When we embarked on the _Sirius_, we had grave doubts as to our safety
+and the probability of our reaching the other side, as we did not feel
+that ocean steamers had yet been fairly tried. But, after a passage of
+eighteen days, eleven hours, and fifteen minutes, we reached Boston,
+having spent six hours at Halifax. We little thought that the steamer
+_Sirius_ of fifty years ago would ever develop into the magnificent
+floating palaces of to-day--three times as large and three times as
+swift. In spite of the steamer, however, we had a cold, rough, dreary
+voyage, and I have no pleasant memories connected with it. Our
+fellow-passengers were all in their staterooms most of the time. Our
+good friend Mr. Birney had sailed two weeks before us, and as Mr.
+Stanton was confined to his berth, I was thrown on my own resources. I
+found my chief amusement in reading novels and playing chess with a
+British officer on his way to Canada. When it was possible I walked on
+deck with the captain, or sat in some sheltered corner, watching the
+waves. We arrived in New York, by rail, the day before Christmas.
+Everything looked bright and gay in our streets. It seemed to me that
+the sky was clearer, the air more refreshing, and the sunlight more
+brilliant than in any other land!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MOTHERHOOD.
+
+
+We found my sister Harriet in a new home in Clinton Place (Eighth
+Street), New York city, then considered so far up town that Mr. Eaton's
+friends were continually asking him why he went so far away from the
+social center, though in a few months they followed him. Here we passed
+a week. I especially enjoyed seeing my little niece and nephew, the only
+grandchildren in the family. The girl was the most beautiful child I
+ever saw, and the boy the most intelligent and amusing. He was very fond
+of hearing me recite the poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes entitled "The
+Height of the Ridiculous," which I did many times, but he always wanted
+to see the lines that almost killed the man with laughing. He went
+around to a number of the bookstores one day and inquired for them. I
+told him afterward they were never published; that when Mr. Holmes saw
+the effect on his servant he suppressed them, lest they should produce
+the same effect on the typesetters, editors, and the readers of the
+Boston newspapers. My explanation never satisfied him. I told him he
+might write to Mr. Holmes, and ask the privilege of reading the original
+manuscript, if it still was or ever had been in existence. As one of my
+grand-nephews was troubled in exactly the same way, I decided to appeal
+myself to Dr. Holmes for the enlightenment of this second generation. So
+I wrote him the following letter, which he kindly answered, telling us
+that his "wretched man" was a myth like the heroes in "Mother Goose's
+Melodies":
+
+     "DEAR DR. HOLMES:
+
+     "I have a little nephew to whom I often recite 'The Height of the
+     Ridiculous,' and he invariably asks for the lines that produced the
+     fatal effect on your servant. He visited most of the bookstores in
+     New York city to find them, and nothing but your own word, I am
+     sure, will ever convince him that the 'wretched man' is but a
+     figment of your imagination. I tried to satisfy him by saying you
+     did not dare to publish the lines lest they should produce a
+     similar effect on the typesetters, editors, and the readers of the
+     Boston journals.
+
+     "However, he wishes me to ask you whether you kept a copy of the
+     original manuscript, or could reproduce the lines with equal power.
+     If not too much trouble, please send me a few lines on this point,
+     and greatly oblige,
+
+     "Yours sincerely,
+
+     "ELIZABETH CADY STANTON."
+
+
+     "MY DEAR MRS. STANTON:
+
+     "I wish you would explain to your little nephew that the story of
+     the poor fellow who almost died laughing was a kind of a dream of
+     mine, and not a real thing that happened, any more than that an old
+     woman 'lived in a shoe and had so many children she didn't know
+     what to do,' or that Jack climbed the bean stalk and found the
+     giant who lived at the top of it. You can explain to him what is
+     meant by imagination, and thus turn my youthful rhymes into a text
+     for a discourse worthy of the Concord School of Philosophy. I have
+     not my poems by me here, but I remember that 'The Height of the
+     Ridiculous' ended with this verse:
+
+    "Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye,
+     I watched that wretched man,
+    And since, I never dare to write
+     As funny as I can."
+
+     "But tell your nephew he mustn't cry about it any more than because
+     geese go barefoot and bald eagles have no nightcaps. The verses are
+     in all the editions of my poems.
+
+     "Believe me, dear Mrs. Stanton,
+
+     "Very Truly and Respectfully Yours,
+
+     "OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES."
+
+After spending the holidays in New York city, we started for Johnstown
+in a "stage sleigh, conveying the United States mail," drawn by spanking
+teams of four horses, up the Hudson River valley. We were three days
+going to Albany, stopping over night at various points; a journey now
+performed in three hours. The weather was clear and cold, the sleighing
+fine, the scenery grand, and our traveling companions most entertaining,
+so the trip was very enjoyable. From Albany to Schenectady we went in
+the railway cars; then another sleighride of thirty miles brought us to
+Johnstown. My native hills, buried under two feet of snow, tinted with
+the last rays of the setting sun, were a beautiful and familiar sight.
+Though I had been absent but ten months, it seemed like years, and I was
+surprised to find how few changes had occurred since I left. My father
+and mother, sisters Madge and Kate, the old house and furniture, the
+neighbors, all looked precisely the same as when I left them. I had
+seen so much and been so constantly on the wing that I wondered that all
+things here should have stood still. I expected to hear of many births,
+marriages, deaths, and social upheavals, but the village news was
+remarkably meager. This hunger for home news on returning is common, I
+suppose, to all travelers.
+
+Our trunks unpacked, wardrobes arranged in closets and drawers, the
+excitement of seeing friends over, we spent some time in making plans
+for the future.
+
+My husband, after some consultation with my father, decided to enter his
+office and commence the study of the law. As this arrangement kept me
+under the parental roof, I had two added years of pleasure, walking,
+driving, and riding on horseback with my sisters. Madge and Kate were
+dearer to me than ever, as I saw the inevitable separation awaiting us
+in the near future. In due time they were married and commenced
+housekeeping--Madge in her husband's house near by, and Kate in Buffalo.
+All my sisters were peculiarly fortunate in their marriages; their
+husbands being men of fine presence, liberal education, high moral
+character, and marked ability. These were pleasant and profitable years.
+I devoted them to reading law, history, and political economy, with
+occasional interruptions to take part in some temperance or anti-slavery
+excitement.
+
+Eliza Murray and I had classes of colored children in the Sunday school.
+On one occasion, when there was to be a festival, speaking in the
+church, a procession through the streets, and other public performances
+for the Sunday-school celebration, some narrow-minded bigots objected to
+the colored children taking part. They approached Miss Murray and me
+with most persuasive tones on the wisdom of not allowing them to march
+in the procession to the church. We said, "Oh, no! It won't do to
+disappoint the children. They are all dressed, with their badges on, and
+looking forward with great pleasure to the festivities of the day.
+Besides, we would not cater to any of these contemptible prejudices
+against color." We were all assembled in the courthouse preparatory to
+forming in the line of march. Some were determined to drive the colored
+children home, but Miss Murray and I, like two defiant hens, kept our
+little brood close behind us, determined to conquer or perish in the
+struggle. At last milder counsels prevailed, and it was agreed that they
+might march in the rear. We made no objection and fell into line, but,
+when we reached the church door, it was promptly closed as the last
+white child went in. We tried two other doors, but all were guarded. We
+shed tears of vexation and pity for the poor children, and, when they
+asked us the reason why they could not go in, we were embarrassed and
+mortified with the explanation we were forced to give. However, I
+invited them to my father's house, where Miss Murray and I gave them
+refreshments and entertained them for the rest of the day.
+
+The puzzling questions of theology and poverty that had occupied so much
+of my thoughts, now gave place to the practical one, "what to do with a
+baby." Though motherhood is the most important of all the
+professions,--requiring more knowledge than any other department in
+human affairs,--yet there is not sufficient attention given to the
+preparation for this office. If we buy a plant of a horticulturist we
+ask him many questions as to its needs, whether it thrives best in
+sunshine or in shade, whether it needs much or little water, what
+degrees of heat or cold; but when we hold in our arms for the first
+time, a being of infinite possibilities, in whose wisdom may rest the
+destiny of a nation, we take it for granted that the laws governing its
+life, health, and happiness are intuitively understood, that there is
+nothing new to be learned in regard to it. Yet here is a science to
+which philosophers have, as yet, given but little attention. An
+important fact has only been discovered and acted upon within the last
+ten years, that children come into the world tired, and not hungry,
+exhausted with the perilous journey. Instead of being thoroughly bathed
+and dressed, and kept on the rack while the nurse makes a prolonged
+toilet and feeds it some nostrum supposed to have much needed medicinal
+influence, the child's face, eyes, and mouth should be hastily washed
+with warm water, and the rest of its body thoroughly oiled, and then it
+should be slipped into a soft pillow case, wrapped in a blanket, and
+laid to sleep. Ordinarily, in the proper conditions, with its face
+uncovered in a cool, pure atmosphere, it will sleep twelve hours. Then
+it should be bathed, fed, and clothed in a high-necked, long-sleeved
+silk shirt and a blanket, all of which could be done in five minutes. As
+babies lie still most of the time the first six weeks, they need no
+dressing. I think the nurse was a full hour bathing and dressing my
+firstborn, who protested with a melancholy wail every blessed minute.
+
+Ignorant myself of the initiative steps on the threshold of time, I
+supposed this proceeding was approved by the best authorities. However,
+I had been thinking, reading, observing, and had as little faith in the
+popular theories in regard to babies as on any other subject. I saw
+them, on all sides, ill half the time, pale and peevish, dying early,
+having no joy in life. I heard parents complaining of weary days and
+sleepless nights, while each child, in turn, ran the gauntlet of red
+gum, jaundice, whooping cough, chicken-pox, mumps, measles, scarlet
+fever, and fits. They all seemed to think these inflictions were a part
+of the eternal plan--that Providence had a kind of Pandora's box, from
+which he scattered these venerable diseases most liberally among those
+whom he especially loved. Having gone through the ordeal of bearing a
+child, I was determined, if possible, to keep him, so I read everything
+I could find on the subject. But the literature on this subject was as
+confusing and unsatisfactory as the longer and shorter catechisms and
+the Thirty-nine Articles of our faith. I had recently visited our dear
+friends, Theodore and Angelina Grimke-Weld, and they warned me against
+books on this subject. They had been so misled by one author, who
+assured them that the stomach of a child could only hold one
+tablespoonful, that they nearly starved their firstborn to death. Though
+the child dwindled, day by day, and, at the end of a month, looked like
+a little old man, yet they still stood by the distinguished author.
+Fortunately, they both went off, one day, and left the child with Sister
+"Sarah," who thought she would make an experiment and see what a child's
+stomach could hold, as she had grave doubts about the tablespoonful
+theory. To her surprise the baby took a pint bottle full of milk, and
+had the sweetest sleep thereon he had known in his earthly career. After
+that he was permitted to take what he wanted, and "the author" was
+informed of his libel on the infantile stomach.
+
+So here, again, I was entirely afloat, launched on the seas of doubt
+without chart or compass. The life and well-being of the race seemed to
+hang on the slender thread of such traditions as were handed down
+by-ignorant mothers and nurses. One powerful ray of light illuminated
+the darkness; it was the work of Andrew Combe on "Infancy." He had,
+evidently watched some of the manifestations of man in the first stages
+of his development, and could tell, at least, as much of babies as
+naturalists could of beetles and bees. He did give young mothers some
+hints of what to do, the whys and wherefores of certain lines of
+procedure during antenatal life, as well as the proper care thereafter.
+I read several chapters to the nurse. Although, out of her ten children,
+she had buried five, she still had too much confidence in her own wisdom
+and experience to pay much attention to any new idea that might be
+suggested to her. Among other things, Combe said that a child's bath
+should be regulated by the thermometer, in order to be always of the
+same temperature. She ridiculed the idea, and said her elbow was better
+than any thermometer, and, when I insisted on its use, she would
+invariably, with a smile of derision, put her elbow in first, to show
+how exactly it tallied with the thermometer. When I insisted that the
+child should not be bandaged, she rebelled outright, and said she would
+not take the responsibility of nursing a child without a bandage. I
+said, "Pray, sit down, dear nurse, and let us reason together. Do not
+think I am setting up my judgment against yours, with all your
+experience. I am simply trying to act on the opinions of a
+distinguished physician, who says there should be no pressure on a child
+anywhere; that the limbs and body should be free; that it is cruel to
+bandage an infant from hip to armpit, as is usually done in America; or
+both body and legs, as is done in Europe; or strap them to boards, as is
+done by savages on both continents. Can you give me one good reason,
+nurse, why a child should be bandaged?"
+
+"Yes," she said emphatically, "I can give you a dozen."
+
+"I only asked for one," I replied.
+
+"Well," said she, after much hesitation, "the bones of a newborn infant
+are soft, like cartilage, and, unless you pin them up snugly, there is
+danger of their falling apart."
+
+"It seems to me," I replied, "you have given the strongest reason why
+they should be carefully guarded against the slightest pressure. It is
+very remarkable that kittens and puppies should be so well put together
+that they need no artificial bracing, and the human family be left
+wholly to the mercy of a bandage. Suppose a child was born where you
+could not get a bandage, what then? Now I think this child will remain
+intact without a bandage, and, if I am willing to take the risk, why
+should you complain?"
+
+"Because," said she, "if the child should die, it would injure my name
+as a nurse. I therefore wash my hands of all these new-fangled notions."
+
+So she bandaged the child every morning, and I as regularly took it off.
+It has been fully proved since to be as useless an appendage as the
+vermiform. She had several cups with various concoctions of herbs
+standing on the chimney-corner, ready for insomnia, colic, indigestion,
+etc., etc., all of which were spirited away when she was at her dinner.
+In vain I told her we were homeopathists, and afraid of everything in
+the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms lower than the two-hundredth
+dilution. I tried to explain the Hahnemann system of therapeutics, the
+philosophy of the principle _similia similibus curantur_, but she had no
+capacity for first principles, and did not understand my discourse. I
+told her that, if she would wash the baby's mouth with pure cold water
+morning and night and give it a teaspoonful to drink occasionally during
+the day, there would be no danger of red gum; that if she would keep the
+blinds open and let in the air and sunshine, keep the temperature of the
+room at sixty-five degrees, leave the child's head uncovered so that it
+could breathe freely, stop rocking and trotting it and singing such
+melancholy hymns as "Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound!" the baby and
+I would both be able to weather the cape without a bandage. I told her I
+should nurse the child once in two hours, and that she must not feed it
+any of her nostrums in the meantime; that a child's stomach, being made
+on the same general plan as our own, needed intervals of rest as well as
+ours. She said it would be racked with colic if the stomach was empty
+any length of time, and that it would surely have rickets if it were
+kept too still. I told her if the child had no anodynes, nature would
+regulate its sleep and motions. She said she could not stay in a room
+with the thermometer at sixty-five degrees, so I told her to sit in the
+next room and regulate the heat to suit herself; that I would ring a
+bell when her services were needed.
+
+The reader will wonder, no doubt, that I kept such a cantankerous
+servant. I could get no other. Dear "Mother Monroe," as wise as she was
+good, and as tender as she was strong, who had nursed two generations of
+mothers in our village, was engaged at that time, and I was compelled to
+take an exotic. I had often watched "Mother Monroe" with admiration, as
+she turned and twisted my sister's baby. It lay as peacefully in her
+hands as if they were lined with eider down. She bathed and dressed it
+by easy stages, turning the child over and over like a pancake. But she
+was so full of the magnetism of human love, giving the child, all the
+time, the most consoling assurance that the operation was to be a short
+one, that the whole proceeding was quite entertaining to the observer
+and seemingly agreeable to the child, though it had a rather surprised
+look as it took a bird's-eye view, in quick succession, of the ceiling
+and the floor. Still my nurse had her good points. She was very pleasant
+when she had her own way. She was neat and tidy, and ready to serve me
+at any time, night or day. She did not wear false teeth that rattled
+when she talked, nor boots that squeaked when she walked. She did not
+snuff nor chew cloves, nor speak except when spoken to. Our discussions,
+on various points, went on at intervals, until I succeeded in planting
+some ideas in her mind, and when she left me, at the end of six weeks,
+she confessed that she had learned some valuable lessons. As the baby
+had slept quietly most of the time, had no crying spells, nor colic, and
+I looked well, she naturally came to the conclusion that pure air,
+sunshine, proper dressing, and regular feeding were more necessary for
+babies than herb teas and soothing syrups.
+
+Besides the obstinacy of the nurse, I had the ignorance of physicians
+to contend with. When the child was four days old we discovered that the
+collar bone was bent. The physician, wishing to get a pressure on the
+shoulder, braced the bandage round the wrist. "Leave that," he said,
+"ten days, and then it will be all right." Soon after he left I noticed
+that the child's hand was blue, showing that the circulation was
+impeded. "That will never do," said I; "nurse, take it off." "No,
+indeed," she answered, "I shall never interfere with the doctor." So I
+took it off myself, and sent for another doctor, who was said to know
+more of surgery. He expressed great surprise that the first physician
+called should have put on so severe a bandage. "That," said he, "would
+do for a grown man, but ten days of it on a child would make him a
+cripple." However, he did nearly the same thing, only fastening it round
+the hand instead of the wrist. I soon saw that the ends of the fingers
+were all purple, and that to leave that on ten days would be as
+dangerous as the first. So I took that off.
+
+"What a woman!" exclaimed the nurse. "What do you propose to do?"
+
+"Think out something better, myself; so brace me up with some pillows
+and give the baby to me."
+
+She looked at me aghast and said, "You'd better trust the doctors, or
+your child will be a helpless cripple."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "he would be, if we had left either of those bandages
+on, but I have an idea of something better."
+
+"Now," said I, talking partly to myself and partly to her, "what we want
+is a little pressure on that bone; that is what both those men aimed at.
+How can we get it without involving the arm, is the question?"
+
+"I am sure I don't know," said she, rubbing her hands and taking two or
+three brisk turns round the room.
+
+"Well, bring me three strips of linen, four double." I then folded one,
+wet in arnica and water, and laid it on the collar bone, put two other
+bands, like a pair of suspenders, over the shoulders, crossing them both
+in front and behind, pinning the ends to the diaper, which gave the
+needed pressure without impeding the circulation anywhere. As I finished
+she gave me a look of budding confidence, and seemed satisfied that all
+was well. Several times, night and day, we wet the compress and
+readjusted the bands, until all appearances of inflammation had
+subsided.
+
+At the end of ten days the two sons of Aesculapius appeared and made
+their examination and said all was right, whereupon I told them how
+badly their bandages worked and what I had done myself. They smiled at
+each other, and one said:
+
+"Well, after all, a mother's instinct is better than a man's reason."
+
+"Thank you, gentlemen, there was no instinct about it. I did some hard
+thinking before I saw how I could get a pressure on the shoulder without
+impeding the circulation, as you did."
+
+Thus, in the supreme moment of a young mother's life, when I needed
+tender care and support, I felt the whole responsibility of my child's
+supervision; but though uncertain at every step of my own knowledge, I
+learned another lesson in self-reliance. I trusted neither men nor books
+absolutely after this, either in regard to the heavens above or the
+earth beneath, but continued to use my "mother's instinct," if "reason"
+is too dignified a term to apply to woman's thoughts. My advice to every
+mother is, above all other arts and sciences, study first what relates
+to babyhood, as there is no department of human action in which there is
+such lamentable ignorance.
+
+At the end of six weeks my nurse departed, and I had a good woman in her
+place who obeyed my orders, and now a new difficulty arose from an
+unexpected quarter. My father and husband took it into their heads that
+the child slept too much. If not awake when they wished to look at him
+or to show him to their friends, they would pull him out of his crib on
+all occasions. When I found neither of them was amenable to reason on
+this point, I locked the door, and no amount of eloquent pleading ever
+gained them admittance during the time I considered sacred to the baby's
+slumbers. At six months having, as yet, had none of the diseases
+supposed to be inevitable, the boy weighed thirty pounds. Then the
+stately Peter came again into requisition, and in his strong arms the
+child spent many of his waking hours. Peter, with a long, elephantine
+gait, slowly wandered over the town, lingering especially in the busy
+marts of trade. Peter's curiosity had strengthened with years, and,
+wherever a crowd gathered round a monkey and hand organ, a vender's
+wagon, an auction stand, or the post office at mail time, there stood
+Peter, black as coal, with "the beautiful boy in white," the most
+conspicuous figure in the crowd. As I told Peter never to let children
+kiss the baby, for fear of some disease, he kept him well aloft,
+allowing no affectionate manifestations except toward himself.
+
+My reading, at this time, centered on hygiene. I came to the
+conclusion, after much thought and observation, that children never
+cried unless they were uncomfortable. A professor at Union College, who
+used to combat many of my theories, said he gave one of his children a
+sound spanking at six weeks, and it never disturbed him a night
+afterward. Another Solomon told me that a very weak preparation of opium
+would keep a child always quiet and take it through the dangerous period
+of teething without a ripple on the surface of domestic life. As
+children cannot tell what ails them, and suffer from many things of
+which parents are ignorant, the crying of the child should arouse them
+to an intelligent examination. To spank it for crying is to silence the
+watchman on the tower through fear, to give soothing syrup is to drug
+the watchman while the evils go on. Parents may thereby insure eight
+hours' sleep at the time, but at the risk of greater trouble in the
+future with sick and dying children. Tom Moore tells us "the heart from
+love to one, grows bountiful to all." I know the care of one child made
+me thoughtful of all. I never hear a child cry, now, that I do not feel
+that I am bound to find out the reason.
+
+In my extensive travels on lecturing tours, in after years, I had many
+varied experiences with babies. One day, in the cars, a child was crying
+near me, while the parents were alternately shaking and slapping it.
+First one would take it with an emphatic jerk, and then the other. At
+last I heard the father say in a spiteful tone, "If you don't stop I'll
+throw you out of the window." One naturally hesitates about interfering
+between parents and children, so I generally restrain myself as long as
+I can endure the torture of witnessing such outrages, but at length I
+turned and said:
+
+"Let me take your child and see if I can find out what ails it."
+
+"Nothing ails it," said the father, "but bad temper."
+
+The child readily came to me. I felt all around to see if its clothes
+pinched anywhere, or if there were any pins pricking. I took off its hat
+and cloak to see if there were any strings cutting its neck or choking
+it. Then I glanced at the feet, and lo! there was the trouble. The boots
+were at least one size too small. I took them off, and the stockings,
+too, and found the feet as cold as ice and the prints of the stockings
+clearly traced on the tender flesh. We all know the agony of tight
+boots. I rubbed the feet and held them in my hands until they were warm,
+when the poor little thing fell asleep. I said to the parents, "You are
+young people, I see, and this is probably your first child." They said,
+"Yes." "You don't intend to be cruel, I know, but if you had thrown
+those boots out of the window, when you threatened to throw the child,
+it would have been wiser. This poor child has suffered ever since it was
+dressed this morning." I showed them the marks on the feet, and called
+their attention to the fact that the child fell asleep as soon as its
+pain was relieved. The mother said she knew the boots were tight, as it
+was with difficulty she could get them on, but the old ones were too
+shabby for the journey and they had no time to change the others.
+
+"Well," said the husband, "if I had known those boots were tight, I
+would have thrown them out of the window."
+
+"Now," said I, "let me give you one rule: when your child cries,
+remember it is telling you, as well as it can, that something hurts it,
+either outside or in, and do not rest until you find what it is.
+Neither spanking, shaking, or scolding can relieve pain."
+
+I have seen women enter the cars with their babies' faces completely
+covered with a blanket shawl. I have often thought I would like to cover
+their faces for an hour and see how they would bear it. In such
+circumstances, in order to get the blanket open, I have asked to see the
+baby, and generally found it as red as a beet. Ignorant nurses and
+mothers have discovered that children sleep longer with their heads
+covered. They don't know why, nor the injurious effect of breathing over
+and over the same air that has been thrown off the lungs polluted with
+carbonic acid gas. This stupefies the child and prolongs the unhealthy
+slumber.
+
+One hot day, in the month of May, I entered a crowded car at Cedar
+Rapids, Ia., and took the only empty seat beside a gentleman who seemed
+very nervous about a crying child. I was scarcely seated when he said:
+
+"Mother, do you know anything about babies?"
+
+"Oh, yes!" I said, smiling, "that is a department of knowledge on which
+I especially pride myself."
+
+"Well," said he, "there is a child that has cried most of the time for
+the last twenty-four hours. What do you think ails it?"
+
+Making a random supposition, I replied, "It probably needs a bath."
+
+He promptly rejoined, "If you will give it one, I will provide the
+necessary means."
+
+I said, "I will first see if the child will come to me and if the mother
+is willing."
+
+I found the mother only too glad to have a few minutes' rest, and the
+child too tired to care who took it. She gave me a suit of clean
+clothes throughout, the gentleman spread his blanket shawl on the seat,
+securing the opposite one for me and the bathing appliances. Then he
+produced a towel, sponge, and an india-rubber bowl full of water, and I
+gave the child a generous drink and a thorough ablution. It stretched
+and seemed to enjoy every step of the proceeding, and, while I was
+brushing its golden curls as gently as I could, it fell asleep; so I
+covered it with the towel and blanket shawl, not willing to disturb it
+for dressing. The poor mother, too, was sound asleep, and the gentleman
+very happy. He had children of his own and, like me, felt great pity for
+the poor, helpless little victim of ignorance and folly. I engaged one
+of the ladies to dress it when it awoke, as I was soon to leave the
+train. It slept the two hours I remained--how much longer I never heard.
+
+A young man, who had witnessed the proceeding, got off at the same
+station and accosted me, saying:
+
+"I should be very thankful if you would come and see my baby. It is only
+one month old and cries all the time, and my wife, who is only sixteen
+years old, is worn out with it and neither of us know what to do, so we
+all cry together, and the doctor says he does not see what ails it."
+
+So I went on my mission of mercy and found the child bandaged as tight
+as a drum. When I took out the pins and unrolled it, it fairly popped
+like the cork out of a champagne bottle. I rubbed its breast and its
+back and soon soothed it to sleep. I remained a long time, telling them
+how to take care of the child and the mother, too. I told them
+everything I could think of in regard to clothes, diet, and pure air. I
+asked the mother why she bandaged her child as she did. She said her
+nurse told her that there was danger of hernia unless the abdomen was
+well bandaged. I told her that the only object of a bandage was to
+protect the navel, for a few days, until it was healed, and for that
+purpose all that was necessary was a piece of linen four inches square,
+well oiled, folded four times double, with a hole in the center, laid
+over it. I remembered, next day, that I forgot to tell them to give the
+child water, and so I telegraphed them, "Give the baby water six times a
+day." I heard of that baby afterward. It lived and flourished, and the
+parents knew how to administer to the wants of the next one. The father
+was a telegraph operator and had many friends--knights of the
+key--throughout Iowa. For many years afterward, in leisure moments,
+these knights would "call up" this parent and say, over the wire, "Give
+the baby water six times a day." Thus did they "repeat the story, and
+spread the truth from pole to pole."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+BOSTON AND CHELSEA.
+
+
+In the autumn of 1843 my husband was admitted to the bar and commenced
+the practice of law in Boston with Mr. Bowles, brother-in-law of the
+late General John A. Dix. This gave me the opportunity to make many
+pleasant acquaintances among the lawyers in Boston, and to meet,
+intimately, many of the noble men and women among reformers, whom I had
+long worshiped at a distance. Here, for the first time, I met Lydia
+Maria Child, Abby Kelly, Paulina Wright, Elizabeth Peabody, Maria
+Chapman and her beautiful sisters, the Misses Weston, Oliver and
+Marianna Johnson, Joseph and Thankful Southwick and their three bright
+daughters. The home of the Southwicks was always a harbor of rest for
+the weary, where the anti-slavery hosts were wont to congregate, and
+where one was always sure to meet someone worth knowing. Their
+hospitality was generous to an extreme, and so boundless that they were,
+at last, fairly eaten out of house and home. Here, too, for the first
+time, I met Theodore Parker, John Pierpont, John G. Whittier, Emerson,
+Alcott, Lowell, Hawthorne, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel E. Sewall, Sidney Howard
+Gay, Pillsbury, Foster, Frederick Douglass, and last though not least,
+those noble men, Charles Hovey and Francis Jackson, the only men who
+ever left any money to the cause of woman suffrage. I also met Miss
+Jackson, afterward Mrs. Eddy, who left half her fortune, fifty thousand
+dollars, for the same purpose.
+
+I was a frequent visitor at the home of William Lloyd Garrison. Though
+he had a prolonged battle to fight in the rough outside world, his home
+was always a haven of rest. Mrs. Garrison was a sweet-tempered,
+conscientious woman, who tried, under all circumstances, to do what was
+right. She had sound judgment and rare common sense, was tall and
+fine-looking, with luxuriant brown hair, large tender blue eyes,
+delicate features, and affable manners. They had an exceptionally fine
+family of five sons and one daughter. Fanny, now the wife of Henry
+Villard, the financier, was the favorite and pet. All the children, in
+their maturer years, have fulfilled the promises of their childhood.
+Though always in straitened circumstances, the Garrisons were very
+hospitable. It was next to impossible for Mr. Garrison to meet a friend
+without inviting him to his house, especially at the close of a
+convention.
+
+I was one of twelve at one of his impromptu tea parties. We all took it
+for granted that his wife knew we were coming, and that her preparations
+were already made. Surrounded by half a dozen children, she was
+performing the last act in the opera of Lullaby, wholly unconscious of
+the invasion downstairs. But Mr. Garrison was equal to every emergency,
+and, after placing his guests at their ease in the parlor, he hastened
+to the nursery, took off his coat, and rocked the baby until his wife
+had disposed of the remaining children. Then they had a consultation
+about the tea, and when, basket in hand, the good man sallied forth for
+the desired viands, Mrs. Garrison, having made a hasty toilet, came
+down to welcome her guests. She was as genial and self-possessed as if
+all things had been prepared. She made no apologies for what was lacking
+in the general appearance of the house nor in the variety of the
+_menu_--it was sufficient for her to know that Mr. Garrison was happy in
+feeling free to invite his friends. The impromptu meal was excellent,
+and we had a most enjoyable evening. I have no doubt that Mrs. Garrison
+had more real pleasure than if she had been busy all day making
+preparations and had been tired out when her guests arrived.
+
+The anti-slavery conventions and fairs, held every year during the
+holidays, brought many charming people from other States, and made
+Boston a social center for the coadjutors of Garrison and Phillips.
+These conventions surpassed any meetings I had ever attended; the
+speeches were eloquent and the debates earnest and forcible. Garrison
+and Phillips were in their prime, and slavery was a question of national
+interest. The hall in which the fairs were held, under the auspices of
+Mrs. Chapman and her cohorts, was most artistically decorated. There one
+could purchase whatever the fancy could desire, for English friends,
+stimulated by the appeals of Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Pease, used
+to send boxes of beautiful things, gathered from all parts of the
+Eastern Continent. There, too, one could get a most _recherche_ luncheon
+in the society of the literati of Boston; for, however indifferent many
+were to slavery _per se_, they enjoyed these fairs, and all classes
+flocked there till far into the night. It was a kind of ladies' exchange
+for the holiday week, where each one was sure to meet her friends. The
+fair and the annual convention, coming in succession, intensified the
+interest in both. I never grew weary of the conventions, though I
+attended all the sessions, lasting, sometimes, until eleven o'clock at
+night. The fiery eloquence of the abolitionists, the amusing episodes
+that occurred when some crank was suppressed and borne out on the
+shoulders of his brethren, gave sufficient variety to the proceedings to
+keep the interest up to high-water mark.
+
+There was one old man dressed in white, carrying a scythe, who imagined
+himself the personification of "Time," though called "Father Lampson."
+Occasionally he would bubble over with some prophetic vision, and, as he
+could not be silenced, he was carried out. He usually made himself as
+limp as possible, which added to the difficulty of his exit and the
+amusement of the audience. A ripple of merriment would unsettle, for a
+moment, even the dignity of the platform when Abigail Folsom, another
+crank, would shout from the gallery, "Stop not, my brother, on the order
+of your going, but go." The abolitionists were making the experiment, at
+this time, of a free platform, allowing everyone to speak as moved by
+the spirit, but they soon found that would not do, as those evidently
+moved by the spirit of mischief were quite as apt to air their vagaries
+as those moved by the spirit of truth.
+
+However, the Garrisonian platform always maintained a certain degree of
+freedom outside its regular programme, and, although this involved extra
+duty in suppressing cranks, yet the meeting gained enthusiasm by some
+good spontaneous speaking on the floor as well as on the platform. A
+number of immense mass meetings were held in Faneuil Hall, a large,
+dreary place, with its bare walls and innumerable dingy windows. The
+only attempt at an ornament was the American eagle, with its wings
+spread and claws firmly set, in the middle of the gallery. The gilt was
+worn off its beak, giving it the appearance, as Edmund Quincy said, of
+having a bad cold in the head.
+
+This old hall was sacred to so many memories connected with the early
+days of the Revolution that it was a kind of Mecca for the lovers of
+liberty visiting Boston. The anti-slavery meetings held there were often
+disturbed by mobs that would hold the most gifted orator at bay hour
+after hour, and would listen only to the songs of the Hutchinson family.
+Although these songs were a condensed extract of the whole anti-slavery
+constitution and by-laws, yet the mob was as peaceful under these paeans
+to liberty as a child under the influence of an anodyne. What a welcome
+and beautiful vision that was when the four brothers, in blue broadcloth
+and white collars, turned down _a la_ Byron, and little sister Abby in
+silk, soft lace, and blue ribbon, appeared on the platform to sing their
+quaint ballads of freedom! Fresh from the hills of New Hampshire, they
+looked so sturdy, so vigorous, so pure, so true that they seemed fitting
+representatives of all the cardinal virtues, and even a howling mob
+could not resist their influence. Perhaps, after one of their ballads,
+the mob would listen five minutes to Wendell Phillips or Garrison until
+he gave them some home thrusts, when all was uproar again. The Northern
+merchants who made their fortunes out of Southern cotton, the
+politicians who wanted votes, and the ministers who wanted to keep peace
+in the churches, were all as much opposed to the anti-slavery agitation
+as were the slaveholders themselves. These were the classes the mob
+represented, though seemingly composed of gamblers, liquor dealers, and
+demagogues. For years the anti-slavery struggle at the North was carried
+on against statecraft, priestcraft, the cupidity of the moneyed classes,
+and the ignorance of the masses, but, in spite of all these forces of
+evil, it triumphed at last.
+
+I was in Boston at the time that Lane and Wright, some metaphysical
+Englishmen, and our own Alcott held their famous philosophical
+conversations, in which Elizabeth Peabody took part. I went to them
+regularly. I was ambitious to absorb all the wisdom I could, but,
+really, I could not give an intelligent report of the points under
+discussion at any sitting. Oliver Johnson asked me, one day, if I
+enjoyed them. I thought, from a twinkle in his eye, that he thought I
+did not, so I told him I was ashamed to confess that I did not know what
+they were talking about. He said, "Neither do I,--very few of their
+hearers do,--so you need not be surprised that they are incomprehensible
+to you, nor think less of your own capacity."
+
+I was indebted to Mr. Johnson for several of the greatest pleasures I
+enjoyed in Boston. He escorted me to an entire course of Theodore
+Parker's lectures, given in Marlborough Chapel. This was soon after the
+great preacher had given his famous sermon on "The Permanent and
+Transient in Religion," when he was ostracised, even by the Unitarians,
+for his radical utterances, and not permitted to preach in any of their
+pulpits. His lectures were deemed still more heterodox than that sermon.
+He shocked the orthodox churches of that day--more, even, than Ingersoll
+has in our times.
+
+The lectures, however, were so soul-satisfying to me that I was
+surprised at the bitter criticisms I heard expressed. Though they were
+two hours long, I never grew weary, and, when the course ended, I said
+to Mr. Johnson:
+
+"I wish I could hear them over again."
+
+"Well, you can," said he, "Mr. Parker is to repeat them in
+Cambridgeport, beginning next week." Accordingly we went there and heard
+them again with equal satisfaction.
+
+During the winter in Boston I attended all the lectures, churches,
+theaters, concerts, and temperance, peace, and prison-reform conventions
+within my reach. I had never lived in such an enthusiastically literary
+and reform latitude before, and my mental powers were kept at the
+highest tension. We went to Chelsea, for the summer, and boarded with
+the Baptist minister, the Rev. John Wesley Olmstead, afterward editor of
+_The Watchman and Reflector_. He had married my cousin, Mary Livingston,
+one of the most lovely, unselfish characters I ever knew. There I had
+the opportunity of meeting several of the leading Baptist ministers in
+New England, and, as I was thoroughly imbued with Parker's ideas, we had
+many heated discussions on theology. There, too, I met Orestes Bronson,
+a remarkably well-read man, who had gone through every phase of
+religious experience from blank atheism to the bosom of the Catholic
+Church, where I believe he found repose at the end of his days. He was
+so arbitrary and dogmatic that most people did not like him; but I
+appreciated his acquaintance, as he was a liberal thinker and had a
+world of information which he readily imparted to those of a teachable
+spirit. As I was then in a hungering, thirsting condition for truth on
+every subject, the friendship of such a man was, to me, an inestimable
+blessing. Reading Theodore Parker's lectures, years afterward, I was
+surprised to find how little there was in them to shock anybody--the
+majority of thinking people having grown up to them.
+
+While living in Chelsea two years, I used to walk (there being no public
+conveyances running on Sunday) from the ferry to Marlborough Chapel to
+hear Mr. Parker preach. It was a long walk, over two miles, and I was so
+tired, on reaching the chapel, that I made it a point to sleep through
+all the preliminary service, so as to be fresh for the sermon, as the
+friend next whom I sat always wakened me in time. One Sunday, when my
+friend was absent, it being a very warm day and I unusually fatigued, I
+slept until the sexton informed me that he was about to close the doors!
+In an unwary moment I imparted this fact to my Baptist friends. They
+made all manner of fun ever afterward of the soothing nature of Mr.
+Parker's theology, and my long walk, every Sunday, to repose in the
+shadow of a heterodox altar. Still, the loss of the sermon was the only
+vexatious part of it, and I had the benefit of the walk and the
+refreshing slumber, to the music of Mr. Parker's melodious voice and the
+deep-toned organ.
+
+Mrs. Oliver Johnson and I spent two days at the Brook Farm Community
+when in the height of its prosperity. There I met the Ripleys,--who
+were, I believe, the backbone of the experiment,--William Henry
+Channing, Bronson Alcott, Charles A. Dana, Frederick Cabot, William
+Chase, Mrs. Horace Greeley, who was spending a few days there, and many
+others, whose names I cannot recall. Here was a charming family of
+intelligent men and women, doing their own farm and house work, with
+lectures, readings, music, dancing, and games when desired; realizing,
+in a measure, Edward Bellamy's beautiful vision of the equal conditions
+of the human family in the year 2000. The story of the beginning and end
+of this experiment of community life has been told so often that I will
+simply say that its failure was a grave disappointment to those most
+deeply interested in its success. Mr. Channing told me, years after,
+when he was pastor of the Unitarian church in Rochester, as we were
+wandering through Mount Hope one day, that, when the Roxbury community
+was dissolved and he was obliged to return to the old life of
+competition, he would gladly have been laid under the sod, as the
+isolated home seemed so solitary, silent, and selfish that the whole
+atmosphere was oppressive.
+
+In 1843 my father moved to Albany, to establish my brothers-in-law, Mr.
+Wilkeson and Mr. McMartin, in the legal profession. That made Albany the
+family rallying point for a few years. This enabled me to spend several
+winters at the Capital and to take an active part in the discussion of
+the Married Woman's Property Bill, then pending in the legislature.
+William H. Seward, Governor of the State from 1839 to 1843, recommended
+the Bill, and his wife, a woman of rare intelligence, advocated it in
+society. Together we had the opportunity of talking with many members,
+both of the Senate and the Assembly, in social circles, as well as in
+their committee rooms. Bills were pending from 1836 until 1848, when the
+measure finally passed.
+
+My second son was born in Albany, in March, 1844, under more favorable
+auspices than the first, as I knew, then, what to do with a baby.
+Returning to Chelsea we commenced housekeeping, which afforded me
+another chapter of experience. A new house, newly furnished, with
+beautiful views of Boston Bay, was all I could desire. Mr. Stanton
+announced to me, in starting, that his business would occupy all his
+time, and that I must take entire charge of the housekeeping. So, with
+two good servants and two babies under my sole supervision, my time was
+pleasantly occupied.
+
+When first installed as mistress over an establishment, one has that
+same feeling of pride and satisfaction that a young minister must have
+in taking charge of his first congregation. It is a proud moment in a
+woman's life to reign supreme within four walls, to be the one to whom
+all questions of domestic pleasure and economy are referred, and to hold
+in her hand that little family book in which the daily expenses, the
+outgoings and incomings, are duly registered. I studied up everything
+pertaining to housekeeping, and enjoyed it all. Even washing day--that
+day so many people dread--had its charms for me. The clean clothes on
+the lines and on the grass looked so white, and smelled so sweet, that
+it was to me a pretty sight to contemplate. I inspired my laundress with
+an ambition to have her clothes look white and to get them out earlier
+than our neighbors, and to have them ironed and put away sooner.
+
+As Mr. Stanton did not come home to dinner, we made a picnic of our noon
+meal on Mondays, and all thoughts and energies were turned to speed the
+washing. No unnecessary sweeping or dusting, no visiting nor
+entertaining angels unawares on that day--it was held sacred to soap
+suds, blue-bags, and clotheslines. The children, only, had no deviation
+in the regularity of their lives. They had their drives and walks,
+their naps and rations, in quantity and time, as usual. I had all the
+most approved cook books, and spent half my time preserving, pickling,
+and experimenting in new dishes. I felt the same ambition to excel in
+all departments of the culinary art that I did at school in the
+different branches of learning. My love of order and cleanliness was
+carried throughout, from parlor to kitchen, from the front door to the
+back. I gave a man an extra shilling to pile the logs of firewood with
+their smooth ends outward, though I did not have them scoured white, as
+did our Dutch grandmothers. I tried, too, to give an artistic touch to
+everything--the dress of my children and servants included. My dining
+table was round, always covered with a clean cloth of a pretty pattern
+and a centerpiece of flowers in their season, pretty dishes, clean
+silver, and set with neatness and care. I put my soul into everything,
+and hence enjoyed it. I never could understand how housekeepers could
+rest with rubbish all round their back doors; eggshells, broken dishes,
+tin cans, and old shoes scattered round their premises; servants ragged
+and dirty, with their hair in papers, and with the kitchen and dining
+room full of flies. I have known even artists to be indifferent to their
+personal appearance and their surroundings. Surely a mother and child,
+tastefully dressed, and a pretty home for a framework, is, as a picture,
+even more attractive than a domestic scene hung on the wall. The love of
+the beautiful can be illustrated as well in life as on canvas. There is
+such a struggle among women to become artists that I really wish some of
+their gifts could be illustrated in clean, orderly, beautiful homes.
+
+Our house was pleasantly situated on the Chelsea Hills, commanding a
+fine view of Boston, the harbor, and surrounding country. There, on the
+upper piazza, I spent some of the happiest days of my life, enjoying, in
+turn, the beautiful outlook, my children, and my books. Here, under the
+very shadow of Bunker Hill Monument, my third son was born. Shortly
+after this Gerrit Smith and his wife came to spend a few days with us,
+so this boy, much against my will, was named after my cousin. I did not
+believe in old family names unless they were peculiarly euphonious. I
+had a list of beautiful names for sons and daughters, from which to
+designate each newcomer; but, as yet, not one on my list had been used.
+However, I put my foot down, at No. 4, and named him Theodore, and, thus
+far, he has proved himself a veritable "gift of God," doing his
+uttermost, in every way possible, to fight the battle of freedom for
+woman.
+
+During the visit of my cousin I thought I would venture on a small,
+select dinner party, consisting of the Rev. John Pierpont and his wife,
+Charles Sumner, John G. Whittier, and Joshua Leavitt. I had a new cook,
+Rose, whose viands, thus far, had proved delicious, so I had no anxiety
+on that score. But, unfortunately, on this occasion I had given her a
+bottle of wine for the pudding sauce and whipped cream, of which she
+imbibed too freely, and hence there were some glaring blunders in the
+_menu_ that were exceedingly mortifying. As Mr. Smith and my husband
+were both good talkers, I told them they must cover all defects with
+their brilliant conversation, which they promised to do.
+
+Rose had all the points of a good servant, phrenologically and
+physiologically. She had a large head, with great bumps of caution and
+order, her eyes were large and soft and far apart. In selecting her,
+scientifically, I had told my husband, in triumph, several times what a
+treasure I had found. Shortly after dinner, one evening when I was out,
+she held the baby while the nurse was eating her supper, and carelessly
+burned his foot against the stove. Then Mr. Stanton suggested that, in
+selecting the next cook, I would better not trust to science, but
+inquire of the family where she lived as to her practical virtues. Poor
+Rose! she wept over her lapses when sober, and made fair promises for
+the future, but I did not dare to trust her, so we parted. The one
+drawback to the joys of housekeeping was then, as it is now, the lack of
+faithful, competent servants. The hope of co-operative housekeeping, in
+the near future, gives us some promise of a more harmonious domestic
+life.
+
+One of the books in my library I value most highly is the first volume
+of Whittier's poems, published in 1838, "Dedicated to Henry B. Stanton,
+as a token of the author's personal friendship, and of his respect for
+the unreserved devotion of exalted talents to the cause of humanity and
+freedom." Soon after our marriage we spent a few days with our gifted
+Quaker poet, on his farm in Massachusetts.
+
+I shall never forget those happy days in June; the long walks and
+drives, and talks under the old trees of anti-slavery experiences, and
+Whittier's mirth and indignation as we described different scenes in the
+World's Anti-slavery Convention in London. He laughed immoderately at
+the Tom Campbell episode. Poor fellow! he had taken too much wine that
+day, and when Whittier's verses, addressed to the convention, were
+read, he criticised them severely, and wound up by saying that the soul
+of a poet was not in him. Mr. Stanton sprang to his feet and recited
+some of Whittier's stirring stanzas on freedom, which electrified the
+audience, and, turning to Campbell, he said: "What do you say to that?"
+"Ah! that's real poetry," he replied. "And John Greenleaf Whittier is
+its author," said Mr. Stanton.
+
+I enjoyed, too, the morning and evening service, when the revered mother
+read the Scriptures and we all bowed our heads in silent worship. There
+was, at times, an atmosphere of solemnity pervading everything, that was
+oppressive in the midst of so much that appealed to my higher nature.
+There was a shade of sadness in even the smile of the mother and sister,
+and a rigid plainness in the house and its surroundings, a depressed
+look in Whittier himself that the songs of the birds, the sunshine, and
+the bracing New England air seemed powerless to chase away, caused, as I
+afterward heard, by pecuniary embarrassment, and fears in regard to the
+delicate health of the sister. She, too, had rare poetical talent, and
+in her Whittier found not only a helpful companion in the practical
+affairs of life, but one who sympathized with him in the highest flights
+of which his muse was capable. Their worst fears were realized in the
+death of the sister not long after. In his last volume several of her
+poems were published, which are quite worthy the place the brother's
+appreciation has given them. Whittier's love and reverence for his
+mother and sister, so marked in every word and look, were charming
+features of his home life. All his poems to our sex breathe the same
+tender, worshipful sentiments.
+
+Soon after this visit at Amesbury, our noble friend spent a few days
+with us in Chelsea, near Boston. One evening, after we had been talking
+a long time of the unhappy dissensions among anti-slavery friends, by
+way of dissipating the shadows I opened the piano, and proposed that we
+should sing some cheerful songs. "Oh, no!" exclaimed Mr. Stanton, "do
+not touch a note; you will put every nerve of Whittier's body on edge."
+It seemed, to me, so natural for a poet to love music that I was
+surprised to know that it was a torture to him.
+
+From our upper piazza we had a fine view of Boston harbor. Sitting there
+late one moonlight night, admiring the outlines of Bunker Hill Monument
+and the weird effect of the sails and masts of the vessels lying in the
+harbor, we naturally passed from the romance of our surroundings to
+those of our lives. I have often noticed that the most reserved people
+are apt to grow confidential at such an hour. It was under such
+circumstances that the good poet opened to me a deeply interesting page
+of his life, a sad romance of love and disappointment, that may not yet
+be told, as some who were interested in the events are still among the
+living.
+
+Whittier's poems were not only one of the most important factors in the
+anti-slavery war and victory, but they have been equally potent in
+emancipating the minds of his generation from the gloomy superstitions
+of the puritanical religion. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his eulogy of
+Whittier, says that his influence on the religious thought of the
+American people has been far greater than that of the occupant of any
+pulpit.
+
+As my husband's health was delicate, and the New England winters proved
+too severe for him, we left Boston, with many regrets, and sought a more
+genial climate in Central New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION.
+
+
+In the spring of 1847 we moved to Seneca Falls. Here we spent sixteen
+years of our married life, and here our other children--two sons and two
+daughters--were born.
+
+Just as we were ready to leave Boston, Mr. and Mrs. Eaton and their two
+children arrived from Europe, and we decided to go together to
+Johnstown, Mr. Eaton being obliged to hurry to New York on business, and
+Mr. Stanton to remain still in Boston a few months. At the last moment
+my nurse decided she could not leave her friends and go so far away.
+Accordingly my sister and I started, by rail, with five children and
+seventeen trunks, for Albany, where we rested over night and part of the
+next day. We had a very fatiguing journey, looking after so many trunks
+and children, for my sister's children persisted in standing on the
+platform at every opportunity, and the younger ones would follow their
+example. This kept us constantly on the watch. We were thankful when
+safely landed once more in the old homestead in Johnstown, where we
+arrived at midnight. As our beloved parents had received no warning of
+our coming, the whole household was aroused to dispose of us. But now in
+safe harbor, 'mid familiar scenes and pleasant memories, our slumbers
+were indeed refreshing. How rapidly one throws off all care and anxiety
+under the parental roof, and how at sea one feels, no matter what the
+age may be, when the loved ones are gone forever and the home of
+childhood is but a dream of the past.
+
+After a few days of rest I started, alone, for my new home, quite happy
+with the responsibility of repairing a house and putting all things in
+order. I was already acquainted with many of the people and the
+surroundings in Seneca Falls, as my sister, Mrs. Bayard, had lived there
+several years, and I had frequently made her long visits. We had quite a
+magnetic circle of reformers, too, in central New York. At Rochester
+were William Henry Channing, Frederick Douglass, the Anthonys, Posts,
+Hallowells, Stebbins,--some grand old Quaker families at
+Farmington,--the Sedgwicks, Mays, Mills, and Matilda Joslyn Gage at
+Syracuse; Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, and Beriah Green at Whitesboro.
+
+The house we were to occupy had been closed for some years and needed
+many repairs, and the grounds, comprising five acres, were overgrown
+with weeds. My father gave me a check and said, with a smile, "You
+believe in woman's capacity to do and dare; now go ahead and put your
+place in order." After a minute survey of the premises and due
+consultation with one or two sons of Adam, I set the carpenters,
+painters, paper-hangers, and gardeners at work, built a new kitchen and
+woodhouse, and in one month took possession. Having left my children
+with my mother, there were no impediments to a full display of my
+executive ability. In the purchase of brick, timber, paint, etc., and in
+making bargains with workmen, I was in frequent consultation with Judge
+Sackett and Mr. Bascom. The latter was a member of the Constitutional
+Convention, then in session in Albany, and as he used to walk down
+whenever he was at home, to see how my work progressed, we had long
+talks, sitting on boxes in the midst of tools and shavings, on the
+status of women. I urged him to propose an amendment to Article II,
+Section 3, of the State Constitution, striking out the word "male,"
+which limits the suffrage to men. But, while he fully agreed with all I
+had to say on the political equality of women, he had not the courage to
+make himself the laughing-stock of the convention. Whenever I cornered
+him on this point, manlike he turned the conversation to the painters
+and carpenters. However, these conversations had the effect of bringing
+him into the first woman's convention, where he did us good service.
+
+In Seneca Falls my life was comparatively solitary, and the change from
+Boston was somewhat depressing. There, all my immediate friends were
+reformers, I had near neighbors, a new home with all the modern
+conveniences, and well-trained servants. Here our residence was on the
+outskirts of the town, roads very often muddy and no sidewalks most of
+the way, Mr. Stanton was frequently from home, I had poor servants, and
+an increasing number of children. To keep a house and grounds in good
+order, purchase every article for daily use, keep the wardrobes of half
+a dozen human beings in proper trim, take the children to dentists,
+shoemakers, and different schools, or find teachers at home, altogether
+made sufficient work to keep one brain busy, as well as all the hands I
+could impress into the service. Then, too, the novelty of housekeeping
+had passed away, and much that was once attractive in domestic life was
+now irksome. I had so many cares that the company I needed for
+intellectual stimulus was a trial rather than a pleasure.
+
+There was quite an Irish settlement at a short distance, and continual
+complaints were coming to me that my boys threw stones at their pigs,
+cows, and the roofs of their houses. This involved constant diplomatic
+relations in the settlement of various difficulties, in which I was so
+successful that, at length, they constituted me a kind of umpire in all
+their own quarrels. If a drunken husband was pounding his wife, the
+children would run for me. Hastening to the scene of action, I would
+take Patrick by the collar, and, much to his surprise and shame, make
+him sit down and promise to behave himself. I never had one of them
+offer the least resistance, and in time they all came to regard me as
+one having authority. I strengthened my influence by cultivating good
+feeling. I lent the men papers to read, and invited their children into
+our grounds; giving them fruit, of which we had abundance, and my
+children's old clothes, books, and toys. I was their physician,
+also--with my box of homeopathic medicines I took charge of the men,
+women, and children in sickness. Thus the most amicable relations were
+established, and, in any emergency, these poor neighbors were good
+friends and always ready to serve me.
+
+But I found police duty rather irksome, especially when called out dark
+nights to prevent drunken fathers from disturbing their sleeping
+children, or to minister to poor mothers in the pangs of maternity.
+Alas! alas! who can measure the mountains of sorrow and suffering
+endured in unwelcome motherhood in the abodes of ignorance, poverty,
+and vice, where terror-stricken women and children are the victims of
+strong men frenzied with passion and intoxicating drink?
+
+Up to this time life had glided by with comparative ease, but now the
+real struggle was upon me. My duties were too numerous and varied, and
+none sufficiently exhilarating or intellectual to bring into play my
+higher faculties. I suffered with mental hunger, which, like an empty
+stomach, is very depressing. I had books, but no stimulating
+companionship. To add to my general dissatisfaction at the change from
+Boston, I found that Seneca Falls was a malarial region, and in due time
+all the children were attacked with chills and fever which, under
+homeopathic treatment in those days, lasted three months. The servants
+were afflicted in the same way. Cleanliness, order, the love of the
+beautiful and artistic, all faded away in the struggle to accomplish
+what was absolutely necessary from hour to hour. Now I understood, as I
+never had before, how women could sit down and rest in the midst of
+general disorder. Housekeeping, under such conditions, was impossible,
+so I packed our clothes, locked up the house, and went to that harbor of
+safety, home, as I did ever after in stress of weather.
+
+I now fully understood the practical difficulties most women had to
+contend with in the isolated household, and the impossibility of woman's
+best development if in contact, the chief part of her life, with
+servants and children. Fourier's phalansterie community life and
+co-operative households had a new significance for me. Emerson says, "A
+healthy discontent is the first step to progress." The general
+discontent I felt with woman's portion as wife, mother, housekeeper,
+physician, and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into which
+everything fell without her constant supervision, and the wearied,
+anxious look of the majority of women impressed me with a strong feeling
+that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of
+society in general, and of women in particular. My experience at the
+World's Anti-slavery Convention, all I had read of the legal status of
+women, and the oppression I saw everywhere, together swept across my
+soul, intensified now by many personal experiences. It seemed as if all
+the elements had conspired to impel me to some onward step. I could not
+see what to do or where to begin--my only thought was a public meeting
+for protest and discussion.
+
+In this tempest-tossed condition of mind I received an invitation to
+spend the day with Lucretia Mott, at Richard Hunt's, in Waterloo. There
+I met several members of different families of Friends, earnest,
+thoughtful women. I poured out, that day, the torrent of my
+long-accumulating discontent, with such vehemence and indignation that I
+stirred myself, as well as the rest of the party, to do and dare
+anything. My discontent, according to Emerson, must have been healthy,
+for it moved us all to prompt action, and we decided, then and there, to
+call a "Woman's Rights Convention." We wrote the call that evening and
+published it in the _Seneca County Courier_ the next day, the 14th of
+July, 1848, giving only five days' notice, as the convention was to be
+held on the 19th and 20th. The call was inserted without signatures,--in
+fact it was a mere announcement of a meeting,--but the chief movers and
+managers were Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann McClintock, Jane Hunt, Martha C.
+Wright, and myself. The convention, which was held two days in the
+Methodist Church, was in every way a grand success. The house was
+crowded at every session, the speaking good, and a religious earnestness
+dignified all the proceedings.
+
+These were the hasty initiative steps of "the most momentous reform that
+had yet been launched on the world--the first organized protest against
+the injustice which had brooded for ages over the character and destiny
+of one-half the race." No words could express our astonishment on
+finding, a few days afterward, that what seemed to us so timely, so
+rational, and so sacred, should be a subject for sarcasm and ridicule to
+the entire press of the nation. With our Declaration of Rights and
+Resolutions for a text, it seemed as if every man who could wield a pen
+prepared a homily on "woman's sphere." All the journals from Maine to
+Texas seemed to strive with each other to see which could make our
+movement appear the most ridiculous. The anti-slavery papers stood by us
+manfully and so did Frederick Douglass, both in the convention and in
+his paper, _The North Star_, but so pronounced was the popular voice
+against us, in the parlor, press, and pulpit, that most of the ladies
+who had attended the convention and signed the declaration, one by one,
+withdrew their names and influence and joined our persecutors. Our
+friends gave us the cold shoulder and felt themselves disgraced by the
+whole proceeding.
+
+If I had had the slightest premonition of all that was to follow that
+convention, I fear I should not have had the courage to risk it, and I
+must confess that it was with fear and trembling that I consented to
+attend another, one month afterward, in Rochester. Fortunately, the
+first one seemed to have drawn all the fire, and of the second but
+little was said. But we had set the ball in motion, and now, in quick
+succession, conventions were held in Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts,
+Pennsylvania, and in the City of New York, and have been kept up nearly
+every year since.
+
+The most noteworthy of the early conventions were those held in
+Massachusetts, in which such men as Garrison, Phillips, Channing,
+Parker, and Emerson took part. It was one of these that first attracted
+the attention of Mrs. John Stuart Mill, and drew from her pen that able
+article on "The Enfranchisement of Woman," in the _Westminster Review_
+of October, 1852.
+
+The same year of the convention, the Married Woman's Property Bill,
+which had given rise to some discussion on woman's rights in New York,
+had passed the legislature. This encouraged action on the part of women,
+as the reflection naturally arose that, if the men who make the laws
+were ready for some onward step, surely the women themselves should
+express some interest in the legislation. Ernestine L. Rose, Paulina
+Wright (Davis), and I had spoken before committees of the legislature
+years before, demanding equal property rights for women. We had
+circulated petitions for the Married Woman's Property Bill for many
+years, and so also had the leaders of the Dutch aristocracy, who desired
+to see their life-long accumulations descend to their daughters and
+grandchildren rather than pass into the hands of dissipated, thriftless
+sons-in-law. Judge Hertell, Judge Fine, and Mr. Geddes of Syracuse
+prepared and championed the several bills, at different times, before
+the legislature. Hence the demands made in the convention were not
+entirely new to the reading and thinking public of New York--the first
+State to take any action on the question. As New York was the first
+State to put the word "male" in her constitution in 1778, it was fitting
+that she should be first in more liberal legislation. The effect of the
+convention on my own mind was most salutary. The discussions had cleared
+my ideas as to the primal steps to be taken for woman's enfranchisement,
+and the opportunity of expressing myself fully and freely on a subject I
+felt so deeply about was a great relief. I think all women who attended
+the convention felt better for the statement of their wrongs, believing
+that the first step had been taken to right them.
+
+Soon after this I was invited to speak at several points in the
+neighborhood. One night, in the Quaker Meeting House at Farmington, I
+invited, as usual, discussion and questions when I had finished. We all
+waited in silence for a long time; at length a middle-aged man, with a
+broad-brimmed hat, arose and responded in a sing-song tone: "All I have
+to say is, if a hen can crow, let her crow," emphasizing "crow" with an
+upward inflection on several notes of the gamut. The meeting adjourned
+with mingled feelings of surprise and merriment. I confess that I felt
+somewhat chagrined in having what I considered my unanswerable arguments
+so summarily disposed of, and the serious impression I had made on the
+audience so speedily dissipated. The good man intended no disrespect, as
+he told me afterward. He simply put the whole argument in a nutshell:
+"Let a woman do whatever she can."
+
+With these new duties and interests, and a broader outlook on human
+life, my petty domestic annoyances gradually took a subordinate place.
+Now I began to write articles for the press, letters to conventions held
+in other States, and private letters to friends, to arouse them to
+thought on this question.
+
+The pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Bogue, preached several
+sermons on Woman's Sphere, criticising the action of the conventions in
+Seneca Falls and Rochester. Elizabeth McClintock and I took notes and
+answered him in the county papers. Gradually we extended our labors and
+attacked our opponents in the New York _Tribune_, whose columns were
+open to us in the early days, Mr. Greeley being, at that time, one of
+our most faithful champions.
+
+In answering all the attacks, we were compelled to study canon and civil
+law, constitutions, Bibles, science, philosophy, and history, sacred and
+profane. Now my mind, as well as my hands, was fully occupied, and
+instead of mourning, as I had done, over what I had lost in leaving
+Boston, I tried in every way to make the most of life in Seneca Falls.
+Seeing that elaborate refreshments prevented many social gatherings, I
+often gave an evening entertainment without any. I told the young
+people, whenever they wanted a little dance or a merry time, to make our
+house their rallying point, and I would light up and give them a glass
+of water and some cake. In that way we had many pleasant informal
+gatherings. Then, in imitation of Margaret Fuller's Conversationals, we
+started one which lasted several years. We selected a subject each week
+on which we all read and thought; each, in turn, preparing an essay ten
+minutes in length.
+
+These were held, at different homes, Saturday of each week. On coming
+together we chose a presiding officer for the evening, who called the
+meeting to order, and introduced the essayist. That finished, he asked
+each member, in turn, what he or she had read or thought on the subject,
+and if any had criticisms to make on the essay. Everyone was expected to
+contribute something. Much information was thus gained, and many spicy
+discussions followed. All the ladies, as well as the gentlemen, presided
+in turn, and so became familiar with parliamentary rules. The evening
+ended with music, dancing, and a general chat. In this way we read and
+thought over a wide range of subjects and brought together the best
+minds in the community. Many young men and women who did not belong to
+what was considered the first circle,--for in every little country
+village there is always a small clique that constitutes the
+aristocracy,--had the advantages of a social life otherwise denied them.
+I think that all who took part in this Conversation Club would testify
+to its many good influences.
+
+I had three quite intimate young friends in the village who spent much
+of their spare time with me, and who added much to my happiness: Frances
+Hoskins, who was principal of the girls' department in the academy, with
+whom I discussed politics and religion; Mary Bascom, a good talker on
+the topics of the day, and Mary Crowninshield, who played well on the
+piano. As I was very fond of music, Mary's coming was always hailed with
+delight. Her mother, too, was a dear friend of mine, a woman of rare
+intelligence, refinement, and conversational talent. She was a Schuyler,
+and belonged to the Dutch aristocracy in Albany. She died suddenly,
+after a short illness. I was with her in the last hours and held her
+hand until the gradually fading spark of life went out. Her son is
+Captain A.S. Crowninshield of our Navy.
+
+My nearest neighbors were a very agreeable, intelligent family of sons
+and daughters. But I always felt that the men of that household were
+given to domineering. As the mother was very amiable and
+self-sacrificing, the daughters found it difficult to rebel. One summer,
+after general house-cleaning, when fresh paint and paper had made even
+the kitchen look too dainty for the summer invasion of flies, the queens
+of the household decided to move the sombre cook-stove into a spacious
+woodhouse, where it maintained its dignity one week, in the absence of
+the head of the home. The mother and daughters were delighted with the
+change, and wondered why they had not made it before during the summer
+months. But their pleasure was shortlived. Father and sons rose early
+the first morning after his return and moved the stove back to its old
+place. When the wife and daughters came down to get their breakfast (for
+they did all their own work) they were filled with grief and
+disappointment. The breakfast was eaten in silence, the women humbled
+with a sense of their helplessness, and the men gratified with a sense
+of their power. These men would probably all have said "home is woman's
+sphere," though they took the liberty of regulating everything in her
+sphere.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. STANTON AND SON, 1854.]
+
+[Illustration: Susan B. Anthony 1820-Feb. 15, 1858--]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
+
+
+The reports of the conventions held in Seneca Falls and Rochester, N.Y.,
+in 1848, attracted the attention of one destined to take a most
+important part in the new movement--Susan B. Anthony, who, for her
+courage and executive ability, was facetiously called by William Henry
+Channing, the Napoleon of our struggle. At this time she was teaching in
+the academy at Canajoharie, a little village in the beautiful valley of
+the Mohawk.
+
+"The Woman's Declaration of Independence" issued from those conventions
+startled and amused her, and she laughed heartily at the novelty and
+presumption of the demand. But, on returning home to spend her vacation,
+she was surprised to find that her sober Quaker parents and sister,
+having attended the Rochester meetings, regarded them as very profitable
+and interesting, and the demands made as proper and reasonable. She was
+already interested in the anti-slavery and temperance reforms, was an
+active member of an organization called "The Daughters of Temperance,"
+and had spoken a few times in their public meetings. But the new gospel
+of "Woman's Rights," found a ready response in her mind, and, from that
+time, her best efforts have been given to the enfranchisement of women.
+
+As, from this time, my friend is closely connected with my narrative
+and will frequently appear therein, a sketch of her seems appropriate.
+
+Lord Bacon has well said: "He that hath wife and children hath given
+hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises
+either of virtue or mischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest
+merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless
+men; which, both in affection and means, have married and endowed the
+public."
+
+This bit of Baconian philosophy, as alike applicable to women, was the
+subject, not long since, of a conversation with a remarkably gifted
+Englishwoman. She was absorbed in many public interests and had
+conscientiously resolved never to marry, lest the cares necessarily
+involved in matrimony should make inroads upon her time and thought, to
+the detriment of the public good. "Unless," said she, "some women
+dedicate themselves to the public service, society is robbed of needed
+guardians for the special wants of the weak and unfortunate. There
+should be, in the secular world, certain orders corresponding in a
+measure to the grand sisterhoods of the Catholic Church, to the members
+of which, as freely as to men, all offices, civic and ecclesiastical,
+should be open." That this ideal will be realized may be inferred from
+the fact that exceptional women have, in all ages, been leaders in great
+projects of charity and reform, and that now many stand waiting only the
+sanction of their century, ready for wide altruistic labors.
+
+The world has ever had its vestal virgins, its holy women, mothers of
+ideas rather than of men; its Marys, as well as its Marthas, who, rather
+than be busy housewives, preferred to sit at the feet of divine wisdom,
+and ponder the mysteries of the unknown. All hail to Maria Mitchell,
+Harriet Hosmer, Charlotte Cushman, Alice and Phoebe Gary, Louisa Alcott,
+Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Frances Willard, and Clara Barton! All honor to
+the noble women who have devoted earnest lives to the intellectual and
+moral needs of mankind!
+
+Susan B. Anthony was of sturdy New England stock, and it was at the foot
+of Old Greylock, South Adams, Mass., that she gave forth her first
+rebellious cry. There the baby steps were taken, and at the village
+school the first stitches were learned, and the A B C duly mastered.
+When five winters had passed over Susan's head, there came a time of
+great domestic commotion, and, in her small way, the child seized the
+idea that permanence is not the rule of life. The family moved to
+Battenville, N.Y., where Mr. Anthony became one of the wealthiest men in
+Washington County. Susan can still recall the stately coldness of the
+great house--how large the bare rooms, with their yellow-painted floors,
+seemed, in contrast with her own diminutiveness, and the outlook of the
+schoolroom where for so many years, with her brothers and sisters, she
+pursued her studies under private tutors.
+
+Mr. Anthony was a stern Hicksite Quaker. In Susan's early life he
+objected on principle to all forms of frivolous amusement, such as
+music, dancing, or novel reading, while games and even pictures were
+regarded as meaningless luxuries. Such puritanical convictions might
+have easily degenerated into mere cant; but underlying all was a broad
+and firm basis of wholesome respect for individual freedom and a brave
+adherence to truth. He was a man of good business capacity, and a
+thorough manager of his wide and lucrative interests. He saw that
+compensation and not chance ruled in the commercial world, and he
+believed in the same just, though often severe, law in the sphere of
+morals. Such a man was not apt to walk humbly in the path mapped out by
+his religious sect. He early offended by choosing a Baptist for a wife.
+For this first offense he was "disowned," and, according to Quaker
+usage, could only be received into fellowship again by declaring himself
+"sorry" for his crime in full meeting. He was full of devout
+thankfulness for the good woman by his side, and destined to be thankful
+to the very end for this companion, so calm, so just, so far-seeing. He
+rose in meeting, and said he was "sorry" that the rules of the society
+were such that, in marrying the woman he loved, he had committed
+offense! He admitted that he was "sorry" for something, so was taken
+back into the body of the faithful! But his faith had begun to weaken in
+many minor points of discipline. His coat soon became a cause of offense
+and called forth another reproof from those buttoned up in conforming
+garments. The petty forms of Quakerism began to lose their weight with
+him altogether, and he was finally disowned for allowing the village
+youth to be taught dancing in an upper room of his dwelling. He was
+applied to for this favor on the ground that young men were under great
+temptation to drink if the lessons were given in the hotel; and, being a
+rigid temperance man, he readily consented, though his principles, in
+regard to dancing, would not allow his own sons and daughters to join in
+the amusement. But the society could accept no such discrimination in
+what it deemed sin, nor such compromise with worldly frivolity, and so
+Mr. Anthony was seen no more in meeting. But, in later years, in
+Rochester he was an attentive listener to Rev. William Henry Channing.
+
+The effect of all this on Susan is the question of interest. No doubt
+she early weighed the comparative moral effects of coats cut with capes
+and those cut without, of purely Quaker conjugal love and that
+deteriorated with Baptist affection. Susan had an earnest soul and a
+conscience tending to morbidity; but a strong, well-balanced body and
+simple family life soothed her too active moral nature and gave the
+world, instead of a religious fanatic, a sincere, concentrated worker.
+Every household art was taught her by her mother, and so great was her
+ability that the duty demanding especial care was always given into her
+hands. But ever, amid school and household tasks, her day-dream was
+that, in time, she might be a "high-seat" Quaker. Each Sunday, up to the
+time of the third disobedience, Mr. Anthony went to the Quaker meeting
+house, some thirteen miles from home, his wife and children usually
+accompanying him, though, as non-members, they were rigidly excluded
+from all business discussions. Exclusion was very pleasant in the bright
+days of summer; but, on one occasion in December, decidedly unpleasant
+for the seven-year-old Susan. When the blinds were drawn, at the close
+of the religious meeting, and non-members retired, Susan sat still. Soon
+she saw a thin old lady with blue goggles come down from the "high
+seat." Approaching her, the Quakeress said softly, "Thee is not a
+member--thee must go out." "No; my mother told me not to go out in the
+cold," was the child's firm response. "Yes, but thee must go out--thee
+is not a member." "But my father is a member." "Thee is not a member,"
+and Susan felt as if the spirit was moving her and soon found herself in
+outer coldness. Fingers and toes becoming numb, and a bright fire in a
+cottage over the way beckoning warmly to her, the exile from the chapel
+resolved to seek secular shelter. But alas! she was confronted by a huge
+dog, and just escaped with whole skin though capeless jacket. We may be
+sure there was much talk, that night, at the home fireside, and the good
+Baptist wife declared that no child of hers should attend meeting again
+till made a member. Thereafter, by request of her father, Susan became a
+member of the Quaker church.
+
+Later, definite convictions took root in Miss Anthony's heart. Hers is,
+indeed, a sincerely religious nature. To be a simple, earnest Quaker was
+the aspiration of her girlhood; but she shrank from adopting the formal
+language and plain dress. Dark hours of conflict were spent over all
+this, and she interpreted her disinclination as evidence of
+unworthiness. Poor little Susan! As we look back with the knowledge of
+our later life, we translate the heart-burnings as unconscious protests
+against labeling your free soul, against testing your reasoning
+conviction of to-morrow by any shibboleth of to-day's belief. We hail
+this child-intuition as a prophecy of the uncompromising truthfulness of
+the mature woman. Susan Anthony was taught simply that she must enter
+into the holy of holies of her own self, meet herself, and be true to
+the revelation. She first found words to express her convictions in
+listening to Rev. William Henry Channing, whose teaching had a lasting
+spiritual influence upon her. To-day Miss Anthony is an agnostic. As to
+the nature of the Godhead and of the life beyond her horizon she does
+not profess to know anything. Every energy of her soul is centered upon
+the needs of this world. To her, work is worship. She has not stood
+aside, shivering in the cold shadows of uncertainty, but has moved on
+with the whirling world, has done the good given her to do, and thus, in
+darkest hours, has been sustained by an unfaltering faith in the final
+perfection of all things. Her belief is not orthodox, but it is
+religious. In ancient Greece she would have been a Stoic; in the era of
+the Reformation, a Calvinist; in King Charles' time, a Puritan; but in
+this nineteenth century, by the very laws of her being, she is a
+Reformer.
+
+For the arduous work that awaited Miss Anthony her years of young
+womanhood had given preparation. Her father, though a man of wealth,
+made it a matter of conscience to train his girls, as well as his boys,
+to self-support. Accordingly Susan chose the profession of teacher, and
+made her first essay during a summer vacation in a school her father had
+established for the children of his employes. Her success was so marked,
+not only in imparting knowledge, but also as a disciplinarian, that she
+followed this career steadily for fifteen years, with the exception of
+some months given in Philadelphia to her own training. Of the many
+school rebellions which she overcame, one rises before me, prominent in
+its ludicrous aspect. This was in the district school at Center Falls,
+in the year 1839. Bad reports were current there of male teachers driven
+out by a certain strapping lad. Rumor next told of a Quaker maiden
+coming to teach--a Quaker maiden of peace principles. The anticipated
+day and Susan arrived. She looked very meek to the barbarian of fifteen,
+so he soon began his antics. He was called to the platform, told to lay
+aside his jacket, and, thereupon, with much astonishment received from
+the mild Quaker maiden, with a birch rod applied calmly but with
+precision, an exposition of the _argumentum ad hominem_ based on the _a
+posteriori_ method of reasoning. Thus Susan departed from her
+principles, but not from the school.
+
+But, before long, conflicts in the outside world disturbed our young
+teacher. The multiplication table and spelling book no longer enchained
+her thoughts; larger questions began to fill her mind. About the year
+1850 Susan B. Anthony hid her ferule away. Temperance, anti-slavery,
+woman suffrage,--three pregnant questions,--presented themselves,
+demanding her consideration. Higher, ever higher, rose their appeals,
+until she resolved to dedicate her energy and thought to the burning
+needs of the hour. Owing to early experience of the disabilities of her
+sex, the first demand for equal rights for women found echo in Susan's
+heart. And, though she was in the beginning startled to hear that women
+had actually met in convention, and by speeches and resolutions had
+declared themselves man's peer in political rights, and had urged
+radical changes in State constitutions and the whole system of American
+jurisprudence; yet the most casual review convinced her that these
+claims were but the logical outgrowth of the fundamental theories of our
+republic.
+
+At this stage of her development I met my future friend and coadjutor
+for the first time. How well I remember the day! George Thompson and
+William Lloyd Garrison having announced an anti-slavery meeting in
+Seneca Falls, Miss Anthony came to attend it. These gentlemen were my
+guests. Walking home, after the adjournment, we met Mrs. Bloomer and
+Miss Anthony on the corner of the street, waiting to greet us. There she
+stood, with her good, earnest face and genial smile, dressed in gray
+delaine, hat and all the same color, relieved with pale blue ribbons,
+the perfection of neatness and sobriety. I liked her thoroughly, and why
+I did not at once invite her home with me to dinner, I do not know. She
+accuses me of that neglect, and has never forgiven me, as she wished to
+see and hear all she could of our noble friends. I suppose my mind was
+full of what I had heard, or my coming dinner, or the probable behavior
+of three mischievous boys who had been busily exploring the premises
+while I was at the meeting.
+
+That I had abundant cause for anxiety in regard to the philosophical
+experiments these young savages might try the reader will admit, when
+informed of some of their performances. Henry imagined himself possessed
+of rare powers of invention (an ancestral weakness for generations), and
+so made a life preserver of corks, and tested its virtues on his
+brother, who was about eighteen months old. Accompanied by a troop of
+expectant boys, the baby was drawn in his carriage to the banks of the
+Seneca, stripped, the string of corks tied under his arms, and set
+afloat in the river, the philosopher and his satellites, in a rowboat,
+watching the experiment. The baby, accustomed to a morning bath in a
+large tub, splashed about joyfully, keeping his head above water. He was
+as blue as indigo and as cold as a frog when rescued by his anxious
+mother. The next day the same victimized infant was seen, by a passing
+friend, seated on the chimney, on the highest peak of the house. Without
+alarming anyone, the friend hurried up to the housetop and rescued the
+child. Another time the three elder brothers entered into a conspiracy,
+and locked up the fourth, Theodore, in the smoke-house. Fortunately, he
+sounded the alarm loud and clear, and was set free in safety, whereupon
+the three were imprisoned in a garret with two barred windows. They
+summarily kicked out the bars, and, sliding down on the lightning rod,
+betook themselves to the barn for liberty. The youngest boy, Gerrit,
+then only five years old, skinned his hands in the descent. This is a
+fair sample of the quiet happiness I enjoyed in the first years of
+motherhood.
+
+It was 'mid such exhilarating scenes that Miss Anthony and I wrote
+addresses for temperance, anti-slavery, educational, and woman's rights
+conventions. Here we forged resolutions, protests, appeals, petitions,
+agricultural reports, and constitutional arguments; for we made it a
+matter of conscience to accept every invitation to speak on every
+question, in order to maintain woman's right to do so. To this end we
+took turns on the domestic watchtowers, directing amusements, settling
+disputes, protecting the weak against the strong, and trying to secure
+equal rights to all in the home as well as the nation. I can recall many
+a stern encounter between my friend and the young experimenter. It is
+pleasant to remember that he never seriously injured any of his victims,
+and only once came near fatally shooting himself with a pistol. The ball
+went through his hand; happily a brass button prevented it from
+penetrating his heart.
+
+It is often said, by those who know Miss Anthony best, that she has been
+my good angel, always pushing and goading me to work, and that but for
+her pertinacity I should never have accomplished the little I have. On
+the other hand it has been said that I forged the thunderbolts and she
+fired them. Perhaps all this is, in a measure, true. With the cares of a
+large family I might, in time, like too many women, have become wholly
+absorbed in a narrow family selfishness, had not my friend been
+continually exploring new fields for missionary labors. Her description
+of a body of men on any platform, complacently deciding questions in
+which woman had an equal interest, without an equal voice, readily
+roused me to a determination to throw a firebrand into the midst of
+their assembly.
+
+Thus, whenever I saw that stately Quaker girl coming across my lawn, I
+knew that some happy convocation of the sons of Adam was to be set by
+the ears, by one of our appeals or resolutions. The little portmanteau,
+stuffed with facts, was opened, and there we had what the Rev. John
+Smith and Hon. Richard Roe had said: false interpretations of Bible
+texts, the statistics of women robbed of their property, shut out of
+some college, half paid for their work, the reports of some disgraceful
+trial; injustice enough to turn any woman's thoughts from stockings and
+puddings. Then we would get out our pens and write articles for papers,
+or a petition to the legislature; indite letters to the faithful, here
+and there; stir up the women in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Massachusetts;
+call on _The Lily, The Una, The Liberator, The Standard_ to remember our
+wrongs as well as those of the slave. We never met without issuing a
+pronunciamento on some question. In thought and sympathy we were one,
+and in the division of labor we exactly complemented each other. In
+writing we did better work than either could alone. While she is slow
+and analytical in composition, I am rapid and synthetic. I am the better
+writer, she the better critic. She supplied the facts and statistics, I
+the philosophy and rhetoric, and, together, we have made arguments that
+have stood unshaken through the storms of long years; arguments that no
+one has answered. Our speeches may be considered the united product of
+our two brains.
+
+So entirely one are we that, in all our associations, ever side by side
+on the same platform, not one feeling of envy or jealousy has ever
+shadowed our lives. We have indulged freely in criticism of each other
+when alone, and hotly contended whenever we have differed, but in our
+friendship of years there has never been the break of one hour. To the
+world we always seem to agree and uniformly reflect each other. Like
+husband and wife, each has the feeling that we must have no differences
+in public. Thus united, at an early day we began to survey the state and
+nation, the future field of our labors. We read, with critical eyes, the
+proceedings of Congress and legislatures, of general assemblies and
+synods, of conferences and conventions, and discovered that, in all
+alike, the existence of woman was entirely ignored.
+
+Night after night, by an old-fashioned fireplace, we plotted and planned
+the coming agitation; how, when, and where each entering wedge could be
+driven, by which women might be recognized and their rights secured.
+Speedily the State was aflame with disturbances in temperance and
+teachers' conventions, and the press heralded the news far and near that
+women delegates had suddenly appeared, demanding admission in men's
+conventions; that their rights had been hotly contested session after
+session, by liberal men on the one side, the clergy and learned
+professors on the other; an overwhelming majority rejecting the women
+with terrible anathemas and denunciations. Such battles were fought over
+and over in the chief cities of many of the Northern States, until the
+bigotry of men in all the reforms and professions was thoroughly
+exposed. Every right achieved, to enter a college, to study a
+profession, to labor in some new industry, or to advocate a reform
+measure was contended for inch by inch.
+
+Many of those enjoying all these blessings now complacently say, "If
+these pioneers in reform had only pressed their measures more
+judiciously, in a more ladylike manner, in more choice language, with a
+more deferential attitude, the gentlemen could not have behaved so
+rudely." I give, in these pages, enough of the characteristics of these
+women, of the sentiments they expressed, of their education, ancestry,
+and position to show that no power could have met the prejudice and
+bigotry of that period more successfully than they did who so bravely
+and persistently fought and conquered them.
+
+Miss Anthony first carried her flag of rebellion into the State
+conventions of teachers, and there fought, almost single-handed, the
+battle for equality. At the close of the first decade she had compelled
+conservatism to yield its ground so far as to permit women to
+participate in all debates, deliver essays, vote, and hold honored
+positions as officers. She labored as sincerely in the temperance
+movement, until convinced that woman's moral power amounted to little as
+a civil agent, until backed by ballot and coined into State law. She
+still never loses an occasion to defend co-education and prohibition,
+and solves every difficulty with the refrain, "woman suffrage," as
+persistent as the "never more" of Poe's raven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+SUSAN B. ANTHONY--_Continued_.
+
+
+It was in 1852 that anti-slavery, through the eloquent lips of such men
+as George Thompson, Phillips, and Garrison, first proclaimed to Miss
+Anthony its pressing financial necessities. To their inspired words she
+gave answer, four years afterward, by becoming a regularly employed
+agent in the Anti-slavery Society. For her espoused cause she has always
+made boldest demands. In the abolition meetings she used to tell each
+class why it should support the movement financially; invariably calling
+upon Democrats to give liberally, as the success of the cause would
+enable them to cease bowing the knee to the slave power.
+
+There is scarce a town, however small, from New York to San Francisco,
+that has not heard her ringing voice. Who can number the speeches she
+has made on lyceum platforms, in churches, schoolhouses, halls, barns,
+and in the open air, with a lumber wagon or a cart for her rostrum? Who
+can describe the varied audiences and social circles she has cheered and
+interested? Now we see her on the far-off prairies, entertaining, with
+sterling common sense, large gatherings of men, women, and children,
+seated on rough boards in some unfinished building; again, holding
+public debates in some town with half-fledged editors and clergymen;
+next, sailing up the Columbia River and, in hot haste to meet some
+appointment, jolting over the rough mountains of Oregon and Washington;
+and then, before legislative assemblies, constitutional conventions, and
+congressional committees, discussing with senators and judges the letter
+and spirit of constitutional law.
+
+Miss Anthony's style of speaking is rapid and vehement. In debate she is
+ready and keen, and she is always equal to an emergency. Many times in
+traveling with her through the West, especially on our first trip to
+Kansas and California, we were suddenly called upon to speak to the
+women assembled at the stations. Filled with consternation, I usually
+appealed to her to go first; and, without a moment's hesitation, she
+could always fill five minutes with some appropriate words and inspire
+me with thoughts and courage to follow. The climax of these occasions
+was reached in an institution for the deaf and dumb in Michigan. I had
+just said to my friend, "There is one comfort in visiting this place; we
+shall not be asked to speak," when the superintendent, approaching us,
+said, "Ladies, the pupils are assembled in the chapel, ready to hear
+you. I promised to invite you to speak to them as soon as I heard you
+were in town." The possibility of addressing such an audience was as
+novel to Miss Anthony as to me; yet she promptly walked down the aisle
+to the platform, as if to perform an ordinary duty, while I, half
+distracted with anxiety, wondering by what process I was to be placed in
+communication with the deaf and dumb, reluctantly followed. But the
+manner was simple enough, when illustrated. The superintendent, standing
+by our side, repeated, in the sign language, what was said as fast as
+uttered; and by laughter, tears, and applause, the pupils showed that
+they fully appreciated the pathos, humor, and argument.
+
+One night, crossing the Mississippi at McGregor, Iowa, we were icebound
+in the middle of the river. The boat was crowded with people, hungry,
+tired, and cross with the delay. Some gentlemen, with whom we had been
+talking on the cars, started the cry, "Speech on woman suffrage!"
+Accordingly, in the middle of the Mississippi River, at midnight, we
+presented our claims to political representation, and debated the
+question of universal suffrage until we landed. Our voyagers were quite
+thankful that we had shortened the many hours, and we equally so at
+having made several converts and held a convention on the very bosom of
+the great "Mother of Waters." Only once in all these wanderings was Miss
+Anthony taken by surprise, and that was on being asked to speak to the
+inmates of an insane asylum. "Bless me!" said she, "it is as much as I
+can do to talk to the sane! What could I say to an audience of
+lunatics?" Her companion, Virginia L. Minor of St. Louis, replied: "This
+is a golden moment for you, the first opportunity you have ever had,
+according to the constitutions, to talk to your 'peers,' for is not the
+right of suffrage denied to 'idiots, criminals, lunatics, and women'?"
+
+Much curiosity has been expressed as to the love-life of Miss Anthony;
+but, if she has enjoyed or suffered any of the usual triumphs or
+disappointments of her sex, she has not yet vouchsafed this information
+to her biographers. While few women have had more sincere and lasting
+friendships, or a more extensive correspondence with a large circle of
+noble men, yet I doubt if one of them can boast of having received from
+her any exceptional attention. She has often playfully said, when
+questioned on this point, that she could not consent that the man she
+loved, described in the Constitution as a white male, native born,
+American citizen, possessed of the right of self-government, eligible to
+the office of President of the great Republic, should unite his
+destinies in marriage with a political slave and pariah. "No, no; when I
+am crowned with all the rights, privileges, and immunities of a citizen,
+I may give some consideration to this social institution; but until then
+I must concentrate all my energies on the enfranchisement of my own
+sex." Miss Anthony's love-life, like her religion, has manifested itself
+in steadfast, earnest labors for men in general. She has been a watchful
+and affectionate daughter, sister, friend, and those who have felt the
+pulsations of her great heart know how warmly it beats for all.
+
+As the custom has long been observed, among married women, of
+celebrating the anniversaries of their wedding-day, quite properly the
+initiative has been taken, in late years, of doing honor to the great
+events in the lives of single women. Being united in closest bonds to
+her profession, Dr. Harriet K. Hunt of Boston celebrated her
+twenty-fifth year of faithful services as a physician by giving to her
+friends and patrons a large reception, which she called her silver
+wedding. From a feeling of the sacredness of her life work, the admirers
+of Susan B. Anthony have been moved to mark, by reception and
+convention, her rapid-flowing years and the passing decades of the
+suffrage movement. To the most brilliant occasion of this kind, the
+invitation cards were as follows:
+
+     The ladies of the Woman's Bureau invite you to a reception on
+     Tuesday evening, February 15th, to celebrate the fiftieth birthday
+     of Susan B. Anthony, when her friends will have an opportunity to
+     show their appreciation of her long services in behalf of woman's
+     emancipation.
+
+     No. 49 East 23d St., New York,
+
+     February 10, 1870.
+
+     Elizabeth B. Phelps,
+
+     Anna B. Darling,
+
+     Charlotte Beebe Wilbour.
+
+In response to the invitation, the parlors of the bureau were crowded
+with friends to congratulate Miss Anthony on the happy event, many
+bringing valuable gifts as an expression of their gratitude. Among other
+presents were a handsome gold watch and checks to the amount of a
+thousand dollars. The guests were entertained with music, recitations,
+the reading of many piquant letters of regret from distinguished people,
+and witty rhymes written for the occasion by the Cary sisters. Miss
+Anthony received her guests with her usual straightforward simplicity,
+and in a few earnest words expressed her thanks for the presents and
+praises showered upon her. The comments of the leading journals, next
+day, were highly complimentary, and as genial as amusing. All dwelt on
+the fact that, at last, a woman had arisen brave enough to assert her
+right to grow old and openly declare that half a century had rolled over
+her head.
+
+Of carefully prepared written speeches Miss Anthony has made few; but
+these, by the high praise they called forth, prove that she can--in
+spite of her own declaration to the contrary--put her sterling thoughts
+on paper concisely and effectively. After her exhaustive plea, in 1880,
+for a Sixteenth Amendment before the Judiciary Committee of the Senate,
+Senator Edmunds accosted her, as she was leaving the Capitol, and said
+he neglected to tell her, in the committee room, that she had made an
+argument, no matter what his personal feelings were as to the
+conclusions reached, which was unanswerable--an argument, unlike the
+usual platform oratory given at hearings, suited to a committee of men
+trained to the law.
+
+It was in 1876 that Miss Anthony gave her much criticised lecture on
+"Social Purity" in Boston. As to the result she felt very anxious; for
+the intelligence of New England composed her audience, and it did not
+still her heart-beats to see, sitting just in front of the platform, her
+revered friend, William Lloyd Garrison. But surely every fear vanished
+when she felt the grand old abolitionist's hand warmly pressing hers,
+and heard him say that to listen to no one else would he have had
+courage to leave his sick room, and that he felt fully repaid by her
+grand speech, which neither in matter nor manner would he have changed
+in the smallest particular. But into Miss Anthony's private
+correspondence one must look for examples of her most effective writing.
+Verb or substantive is often wanting, but you can always catch the
+thought, and will ever find it clear and suggestive. It is a strikingly
+strange dialect, but one that touches, at times, the deepest chords of
+pathos and humor, and, when stirred by some great event, is highly
+eloquent.
+
+From being the most ridiculed and mercilessly persecuted woman, Miss
+Anthony has become the most honored and respected in the nation. Witness
+the praises of press and people, and the enthusiastic ovations she
+received on her departure for Europe in 1883. Never were warmer
+expressions of regret for an absence, nor more sincere prayers for a
+speedy return, accorded to any American on leaving his native shores.
+This slow awaking to the character of her services shows the abiding
+sense of justice in the human soul. Having spent the winter of 1882-83
+in Washington, trying to press to a vote the bill for a Sixteenth
+Amendment before Congress, and the autumn in a vigorous campaign through
+Nebraska, where a constitutional amendment to enfranchise women had been
+submitted to the people, she felt the imperative need of an entire
+change in the current of her thoughts. Accordingly, after one of the
+most successful conventions ever held at the national capital, and a
+most flattering ovation in the spacious parlors of the Riggs House, and
+a large reception in Philadelphia, she sailed for Europe.
+
+Fortunate in being perfectly well during the entire voyage, our traveler
+received perpetual enjoyment in watching the ever varying sea and sky.
+To the captain's merry challenge to find anything so grand as the ocean,
+she replied, "Yes, these mighty forces in nature do indeed fill me with
+awe; but this vessel, with deep-buried fires, powerful machinery,
+spacious decks, and tapering masts, walking the waves like a thing of
+life, and all the work of man, impresses one still more deeply. Lo! in
+man's divine creative power is fulfilled the prophecy, 'Ye shall be as
+Gods!'"
+
+In all her journeyings through Germany, Italy, and France, Miss Anthony
+was never the mere sight-seer, but always the humanitarian and reformer
+in traveler's guise. Few of the great masterpieces of art gave her real
+enjoyment. The keen appreciation of the beauties of sculpture, painting,
+and architecture, which one would have expected to find in so deep a
+religious nature, was wanting, warped, no doubt, by her early Quaker
+training. That her travels gave her more pain than pleasure was,
+perhaps, not so much that she had no appreciation of aesthetic beauty,
+but that she quickly grasped the infinitude of human misery; not because
+her soul did not feel the heights to which art had risen, but that it
+vibrated in every fiber to the depths to which mankind had fallen.
+Wandering through a gorgeous palace one day, she exclaimed, "What do you
+find to admire here? If it were a school of five hundred children being
+educated into the right of self-government I could admire it, too; but
+standing for one man's pleasure, I say no!" In the quarters of one of
+the devotees, at the old monastery of the Certosa, at Florence, there
+lies, on a small table, an open book, in which visitors register. On the
+occasion of Miss Anthony's visit the pen and ink proved so unpromising
+that her entire party declined this opportunity to make themselves
+famous, but she made the rebellious pen inscribe, "Perfect equality for
+women, civil, political, religious. Susan B. Anthony, U.S.A." Friends,
+who visited the monastery next day, reported that lines had been drawn
+through this heretical sentiment.
+
+During her visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sargent, in Berlin, Miss
+Anthony quite innocently posted her letters in the official envelopes of
+our Suffrage Association, which bore the usual mottoes, "No just
+government can be formed without the consent of the governed," etc. In a
+few days an official brought back a large package, saying, "Such
+sentiments are not allowed to pass through the post office." Probably
+nothing saved her from arrest as a socialist, under the tyrannical
+police regulations, but the fact that she was the guest of the Minister
+Plenipotentiary of the United States.
+
+My son Theodore wrote of Miss Anthony's visit in Paris: "I had never
+before seen her in the role of tourist. She seemed interested only in
+historical monuments, and in the men and questions of the hour. The
+galleries of the Louvre had little attraction for her, but she gazed
+with deep pleasure at Napoleon's tomb, Notre Dame, and the ruins of the
+Tuileries. She was always ready to listen to discussions on the
+political problems before the French people, the prospects of the
+Republic, the divorce agitation, and the education of women. 'I had
+rather see Jules Ferry than all the pictures of the Louvre, Luxembourg,
+and Salon,' she remarked at table. A day or two later she saw Ferry at
+Laboulaye's funeral. The three things which made the deepest impression
+on Miss Anthony, during her stay at Paris, were probably the interment
+of Laboulaye (the friend of the United States and of the woman
+movement); the touching anniversary demonstration of the Communists, at
+the Cemetery of Pere La Chaise, on the very spot where the last
+defenders of the Commune of 1871 were ruthlessly shot and buried in a
+common grave; and a woman's rights meeting, held in a little hall in the
+Rue de Rivoli, at which the brave, far-seeing Mlle. Hubertine Auchet was
+the leading spirit."
+
+While on the Continent Miss Anthony experienced the unfortunate
+sensation of being deaf and dumb; to speak and not to be understood, to
+hear and not to comprehend, were to her bitter realities. We can imagine
+to what desperation she was brought when her Quaker prudishness could
+hail an emphatic oath in English from a French official with the
+exclamation, "Well, it sounds good to hear someone even swear in old
+Anglo-Saxon!" After two months of enforced silence, she was buoyant in
+reaching the British Islands once more, where she could enjoy public
+speaking and general conversation. Here she was the recipient of many
+generous social attentions, and, on May 25, a large public meeting of
+representative people, presided over by Jacob Bright, was called, in our
+honor, by the National Association of Great Britain. She spoke on the
+educational and political status of women in America, I of their
+religious and social position.
+
+Before closing my friend's biography I shall trace two golden threads in
+this closely woven life of incident. One of the greatest services
+rendered by Miss Anthony to the suffrage cause was in casting a vote in
+the Presidential election of 1872, in order to test the rights of women
+under the Fourteenth Amendment. For this offense the brave woman was
+arrested, on Thanksgiving Day, the national holiday handed down to us by
+Pilgrim Fathers escaped from England's persecutions. She asked for a
+writ of habeas corpus. The writ being flatly refused, in January, 1873,
+her counsel gave bonds. The daring defendant finding, when too late,
+that this not only kept her out of jail, but her case out of the Supreme
+Court of the United States, regretfully determined to fight on, and gain
+the uttermost by a decision in the United States Circuit Court. Her
+trial was set down for the Rochester term in May. Quickly she canvassed
+the whole county, laying before every probable juror the strength of her
+case. When the time for the trial arrived, the District Attorney,
+fearing the result, if the decision were left to a jury drawn from Miss
+Anthony's enlightened county, transferred the trial to the Ontario
+County term, in June, 1873.
+
+It was now necessary to instruct the citizens of another county. In this
+task Miss Anthony received valuable assistance from Matilda Joslyn Gage;
+and, to meet all this new expense, financial aid was generously given,
+unsolicited, by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Gerrit Smith, and other
+sympathizers. But in vain was every effort; in vain the appeal of Miss
+Anthony to her jurors; in vain the moral influence of the leading
+representatives of the bar of Central New York filling the courtroom,
+for Judge Hunt, without precedent to sustain him, declaring it a case of
+law and not of fact, refused to give the case to the jury, reserving to
+himself final decision. Was it not an historic scene which was enacted
+there in that little courthouse in Canandaigua? All the inconsistencies
+were embodied in that Judge, punctilious in manner, scrupulous in
+attire, conscientious in trivialities, and obtuse on great principles,
+fitly described by Charles O'Conor--"A very ladylike Judge." Behold him
+sitting there, balancing all the niceties of law and equity in his Old
+World scales, and at last saying, "The prisoner will stand up."
+Whereupon the accused arose. "The sentence of the court is that you pay
+a fine of one hundred dollars and the costs of the prosecution." Then
+the unruly defendant answers: "May it please your Honor, I shall never
+pay a dollar of your unjust penalty," and more to the same effect, all
+of which she has lived up to. The "ladylike" Judge had gained some
+insight into the determination of the prisoner; so, not wishing to
+incarcerate her to all eternity, he added gently: "Madam, the court
+will not order you committed until the fine is paid."
+
+It was on the 17th of June that the verdict was given. On that very day,
+a little less than a century before, the brave militia was driven back
+at Bunker Hill--back, back, almost wiped out; yet truth was in their
+ranks, and justice, too. But how ended that rebellion of weak colonists?
+The cause of American womanhood, embodied for the moment in the liberty
+of a single individual, received a rebuff on June 17, 1873; but, just as
+surely as our Revolutionary heroes were in the end victorious, so will
+the inalienable rights of our heroines of the nineteenth century receive
+final vindication.
+
+In his speech of 1880, before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard,
+Wendell Phillips said--what as a rule is true--that "a reformer, to be
+conscientious, must be free from bread-winning." I will open Miss
+Anthony's accounts and show that this reformer, being, perhaps, the
+exception which proves the rule, has been consistently and
+conscientiously in debt. Turning over her year-books the pages give a
+fair record up to 1863. Here began the first herculean labor. The
+Woman's Loyal League, sadly in need of funds, was not an incorporated
+association, so its secretary assumed the debts. Accounts here became
+quite lamentable, the deficit reaching five thousand dollars. It must be
+paid, and, in fact, will be paid. Anxious, weary hours were spent in
+crowding the Cooper Institute, from week to week, with paying audiences,
+to listen to such men as Phillips, Curtis, and Douglass, who contributed
+their services, and lifted the secretary out of debt. At last, after
+many difficulties, her cash-book of 1863 was honorably pigeon-holed. In
+1867 we can read account of herculean labor the second. Twenty thousand
+tracts are needed to convert the voters of Kansas to woman suffrage.
+Traveling expenses to Kansas, and the tracts, make the debtor column
+overreach the creditor some two thousand dollars. There is recognition
+on these pages of more than one thousand dollars obtained by soliciting
+advertisements, but no note is made of the weary, burning July days
+spent in the streets of New York to procure this money, nor of the ready
+application of the savings made by petty economies from her salary from
+the Hovey Committee.
+
+It would have been fortunate for my brave friend, if cash-books 1868,
+1869, and 1870 had never come down from their shelves; for they sing and
+sing, in notes of debts, till all unite in one vast chorus of far more
+than ten thousand dollars. These were the days of the _Revolution_, the
+newspaper, not the war, though it was warfare for the debt-ridden
+manager. Several thousand dollars she paid with money earned by
+lecturing, and with money given her for personal use. One Thanksgiving
+was, in truth, a time for returning thanks; for she received, canceled,
+from her cousin, Anson Lapham, her note for four thousand dollars. After
+the funeral of Paulina Wright Davis, the bereaved widower pressed into
+Miss Anthony's hand canceled notes for five hundred dollars, bearing on
+the back the words, "In memory of my beloved wife." One other note was
+canceled in recognition of her perfect forgetfulness of self-interest
+and ready sacrifice to the needs of others. When laboring, in 1874, to
+fill every engagement, in order to meet her debts, her mother's sudden
+illness called her home. Without one selfish regret, the anxious
+daughter hastened to Rochester. When recovery was certain, and Miss
+Anthony was about to return to her fatiguing labors, her mother gave
+her, at parting, her note for a thousand dollars, on which was written,
+in trembling lines, "In just consideration of the tender sacrifice made
+to nurse me in severe illness." At last all the _Revolution_ debt was
+paid, except that due to her generous sister, Mary Anthony, who used
+often humorously to assure her she was a fit subject for the bankrupt
+act.
+
+There is something humorously pathetic in the death of the
+_Revolution_--that firstborn of Miss Anthony. Mrs. Laura Curtis Bullard
+generously assumed the care of the troublesome child, and, in order to
+make the adoption legal, gave the usual consideration--one dollar. The
+very night of the transfer Miss Anthony went to Rochester with the
+dollar in her pocket, and the little change left after purchasing her
+ticket. She arrived safely with her debts, but nothing more--her pocket
+had been picked! Oh, thief, could you but know what value of faithful
+work you purloined!
+
+From the close of the year 1876 Miss Anthony's accounts showed favorable
+signs as to the credit column. Indeed, at the end of five years there
+was a solid balance of several thousand dollars earned on lecturing
+tours. But alas! the accounts grow dim again--in fact the credit column
+fades away. "The History of Woman Suffrage" ruthlessly swallowed up
+every vestige of Miss Anthony's bank account. But, in 1886, by the will
+of Mrs. Eddy, daughter of Francis Jackson of Boston, Miss Anthony
+received twenty-four thousand dollars for the Woman's Suffrage Movement,
+which lifted her out of debt once more.
+
+In vain will you search these telltale books for evidence of personal
+extravagance; for, although Miss Anthony thinks it true economy to buy
+the best, her tastes are simple. Is there not something very touching in
+the fact that she never bought a book or picture for her own enjoyment?
+The meager personal balance-sheets show four lapses from
+discipline,--lapses that she even now regards as ruthless
+extravagance,--viz.: the purchase of two inexpensive brooches, a much
+needed watch, and a pair of cuffs to match a point-lace collar presented
+by a friend. Those interested in Miss Anthony's personal appearance long
+ago ceased to trust her with the purchase-money for any ornament; for,
+however firm her resolution to comply with their wish, the check
+invariably found its way to the credit column of those little cash-books
+as "money received for the cause." Now, reader, you have been admitted
+to a private view of Miss Anthony's financial records, and you can
+appreciate her devotion to an idea. Do you not agree with me that a
+"bread-winner" can be a conscientious reformer?
+
+In finishing this sketch of the most intimate friend I have had for the
+past forty-five years,--with whom I have spent weeks and months under
+the same roof,--I can truly say that she is the most upright,
+courageous, self-sacrificing, magnanimous human being I have ever known.
+I have seen her beset on every side with the most petty annoyances,
+ridiculed and misrepresented, slandered and persecuted; I have known
+women refuse to take her extended hand; women to whom she presented
+copies of "The History of Woman Suffrage," return it unnoticed; others
+to keep it without one word of acknowledgment; others to write most
+insulting letters in answer to hers of affectionate conciliation. And
+yet, under all the cross-fires incident to a reform, never has her hope
+flagged, her self-respect wavered, or a feeling of resentment shadowed
+her mind. Oftentimes, when I have been sorely discouraged, thinking that
+the prolonged struggle was a waste of force which in other directions
+might be rich in achievement, with her sublime faith in humanity, she
+would breathe into my soul renewed inspiration, saying, "Pity rather
+than blame those who persecute us." So closely interwoven have been our
+lives, our purposes, and experiences that, separated, we have a feeling
+of incompleteness--united, such strength of self-assertion that no
+ordinary obstacles, difficulties, or dangers ever appear to us
+insurmountable. Reviewing the life of Susan B. Anthony, I ever liken her
+to the Doric column in Grecian architecture, so simply, so grandly she
+stands, free from every extraneous ornament, supporting her one vast
+idea--the enfranchisement of woman.
+
+As our estimate of ourselves and our friendship may differ somewhat from
+that taken from an objective point of view, I will give an extract from
+what our common friend Theodore Tilton wrote of us in 1868:
+
+     "Miss Susan B. Anthony, a well-known, indefatigable, and lifelong
+     advocate of temperance, anti-slavery, and woman's rights, has been,
+     since 1851, Mrs. Stanton's intimate associate in reformatory
+     labors. These celebrated women are of about equal age, but of the
+     most opposite characteristics, and illustrate the theory of
+     counterparts in affection by entertaining for each other a
+     friendship of extraordinary strength.
+
+     "Mrs. Stanton is a fine writer, but a poor executant; Miss Anthony
+     is a thorough manager, but a poor writer. Both have large brains
+     and great hearts; neither has any selfish ambition for celebrity;
+     but each vies with the other in a noble enthusiasm for the cause to
+     which they are devoting their lives.
+
+     "Nevertheless, to describe them critically, I ought to say that,
+     opposites though they be, each does not so much supplement the
+     other's deficiencies as augment the other's eccentricities. Thus
+     they often stimulate each other's aggressiveness, and, at the same
+     time, diminish each other's discretion.
+
+     "But, whatever may be the imprudent utterances of the one or the
+     impolitic methods of the other, the animating motives of both are
+     evermore as white as the light. The good that they do is by design;
+     the harm by accident. These two women, sitting together in their
+     parlors, have, for the last thirty years, been diligent forgers of
+     all manner of projectiles, from fireworks to thunderbolts, and have
+     hurled them with unexpected explosion into the midst of all manner
+     of educational, reformatory, religious, and political assemblies;
+     sometimes to the pleasant surprise and half welcome of the members,
+     more often to the bewilderment and prostration of numerous victims;
+     and, in a few signal instances, to the gnashing of angry men's
+     teeth. I know of no two more pertinacious incendiaries in the whole
+     country. Nor will they, themselves deny the charge. In fact this
+     noise-making twain are the two sticks of a drum, keeping up what
+     Daniel Webster called 'The rub-a-dub of agitation.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE.
+
+
+Women had been willing so long to hold a subordinate position, both in
+private and public affairs, that a gradually growing feeling of
+rebellion among them quite exasperated the men, and their manifestations
+of hostility in public meetings were often as ridiculous as humiliating.
+
+True, those gentlemen were all quite willing that women should join
+their societies and churches to do the drudgery; to work up the
+enthusiasm in fairs and revivals, conventions and flag presentations; to
+pay a dollar apiece into their treasury for the honor of being members
+of their various organizations; to beg money for the Church; to
+circulate petitions from door to door; to visit saloons; to pray with or
+defy rumsellers; to teach school at half price, and sit round the
+outskirts of a hall, in teachers' State conventions, like so many
+wallflowers; but they would not allow them to sit on the platform,
+address the assembly, or vote for men and measures.
+
+Those who had learned the first lessons of human rights from the lips of
+Henry B. Stanton, Samuel J. May, and Gerrit Smith would not accept any
+such position. When women abandoned the temperance reform, all interest
+in the question gradually died out in the State, and practically nothing
+was done in New York for nearly twenty years. Gerrit Smith made one or
+two attempts toward an "anti-dramshop" party, but, as women could not
+vote, they felt no interest in the measure, and failure was the result.
+
+I soon convinced Miss Anthony that the ballot was the key to the
+situation; that when we had a voice in the laws we should be welcome to
+any platform. In turning the intense earnestness and religious
+enthusiasm of this great-souled woman into this channel, I soon felt the
+power of my convert in goading me forever forward to more untiring work.
+Soon fastened, heart to heart, with hooks of steel in a friendship that
+years of confidence and affection have steadily strengthened, we have
+labored faithfully together.
+
+From the year 1850 conventions were held in various States, and their
+respective legislatures were continually besieged; New York was
+thoroughly canvassed by Miss Anthony and others. Appeals, calls for
+meetings, and petitions were circulated without number. In 1854 I
+prepared my first speech for the New York legislature. That was a great
+event in my life. I felt so nervous over it, lest it should not be
+worthy the occasion, that Miss Anthony suggested that I should slip up
+to Rochester and submit it to the Rev. William Henry Channing, who was
+preaching there at that time. I did so, and his opinion was so favorable
+as to the merits of my speech that I felt quite reassured. My father
+felt equally nervous when he saw, by the Albany _Evening Journal_, that
+I was to speak at the Capitol, and asked me to read my speech to him
+also. Accordingly, I stopped at Johnstown on my way to Albany, and, late
+one evening, when he was alone in his office, I entered and took my seat
+on the opposite side of his table. On no occasion, before or since, was
+I ever more embarrassed--an audience of one, and that the one of all
+others whose approbation I most desired, whose disapproval I most
+feared. I knew he condemned the whole movement, and was deeply grieved
+at the active part I had taken. Hence I was fully aware that I was about
+to address a wholly unsympathetic audience. However, I began, with a
+dogged determination to give all the power I could to my manuscript, and
+not to be discouraged or turned from my purpose by any tender appeals or
+adverse criticisms. I described the widow in the first hours of her
+grief, subject to the intrusions of the coarse minions of the law,
+taking inventory of the household goods, of the old armchair in which
+her loved one had breathed his last, of the old clock in the corner that
+told the hour he passed away. I threw all the pathos I could into my
+voice and language at this point, and, to my intense satisfaction, I saw
+tears filling my father's eyes. I cannot express the exultation I felt,
+thinking that now he would see, with my eyes, the injustice women
+suffered under the laws he understood so well.
+
+Feeling that I had touched his heart I went on with renewed confidence,
+and, when I had finished, I saw he was thoroughly magnetized. With
+beating heart I waited for him to break the silence. He was evidently
+deeply pondering over all he had heard, and did not speak for a long
+time. I believed I had opened to him a new world of thought. He had
+listened long to the complaints of women, but from the lips of his own
+daughter they had come with a deeper pathos and power. At last, turning
+abruptly, he said: "Surely you have had a happy, comfortable life, with
+all your wants and needs supplied; and yet that speech fills me with
+self-reproach; for one might naturally ask, how can a young woman,
+tenderly brought up, who has had no bitter personal experience, feel so
+keenly the wrongs of her sex? Where did you learn this lesson?" "I
+learned it here," I replied, "in your office, when a child, listening to
+the complaints women made to you. They who have sympathy and imagination
+to make the sorrows of others their own can readily learn all the hard
+lessons of life from the experience of others." "Well, well!" he said,
+"you have made your points clear and strong; but I think I can find you
+even more cruel laws than those you have quoted." He suggested some
+improvements in my speech, looked up other laws, and it was one o'clock
+in the morning before we kissed each other good-night. How he felt on
+the question after that I do not know, as he never said anything in
+favor of or against it. He gladly gave me any help I needed, from time
+to time, in looking up the laws, and was very desirous that whatever I
+gave to the public should be carefully prepared.
+
+Miss Anthony printed twenty thousand copies of this address, laid it on
+the desk of every member of the legislature, both in the Assembly and
+Senate, and, in her travels that winter, she circulated it throughout
+the State. I am happy to say I never felt so anxious about the fate of a
+speech since.
+
+The first woman's convention in Albany was held at this time, and we had
+a kind of protracted meeting for two weeks after. There were several
+hearings before both branches of the legislature, and a succession of
+meetings in Association Hall, in which Phillips, Channing, Ernestine L.
+Rose, Antoinette L. Brown, and Susan B. Anthony took part. Being at the
+capital of the State, discussion was aroused at every fireside, while
+the comments of the press were numerous and varied. Every little country
+paper had something witty or silly to say about the uprising of the
+"strong-minded." Those editors whose heads were about the size of an
+apple were the most opposed to the uprising of women, illustrating what
+Sidney Smith said long ago: "There always was, and there always will be
+a class of men so small that, if women were educated, there would be
+nobody left below them." Poor human nature loves to have something to
+look down upon!
+
+Here is a specimen of the way such editors talked at that time. The
+_Albany Register_, in an article on "Woman's Rights in the Legislature,"
+dated March 7, 1854, says:
+
+     "While the feminine propagandists of women's rights confined
+     themselves to the exhibition of short petticoats and long-legged
+     boots, and to the holding of conventions and speech-making in
+     concert rooms, the people were disposed to be amused by them, as
+     they are by the wit of the clown in the circus, or the performances
+     of Punch and Judy on fair days, or the minstrelsy of gentlemen with
+     blackened faces, on banjos, the tambourine, and bones. But the joke
+     is becoming stale. People are getting cloyed with these
+     performances, and are looking for some healthier and more
+     intellectual amusement. The ludicrous is wearing away, and disgust
+     is taking the place of pleasurable sensations, arising from the
+     novelty of this new phase of hypocrisy and infidel fanaticism.
+
+     "People are beginning to inquire how far public sentiment should
+     sanction or tolerate these unsexed women, who would step out from
+     the true sphere of the mother, the wife, and the daughter, and
+     taking upon themselves the duties and the business of men, stalk
+     into the public gaze, and, by engaging in the politics, the rough
+     controversies and trafficking of the world, upheave existing
+     institutions, and overrun all the social relations of life.
+
+     "It is a melancholy reflection that, among our American women, who
+     have been educated to better things, there should be found any who
+     are willing to follow the lead of such foreign propagandists as the
+     ringleted, gloved exotic, Ernestine L. Rose. We can understand how
+     such a man as the Rev. Mr. May, or the sleek-headed Dr. Channing,
+     may be deluded by her into becoming one of her disciples. They are
+     not the first instances of infatuation that may overtake
+     weak-minded men, if they are honest in their devotion to her and
+     her doctrines; nor would they be the first examples of a low
+     ambition that seeks notoriety as a substitute for true fame, if
+     they are dishonest. Such men there are always, and, honest or
+     dishonest, their true position is that of being tied to the apron
+     strings of some strong-minded woman, and to be exhibited as rare
+     specimens of human wickedness or human weakness and folly. But that
+     one educated American should become her disciple and follow her
+     insane teachings is a marvel."
+
+When we see the abuse and ridicule to which the best of men were
+subjected for standing on our platform in the early days, we need not
+wonder that so few have been brave enough to advocate our cause in later
+years, either in conventions or in the halls of legislation.
+
+After twelve added years of agitation, following the passage of the
+Property Bill, New York conceded other civil rights to married women.
+Pending the discussion of these various bills, Susan B. Anthony
+circulated petitions, both for the civil and political rights of women,
+throughout the State, traveling in stage coaches, open wagons, and
+sleighs in all seasons, and on foot, from door to door through towns and
+cities, doing her uttermost to rouse women to some sense of their
+natural rights as human beings, and to their civil and political rights
+as citizens of a republic. And while expending her time, strength, and
+money to secure these blessings for the women of the State, they would
+gruffly tell her that they had all the rights they wanted, or rudely
+shut the door in her face; leaving her to stand outside, petition in
+hand, treating her with as much contempt as if she was asking alms for
+herself. None but those who did that work in the early days, for the
+slaves and the women, can ever know the hardships and humiliations that
+were endured. But it was done because it was only through petitions--a
+power seemingly so inefficient--that disfranchised classes could be
+heard in the State and National councils; hence their importance.
+
+The frivolous objections some women made to our appeals were as
+exasperating as they were ridiculous. To reply to them politely, at all
+times, required a divine patience. On one occasion, after addressing the
+legislature, some of the ladies, in congratulating me, inquired, in a
+deprecating tone, "What do you do with your children?" "Ladies," I said,
+"it takes me no longer to speak, than you to listen; what have you done
+with your children the two hours you have been sitting here? But, to
+answer your question, I never leave my children to go to Saratoga,
+Washington, Newport, or Europe, or even to come here. They are, at this
+moment, with a faithful nurse at the Delevan House, and, having
+accomplished my mission, we shall all return home together."
+
+When my children reached the magic number of seven, my good angel, Susan
+B. Anthony, would sometimes take one or two of them to her own quiet
+home, just out of Rochester, where, on a well-cultivated little farm,
+one could enjoy uninterrupted rest and the choicest fruits of the
+season. That was always a safe harbor for my friend, as her family
+sympathized fully in the reforms to which she gave her life. I have many
+pleasant memories of my own flying visits to that hospitable Quaker home
+and the broad catholic spirit of Daniel and Lucy Anthony. Whatever
+opposition and ridicule their daughter endured elsewhere, she enjoyed
+the steadfast sympathy and confidence of her own home circle. Her
+faithful sister Mary, a most successful teacher in the public schools of
+Rochester for a quarter of a century, and a good financier, who with her
+patrimony and salary had laid by a competence, took on her shoulders
+double duty at home in cheering the declining years of her parents, that
+Susan might do the public work in the reforms in which they were equally
+interested. Now, with life's earnest work nearly accomplished, the
+sisters are living happily together; illustrating another of the many
+charming homes of single women, so rapidly multiplying of late.
+
+Miss Anthony, who was a frequent guest at my home, sometimes stood guard
+when I was absent. The children of our household say that among their
+earliest recollections is the tableau of "Mother and Susan," seated by a
+large table covered with books and papers, always writing and talking
+about the Constitution, interrupted with occasional visits from others
+of the faithful. Hither came Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Paulina Wright
+Davis, Frances Dana Gage, Dr. Harriet Hunt, Rev. Antoinette Brown, Lucy
+Stone, and Abby Kelly, until all these names were as familiar as
+household words to the children.
+
+Martha C. Wright of Auburn was a frequent visitor at the center of the
+rebellion, as my sequestered cottage on Locust Hill was facetiously
+called. She brought to these councils of war not only her own wisdom,
+but that of the wife and sister of William H. Seward, and sometimes
+encouraging suggestions from the great statesman himself, from whose
+writings we often gleaned grand and radical sentiments. Lucretia Mott,
+too, being an occasional guest of her sister, Martha C. Wright, added
+the dignity of her presence at many of these important consultations.
+She was uniformly in favor of toning down our fiery pronunciamentos. For
+Miss Anthony and myself, the English language had no words strong enough
+to express the indignation we felt at the prolonged injustice to women.
+We found, however, that, after expressing ourselves in the most vehement
+manner and thus in a measure giving our feelings an outlet, we were
+reconciled to issue the documents in milder terms. If the men of the
+State could have known the stern rebukes, the denunciations, the wit,
+the irony, the sarcasm that were garnered there, and then judiciously
+pigeonholed and milder and more persuasive appeals substituted, they
+would have been truly thankful that they fared no worse.
+
+Senator Seward frequently left Washington to visit in our neighborhood,
+at the house of Judge G.V. Sackett, a man of wealth and political
+influence. One of the Senator's standing anecdotes, at dinner, to
+illustrate the purifying influence of women at the polls, which he
+always told with great zest for my especial benefit, was in regard to
+the manner in which his wife's sister exercised the right of suffrage.
+
+He said: "Mrs. Worden having the supervision of a farm near Auburn, was
+obliged to hire two or three men for its cultivation. It was her custom,
+having examined them as to their capacity to perform the required labor,
+their knowledge of tools, horses, cattle, and horticulture, to inquire
+as to their politics. She informed them that, being a widow and having
+no one to represent her, she must have Republicans to do her voting and
+to represent her political opinions, and it always so happened that the
+men who offered their services belonged to the Republican party. I
+remarked to her, one day, 'Are you sure your men vote as they promise?'
+'Yes,' she replied, 'I trust nothing to their discretion. I take them in
+my carriage within sight of the polls and put them in charge of some
+Republican who can be trusted. I see that they have the right tickets
+and then I feel sure that I am faithfully represented, and I know I am
+right in so doing. I have neither husband, father, nor son; I am
+responsible for my own taxes; am amenable to all the laws of the State;
+must pay the penalty of my own crimes if I commit any; hence I have the
+right, according to the principles of our government, to representation,
+and so long as I am not permitted to vote in person, I have a right to
+do so by proxy; hence I hire men to vote my principles.'"
+
+These two sisters, Mrs. Worden and Mrs. Seward, daughters of Judge
+Miller, an influential man, were women of culture and remarkable natural
+intelligence, and interested in all progressive ideas. They had rare
+common sense and independence of character, great simplicity of manner,
+and were wholly indifferent to the little arts of the toilet.
+
+I was often told by fashionable women that they objected to the woman's
+rights movement because of the publicity of a convention, the immodesty
+of speaking from a platform, and the trial of seeing one's name in the
+papers. Several ladies made such remarks to me one day, as a bevy of us
+were sitting together in one of the fashionable hotels in Newport. We
+were holding a convention there at that time, and some of them had been
+present at one of the sessions. "Really," said I, "ladies, you surprise
+me; our conventions are not as public as the ballroom where I saw you
+all dancing last night. As to modesty, it may be a question, in many
+minds, whether it is less modest to speak words of soberness and truth,
+plainly dressed on a platform, than gorgeously arrayed, with bare arms
+and shoulders, to waltz in the arms of strange gentlemen. And as to the
+press, I noticed you all reading, in this morning's papers, with evident
+satisfaction, the personal compliments and full descriptions of your
+dresses at the last ball. I presume that any one of you would have felt
+slighted if your name had not been mentioned in the general description.
+When my name is mentioned, it is in connection with some great reform
+movement. Thus we all suffer or enjoy the same publicity--we are alike
+ridiculed. Wise men pity and ridicule you, and fools pity and ridicule
+me--you as the victims of folly and fashion, me as the representative of
+many of the disagreeable 'isms' of the age, as they choose to style
+liberal opinions. It is amusing, in analyzing prejudices, to see on what
+slender foundation they rest." And the ladies around me were so
+completely cornered that no one attempted an answer.
+
+I remember being at a party at Secretary Seward's home, at Auburn, one
+evening, when Mr. Burlingame, special ambassador from China to the
+United States, with a Chinese delegation, were among the guests. As soon
+as the dancing commenced, and young ladies and gentlemen, locked in each
+other's arms, began to whirl in the giddy waltz, these Chinese gentlemen
+were so shocked that they covered their faces with their fans,
+occasionally peeping out each side and expressing their surprise to each
+other. They thought us the most immodest women on the face of the earth.
+Modesty and taste are questions of latitude and education; the more
+people know,--the more their ideas are expanded by travel, experience,
+and observation,--the less easily they are shocked. The narrowness and
+bigotry of women are the result of their circumscribed sphere of thought
+and action.
+
+A few years after Judge Hurlbert had published his work on "Human
+Rights," in which he advocated woman's right to the suffrage, and I had
+addressed the legislature, we met at a dinner party in Albany. Senator
+and Mrs. Seward were there. The Senator was very merry on that occasion
+and made Judge Hurlbert and myself the target for all his ridicule on
+the woman's rights question, in which the most of the company joined, so
+that we stood quite alone. Sure that we had the right on our side and
+the arguments clearly defined in our minds, and both being cool and
+self-possessed, and in wit and sarcasm quite equal to any of them, we
+fought the Senator, inch by inch, until he had a very narrow platform to
+stand on. Mrs. Seward maintained an unbroken silence, while those ladies
+who did open their lips were with the opposition, supposing, no doubt,
+that Senator Seward represented his wife's opinions.
+
+When we ladies withdrew from the table my embarrassment may be easily
+imagined. Separated from the Judge, I would now be an hour with a bevy
+of ladies who evidently felt repugnance to all my most cherished
+opinions. It was the first time I had met Mrs. Seward, and I did not
+then know the broad, liberal tendencies of her mind. What a tide of
+disagreeable thoughts rushed through me in that short passage from the
+dining room to the parlor. How gladly I would have glided out the front
+door! But that was impossible, so I made up my mind to stroll round as
+if self-absorbed, and look at the books and paintings until the Judge
+appeared; as I took it for granted that, after all I had said at the
+table on the political, religious, and social equality of women, not a
+lady would have anything to say to me.
+
+Imagine, then, my surprise when, the moment the parlor door was closed
+upon us, Mrs. Seward, approaching me most affectionately, said:
+
+"Let me thank you for the brave words you uttered at the dinner table,
+and for your speech before the legislature, that thrilled my soul as I
+read it over and over."
+
+I was filled with joy and astonishment. Recovering myself, I said, "Is
+it possible, Mrs. Seward, that you agree with me? Then why, when I was
+so hard pressed by foes on every side, did you not come to the defense?
+I supposed that all you ladies were hostile to every one of my ideas on
+this question."
+
+"No, no!" said she; "I am with you thoroughly, but I am a born coward;
+there is nothing I dread more than Mr. Seward's ridicule. I would rather
+walk up to the cannon's mouth than encounter it." "I, too, am with you,"
+"And I," said two or three others, who had been silent at the table.
+
+I never had a more serious, heartfelt conversation than with these
+ladies. Mrs. Seward's spontaneity and earnestness had moved them all
+deeply, and when the Senator appeared the first words he said were:
+
+"Before we part I must confess that I was fairly vanquished by you and
+the Judge, on my own principles" (for we had quoted some of his most
+radical utterances). "You have the argument, but custom and prejudice
+are against you, and they are stronger than truth and logic."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+REFORMS AND MOBS.
+
+
+There was one bright woman among the many in our Seneca Falls literary
+circle to whom I would give more than a passing notice--Mrs. Amelia
+Bloomer, who represented three novel phases of woman's life. She was
+assistant postmistress; an editor of a reform paper advocating
+temperance and woman's rights; and an advocate of the new costume which
+bore her name!
+
+In 1849 her husband was appointed postmaster, and she became his deputy,
+was duly sworn in, and, during the administration of Taylor and
+Fillmore, served in that capacity. When she assumed her duties the
+improvement in the appearance and conduct of the office was generally
+acknowledged. A neat little room adjoining the public office became a
+kind of ladies' exchange, where those coming from different parts of the
+town could meet to talk over the news of the day and read the papers and
+magazines that came to Mrs. Bloomer as editor of the _Lily_. Those who
+enjoyed the brief reign of a woman in the post office can readily
+testify to the void felt by the ladies of the village when Mrs.
+Bloomer's term expired and a man once more reigned in her stead.
+However, she still edited the _Lily_, and her office remained a
+fashionable center for several years. Although she wore the bloomer
+dress, its originator was Elizabeth Smith Miller, the only daughter of
+Gerrit Smith. In the winter of 1852 Mrs. Miller came to visit me in
+Seneca Falls, dressed somewhat in the Turkish style--short skirt, full
+trousers of fine black broadcloth; a Spanish cloak, of the same
+material, reaching to the knee; beaver hat and feathers and dark furs;
+altogether a most becoming costume and exceedingly convenient for
+walking in all kinds of weather. To see my cousin, with a lamp in one
+hand and a baby in the other, walk upstairs with ease and grace, while,
+with flowing robes, I pulled myself up with difficulty, lamp and baby
+out of the question, readily convinced me that there was sore need of
+reform in woman's dress, and I promptly donned a similar attire. What
+incredible freedom I enjoyed for two years! Like a captive set free from
+his ball and chain, I was always ready for a brisk walk through sleet
+and snow and rain, to climb a mountain, jump over a fence, work in the
+garden, and, in fact, for any necessary locomotion.
+
+Bloomer is now a recognized word in the English language. Mrs. Bloomer,
+having the _Lily_ in which to discuss the merits of the new dress, the
+press generally took up the question, and much valuable information was
+elicited on the physiological results of woman's fashionable attire; the
+crippling effect of tight waists and long skirts, the heavy weight on
+the hips, and high heels, all combined to throw the spine out of plumb
+and lay the foundation for all manner of nervous diseases. But, while
+all agreed that some change was absolutely necessary for the health of
+women, the press stoutly ridiculed those who were ready to make the
+experiment.
+
+A few sensible women, in different parts of the country, adopted the
+costume, and farmers' wives especially proved its convenience. It was
+also worn by skaters, gymnasts, tourists, and in sanitariums. But, while
+the few realized its advantages, the many laughed it to scorn, and
+heaped such ridicule on its wearers that they soon found that the
+physical freedom enjoyed did not compensate for the persistent
+persecution and petty annoyances suffered at every turn. To be rudely
+gazed at in public and private, to be the conscious subjects of
+criticism, and to be followed by crowds of boys in the streets, were
+all, to the very last degree, exasperating. A favorite doggerel that our
+tormentors chanted, when we appeared in public places, ran thus:
+
+    "Heigh! ho! in rain and snow,
+    The bloomer now is all the go.
+    Twenty tailors take the stitches,
+    Twenty women wear the breeches.
+    Heigh! ho! in rain or snow,
+    The bloomer now is all the go."
+
+The singers were generally invisible behind some fence or attic window.
+Those who wore the dress can recall countless amusing and annoying
+experiences. The patience of most of us was exhausted in about two
+years; but our leader, Mrs. Miller, bravely adhered to the costume for
+nearly seven years, under the most trying circumstances. While her
+father was in Congress, she wore it at many fashionable dinners and
+receptions in Washington. She was bravely sustained, however, by her
+husband, Colonel Miller, who never flinched in escorting his wife and
+her coadjutors, however inartistic their costumes might be. To tall,
+gaunt women with large feet and to those who were short and stout, it
+was equally trying. Mrs. Miller was also encouraged by the intense
+feeling of her father on the question of woman's dress. To him the whole
+revolution in woman's position turned on her dress. The long skirt was
+the symbol of her degradation.
+
+The names of those who wore the bloomer costume, besides those already
+mentioned, were Paulina Wright Davis, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony,
+Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Mrs. William Burleigh, Celia Burleigh,
+Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, Helen Jarvis, Lydia Jenkins, Amelia Willard,
+Dr. Harriet N. Austin, and many patients in sanitariums, whose names I
+cannot recall. Looking back to this experiment, I am not surprised at
+the hostility of men in general to the dress, as it made it very
+uncomfortable for them to go anywhere with those who wore it. People
+would stare, many men and women make rude remarks, boys followed in
+crowds, with jeers and laughter, so that gentlemen in attendance would
+feel it their duty to show fight, unless they had sufficient
+self-control to pursue the even tenor of their way, as the ladies
+themselves did, without taking the slightest notice of the commotion
+they created. But Colonel Miller went through the ordeal with coolness
+and dogged determination, to the vexation of his acquaintances, who
+thought one of his duties as a husband was to prescribe his wife's
+costume.
+
+Though we did not realize the success we hoped for by making the dress
+popular, yet the effort was not lost. We were well aware that the dress
+was not artistic, and though we made many changes, our own good taste
+was never satisfied until we threw aside the loose trousers and adopted
+buttoned leggins. After giving up the experiment, we found that the
+costume in which Diana the Huntress is represented, and that worn on the
+stage by Ellen Tree in the play of "Ion," would have been more artistic
+and convenient. But we, who had made the experiment, were too happy to
+move about unnoticed and unknown, to risk, again, the happiness of
+ourselves and our friends by any further experiments. I have never
+wondered since that the Chinese women allow their daughters' feet to be
+encased in iron shoes, nor that the Hindoo widows walk calmly to the
+funeral pyre; for great are the penalties of those who dare resist the
+behests of the tyrant Custom.
+
+Nevertheless the agitation has been kept up, in a mild form, both in
+England and America. Lady Harberton, in 1885, was at the head of an
+organized movement in London to introduce the bifurcated skirt; Mrs.
+Jenness Miller, in this country, is making an entire revolution in every
+garment that belongs to a woman's toilet; and common-sense shoemakers
+have vouchsafed to us, at last, a low, square heel to our boots and a
+broad sole in which the five toes can spread themselves at pleasure.
+Evidently a new day of physical freedom is at last dawning for the most
+cribbed and crippled of Eve's unhappy daughters.
+
+It was while living in Seneca Falls, and at one of the most despairing
+periods of my young life, that one of the best gifts of the gods came to
+me in the form of a good, faithful housekeeper. She was indeed a
+treasure, a friend and comforter, a second mother to my children, and
+understood all life's duties and gladly bore its burdens. She could fill
+any department in domestic life, and for thirty years was the joy of our
+household. But for this noble, self-sacrificing woman, much of my public
+work would have been quite impossible. If by word or deed I have made
+the journey of life easier for any struggling soul, I must in justice
+share the meed of praise accorded me with my little Quaker friend Amelia
+Willard.
+
+There are two classes of housekeepers--one that will get what they want,
+if in the range of human possibilities, and then accept the inevitable
+inconveniences with cheerfulness and heroism; the other, from a kind of
+chronic inertia and a fear of taking responsibility, accept everything
+as they find it, though with gentle, continuous complainings. The latter
+are called amiable women. Such a woman was our congressman's wife in
+1854, and, as I was the reservoir of all her sorrows, great and small, I
+became very weary of her amiable non-resistance. Among other domestic
+trials, she had a kitchen stove that smoked and leaked, which could
+neither bake nor broil,--a worthless thing,--and too small for any
+purpose. Consequently half their viands were spoiled in the cooking, and
+the cooks left in disgust, one after another.
+
+In telling me, one day, of these kitchen misadventures, she actually
+shed tears, which so roused my sympathies that, with surprise, I
+exclaimed: "Why do you not buy a new stove?" To my unassisted common
+sense that seemed the most practical thing to do. "Why," she replied, "I
+have never purchased a darning needle, to put the case strongly, without
+consulting Mr. S., and he does not think a new stove necessary." "What,
+pray," said I, "does he know about stoves, sitting in his easy-chair in
+Washington? If he had a dull old knife with broken blades, he would soon
+get a new one with which to sharpen his pens and pencils, and, if he
+attempted to cook a meal--granting he knew how--on your old stove, he
+would set it out of doors the next hour. Now my advice to you is to buy
+a new one this very day!"
+
+"Bless me!" she said, "that would make him furious; he would blow me
+sky-high." "Well," I replied, "suppose he did go into a regular tantrum
+and use all the most startling expletives in the vocabulary for fifteen
+minutes! What is that compared with a good stove 365 days in the year?
+Just put all he could say on one side, and all the advantages you would
+enjoy on the other, and you must readily see that his wrath would kick
+the beam." As my logic was irresistible, she said, "Well, if you will go
+with me, and help select a stove, I think I will take the
+responsibility."
+
+Accordingly we went to the hardware store and selected the most
+approved, largest-sized stove, with all the best cooking utensils, best
+Russian pipe, etc. "Now," said she, "I am in equal need of a good stove
+in my sitting room, and I would like the pipes of both stoves to lead
+into dumb stoves above, and thus heat two or three rooms upstairs for my
+children to play in, as they have no place except the sitting room,
+where they must be always with me; but I suppose it is not best to do
+too much at one time." "On the contrary," I replied, "as your husband is
+wealthy, you had better get all you really need now. Mr. S. will
+probably be no more surprised with two stoves than with one, and, as you
+expect a hot scene over the matter, the more you get out of it the
+better."
+
+So the stoves and pipes were ordered, holes cut through the ceiling, and
+all were in working order next day. The cook was delighted over her
+splendid stove and shining tins, copper-bottomed tea kettle and boiler,
+and warm sleeping room upstairs; the children were delighted with their
+large playrooms, and madam jubilant with her added comforts and that
+newborn feeling of independence one has in assuming responsibility.
+
+She was expecting Mr. S. home in the holidays, and occasionally weakened
+at the prospect of what she feared might be a disagreeable encounter. At
+such times she came to consult with me, as to what she would say and do
+when the crisis arrived. Having studied the _genus homo_ alike on the
+divine heights of exaltation and in the valleys of humiliation, I was
+able to make some valuable suggestions.
+
+"Now," said I, "when your husband explodes, as you think he will,
+neither say nor do anything; sit and gaze out of the window with that
+far-away, sad look women know so well how to affect. If you can summon
+tears at pleasure, a few would not be amiss; a gentle shower, not enough
+to make the nose and eyes red or to detract from your beauty. Men cannot
+resist beauty and tears. Never mar their effect with anything bordering
+on sobs and hysteria; such violent manifestations being neither refined
+nor artistic. A scene in which one person does the talking must be
+limited in time. No ordinary man can keep at white heat fifteen minutes;
+if his victim says nothing, he will soon exhaust himself. Remember every
+time you speak in the way of defense, you give him a new text on which
+to branch out again. If silence is ever golden, it is when a husband is
+in a tantrum."
+
+In due time Mr. S. arrived, laden with Christmas presents, and Charlotte
+came over to tell me that she had passed through the ordeal. I will give
+the scene in her own words as nearly as possible. "My husband came
+yesterday, just before dinner, and, as I expected him, I had all things
+in order. He seemed very happy to see me and the children, and we had a
+gay time looking at our presents and chatting about Washington and all
+that had happened since we parted. It made me sad, in the midst of our
+happiness, to think how soon the current of his feelings would change,
+and I wished in my soul that I had not bought the stoves. But, at last,
+dinner was announced, and I knew that the hour had come. He ran upstairs
+to give a few touches to his toilet, when lo! the shining stoves and
+pipes caught his eyes. He explored the upper apartments and came down
+the back stairs, glanced at the kitchen stove, then into the dining
+room, and stood confounded, for a moment, before the nickel-plated
+'Morning Glory.' Then he exclaimed, 'Heavens and earth! Charlotte, what
+have you been doing?' I remembered what you told me and said nothing,
+but looked steadily out of the window. I summoned no tears, however, for
+I felt more like laughing than crying; he looked so ridiculous flying
+round spasmodically, like popcorn on a hot griddle, and talking as if
+making a stump speech on the corruptions of the Democrats. The first
+time he paused to take breath I said, in my softest tones: 'William,
+dinner is waiting; I fear the soup will be cold.' Fortunately he was
+hungry, and that great central organ of life and happiness asserted its
+claims on his attention, and he took his seat at the table. I broke what
+might have been an awkward silence, chatting with the older children
+about their school lessons. Fortunately they were late, and did not know
+what had happened, so they talked to their father and gradually restored
+his equilibrium. We had a very good dinner, and I have not heard a word
+about the stoves since. I suppose we shall have another scene when the
+bill is presented."
+
+A few years later, Horace Greeley came to Seneca Falls to lecture on
+temperance. As he stayed with us, we invited Mr. S., among others, to
+dinner. The chief topic at the table was the idiosyncrasies of women.
+Mr. Greeley told many amusing things about his wife, of her erratic
+movements and sudden decisions to do and dare what seemed most
+impracticable. Perhaps, on rising some morning, she would say: "I think
+I'll go to Europe by the next steamer, Horace. Will you get tickets
+to-day for me, the nurse, and children?" "Well," said Mr. S., "she must
+be something like our hostess. Every time her husband goes away she cuts
+a door or window. They have only ten doors to lock every night, now."
+
+"Yes," I said, "and your own wife, too, Mrs. S., has the credit of some
+high-handed measures when you are in Washington." Then I told the whole
+story, amid peals of laughter, just as related above. The dinner table
+scene fairly convulsed the Congressman. The thought that he had made
+such a fool of himself in the eyes of Charlotte that she could not even
+summon a tear in her defense, particularly pleased him. When
+sufficiently recovered to speak, he said: "Well, I never could
+understand how it was that Charlotte suddenly emerged from her thraldom
+and manifested such rare executive ability. Now I see to whom I am
+indebted for the most comfortable part of my married life. I am a
+thousand times obliged to you; you did just right and so did she, and
+she has been a happier woman ever since. She now gets what she needs,
+and frets no more, to me, about ten thousand little things. How can a
+man know what implements are necessary for the work he never does? Of
+all agencies for upsetting the equanimity of family life, none can
+surpass an old, broken-down kitchen stove!"
+
+In the winter of 1861, just after the election of Lincoln, the
+abolitionists decided to hold a series of conventions in the chief
+cities of the North. All their available speakers were pledged for
+active service. The Republican party, having absorbed the political
+abolitionists within its ranks by its declared hostility to the
+extension of slavery, had come into power with overwhelming majorities.
+Hence the Garrisonian abolitionists, opposed to all compromises, felt
+that this was the opportune moment to rouse the people to the necessity
+of holding that party to its declared principles, and pushing it, if
+possible, a step or two forward.
+
+I was invited to accompany Miss Anthony and Beriah Green to a few points
+in Central New York. But we soon found, by the concerted action of
+Republicans all over the country, that anti-slavery conventions would
+not be tolerated. Thus Republicans and Democrats made common cause
+against the abolitionists. The John Brown raid, the year before, had
+intimidated Northern politicians as much as Southern slaveholders, and
+the general feeling was that the discussion of the question at the North
+should be altogether suppressed.
+
+From Buffalo to Albany our experience was the same, varied only by the
+fertile resources of the actors and their surroundings. Thirty years of
+education had somewhat changed the character of Northern mobs. They no
+longer dragged men through the streets with ropes around their necks,
+nor broke up women's prayer meetings; they no longer threw eggs and
+brickbats at the apostles of reform, nor dipped them in barrels of tar
+and feathers, they simply crowded the halls, and, with laughing,
+groaning, clapping, and cheering, effectually interrupted the
+proceedings. Such was our experience during the two days we attempted to
+hold a convention in St. James' Hall, Buffalo. As we paid for the hall,
+the mob enjoyed themselves, at our expense, in more ways than one. Every
+session, at the appointed time, we took our places on the platform,
+making, at various intervals of silence, renewed efforts to speak. Not
+succeeding, we sat and conversed with each other and the many friends
+who crowded the platform and anterooms. Thus, among ourselves, we had a
+pleasant reception and a discussion of many phases of the question that
+brought us together. The mob not only vouchsafed to us the privilege of
+talking to our friends without interruption, but delegations of their
+own came behind the scenes, from time to time, to discuss with us the
+right of free speech and the constitutionality of slavery.
+
+These Buffalo rowdies were headed by ex-Justice Hinson, aided by younger
+members of the Fillmore and Seymour families, and the chief of police
+and fifty subordinates, who were admitted to the hall free, for the
+express purpose of protecting our right of free speech, but who, in
+defiance of the mayor's orders, made not the slightest effort in our
+defense. At Lockport there was a feeble attempt in the same direction.
+At Albion neither hall, church, nor schoolhouse could be obtained, so we
+held small meetings in the dining room of the hotel. At Rochester,
+Corinthian Hall was packed long before the hour advertised. This was a
+delicately appreciative, jocose mob. At this point Aaron Powell joined
+us. As he had just risen from a bed of sickness, looking pale and
+emaciated, he slowly mounted the platform. The mob at once took in his
+look of exhaustion, and, as he seated himself, they gave an audible
+simultaneous sigh, as if to say, what a relief it is to be seated! So
+completely did the tender manifestation reflect Mr. Powell's apparent
+condition that the whole audience burst into a roar of laughter. Here,
+too, all attempts to speak were futile. At Port Byron a generous
+sprinkling of cayenne pepper on the stove soon cut short all
+constitutional arguments and paeans to liberty.
+
+And so it was all the way to Albany. The whole State was aflame with the
+mob spirit, and from Boston and various points in other States the same
+news reached us. As the legislature was in session, and we were
+advertised in Albany, a radical member sarcastically moved "That as Mrs.
+Stanton and Miss Anthony were about to move on Albany, the militia be
+ordered out for the protection of the city." Happily, Albany could then
+boast of a Democratic mayor, a man of courage and conscience, who said
+the right of free speech should never be trodden under foot where he had
+the right to prevent it. And grandly did that one determined man
+maintain order in his jurisdiction. Through all the sessions of the
+convention Mayor Thatcher sat on the platform, his police stationed in
+different parts of the hall and outside the building, to disperse the
+crowd as fast as it collected. If a man or boy hissed or made the
+slightest interruption, he was immediately ejected. And not only did the
+mayor preserve order in the meetings, but, with a company of armed
+police, he escorted us, every time, to and from the Delevan House. The
+last night Gerrit Smith addressed the mob from the steps of the hotel,
+after which they gave him three cheers and dispersed in good order.
+
+When proposing for the Mayor a vote of thanks, at the close of the
+convention, Mr. Smith expressed his fears that it had been a severe
+ordeal for him to listen to these prolonged anti-slavery discussions. He
+smiled, and said: "I have really been deeply interested and instructed.
+I rather congratulate myself that a convention of this character has, at
+last, come in the line of my business; otherwise I should have probably
+remained in ignorance of many important facts and opinions I now
+understand and appreciate."
+
+While all this was going on publicly, an equally trying experience was
+progressing, day by day, behind the scenes. Miss Anthony had been
+instrumental in helping a much abused mother, with her child, to escape
+from a husband who had immured her in an insane asylum. The wife
+belonged to one of the first families of New York, her brother being a
+United States senator, and the husband, also, a man of position; a large
+circle of friends and acquaintances was interested in the result. Though
+she was incarcerated in an insane asylum for eighteen months, yet
+members of her own family again and again testified that she was not
+insane. Miss Anthony, knowing that she was not, and believing fully that
+the unhappy mother was the victim of a conspiracy, would not reveal her
+hiding place.
+
+Knowing the confidence Miss Anthony felt in the wisdom of Mr. Garrison
+and Mr. Phillips, they were implored to use their influence with her to
+give up the fugitives. Letters and telegrams, persuasions, arguments,
+and warnings from Mr. Garrison, Mr. Phillips, and the Senator on the one
+side, and from Lydia Mott, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet, and Abby Hopper
+Gibbons, on the other, poured in upon her, day after day; but Miss
+Anthony remained immovable, although she knew that she was defying and
+violating the law and might be arrested any moment on the platform. We
+had known so many aggravated cases of this kind that, in daily counsel,
+we resolved that this woman should not be recaptured if it were possible
+to prevent it. To us it looked as imperative a duty to shield a sane
+mother, who had been torn from a family of little children and doomed to
+the companionship of lunatics, and to aid her in fleeing to a place of
+safety, as to help a fugitive from slavery to Canada. In both cases an
+unjust law was violated; in both cases the supposed owners of the
+victims were defied; hence, in point of law and morals, the act was the
+same in both cases. The result proved the wisdom of Miss Anthony's
+decision, as all with whom Mrs. P. came in contact for years afterward,
+expressed the opinion that she was, and always had been, perfectly sane.
+Could the dark secrets of insane asylums be brought to light we should
+be shocked to know the great number of rebellious wives, sisters, and
+daughters who are thus sacrificed to false customs and barbarous laws
+made by men for women.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.
+
+
+The widespread discussion we are having, just now, on the subject of
+marriage and divorce, reminds me of an equally exciting one in 1860. A
+very liberal bill, introduced into the Indiana legislature by Robert
+Dale Owen, and which passed by a large majority, roused much public
+thought on the question, and made that State free soil for unhappy wives
+and husbands. A similar bill was introduced into the legislature of New
+York by Mr. Ramsey, which was defeated by four votes, owing, mainly, to
+the intense opposition of Horace Greeley. He and Mr. Owen had a
+prolonged discussion, in the New York _Tribune_, in which Mr. Owen got
+decidedly the better of the argument.
+
+There had been several aggravated cases of cruelty to wives among the
+Dutch aristocracy, so that strong influences in favor of the bill had
+been brought to bear on the legislature, but the _Tribune_ thundered
+every morning in its editorial column its loudest peals, which
+reverberated through the State. So bitter was the opposition to divorce,
+for any cause, that but few dared to take part in the discussion. I was
+the only woman, for many years, who wrote and spoke on the question.
+Articles on divorce, by a number of women, recently published in the
+_North American Review_, are a sign of progress, showing that women dare
+speak out now more freely on the relations that most deeply concern
+them.
+
+My feelings had been stirred to their depths very early in life by the
+sufferings of a dear friend of mine, at whose wedding I was one of the
+bridesmaids. In listening to the facts in her case, my mind was fully
+made up as to the wisdom of a liberal divorce law. We read Milton's
+essays on divorce, together, and were thoroughly convinced as to the
+right and duty not only of separation, but of absolute divorce. While
+the New York bill was pending, I was requested, by Lewis Benedict, one
+of the committee who had the bill in charge, to address the legislature.
+I gladly accepted, feeling that here was an opportunity not only to
+support my friend in the step she had taken, but to make the path clear
+for other unhappy wives who might desire to follow her example. I had no
+thought of the persecution I was drawing down on myself for thus
+attacking so venerable an institution. I was always courageous in saying
+what I saw to be true, for the simple reason that I never dreamed of
+opposition. What seemed to me to be right I thought must be equally
+plain to all other rational beings. Hence I had no dread of
+denunciation. I was only surprised when I encountered it, and no number
+of experiences have, as yet, taught me to fear public opinion. What I
+said on divorce thirty-seven years ago seems quite in line with what
+many say now. The trouble was not in what I said, but that I said it too
+soon, and before the people were ready to hear it. It may be, however,
+that I helped them to get ready; who knows?
+
+As we were holding a woman suffrage convention in Albany, at the time
+appointed for the hearing, Ernestine L. Rose and Lucretia Mott briefly
+added their views on the question. Although Mrs. Mott had urged Mrs.
+Rose and myself to be as moderate as possible in our demands, she quite
+unconsciously made the most radical utterance of all, in saying that
+marriage was a question beyond the realm of legislation, that must be
+left to the parties themselves. We rallied Lucretia on her radicalism,
+and some of the journals criticised us severely; but the following
+letter shows that she had no thought of receding from her position:
+
+     "Roadside, near Philadelphia,
+
+     "4th Mo., 30th, '61.
+
+     "My Dear Lydia Mott:
+
+     "I have wished, ever since parting with thee and our other dear
+     friends in Albany, to send thee a line, and have only waited in the
+     hope of contributing a little 'substantial aid' toward your neat
+     and valuable 'depository.' The twenty dollars inclosed is from our
+     Female Anti-slavery Society.
+
+     "I see the annual meeting, in New York, is not to be held this
+     spring. Sister Martha is here, and was expecting to attend both
+     anniversaries. But we now think the woman's rights meeting had
+     better not be attempted, and she has written Elizabeth C. Stanton
+     to this effect.
+
+     "I was well satisfied with being at the Albany meeting. I have
+     since met with the following, from a speech of Lord Brougham's,
+     which pleased me, as being as radical as mine in your stately Hall
+     of Representatives:
+
+     "'Before women can have any justice by the laws of England, there
+     must be a total reconstruction of the whole marriage system; for
+     any attempt to amend it would prove useless. The great charter, in
+     establishing the supremacy of law over prerogative, provides only
+     for justice between man and man; for woman nothing is left but
+     common law, accumulations and modifications of original Gothic and
+     Roman heathenism, which no amount of filtration through
+     ecclesiastical courts could change into Christian laws. They are
+     declared unworthy a Christian people by great jurists; still they
+     remain unchanged.'
+
+     "So Elizabeth Stanton will see that I have authority for going to
+     the root of the evil.
+
+     "Thine,
+
+     "LUCRETIA MOTT."
+
+Those of us who met in Albany talked the matter over in regard to a free
+discussion of the divorce question at the coming convention in New York.
+It was the opinion of those present that, as the laws on marriage and
+divorce were very unequal for man and woman, this was a legitimate
+subject for discussion on our platform; accordingly I presented a series
+of resolutions, at the annual convention, in New York city, to which I
+spoke for over an hour. I was followed by Antoinette L, Brown, who also
+presented a series of resolutions in opposition to mine. She was, in
+turn, answered by Ernestine L. Rose. Wendell Phillips then arose, and,
+in an impressive manner pronounced the whole discussion irrelevant to
+our platform, and moved that neither the speeches nor resolutions go on
+the records of the convention. As I greatly admired Wendell Phillips,
+and appreciated his good opinion, I was surprised and humiliated to find
+myself under the ban of his disapprobation. My face was scarlet, and I
+trembled with mingled feelings of doubt and fear--doubt as to the
+wisdom of my position and fear lest the convention should repudiate the
+whole discussion. My emotion was so apparent that Rev. Samuel
+Longfellow, a brother of the poet, who sat beside me, whispered in my
+ear, "Nevertheless you are right, and the convention will sustain you."
+
+Mr. Phillips said that as marriage concerned man and woman alike, and
+the laws bore equally on them, women had no special ground for
+complaint, although, in my speech, I had quoted many laws to show the
+reverse. Mr. Garrison and Rev. Antoinette L. Brown were alike opposed to
+Mr. Phillips' motion, and claimed that marriage and divorce were
+legitimate subjects for discussion on our platform. Miss Anthony closed
+the debate. She said: "I hope Mr. Phillips will withdraw his motion that
+these resolutions shall not appear on the records of the convention. I
+am very sure that it would be contrary to all parliamentary usage to say
+that, when the speeches which enforced and advocated the resolutions are
+reported and published in the proceedings, the resolutions shall not be
+placed there. And as to the point that this question does not belong to
+this platform--from that I totally dissent. Marriage has ever been a
+one-sided matter, resting most unequally upon the sexes. By it man gains
+all; woman loses all; tyrant law and lust reign supreme with him; meek
+submission and ready obedience alone befit her. Woman has never been
+consulted; her wish has never been taken into consideration as regards
+the terms of the marriage compact. By law, public sentiment, and
+religion,--from the time of Moses down to the present day,--woman has
+never been thought of other than as a piece of property, to be disposed
+of at the will and pleasure of man. And at this very hour, by our
+statute books, by our (so-called) enlightened Christian civilization,
+she has no voice whatever in saying what shall be the basis of the
+relation. She must accept marriage as man proffers it, or not at all.
+
+"And then, again, on Mr. Phillips' own ground, the discussion is
+perfectly in order, since nearly all the wrongs of which we complain
+grow out of the inequality of the marriage laws, that rob the wife of
+the right to herself and her children; that make her the slave of the
+man she marries. I hope, therefore, the resolutions will be allowed to
+go out to the public; that there may be a fair report of the ideas which
+have actually been presented here; that they may not be left to the
+mercy of the secular press, I trust the convention will not vote to
+forbid the publication of those resolutions with the proceedings."
+
+Rev. William Hoisington (the blind preacher) followed Miss Anthony, and
+said: "Publish all that you have done here, and let the public know it."
+
+The question was then put, on the motion of Mr. Phillips, and it was
+lost.
+
+As Mr. Greeley, in commenting on the convention, took the same ground
+with Mr. Phillips, that the laws on marriage and divorce were equal for
+man and woman, I answered them in the following letter to the New York
+_Tribune_.
+
+     "_To the Editor of the New York Tribune_:
+
+     "Sir: At our recent National Woman's Rights Convention many were
+     surprised to hear Wendell Phillips object to the question of
+     marriage and divorce as irrelevant to our platform. He said: 'We
+     had no right to discuss here any laws or customs but those where
+     inequality existed for the sexes; that the laws on marriage and
+     divorce rested equally on man and woman; that he suffers, as much
+     as she possibly could, the wrongs and abuses of an ill-assorted
+     marriage.'
+
+     "Now it must strike every careful thinker that an immense
+     difference rests in the fact that man has made the laws cunningly
+     and selfishly for his own purpose. From Coke down to Kent, who can
+     cite one clause of the marriage contract where woman has the
+     advantage? When man suffers from false legislation he has his
+     remedy in his own hands. Shall woman be denied the right of protest
+     against laws in which she had no voice; laws which outrage the
+     holiest affections of her nature; laws which transcend the limits
+     of human legislation, in a convention called for the express
+     purpose of considering her wrongs? He might as well object to a
+     protest against the injustice of hanging a woman, because capital
+     punishment bears equally on man and woman.
+
+     "The contract of marriage is by no means equal. The law permits the
+     girl to marry at twelve years of age, while it requires several
+     years more of experience on the part of the boy. In entering this
+     compact, the man gives up nothing that he before possessed, he is a
+     man still; while the legal existence of the woman is suspended
+     during marriage, and, henceforth, she is known but in and through
+     the husband. She is nameless, purseless, childless--though a woman,
+     an heiress, and a mother.
+
+     "Blackstone says: 'The husband and wife are one, and that one is
+     the husband.' Chancellor Kent, in his 'Commentaries' says: 'The
+     legal effects of marriage are generally deducible from the
+     principle of the common law, by which the husband and wife are
+     regarded as one person, and her legal existence and authority lost
+     or suspended during the continuance of the matrimonial union.'
+
+     "The wife is regarded by all legal authorities as a _feme covert_,
+     placed wholly _sub potestate viri_. Her moral responsibility, even,
+     is merged in her husband. The law takes it for granted that the
+     wife lives in fear of her husband; that his command is her highest
+     law; hence a wife is not punishable for the theft committed in the
+     presence of her husband. An unmarried woman can make contracts, sue
+     and be sued, enjoy the rights of property, to her inheritance--to
+     her wages--to her person--to her children; but, in marriage, she is
+     robbed by law of all and every natural and civil right. Kent
+     further says: 'The disability of the wife to contract, so as to
+     bind herself, arises not from want of discretion, but because she
+     has entered into an indissoluble connection by which she is placed
+     under the power and protection of her husband.' She is possessed of
+     certain rights until she is married; then all are suspended, to
+     revive, again, the moment the breath goes out of the husband's
+     body. (See 'Cowen's Treatise,' vol. 2, p. 709.)
+
+     "If the contract be equal, whence come the terms 'marital power,'
+     'marital rights,' 'obedience and restraint,' 'dominion and
+     control,' 'power and protection,' etc., etc.? Many cases are
+     stated, showing the exercise of a most questionable power over the
+     wife, sustained by the courts. (See 'Bishop on Divorce,' p. 489.)
+
+     "The laws on divorce are quite as unequal as those on marriage;
+     yea, far more so. The advantages seem to be all on one side and the
+     penalties on the other. In case of divorce, if the husband be not
+     the guilty party, the wife goes out of the partnership penniless.
+     (Kent, vol. 2, p. 33; 'Bishop on Divorce,' p. 492.)
+
+     "In New York, and some other States, the wife of the guilty husband
+     can now sue for a divorce in her own name, and the costs come out
+     of the husband's estate; but, in the majority of the States, she is
+     still compelled to sue in the name of another, as she has no means
+     for paying costs, even though she may have brought her thousands
+     into the partnership. 'The allowance to the innocent wife of _ad
+     interim_ alimony and money to sustain the suit, is not regarded as
+     a strict right in her, but of sound discretion in the court.'
+     ('Bishop on Divorce,' p. 581.)
+
+     "'Many jurists,' says Kent, 'are of opinion that the adultery of
+     the husband ought not to be noticed or made subject to the same
+     animadversions as that of the wife, because it is not evidence of
+     such entire depravity nor equally injurious in its effects upon the
+     morals, good order, and happiness of the domestic life.
+     Montesquieu, Pothier, and Dr. Taylor all insist that the cases of
+     husband and wife ought to be distinguished, and that the violation
+     of the marriage vow, on the part of the wife, is the most
+     mischievous, and the prosecution ought to be confined to the
+     offense on her part. ("Esprit des Lois," tom. 3, 186; "Traite du
+     Contrat de Mariage," No. 516; "Elements of Civil Law," p. 254).'
+
+     "Say you, 'These are but the opinions of men'? On what else, I ask,
+     are the hundreds of women depending, who, this hour, demand in our
+     courts a release from burdensome contracts? Are not these delicate
+     matters left wholly to the discretion of courts? Are not young
+     women from the first families dragged into our courts,--into
+     assemblies of men exclusively,--the judges all men, the jurors all
+     men? No true woman there to shield them, by her presence, from
+     gross and impertinent questionings, to pity their misfortunes, or
+     to protest against their wrongs?
+
+     "The administration of justice depends far more on the opinions of
+     eminent jurists than on law alone, for law is powerless when at
+     variance with public sentiment.
+
+     "Do not the above citations clearly prove inequality? Are not the
+     very letter and spirit of the marriage contract based on the idea
+     of the supremacy of man as the keeper of woman's virtue--her sole
+     protector and support? Out of marriage, woman asks nothing, at this
+     hour, but the elective franchise. It is only in marriage that she
+     must demand her right to person, children, property, wages, life,
+     liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. How can we discuss all the
+     laws and conditions of marriage, without perceiving its essential
+     essence, end, and aim? Now, whether the institution of marriage be
+     human or divine, whether regarded as indissoluble by ecclesiastical
+     courts or dissoluble by civil courts, woman, finding herself
+     equally degraded in each and every phase of it, always the victim
+     of the institution, it is her right and her duty to sift the
+     relation and the compact through and through, until she finds out
+     the true cause of her false position. How can we go before the
+     legislatures of our respective States and demand new laws, or no
+     laws, on divorce, until we have some idea of what the true relation
+     is?
+
+     "We decide the whole question of slavery by settling the sacred
+     rights of the individual. We assert that man cannot hold property
+     in man, and reject the whole code of laws that conflicts with the
+     self-evident truth of the assertion.
+
+     "Again, I ask, is it possible to discuss all the laws of a
+     relation, and not touch the relation itself?
+
+     "Yours respectfully,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton."
+
+The discussion on the question of marriage and divorce occupied one
+entire session of the convention, and called down on us severe
+criticisms from the metropolitan and State press. So alarming were the
+comments on what had been said that I began to feel that I had
+inadvertently taken out the underpinning from the social system. Enemies
+were unsparing in their denunciations, and friends ridiculed the whole
+proceeding. I was constantly called on for a definition of marriage and
+asked to describe home life as it would be when men changed their wives
+every Christmas. Letters and newspapers poured in upon me, asking all
+manner of absurd questions, until I often wept with vexation. So many
+things, that I had neither thought nor said, were attributed to me that,
+at times, I really doubted my own identity.
+
+However, in the progress of events the excitement died away, the earth
+seemed to turn on its axis as usual, women were given in marriage,
+children were born, fires burned as brightly as ever at the domestic
+altars, and family life, to all appearances, was as stable as usual.
+
+Public attention was again roused to this subject by the
+McFarland-Richardson trial, in which the former shot the latter, being
+jealous of his attentions to his wife. McFarland was a brutal,
+improvident husband, who had completely alienated his wife's
+affections, while Mr. Richardson, who had long been a cherished
+acquaintance of the family, befriended the wife in the darkest days of
+her misery. She was a very refined, attractive woman, and a large circle
+of warm friends stood by her through the fierce ordeal of her husband's
+trial.
+
+Though McFarland did not deny that he killed Richardson, yet he was
+acquitted on the plea of insanity, and was, at the same time, made the
+legal guardian of his child, a boy, then, twelve years of age, and
+walked out of the court with him, hand in hand. What a travesty on
+justice and common sense that, while a man is declared too insane to be
+held responsible for taking the life of another, he might still be
+capable of directing the life and education of a child! And what an
+insult to that intelligent mother, who had devoted twelve years of her
+life to his care, while his worthless father had not provided for them
+the necessaries of life!
+
+She married Mr. Richardson on his deathbed. The ceremony was performed
+by Henry Ward Beecher and Rev. O.B. Frothingham, while such men as
+Horace Greeley and Joshua Leavitt witnessed the solemn service. Though
+no shadow had ever dimmed Mrs. Richardson's fair fame, yet she was
+rudely treated in the court and robbed of her child, though by far the
+most fitting parent to be intrusted with his care.
+
+As the indignation among women was general and at white heat with regard
+to her treatment, Miss Anthony suggested to me, one day, that it would
+be a golden opportunity to give women a lesson on their helplessness
+under the law--wholly in the power of man as to their domestic
+relations, as well as to their civil and political rights. Accordingly
+we decided to hold some meetings, for women alone, to protest against
+the decision of this trial, the general conduct of the case, the tone of
+the press, and the laws that made it possible to rob a mother of her
+child.
+
+Many ladies readily enlisted in the movement. I was invited to make the
+speech on the occasion, and Miss Anthony arranged for two great
+meetings, one in Apollo Hall, New York city, and one in the Academy of
+Music, in Brooklyn. The result was all that we could desire. Miss
+Anthony, with wonderful executive ability, made all the arrangements,
+taking on her own shoulders the whole financial responsibility.
+
+My latest thought on this question I gave in _The Arena_ of April, 1894,
+from which I quote the following:
+
+     "There is a demand just now for an amendment to the United States
+     Constitution that shall make the laws of marriage and divorce the
+     same in all the States of the Union. As the suggestion comes
+     uniformly from those who consider the present divorce laws too
+     liberal, we may infer that the proposed national law is to place
+     the whole question on a narrower basis, rendering null and void the
+     laws that have been passed in a broader spirit, according to the
+     needs and experiences, in certain sections, of the sovereign
+     people. And here let us bear in mind that the widest possible law
+     would not make divorce obligatory on anyone, while a restricted
+     law, on the contrary, would compel many, marrying, perhaps, under
+     more liberal laws, to remain in uncongenial relations.
+
+     "As we are still in the experimental stage on this question, we are
+     not qualified to make a perfect law that would work satisfactorily
+     over so vast an area as our boundaries now embrace. I see no
+     evidence in what has been published on this question, of late, by
+     statesmen, ecclesiastics, lawyers, and judges, that any of them
+     have thought sufficiently on the subject to prepare a well-digested
+     code, or a comprehensive amendment to the national Constitution.
+     Some view it as a civil contract, though not governed by the laws
+     of other contracts; some view it as a religious ordinance--a
+     sacrament; some think it a relation to be regulated by the State,
+     others by the Church, and still others think it should be left
+     wholly to the individual. With this wide divergence of opinion
+     among our leading minds, it is quite evident that we are not
+     prepared for a national law.
+
+     "Moreover, as woman is the most important factor in the marriage
+     relation, her enfranchisement is the primal step in deciding the
+     basis of family life. Before public opinion on this question
+     crystallizes into an amendment to the national Constitution, the
+     wife and mother must have a voice in the governing power and must
+     be heard, on this great problem, in the halls of legislation.
+
+     "There are many advantages in leaving all these questions, as now,
+     to the States. Local self-government more readily permits of
+     experiments on mooted questions, which are the outcome of the needs
+     and convictions of the community. The smaller the area over which
+     legislation extends, the more pliable are the laws. By leaving the
+     States free to experiment in their local affairs, we can judge of
+     the working of different laws under varying circumstances, and thus
+     learn their comparative merits. The progress education has achieved
+     in America is due to the fact that we have left our system of
+     public instruction in the hands of local authorities. How
+     different would be the solution of the great educational question
+     of manual labor in the schools, if the matter had to be settled at
+     Washington!
+
+     "The whole nation might find itself pledged to a scheme that a few
+     years would prove wholly impracticable. Not only is the town
+     meeting, as Emerson says, 'the cradle of American liberties,' but
+     it is the nursery of Yankee experiment and wisdom. England, with
+     its clumsy national code of education, making one inflexible
+     standard of scholarship for the bright children of the
+     manufacturing districts and the dull brains of the agricultural
+     counties, should teach us a lesson as to the wisdom of keeping
+     apart state and national government.
+
+     "Before we can decide the just grounds for divorce, we must get a
+     clear idea of what constitutes marriage. In a true relation the
+     chief object is the loving companionship of man and woman, their
+     capacity for mutual help and happiness and for the development of
+     all that is noblest in each other. The second object is the
+     building up a home and family, a place of rest, peace, security, in
+     which child-life can bud and blossom like flowers in the sunshine.
+
+     "The first step toward making the ideal the real, is to educate our
+     sons and daughters into the most exalted ideas of the sacredness of
+     married life and the responsibilities of parenthood. I would have
+     them give, at least, as much thought to the creation of an immortal
+     being as the artist gives to his landscape or statue. Watch him in
+     his hours of solitude, communing with great Nature for days and
+     weeks in all her changing moods, and when at last his dream of
+     beauty is realized and takes a clearly defined form, behold how
+     patiently he works through long months and years on sky and lake,
+     on tree and flower; and when complete, it represents to him more
+     love and life, more hope and ambition, than the living child at his
+     side, to whose conception and antenatal development not one soulful
+     thought was ever given. To this impressible period of human life,
+     few parents give any thought; yet here we must begin to cultivate
+     virtues that can alone redeem the world.
+
+     "The contradictory views in which woman is represented are as
+     pitiful as varied. While the Magnificat to the Virgin is chanted in
+     all our cathedrals round the globe on each returning Sabbath day,
+     and her motherhood extolled by her worshipers, maternity for the
+     rest of womankind is referred to as a weakness, a disability, a
+     curse, an evidence of woman's divinely ordained subjection. Yet
+     surely the real woman should have some points of resemblance in
+     character and position with the ideal one, whom poets, novelists,
+     and artists portray.
+
+     "It is folly to talk of the sacredness of marriage and maternity,
+     while the wife is practically regarded as an inferior, a subject, a
+     slave. Having decided that companionship and conscientious
+     parenthood are the only true grounds for marriage, if the relation
+     brings out the worst characteristics of each party, or if the home
+     atmosphere is unwholesome for children, is not the very _raison
+     d'etre_ of the union wanting, and the marriage practically
+     annulled? It cannot be called a holy relation,--no, not a desirable
+     one,--when love and mutual respect are wanting. And let us bear in
+     mind one other important fact: the lack of sympathy and content in
+     the parents indicates radical physical unsuitability, which
+     results in badly organized offspring. If, then, the real object of
+     marriage is defeated, it is for the interest of the State, as well
+     as the individual concerned, to see that all such pernicious unions
+     be legally dissolved. Inasmuch, then, as incompatibility of temper
+     defeats the two great objects of marriage, it should be the primal
+     cause for divorce.
+
+     "The true standpoint from which to view this question is individual
+     sovereignty, individual happiness. It is often said that the
+     interests of society are paramount, and first to be considered.
+     This was the Roman idea, the Pagan idea, that the individual was
+     made for the State. The central idea of barbarism has ever been the
+     family, the tribe, the nation--never the individual. But the great
+     doctrine of Christianity is the right of individual conscience and
+     judgment. The reason it took such a hold on the hearts of the
+     people was because it taught that the individual was primary; the
+     State, the Church, society, the family, secondary. However, a
+     comprehensive view of any question of human interest, shows that
+     the highest good and happiness of the individual and society lie in
+     the same direction.
+
+     "The question of divorce, like marriage, should be settled, as to
+     its most sacred relations, by the parties themselves; neither the
+     State nor the Church having any right to intermeddle therein. As to
+     property and children, it must be viewed and regulated as a civil
+     contract. Then the union should be dissolved with at least as much
+     deliberation and publicity as it was formed. There might be some
+     ceremony and witnesses to add to the dignity and solemnity of the
+     occasion. Like the Quaker marriage, which the parties conduct
+     themselves, so, in this case, without any statement of their
+     disagreements, the parties might simply declare that, after living
+     together for several years, they found themselves unsuited to each
+     other, and incapable of making a happy home.
+
+     "If divorce were made respectable, and recognized by society as a
+     duty, as well as a right, reasonable men and women could arrange
+     all the preliminaries, often, even, the division of property and
+     guardianship of children, quite as satisfactorily as it could be
+     done in the courts. Where the mother is capable of training the
+     children, a sensible father would leave them to her care rather
+     than place them in the hands of a stranger.
+
+     "But, where divorce is not respectable, men who have no paternal
+     feeling will often hold the child, not so much for its good or his
+     own affection, as to punish the wife for disgracing him. The love
+     of children is not strong in most men, and they feel but little
+     responsibility in regard to them. See how readily they turn off
+     young sons to shift for themselves, and, unless the law compelled
+     them to support their illegitimate children, they would never give
+     them a second thought. But on the mother-soul rest forever the care
+     and responsibility of human life. Her love for the child born out
+     of wedlock is often intensified by the infinite pity she feels
+     through its disgrace. Even among the lower animals we find the
+     female ever brooding over the young and helpless.
+
+     "Limiting the causes of divorce to physical defects or
+     delinquencies; making the proceedings public; prying into all the
+     personal affairs of unhappy men and women; regarding the step as
+     quasi criminal; punishing the guilty party in the suit; all this
+     will not strengthen frail human nature, will not insure happy
+     homes, will not banish scandals and purge society of prostitution.
+
+     "No, no; the enemy of marriage, of the State, of society is not
+     liberal divorce laws, but the unhealthy atmosphere that exists in
+     the home itself. A legislative act cannot make a unit of a divided
+     family."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+WOMEN AS PATRIOTS.
+
+
+On April 15, 1861, the President of the United States called out
+seventy-five thousand militia, and summoned Congress to meet July 4,
+when four hundred thousand men were called for, and four hundred
+millions of dollars were voted to suppress the Rebellion.
+
+These startling events roused the entire people, and turned the current
+of their thoughts in new directions. While the nation's life hung in the
+balance, and the dread artillery of war drowned, alike, the voices of
+commerce, politics, religion, and reform, all hearts were filled with
+anxious forebodings, all hands were busy in solemn preparations for the
+awful tragedies to come.
+
+At this eventful hour the patriotism of woman shone forth as fervently
+and spontaneously as did that of man; and her self-sacrifice and
+devotion were displayed in as many varied fields of action. While he
+buckled on his knapsack and marched forth to conquer the enemy, she
+planned the campaigns which brought the nation victory; fought in the
+ranks, when she could do so without detection; inspired the sanitary
+commission; gathered needed supplies for the grand army; provided nurses
+for the hospitals; comforted the sick; smoothed the pillows of the
+dying; inscribed the last messages of lave to those far away; and marked
+the resting places where the brave men fell. The labor women
+accomplished, the hardships they endured, the time and strength they
+sacrificed in the War that summoned three million men to arms, can never
+be fully appreciated.
+
+Indeed, we may safely say that there is scarcely a loyal woman in the
+North who did not do something in aid of the cause; who did not
+contribute time, labor, and money to the comfort of our soldiers and the
+success of our arms. The story of the War will never be fully written if
+the achievements of women are left untold. They do not figure in the
+official reports; they are not gazetted for gallant deeds; the names of
+thousands are unknown beyond the neighborhood where they lived, or the
+hospitals where they loved to labor; yet there is no feature in our War
+more creditable to us as a nation, none from its positive newness so
+well worthy of record.
+
+While the mass of women never philosophize on the principles that
+underlie national existence, there were those in our late War who
+understood the political significance of the struggle; the
+"irrepressible conflict" between freedom and slavery, between National
+and State rights. They saw that to provide lint, bandages, and supplies
+for the army, while the War was not conducted on a wise policy, was to
+labor in vain; and while many organizations, active, vigilant, and
+self-sacrificing, were multiplied to look after the material wants of
+the army, these few formed themselves into a National Loyal League, to
+teach sound principles of government and to impress on the nation's
+conscience that freedom for the slaves was the only way to victory.
+Accustomed, as most women had been to works of charity and to the relief
+of outward suffering, it was difficult to rouse their enthusiasm for an
+idea, to persuade them to labor for a principle. They clamored for
+practical work, something for their hands to do; for fairs and sewing
+societies to raise money for soldier's families, for tableaux, readings,
+theatricals--anything but conventions to discuss principles and to
+circulate petitions for emancipation. They could not see that the best
+service they could render the army was to suppress the Rebellion, and
+that the most effective way to accomplish that was to transform the
+slaves into soldiers. This Woman's Loyal League voiced the solemn
+lessons of the War: Liberty to all; national protection for every
+citizen under our flag; universal suffrage, and universal amnesty.
+
+After consultation with Horace Greeley, William Lloyd Garrison, Governor
+Andrews, and Robert Dale Owen, Miss Anthony and I decided to call a
+meeting of women in Cooper Institute and form a Woman's Loyal League, to
+advocate the immediate emancipation and enfranchisement of the Southern
+slaves, as the most speedy way of ending the War, so we issued, in tract
+form, and extensively circulated the following call:
+
+     "In this crisis of our country's destiny, it is the duty of every
+     citizen to consider the peculiar blessings of a republican form of
+     government, and decide what sacrifices of wealth and life are
+     demanded for its defense and preservation. The policy of the War,
+     our whole future life, depend on a clearly defined idea of the end
+     proposed and the immense advantages to be secured to ourselves and
+     all mankind by its accomplishment. No mere party or sectional cry,
+     no technicalities of constitutional or military law, no mottoes of
+     craft or policy are big enough to touch the great heart of a nation
+     in the midst of revolution. A grand idea--such as freedom or
+     justice--is needful to kindle and sustain the fires of a high
+     enthusiasm.
+
+     "At this hour, the best word and work of every man and woman are
+     imperatively demanded. To man, by common consent, are assigned the
+     forum, camp, and field. What is woman's legitimate work and how she
+     may best accomplish it, is worthy our earnest counsel one with
+     another. We have heard many complaints of the lack of enthusiasm,
+     among Northern women; but when a mother lays her son on the altar
+     of her country, she asks an object equal to the sacrifice. In
+     nursing the sick and wounded, knitting socks, scraping lint, and
+     making jellies the bravest and best may weary if the thoughts mount
+     not in faith to something beyond and above it all. Work is worship
+     only when a noble purpose fills the soul. Woman is equally
+     interested and responsible with man in the final settlement of this
+     problem of self-government; therefore let none stand idle
+     spectators now. When every hour is big with destiny, and each delay
+     but complicates our difficulties, it is high time for the daughters
+     of the Revolution, in solemn council, to unseal the last will and
+     testaments of the fathers, lay hold of their birthright of freedom,
+     and keep it a sacred trust for all coming generations.
+
+     "To this end we ask the Loyal Women of the Nation to meet in the
+     Church of the Puritans (Dr. Cheever's), New York, on Thursday, the
+     14th of May next.
+
+     "Let the women of every State be largely represented in person or
+     by letter.
+
+     "On behalf of the Woman's Central Committee,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
+
+     "Susan B. Anthony."
+
+Among other resolutions adopted at the meeting were the following:
+
+"_Resolved_, There never can be a true peace in this Republic until the
+civil and political rights of all citizens of African descent and all
+women are practically established.
+
+"_Resolved_, That the women of the Revolution were not wanting in
+heroism and self-sacrifice, and we, their daughters, are ready, in this
+War, to pledge our time, our means, our talents, and our lives, if need
+be, to secure the final and complete consecration of America to
+freedom."
+
+It was agreed that the practical work to be done to secure freedom for
+the slaves was to circulate petitions through all the Northern States.
+For months these petitions were circulated diligently everywhere, as the
+signatures show--some signed on fence posts, plows, the anvil, the
+shoemaker's bench--by women of fashion and those in the industries,
+alike in the parlor and the kitchen; by statesmen, professors in
+colleges, editors, bishops; by sailors, and soldiers, and the
+hard-handed children of toil, building railroads and bridges, and
+digging canals, and in mines in the bowels of the earth. Petitions,
+signed by three hundred thousand persons, can now be seen in the
+national archives in the Capitol at Washington. Three of my sons spent
+weeks in our office in Cooper Institute, rolling up the petitions from
+each State separately, and inscribing on the outside the number of names
+of men and women contained therein. We sent appeals to the President the
+House of Representatives, and the Senate, from time to time, urging
+emancipation and the passage of the proposed Thirteenth, Fourteenth,
+and Fifteenth Amendments to the National Constitution. During these
+eventful months we received many letters from Senator Sumner, saying,
+"Send on the petitions as fast as received; they give me opportunities
+for speech."
+
+Robert Dale Owen, chairman of the Freedman's Commission, was most
+enthusiastic in the work of the Loyal League, and came to our rooms
+frequently to suggest new modes of agitation and to give us an inkling
+of what was going on behind the scenes in Washington. Those who had been
+specially engaged in the Woman Suffrage movement suspended their
+conventions during the war, and gave their time and thought wholly to
+the vital issues of the hour. Seeing the political significance of the
+war, they urged the emancipation of the slaves as the sure, quick way of
+cutting the Gordian knot of the Rebellion. To this end they organized a
+national league, and rolled up a mammoth petition, urging Congress so to
+amend the Constitution as to prohibit the existence of slavery in the
+United States. From their headquarters in Cooper Institute, New York
+city, they sent out the appeals to the President, Congress, and the
+people at large; tracts and forms of petition, franked by members of
+Congress, were scattered like snowflakes from Maine to Texas. Meetings
+were held every week, in which the policy of the Government was freely
+discussed, and approved or condemned.
+
+That this League did a timely educational work is manifested by the
+letters received from generals, statesmen, editors, and from women in
+most of the Northern States, fully indorsing its action and principles.
+The clearness to thinking women of the cause of the War; the true
+policy in waging it; their steadfastness in maintaining the principles
+of freedom, are worthy of consideration. With this League abolitionists
+and Republicans heartily co-operated. A course of lectures was delivered
+for its benefit in Cooper Institute, by such men as Horace Greeley,
+George William Curtis, William D. Kelly, Wendell Phillips, E.P. Whipple,
+Frederick Douglass, Theodore D. Weld, Rev. Dr. Tyng, and Dr. Bellows.
+Many letters are on its files from Charles Sumner, approving its
+measures, and expressing great satisfaction at the large number of
+emancipation petitions being rolled into Congress. The Republican press,
+too, was highly complimentary. The New York Tribune said: "The women of
+the Loyal League have shown great practical wisdom in restricting their
+efforts to one subject, the most important which any society can aim at
+in this hour, and great courage in undertaking to do what never has been
+done in the world before, to obtain one million of names to a petition."
+
+The leading journals vied with each other in praising the patience and
+prudence, the executive ability, the loyalty, and the patriotism of the
+women of the League, and yet these were the same women who, when
+demanding civil and political rights, privileges, and immunities for
+themselves, had been uniformly denounced as "unwise," "imprudent,"
+"fanatical," and "impracticable." During the six years they held their
+own claims in abeyance to those of the slaves of the South, and labored
+to inspire the people with enthusiasm for the great measures of the
+Republican party, they were highly honored as "wise, loyal, and
+clear-sighted." But when the slaves were emancipated, and these women
+asked that they should be recognized in the reconstruction as citizens
+of the Republic, equal before the law, all these transcendent virtues
+vanished like dew before the morning sun. And thus it ever is: so long
+as woman labors to second man's endeavors and exalt his sex above her
+own, her virtues pass unquestioned; but when she dares to demand rights
+and privileges for herself, her motives, manners, dress, personal
+appearance, and character are subjects for ridicule and detraction.
+
+Liberty, victorious over slavery on the battlefield, had now more
+powerful enemies to encounter at Washington. The slaves set free, the
+master conquered, the South desolate; the two races standing face to
+face, sharing alike the sad results of war, turned with appealing looks
+to the general government, as if to say, "How stand we now?" "What
+next?" Questions our statesmen, beset with dangers, with fears for the
+nation's life, of party divisions, of personal defeat, were wholly
+unprepared to answer. The reconstruction of the South involved the
+reconsideration of the fundamental principles of our Government and the
+natural rights of man. The nation's heart was thrilled with prolonged
+debates in Congress and State legislatures, in the pulpits and public
+journals, and at every fireside on these vital questions, which took
+final shape in the three historic amendments to the Constitution.
+
+The first point, his emancipation, settled, the political status of the
+negro was next in order; and to this end various propositions were
+submitted to Congress. But to demand his enfranchisement on the broad
+principle of natural rights was hedged about with difficulties, as the
+logical result of such action must be the enfranchisement of all
+ostracized classes; not only the white women of the entire country, but
+the slave women of the South. Though our senators and representatives
+had an honest aversion to any proscriptive legislation against loyal
+women, in view of their varied and self-sacrificing work during the War,
+yet the only way they could open the constitutional door just wide
+enough to let the black man pass in was to introduce the word "male"
+into the national Constitution. After the generous devotion of such
+women as Anna Carroll and Anna Dickinson in sustaining the policy of the
+Republicans, both in peace and war, they felt it would come with a bad
+grace from that party to place new barriers in woman's path to freedom.
+But how could the amendment be written without the word "male," was the
+question.
+
+Robert Dale Owen being at Washington, and behind the scenes at the time,
+sent copies of the various bills to the officers of the Loyal League, in
+New York, and related to us some of the amusing discussions. One of the
+committee proposed "persons" instead of "males." "That will never do,"
+said another, "it would enfranchise wenches." "Suffrage for black men
+will be all the strain the Republican party can stand," said another.
+Charles Sumner said, years afterward, that he wrote over nineteen pages
+of foolscap to get rid of the word "male" and yet keep "negro suffrage"
+as a party measure intact; but it could not be done.
+
+Miss Anthony and I were the first to see the full significance of the
+word "male" in the Fourteenth Amendment, and we at once sounded the
+alarm, and sent out petitions for a constitutional amendment to
+"prohibit the States from disfranchising any of their citizens on the
+ground of sex." Miss Anthony, who had spent the year in Kansas, started
+for New York the moment she saw the proposition before Congress to put
+the word "male" into the national Constitution, and made haste to rouse
+the women in the East to the fact that the time had come to begin
+vigorous work again for woman's enfranchisement.
+
+Leaving Rochester, October 11, she called on Martha Wright at Auburn;
+Phebe Jones and Lydia Mott at Albany; Mmes. Rose, Gibbons, Davis, at New
+York city; Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown Blackwell in New Jersey;
+Stephen and Abby Foster at Worcester; Mmes. Severance, Dall, Nowell, Dr.
+Harriet K. Hunt, Dr. M.E. Zackesewska, and Messrs. Phillips and Garrison
+in Boston, urging them to join in sending protests to Washington against
+the pending legislation. Mr. Phillips at once consented to devote five
+hundred dollars from the "Jackson Fund" to commence the work. Miss
+Anthony and I spent all our Christmas holidays in writing letters and
+addressing appeals and petitions to every part of the country, and,
+before the close of the session of 1865-66, petitions with ten thousand
+signatures were poured into Congress.
+
+One of my letters was as follows:
+
+     "_To the Editor of the Standard_:
+
+     "Sir: Mr. Broomall of Pennsylvania, Mr. Schenck of Ohio, Mr.
+     Jenckes of Rhode Island, and Mr. Stevens of Pennsylvania, have each
+     a resolution before Congress to amend the Constitution.
+
+     "Article First, Section Second, reads thus: 'Representatives and
+     direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which
+     may be included within this Union, according to their respective
+     numbers.'
+
+     "Mr. Broomall proposes to amend by saying, 'male electors'; Mr.
+     Schenck,'male citizens'; Mr. Jenckes, 'male citizens'; Mr. Stevens,
+     'male voters,' as, in process of time, women may be made 'legal
+     voters' in the several States, and would then meet that requirement
+     of the Constitution. But those urged by the other gentlemen,
+     neither time, effort, nor State Constitutions could enable us to
+     meet, unless, by a liberal interpretation of the amendment, a coat
+     of mail to be worn at the polls might be judged all-sufficient. Mr.
+     Jenckes and Mr. Schenck, in their bills, have the grace not to say
+     a word about taxes, remembering, perhaps, that 'taxation without
+     representation is tyranny.' But Mr. Broomall, though unwilling that
+     we should share in the honors of government, would fain secure us a
+     place in its burdens; for, while he apportions representatives to
+     "male electors" only, he admits "all the inhabitants" into the
+     rights, privileges, and immunities of taxation. Magnanimous M.C.!
+
+     "I would call the attention of the women of the nation to the fact
+     that, under the Federal Constitution, as it now exists, there is
+     not one word that limits the right of suffrage to any privileged
+     class. This attempt to turn the wheels of civilization backward, on
+     the part of Republicans claiming to be the liberal party, should
+     rouse every woman in the nation to a prompt exercise of the only
+     right she has in the Government, the right of petition. To this end
+     a committee in New York have sent out thousands of petitions, which
+     should be circulated in every district and sent to its
+     representative at Washington as soon as possible.
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
+
+     "New York, January 2, 1866."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+PIONEER LIFE IN KANSAS--OUR NEWSPAPER, "THE REVOLUTION."
+
+
+In 1867 the proposition to extend the suffrage to women and to colored
+men was submitted to the people of the State of Kansas, and, among other
+Eastern speakers, I was invited to make a campaign through the State. As
+the fall elections were pending, there was great excitement everywhere.
+Suffrage for colored men was a Republican measure, which the press and
+politicians of that party advocated with enthusiasm.
+
+As woman suffrage was not a party question, we hoped that all parties
+would favor the measure; that we might, at last, have one green spot on
+earth where women could enjoy full liberty as citizens of the United
+States. Accordingly, in July, Miss Anthony and I started, with high
+hopes of a most successful trip, and, after an uneventful journey of one
+thousand five hundred miles, we reached the sacred soil where John Brown
+and his sons had helped to fight the battles that made Kansas a free
+State.
+
+Lucy Stone, Mr. Blackwell, and Olympia Brown had preceded us and opened
+the campaign with large meetings in all the chief cities. Miss Anthony
+and I did the same. Then it was decided that, as we were to go to the
+very borders of the State, where there were no railroads, we must take
+carriages, and economize our forces by taking different routes. I was
+escorted by ex-Governor Charles Robinson. We had a low, easy carriage,
+drawn by two mules, in which we stored about a bushel of tracts, two
+valises, a pail for watering the mules, a basket of apples, crackers,
+and other such refreshments as we could purchase on the way. Some things
+were suspended underneath the carriage, some packed on behind, and some
+under the seat and at our feet. It required great skill to compress the
+necessary baggage into the allotted space. As we went to the very verge
+of civilization, wherever two dozen voters could be assembled, we had a
+taste of pioneer life. We spoke in log cabins, in depots, unfinished
+schoolhouses, churches, hotels, barns, and in the open air.
+
+I spoke in a large mill one night. A solitary tallow candle shone over
+my head like a halo of glory; a few lanterns around the outskirts of the
+audience made the darkness perceptible; but all I could see of my
+audience was the whites of their eyes in the dim distance. People came
+from twenty miles around to these meetings, held either in the morning,
+afternoon, or evening, as was most convenient.
+
+As the regular State election was to take place in the coming November,
+the interest increased from week to week, until the excitement of the
+people knew no bounds. There were speakers for and against every
+proposition before the people. This involved frequent debates on all the
+general principles of government, and thus a great educational work was
+accomplished, which is one of the advantages of our frequent elections.
+
+The friends of woman suffrage were doomed to disappointment. Those in
+the East, on whom they relied for influence through the liberal
+newspapers, were silent, and we learned, afterward, that they used what
+influence they had to keep the abolitionists and Republicans of the
+State silent, as they feared the discussion of the woman question would
+jeopardize the enfranchisement of the black man. However, we worked
+untiringly and hopefully, not seeing through the game of the politicians
+until nearly the end of the canvass, when we saw that our only chance
+was in getting the Democratic vote. Accordingly, George Francis Train,
+then a most effective and popular speaker, was invited into the State to
+see what could be done to win the Democracy. He soon turned the tide,
+strengthened the weak-kneed Republicans and abolitionists, and secured a
+large Democratic vote.
+
+For three months we labored diligently, day after day, enduring all
+manner of discomforts in traveling, eating, and sleeping. As there were
+no roads or guide-posts, we often lost our way. In going through canons
+and fording streams it was often so dark that the Governor was obliged
+to walk ahead to find the way, taking off his coat so that I could see
+his white shirt and slowly drive after him. Though seemingly calm and
+cool, I had a great dread of these night adventures, as I was in
+constant fear of being upset on some hill and rolled into the water. The
+Governor often complimented me on my courage, when I was fully aware of
+being tempest-tossed with anxiety. I am naturally very timid, but, being
+silent under strong emotions of either pleasure or pain, I am credited
+with being courageous in the hour of danger.
+
+For days, sometimes, we could find nothing at a public table that we
+could eat. Then passing through a little settlement we could buy dried
+herring, crackers, gum arabic, and slippery elm; the latter, we were
+told, was very nutritious. We frequently sat down to a table with bacon
+floating in grease, coffee without milk, sweetened with sorghum, and
+bread or hot biscuit, green with soda, while vegetables and fruit were
+seldom seen. Our nights were miserable, owing to the general opinion
+among pioneers that a certain species of insect must necessarily
+perambulate the beds in a young civilization. One night, after traveling
+over prairies all day, eating nothing but what our larder provided, we
+saw a light in a cottage in the distance which seemed to beckon to us.
+Arriving, we asked the usual question,--if we could get a night's
+lodging,--to which the response was inevitably a hearty, hospitable
+"Yes." One survey of the premises showed me what to look for in the way
+of midnight companionship, so I said to the Governor, "I will resign in
+your favor the comforts provided for me to-night, and sleep in the
+carriage, as you do so often." I persisted against all the earnest
+persuasions of our host, and in due time I was ensconced for the night,
+and all about the house was silent.
+
+I had just fallen into a gentle slumber, when a chorus of pronounced
+grunts and a spasmodic shaking of the carriage revealed to me the fact
+that I was surrounded by those long-nosed black pigs, so celebrated for
+their courage and pertinacity. They had discovered that the iron steps
+of the carriage made most satisfactory scratching posts, and each one
+was struggling for his turn. This scratching suggested fleas. Alas!
+thought I, before morning I shall be devoured. I was mortally tired and
+sleepy, but I reached for the whip and plied it lazily from side to
+side; but I soon found nothing but a constant and most vigorous
+application of the whip could hold them at bay one moment. I had heard
+that this type of pig was very combative when thwarted in its desires,
+and they seemed in such sore need of relief that I thought there was
+danger of their jumping into the carriage and attacking me. This thought
+was more terrifying than that of the fleas, so I decided to go to sleep
+and let them alone to scratch at their pleasure. I had a sad night of
+it, and never tried the carriage again, though I had many equally
+miserable experiences within four walls.
+
+After one of these border meetings we stopped another night with a
+family of two bachelor brothers and two spinster sisters. The home
+consisted of one large room, not yet lathed and plastered. The furniture
+included a cooking stove, two double beds in remote corners, a table, a
+bureau, a washstand, and six wooden chairs. As it was late, there was no
+fire in the stove and no suggestion of supper, so the Governor and I ate
+apples and chewed slippery elm before retiring to dream of comfortable
+beds and well-spread tables in the near future.
+
+The brothers resigned their bed to me just as it was. I had noticed that
+there was no ceremonious changing of bed linen under such circumstances,
+so I had learned to nip all fastidious notions of individual cleanliness
+in the bud, and to accept the inevitable. When the time arrived for
+retiring, the Governor and the brothers went out to make astronomical
+observations or smoke, as the case might be, while the sisters and I
+made our evening toilet, and disposed ourselves in the allotted corners.
+That done, the stalwart sons of Adam made their beds with skins and
+blankets on the floor. When all was still and darkness reigned, I
+reviewed the situation with a heavy heart, seeing that I was bound to
+remain a prisoner in the corner all night, come what might. I had just
+congratulated myself on my power of adaptability to circumstances, when
+I suddenly started with an emphatic "What is that?" A voice from the
+corner asked, "Is your bed comfortable?" "Oh, yes," I replied, "but I
+thought I felt a mouse run over my head." "Well," said the voice from
+the corner, "I should not wonder. I have heard such squeaking from that
+corner during the past week that I told sister there must be a mouse
+nest in that bed." A confession she probably would not have made unless
+half asleep. This announcement was greeted with suppressed laughter from
+the floor. But it was no laughing matter to me. Alas! what a
+prospect--to have mice running over one all night. But there was no
+escape. The sisters did not offer to make any explorations, and, in my
+fatigue costume, I could not light a candle and make any on my own
+account. The house did not afford an armchair in which I could sit up. I
+could not lie on the floor, and the other bed was occupied. Fortunately,
+I was very tired and soon fell asleep. What the mice did the remainder
+of the night I never knew, so deep were my slumbers. But, as my features
+were intact, and my facial expression as benign as usual next morning, I
+inferred that their gambols had been most innocently and decorously
+conducted. These are samples of many similar experiences which we
+encountered during the three months of those eventful travels.
+
+Heretofore my idea had been that pioneer life was a period of romantic
+freedom. When the long, white-covered wagons, bound for the far West,
+passed by, I thought of the novelty of a six-months' journey through
+the bright spring and summer days in a house on wheels, meals under
+shady trees and beside babbling brooks, sleeping in the open air, and
+finding a home, at last, where land was cheap, the soil rich and deep,
+and where the grains, vegetables, fruit, and flowers grew bountifully
+with but little toil. But a few months of pioneer life permanently
+darkened my rosy ideal of the white-covered wagon, the charming picnics
+by the way, and the paradise at last. I found many of these adventurers
+in unfinished houses and racked with malaria; in one case I saw a family
+of eight, all ill with chills and fever. The house was half a mile from
+the spring water on which they depended and from which those best able,
+from day to day, carried the needed elixir to others suffering with the
+usual thirst. Their narrations of all the trials of the long journey
+were indeed heartrending.
+
+In one case a family of twelve left their comfortable farm in Illinois,
+much against the earnest protests of the mother; she having ten
+children, the youngest a baby then in her arms. All their earthly
+possessions were stored in three wagons, and the farm which the mother
+owned was sold before they commenced their long and perilous journey.
+There was no reason for going except that the husband had the Western
+fever. They were doing well in Illinois, on a large farm within two
+miles of a village, but he had visions of a bonanza near the setting
+sun. Accordingly they started. At the end of one month the baby died. A
+piece of wood from the cradle was all they had to mark its lonely
+resting place. With sad hearts they went on, and, in a few weeks, with
+grief for her child, her old home, her kindred and friends, the mother
+also died. She, too, was left alone on the far-off prairies, and the sad
+pageant moved on. Another child soon shared the same fate, and then a
+span of horses died, and one wagon, with all the things they could most
+easily spare, was abandoned. Arrived at their destination none of the
+golden dreams was realized. The expensive journey, the struggles in
+starting under new circumstances, and the loss of the mother's thrift
+and management, made the father so discouraged and reckless that much of
+his property was wasted, and his earthly career was soon ended. Through
+the heroic energy and good management of the eldest daughter, the little
+patrimony, in time, was doubled, and the children well brought up and
+educated in the rudiments of learning, so that all became respectable
+members of society. Her advice to all young people is, if you are
+comfortably established in the East, stay there. There is no royal road
+to wealth and ease, even in the Western States!
+
+In spite of the discomforts we suffered in the Kansas campaign, I was
+glad of the experience. It gave me added self-respect to know that I
+could endure such hardships and fatigue with a great degree of
+cheerfulness. The Governor and I often laughed heartily, as we patiently
+chewed our gum arabic and slippery elm, to think on what a gentle
+stimulus we were accomplishing such wonderful feats as orators and
+travelers. It was fortunate our intense enthusiasm for the subject gave
+us all the necessary inspiration, as the supplies we gathered by the way
+were by no means sufficiently invigorating for prolonged propagandism.
+
+I enjoyed these daily drives over the vast prairies, listening to the
+Governor's descriptions of the early days when the "bushwhackers and
+jayhawkers" made their raids on the inhabitants of the young free State.
+The courage and endurance of the women, surrounded by dangers and
+discomforts, surpassed all description. I count it a great privilege to
+have made the acquaintance of so many noble women and men who had passed
+through such scenes and conquered such difficulties. They seemed to live
+in an atmosphere altogether beyond their surroundings. Many educated
+families from New England, disappointed in not finding the much talked
+of bonanzas, were living in log cabins, in solitary places, miles from
+any neighbors. But I found Emerson, Parker, Holmes, Hawthorne, Whittier,
+and Lowell on their bookshelves to gladden their leisure hours.
+
+Miss Anthony and I often comforted ourselves mid adverse winds with
+memories of the short time we spent under Mother Bickerdyke's hospitable
+roof at Salina. There we had clean, comfortable beds, delicious viands,
+and everything was exquisitely neat. She entertained us with her
+reminiscences of the War. With great self-denial she had served her
+country in camp and hospital, and was with Sherman's army in that
+wonderful march to the sea, and here we found her on the outpost of
+civilization, determined to start what Kansas most needed--a good hotel.
+But alas! it was too good for that latitude and proved a financial
+failure. It was, to us, an oasis in the desert, where we would gladly
+have lingered if the opposition would have come to us for conversion.
+But, as we had to carry the gospel of woman's equality into the highways
+and hedges, we left dear Mother Bickerdyke with profound regret. The
+seed sown in Kansas in 1867 is now bearing its legitimate fruits. There
+was not a county in the State where meetings were not held or tracts
+scattered with a generous hand. If the friends of our cause in the East
+had been true and had done for woman what they did for the colored man,
+I believe both propositions would have been carried; but with a narrow
+policy, playing off one against the other, both were defeated. A policy
+of injustice always bears its own legitimate fruit in failure.
+
+However, women learned one important lesson--namely, that it is
+impossible for the best of men to understand women's feelings or the
+humiliation of their position. When they asked us to be silent on our
+question during the War, and labor for the emancipation of the slave, we
+did so, and gave five years to his emancipation and enfranchisement. To
+this proposition my friend, Susan B. Anthony, never consented, but was
+compelled to yield because no one stood with her. I was convinced, at
+the time, that it was the true policy. I am now equally sure that it was
+a blunder, and, ever since, I have taken my beloved Susan's judgment
+against the world. I have always found that, when we see eye to eye, we
+are sure to be right, and when we pull together we are strong. After we
+discuss any point together and fully agree, our faith in our united
+judgment is immovable and no amount of ridicule and opposition has the
+slightest influence, come from what quarter it may.
+
+Together we withstood the Republicans and abolitionists, when, a second
+time, they made us the most solemn promises of earnest labor for our
+enfranchisement, when the slaves were safe beyond a peradventure. They
+never redeemed their promise made during the War, hence, when they
+urged us to silence in the Kansas campaign, we would not for a moment
+entertain the proposition. The women generally awoke to their duty to
+themselves. They had been deceived once and could not be again. If the
+leaders in the Republican and abolition camps could deceive us, whom
+could we trust?
+
+Again we were urged to be silent on our rights, when the proposition to
+take the word "white" out of the New York Constitution was submitted to
+a vote of the people of the State, or, rather, to one-half the people,
+as women had no voice in the matter. Again we said "No, no, gentlemen!
+if the 'white' comes out of the Constitution, let the 'male' come out
+also. Women have stood with the negro, thus far, on equal ground as
+ostracized classes, outside the political paradise; and now, when the
+door is open, it is but fair that we both should enter and enjoy all the
+fruits of citizenship. Heretofore ranked with idiots, lunatics, and
+criminals in the Constitution, the negro has been the only respectable
+compeer we had; so pray do not separate us now for another twenty years,
+ere the constitutional door will again be opened."
+
+We were persistently urged to give all our efforts to get the word
+"white" out, and thus secure the enfranchisement of the colored man, as
+that, they said, would prepare the way for us to follow. Several editors
+threatened that, unless we did so, their papers should henceforth do
+their best to defeat every measure we proposed. But we were deaf alike
+to persuasions and threats, thinking it wiser to labor for women,
+constituting, as they did, half the people of the State, rather than for
+a small number of colored men; who, viewing all things from the same
+standpoint as white men, would be an added power against us.
+
+The question settled in Kansas, we returned, with George Francis Train,
+to New York. He offered to pay all the expenses of the journey and
+meetings in all the chief cities on the way, and see that we were fully
+and well reported in their respective journals. After prolonged
+consultation Miss Anthony and I thought best to accept the offer and we
+did so. Most of our friends thought it a grave blunder, but the result
+proved otherwise. Mr. Train was then in his prime--a large, fine-looking
+man, a gentleman in dress and manner, neither smoking, chewing,
+drinking, nor gormandizing. He was an effective speaker and actor, as
+one of his speeches, which he illustrated, imitating the poor wife at
+the washtub and the drunken husband reeling in, fully showed. He gave
+his audience charcoal sketches of everyday life rather than argument. He
+always pleased popular audiences, and even the most fastidious were
+amused with his caricatures. As the newspapers gave several columns to
+our meetings at every point through all the States, the agitation was
+widespread and of great value. To be sure our friends, on all sides,
+fell off, and those especially who wished us to be silent on the
+question of woman's rights, declared "the cause too sacred to be
+advocated by such a charlatan as George Francis Train." We thought
+otherwise, as the accession of Mr. Train increased the agitation
+twofold. If these fastidious ladies and gentlemen had come out to Kansas
+and occupied the ground and provided "the sinews of war," there would
+have been no field for Mr. Train's labors, and we should have accepted
+their services. But, as the ground was unoccupied, he had, at least,
+the right of a reform "squatter" to cultivate the cardinal virtues and
+reap a moral harvest wherever he could.
+
+Reaching New York, Mr. Train made it possible for us to establish a
+newspaper, which gave another impetus to our movement. The _Revolution_,
+published by Susan B. Anthony and edited by Parker Pillsbury and myself,
+lived two years and a half and was then consolidated with the New York
+_Christian Enquirer_, edited by the Rev. Henry Bellows, D.D. I regard
+the brief period in which I edited the _Revolution_ as one of the
+happiest of my life, and I may add the most useful. In looking over the
+editorials I find but one that I sincerely regret, and that was a retort
+on Mr. Garrison, written under great provocation, but not by me, which
+circumstances, at the time, forbade me to disown. Considering the
+pressure brought to bear on Miss Anthony and myself, I feel now that our
+patience and forbearance with our enemies in their malignant attacks on
+our good, name, which we never answered, were indeed marvelous.
+
+We said at all times and on all other subjects just what we thought, and
+advertised nothing that we did not believe in. No advertisements of
+quack remedies appeared in our columns. One of our clerks once published
+a bread powder advertisement, which I did not see until the paper
+appeared; so, in the next number, I said, editorially, what I thought of
+it. I was alone in the office, one day, when a man blustered in. "Who,"
+said he, "runs this concern?" "You will find the names of the editors
+and publishers," I replied, "on the editorial page." "Are you one of
+them?" "I am," I replied. "Well, do you know that I agreed to pay
+twenty dollars to have that bread powder advertised for one month, and
+then you condemn it editorially?" "I have nothing to do with the
+advertising; Miss Anthony pays me to say what I think." "Have you any
+more thoughts to publish on that bread powder?" "Oh, yes," I replied, "I
+have not exhausted the subject yet." "Then," said he, "I will have the
+advertisement taken out. What is there to pay for the one insertion?"
+"Oh, nothing," I replied, "as the editorial probably did you more injury
+than the advertisement did you good." On leaving, with prophetic vision,
+he said, "I prophesy a short life for this paper; the business world is
+based on quackery, and you cannot live without it." With melancholy
+certainty, I replied, "I fear you are right."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+LYCEUMS AND LECTURERS.
+
+
+The Lyceum Bureau was, at one time, a great feature in American life.
+The three leading bureaus were in Boston, New York, and Chicago. The
+managers, map in hand, would lay out trips, more or less extensive
+according to the capacity or will of the speakers, and then, with a
+dozen or more victims in hand, make arrangements with the committees in
+various towns and cities to set them all in motion. As the managers of
+the bureaus had ten per cent. of what the speakers made, it was to their
+interest to keep the time well filled. Hence the engagements were made
+without the slightest reference to the comfort of the travelers. With
+our immense distances, it was often necessary to travel night and day,
+sometimes changing cars at midnight, and perhaps arriving at the
+destination half an hour or less before going on the platform, and
+starting again on the journey immediately upon leaving it. The route was
+always carefully written out, giving the time the trains started from
+and arrived at various points; but as cross trains often failed to
+connect, one traveled, guidebook in hand, in a constant fever of
+anxiety. As, in the early days, the fees were from one to two hundred
+dollars a night, the speakers themselves were desirous of accomplishing
+as much as possible.
+
+In 1869 I gave my name, for the first time, to the New York Bureau, and
+on November 14 began the long, weary pilgrimages, from Maine to Texas,
+that lasted twelve years; speaking steadily for eight months--from
+October to June--every season. That was the heyday of the lecturing
+period, when a long list of bright men and women were constantly on the
+wing. Anna Dickinson, Olive Logan, Kate Field,--later, Mrs. Livermore
+and Mrs. Howe, Alcott, Phillips, Douglass, Tilton, Curtis, Beecher, and,
+several years later, General Kilpatrick, with Henry Vincent, Bradlaugh,
+and Matthew Arnold from England; these and many others were stars of the
+lecture platform.
+
+Some of us occasionally managed to spend Sunday together, at a good
+hotel in some city, to rest and feast and talk over our joys and
+sorrows, the long journeys, the hard fare in the country hotels, the
+rainy nights when committees felt blue and tried to cut down our fees;
+the being compelled by inconsiderate people to talk on the train; the
+overheated, badly ventilated cars; the halls, sometimes too warm,
+sometimes too cold; babies crying in our audiences; the rain pattering
+on the roof overhead or leaking on the platform--these were common
+experiences. In the West, women with babies uniformly occupied the front
+seats so that the little ones, not understanding what you said, might be
+amused with your gestures and changing facial expression. All these
+things, so trying, at the time, to concentrated and enthusiastic
+speaking, afterward served as subjects of amusing conversation. We
+unanimously complained of the tea and coffee. Mrs. Livermore had the
+wisdom to carry a spirit lamp with her own tea and coffee, and thus
+supplied herself with the needed stimulants for her oratorical
+efforts. The hardships of these lyceum trips can never be appreciated
+except by those who have endured them. With accidents to cars and
+bridges, with floods and snow blockades, the pitfalls in one of these
+campaigns were without number.
+
+[Illustration: ELIZABETH SMITH MILLER.] [Illustration]
+
+On one occasion, when engaged to speak at Maquoketa, Iowa, I arrived at
+Lyons about noon, to find the road was blocked with snow, and no chance
+of the cars running for days. "Well," said I to the landlord, "I must be
+at Maquoketa at eight o'clock to-night; have you a sleigh, a span of
+fleet horses, and a skillful driver? If so, I will go across the
+country." "Oh, yes, madam!" he replied, "I have all you ask; but you
+could not stand a six-hours' drive in this piercing wind." Having lived
+in a region of snow, with the thermometer down to twenty degrees below
+zero, I had no fears of winds and drifts, so I said, "Get the sleigh
+ready and I will try it." Accordingly I telegraphed the committee that I
+would be there, and started. I was well bundled up in a fur cloak and
+hood, a hot oak plank at my feet, and a thick veil over my head and
+face. As the landlord gave the finishing touch, by throwing a large
+buffalo robe over all and tying the two tails together at the back of my
+head and thus effectually preventing me putting my hand to my nose, he
+said, "There, if you can only sit perfectly still, you will come out all
+right at Maquoketa; that is, if you get there, which I very much doubt."
+It was a long, hard drive against the wind and through drifts, but I
+scarcely moved a finger, and, as the clock struck eight, we drove into
+the town. The hall was warm, and the church bell having announced my
+arrival, a large audience was assembled. As I learned that all the roads
+in Northern Iowa were blocked, I made the entire circuit, from point to
+point, in a sleigh, traveling forty and fifty miles a day.
+
+At the Sherman House, in Chicago, three weeks later, I met Mr. Bradlaugh
+and General Kilpatrick, who were advertised on the same route ahead of
+me. "Well," said I, "where have you gentlemen been?" "Waiting here for
+the roads to be opened. We have lost three weeks' engagements," they
+replied. As the General was lecturing on his experiences in Sherman's
+march to the sea, I chaffed him on not being able, in an emergency, to
+march across the State of Iowa. They were much astonished and somewhat
+ashamed, when I told them of my long, solitary drives over the prairies
+from day to day. It was the testimony of all the bureaus that the women
+could endure more fatigue and were more conscientious than the men in
+filling their appointments.
+
+The pleasant feature of these trips was the great educational work
+accomplished for the people through their listening to lectures on all
+the vital questions of the hour. Wherever any of us chanced to be on
+Sunday, we preached in some church; and wherever I had a spare
+afternoon, I talked to women alone, on marriage, maternity, and the laws
+of life and health. We made many most charming acquaintances, too,
+scattered all over our Western World, and saw how comfortable and happy
+sensible people could be, living in most straitened circumstances, with
+none of the luxuries of life. If most housekeepers could get rid of
+one-half their clothes and furniture and put their bric-a-brac in the
+town museum, life would be simplified and they would begin to know what
+leisure means. When I see so many of our American women struggling to be
+artists, who cannot make a good loaf of bread nor a palatable cup of
+coffee, I think of what Theodore Parker said when art was a craze in
+Boston. "The fine arts do not interest me so much as the coarse arts
+which feed, clothe, house, and comfort a people. I would rather be a
+great man like Franklin than a Michael Angelo--nay, if I had a son, I
+should rather see him a mechanic, like the late George Stephenson, in
+England, than a great painter like Rubens, who only copied beauty."
+
+One day I found at the office of the _Revolution_ an invitation to meet
+Mrs. Moulton in the Academy of Music, where she was to try her voice for
+the coming concert for the benefit of the Woman's Medical College. And
+what a voice for power, pathos, pliability! I never heard the like.
+Seated beside her mother, Mrs. W.H. Greenough, I enjoyed alike the
+mother's anxious pride and the daughter's triumph. I felt, as I
+listened, the truth of what Vieuxtemps said the first time he heard her,
+"That is the traditional voice for which the ages have waited and
+longed." When, on one occasion, Mrs. Moulton sang a song of Mozart's to
+Auber's accompaniment, someone present asked, "What could be added to
+make this more complete?" Auber looked up to heaven, and, with a sweet
+smile, said, "Nothing but that Mozart should have been here to listen."
+Looking and listening, "Here," thought I, "is another jewel in the crown
+of womanhood, to radiate and glorify the lives of all." I have such an
+intense pride of sex that the triumphs of woman in art, literature,
+oratory, science, or song rouse my enthusiasm as nothing else can.
+
+Hungering, that day, for gifted women, I called on Alice and Phebe Cary
+and Mary Clemmer Ames, and together we gave the proud white male such a
+serving up as did our souls good and could not hurt him, intrenched, as
+he is, behind creeds, codes, customs, and constitutions, with vizor and
+breastplate of self-complacency and conceit. In criticising Jessie
+Boucherett's essay on "Superfluous Women," in which she advises men in
+England to emigrate in order to leave room and occupation for women, the
+_Tribune_ said: "The idea of a home without a man in it!" In visiting
+the Carys one always felt that there was a home--a very charming one,
+too--without a man in it.
+
+Once when Harriet Beecher Stowe was at Dr. Taylor's, I had the
+opportunity to make her acquaintance. In her sanctum, surrounded by
+books and papers, she was just finishing her second paper on the Byron
+family, and her sister Catherine was preparing papers on her educational
+work, preparatory to a coming meeting of the ladies of the school board.
+The women of the Beecher family, though most of them wives and mothers,
+all had a definite life-work outside the family circle, and other
+objects of intense interest beside husbands, babies, cook stoves, and
+social conversations. Catherine said she was opposed to woman suffrage,
+and if she thought there was the least danger of our getting it, she
+would write and talk against it vehemently. But, as the nation was safe
+against such a calamity, she was willing to let the talk go on, because
+the agitation helped her work. "It is rather paradoxical," I said to
+her, "that the pressing of a false principle can help a true one; but
+when you get the women all thoroughly educated, they will step off to
+the polls and vote in spite of you."
+
+One night on the train from New York to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, I
+found abundant time to think over the personal peculiarities of the many
+noble women who adorn this nineteenth century, and, as I recalled them,
+one by one, in America, England, France, and Germany, and all that they
+are doing and saying, I wandered that any man could be so blind as not
+to see that woman has already taken her place as the peer of man. While
+the lords of creation have been debating her sphere and drawing their
+chalk marks here and there, woman has quietly stepped outside the barren
+fields where she was compelled to graze for centuries, and is now in
+green pastures and beside still waters, a power in the world of thought.
+
+These pleasant cogitations were cut short by my learning that I had
+taken the wrong train, and must change at Harrisburg at two o'clock in
+the morning. How soon the reflection that I must leave my comfortable
+berth at such an unchristian hour changed the whole hue of glorious
+womanhood and every other earthly blessing! However, I lived through the
+trial and arrived at Williamsport as the day dawned. I had a good
+audience at the opera house that evening, and was introduced to many
+agreeable people, who declared themselves converted to woman suffrage by
+my ministrations. Among the many new jewels in my crown, I added, that
+night, Judge Bently.
+
+In November, 1869, I passed one night in Philadelphia, with Miss
+Anthony, at Anna Dickinson's home--a neat, three-story brick house in
+Locust Street. This haven of rest, where the world-famous little woman
+came, ever and anon, to recruit her overtaxed energies, was very
+tastefully furnished, adorned with engravings, books, and statuary. Her
+mother, sister, and brother made up the household--a pleasing,
+cultivated trio. The brother was a handsome youth of good judgment, and
+given to sage remarks; the sister, witty, intuitive, and incisive in
+speech; the mother, dressed in rich Quaker costume, and though nearly
+seventy, still possessed of great personal beauty. She was intelligent,
+dignified, refined, and, in manner and appearance, reminded one of
+Angelina Grimke as she looked in her younger days. Everything about the
+house and its appointments indicated that it was the abode of genius and
+cultivation, and, although Anna was absent, the hospitalities were
+gracefully dispensed by her family. Napoleon and Shakespeare seemed to
+be Anna's patron saints, looking down, on all sides, from the wall. The
+mother amused us with the sore trials her little orator had inflicted on
+the members of the household by her vagaries in the world of fame.
+
+On the way to Kennett Square, a young gentleman pointed out to us the
+home of Benjamin West, who distinguished himself, to the disgust of
+broadbrims generally, as a landscape painter. In commencing his career,
+it is said he made use of the tail of a cat in lieu of a brush. Of
+course Benjamin's first attempts were on the sly, and he could not ask
+paterfamilias for money to buy a brush without encountering the good
+man's scorn. Whether, in the hour of his need and fresh enthusiasm, poor
+puss was led to the sacrificial altar, or whether he found her reposing
+by the roadside, having paid the debt of Nature, our informant could not
+say; enough that, in time, he owned a brush and immortalized himself by
+his skill in its use. Such erratic ones as Whittier, West, and Anna
+Dickinson go to prove that even the prim, proper, perfect Quakers are
+subject to like infirmities with the rest of the human family.
+
+I had long heard of the "Progressive Friends" in the region round
+Longwood; had read the many bulls they issued from their "yearly
+meetings" on every question, on war, capital punishment, temperance,
+slavery, woman's rights; had learned that they were turning the cold
+shoulder on the dress, habits, and opinions of their Fathers; listening
+to the ministrations of such worldlings as William Lloyd Garrison,
+Theodore Tilton, and Oliver Johnson, in a new meeting house, all painted
+and varnished, with cushions, easy seats, carpets, stoves, a musical
+instrument--shade of George Fox, forgive--and three brackets with vases
+on the "high seat," and, more than all that, men and women were
+indiscriminately seated throughout the house.
+
+All this Miss Anthony and I beheld with our own eyes, and, in company
+with Sarah Pugh and Chandler Darlington, did sit together in the high
+seat and talk in the congregation of the people. There, too, we met
+Hannah Darlington and Dinah Mendenhall,--names long known in every good
+work,--and, for the space of one day, did enjoy the blissful serenity of
+that earthly paradise. The women of Kennett Square were celebrated not
+only for their model housekeeping but also for their rare cultivation on
+all subjects of general interest.
+
+In November I again started on one of my Western trips, but, alas! on
+the very day the trains were changed, and so I could not make
+connections to meet my engagements at Saginaw and Marshall, and just
+saved myself at Toledo by going directly from the cars before the
+audience, with the dust of twenty-four hours' travel on my garments.
+Not being able to reach Saginaw, I went straight to Ann Arbor, and spent
+three days most pleasantly in visiting old friends, making new ones, and
+surveying the town, with its grand University. I was invited to
+Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Mr. Seaman, a highly cultivated
+Democratic editor, author of "Progress of Nations." A choice number of
+guests gathered round his hospitable board on that occasion, over which
+his wife presided with dignity and grace. Woman suffrage was the target
+for the combined wit and satire of the company, and, after four hours of
+uninterrupted sharpshooting, pyrotechnics, and laughter, we dispersed to
+our several abodes, fairly exhausted with the excess of enjoyment.
+
+One gentleman had the moral hardihood to assert that men had more
+endurance than women, whereupon a lady remarked that she would like to
+see the thirteen hundred young men in the University laced up in
+steel-ribbed corsets, with hoops, heavy skirts, trains, high heels,
+panniers, chignons, and dozens of hairpins sticking in their scalps,
+cooped up in the house year after year, with no exhilarating exercise,
+no hopes, aims, nor ambitions in life, and know if they could stand it
+as well as the girls. "Nothing," said she, "but the fact that women,
+like cats, have nine lives, enables them to survive the present _regime_
+to which custom dooms the sex."
+
+While in Ann Arbor I gave my lecture on "Our Girls" in the new Methodist
+church--a large building, well lighted, and filled with a brilliant
+audience. The students, in large numbers, were there, and strengthened
+the threads of my discourse with frequent and generous applause;
+especially when I urged on the Regents of the University the duty of
+opening its doors to the daughters of the State. There were several
+splendid girls in Michigan, at that time, preparing themselves for
+admission to the law department. As Judge Cooley, one of the professors,
+was a very liberal man, as well as a sound lawyer, and strongly in favor
+of opening the college to girls, I had no doubt the women of Michigan
+would soon distinguish themselves at the bar. Some said the chief
+difficulty in the way of the girls of that day being admitted to the
+University was the want of room. That could have been easily obviated by
+telling the young men from abroad to betake themselves to the colleges
+in their respective States, that Michigan might educate her daughters.
+As the women owned a good share of the property of the State, and had
+been heavily taxed to build and endow that institution, it was but fair
+that they should share in its advantages.
+
+The Michigan University, with its extensive grounds, commodious
+buildings, medical and law schools, professors' residences, and the
+finest laboratory in the country, was an institution of which the State
+was justly proud, and, as the tuition was free, it was worth the trouble
+of a long, hard siege by the girls of Michigan to gain admittance there.
+I advised them to organize their forces at once, get their minute guns,
+battering rams, monitors, projectiles, bombshells, cannon, torpedoes,
+and crackers ready, and keep up a brisk cannonading until the grave and
+reverend seigniors opened the door, and shouted, "Hold, enough!"
+
+The ladies of Ann Arbor had a fine library of their own, where their
+clubs met once a week. They had just formed a suffrage association. My
+visit ended with a pleasant reception, at which I was introduced to the
+chaplain, several professors, and many ladies and gentlemen ready to
+accept the situation. Judge Cooley gave me a glowing account of the laws
+of Michigan--how easy it was for wives to get possession of all the
+property, and then sunder the marriage tie and leave the poor husband to
+the charity of the cold world, with their helpless children about him. I
+heard of a rich lady, there, who made a will, giving her husband a
+handsome annuity as long as he remained her widower. It was evident that
+the poor "white male," sooner or later, was doomed to try for himself
+the virtue of the laws he had made for women. I hope, for the sake of
+the race, he will not bear oppression with the stupid fortitude we have
+for six thousand years.
+
+At Flint I was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Jenny. Mr. Jenny was a
+Democratic editor who believed in progress, and in making smooth paths
+for women in this great wilderness of life. His wife was a remarkable
+woman. She inaugurated the Ladies' Libraries in Michigan. In Flint they
+had a fine brick building and nearly two thousand volumes of choice
+books, owned by the association, and money always in the treasury. Here,
+too, I had a fine audience and gave my lecture entitled "Open the Door."
+
+At Coldwater, in spite of its name, I found a warm, appreciative
+audience. The president of the lyceum was a sensible young man who,
+after graduating at Ann Arbor, decided, instead of starving at the law,
+to work with his hands and brains at the same time. When all men go to
+their legitimate business of creating wealth, developing the resources
+of the country, and leave its mere exchange to the weaker sex, we shall
+not have so many superfluous women in the world with nothing to do. It
+is evident the time has come to hunt man into his appropriate sphere.
+Coming from Chicago, I met Governor Fairchild and Senator Williams of
+Wisconsin. It was delightful to find them thoroughly grounded in the
+faith of woman suffrage. They had been devout readers of the
+_Revolution_ ever since Miss Anthony induced them to subscribe, the
+winter before, at Madison. Of course a new glow of intelligence
+irradiated their fine faces (for they were remarkably handsome men) and
+there was a new point to all their words. Senator Williams, like myself,
+was on a lecturing tour. "Man" was his theme, for which I was devoutly
+thankful; for, if there are any of God's creatures that need lecturing,
+it is this one that is forever advising us. I thought of all men, from
+Father Gregory down to Horace Bushnell, who had wearied their brains to
+describe woman's sphere, and how signally they had failed.
+
+Throughout my lyceum journeys I was of great use to the traveling
+public, in keeping the ventilators in the cars open, and the dampers in
+fiery stoves shut up, especially in sleeping cars at night. How many
+times a day I thought what the sainted Horace Mann tried to impress on
+his stupid countrymen, that, inasmuch as the air is forty miles deep
+around the globe, it is a useless piece of economy to breathe any number
+of cubic feet over more than seven times! The babies, too, need to be
+thankful that I was in a position to witness their wrongs. Many, through
+my intercessions, received their first drink of water, and were
+emancipated from woolen hoods, veils, tight strings under their chins,
+and endless swaddling bands. It is a startling assertion, but true,
+that I have met few women who know how to take care of a baby. And this
+fact led me, on one trip, to lecture to my fair countrywomen on
+"Marriage and Maternity," hoping to aid in the inauguration of a new era
+of happy, healthy babies.
+
+After twenty-four hours in the express I found myself in a pleasant room
+in the International Hotel at La Crosse, looking out on the Great Mother
+of Waters, on whose cold bosom the ice and the steamers were struggling
+for mastery. Beyond stretched the snow-clad bluffs, sternly looking down
+on the Mississippi, as if to say, "'Thus far shalt thou come and no
+farther'--though sluggish, you are aggressive, ever pushing where you
+should not; but all attempts in this direction are alike vain; since
+creation's dawn, we have defied you, and here we stand, to-day, calm,
+majestic, immovable. Coquette as you will in other latitudes, with
+flowery banks and youthful piers in the busy marts of trade, and
+undermine them, one and all, with your deceitful wooings, but bow in
+reverence as you gaze on us. We have no eyes for your beauty; no ears
+for your endless song; our heads are in the clouds, our hearts commune
+with gods; you have no part in the eternal problems of the ages that
+fill our thoughts, yours the humble duty to wash our feet, and then pass
+on, remembering to keep in your appropriate sphere, within the barks
+that wise geographers have seen fit to mark."
+
+As I listened to these complacent hills and watched the poor Mississippi
+weeping as she swept along, to lose her sorrows in ocean's depths, I
+thought how like the attitude of man to woman. Let these proud hills
+remember that they, too, slumbered for centuries in deep valleys down,
+down, when, perchance, the sparkling Mississippi rolled above their
+heads, and but for some generous outburst, some upheaval of old Mother
+Earth, wishing that her rock-ribbed sons, as well as graceful daughters,
+might enjoy the light, the sunshine and the shower--but for this soul of
+love in matter as well as mind--these bluffs and the sons of Adam, too,
+might not boast the altitude they glory in to-day. Those who have ears
+to hear discern low, rumbling noises that foretell convulsions in our
+social world that may, perchance, in the next upheaval, bring woman to
+the surface; up, up, from gloomy ocean depths, dark caverns, and damper
+valleys. The struggling daughters of earth are soon to walk in the
+sunlight of a higher civilization.
+
+Escorted by Mr. Woodward, a member of the bar, I devoted a day to the
+lions of La Crosse. First we explored the courthouse, a large, new brick
+building, from whose dome we had a grand view of the surrounding
+country. The courtroom where justice is administered was large, clean,
+airy--the bench carpeted and adorned with a large, green, stuffed chair,
+in which I sat down, and, in imagination, summoned up advocates, jurors,
+prisoners, and people, and wondered how I should feel pronouncing
+sentence of death on a fellow-being, or, like Portia, wisely checkmating
+the Shylocks of our times. Here I met Judge Hugh Cameron, formerly of
+Johnstown. He invited us into his sanctum, where we had a pleasant chat
+about our native hills, Scotch affiliations, the bench and bar of New
+York, and the Wisconsin laws for women. The Judge, having maintained a
+happy bachelor state, looked placidly on the aggressive movements of
+the sex, as his domestic felicity would be no way affected, whether
+woman was voted up or down.
+
+We next surveyed the Pomeroy building, which contained a large,
+tastefully finished hall and printing establishment, where the La Crosse
+_Democrat_ was formerly published. As I saw the perfection, order, and
+good taste, in all arrangements throughout, and listened to Mr. Huron's
+description of the life and leading characteristics of its chief, it
+seemed impossible to reconcile the tone of the _Democrat_ with the moral
+status of its editor. I never saw a more complete business
+establishment, and the editorial sanctum looked as if it might be the
+abiding place of the Muses. Mirrors, pictures, statuary, books, music,
+rare curiosities, and fine specimens of birds and minerals were
+everywhere. Over the editor's table was a beautiful painting of his
+youthful daughter, whose flaxen hair, blue eyes, and angelic face should
+have inspired a father to nobler, purer, utterances than he was wont, at
+that time, to give to the world.
+
+But Pomeroy's good deeds will live long after his profane words are
+forgotten. Throughout the establishment cards, set up in conspicuous
+places, said, "Smoking here is positively forbidden." Drinking, too, was
+forbidden to all his employes. The moment a man was discovered using
+intoxicating drinks, he was dismissed. In the upper story of the
+building was a large, pleasant room, handsomely carpeted and furnished,
+where the employes, in their leisure hours, could talk, write, read, or
+amuse themselves in any rational way.
+
+Mr. Pomeroy was humane and generous with his employes, honorable in his
+business relations, and boundless in his charities to the poor. His
+charity, business honor, and public spirit were highly spoken of by
+those who knew him best. That a journal does not always reflect the
+editor is as much the fault of society as of the man. So long as the
+public will pay for gross personalities, obscenity, and slang, decent
+journals will be outbidden in the market. The fact that the La Crosse
+_Democrat_ found a ready sale in all parts of the country showed that
+Mr. Pomeroy fairly reflected the popular taste. While multitudes turned
+up the whites of their eyes and denounced him in public, they bought his
+paper and read it in private.
+
+I left La Crosse in a steamer, just as the rising sun lighted the
+hilltops and gilded the Mississippi. It was a lovely morning, and, in
+company with a young girl of sixteen, who had traveled alone from some
+remote part of Canada, bound for a northern village in Wisconsin, I
+promenaded the deck most of the way to Winona, a pleased listener to the
+incidents of my young companion's experiences. She said that, when
+crossing Lake Huron, she was the only woman on board, but the men were
+so kind and civil that she soon forgot she was alone. I found many
+girls, traveling long distances, who had never been five miles from home
+before, with a self-reliance that was remarkable. They all spoke in the
+most flattering manner of the civility of our American men in looking
+after their baggage and advising them as to the best routes.
+
+As you approach St. Paul, at Fort Snelling, where the Mississippi and
+Minnesota join forces, the country grows bold and beautiful. The town
+itself, then boasting about thirty thousand inhabitants, is finely
+situated, with substantial stone residences. It was in one of these
+charming homes I found a harbor of rest during my stay in the city. Mrs.
+Stuart, whose hospitalities I enjoyed, was a woman of rare common sense
+and sound health. Her husband, Dr. Jacob H. Stuart, was one of the very
+first surgeons to volunteer in the late war. In the panic at Bull Run,
+instead of running, as everybody else did, he stayed with the wounded,
+and was taken prisoner while taking a bullet from the head of a rebel.
+When exchanged, Beauregard gave him his sword for his devotion to the
+dying and wounded.
+
+I had the pleasure of seeing several of the leading gentlemen and ladies
+of St. Paul at the Orphans' Fair, where we all adjourned, after my
+lecture, to discuss woman's rights, over a bounteous supper. Here I met
+William L. Banning, the originator of the Lake Superior and Mississippi
+Railroad. He besieged Congress and capitalists for a dozen years to
+build this road, but was laughed at and put off with sneers and
+contempt, until, at last, Jay Cooke became so weary of his continual
+coming that he said: "I will build the road to get rid of you."
+
+Whittier seems to have had a prophetic vision of the peopling of this
+region. When speaking of the Yankee, he says:
+
+    "He's whittling by St. Mary's Falls,
+     Upon his loaded wain;
+    He's measuring o'er the Pictured Rocks,
+     With eager eyes of gain.
+
+    "I hear the mattock in the mine,
+     The ax-stroke in the dell,
+    The clamor from the Indian lodge,
+     The Jesuits' chapel bell!
+
+    "I hear the tread of pioneers
+     Of nations yet to be;
+    The first low wash of waves, where soon
+     Shall roll a human sea."
+
+The opening of these new outlets and mines of wealth was wholly due to
+the forecast and perseverance of Mr. Banning. The first engine that went
+over a part of the road had been christened at St. Paul, with becoming
+ceremonies; the officiating priestess being a beautiful maiden. A cask
+of water from the Pacific was sent by Mr. Banning's brother from
+California, and a small keg was brought from Lake Superior for the
+occasion. A glass was placed in the hands of Miss Ella B. Banning,
+daughter of the president, who then christened the engine, saying: "With
+the waters of the Pacific Ocean in my right hand, and the waters of Lake
+Superior in my left, invoking the Genius of Progress to bring together,
+with iron band, two great commercial systems of the globe, I dedicate
+this engine to the use of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad,
+and name it William L. Banning."
+
+From St. Paul to Dubuque, as the boats had ceased running, a circuitous
+route and a night of discomfort were inevitable. Leaving the main road
+to Chicago at Clinton Junction, I had the pleasure of waiting at a small
+country inn until midnight for a freight train. This was indeed dreary,
+but, having Mrs. Child's sketches of Mmes. De Stael and Roland at hand,
+I read of Napoleon's persecutions of the one and Robespierre's of the
+other, until, by comparison, my condition was tolerable, and the little
+meagerly furnished room, with its dull fire and dim lamp, seemed a
+paradise compared with years of exile from one's native land or the
+prison cell and guillotine. How small our ordinary, petty trials seem
+in contrast with the mountains of sorrow that have been piled up on the
+great souls of the past! Absorbed in communion with them twelve o'clock
+soon came, and with it the train.
+
+A burly son of Adam escorted me to the passenger car filled with German
+immigrants, with tin cups, babies, bags, and bundles innumerable. The
+ventilators were all closed, the stoves hot, and the air was like that
+of the Black Hole of Calcutta. So, after depositing my cloak and bag in
+an empty seat, I quietly propped both doors open with a stick of wood,
+shut up the stoves, and opened all the ventilators with the poker. But
+the celestial breeze, so grateful to me, had the most unhappy effect on
+the slumbering exiles. Paterfamilias swore outright; the companion of
+his earthly pilgrimage said, "We must be going north," and, as the heavy
+veil of carbonic acid gas was lifted from infant faces, and the pure
+oxygen filled their lungs and roused them to new life, they set up one
+simultaneous shout of joy and gratitude, which their parents mistook for
+agony. Altogether there was a general stir. As I had quietly slipped
+into my seat and laid my head down to sleep, I remained unobserved--the
+innocent cause of the general purification and vexation.
+
+We reached Freeport at three o'clock in the morning. As the depot for
+Dubuque was nearly half a mile on the other side of the town, I said to
+a solitary old man who stood shivering there to receive us, "How can I
+get to the other station?" "Walk, madam." "But I do not know the way."
+"There is no one to go with you." "How is my trunk going?" said I. "I
+have a donkey and cart to take that." "Then," said I, "you, the donkey,
+the trunk, and I will go together." So I stepped into the cart, sat down
+on the trunk, and the old man laughed heartily as we jogged along
+through the mud of that solitary town in the pale morning starlight.
+Just as the day was dawning, Dubuque, with its rough hills and bold
+scenery, loomed up. Soon, under the roof of Myron Beach, one of the
+distinguished lawyers of the West, with a good breakfast and sound nap,
+my night's sorrows were forgotten.
+
+I was sorry to find that Mrs. Beach, though a native of New York, and
+born on the very spot where the first woman's rights convention was held
+in this country, was not sound on the question of woman suffrage. She
+seemed to have an idea that voting and housekeeping could not be
+compounded; but I suggested that, if the nation could only enjoy a
+little of the admirable system with which she and other women
+administered their domestic affairs, Uncle Sam's interests would be
+better secured. This is just what the nation needs to-day, and women
+must wake up to the consideration that they, too, have duties as well as
+rights in the State. A splendid audience greeted me in the Opera House,
+and I gave "Our Girls," bringing many male sinners to repentance, and
+stirring up some lethargic _femmes coverts_ to a state of rebellion
+against the existing order of things.
+
+From Dubuque I went to Dixon, a large town, where I met a number of
+pleasant people, but I have one cause of complaint against the telegraph
+operator, whose negligence to send a dispatch to Mt. Vernon, written and
+paid for, came near causing me a solitary night on the prairie,
+unsheltered and unknown. Hearing that the express train went out Sunday
+afternoon, I decided to go, so as to have all day at Mt. Vernon before
+speaking; but on getting my trunk checked, the baggageman said the train
+did not stop there. "Well," said I, "check the trunk to the nearest
+point at which it does stop," resolving that I would persuade the
+conductor to stop one minute, anyway. Accordingly, when the conductor
+came round, I presented my case as persuasively and eloquently as
+possible, telling him that I had telegraphed friends to meet me, etc.,
+etc. He kindly consented to do so and had my trunk re-checked. On
+arriving, as there was no light, no sound, and the depot was half a mile
+from the town, the conductor urged me to go to Cedar Rapids and come
+back the next morning, as it was Sunday night and the depot might not be
+opened, and I might be compelled to stay there on the platform all night
+in the cold.
+
+But, as I had telegraphed, I told him I thought someone would be there,
+and I would take the risk. So off went the train, leaving me solitary
+and alone. I could see the lights in the distant town and the dark
+outlines of two great mills near by, which suggested dams and races. I
+heard, too, the distant barking of dogs, and I thought there might be
+wolves, too; but no human sound. The platform was high and I could see
+no way down, and I should not have dared to go down if I had. So I
+walked all round the house, knocked at every door and window, called
+"John!" "James!" "Patrick!" but no response. Dressed in all their best,
+they had, no doubt, gone to visit Sally, and I knew they would stay
+late. The night wind was cold. What could I do? The prospect of spending
+the night there filled me with dismay. At last I thought I would try my
+vocal powers; so I hallooed as loud as I could, in every note of the
+gamut, until I was hoarse. At last I heard a distant sound, a loud
+halloo, which I returned, and so we kept it up until the voice grew
+near, and, when I heard a man's heavy footsteps close at hand, I was
+relieved. He proved to be the telegraph operator, who had been a brave
+soldier in the late war. He said that no message had come from Dixon. He
+escorted me to the hotel, where some members of the Lyceum Committee
+came in and had a hearty laugh at my adventure, especially that, in my
+distress, I should have called on James and John and Patrick, instead of
+Jane, Ann, and Bridget. They seemed to argue that that was an admission,
+on my part, of man's superiority, but I suggested that, as my sex had
+not yet been exalted to the dignity of presiding in depots and baggage
+rooms, there would have been no propriety in calling Jane and Ann.
+
+Mt. Vernon was distinguished for a very flourishing Methodist college,
+open to boys and girls alike. The president and his wife were liberal
+and progressive people. I dined with them in their home near the
+college, and met some young ladies from Massachusetts, who were teachers
+in the institution. All who gathered round the social board on that
+occasion were of one mind on the woman question. Even the venerable
+mother of the president seemed to light up with the discussion of the
+theme. I gave "Our Girls" in the Methodist church, and took the
+opportunity to compliment them for taking the word "obey" out of their
+marriage ceremony. I heard the most encouraging reports of the
+experiment of educating the sexes together. It was the rule in all the
+Methodist institutions in Iowa, and I found that the young gentlemen
+fully approved of it.
+
+At Mt. Vernon I also met Mr. Wright, former Secretary of State, who gave
+me several interesting facts in regard to the women of Iowa. The State
+could boast one woman who was an able lawyer, Mrs. Mansfield. Mrs. Berry
+and Mrs. Stebbins were notaries public. Miss Addington was
+superintendent of schools in Mitchell County. She was nominated by a
+convention in opposition to a Mr. Brown. When the vote was taken, lo!
+there was a tie. Mr. Brown offered to yield through courtesy, but she
+declined; so they drew lots and Miss Addington was the victor. She once
+made an abstract of titles of all the lands in the county where she
+lived, and had received an appointment to office from the Governor of
+the State, who requested the paper to be made out "L." instead of Laura
+Addington. He said it was enough for Iowa to appoint women to such
+offices, without having it known the world over. I was sorry to tell the
+Governor's secrets,--which I did everywhere,--but the cause of womanhood
+made it necessary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+WESTWARD HO!
+
+
+In the month of June, 1871, Miss Anthony and I went to California,
+holding suffrage meetings in many of the chief cities from New York to
+San Francisco, where we arrived about the middle of July, in time to
+experience the dry, dusty season.
+
+We tarried, on the way, one week in Salt Lake City. It was at the time
+of the Godby secession, when several hundred Mormons abjured that
+portion of the faith of their fathers which authorized polygamy. A
+decision had just been rendered by the United States Supreme Court
+declaring the first wife and her children the only legal heirs. Whether
+this decision hastened the secession I do not know; however, it gave us
+the advantage of hearing all the arguments for and against the system.
+Those who were opposed to it said it made slaves of men. To support four
+wives and twenty children was a severe strain on any husband. The women
+who believed in polygamy had much to say in its favor, especially in
+regard to the sacredness of motherhood during the period of pregnancy
+and lactation; a lesson of respect for that period being religiously
+taught all Mormons.
+
+We were very thankful for the privilege granted us of speaking to the
+women alone in the smaller Tabernacle. Our meeting opened at two o'clock
+and lasted until seven, giving us five hours of uninterrupted
+conversation. Judge McKeon had informed me of the recent decisions and
+the legal aspects of the questions, which he urged me to present to them
+fully and frankly, as no one had had such an opportunity before to speak
+to Mormon women alone. So I made the most of my privilege. I gave a
+brief history of the marriage institution in all times and countries, of
+the matriarchate, when the mother was the head of the family and owned
+the property and children; of the patriarchate, when man reigned supreme
+and woman was enslaved; of polyandry, polygamy, monogamy, and
+prostitution. We had a full and free discussion of every phase of the
+question, and we all agreed that we were still far from having reached
+the ideal position for woman in marriage, however satisfied man might be
+with his various experiments. Though the Mormon women, like all others,
+stoutly defend their own religion, yet they are no more satisfied than
+any other sect. All women are dissatisfied with their position as
+inferiors, and their dissatisfaction increases in exact ratio with their
+intelligence and development.
+
+After this convocation the doors of the Tabernacle were closed to our
+ministrations, as we thought they would be, but we had crowded an
+immense amount of science, philosophy, history, and general reflections
+into the five hours of such free talk as those women had never heard
+before. As the seceders had just built a new hall, we held meetings
+there every day, discussing all the vital issues of the hour; the Mormon
+men and women taking an active part.
+
+We attended the Fourth of July celebration, and saw the immense
+Tabernacle filled to its utmost capacity. The various States of the
+Union were represented by young girls, gayly dressed, carrying beautiful
+flags and banners. When that immense multitude joined in our national
+songs, and the deep-toned organ filled the vast dome the music was very
+impressive, and the spirit of patriotism manifested throughout was deep
+and sincere.
+
+As I stood among these simple people, so earnest in making their
+experiment in religion and social life, and remembered all the
+persecutions they had suffered and all they had accomplished in that
+desolate, far-off region, where they had, indeed, made "the wilderness
+blossom like the rose," I appreciated, as never before, the danger of
+intermeddling with the religious ideas of any people. Their faith finds
+abundant authority in the Bible, in the example of God's chosen people.
+When learned ecclesiastics teach the people that they can safely take
+that book as the guide of their lives, they must expect them to follow
+the letter and the specific teachings that lie on the surface. The
+ordinary mind does not generalize nor see that the same principles of
+conduct will not do for all periods and latitudes. When women understand
+that governments and religions are human inventions; that Bibles,
+prayerbooks, catechisms, and encyclical letters are all emanations from
+the brain of man, they will no longer be oppressed by the injunctions
+that come to them with the divine authority of "Thus saith the Lord."
+
+That thoroughly democratic gathering in the Tabernacle impressed me more
+than any other Fourth of July celebration I ever attended. As most of
+the Mormon families keep no servants, mothers must take their children
+wherever they go--to churches, theatres, concerts, and military
+reviews--everywhere and anywhere. Hence the low, pensive wail of the
+individual baby, combining in large numbers, becomes a deep monotone,
+like the waves of the sea, a sort of violoncello accompaniment to all
+their holiday performances. It was rather trying to me at first to have
+my glowing periods punctuated with a rhythmic wail from all sides of the
+hall; but as soon as I saw that it did not distract my hearers, I simply
+raised my voice, and, with a little added vehemence, fairly rivaled the
+babies. Commenting on this trial, to one of the theatrical performers,
+he replied: "It is bad enough for you, but alas! imagine me in a tender
+death scene, when the most profound stillness is indispensable, having
+my last gasp, my farewell message to loved ones, accentuated with the
+joyful crowings or impatient complainings of fifty babies." I noticed in
+the Tabernacle that the miseries of the infantile host were in a measure
+mitigated by constant draughts of cold water, borne around in buckets by
+four old men.
+
+The question of the most profound interest to us at that time, in the
+Mormon experiment, was the exercise of the suffrage by women. Emeline B.
+Wells, wife of the Mayor of the city, writing to a Washington
+convention, in 1894, said of the many complications growing out of
+various bills before Congress to rob women of this right:
+
+     "Women have voted in Utah fourteen years, but, because of the
+     little word 'male' that still stands upon the statutes, no woman is
+     eligible to any office of emolument or trust. In three successive
+     legislatures, bills have been passed, providing that the word
+     'male' be erased; but, each time, the Governor of the Territory,
+     who has absolute veto power, has refused his signature. Yet women
+     attend primary meetings in the various precincts and are chosen as
+     delegates. They are also members of county and territorial central
+     committees, and are thus gaining practical political experience,
+     and preparing themselves for positions of trust.
+
+     "In 1882 a convention was held to frame a constitution to be
+     submitted to the people and presented to the Congress of the United
+     States. Women were delegates to this convention, and took part in
+     all its deliberations, and were appointed to act on committees with
+     equal privileges. It is the first instance on record, I think,
+     where women have been members and taken an active part in a
+     constitutional convention.
+
+     "Much has been said and written, and justly, too, of suffrage for
+     women in Wyoming; but, in my humble opinion, had Utah stood on the
+     same ground as Wyoming, and women been eligible to office, as they
+     are in that Territory, they would, ere this, have been elected to
+     the legislative Assembly of Utah.
+
+     "It is currently reported that Mormon women vote as they are told
+     by their husbands. I most emphatically deny the assertion. All
+     Mormon women vote who are privileged to register. Every girl born
+     here, as soon as she is twenty-one years old, registers, and
+     considers it as much a duty as to say her prayers. Our women vote
+     with the same freedom that characterizes any class of people in the
+     most conscientious acts of their lives."
+
+These various questions were happily solved in 1895, when Utah became a
+State. Its Constitution gives women the right to vote on all questions,
+and makes them eligible to any office.
+
+The journey over the Rocky Mountains was more interesting and wonderful
+than I had imagined. A heavy shower the morning we reached the alkali
+plains made the trip through that region, where travelers suffer so
+much, quite endurable. Although we reached California in its hot, dry
+season, we found the atmosphere in San Francisco delightful, fanned with
+the gentle breezes of the Pacific, cooled with the waters of its
+magnificent harbor. The Golden Gate does indeed open to the eye of the
+traveler one of the most beautiful harbors in the world.
+
+Friends had engaged for us a suite of apartments at the Grand Hotel,
+then just opened. Our rooms were constantly decked with fresh flowers,
+which our "suffrage children," as they called themselves, brought us
+from day to day. So many brought tokens of their good will--in fact, all
+our visitors came with offerings of fruits and flowers--that not only
+our apartments, but the public tables were crowded with rare and
+beautiful specimens of all varieties. We spoke every night, to crowded
+houses, on all phases of the woman question, and had a succession of
+visitors during the day. In fact, for one week, we had a perfect
+ovation. As Senator Stanford and his wife were at the same hotel, we had
+many pleasant interviews with them.
+
+While in San Francisco we had many delightful sails in the harbor and
+drives to the seashore and for miles along the beach. We spent several
+hours at the little Ocean House, watching the gambols of the celebrated
+seals. These, like the big trees, were named after distinguished
+statesmen. One very black fellow was named Charles Sumner, in honor of
+his love of the black race; another, with a little squint in his eye,
+was called Ben Butler; a stout, rotund specimen that seemed to take life
+philosophically, was named Senator Davis of Illinois; a very belligerent
+one, who appeared determined to crowd his confreres into the sea, was
+called Secretary Stanton. Grant and Lincoln, on a higher ledge of the
+rocks, were complacently observing the gambols of the rest.
+
+California was on the eve of an important election, and John A. Bingham
+of Ohio and Senator Cole were stumping the State for the Republican
+party. At several points we had the use of their great tents for our
+audiences, and of such of their able arguments as applied to woman. As
+Mr. Bingham's great speech was on the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
+Fifteenth Amendments, every principle he laid down literally
+enfranchised the women of the nation. I met the Ohio statesman one
+morning at breakfast, after hearing him the night before. I told him his
+logic must compel him to advocate woman suffrage. With a most cynical
+smile he said "he was not the puppet of logic, but the slave of
+practical politics."
+
+We met most of our suffrage coadjutors in different parts of California.
+I spent a few days with Mrs. Elizabeth B. Schenck, one of the earliest
+pioneers in the suffrage movement. She was a cultivated, noble woman,
+and her little cottage was a gem of beauty and comfort, surrounded with
+beautiful gardens and a hedge of fish-geraniums over ten feet high,
+covered with scarlet flowers. It seemed altogether more like a fairy
+bower than a human habitation. The windmills all over California, for
+pumping water, make a very pretty feature in the landscape, as well as
+an important one, as people are obliged to irrigate their gardens
+during the dry season. In August the hills are as brown as ours in
+December.
+
+Here, too, I first met Senator Sargent's family, and visited them in
+Sacramento City, where we had a suffrage meeting in the evening and one
+for women alone next day. At a similar meeting in San Francisco six
+hundred women were present in Platt's Hall. We discussed marriage,
+maternity, and social life in general. Supposing none but women were
+present, as all were dressed in feminine costume, the audience were
+quite free in their questions, and I equally so in my answers. To our
+astonishment, the next morning, a verbatim report of all that was said
+appeared in one of the leading papers, with most respectful comments. As
+I always wrote and read carefully what I had to say on such delicate
+subjects, the language was well chosen and the presentation of facts and
+philosophy quite unobjectionable; hence, the information being as
+important for men as for women, I did not regret the publication. During
+the day a committee of three gentlemen called to know if I would give a
+lecture to men alone. As I had no lecture prepared, I declined, with the
+promise to do so the next time I visited California. The idea was novel,
+but I think women could do much good in that way.
+
+My readers may be sure that such enterprising travelers as Miss Anthony
+and myself visited all the wonders, saw the geysers, big trees, the
+Yosemite Valley, and the immense mountain ranges, piled one above
+another, until they seemed to make a giant pathway from earth to heaven.
+We drove down the mountain sides with Fox, the celebrated whip; sixteen
+people in an open carriage drawn by six horses, down, down, down, as
+fast as we could go. I expected to be dashed to pieces, but we safely
+descended in one hour, heights we had taken three to climb. Fox held a
+steady rein, and seemed as calm as if we were trotting on a level,
+though any accident, such as a hot axle, a stumbling horse, or a break
+in the harness would have sent us down the mountain side, two thousand
+feet, to inevitable destruction. He had many amusing anecdotes to tell
+of Horace Greeley's trip to the Geysers. The distinguished journalist
+was wholly unprepared for the race down the mountains and begged Fox to
+hold up. Sitting in front he made several efforts to seize the lines.
+But Fox assured him that was the only possible way they could descend in
+safety, as the horses could guide the stage, but they could not hold it.
+
+At Stockton we met a party of friends just returning from the Yosemite,
+who gave us much valuable information for the journey. Among other
+things, I was advised to write to Mr. Hutchins, the chief authority
+there, to have a good, strong horse in readiness to take me down the
+steep and narrow path into the valley. We took the same driver and
+carriage which our friends had found trustworthy, and started early in
+the morning. The dust and heat made the day's journey very wearisome,
+but the prospect of seeing the wonderful valley made all hardships of
+little consequence. Quite a large party were waiting to mount their
+donkeys and mules when we arrived. One of the attendants, a man about as
+thin as a stair rod, asked me if I was the lady who had ordered a strong
+horse; I being the stoutest of the party, he readily arrived at that
+conclusion, so my steed was promptly produced. But I knew enough of
+horses and riding to see at a glance that he was a failure, with his low
+withers and high haunches, for descending steep mountains. In addition
+to his forward pitch, his back was immensely broad. Miss Anthony and I
+decided to ride astride and had suits made for that purpose; but alas!
+my steed was so broad that I could not reach the stirrups, and the
+moment we began to descend, I felt as if I were going over his head. So
+I fell behind, and, when the party had all gone forward, I dismounted,
+though my slender guide assured me there was no danger, he "had been up
+and down a thousand times." But, as I had never been at all, his
+repeated experiences did not inspire me with courage. I decided to walk.
+That, the guide said, was impossible. "Well," said I, by way of
+compromise, "I will walk as far as I can, and when I reach the
+impossible, I will try that ill-constructed beast. I cannot see what you
+men were thinking of when you selected such an animal for this journey."
+And so we went slowly down, arguing the point whether it were better to
+ride or walk; to trust one's own legs, or, by chance, be precipitated
+thousands of feet down the mountain side.
+
+It was a hot August day; the sun, in the zenith, shining with full
+power. My blood was at boiling heat with exercise and vexation.
+Alternately sliding and walking, catching hold of rocks and twigs,
+drinking at every rivulet, covered with dust, dripping with
+perspiration, skirts, gloves, and shoes in tatters, for four long hours
+I struggled down to the end, when I laid myself out on the grass, and
+fell asleep, perfectly exhausted, having sent the guide to tell Mr.
+Hutchins that I had reached the valley, and, as I could neither ride nor
+walk, to send a wheelbarrow, or four men with a blanket to transport me
+to the hotel. That very day the Mariposa Company had brought the first
+carriage into the valley, which, in due time, was sent to my relief.
+Miss Anthony, who, with a nice little Mexican pony and narrow saddle,
+had made her descent with grace and dignity, welcomed me on the steps of
+the hotel, and laughed immoderately at my helpless plight.
+
+As hour after hour had passed, she said, there had been a general
+wonderment as to what had become of me; "but did you ever see such
+magnificent scenery?" "Alas!" I replied, "I have been in no mood for
+scenery. I have been constantly watching my hands and feet lest I should
+come to grief." The next day I was too stiff and sore to move a finger.
+However, in due time I awoke to the glory and grandeur of that wonderful
+valley, of which no descriptions nor paintings can give the least idea.
+With Sunset Cox, the leading Democratic statesman, and his wife, we had
+many pleasant excursions through the valley, and chats, during the
+evening, on the piazza. There was a constant succession of people going
+and coming, even in that far-off region, and all had their adventures to
+relate. But none quite equaled my experiences.
+
+We spent a day in the Calaveras Grove, rested beneath the "big trees,"
+and rode on horseback through the fallen trunk of one of them. Some
+vandals sawed off one of the most magnificent specimens twenty feet
+above the ground, and, on this the owners of the hotel built a little
+octagonal chapel. The polished wood, with bark for a border, made a very
+pretty floor. Here they often had Sunday services, as it held about one
+hundred people. Here, too, we discussed the suffrage question, amid
+these majestic trees that had battled with the winds two thousand
+years, and had probably never before listened to such rebellion as we
+preached to the daughters of earth that day.
+
+Here, again, we found our distinguished statesmen immortalized, each
+with his namesake among these stately trees. We asked our guide if there
+were any not yet appropriated, might we name them after women. As he
+readily consented, we wrote on cards the names of a dozen leading women,
+and tacked them on their respective trees. Whether Lucretia Mott, Lucy
+Stone, Phoebe Couzins, and Anna Dickinson still retain their identity,
+and answer when called by the goddess Sylvia in that majestic grove, I
+know not. Twenty-five years have rolled by since then, and a new
+generation of visitors and guides may have left no trace of our work
+behind them. But we whispered our hopes and aspirations to the trees, to
+be wafted to the powers above, and we left them indelibly pictured on
+the walls of the little chapel, and for more mortal eyes we scattered
+leaflets wherever we went, and made all our pleasure trips so many
+propaganda for woman's enfranchisement.
+
+Returning from California I made the journey straight through from San
+Francisco to New York. Though a long trip to make without a break, yet I
+enjoyed every moment, as I found most charming companions in Bishop
+Janes and his daughter. The Bishop being very liberal in his ideas, we
+discussed the various theologies, and all phases of the woman question.
+I shall never forget those pleasant conversations as we sat outside on
+the platform, day after day, and in the soft moonlight late at night. We
+took up the thread of our debate each morning where we had dropped it
+the night before. The Bishop told me about the resolution to take the
+word "obey" from the marriage ceremony which he introduced, two years
+before, into the Methodist General Conference and carried with but
+little opposition. All praise to the Methodist Church! When our girls
+are educated into a proper self-respect and laudable pride of sex, they
+will scout all these old barbarisms of the past that point in any way to
+the subject condition of women in either the State, the Church, or the
+home. Until the other sects follow her example, I hope our girls will
+insist on having their conjugal knots all tied by Methodist bishops.
+
+The Episcopal marriage service not only still clings to the word "obey,"
+but it has a most humiliating ceremony in giving the bride away. I was
+never more struck with its odious and ludicrous features than on once
+seeing a tall, queenly-looking woman, magnificently arrayed, married by
+one of the tiniest priests that ever donned a surplice and gown, given
+away by the smallest guardian that ever watched a woman's fortunes, to
+the feeblest, bluest-looking little groom that ever placed a wedding
+ring on bridal finger. Seeing these Lilliputians around her, I thought,
+when the little priest said, "Who gives this woman to this man," that
+she would take the responsibility and say, "I do," but no! there she
+stood, calm, serene, as if it were no affair of hers, while the little
+guardian, placing her hand in that of the little groom, said, "I do."
+Thus was this stately woman bandied about by these three puny men, all
+of whom she might have gathered up in her arms and borne off to their
+respective places of abode.
+
+But women are gradually waking up to the degradation of these
+ceremonies. Not long since, at a wedding in high life, a beautiful girl
+of eighteen was struck dumb at the word "obey." Three times the priest
+pronounced it with emphasis and holy unction, each time slower, louder,
+than before. Though the magnificent parlors were crowded, a breathless
+silence reigned. Father, mother, and groom were in agony. The bride,
+with downcast eyes, stood speechless. At length the priest slowly closed
+his book and said, "The ceremony is at an end." One imploring word from
+the groom, and a faint "obey" was heard in the solemn stillness. The
+priest unclasped his book and the knot was tied. The congratulations,
+feast, and all, went on as though there had been no break in the
+proceedings, but the lesson was remembered, and many a rebel made by
+that short pause.
+
+I think all these reverend gentlemen who insist on the word "obey" in
+the marriage service should be removed for a clear violation of the
+Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, which says there shall
+be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude within the United States.
+As I gave these experiences to Bishop Janes he laughed heartily, and
+asked me to repeat them to each newcomer. Our little debating society
+was the center of attraction. One gentleman asked me if our woman
+suffrage conventions were as entertaining. I told him yes; that there
+were no meetings in Washington so interesting and so well attended as
+ours.
+
+As I had some woman-suffrage literature in my valise, I distributed
+leaflets to all earnest souls who plied me with questions. Like all
+other things, it requires great discretion in sowing leaflets, lest you
+expose yourself to a rebuff. I never offer one to a man with a small
+head and high heels on his boots, with his chin in the air, because I
+know, in the nature of things, that he will be jealous of superior
+women; nor to a woman whose mouth has the "prunes and prisms"
+expression, for I know she will say, "I have all the rights I want."
+Going up to London one day, a few years later, I noticed a saintly
+sister, belonging to the Salvation Army, timidly offering some leaflets
+to several persons on board; all coolly declined to receive them. Having
+had much experience in the joys and sorrows of propagandism, I put out
+my hand and asked her to give them to me. I thanked her and read them
+before reaching London. It did me no harm and her much good in thinking
+that she might have planted a new idea in my mind. Whatever is given to
+us freely, I think, in common politeness, we should accept graciously.
+
+While I was enjoying once more the comforts of home, on the blue hills
+of Jersey, Miss Anthony was lighting the fires of liberty on the
+mountain tops of Oregon and Washington Territory. All through the months
+of October, November, and December, 1871, she was jolting about in
+stages, over rough roads, speaking in every hamlet where a schoolhouse
+was to be found, and scattering our breezy leaflets to the four winds of
+heaven.
+
+From 1869 to 1873 Miss Anthony and I made several trips through Iowa,
+Missouri, Illinois, and Nebraska, holding meetings at most of the chief
+towns; I speaking in the afternoons to women alone on "Marriage and
+Maternity." As Miss Anthony had other pressing engagements in Kansas and
+Nebraska, I went alone to Texas, speaking in Dallas, Sherman, and
+Houston, where I was delayed two weeks by floods and thus prevented
+from going to Austin, Galveston, and some points in Louisiana, where I
+was advertised to lecture. In fact I lost all my appointments for a
+month. However, there was a fine hotel in Houston and many pleasant
+people, among whom I made some valuable acquaintances. Beside several
+public meetings, I had parlor talks and scattered leaflets, so that my
+time was not lost.
+
+As the floods had upset my plans for the winter, I went straight from
+Houston to New York over the Iron Mountain Railroad. I anticipated a
+rather solitary trip; but, fortunately, I met General Baird, whom I
+knew, and some other army officers, who had been down on the Mexican
+border to settle some troubles in the "free zone." We amused ourselves
+on the long journey with whist and woman suffrage discussions. We
+noticed a dyspeptic-looking clergyman, evidently of a bilious
+temperament, eying us very steadily and disapprovingly the first day,
+and in a quiet way we warned each other that, in due time, he would give
+us a sermon on the sin of card playing.
+
+Sitting alone, early next morning, he seated himself by my side, and
+asked me if I would allow him to express his opinion on card playing. I
+said "Oh, yes! I fully believe in free speech." "Well," said he, "I
+never touch cards. I think they are an invention of the devil to lead
+unwary souls from all serious thought of the stern duties of life and
+the realities of eternity! I was sorry to see you, with your white hair,
+probably near the end of your earthly career, playing cards and talking
+with those reckless army officers, who delight in killing their
+fellow-beings. No! I do not believe in war or card playing; such things
+do not prepare the soul for heaven." "Well," said I, "you are quite
+right, with your views, to abjure the society of army officers and all
+games of cards. You, no doubt, enjoy your own thoughts and the book you
+are reading, more than you would the conversation of those gentlemen and
+a game of whist. We must regulate our conduct by our own highest ideal.
+While I deplore the necessity of war, yet I know in our Army many of the
+noblest types of manhood, whose acquaintance I prize most highly. I
+enjoy all games, too, from chess down to dominoes. There is so much that
+is sad and stern in life that we need sometimes to lay down its burdens
+and indulge in innocent amusements. Thus, you see, what is wise from my
+standpoint is unwise from yours. I am sorry that you repudiate all
+amusements, as they contribute to the health of body and soul. You are
+sorry that I do not think as you do and regulate my life accordingly.
+You are sure that you are right. I am equally sure that I am. Hence
+there is nothing to be done in either case but to let each other alone,
+and wait for the slow process of evolution to give to each of us a
+higher standard." Just then one of the officers asked me if I was ready
+for a game of whist, and I excused myself from further discussion. I met
+many of those dolorous saints in my travels, who spent so much thought
+on eternity and saving their souls that they lost all the joys of time,
+as well as those sweet virtues of courtesy and charity that might best
+fit them for good works on earth and happiness in heaven.
+
+In the spring I went to Nebraska, and Miss Anthony and I again made a
+Western tour, sometimes together and sometimes by different routes. A
+constitutional convention was in session in Lincoln, and it was
+proposed to submit an amendment to strike the word "male" from the
+Constitution. Nebraska became a State in March, 1867, and took "Equality
+before the law" as her motto. Her Territorial legislature had discussed,
+many times, proposed liberal legislation for women, and her State
+legislature had twice considered propositions for woman's
+enfranchisement. I had a valise with me containing Hon. Benjamin F.
+Butler's minority reports as a member of the Judiciary Committee of the
+United States House of Representatives, in favor of woman's right to
+vote under the Fourteenth Amendment. As we were crossing the Platte
+River, in transferring the baggage to the boat, my valise fell into the
+river. My heart stood still at the thought of such a fate for all those
+able arguments. After the great General had been in hot water all his
+life, it was grievous to think of any of his lucubrations perishing in
+cold water at last. Fortunately they were rescued. On reaching Lincoln I
+was escorted to the home of the Governor, where I spread the documents
+in the sunshine, and they were soon ready to be distributed among the
+members of the constitutional convention.
+
+After I had addressed the convention, some of the members called on me
+to discuss the points of my speech. All the gentlemen were serious and
+respectful with one exception. A man with an unusually small head,
+diminutive form, and crooked legs tried, at my expense, to be witty and
+facetious. During a brief pause in the conversation he brought his chair
+directly before me and said, in a mocking tone, "Don't you think that
+the best thing a woman can do is to perform well her part in the role of
+wife and mother? My wife has presented me with eight beautiful
+children; is not this a better life-work than that of exercising the
+right of suffrage?"
+
+I had had my eye on this man during the whole interview, and saw that
+the other members were annoyed at his behavior. I decided, when the
+opportune moment arrived, to give him an answer not soon to be
+forgotten; so I promptly replied to his question, as I slowly viewed him
+from head to foot, "I have met few men, in my life, worth repeating
+eight times." The members burst into a roar of laughter, and one of
+them, clapping him on the shoulder, said: "There, sonny, you have read
+and spelled; you better go." This scene was heralded in all the Nebraska
+papers, and, wherever the little man went, he was asked why Mrs. Stanton
+thought he was not worth repeating eight times.
+
+During my stay in Lincoln there was a celebration of the opening of some
+railroad. An immense crowd from miles about assembled on this occasion.
+The collation was spread and speeches were made in the open air. The men
+congratulated each other on the wonderful progress the State had made
+since it became an organized Territory in 1854. There was not the
+slightest reference, at first, to the women. One speaker said: "This
+State was settled by three brothers, John, James, and Joseph, and from
+them have sprung the great concourse of people that greet us here
+to-day." I turned, and asked the Governor if all these people had
+sprung, Minerva-like, from the brains of John, James, and Joseph. He
+urged me to put that question to the speaker; so, in one of his eloquent
+pauses, I propounded the query, which was greeted with loud and
+prolonged cheers, to the evident satisfaction of the women present. The
+next speaker took good care to give the due meed of praise to Ann, Jane,
+and Mary, and to every mention of the mothers of Nebraska the crowd
+heartily responded.
+
+In toasting "the women of Nebraska," at the collation, I said: "Here's
+to the mothers, who came hither by long, tedious journeys, closely
+packed with restless children in emigrant wagons, cooking the meals by
+day, and nursing the babies by night, while the men slept. Leaving
+comfortable homes in the East, they endured all the hardships of pioneer
+life, suffered, with the men, the attacks of the Dakota Indians and the
+constant apprehension of savage raids, of prairie fires, and the
+devastating locusts. Man's trials, his fears, his losses, all fell on
+woman with double force; yet history is silent concerning the part woman
+performed in the frontier life of the early settlers. Men make no
+mention of her heroism and divine patience; they take no thought of the
+mental or physical agonies women endure in the perils of maternity,
+ofttimes without nurse or physician in the supreme hour of their need,
+going, as every mother does, to the very gates of death in giving life
+to an immortal being!"
+
+Traveling all over these Western States in the early days, seeing the
+privations women suffered, and listening to the tales of sorrow at the
+fireside, I wondered that men could ever forget the debt of gratitude
+they owed to their mothers, or fail to commemorate their part in the
+growth of a great people. Yet the men of Nebraska have twice defeated
+the woman suffrage amendment.
+
+In 1874 Michigan was the point of interest to all those who had taken
+part in the woman-suffrage movement. The legislature, by a very large
+majority, submitted to a vote of the electors an amendment of the
+Constitution, in favor of striking out the word "male" and thus securing
+civil and political rights to the women of the State. It was a very
+active campaign. Crowded meetings were held in all the chief towns and
+cities. Professor Moses Coit Tyler, and a large number of ministers
+preached, every Sunday, on the subject of woman's position. The
+Methodist conference passed a resolution in favor of the amendment by a
+unanimous vote. I was in the State during the intense heat of May and
+June, speaking every evening to large audiences; in the afternoon to
+women alone, and preaching every Sunday in some pulpit. The Methodists,
+Universalists, Unitarians, and Quakers all threw open their churches to
+the apostles of the new gospel of equality for women. We spoke in jails,
+prisons, asylums, depots, and the open air. Wherever there were ears to
+hear, we lifted up our voices, and, on the wings of the wind, the glad
+tidings were carried to the remote corners of the State, and the votes
+of forty thousand men, on election day, in favor of the amendment were
+so many testimonials to the value of the educational work accomplished.
+
+I made many valuable acquaintances, on that trip, with whom I have
+maintained lifelong friendships. One pleasant day I passed in the home
+of Governor Bagley and his wife, with a group of pretty children. I
+found the Governor deeply interested in prison reform. He had been
+instrumental in passing a law giving prisoners lights in their cells and
+pleasant reading matter until nine o'clock. His ideas of what prisons
+should be, as unfolded that day, have since been fully realized in the
+grand experiment now being successfully tried at Elmira, New York.
+
+I visited the State prison at Jackson, and addressed seven hundred men
+and boys, ranging from seventy down to seventeen years of age. Seated on
+the dais with the chaplain, I saw them file in to dinner, and, while
+they were eating, I had an opportunity to study the sad, despairing
+faces before me. I shall never forget the hopeless expression of one
+young man, who had just been sentenced for twenty years, nor how ashamed
+I felt that one of my own sex, trifling with two lovers, had fanned the
+jealousy of one against the other, until the tragedy ended in the death
+of one and the almost lifelong imprisonment of the other. If girls
+should be truthful and transparent in any relations in life, surely it
+is in those of love, involving the strongest passions of which human
+nature is capable. As the chaplain told me the sad story, and I noticed
+the prisoner's refined face and well-shaped head, I felt that the young
+man was not under the right influences to learn the lesson he needed.
+Fear, coercion, punishment, are the masculine remedies for moral
+weakness, but statistics show their failure for centuries. Why not
+change the system and try the education of the moral and intellectual
+faculties, cheerful surroundings, inspiring influences? Everything in
+our present system tends to lower the physical vitality, the
+self-respect, the moral tone, and to harden instead of reforming the
+criminal.
+
+My heart was so heavy I did not know what to say to such an assembly of
+the miserable. I asked the chaplain what I should say. "Just what you
+please," he replied. Thinking they had probably heard enough of their
+sins, their souls, and the plan of salvation, I thought I would give
+them the news of the day. So I told them about the woman suffrage
+amendment, what I was doing in the State, my amusing encounters with
+opponents, their arguments, my answers. I told them of the great changes
+that would be effected in prison life when the mothers of the nation had
+a voice in the buildings and discipline. I told them what Governor
+Bagley said, and of the good time coming when prisons would no longer be
+places of punishment but schools of reformation. To show them what women
+would do to realize this beautiful dream, I told them of Elizabeth Fry
+and Dorothea L. Dix, of Mrs. Farnham's experiment at Sing Sing, and
+Louise Michel's in New Caledonia, and, in closing, I said: "Now I want
+all of you who are in favor of the amendment to hold up your right
+hands." They gave a unanimous vote, and laughed heartily when I said, "I
+do wish you could all go to the polls in November and that we could lock
+our opponents up here until after the election." I felt satisfied that
+they had had one happy hour, and that I had said nothing to hurt the
+feelings of the most unfortunate. As they filed off to their respective
+workshops my faith and hope for brighter days went with them. Then I
+went all through the prison. Everything looked clean and comfortable on
+the surface, but I met a few days after a man, just set free, who had
+been there five years for forgery. He told me the true inwardness of the
+system; of the wretched, dreary life they suffered, and the brutality of
+the keepers. He said the prison was infested with mice and vermin, and
+that, during the five years he was there, he had never lain down one
+night to undisturbed slumber. The sufferings endured in summer for want
+of air, he said, were indescribable. In this prison the cells were in
+the center of the building, the corridors running all around by the
+windows, so the prisoners had no outlook and no direct contact with the
+air. Hence, if a careless keeper forgot to open the windows after a
+storm, the poor prisoners panted for air in their cells, like fish out
+of water. My informant worked in the mattress department, over the room
+where prisoners were punished. He said he could hear the lash and the
+screams of the victims from morning till night. "Hard as the work is all
+day," said he, "it is a blessed relief to get out of our cells to march
+across the yard and get one glimpse of the heavens above, and one breath
+of pure air, and to be in contact with other human souls in the
+workshops, for, although we could never speak to each other, yet there
+was a hidden current of sympathy conveyed by look that made us one in
+our misery."
+
+Though the press of the State was largely in our favor, yet there were
+some editors who, having no arguments, exercised the little wit they did
+possess in low ridicule. It was in this campaign that an editor in a
+Kalamazoo journal said: "That ancient daughter of Methuselah, Susan B.
+Anthony, passed through our city yesterday, on her way to the Plainwell
+meeting, with a bonnet on her head looking as if it had recently
+descended from Noah's ark." Miss Anthony often referred to this
+description of herself, and said, "Had I represented twenty thousand
+voters in Michigan, that political editor would not have known nor cared
+whether I was the oldest or the youngest daughter of Methuselah, or
+whether my bonnet came from the ark or from Worth's."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE SPIRIT OF '76.
+
+
+The year 1876 was one of intense excitement and laborious activity
+throughout the country. The anticipation of the centennial birthday of
+the Republic, to be celebrated in Philadelphia, stirred the patriotism
+of the people to the highest point of enthusiasm. As each State was to
+be represented in the great exhibition, local pride added another
+element to the public interest. Then, too, everyone who could possibly
+afford the journey was making busy preparations to spend the Fourth of
+July, the natal day of the Republic, mid the scenes where the
+Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776, the Government
+inaugurated, and the first national councils were held. Those interested
+in women's political rights decided to make the Fourth a woman's day,
+and to celebrate the occasion, in their various localities, by
+delivering orations and reading their own declaration of rights, with
+dinners and picnics in the town halls or groves, as most convenient. But
+many from every State in the Union made their arrangements to spend the
+historic period in Philadelphia. Owing, also, to the large number of
+foreigners who came over to join in the festivities, that city was
+crammed to its utmost capacity. With the crowd and excessive heat,
+comfort was everywhere sacrificed to curiosity.
+
+The enthusiasm throughout the country had given a fresh impulse to the
+lyceum bureaus. Like the ferryboats in New York harbor, running hither
+and thither, crossing each other's tracks, the whole list of lecturers
+were on the wing, flying to every town and city from San Francisco to
+New York. As soon as a new railroad ran through a village of five
+hundred inhabitants that could boast a schoolhouse, a church, or a
+hotel, and one enterprising man or woman, a course of lectures was at
+once inaugurated as a part of the winter's entertainments.
+
+On one occasion I was invited, by mistake, to a little town to lecture
+the same evening when the Christy Minstrels were to perform. It was
+arranged, as the town had only one hall, that I should speak from seven
+to eight o'clock and the minstrels should have the remainder of the
+time. One may readily see that, with the minstrels in anticipation, a
+lecture on any serious question would occupy but a small place in the
+hearts of the people in a town where they seldom had entertainments of
+any kind. All the time I was speaking there was a running to and fro
+behind the scenes, where the minstrels were transforming themselves with
+paints and curly wigs into Africans, and laughing at each other's jests.
+As it was a warm evening, and the windows were open, the hilarity of the
+boys in the street added to the general din. Under such circumstances it
+was difficult to preserve my equilibrium. I felt like laughing at my own
+comical predicament, and I decided to make my address a medley of
+anecdotes and stories, like a string of beads, held together by a fine
+thread of argument and illustration. The moment the hand of the clock
+pointed at eight o'clock the band struck up, thus announcing that the
+happy hour for the minstrels had come. Those of my audience who wished
+to stay were offered seats at half price; those who did not, slipped
+out, and the crowd rushed in, soon packing the house to its utmost
+capacity. I stayed, and enjoyed the performance of the minstrels more
+than I had my own.
+
+As the lyceum season lasted from October to June, I was late in reaching
+Philadelphia. Miss Anthony and Mrs. Gage had already been through the
+agony of finding appropriate headquarters for the National Suffrage
+Association. I found them pleasantly situated on the lower floor of No.
+1431 Chestnut Street, with the work for the coming month clearly mapped
+out. As it was the year for nominating candidates for the presidency of
+the United States, the Republicans and Democrats were about to hold
+their great' conventions. Hence letters were to be written to them
+recommending a woman suffrage plank in their platforms, and asking seats
+for women in the conventions, with the privilege of being heard in their
+own behalf. On these letters our united wisdom was concentrated, and
+twenty thousand copies of each were published.
+
+Then it was thought pre-eminently proper that a Woman's Declaration of
+Rights should be issued. Days and nights were spent over that document.
+After many twists from our analytical tweezers, with a critical
+consideration of every word and sentence, it was at last, by a consensus
+of the competent, pronounced very good. Thousands were ordered to be
+printed, and were folded, put in envelopes, stamped, directed, and
+scattered. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, and I worked sixteen hours, day and
+night, pressing everyone who came in, into the service, and late at
+night carrying immense bundles to be mailed. With meetings, receptions,
+and a succession of visitors, all of whom we plied with woman suffrage
+literature, we felt we had accomplished a great educational work.
+
+Among the most enjoyable experiences at our headquarters were the
+frequent visits of our beloved Lucretia Mott, who used to come from her
+country home bringing us eggs, cold chickens, and fine Oolong tea. As
+she had presented us with a little black teapot that, like Mercury's
+mysterious pitcher of milk, filled itself for every coming guest, we
+often improvised luncheons with a few friends. At parting, Lucretia
+always made a contribution to our depleted treasury. Here we had many
+prolonged discussions as to the part we should take, on the Fourth of
+July, in the public celebration. We thought it would be fitting for us
+to read our Declaration of Rights immediately after that of the Fathers
+was read, as an impeachment of them and their male descendants for their
+injustice and oppression. Ours contained as many counts, and quite as
+important, as those against King George in 1776. Accordingly, we applied
+to the authorities to allow us seats on the platform and a place in the
+programme of the public celebration, which was to be held in the
+historic old Independence Hall. As General Hawley was in charge of the
+arrangements for the day, I wrote him as follows:
+
+     "1431 Chestnut Street, July 1, 1876.
+
+     "General Hawley.
+
+     "_Honored Sir_: As President of the National Woman's Suffrage
+     Association, I am authorized to ask you for tickets to the
+     platform, at Independence Hall, for the celebration on the Fourth
+     of July. We should like to have seats for at least one
+     representative woman from each State. We also ask your permission
+     to read our Declaration of Rights immediately after the reading of
+     the Declaration of Independence of the Fathers is finished.
+     Although these are small favors to ask as representatives of
+     one-half of the nation, yet we shall be under great obligations to
+     you if granted.
+
+     "Respectfully Yours,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton."
+
+To this I received the following reply:
+
+     "U.S.C.C. Headquarters, July 2.
+
+     "Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
+
+     "_Dear Madam_: I send you, with pleasure, half a dozen cards of
+     invitation. As the platform is already crowded, it is impossible to
+     reserve the number of seats you desire. I regret to say it is also
+     impossible for us to make any change in the programme at this late
+     hour. We are crowded for time to carry out what is already
+     proposed.
+
+     "Yours Very Respectfully,
+
+     "Joseph R. Hawley,
+
+     "President, U.S.C.C."
+
+With this rebuff, Mrs. Mott and I decided that we would not accept the
+offered seats, but would be ready to open our own convention called for
+that day, at the First Unitarian church, where the Rev. William H.
+Furness had preached for fifty years. But some of our younger coadjutors
+decided that they would occupy the seats and present our Declaration of
+Rights. They said truly, women will be taxed to pay the expenses of
+this celebration, and we have as good a right to that platform and to
+the ears of the people as the men have, and we will be heard.
+
+That historic Fourth of July dawned at last, one of the most oppressive
+days of that heated season. Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Sara
+Andrews Spencer, Lillie Devereux Blake, and Phoebe W. Couzins made their
+way through the crowds under the broiling sun of Independence Square,
+carrying the Woman's Declaration of Rights. This Declaration had been
+handsomely engrossed by one of their number, and signed by the oldest
+and most prominent advocates of woman's enfranchisement. Their tickets
+of admission proved an "open sesame" through the military barriers, and,
+a few moments before the opening of the ceremonies, these women found
+themselves within the precincts from which most of their sex were
+excluded.
+
+The Declaration of 1776 was read by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, about
+whose family clusters so much historic fame. The moment he finished
+reading was determined upon as the appropriate time for the presentation
+of the Woman's Declaration. Not quite sure how their approach might be
+met, not quite certain if, at this final moment, they would be permitted
+to reach the presiding officer, those ladies arose and made their way
+down the aisle. The bustle of preparation for the Brazilian hymn covered
+their advance. The foreign guests and the military and civil officers
+who filled the space directly in front of the speaker's stand,
+courteously made way, while Miss Anthony, in fitting words, presented
+the Declaration to the presiding officer. Senator Ferry's face paled as,
+bowing low, with no word he received the Declaration, which thus became
+part of the day's proceedings. The ladies turned, scattering printed
+copies as they deliberately walked down the platform. On every side
+eager hands were outstretched, men stood on seats and asked for them,
+while General Hawley, thus defied and beaten in his audacious denial to
+women of the right to present their Declaration, shouted, "Order,
+order!"
+
+Passing out, these ladies made their way to a platform, erected for the
+musicians, in front of Independence Hall. Here, under the shadow of
+Washington's statue, back of them the old bell that proclaimed "liberty
+to all the land and all the inhabitants thereof," they took their
+places, and, to a listening, applauding crowd, Miss Anthony read the
+Woman's Declaration. During the reading of the Declaration, Mrs. Gage
+stood beside Miss Anthony and held an umbrella over her head, to shelter
+her friend from the intense heat of the noonday sun. And thus in the
+same hour, on opposite sides of old Independence Hall, did the men and
+women express their opinions on the great principles proclaimed on the
+natal day of the Republic. The Declaration was handsomely framed, and
+now hangs in the Vice President's room in the Capitol at Washington.
+
+These heroic ladies then hurried from Independence Hall to the church,
+already crowded with an expectant audience, to whom they gave a full
+report of the morning's proceedings. The Hutchinsons of worldwide fame
+were present in their happiest vein, interspersing the speeches with
+appropriate songs and felicitous remarks. For five long hours on that
+hot midsummer day a crowded audience, many standing, listened with
+profound interest and reluctantly dispersed at last, all agreeing that
+it was one of the most impressive and enthusiastic meetings they had
+ever attended.
+
+All through our Civil War the slaves on the Southern plantations had an
+abiding faith that the terrible conflict would result in freedom for
+their race. Just so through all the busy preparations of the Centennial,
+the women of the nation felt sure that the great national celebration
+could not pass without the concession of some new liberties to them.
+Hence they pressed their claims at every point, at the Fourth of July
+celebration in the exposition buildings, and in the Republican and
+Democratic nominating conventions; hoping to get a plank in the
+platforms of both the great political parties.
+
+The Woman's Pavilion upon the centennial grounds was an afterthought, as
+theologians claim woman herself to have been. The women of the country,
+after having contributed nearly one hundred thousand dollars to the
+centennial stock, found there had been no provision made for the
+separate exhibition of their work. The centennial board, of which Mrs.
+Gillespie was president, then decided to raise funds for the erection of
+a separate building, to be known as the Woman's Pavilion. It covered an
+acre of ground, and was erected at an expense of thirty thousand
+dollars--a small sum in comparison with the money which had been raised
+by women and expended on the other buildings, not to speak of the State
+and national appropriations, which the taxes levied on them had largely
+helped to swell.
+
+The Pavilion was no true exhibit of woman's art. Few women are, as yet,
+owners of the business which their industry largely makes remunerative.
+Cotton factories, in which thousands of women work, are owned by men.
+The shoe business, in some branches of which women are doing more than
+half the work, is under the ownership of men. Rich embroideries from
+India, rugs of downy softness from Turkey, the muslin of Decca,
+anciently known as "The Woven Wind," the pottery and majolica ware of P.
+Pipsen's widow, the cartridges and envelopes of Uncle Sam, Waltham
+watches, whose finest mechanical work is done by women, and ten thousand
+other industries found no place in the pavilion. Said United States
+Commissioner Meeker of Colorado, "Woman's work comprises three-fourths
+of the exposition; it is scattered through every building; take it away,
+and there would be no exposition."
+
+But this pavilion rendered one good service to woman in showing her
+capabilities as an engineer. The boiler, which furnished the force for
+running its work, was under the charge of a young Canadian girl, Miss
+Allison, who, from childhood, had loved machinery, spending much time in
+the large saw and grist mills of her father, run by engines of two and
+three hundred horse-power, which she sometimes managed for amusement.
+When her name was proposed for running the pavilion machinery, it caused
+much opposition. It was said that the committee would, some day, find
+the pavilion blown to atoms; that the woman engineer would spend her
+time reading novels instead of watching the steam gauge; that the idea
+was impracticable and should not be thought of. But Miss Allison soon
+proved her capabilities and the falseness of these prophecies by taking
+her place in the engine room and managing its workings with perfect
+ease. Six power looms, on which women wove carpets, webbing, silks,
+etc., were run by this engine. At a later period the printing of _The
+New Century for Woman_, a paper published by the centennial commission
+in the woman's building, was done by its means. Miss Allison declared
+the work to be more cleanly, more pleasant, and infinitely less
+fatiguing than cooking over a kitchen stove. "Since I have been
+compelled to earn my own living," she said, "I have never been engaged
+in work I like so well. Teaching school is much harder, and one is not
+paid so well." She expressed her confidence in her ability to manage the
+engines of an ocean steamer, and said that there were thousands of small
+engines in use in various parts of the country, and no reason existed
+why women should not be employed to manage them,--following the
+profession of engineer as a regular business,--an engine requiring far
+less attention than is given by a nursemaid or a mother to a child.
+
+But to have made the Woman's Pavilion grandly historic, upon its walls
+should have been hung the yearly protest of Harriet K. Hunt against
+taxation without representation; the legal papers served upon the Smith
+sisters when, for their refusal to pay taxes while unrepresented, their
+Alderney cows were seized and sold; the papers issued by the city of
+Worcester for the forced sale of the house and lands of Abby Kelly
+Foster, the veteran abolitionist, because she refused to pay taxes,
+giving the same reason our ancestors gave when they resisted taxation; a
+model of Bunker Hill monument, its foundation laid by Lafayette in 1825,
+but which remained unfinished nearly twenty years, until the famous
+German danseuse, Fanny Ellsler, gave the proceeds of a public
+performance for that purpose. With these should have been exhibited
+framed copies of all the laws bearing unjustly upon women--those which
+rob her of her name, her earnings, her property, her children, her
+person; also the legal papers in the case of Susan B. Anthony, who was
+tried and fined for claiming her right to vote under the Fourteenth
+Amendment, and the decision of Mr. Justice Miller in the case of Myra
+Bradwell, denying national protection for woman's civil rights; and the
+later decision of Chief Justice Waite of the United States Supreme Court
+against Virginia L. Minor, denying women national protection for their
+political rights; decisions in favor of State rights which imperil the
+liberties not only of all women, but of every white man in the nation.
+
+Woman's most fitting contributions to the Centennial Exposition would
+have been these protests, laws, and decisions, which show her political
+slavery. But all this was left for rooms outside of the centennial
+grounds, upon Chestnut Street, where the National Woman's Suffrage
+Association hoisted its flag, made its protests, and wrote the
+Declaration of Rights of the women of the United States.
+
+To many thoughtful people it seemed captious and unreasonable for women
+to complain of injustice in this free land, amidst such universal
+rejoicings. When the majority of women are seemingly happy, it is
+natural to suppose that the discontent of the minority is the result of
+their unfortunate individual idiosyncrasies, and not of adverse
+influences in established conditions. But the history of the world shows
+that the vast majority, in every generation, passively accept the
+conditions into which they are born, while those who demanded larger
+liberties are ever a small, ostracized minority, whose claims are
+ridiculed and ignored. From our standpoint we would honor any Chinese
+woman who claimed the right to her feet and powers of locomotion; the
+Hindoo widows who refused to ascend the funeral pyre of their husbands;
+the Turkish women who threw off their masks and veils and left the
+harem; the Mormon women who abjured their faith and demanded monogamic
+relations. Why not equally honor the intelligent minority of American
+women who protest against the artificial disabilities by which their
+freedom is limited and their development arrested? That only a few,
+under any circumstances, protest against the injustice of
+long-established laws and customs, does not disprove the fact of the
+oppressions, while the satisfaction of the many, if real, only proves
+their apathy and deeper degradation. That a majority of the women of the
+United States accept, without protest, the disabilities which grow out
+of their disfranchisement is simply an evidence of their ignorance and
+cowardice, while the minority who demand a higher political status
+clearly prove their superior intelligence and wisdom.
+
+At the close of the Forty-seventh Congress we made two new demands:
+First, for a special committee to consider all questions in regard to
+the civil and political rights of women. We naturally asked the
+question, As Congress has a special committee on the rights of Indians,
+why not on those of women? Are not women, as a factor in civilization,
+of more importance than Indians? Secondly, we asked for a room, in the
+Capitol, where our committee could meet, undisturbed, whenever they saw
+fit. Though these points were debated a long time, our demands were
+acceded to at last. We now have our special committee, and our room,
+with "Woman Suffrage" in gilt letters, over the door. In our struggle
+to achieve this, while our champion, the senior Senator from
+Massachusetts, stood up bravely in the discussion, the opposition not
+only ridiculed the special demand, but all attempts to secure the civil
+and political rights of women. As an example of the arguments of the
+opposition, I give what the Senator from Missouri said. It is a fair
+specimen of all that was produced on that side of the debate. Mr. Vest's
+poetical flights are most inspiring:
+
+     "The Senate now has forty-one committees, with a small army of
+     messengers and clerks, one-half of whom, without exaggeration, are
+     literally without employment. I shall not pretend to specify the
+     committees of this body which have not one single bill, resolution,
+     or proposition of any sort pending before them, and have not had
+     for months. But, Mr. President, out of all committees without
+     business, and habitually without business, in this body, there is
+     one that, beyond any question, could take jurisdiction of this
+     matter and do it ample justice. I refer to that most respectable
+     and antique institution, the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. For
+     thirty years it has been without business. For thirty long years
+     the placid surface of that parliamentary sea has been without one
+     single ripple. If the Senator from Massachusetts desires a tribunal
+     for a calm, judicial equilibrium and examination--a tribunal far
+     from the 'madding crowd's ignoble strife'--a tribunal eminently
+     respectable, dignified and unique; why not send this question to
+     the Committee on Revolutionary Claims? It is eminently proper that
+     this subject should go to that committee because, if there is any
+     revolutionary claim in this country, it is that of woman suffrage.
+     (Laughter.) It revolutionizes society; it revolutionizes religion;
+     it revolutionizes the Constitution and laws; and it revolutionizes
+     the opinions of those so old-fashioned among us as to believe that
+     the legitimate and proper sphere of woman is the family circle, as
+     wife and mother, and not as politician and voter--those of us who
+     are proud to believe that
+
+    "Woman's noblest station is retreat:
+    Her fairest virtues fly from public sight;
+    Domestic worth--that shuns too strong a light.
+
+     "Before that Committee on Revolutionary Claims why could not this
+     most revolutionary of all claims receive immediate and ample
+     attention? More than that, as I said before, if there is any
+     tribunal that could give undivided time and dignified attention, is
+     it not this committee? If there is one peaceful haven of rest,
+     never disturbed by any profane bill or resolution of any sort, it
+     is the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. It is, in parliamentary
+     life, described by that ecstatic verse in Watts'
+     hymn--
+
+    "There shall I bathe my wearied soul
+     In seas of endless rest.
+    And not one wave of trouble roll
+     Across my peaceful breast.
+
+     "By all natural laws, stagnation breeds disease and death, and what
+     could stir up this most venerable and respectable institution more
+     than an application of the strong-minded, with short hair and
+     shorter skirts, invading its dignified realm and elucidating all
+     the excellences of female suffrage. Moreover, if these ladies could
+     ever succeed in the providence of God in obtaining a report from
+     that committee, it would end this question forever; for the public
+     at large and myself included, in view of that miracle of female
+     blandishment and female influence, would surrender at once, and
+     female suffrage would become constitutional and lawful. Sir, I
+     insist upon it that, in deference to this committee, in deference
+     to the fact that it needs this sort of regimen and medicine, this
+     whole subject should be so referred."
+
+This gives a very fair idea of the character of the arguments produced
+by our opponents, from the inauguration of the movement. But, as there
+are no arguments in a republican government in favor of an aristocracy
+of sex, ridicule was really the only available weapon. After declaring
+"that no just government can be formed without the consent of the
+governed," "that taxation without representation is tyranny," it is
+difficult to see on what basis one-half the people are disfranchised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+WRITING "THE HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE."
+
+
+The four years following the Centennial were busy, happy ones, of varied
+interests and employments, public and private. Sons and daughters
+graduating from college, bringing troops of young friends to visit us;
+the usual matrimonial entanglements, with all their promises of
+celestial bliss intertwined with earthly doubts and fears; weddings,
+voyages to Europe, business ventures--in this whirl of plans and
+projects our heads, hearts, and hands were fully occupied. Seven boys
+and girls dancing round the fireside, buoyant with all life's joys
+opening before them, are enough to keep the most apathetic parents on
+the watch-towers by day and anxious even in dreamland by night. My spare
+time, if it can be said that I ever had any, was given during these days
+to social festivities. The inevitable dinners, teas, picnics, and dances
+with country neighbors, all came round in quick succession. We lived, at
+this time, at Tenafly, New Jersey, not far from the publisher of the
+_Sun_, Isaac W. England, who also had seven boys and girls as full of
+frolic as our own. Mrs. England and I entered into all their games with
+equal zest. The youngest thought half the fun was to see our enthusiasm
+in "blindman's buff," "fox and geese," and "bean bags." It thrills me
+with delight, even now, to see these games!
+
+Mr. England was the soul of hospitality. He was never more happy than
+when his house was crowded with guests, and his larder with all the
+delicacies of the season. Though he and Mr. Stanton were both connected
+with that dignified journal, the New York _Sun_, yet they often joined
+in the general hilarity. I laugh, as I write, at the memory of all the
+frolics we had on the blue hills of Jersey.
+
+In addition to the domestic cares which a large family involved, Mrs.
+Gage, Miss Anthony, and I were already busy collecting material for "The
+History of Woman Suffrage." This required no end of correspondence. Then
+my lecturing trips were still a part of the annual programme. Washington
+conventions, too, with calls, appeals, resolutions, speeches and
+hearings before the Committees of Congress and State legislatures, all
+these came round in the year's proceedings as regularly as pumpkin pies
+for Thanksgiving, plum pudding for Christmas, and patriotism for
+Washington's birthday. Those who speak for glory or philanthropy are
+always in demand for college commencements and Fourth of July orations,
+hence much of Miss Anthony's eloquence, as well as my own, was utilized
+in this way.
+
+On October 18, 1880, I had an impromptu dinner party. Elizabeth Boynton
+Harbert, May Wright Thompson (now Sewall), Phoebe W. Couzins, and
+Arethusa Forbes, returning from a Boston convention, all by chance met
+under my roof. We had a very merry time talking over the incidents of
+the convention, Boston proprieties, and the general situation. As I gave
+them many early reminiscences, they asked if I had kept a diary. "No," I
+said, "not a pen scratch of the past have I except what might be
+gathered from many family letters." They urged me to begin a diary at
+once; so I promised I would on my coming birthday.
+
+My great grief that day was that we were putting in a new range, and had
+made no preparations for dinner. This completely upset the presiding
+genius of my culinary department, as she could not give us the bounteous
+feast she knew was expected on such occasions. I, as usual, when there
+was any lack in the viands, tried to be as brilliant as possible in
+conversation; discussing Nirvana, Karma, reincarnation, and thus turning
+attention from the evanescent things of earth to the joys of a life to
+come,--not an easy feat to perform with strong-minded women,--but, in
+parting, they seemed happy and refreshed, and all promised to come
+again.
+
+But we shall never meet there again, as the old, familiar oaks and the
+majestic chestnut trees have passed into other hands. Strange lovers now
+whisper their vows of faith and trust under the tree where a most
+charming wedding ceremony--that of my daughter Margaret--was solemnized
+one bright October day. All Nature seemed to do her utmost to heighten
+the beauty of the occasion. The verdure was brilliant with autumnal
+tints, the hazy noonday sun lent a peculiar softness to every
+shadow--even the birds and insects were hushed to silence. As the
+wedding march rose soft and clear, two stately ushers led the way; then
+a group of Vassar classmates, gayly decked in silks of different colors,
+followed by the bride and groom. An immense Saint Bernard dog, on his
+own account brought up the rear, keeping time with measured tread. He
+took his seat in full view, watching, alternately, the officiating
+clergyman, the bride and groom, and guests, as if to say: "What does
+all this mean?" No one behaved with more propriety and no one looked
+more radiant than he, with a ray of sunlight on his beautiful coat of
+long hair, his bright brass collar, and his wonderful head. Bruno did
+not live to see the old home broken up, but sleeps peacefully there,
+under the chestnut trees, and fills a large place in many of our
+pleasant memories.
+
+On November 12, 1880, I was sixty-five years old, and, pursuant to my
+promise, I then began my diary. It was a bright, sunny day, but the
+frost king was at work; all my grand old trees, that stood like
+sentinels, to mark the boundary of my domain, were stripped of their
+foliage, and their brilliant colors had faded into a uniform brown; but
+the evergreens and the tall, prim cedars held their own, and, when
+covered with snow, their exquisite beauty brought tears to my eyes. One
+need never be lonely mid beautiful trees.
+
+My thoughts were with my absent children--Harriot in France, Theodore in
+Germany, Margaret with her husband and brother Gerrit, halfway across
+the continent, and Bob still in college. I spent the day writing letters
+and walking up and down the piazza, and enjoyed, from my windows, a
+glorious sunset. Alone, on birthdays or holidays, one is very apt to
+indulge in sad retrospections. The thought of how much more I might have
+done for the perfect development of my children than I had accomplished,
+depressed me. I thought of all the blunders in my own life and in their
+education. Little has been said of the responsibilities of parental
+life; accordingly little or nothing has been done. I had such visions of
+parental duties that day that I came to the conclusion that parents
+never could pay the debt they owe their children for bringing them into
+this world of suffering, unless they can insure them sound minds in
+sound bodies, and enough of the good things of this life to enable them
+to live without a continual struggle for the necessaries of existence. I
+have no sympathy with the old idea that children owe parents a debt of
+gratitude for the simple fact of existence, generally conferred without
+thought and merely for their own pleasure. How seldom we hear of any
+high or holy preparation for the office of parenthood! Here, in the most
+momentous act of life, all is left to chance. Men and women, intelligent
+and prudent in all other directions, seem to exercise no forethought
+here, but hand down their individual and family idiosyncrasies in the
+most reckless mariner.
+
+On November 13 the New York _Tribune_ announced the death of Lucretia
+Mott, eighty-eight years old. Having known her in the flush of life,
+when all her faculties were at their zenith, and in the repose of age,
+when her powers began to wane, her withdrawal from among us seemed as
+beautiful and natural as the changing foliage, from summer to autumn, of
+some grand old oak I have watched and loved.
+
+The arrival of Miss Anthony and Mrs. Gage, on November 20, banished all
+family matters from my mind. What planning, now, for volumes, chapters,
+footnotes, margins, appendices, paper, and type; of engravings, title,
+preface, and introduction! I had never thought that the publication of a
+book required the consideration of such endless details. We stood
+appalled before the mass of material, growing higher and higher with
+every mail, and the thought of all the reading involved made us feel as
+if our lifework lay before us. Six weeks of steady labor all day, and
+often until midnight, made no visible decrease in the pile of documents.
+However, before the end of the month we had our arrangements all made
+with publishers and engravers, and six chapters in print. When we began
+to correct proof we felt as if something was accomplished. Thus we
+worked through the winter and far into the spring, with no change except
+the Washington Convention and an occasional evening meeting in New York
+city. We had frequent visits from friends whom we were glad to see.
+Hither came Edward M. Davis, Sarah Pugh, Adeline Thompson, Frederick
+Cabot of Boston, Dr. William F. Channing, and sweet little Clara Spence,
+who recited for us some of the most beautiful selections in her
+repertoire.
+
+In addition we had numberless letters from friends and foes, some
+praising and some condemning our proposed undertaking, and, though much
+alone, we were kept in touch with the outside world. But so conflicting
+was the tone of the letters that, if we had not taken a very fair gauge
+of ourselves and our advisers, we should have abandoned our project and
+buried all the valuable material collected, to sleep in pine boxes
+forever.
+
+At this time I received a very amusing letter from the Rev. Robert
+Collyer, on "literary righteousness," quizzing me for using one of his
+anecdotes in my sketch of Lucretia Mott, without giving him credit. I
+laughed him to scorn, that he should have thought it was my duty to have
+done so. I told him plainly that he belonged to a class of "white male
+citizens," who had robbed me of all civil and political rights; of
+property, children, and personal freedom; and now it ill became him to
+call me to account for using one of his little anecdotes that, ten to
+one, he had cribbed from some woman. I told him that I considered his
+whole class as fair game for literary pilfering. That women had been
+taxed to build colleges to educate men, and if we could pick up a
+literary crumb that had fallen from their feasts, we surely had a right
+to it. Moreover, I told him that man's duty in the world was to work, to
+dig and delve for jewels, real and ideal, and lay them at woman's feet,
+for her to use as she might see fit; that he should feel highly
+complimented, instead of complaining, that he had written something I
+thought worth using. He answered like the nobleman he is; susceptible of
+taking in a new idea. He admitted that, in view of the shortcomings of
+his entire sex, he had not one word to say in the way of accusation, but
+lay prostrate at my feet in sackcloth and ashes, wondering that he had
+not taken my view of the case in starting.
+
+Only twice in my life have I been accused of quoting without giving due
+credit. The other case was that of Matilda Joslyn Gage. I had, on two or
+three occasions, used a motto of hers in autograph books, just as I had
+sentiments from Longfellow, Lowell, Shakespeare, Moses, or Paul. In long
+lyceum trips innumerable autograph books met one at every turn, in the
+cars, depots, on the platform, at the hotel and in the omnibus. "A
+sentiment, please," cry half a dozen voices. One writes hastily
+different sentiments for each. In this way I unfortunately used a pet
+sentiment of Matilda's. So, here and now, I say to my autograph
+admirers, from New York to San Francisco, whenever you see "There is a
+word sweeter than Mother, Home, or Heaven--that word is Liberty,"
+remember it belongs to Matilda Joslyn Gage. I hope, now, that Robert and
+Matilda will say, in their posthumous works, that I made the _amende
+honorable_, as I always strive to do when friends feel they have not
+been fairly treated.
+
+In May, 1881, the first volume of our History appeared; it was an
+octavo, containing 871 pages, with good paper, good print, handsome
+engravings, and nicely bound. I welcomed it with the same feeling of
+love and tenderness as I did my firstborn. I took the same pleasure in
+hearing it praised and felt the same mortification in hearing it
+criticised. The most hearty welcome it received was from Rev. William
+Henry Channing. He wrote us that it was as interesting and fascinating
+as a novel. He gave it a most flattering notice in one of the London
+papers. John W. Forney, too, wrote a good review and sent a friendly
+letter. Mayo W. Hazeltine, one of the ablest critics in this country, in
+the New York _Sun_, also gave it a very careful and complimentary
+review. In fact, we received far more praise and less blame than we
+anticipated. We began the second volume in June. In reading over the
+material concerning woman's work in the War, I felt how little our
+labors are appreciated. Who can sum up all the ills the women of a
+nation suffer from war? They have all of the misery and none of the
+glory; nothing to mitigate their weary waiting and watching for the
+loved ones who will return no more.
+
+In the spring of 1881, to vary the monotony of the work on the history,
+we decided to hold a series of conventions through the New England
+States. We began during the Anniversary week in Boston, and had several
+crowded, enthusiastic meetings in Tremont Temple. In addition to our
+suffrage meetings, I spoke before the Free Religious, Moral Education,
+and Heredity associations. All our speakers stayed at the Parker House,
+and we had a very pleasant time visiting together in our leisure hours.
+We were received by Governor Long, at the State House. He made a short
+speech, in favor of woman suffrage, in reply to Mrs. Hooker. We also
+called on the Mayor, at the City Hall, and went through Jordan & Marsh's
+great mercantile establishment, where the clerks are chiefly young
+girls, who are well fed and housed, and have pleasant rooms, with a good
+library, where they sit and read in the evening. We went through the
+Sherborn Reformatory Prison for Women, managed entirely by women. We
+found it clean and comfortable, more like a pleasant home than a place
+of punishment.
+
+Mrs. Robinson, Miss Anthony, and I were invited to dine with the Bird
+Club. No woman, other than I, had ever had that honor before. I dined
+with them in 1870, escorted by "Warrington" of the Springfield
+_Republican_ and Edwin Morton. There I met Frank Sanborn for the first
+time. Frank Bird held about the same place in political life in
+Massachusetts, that Thurlow Weed did in the State of New York for forty
+years. In the evening we had a crowded reception at the home of Mrs.
+Fenno Tudor, who occupied a fine old residence facing the Common, where
+we met a large gathering of Boston reformers. On Decoration Day, May 30,
+we went to Providence, where I was the guest of Dr. William F. Channing.
+We had a very successful convention there. Senator Anthony and
+ex-Governor Sprague were in the audience and expressed great pleasure,
+afterward, in all they had heard. I preached in Rev. Frederick
+Hinckley's church the previous Sunday afternoon.
+
+From Providence I hurried home, to meet my son Theodore and his bride,
+who had just landed from France. We decorated our house and grounds with
+Chinese lanterns and national flags for their reception. As we had not
+time to send to New York for bunting, our flags--French and
+American--were all made of bright red and blue cambric. The effect was
+fine when they arrived; but, unfortunately, there came up a heavy
+thunderstorm in the night and so drenched our beautiful flags that they
+became colorless rags. My little maid announced to me early in the
+morning that "the French and Americans had had a great battle during the
+night and that the piazza was covered with blood." This was startling
+news to one just awakening from a sound sleep. "Why, Emma!" I said,
+"what do you mean?" "Why," she replied, "the rain has washed all the
+color out of our flags, and the piazza is covered with red and blue
+streams of water." As the morning sun appeared in all its glory, chasing
+the dark clouds away, our decorations did indeed look pale and limp, and
+were promptly removed.
+
+I was happily surprised with my tall, stately daughter, Marguerite
+Berry. A fine-looking girl of twenty, straight, strong, and sound,
+modest and pleasing. She can walk miles, sketches from nature with great
+skill and rapidity, and speaks three languages. I had always said to my
+sons: "When you marry, choose a woman with a spine and sound teeth;
+remember the teeth show the condition of the bones in the rest of the
+body." So, when Theodore introduced his wife to me, he said, "You see I
+have followed your advice; her spine is as straight as it should be, and
+every tooth in her head as sound as ivory." This reminds me of a young
+man who used to put my stoves up for the winter. He told me one day that
+he thought of getting married. "Well," I said, "above all things get a
+wife with a spine and sound teeth." Stove pipe in hand he turned to me
+with a look of surprise, and said: "Do they ever come without spines?"
+
+In July, 1881, sitting under the trees, Miss Anthony and I read and
+discussed Wendell Phillips' magnificent speech before the Phi Beta Kappa
+Society at Harvard College. This society had often talked of inviting
+him, but was afraid of his radical utterances. At last, hoping that
+years might have modified his opinions and somewhat softened his speech,
+an invitation was given. The elite of Boston, the presidents and college
+professors from far and near, were there. A great audience of the wise,
+the learned, the distinguished in State and Church assembled. Such a
+conservative audience, it was supposed, would surely hold this radical
+in check. Alas! they were all doomed, for once, to hear the naked truth,
+on every vital question of the day. Thinking this might be his only
+opportunity to rouse some liberal thought in conservative minds, he
+struck the keynote of every reform; defended labor strikes, the
+Nihilists of Russia, prohibition, woman suffrage, and demanded
+reformation in our prisons, courts of justice, and halls of legislation.
+On the woman question, he said:
+
+     "Social science affirms that woman's place in society marks the
+     level of civilization. From its twilight in Greece, through the
+     Italian worship of the Virgin, the dreams of chivalry, the justice
+     of the civil law, and the equality of French society, we trace her
+     gradual recognition, while our common law, as Lord Brougham
+     confessed, was, with relation to women, the opprobrium of the age
+     of Christianity. For forty years earnest men and women, working
+     noiselessly, have washed away the opprobrium, the statute books of
+     thirty States have been remodeled, and woman stands, to-day, almost
+     face to face with her last claim--the ballot. It has been a weary
+     and thankless, though successful struggle. But if there be any
+     refuge from that ghastly curse, the vice of great cities, before
+     which social science stands palsied and dumb, it is in this more
+     equal recognition of women.
+
+     "If, in this critical battle for universal suffrage, our fathers'
+     noblest legacy to us and the greatest trust God leaves in our
+     hands, there be any weapon, which, once taken from the armory, will
+     make victory certain, it will be as it has been in art, literature,
+     and society, summoning woman into the political arena. The literary
+     class, until within half a dozen years, has taken no note of this
+     great uprising; only to fling every obstacle in its way.
+
+     "The first glimpse we get of Saxon blood in history is that line of
+     Tacitus in his 'Germany,' which reads, 'In all grave matters they
+     consult their women.' Years hence, when robust Saxon sense has
+     flung away Jewish superstition and Eastern prejudice, and put under
+     its foot fastidious scholarship and squeamish fashion, some second
+     Tacitus from the valley of the Mississippi will answer to him of
+     the Seven Hills: 'In all grave questions, we consult our women.'
+
+     "If the Alps, piled in cold and silence, be the emblem of
+     despotism, we joyfully take the ever restless ocean for ours, only
+     pure because never still. To be as good as our fathers, we must be
+     better. They silenced their fears and subdued their prejudices,
+     inaugurating free speech and equality with no precedent on the
+     file. Let us rise to their level, crush appetite, and prohibit
+     temptation if it rots great cities; intrench labor in sufficient
+     bulwarks against that wealth which, without the tenfold strength of
+     modern incorporations, wrecked the Grecian and Roman states; and,
+     with a sterner effort still, summon woman into civil life, as
+     re-enforcement to our laboring ranks, in the effort to make our
+     civilization a success. Sit not like the figure on our silver coin,
+     looking ever backward.
+
+    "'New occasions teach new duties,
+     Time makes ancient good uncouth,
+    They must upward still and onward,
+     Who would keep abreast of truth.
+    Lo! before us gleam her watch fires--
+     We ourselves must pilgrims be,
+    Launch our _Mayflower_, and steer boldly
+     Through the desperate winter sea,
+    Nor attempt the future's portal
+     With the past's blood-rusted key.'"
+
+That Harvard speech in the face of fashion, bigotry, and
+conservatism--so liberal, so eloquent, so brave--is a model for every
+young man, who, like the orator, would devote his talents to the best
+interests of the race, rather than to his personal ambition for mere
+worldly success.
+
+Toward the end of October, Miss Anthony returned, after a rest of two
+months, and we commenced work again on the second volume of the History.
+November 2 being election day, the Republican carriage, decorated with
+flags and evergreens, came to the door for voters. As I owned the house
+and paid the taxes, and as none of the white males was home, I suggested
+that I might go down and do the voting, whereupon the gentlemen who
+represented the Republican committee urged me, most cordially, to do so.
+Accompanied by my faithful friend, Miss Anthony, we stepped into the
+carriage and went to the poll, held in the hotel where I usually went to
+pay taxes. When we entered the room it was crowded with men. I was
+introduced to the inspectors by Charles Everett, one of our leading
+citizens, who said: "Mrs. Stanton is here, gentlemen, for the purpose of
+voting. As she is a taxpayer, of sound mind, and of legal age, I see no
+reason why she should not exercise this right of citizenship."
+
+The inspectors were thunderstruck. I think they were afraid that I was
+about to capture the ballot box. One placed his arms round it, with one
+hand close over the aperture where the ballots were slipped in, and
+said, with mingled surprise and pity, "Oh, no, madam! Men only are
+allowed to vote." I then explained to him that, in accordance with the
+Constitution of New Jersey, women had voted in New Jersey down to 1801,
+when they were forbidden the further exercise of the right by an
+arbitrary act of the legislature, and, by a recent amendment to the
+national Constitution, Congress had declared that "all persons born or
+naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
+thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they
+reside" and are entitled to vote. I told them that I wished to cast my
+vote, as a citizen of the United States, for the candidates for United
+States offices. Two of the inspectors sat down and pulled their hats
+over their eyes, whether from shame or ignorance I do not know. The
+other held on to the box, and said "I know nothing about the
+Constitutions, State or national. I never read either; but I do know
+that in New Jersey, women have not voted in my day, and I cannot accept
+your ballot." So I laid my ballot in his hand, saying that I had the
+same right to vote that any man present had, and on him must rest the
+responsibility of denying me my rights of citizenship.
+
+All through the winter Miss Anthony and I worked diligently on the
+History. My daughter Harriot came from Europe in February, determined
+that I should return with her, as she had not finished her studies. To
+expedite my task on the History she seized the laboring oar, prepared
+the last chapter and corrected the proof as opportunity offered. As the
+children were scattered to the four points of the compass and my husband
+spent the winter in the city, we decided to lease our house and all take
+a holiday. We spent a month in New York city, busy on the History to the
+last hour, with occasional intervals of receiving and visiting friends.
+As I dreaded the voyage, the days flew by too fast for my pleasure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.
+
+
+Having worked diligently through nearly two years on the second volume
+of "The History of Woman Suffrage," I looked forward with pleasure to a
+rest, in the Old World, beyond the reach and sound of my beloved Susan
+and the woman suffrage movement. On May 27, 1892, I sailed with my
+daughter Harriot on the _Chateau Leoville_ for Bordeaux. The many
+friends who came to see us off brought fruits and flowers, boxes of
+candied ginger to ward off seasickness, letters of introduction, and
+light literature for the voyage. We had all the daily and weekly papers,
+secular and religious, the new monthly magazines, and several novels. We
+thought we would do an immense amount of reading, but we did very
+little. Eating, sleeping, walking on deck, and watching the
+ever-changing ocean are about all that most people care to do. The sail
+down the harbor that bright, warm evening was beautiful, and, we
+lingered on deck in the moonlight until a late hour.
+
+I slept but little, that night, as two cats kept running in and out of
+my stateroom, and my berth was so narrow that I could only lie in one
+position--as straight as if already in my coffin. Under such
+circumstances I spent the night, thinking over everything that was
+painful in my whole life, and imagining all the different calamities
+that might befall my family in my absence. It was a night of severe
+introspection and intense dissatisfaction. I was glad when the morning
+dawned and I could go on deck. During the day my couch was widened one
+foot, and, at night, the cats relegated to other quarters.
+
+We had a smooth, pleasant, uneventful voyage, until the last night,
+when, on nearing the French coast, the weather became dark and stormy.
+The next morning our good steamer pushed slowly and carefully up the
+broad, muddy Gironde and landed us on the bustling quays of Bordeaux,
+where my son Theodore stood waiting to receive us. As we turned to say
+farewell to our sturdy ship--gazing up at its black iron sides
+besprinkled with salty foam--a feeling of deep thankfulness took
+possession of us, for she had been faithful to her trust, and had borne
+us safely from the New World to the Old, over thousands of miles of
+treacherous sea.
+
+We spent a day in driving about Bordeaux, enjoying the mere fact of
+restoration to _terra firma_ after twelve days' imprisonment on the
+ocean. Maritime cities are much the same all the world over. The forests
+of masts, the heavily laden drays, the lounging sailors, the rough
+'longshoremen, and the dirty quays, are no more characteristic of
+Bordeaux than New York, London, and Liverpool. But Bordeaux was
+interesting as the birthplace of Montesquieu and as the capital of
+ancient Guienne and Gascony.
+
+But I must not forget to mention an accident that happened on landing at
+Bordeaux. We had innumerable pieces of baggage, a baby carriage, rocking
+chair, a box of "The History of Woman Suffrage" for foreign libraries,
+besides the usual number of trunks and satchels, and one hamper, in
+which were many things we were undecided whether to take or leave. Into
+this, a loaded pistol had been carelessly thrown. The hamper being
+handled with an emphatic jerk by some jovial French sailor, the pistol
+exploded, shooting the bearer through the shoulder. He fell bleeding on
+the quay. The dynamite scare being just at its height, the general
+consternation was indescribable. Every Frenchman, with vehement
+gestures, was chattering to his utmost capacity, but keeping at a
+respectful distance from the hamper. No one knew what had caused the
+trouble; but Theodore was bound to make an investigation. He proceeded
+to untie the ropes and examine the contents, and there he found the
+pistol, from which, pointing upward, he fired two other bullets. "Alas!"
+said Hattie, "I put that pistol there, never dreaming it was loaded."
+The wounded man was taken to the hospital. His injuries were very
+slight, but the incident cost us two thousand francs and no end of
+annoyance. I was thankful that by some chance the pistol had not gone
+off in the hold of the vessel and set the ship on fire, and possibly
+sacrificed three hundred lives through one girl's carelessness. Verily
+we cannot be too careful in the use of firearms.
+
+Bordeaux is a queer old town, with its innumerable soldiers and priests
+perambulating in all directions. The priests, in long black gowns and
+large black hats, have a solemn aspect; but the soldiers, walking lazily
+along, or guarding buildings that seem in no danger from any living
+thing, are useless and ridiculous. The heavy carts and harness move the
+unaccustomed observer to constant pity for the horses. Besides
+everything that is necessary for locomotion, they have an endless number
+of ornaments, rising two or three feet above the horses' heads--horns,
+bells, feathers, and tassels. One of their carts would weigh as much as
+three of ours, and all their carriages are equally heavy.
+
+It was a bright, cool day on which we took the train for Toulouse, and
+we enjoyed the delightful run through the very heart of old Gascony and
+Languedoc. It was evident that we were in the South, where the sun is
+strong, for, although summer had scarcely begun, the country already
+wore a brown hue. But the narrow strips of growing grain, the acres of
+grape vines, looking like young currant bushes, and the fig trees
+scattered here and there, looked odd to the eye of a native of New York.
+
+We passed many historical spots during that afternoon journey up the
+valley of the Garonne. At Portets are the ruins of the Chateau of
+Langoiran, built before America was discovered, and, a few miles farther
+on, we came to the region of the famous wines of Sauterne and
+Chateau-Yquem. Saint Macaire is a very ancient Gallo-Roman town, where
+they show one churches, walls, and houses built fifteen centuries ago.
+One of the largest towns has a history typical of this part of France,
+where wars of religion and conquest were once the order of the day. It
+was taken and retaken by the Goths, Huns, Burgundians, and Saracens,
+nobody knows how many times, and belonged, successively, to the kings of
+France, to the dukes of Aquitaine, to the kings of England, and to the
+counts of Toulouse. I sometimes wonder whether the inhabitants of our
+American towns, whose growth and development have been free and
+untrammeled as that of a favorite child, appreciate the blessings that
+have been theirs. How true the lines of Goethe: "America, thou art much
+happier than our old continent; thou hast no castles in ruins, no
+fortresses; no useless remembrances, no vain enemies will interrupt the
+inward workings of thy life!"
+
+We passed through Moissac, with its celebrated organ, a gift of Mazarin;
+through Castle Sarrazin, founded by the Saracens in the eighth century;
+through Montauban, that stronghold of the early Protestants, which
+suffered martyrdom for its religious faith; through Grisolles, built on
+a Roman highway, and, at last, in the dusk of the evening, we reached
+"the Capital of the South," that city of learning--curious, interesting
+old Toulouse.
+
+Laura Curtis Bullard, in her sketch of me in "Our Famous Women," says:
+"In 1882, Mrs. Stanton went to France, on a visit to her son Theodore,
+and spent three months at the convent of La Sagesse, in the city of
+Toulouse." This is quite true; but I have sometimes tried to guess what
+her readers thought I was doing for three months in a convent. Weary of
+the trials and tribulations of this world, had I gone there to prepare
+in solitude for the next? Had I taken the veil in my old age? Or, like
+high-church Anglicans and Roman Catholics, had I made this my retreat?
+Not at all. My daughter wished to study French advantageously, my son
+lived in the mountains hard by, and the garden of La Sagesse, with its
+big trees, clean gravel paths, and cool shade, was the most delightful
+spot.
+
+In this religious retreat I met, from time to time, some of the most
+radical and liberal-minded residents of the South. Toulouse is one of
+the most important university centers of France, and bears with credit
+the proud title of "the learned city." With two distinguished members
+of the faculty, the late Dr. Nicholas Joly and Professor Moliner of the
+law school, I often had most interesting discussions on all the great
+questions of the hour. That three heretics--I should say, six, for my
+daughter, son, and his wife often joined the circle--could thus sit in
+perfect security, and debate, in the most unorthodox fashion, in these
+holy precincts, all the reforms, social, political, and religious, which
+the United States and France need in order to be in harmony with the
+spirit of the age, was a striking proof of the progress the world has
+made in freedom of speech. The time was when such acts would have cost
+us our lives, even if we had been caught expressing our heresies in the
+seclusion of our own homes. But here, under the oaks of a Catholic
+convent, with the gray-robed sisters all around us, we could point out
+the fallacies of Romanism itself, without fear or trembling. Glorious
+Nineteenth Century, what conquests are thine!
+
+I shall say nothing of the picturesque streets of antique Toulouse;
+nothing of the priests, who swarm like children in an English town;
+nothing of the beautifully carved stone facades of the ancient mansions,
+once inhabited by the nobility of Languedoc, but now given up to trade
+and commerce; nothing of the lofty brick cathedrals, whose exteriors
+remind one of London and whose interiors transfer you to "the gorgeous
+East"; nothing of the Capitol, with its gallery rich in busts of the
+celebrated sons of the South; nothing of the museum, the public garden,
+and the broad river winding through all. I must leave all these
+interesting features of Toulouse and hasten up into the Black
+Mountains, a few miles away, where I saw the country life of modern
+Languedoc.
+
+At Jacournassy, the country seat of Mme. Berry, whose daughter my son
+Theodore married, I spent a month full of surprises. How everything
+differed from America, and even from the plain below! The peasants, many
+of them at least, can neither speak French nor understand it. Their
+language is a patois, resembling both Spanish and Italian, and they
+cling to it with astonishing pertinacity. Their agricultural implements
+are not less quaint than their speech. The plow is a long beam with a
+most primitive share in the middle, a cow at one end, and a boy at the
+other. The grain is cut with a sickle and threshed with a flail on the
+barn floor, as in Scripture times. Manure is scattered over the fields
+with the hands. There was a certain pleasure in studying these old-time
+ways. I caught glimpses of the anti-revolutionary epoch, when the king
+ruled the state and the nobles held the lands. Here again I saw, as
+never before, what vast strides the world has made within one century.
+
+But, indoors, one returns to modern times. The table, beds, rooms of the
+chateau were much the same as those of Toulouse and New York city. The
+cooking is not like ours, however, unless Delmonico's skill be supposed
+to have extended to all the homes in Manhattan Island, which is,
+unfortunately, not the case. What an admirable product of French genius
+is the art of cooking! Of incalculable value have been the culinary
+teachings of Vatel and his followers.
+
+One of the sources of amusement, during my sojourn at Jacournassy, was
+of a literary nature. My son Theodore was then busy collecting the
+materials for his book entitled "The Woman Question in Europe," and
+every post brought in manuscripts and letters from all parts of the
+continent, written in almost every tongue known to Babel. So just what I
+came abroad to avoid, I found on the very threshold where I came to
+rest. We had good linguists at the chateau, and every document finally
+came forth in English dress, which, however, often needed much altering
+and polishing. This was my part of the work. So, away off in the heart
+of France, high up in the Black Mountains, surrounded with
+French-speaking relatives and patois-speaking peasants, I found myself
+once more putting bad English into the best I could command, just as I
+had so often done in America, when editor of _The Revolution_, or when
+arranging manuscript for "The History of Woman Suffrage." But it was
+labor in the cause of my sex; it was aiding in the creation of "The
+Woman Question in Europe," and so my pen did not grow slack nor my hand
+weary.
+
+The scenery in the Black Mountains is very grand, and reminds one of the
+lofty ranges of mountains around the Yosemite Valley in California. In
+the distance are the snow-capped Pyrenees, producing a solemn beauty, a
+profound solitude. We used to go every evening where we could see the
+sun set and watch the changing shadows in the broad valley below.
+Another great pleasure here was watching the gradual development of my
+first grandchild, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born at Paris, on the 3d of
+May, 1882. She was a fine child; though only three months old her head
+was covered with dark hair, and her large blue eyes looked out with
+intense earnestness from beneath her well-shaped brow.
+
+One night I had a terrible fright. I was the only person sleeping on
+the ground floor of the chateau, and my room was at the extreme end of
+the building, with the staircase on the other side. I had frequently
+been cautioned not to leave my windows open, as someone might get in.
+But, as I always slept with an open window, winter and summer, I thought
+I would take the risk rather than endure a feeling of suffocation night
+after night. The blinds were solid, and to close them was to exclude all
+the air, so I left them open about a foot, braced by an iron hook. A
+favorite resort for a pet donkey was under my window, where he had
+uniformly slept in profound silence. But one glorious moonlight night,
+probably to arouse me to enjoy with him the exquisite beauty of our
+surroundings, he put his nose through this aperture and gave one of the
+most prolonged, resounding brays I ever heard. Startled from a deep
+sleep, I was so frightened that at first I could not move. My next
+impulse was to rush out and arouse the family, but, seeing a dark head
+in the window, I thought I would slam down the heavy sash and check the
+intruder before starting. But just as I approached the window, another
+agonizing bray announced the innocent character of my midnight visitor.
+Stretching out of the window to frighten him away, a gentleman in the
+room above me, for the same purpose, dashed down a pail of water, which
+the donkey and I shared equally. He ran off at a double-quick pace,
+while I made a hasty retreat.
+
+On August 20, I returned to Toulouse and our quiet convent. The sisters
+gave me a most affectionate welcome and I had many pleasant chats,
+sitting in the gardens, with the priests and professors. Several times
+my daughter and I attended High Mass in the cathedral, built in the
+eleventh century. Being entirely new to us it was a most entertaining
+spectacular performance. With our American ideas of religious devotion,
+it seemed to us that the people, as well as the building, belonged to
+the Dark Ages. About fifty priests, in mantles, gowns, and capes, some
+black, some yellow,--with tinseled fringes and ornamentation,--with all
+manner of gestures, genuflections, salutations, kneelings, and burning
+of incense; with prayers, admonitions, and sacraments, filled the altar
+with constant motion.
+
+A tall man, dressed in red, wheeled in a large basket filled with bread,
+which the priests, with cups of wine, passed up and down among those
+kneeling at the altar. At least half a dozen times the places at the
+altar were filled--chiefly with women. We counted the men,--only
+seven,--and those were old and tremulous, with one foot in the grave.
+The whole performance was hollow and mechanical. People walked in,
+crossed themselves at the door with holy water, and, while kneeling and
+saying their prayers, looked about examining the dress of each newcomer,
+their lips moving throughout, satisfied in reeling off the allotted
+number of prayers in a given time. The one redeeming feature in the
+whole performance was the grand music. The deep-toned organ, whose
+sounds reverberated through the lofty arches, was very impressive.
+
+The convent consisted of three large buildings, each three stories high,
+and a residence for the priests; also a chapel, where women, at their
+devotions, might be seen at various hours from four o'clock in the
+morning until evening. Inclosed within a high stone wall were beautiful
+gardens with fountains and shrines, where images of departed saints, in
+alcoves lighted with tapers were worshiped on certain days of the year.
+
+Such were our environments, and our minds naturally often dwelt on the
+nature and power of the religion that had built up and maintained for
+centuries these peaceful resorts, where cultivated, scholarly men, and
+women of fine sensibilities, could find rest from the struggles of the
+outside world. The sisters, who managed this large establishment, seemed
+happy in the midst of their severe and multifarious duties. Of the
+undercurrent of their lives I could not judge, but on the surface all
+seemed smooth and satisfactory. They evidently took great pleasure in
+the society of each other. Every evening, from six to eight, they all
+sat in the gardens in a circle together, sewing, knitting, and chatting,
+with occasional merry bursts of laughter. Their existence is not, by
+many degrees, as monotonous as that of most women in isolated
+households--especially of the farmer's wife in her solitary home, miles
+away from a village and a post office. They taught a school of fifty
+orphan girls, who lived in the convent, and for whom they frequently had
+entertainments. They also had a few boarders of the old aristocracy of
+France, who hate the Republic and still cling to their belief in Popes
+and Kings. For the purpose of perfecting herself in the language, my
+daughter embraced every opportunity to talk with all she met, and thus
+learned the secrets of their inner life. As Sister Rose spoke English, I
+gleaned from her what knowledge I could as to their views of time and
+eternity. I found their faith had not made much progress through the
+terrible upheavals of the French Revolution. Although the Jesuits have
+been driven out of France, and the pictures of Saints, the Virgin Mary,
+and Christ, have been banished from the walls of their schools and
+colleges, the sincere Catholics are more devoted to their religion
+because of these very persecutions.
+
+Theodore, his wife, and baby, and Mr. Blatch, a young Englishman, came
+to visit us. The sisters and school children manifested great delight in
+the baby, and the former equal pleasure in Mr. Blatch's marked attention
+to my daughter, as babies and courtships were unusual tableaux in a
+convent. As my daughter was studying for a university degree in
+mathematics, I went with her to the Lycee, a dreary apartment in a
+gloomy old building with bare walls, bare floors, dilapidated desks and
+benches, and an old rusty stove. Yet mid such surroundings, the
+professor always appeared in full dress, making a stately bow to his
+class. I had heard so much of the universities of France that I had
+pictured to myself grand buildings, like those of our universities; but,
+instead, I found that the lectures were given in isolated rooms, here,
+there, and anywhere--uniformly dreary inside and outside.
+
+The first day we called on Professor Depesyrons. After making all our
+arrangements for books and lectures, he suddenly turned to my daughter,
+and, pointing to the flounces on her dress, her jaunty hat, and some
+flowers in a buttonhole, he smiled, and said: "All this, and yet you
+love mathematics?" As we entered the court, on our way to the Lycee and
+inquired for the professor's lecture room, the students in little groups
+watched us closely. The one who escorted us asked several questions, and
+discovered, by our accent, that we were foreigners, a sufficient excuse
+for the novelty of our proceeding. The professor received us most
+graciously, and ordered the janitor to bring us chairs, table, paper,
+and pencils.
+
+Then we chatted pleasantly until the hour arrived for his lecture. As I
+had but little interest in the subject, and as the problems were
+pronounced in a foreign tongue, I took my afternoon nap. There was no
+danger of affronting the professor by such indifference to his
+eloquence, as he faced the blackboard, filling it with signs and figures
+as rapidly as possible; then expunging them to refill again and again,
+without a break in his explanations; talking as fast as his hand moved.
+Harriot struggled several days to follow him, but found it impossible,
+so we gave up the chase after cubes and squares, and she devoted herself
+wholly to the study of the language. These were days, for me, of perfect
+rest and peace. Everything moved as if by magic, no hurry and bustle,
+never a cross or impatient word spoken. As only one or two of the
+sisters spoke English, I could read under the trees uninterruptedly for
+hours. Emerson, Ruskin, and Carlyle were my chosen companions.
+
+We made several pleasant acquaintances among some Irish families who
+were trying to live on their reduced incomes in Toulouse. One of these
+gave us a farewell ball. As several companies of the French army were
+stationed there, we met a large number of officers at the ball. I had
+always supposed the French were graceful dancers. I was a quiet "looker
+on in Vienna," so I had an opportunity of comparing the skill of the
+different nationalities. All admitted that none glided about so easily
+and gracefully as the Americans. They seemed to move without the least
+effort, while the English, the French, and the Germans labored in their
+dancing, bobbing up and down, jumping and jerking, out of breath and red
+in the face in five minutes. One great pleasure we had in Toulouse was
+the music of the military band in the public gardens, where, for half a
+cent, we could have a chair and enjoy pure air and sweet music for two
+hours.
+
+We gave a farewell dinner at the Tivollier Hotel to some of our friends.
+With speeches and toasts we had a merry time. Professor Joly was the
+life of the occasion. He had been a teacher in France for forty years
+and had just retired on a pension. I presented to him "The History of
+Woman Suffrage," and he wrote a most complimentary review of it in one
+of the leading French journals. Every holiday must have its end. Other
+duties called me to England. So, after a hasty good-by to Jacournassy
+and La Sagesse, to the Black Mountains and Toulouse, to Languedoc and
+the South, we took train one day in October, just as the first leaves
+began to fall, and, in fourteen hours, were at Paris. I had not seen the
+beautiful French capital since 1840. My sojourn within its enchanting
+walls was short,--too short,--and I woke one morning to find myself,
+after an absence of forty-two years, again on the shores of England, and
+before my eyes were fairly open, grim old London welcomed me back. But
+the many happy hours spent in "merry England" during the winter of
+1882-83 have not effaced from my memory the four months in Languedoc.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+REFORMS AND REFORMERS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
+
+
+Reaching London in the fogs and mists of November, 1882, the first
+person I met, after a separation of many years, was our revered and
+beloved friend William Henry Channing. The tall, graceful form was
+somewhat bent; the sweet, thoughtful face somewhat sadder; the crimes
+and miseries of the world seemed heavy on his heart. With his refined,
+nervous organization, the gloomy moral and physical atmosphere of London
+was the last place on earth where that beautiful life should have ended.
+I found him in earnest conversation with my daughter and the young
+Englishman she was soon to marry, advising them not only as to the
+importance of the step they were about to take, but as to the minor
+points to be observed in the ceremony. At the appointed time a few
+friends gathered in Portland Street Chapel, and as we approached the
+altar our friend appeared in surplice and gown, his pale, spiritual face
+more tender and beautiful than ever. This was the last marriage service
+he ever performed, and it was as pathetic as original. His whole
+appearance was so in harmony with the exquisite sentiments he uttered,
+that we who listened felt as if, for the time being, we had entered with
+him into the Holy of Holies.
+
+Some time after, Miss Anthony and I called on him to return our thanks
+for the very complimentary review he had written of "The History of
+Woman Suffrage." He thanked us in turn for the many pleasant memories
+we had revived in those pages, "but," said he, "they have filled me with
+indignation, too, at the repeated insults offered to women so earnestly
+engaged in honest endeavors for the uplifting of mankind. I blushed for
+my sex more than once in reading these volumes." We lingered long,
+talking over the events connected with our great struggle for freedom.
+He dwelt with tenderness on our disappointments, and entered more fully
+into the humiliations suffered by women, than any man we ever met. His
+views were as appreciative of the humiliation of woman, through the
+degradation of sex, as those expressed by John Stuart Mill in his
+wonderful work on "The Subjection of Women." He was intensely interested
+in Frances Power Cobbe's efforts to suppress vivisection, and the last
+time I saw him he was presiding at a parlor meeting where Dr. Elizabeth
+Blackwell gave an admirable address on the cause and cure of the social
+evil. Mr. Channing spoke beautifully in closing, paying a warm and
+merited compliment to Dr. Blackwell's clear and concise review of all
+the difficulties involved in the question.
+
+Reading so much of English reformers in our journals, of the Brights,
+McLarens, the Taylors; of Lydia Becker, Josephine Butler, and Octavia
+Hill, and of their great demonstrations with lords and members of
+Parliament in the chair,--we had longed to compare the actors in those
+scenes with our speakers on this side of the water. At last we met them
+one and all in great public meetings and parlor reunions, at dinners and
+receptions. We listened to their public men in Parliament, the courts,
+and the pulpit; to the women in their various assemblies; and came to
+the conclusion that Americans surpass them in oratory and the conduct of
+their meetings. A hesitating, apologetic manner seems to be the national
+custom for an exordium on all questions. Even their ablest men who have
+visited this country, such as Kingsley, Stanley, Arnold, Tyndall, and
+Coleridge, have all been criticised by the American public for their
+elocutionary defects. They have no speakers to compare with Wendell
+Phillips, George William Curtis, or Anna Dickinson, although John Bright
+is without peer among his countrymen, as is Mrs. Besant among the women.
+The women, as a general rule, are more fluent than the men.
+
+I reached England in time to attend the great demonstration in Glasgow,
+to celebrate the extension of the municipal franchise to the women of
+Scotland. It was a remarkable occasion. St. Andrew's immense hall was
+packed with women; a few men were admitted to the gallery at half a
+crown apiece. Over five thousand people were present. When a Scotch
+audience is thoroughly roused, nothing can equal the enthusiasm. The
+arrival of the speakers on the platform was announced with the wildest
+applause; the entire audience rising, waving their handkerchiefs, and
+clapping their hands, and every compliment paid the people of Scotland
+was received with similar outbursts. Mrs. McLaren, a sister of John
+Bright, presided, and made the opening speech. I had the honor, on this
+occasion, of addressing an audience for the first time in the Old World.
+Many others spoke briefly. There were too many speakers; no one had time
+to warm up to the point of eloquence.
+
+Our system of conventions, of two or three days' duration, with long
+speeches discussing pointed and radical resolutions, is quite unknown in
+England. Their meetings consist of one session of a few hours, into
+which they crowd all the speakers they can summon. They have a few tame,
+printed resolutions, on which there can be no possible difference of
+opinion, with the names of those who are to speak appended. Each of
+these is read and a few short speeches are made, that may or may not
+have the slightest reference to the resolutions, which are then passed.
+The last is usually one of thanks to some lord or member of the House of
+Commons, who may have condescended to preside at the meeting or do
+something for the measure in Parliament. The Queen is referred to
+tenderly in most of the speeches, although she has never done anything
+to merit the approbation of the advocates of suffrage for women.
+
+From Glasgow quite a large party of the Brights and McLarens went to
+Edinburgh, where the Hon. Duncan McLaren gave us a warm welcome to
+Newington House, under the very shadow of the Salisbury crags. These and
+the Pentland Hills are remarkable features in the landscape as you
+approach this beautiful city with its mountains and castles. We passed a
+few charming days driving about, visiting old friends, and discussing
+the status of woman on both sides of the Atlantic. Here we met Elizabeth
+Pease Nichol and Jane and Eliza Wigham, whom I had not seen since we sat
+together in the World's Anti-slavery Convention, in London, in 1840. Yet
+I knew Mrs. Nichol at once; her strongly marked face was not readily
+forgotten.
+
+I went with the family on Sunday to the Friends' meeting, where a most
+unusual manifestation for that decorous sect occurred. I had been told
+that, if I felt inclined, it would be considered quite proper for me to
+make some remarks, and just as I was revolving an opening sentence to a
+few thoughts I desired to present, a man arose in a remote part of the
+house and began, in a low voice, to give his testimony as to the truth
+that was in him. All eyes were turned toward him, when suddenly a Friend
+leaned over the back of the seat, seized his coat tails and jerked him
+down in a most emphatic manner. The poor man buried his face in his
+hands, and maintained a profound silence. I learned afterward that he
+was a bore, and the Friend in the rear thought it wise to nip him in the
+bud. This scene put to flight all intentions of speaking on my part lest
+I, too, might get outside the prescribed limits and be suppressed by
+force. I dined, that day, with Mrs. Nichol, at Huntly Lodge, where she
+has entertained in turn many of our American reformers. Her walls have
+echoed to the voices of Garrison, Rogers, Samuel J. May, Parker
+Pillsbury, Henry C. Wright, Douglass, Remond, and hosts of English
+philanthropists. Though over eighty years of age, she was still awake to
+all questions of the hour, and generous in her hospitalities as of yore.
+
+Mrs. Margaret Lucas, whose whole soul was in the temperance movement,
+escorted me from Edinburgh to Manchester, to be present at another great
+demonstration in the Town Hall, the finest building in that district. It
+had just been completed, and, with its ante-room, dining hall, and
+various apartments for social entertainments, was by far the most
+perfect hall I had seen in England. There I was entertained by Mrs.
+Matilda Roby, who, with her husband, gave me a most hospitable
+reception. She invited several friends to luncheon one day, among
+others Miss Lydia Becker, editor of the _Suffrage Journal_ in that city,
+and the Rev. Mr. Steinthal, who had visited this country and spoken on
+our platform. The chief topic at the table was John Stuart Mill, his
+life, character, writings, and his position with reference to the
+political rights of women. In the evening we went to see Ristori in
+'"Queen Elizabeth." Having seen her, many years before, in America, I
+was surprised to find her still so vigorous. And thus, week after week,
+suffrage meetings, receptions, dinners, luncheons, and theaters
+pleasantly alternated.
+
+The following Sunday we heard in London a grand sermon from Moncure D.
+Conway, and had a pleasant interview with him and Mrs. Conway at the
+close of the session. Later we spent a few days at their artistic home,
+filled with books, pictures, and mementos from loving friends. A
+billiard room, with well-worn cues, balls, and table--quite a novel
+adjunct to a parsonage--may, in a measure, account for his vigorous
+sermons. A garden reception to Mr. and Mrs. Howells gave us an
+opportunity to see the American novelist surrounded by his English
+friends.
+
+Soon after this Mr. Conway asked me to fill his pulpit. I retired
+Saturday night, very nervous over my sermon for the next day, and the
+feeling steadily increased until I reached the platform; but once there
+my fears were all dissipated, and I never enjoyed speaking more than on
+that occasion, for I had been so long oppressed with the degradation of
+woman under canon law and church discipline, that I had a sense of
+relief in pouring out my indignation. My theme was, "What has
+Christianity done for Woman?" and by the facts of history I showed
+clearly that to no form of religion was woman indebted for one impulse
+of freedom, as all alike have taught her inferiority and subjection. No
+lofty virtues can emanate from such a condition. Whatever heights of
+dignity and purity women have individually attained can in no way be
+attributed to the dogmas of their religion.
+
+With my son Theodore, always deeply interested in my friends and public
+work, I called, during my stay in London, on Mrs. Grey, Miss Jessie
+Boucherett, and Dr. Hoggan, who had written essays for "The Woman
+Question in Europe"; on our American minister (Mr. Lowell), Mr. and Mrs.
+George W. Smalley, and many other notable men and women. By appointment
+we had an hour with the Hon. John Bright, at his residence on
+Piccadilly. As his photograph, with his fame, had reached America, his
+fine face and head, as well as his political opinions, were quite
+familiar to us. He received us with great cordiality, and manifested a
+clear knowledge and deep interest in regard to all American affairs.
+Free trade and woman suffrage formed the basis of our conversation; the
+literature of our respective countries and our great men and women were
+the lighter topics of the occasion. He was not sound in regard to the
+political rights of women, but it is not given to any one man to be
+equally clear on all questions. He voted for John Stuart Mill's
+amendment to the Household Suffrage Bill in 1867, but he said, "that was
+a personal favor to a friend, without any strong convictions as to the
+merits of what I considered a purely sentimental measure."
+
+We attended the meeting called to rejoice over the passage of the
+Married Women's Property Bill, which gave to the women of England, in
+1882, what we had enjoyed in many States in this country since 1848.
+Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Elmy, and several members of
+Parliament made short speeches of congratulation to those who had been
+instrumental in carrying the measure. It was generally conceded that to
+the tact and persistence of Mrs. Jacob Bright, more than to any other
+person, belonged the credit of that achievement. Jacob Bright was at the
+time a member of Parliament, and fully in sympathy with the bill; and,
+while Mrs. Bright exerted all her social influence to make it popular
+with the members, her husband, thoroughly versed in Parliamentary
+tactics, availed himself of every technicality to push the bill through
+the House of Commons. Mrs. Bright's chief object in securing this bill,
+aside from establishing the right that every human being has to his own
+property, was to place married women on an even plane with widows and
+spinsters, thereby making them qualified voters.
+
+The next day we went out to Barn Elms to visit Mr. and Mrs. Charles
+McLaren. He was a member of Parliament, a Quaker by birth and education,
+and had sustained, to his uttermost ability, the suffrage movement. His
+charming wife, the daughter of Mrs. Pochin, is worthy of the noble
+mother who was among the earliest leaders on that question--speaking and
+writing with ability, on all phases of the subject. Barn Elms is a grand
+old estate, a few miles out of London. It was the dairy farm of Queen
+Elizabeth, and was presented by her to Sir Francis Walsingham. Since
+then it has been inhabited by many persons of note. It has existed as an
+estate since the time of the early Saxon kings, and the record of the
+sale of Barn Elms in the time of King Athelstane is still extant. What
+with its well-kept lawns, fine old trees, glimpses here and there of the
+Thames winding round its borders, and its wealth of old associations, it
+is, indeed, a charming spot. Our memory of those days will not go back
+to Saxon kings, but remain with the liberal host and hostess, the
+beautiful children, and the many charming acquaintances we met at that
+fireside. I doubt whether any of the ancient lords and ladies who
+dispensed their hospitalities under that roof did in any way surpass the
+present occupants. Mrs. McLaren, interested in all the reforms of the
+day, is radical in her ideas, a brilliant talker, and, for one so young,
+remarkably well informed on all political questions.
+
+It was at Barn Elms I met, for the first time, Mrs. Fannie Hertz, to
+whom I was indebted for many pleasant acquaintances afterward. She is
+said to know more distinguished literary people than any other woman in
+London. I saw her, too, several times in her home; meeting, at her
+Sunday-afternoon receptions, many persons I was desirous to know. On one
+occasion I found George Jacob Holyoake there, surrounded by several
+young ladies, all stoutly defending the Nihilists in Russia, and their
+right to plot their way to freedom. They counted a dynasty of Czars as
+nothing in the balance with the liberties of a whole people. As I joined
+the circle, Mr. Holyoake called my attention to the fact that he was the
+only one in favor of peaceful measures. "Now," said he, "I have often
+heard it said on your platform that the feminine element in politics
+would bring about perpetual peace in government, and here all these
+ladies are advocating: the worst forms of violence in the name of
+liberty." "Ah!" said I, "lay on their shoulders the responsibility of
+governing, and they would soon become as mild and conservative as you
+seem to be." He then gave us his views on co-operation, the only remedy
+for many existing evils, which he thought would be the next step toward
+a higher civilization.
+
+There, too, I met some Positivists, who, though liberal on religious
+questions, were very narrow as to the sphere of woman. The difference in
+sex, which is the very reason why men and women should be associated in
+all forms of activity, is to them the strongest reason why they should
+be separated. Mrs. Hertz belongs to the Harrison school of Positivists.
+I went with her to one of Mrs. Orr's receptions, where we met Robert
+Browning, a fine-looking man of seventy years, with white hair and
+mustache. He was frank, easy, playful, and brilliant in conversation.
+Mrs. Orr seemed to be taking a very pessimistic view of our present
+sphere of action, which Mr. Browning, with poetic coloring, was trying
+to paint more hopefully.
+
+The next day I dined with Margaret Bright Lucas, in company with John P.
+Thomasson, member of Parliament, and his wife, and, afterward, we went
+to the House of Commons and had the good fortune to hear Gladstone,
+Parnell, and Sir Charles Dilke. Seeing Bradlaugh seated outside of the
+charmed circle, I sent my card to him, and, in the corridor, we had a
+few moments' conversation. I asked him if he thought he would eventually
+get his seat. He replied, "Most assuredly I will. I shall open the next
+campaign with such an agitation as will rouse our politicians to some
+consideration of the changes gradually coming over the face of things
+in this country."
+
+The place assigned ladies in the House of Commons is really a disgrace
+to a country ruled by a queen. This dark perch is the highest gallery,
+immediately over the speaker's desk and government seats, behind a fine
+wire netting, so that it is quite impossible to see or hear anything.
+The sixteen persons who can crowd into the front row, by standing with
+their noses partly through the open network, can have the satisfaction
+of seeing the cranial arch of their rulers and hearing an occasional
+paean to liberty, or an Irish growl at the lack of it. I was told that
+this network was to prevent the members on the floor from being
+disturbed by the beauty of the women. On hearing this I remarked that I
+was devoutly thankful that our American men were not so easily
+disturbed, and that the beauty of our women was not of so dangerous a
+type. I could but contrast our spacious galleries in that magnificent
+Capitol at Washington, as well as in our grand State Capitols, where
+hundreds of women can sit at their ease and see and hear their rulers,
+with these dark, dingy buildings. My son, who had a seat on the floor
+just opposite the ladies' gallery, said he could compare our appearance
+to nothing but birds in a cage. He could not distinguish an outline of
+anybody. All he could see was the moving of feathers and furs or some
+bright ribbon or flower.
+
+In the libraries, the courts, and the House of Lords, I found many
+suggestive subjects of thought. It was interesting to find, on the
+frescoed walls, many historical scenes in which women had taken a
+prominent part. Among others there was Jane Lane assisting Charles II.
+to escape, and Alice Lisle concealing the fugitives after the battle of
+Sedgemoor. Six wives of Henry VIII. stood forth, a solemn pageant when
+one recalled their sad fate. Alas! whether for good or ill, women must
+ever fill a large space in the tragedies of the world.
+
+I passed a few pleasant hours in the house where Macaulay spent his last
+years. The once spacious library and the large bow-window, looking out
+on a beautiful lawn, where he sat, from day to day, writing his glowing
+periods, possessed a peculiar charm for me, as the surroundings of
+genius always do. I thought, as I stood there, how often he had
+unconsciously gazed on each object in searching for words rich enough to
+gild his ideas. The house was owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen
+Winckworth. It was at one of their sociable Sunday teas that many
+pleasant memories of the great historian were revived.
+
+One of the most remarkable and genial women I met was Miss Frances Power
+Cobbe. She called one afternoon, and sipped with me the five o'clock
+tea, a uniform practice in England. She was of medium height, stout,
+rosy, and vigorous-looking, with a large, well-shaped head, a strong,
+happy face, and gifted with rare powers of conversation. I felt very
+strongly attracted to her. She was frank and cordial, and pronounced in
+all her views. She gave us an account of her efforts to rescue unhappy
+cats and dogs from the hands of the vivisectionists. We saw her, too, in
+her home, and in her office in Victoria Street. The perfect order in
+which her books and papers were arranged, and the exquisite neatness of
+the apartments, were refreshing to behold.
+
+My daughter, having decided opinions of her own, was soon at
+loggerheads with Miss Cobbe on the question of vivisection. After we had
+examined several German and French books, with illustrations showing the
+horrible cruelty inflicted on cats and dogs, she enlarged on the
+hypocrisy and wickedness of these scientists, and, turning to my
+daughter, said: "Would you shake hands with one of these
+vivisectionists? Yes," said Harriot, "I should be proud to shake hands
+with Virchow, the great German scientist, for his kindness to a young
+American girl. She applied to several professors to be admitted to their
+classes, but all refused except Virchow; he readily assented, and
+requested his students to treat her with becoming courtesy. 'If any of
+you behave otherwise,' said he, 'I shall feel myself personally
+insulted.' She entered his classes and pursued her studies, unmolested
+and with great success. Now, would you, Miss Cobbe, refuse to shake
+hands with any of your statesmen, scientists, clergymen, lawyers, or
+physicians who treat women with constant indignities and insult?" "Oh,
+no!" said Miss Cobbe. "Then," said Harriot, "you estimate the physical
+suffering of cats and dogs as of more consequence than the humiliation
+of human beings. The man who tortures a cat for a scientific purpose is
+not as low in the scale of beings, in my judgment, as one who sacrifices
+his own daughter to some cruel custom."
+
+As we were, just then, reading Froude's "Life of Carlyle," we drove by
+the house where Carlyle had lived, and paused a moment at the door where
+poor Jennie went in and out so often with a heavy heart. The book gives
+a painful record of a great soul struggling with poverty and
+disappointment; the hope of success, as an author, so long deferred and
+never realized. His foolish pride of independence and headship, and his
+utter indifference to his domestic duties and the comfort of his wife
+made the picture still darker. Poor Jennie! fitted to shine in any
+circle, yet doomed, all her married life, to domestic drudgery, instead
+of associations with the great man for whose literary companionship she
+had sacrificed everything.
+
+At one of Miss Biggs' receptions Miss Anthony and I met Mr. Stansfeld,
+M.P., who had labored faithfully for the repeal of the Contagious
+Diseases Act, and had in a measure been successful. We had the honor of
+an interview with Lord Shaftesbury, at one of his crowded "at homes,"
+and found him a little uncertain as to the wisdom of allowing married
+women to vote, for fear of disturbing the peace of the family. I have
+often wondered if men see, in this objection, what a fatal admission
+they make as to their love of domination.
+
+Miss Anthony was present at the great Liberal Conference, at Leeds, on
+October 17, 1882, to which Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, Miss Jane Cobden,
+Mrs. Tanner, Mrs. Scatcherd, and several other ladies were duly elected
+delegates from their respective Liberal Leagues. Mrs. Clark and Miss
+Cobden, daughters of the great corn-law reformers, spoke eloquently in
+favor of the resolution to extend Parliamentary suffrage to women, which
+was presented by Walter McLaren of Bradford. As Mrs. Clark made her
+impassioned appeal for the recognition of woman's political equality in
+the next bill for extension of suffrage, that immense gathering of
+sixteen hundred delegates was hushed into profound silence. For a
+daughter to speak thus in that great representative convention, in
+opposition to her loved and honored father, the acknowledged leader of
+that party, was an act of heroism and fidelity to her own highest
+convictions almost without a parallel in English history, and the effect
+on the audience was as thrilling as it was surprising. The resolution
+was passed by a large majority. At the reception given to John Bright
+that evening, as Mrs. Clark approached the dais on which her noble
+father stood shaking the hands of passing friends, she remarked to her
+husband, "I wonder if father has heard of my speech this morning, and if
+he will forgive me for thus publicly differing with him?" The query was
+soon answered. As he caught the first glimpse of his daughter he stepped
+down, and, pressing her hand affectionately, kissed her on either cheek.
+
+The next evening the great Quaker statesman was heard by the admiring
+thousands who could crowd into Victoria Hall, while thousands, equally
+desirous to hear, failed to get tickets of admission. It was a
+magnificent sight, and altogether a most impressive gathering of the
+people. Miss Anthony, with her friends, sat in the gallery opposite the
+great platform, where they had a fine view of the whole audience. When
+John Bright, escorted by Sir Wilfrid Lawson, took his seat, the immense
+crowd rose, waving hats and handkerchiefs, and, with the wildest
+enthusiasm, gave cheer after cheer in honor of the great leader. Sir
+Wilfrid Lawson, in his introductory remarks, facetiously alluded to the
+resolution adopted by the Conference as somewhat in advance of the ideas
+of the speaker of the evening. The house broke into roars of laughter,
+while the Father of Liberalism, perfectly convulsed, joined in the
+general merriment.
+
+But when at length his time to speak had come, and Mr. Bright went over
+the many steps of progress that had been taken by the Liberal party, he
+cunningly dodged the question of the emancipation of the women of
+England. He skipped round the agitation of 1867, and John Stuart Mill's
+amendment presented at that time in the House of Commons; the extension
+of the municipal suffrage in 1869; the participation of women in the
+establishment of national schools under the law of 1870, both as voters
+and members of school boards; the Married Women's Property Bill of 1882;
+the large and increasing vote for the extension of Parliamentary
+suffrage in the House of Commons, and the adoption of the resolution by
+that great Conference the day before. All these successive steps toward
+woman's emancipation he carefully remembered to forget.
+
+While in London Miss Anthony and I attended several enthusiastic reform
+meetings. We heard Bradlaugh address his constituency on that memorable
+day at Trafalgar Square, at the opening of Parliament, when violence was
+anticipated and the Parliament Houses were surrounded by immense crowds,
+with the military and police in large numbers, to maintain order. We
+heard Michael Davitt and Miss Helen Taylor at a great meeting in Exeter
+Hall; the former on home rule for Ireland, and the latter on the
+nationalization of land. The facts and figures given in these two
+lectures, as to the abject poverty of the people and the cruel system by
+which every inch of land had been grabbed by their oppressors, were
+indeed appalling. A few days before sailing we made our last visit to
+Ernestine L. Rose, and found our noble coadjutor, though in delicate
+health, pleasantly situated in the heart of London, as deeply interested
+as ever in the struggles of the hour.
+
+A great discomfort, in all English homes, is the inadequate system of
+heating. A moderate fire in the grate is the only mode of heating, and
+they seem quite oblivious to the danger of throwing a door open into a
+cold hall at one's back, while the servants pass in and out with the
+various courses at dinner. As we Americans were sorely tried, under such
+circumstances, it was decided, in the home of my son-in-law, Mr. Blatch,
+to have a hall-stove, which, after a prolonged search, was found in
+London and duly installed as a presiding deity to defy the dampness that
+pervades all those ivy-covered habitations, as well as the neuralgia
+that wrings their possessors. What a blessing it proved, more than any
+one thing making the old English house seem like an American home! The
+delightful summer heat we, in America, enjoy in the coldest seasons, is
+quite unknown to our Saxon cousins. Although many came to see our stove
+in full working order, yet we could not persuade them to adopt the
+American system of heating the whole house at an even temperature. They
+cling to the customs of their fathers with an obstinacy that is
+incomprehensible to us, who are always ready to try experiments.
+Americans complain bitterly of the same freezing experiences in France
+and Germany, and, in turn, foreigners all criticise our overheated
+houses and places of amusement.
+
+While attending a meeting in Birmingham I stayed with a relative of
+Joseph Sturge, whose home I had visited forty years before. The meeting
+was called to discuss the degradation of women under the Contagious
+Diseases Act. Led by Josephine Butler, the women of England were deeply
+stirred on the question of its repeal and have since secured it. I heard
+Mrs. Butler speak in many of her society meetings as well as on other
+occasions. Her style was not unlike that one hears in Methodist camp
+meetings from the best cultivated of that sect; her power lies in her
+deeply religious enthusiasm. In London we met Emily Faithful, who had
+just returned from a lecturing tour in the United States, and were much
+amused with her experiences. Having taken prolonged trips over the whole
+country, from Maine to Texas, for many successive years, Miss Anthony
+and I could easily add the superlative to all her narrations.
+
+It was a pleasant surprise to meet the large number of Americans usually
+at the receptions of Mrs. Peter Taylor. Graceful and beautiful, in full
+dress, standing beside her husband, who evidently idolized her, Mrs.
+Taylor appeared quite as refined in her drawing room as if she had never
+been exposed to the public gaze while presiding over a suffrage
+convention. Mrs. Taylor is called the mother of the suffrage movement.
+The reform has not been carried on in all respects to her taste, nor on
+what she considers the basis of high principle. Neither she nor Mrs.
+Jacob Bright has ever been satisfied with the bill asking the rights of
+suffrage for "widows and spinsters" only. To have asked this right "for
+all women duly qualified," as but few married women are qualified
+through possessing property in their own right, would have been
+substantially the same, without making any invidious distinctions. Mrs.
+Taylor and Mrs. Bright felt that, as married women were the greatest
+sufferers under the law, they should be the first rather than the last
+to be enfranchised. The others, led by Miss Becker, claimed that it was
+good policy to make the demand for "spinsters and widows," and thus
+exclude the "family unit" and "man's headship" from the discussion; and
+yet these were the very points on which the objections were invariably
+based. They claimed that, if "spinsters and widows" were enfranchised,
+they would be an added power to secure to married women their rights.
+But the history of the past gives us no such assurance. It is not
+certain that women would be more just than men, and a small privileged
+class of aristocrats have long governed their fellow-countrymen. The
+fact that the spinsters in the movement advocated such a bill, shows
+that they were not to be trusted in extending it. John Stuart Mill, too,
+was always opposed to the exclusion of married women in the demand for
+suffrage.
+
+My sense of justice was severely tried by all I heard of the
+persecutions of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh for their publications on
+the right and duty of parents to limit population. Who can contemplate
+the sad condition of multitudes of young children in the Old World whose
+fate is to be brought up in ignorance and vice--a swarming, seething
+mass which nobody owns--without seeing the need of free discussion of
+the philosophical principles that underlie these tangled social
+problems? The trials of Foote and Ramsey, too, for blasphemy, seemed
+unworthy a great nation in the nineteenth century. Think of
+well-educated men of good moral standing thrown into prison in solitary
+confinement, for speaking lightly of the Hebrew idea of Jehovah and the
+New Testament account of the birth of Jesus! Our Protestant clergy never
+hesitate to make the dogmas and superstitions of the Catholic Church
+seem as absurd as possible, and why should not those who imagine they
+have outgrown Protestant superstitions make them equally ridiculous?
+Whatever is true can stand investigation and ridicule.
+
+In the last of April, when the wildflowers were in their glory, Mrs.
+Mellen and her lovely daughter, Daisy, came down to our home at
+Basingstoke to enjoy its beauty. As Mrs. Mellen had known Charles
+Kingsley and entertained him at her residence in Colorado, she felt a
+desire to see his former home. Accordingly, one bright morning, Mr.
+Blatch drove us to Eversley, through Strathfieldsaye, the park of the
+Duke of Wellington. This magnificent place was given to him by the
+English government after the battle of Waterloo. A lofty statue of the
+duke, that can be seen for miles around, stands at one entrance. A drive
+of a few miles further brought us to the parish church of Canon
+Kingsley, where he preached many years, and where all that is mortal of
+him now lies buried. We wandered through the old church, among the
+moss-covered tombstones, and into the once happy home, now silent and
+deserted--his loved ones being scattered in different quarters of the
+globe. Standing near the last resting place of the author of "Hypatia,"
+his warning words for women, in a letter to John Stuart Mill, seemed
+like a voice from heaven saying, with new inspiration and power, "This
+will never be a good world for women until the last remnant of the canon
+law is civilized off the face of the earth."
+
+We heard Mr. Fawcett speak to his Hackney constituents at one of his
+campaign meetings. In the course of his remarks he mentioned with
+evident favor, as one of the coming measures, the disestablishment of
+the Church, and was greeted with loud applause. Soon after he spoke of
+woman suffrage as another question demanding consideration, but this
+was received with laughter and jeers, although the platform was crowded
+with advocates of the measure, among whom were the wife of the speaker
+and her sister, Dr. Garrett Anderson. The audience were evidently in
+favor of releasing themselves from being taxed to support the Church,
+forgetting that women were taxed not only to support a Church but also a
+State in the management of neither of which they had a voice. Mr.
+Fawcett was not an orator, but a simple, straightforward speaker. He
+made one gesture, striking his right clenched fist into the palm of his
+left hand at the close of all his strongest assertions, and, although
+more liberal than his party, he was a great favorite with his
+constituents.
+
+One pleasant trip I made in England was to Bristol, to visit the Misses
+Priestman and Mrs. Tanner, sisters-in-law of John Bright. I had stayed
+at their father's house forty years before, so we felt like old friends.
+I found them all liberal women, and we enjoyed a few days together,
+talking over our mutual struggles, and admiring the beautiful scenery
+for which that part of the country is celebrated. The women of England
+were just then organizing political clubs, and I was invited to speak
+before many of them. There is an earnestness of purpose among English
+women that is very encouraging under the prolonged disappointments
+reformers inevitably suffer. And the order of English homes, too, among
+the wealthy classes, is very enjoyable. All go on from year to year with
+the same servants, the same surroundings, no changes, no moving, no
+building even; in delightful contrast with our periodical upheavals,
+always uncertain where we shall go next, or how long our main
+dependents will stand by us.
+
+From Bristol I went to Greenbank to visit Mrs. Helen Bright Clark. One
+evening her parlors were crowded and I was asked to give an account of
+the suffrage movement in America. Some clergymen questioned me in regard
+to the Bible position of woman, whereupon I gave quite an exposition of
+its general principles in favor of liberty and equality. As two distinct
+lines of argument can be woven out of those pages on any subject, on
+this occasion I selected all the most favorable texts for justice to
+woman, and closed by stating the limits of its authority. Mrs. Clark,
+though thoroughly in sympathy with the views I had expressed, feared
+lest my very liberal utterances might have shocked some of the strictest
+of the laymen and clergy. "Well," said I, "if we who do see the
+absurdities of the old superstitions never unveil them to others, how is
+the world to make any progress in the theologies? I am in the sunset of
+life, and I feel it to be my special mission to tell people what they
+are not prepared to hear, instead of echoing worn-out opinions." The
+result showed the wisdom of my speaking out of my own soul. To the
+surprise of Mrs. Clark, the Primitive Methodist clergyman called on
+Sunday morning to invite me to occupy his pulpit in the afternoon and
+present the same line of thought I had the previous evening. I accepted
+his invitation. He led the services, and I took my text from Genesis i.
+27, 28, showing that man and woman were a simultaneous creation,
+endowed, in the beginning, with equal power.
+
+Returning to London, I accepted an invitation to take tea one afternoon
+with Mrs. Jacob Bright, who, in earnest conversation, had helped us
+each to a cup of tea, and was turning to help us to something more, when
+over went table and all--tea, bread and butter, cake, strawberries and
+cream, silver, china, in one conglomerate mass. Silence reigned. No one
+started; no one said "Oh!" Mrs. Bright went on with what she was saying
+as if nothing unusual had occurred, rang the bell, and, when the servant
+appeared, pointing to the debris, she said, "Charles, remove this." I
+was filled with admiration at her coolness, and devoutly thankful that
+we Americans maintained an equally dignified silence.
+
+At a grand reception, given in our honor by the National Central
+Committee, in Princess' Hall, Jacob Bright, M.P., presided and made an
+admirable opening speech, followed by his sister, Mrs. McLaren, with a
+highly complimentary address of welcome. By particular request Miss
+Anthony explained the industrial, legal, and political status of
+American women, while I set forth their educational, social, and
+religious condition. John P. Thomasson, M.P., made the closing address,
+expressing his satisfaction with our addresses and the progress made in
+both countries.
+
+Mrs. Thomasson, daughter of Mrs. Lucas, gave several parties,
+receptions, and dinners,--some for ladies only,--where an abundant
+opportunity was offered for a critical analysis of the idiosyncrasies of
+the superior sex, especially in their dealings with women. The patience
+of even such heroic souls as Lydia Becker and Caroline Biggs was almost
+exhausted with the tergiversations of Members of the House of Commons.
+Alas for the many fair promises broken, the hopes deferred, the votes
+fully relied on and counted, all missing in the hour of action! One
+crack of Mr. Gladstone's whip put a hundred Liberal members to
+flight--members whom these noble women had spent years in educating. I
+never visited the House of Commons that I did not see Miss Becker and
+Miss Biggs trying to elucidate the fundamental principles of just
+government to some of the legislators. Verily their divine faith and
+patience merited more worthy action on the part of their alleged
+representatives!
+
+Miss Henrietta Mueller gave a farewell reception to Miss Anthony and me
+on the eve of our departure for America, when we had the opportunity of
+meeting once more most of the pleasant acquaintances we had made in
+London. Although it was announced for the afternoon, we did, in fact,
+receive all day, as many could not come at the hour appointed. Dr.
+Elizabeth Blackwell took breakfast with us; Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Saville,
+and Miss Lord were with us at luncheon; Harriet Hosmer and Olive Logan
+soon after; Mrs. Peter Taylor later, and from three to six o'clock the
+parlors were crowded.
+
+Returning from London I passed my birthday, November 12, 1883, in
+Basingstoke. It was a sad day for us all, knowing that it was the last
+day with my loved ones before my departure for America. When I imprinted
+the farewell kiss on the soft cheek of my little granddaughter Nora in
+the cradle, she in the dawn and I in the sunset of life, I realized how
+widely the broad ocean would separate us. Miss Anthony, met me at
+Alderly Edge, where we spent a few days with Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bright.
+There we found their noble sisters, Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas, young
+Walter McLaren and his lovely bride, Eva Mueller, whom we had heard
+several times on the suffrage platform. We rallied her on the step she
+had lately taken, notwithstanding her sister's able paper on the
+blessedness of a single life. While there, we visited Dean Stanley's
+birthplace, but on his death the light and joy went out. The old church
+whose walls had once echoed to his voice, and the house where he had
+spent so many useful years, seemed sad and deserted. But the day was
+bright and warm, the scenery beautiful, cows and sheep were still
+grazing in the meadows, and the grass was as green as in June. This is
+England's chief charm,--it is forever green,--perhaps in compensation
+for the many cloudy days.
+
+As our good friends Mrs. McLaren and Mrs. Lucas had determined to see us
+safely on board the Servia, they escorted us to Liverpool, where we met
+Mrs. Margaret Parker and Mrs. Scatcherd. Another reception was given us
+at the residence of Dr. Ewing Whittle. Several short speeches were made,
+and all present cheered the parting guests with words of hope and
+encouragement for the good cause. Here the wisdom of forming an
+international association was first considered. The proposition met with
+such favor from those present that a committee was appointed to
+correspond with the friends in different nations. Miss Anthony and I
+were placed on the committee, and while this project has not yet been
+fully carried out, the idea of the intellectual co-operation of women to
+secure equal rights and opportunities for their sex was the basis of the
+International Council of Women, which was held under the auspices of the
+National Woman Suffrage Association in Washington, D. C, in March, 1888.
+
+On the Atlantic for ten days we had many opportunities to review all we
+had seen and heard. Sitting on deck, hour after hour, how often I
+queried with myself as to the significance of the boon for which we were
+so earnestly struggling. In asking for a voice in the government under
+which we live, have we been pursuing a shadow for fifty years? In
+seeking political power, are we abdicating that social throne where they
+tell us our influence is unbounded? No, no! the right of suffrage is no
+shadow, but a substantial entity that the citizen can seize and hold for
+his own protection and his country's welfare. A direct power over one's
+own person and property, an individual opinion to be counted, on all
+questions of public interest, are better than indirect influence, be
+that ever so far reaching.
+
+Though influence, like the pure white light, is all-pervading, yet it is
+ofttimes obscured with passing clouds and nights of darkness. Like the
+sun's rays, it may be healthy, genial, inspiring, though sometimes too
+direct for comfort, too oblique for warmth, too scattered for any
+purpose. But as the prism divides the rays, revealing the brilliant
+colors of the light, so does individual sovereignty reveal the beauty of
+representative government, and as the burning-glass shows the power of
+concentrating the rays, so does the combined power of the multitude
+reveal the beauty of united effort to carry a grand measure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+WOMAN AND THEOLOGY.
+
+
+Returning from Europe in the autumn of 1883, after visiting a large
+circle of relatives and friends, I spent six weeks with my cousin,
+Elizabeth Smith Miller, at her home at Geneva, on Seneca Lake.
+
+Through Miss Frances Lord, a woman of rare culture and research, my
+daughter and I had become interested in the school of theosophy, and
+read "Isis Unveiled," by Madame Blavatsky, Sinnett's works on the
+"Occult World," and "The Perfect Way," by Anna Kingsford. Full of these
+ideas, I soon interested my cousins in the subject, and we resolved to
+explore, as far as possible, some of these Eastern mysteries, of which
+we had heard so much. We looked in all directions to find some pilot to
+start us on the right course. We heard that Gerald Massey was in New
+York city, lecturing on "The Devil," "Ghosts," and "Evil Spirits"
+generally, so we invited him to visit us and give a course of lectures
+in Geneva. But, unfortunately, he was ill, and could not open new fields
+of thought to us at that time, though we were very desirous to get a
+glimpse into the unknown world, and hold converse with the immortals. As
+I soon left Geneva with my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, our occult
+studies were, for a time, abandoned.
+
+My daughter and I often talked of writing a story, she describing the
+characters and their environments and I attending to the philosophy and
+soliloquies. As I had no special duties in prospect, we decided that
+this was the time to make our experiment. Accordingly we hastened to the
+family homestead at Johnstown, New York, where we could be entirely
+alone. Friends on all sides wondered what had brought us there in the
+depth of the winter. But we kept our secret, and set ourselves to work
+with diligence, and after three months our story was finished to our
+entire satisfaction. We felt sure that everyone who read it would be
+deeply interested and that we should readily find a publisher. We
+thought of "Our Romance" the first thing in the morning and talked of it
+the last thing at night. But alas! friendly critics who read our story
+pointed out its defects, and in due time we reached their conclusions,
+and the unpublished manuscript now rests in a pigeonhole of my desk. We
+had not many days to mourn our disappointment, as Madge was summoned to
+her Western home, and Miss Anthony arrived armed and equipped with
+bushels of documents for vol. III. of "The History of Woman Suffrage."
+The summer and autumn of 1884 Miss Anthony and I passed at Johnstown,
+working diligently on the History, indulging only in an occasional
+drive, a stroll round the town in the evening, or a ride in the open
+street cars.
+
+Mrs. Devereux Blake was holding a series of conventions, at this time,
+through the State of New York, and we urged her to expend some of her
+missionary efforts in my native town, which she did with good results.
+As the school election was near at hand Miss Anthony and I had several
+preliminary meetings to arouse the women to their duty as voters, and to
+the necessity of nominating some woman for trustee. When the day for
+the election arrived the large upper room of the Academy was filled with
+ladies and gentlemen. Some timid souls who should have been there stayed
+at home, fearing there would be a row, but everything was conducted with
+decency and in order. The chairman, Mr. Rosa, welcomed the ladies to
+their new duties in a very complimentary manner. Donald McMartin stated
+the law as to what persons were eligible to vote in school elections.
+Mrs. Horace Smith filled the office of teller on the occasion with
+promptness and dignity, and Mrs. Elizabeth Wallace Yost was elected
+trustee by a majority of seven. It is strange that intelligent women,
+who are supposed to feel some interest in the question of education,
+should be so indifferent to the power they possess to make our schools
+all that they should be.
+
+This was the year of the presidential campaign. The Republicans and
+Democrats had each held their nominating conventions, and all classes
+participated in the general excitement. There being great
+dissatisfaction in the Republican ranks, we issued a manifesto: "Stand
+by the Republican Party," not that we loved Blaine more, but Cleveland
+less. The latter was elected, therefore it was evident that our efforts
+did not have much influence in turning the tide of national politics,
+though the Republican papers gave a broad circulation to our appeal.
+Dowden's description of the poet Shelley's efforts in scattering one of
+his suppressed pamphlets, reminded me of ours. He purchased bushels of
+empty bottles, in which he placed his pamphlets; having corked them up
+tight, he threw the bottles into the sea at various fashionable watering
+places, hoping they would wash ashore. Walking the streets of London in
+the evening he would slip his pamphlets into the hoods of old ladies'
+cloaks, throw them in shop doors, and leave them in cabs and omnibuses.
+We scattered ours in the cars, inclosed them in every letter we wrote or
+newspaper we sent through the country.
+
+The night before election Mr. Stanton and Professor Horace Smith spoke
+in the Johnstown courthouse, and took rather pessimistic views of the
+future of the Republic should James G. Blaine be defeated. Cleveland was
+elected, and we still live as a nation, and are able to digest the
+thousands of foreign immigrants daily landing at our shores. The night
+of the election a large party of us sat up until two o'clock to hear the
+news. Mr. Stanton had long been one of the editorial writers on the New
+York Sun, and they sent him telegrams from that office until a late
+hour. However, the election was so close that we were kept in suspense
+several days, before it was definitely decided.
+
+Miss Anthony left in December, 1884, for Washington, and I went to work
+on an article for the North American Review, entitled, "What has
+Christianity done for Women?" I took the ground that woman was not
+indebted to any form of religion for the liberty she now enjoys, but
+that, on the contrary, the religious element in her nature had always
+been perverted for her complete subjection. Bishop Spaulding, in the
+same issue of the Review, took the opposite ground, but I did not feel
+that he answered my points.
+
+In January, 1885, my niece Mrs. Baldwin and I went to Washington to
+attend the Annual Convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
+It was held in the Unitarian church on the 20th, 21st, and 22d days of
+that month, and went off with great success, as did the usual reception
+given by Mrs. Spofford at the Riggs House. This dear friend, one of our
+most ardent coadjutors, always made the annual convention a time for
+many social enjoyments. The main feature in this convention was the
+attempt to pass the following resolutions:
+
+     "Whereas, The dogmas incorporated in religious creeds derived from
+     Judaism, teaching that woman was an after-thought in the creation,
+     her sex a misfortune, marriage a condition of subordination, and
+     maternity a curse, are contrary to the law of God (as revealed in
+     nature), and to the precepts of Christ, and,
+
+     "Whereas, These dogmas are an insidious poison, sapping the
+     vitality of our civilization, blighting woman, and, through her,
+     paralyzing humanity; therefore be it
+
+     "_Resolved_, That we call on the Christian ministry, as leaders of
+     thought, to teach and enforce the fundamental idea of creation,
+     that man was made in the image of God, male and female, and given
+     equal rights over the earth, but none over each other. And,
+     furthermore, we ask their recognition of the scriptural declaration
+     that, in the Christian religion, there is neither male nor female,
+     bond nor free, but all are one in Christ Jesus."
+
+As chairman of the committee I presented a series of resolutions,
+impeaching the Christian theology--as well as all other forms of
+religion, for their degrading teachings in regard to woman--which the
+majority of the committee thought too strong and pointed, and, after
+much deliberation, they substituted the above, handing over to the Jews
+what I had laid at the door of the Christians. They thought they had so
+sugar-coated my ideas that the resolutions would pass without
+discussion. But some Jews in the convention promptly repudiated this
+impression of their faith and precipitated the very discussion I
+desired, but which our more politic friends would fain have avoided.
+
+From the time of the decade meeting in Rochester, in 1878, Matilda
+Joslyn Gage, Edward M. Davis, and I had sedulously labored to rouse
+women to a realization of their degraded position in the Church, and
+presented resolutions at every annual convention for that purpose. But
+they were either suppressed or so amended as to be meaningless. The
+resolutions of the annual convention of 1885, tame as they are, got into
+print and roused the ire of the clergy, and upon the following Sunday,
+Dr. Patton of Howard University preached a sermon on "Woman and
+Skepticism," in which he unequivocally took the ground that freedom for
+woman led to skepticism and immorality. He illustrated his position by
+pointing to Hypatia, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frances Wright, George Eliot,
+Harriet Martineau, Mme. Roland, Frances Power Cobbe, and Victoria
+Woodhull. He made a grave mistake in the last names mentioned, as Mrs.
+Woodhull was a devout believer in the Christian religion, and surely
+anyone conversant with Miss Cobbe's writings would never accuse her of
+skepticism. His sermon was received with intense indignation, even by
+the women of his own congregation. When he found what a whirlwind he had
+started, he tried to shift his position and explain away much that he
+had said. We asked him to let us have the sermon for publication, that
+we might not do him injustice. But as he contradicted himself flatly in
+trying to restate his discourse, and refused to let us see his sermon,
+those who heard him were disgusted with his sophistry and
+tergiversation.
+
+However, our labors in this direction are having an effect. Women are
+now making their attacks on the Church all along the line. They are
+demanding their right to be ordained as ministers, elders, deacons, and
+to be received as delegates in all the ecclesiastical convocations. At
+last they ask of the Church just what they have asked of the State for
+the last half century--perfect equality--and the clergy, as a body, are
+quite as hostile to their demands as the statesmen.
+
+On my way back to Johnstown I spent ten days at Troy, where I preached
+in the Unitarian church on Sunday evening. During this visit we had two
+hearings in the Capitol at Albany--one in the Senate Chamber and one in
+the Assembly, before the Committee on Grievances. On both occasions Mrs.
+Mary Seymour Howell, Mrs. Devereux Blake, Mrs. Caroline Gilkey Rogers,
+and I addressed the Committee. Being open to the public, the chamber was
+crowded. It was nearly forty years since I had made my first appeal in
+the old Capitol at Albany. My reflections were sad and discouraging, as
+I sat there and listened to the speakers and remembered how long we had
+made our appeals at that bar, from year to year, in vain. The members of
+the committee presented the same calm aspect as their predecessors, as
+if to say, "Be patient, dear sisters, eternity is before us; this is
+simply a question of time. What may not come in your day, future
+generations will surely possess." It is always pleasant to know that
+our descendants are to enjoy life, liberty, and happiness; but, when one
+is gasping for one breath of freedom, this reflection is not satisfying.
+
+Returning to my native hills, I found the Lenten season had fairly set
+in, which I always dreaded on account of the solemn, tolling bell, the
+Episcopal church being just opposite our residence. On Sunday we had the
+bells of six churches all going at the same time. It is strange how long
+customs continue after the original object has ceased to exist. At an
+early day, when the country was sparsely settled and the people lived at
+great distances, bells were useful to call them together when there was
+to be a church service. But now, when the churches are always open on
+Sunday, and every congregation knows the hour of services and all have
+clocks, bells are not only useless, but they are a terrible nuisance to
+invalids and nervous people. If I am ever so fortunate as to be elected
+a member of a town council, my first efforts will be toward the
+suppression of bells.
+
+To encourage one of my sex in the trying profession of book agent, I
+purchased, about this time, Dr. Lord's "Beacon Lights of History," and
+read the last volume devoted to women, Pagan and Christian, saints and
+sinners. It is very amusing to see the author's intellectual wriggling
+and twisting to show that no one can be good or happy without believing
+in the Christian religion. In describing great women who are not
+Christians, he attributes all their follies and miseries to that fact.
+In describing Pagan women, possessed of great virtues, he attributes all
+their virtues to Nature's gifts, which enable them to rise superior to
+superstitions. After dwelling on the dreary existence of those not of
+Christian faith, he forthwith pictures his St. Teresa going through
+twenty years of doubts and fears about the salvation of her soul. The
+happiest people I have known have been those who gave themselves no
+concern about their own souls, but did their uttermost to mitigate the
+miseries of others.
+
+In May, 1885, we left Johnstown and took possession of our house at
+Tenafly, New Jersey. It seemed very pleasant, after wandering in the Old
+World and the New, to be in my own home once more, surrounded by the
+grand trees I so dearly loved; to see the gorgeous sunsets, the
+twinkling fireflies; to hear the whippoorwills call their familiar note,
+while the June bugs and the mosquitoes buzz outside the nets through
+which they cannot enter. Many people complain of the mosquito in New
+Jersey, when he can so easily be shut out of the family circle by nets
+over all the doors and windows. I had a long piazza, encased in netting,
+where paterfamilias, with his pipe, could muse and gaze at the stars
+unmolested.
+
+June brought Miss Anthony and a box of fresh documents for another
+season of work on vol. III. of our History. We had a flying visit from
+Miss Eddy of Providence, daughter of Mrs. Eddy who gave fifty thousand
+dollars to the woman suffrage movement, and a granddaughter of Francis
+Jackson of Boston, who also left a generous bequest to our reform. We
+found Miss Eddy a charming young woman with artistic tastes. She showed
+us several pen sketches she had made of some of our reformers, that were
+admirable likenesses.
+
+Mr. Stanton's "Random Recollections" were published at this time and
+were well received. A dinner was given him, on his eightieth birthday
+(June 27, 1885), by the Press Club of New York city, with speeches and
+toasts by his lifelong friends. As no ladies were invited I can only
+judge from the reports in the daily papers, and what I could glean from
+the honored guest himself, that it was a very interesting occasion.
+
+Sitting in the summerhouse, one day, I witnessed a most amusing scene.
+Two of the boys, in search of employment, broke up a hornets' nest.
+Bruno, our large Saint Bernard dog, seeing them jumping about, thought
+he would join in the fun. The boys tried to drive him away, knowing that
+the hornets would get in his long hair, but Bruno's curiosity outran his
+caution and he plunged into the midst of the swarm and was soon
+completely covered. The buzzing and stinging soon sent the poor dog
+howling on the run. He rushed as usual, in his distress, to Amelia in
+the kitchen, where she and the girls were making preserves and ironing.
+When they saw the hornets, they dropped irons, spoons, jars, everything,
+and rushed out of doors screaming. I appreciated the danger in time to
+get safely into the house before Bruno came to me for aid and comfort.
+At last they played the hose on him until he found some relief; the
+maidens, armed with towels, thrashed right and left, and the boys, with
+evergreen branches, fought bravely. I had often heard of "stirring up a
+hornets' nest," but I had never before seen a practical demonstration of
+its danger. For days after, if Bruno heard anything buzz, he would rush
+for the house at the top of his speed. But in spite of these occasional
+lively episodes, vol. III. went steadily on.
+
+My suffrage sons and daughters through all the Northern and Western
+States decided to celebrate, on the 12th of November, 1885, my
+seventieth birthday, by holding meetings or sending me gifts and
+congratulations. This honor was suggested by Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton
+Harbert in _The New Era_, a paper she was editing at that time. The
+suggestion met with a ready response. I was invited to deliver an essay
+on "The Pleasures of Age," before the suffrage association in New York
+city. It took me a week to think them up, but with the inspiration of
+Longfellow's "Morituri Salutamus," I was almost converted to the idea
+that "we old folks" had the best of it.
+
+The day was ushered in with telegrams, letters, and express packages,
+which continued to arrive during the week. From England, France, and
+Germany came cablegrams, presents, and letters of congratulation, and
+from all quarters came books, pictures, silver, bronzes, California
+blankets, and baskets of fruits and flowers. The eulogies in prose and
+verse were so hearty and numerous that the ridicule and criticism of
+forty years were buried so deep that I shall remember them no more.
+There is no class who enjoy the praise of their fellow-men like those
+who have had only blame most of their lives. The evening of the 12th we
+had a delightful reunion at the home of Dr. Clemence Lozier, where I
+gave my essay, after which Mrs. Lozier, Mrs. Blake, Miss Anthony, "Jenny
+June," and some of the younger converts to our platform, all made short
+speeches of praise and congratulation, which were followed by music,
+recitations, and refreshments.
+
+All during the autumn Miss Anthony and I looked forward to the spring,
+when we hoped to have completed the third and last volume of our
+History, and thus end the labors of ten years. We had neither time nor
+eyesight to read aught but the imperative documents for the History. I
+was hungering for some other mental pabulum.
+
+In January, 1886, I was invited to dine with Laura Curtis Bullard, to
+meet Mme. Durand (Henri Greville), the novelist. She seemed a politic
+rather than an earnest woman of principle. As it was often very
+inconvenient for me to entertain distinguished visitors, who desired to
+meet me in my country home during the winter, Mrs. Bullard generously
+offered always to invite them to her home. She and her good mother have
+done their part in the reform movements in New York by their generous
+hospitalities.
+
+Reading the debates in Congress, at that time, on a proposed
+appropriation for a monument to General Grant, I was glad to see that
+Senator Plumb of Kansas was brave enough to express his opinion against
+it. I fully agree with him. So long as multitudes of our people who are
+doing the work of the world live in garrets and cellars, in ignorance,
+poverty, and vice, it is the duty of Congress to apply the surplus in
+the national treasury to objects which will feed, clothe, shelter, and
+educate these wards of the State. If we must keep on continually
+building monuments to great men, they should be handsome blocks of
+comfortable homes for the poor, such as Peabody built in London. Senator
+Hoar of Massachusetts favored the Grant monument, partly to cultivate
+the artistic tastes of our people. We might as well cultivate our tastes
+on useful dwellings as on useless monuments. Surely sanitary homes and
+schoolhouses for the living would be more appropriate monuments to wise
+statesmen than the purest Parian shafts among the sepulchers of the
+dead.
+
+The strikes and mobs and settled discontent of the masses warn us that,
+although we forget and neglect their interests and our duties, we do it
+at the peril of all. English statesmen are at their wits' end to-day
+with their tangled social and industrial problems, threatening the
+throne of a long line of kings. The impending danger cannot be averted
+by any surface measures; there must be a radical change in the relations
+of capital and labor.
+
+In April rumors of a domestic invasion, wafted on every Atlantic breeze,
+warned us that our children were coming from England and France--a party
+of six. Fortunately, the last line of the History was written, so Miss
+Anthony, with vol. III. and bushels of manuscripts, fled to the peaceful
+home of her sister Mary at Rochester. The expected party sailed from
+Liverpool the 26th of May, on the _America_ After being out three days
+the piston rod broke and they were obliged to return. My son-in-law,
+W.H. Blatch, was so seasick and disgusted that he remained in England,
+and took a fresh start two months later, and had a swift passage without
+any accidents. The rest were transferred to the _Germanic_, and reached
+New York the 12th of June. Different divisions of the party were
+arriving until midnight. Five people and twenty pieces of baggage! The
+confusion of such an invasion quite upset the even tenor of our days,
+and it took some time for people and trunks to find their respective
+niches. However crowded elsewhere, there was plenty of room in our
+hearts, and we were unspeakably happy to have our flock all around us
+once more.
+
+I had long heard so many conflicting opinions about the Bible--some
+saying it taught woman's emancipation and some her subjection--that,
+during this visit of my children, the thought came to me that it Would
+be well to collect every biblical reference to women in one small
+compact volume, and see on which side the balance of influence really
+was. To this end I proposed to organize a committee of competent women,
+with some Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholars in England and the United
+States, for a thorough revision of the Old and New Testaments, and to
+ascertain what the status of woman really was under the Jewish and
+Christian religion. As the Church has thus far interpreted the Bible as
+teaching woman's subjection, and none of the revisions by learned
+ecclesiastics have thrown any new light on the question, it seemed to me
+pre-eminently proper and timely for women themselves to review the book.
+As they are now studying theology in many institutions of learning,
+asking to be ordained as preachers, elders, deacons, and to be admitted,
+as delegates, to Synods and General Assemblies, and are refused on Bible
+grounds, it seemed to me high time for women to consider those
+scriptural arguments and authorities.
+
+A happy coincidence enabled me at last to begin this work. While my
+daughter, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, was with me, our friend Miss Frances
+Lord, on our earnest invitation, came to America to visit us. She landed
+in New York the 4th of August, 1886. As it was Sunday she could not
+telegraph, hence there was no one to meet her, and, as we all sat
+chatting on the front piazza, suddenly, to our surprise and delight, she
+drove up. After a few days' rest and general talk of passing events, I
+laid the subject so near my heart before her and my daughter. They
+responded promptly and heartily, and we immediately set to work. I wrote
+to every woman who I thought might join such a committee, and Miss Lord
+ran through the Bible in a few days, marking each chapter that in any
+way referred to women. We found that the work would not be so great as
+we imagined, as all the facts and teachings in regard to women occupied
+less than one-tenth of the whole Scriptures. We purchased some cheap
+Bibles, cut out the texts, pasted them at the head of the page, and,
+underneath, wrote our commentaries as clearly and concisely as possible.
+We did not intend to have sermons or essays, but brief comments, to keep
+"The Woman's Bible" as small as possible.
+
+Miss Lord and I worked several weeks together, and Mrs. Blatch and I,
+during the winter of 1887, wrote all our commentaries on the Pentateuch.
+But we could not succeed in forming the committee, nor, after writing
+innumerable letters, make the women understand what we wanted to do. I
+still have the commentaries of the few who responded, and the letters of
+those who declined--a most varied and amusing bundle of manuscripts in
+themselves. Some said the Bible had no special authority with them;
+that, like the American Constitution, it could be interpreted to mean
+anything--slavery, when we protected that "Institution," and freedom,
+when it existed no longer. Others said that woman's sphere was clearly
+marked out in the Scriptures, and all attempt at emancipation was flying
+in the face of Providence. Others said they considered all the revisions
+made by men thus far, had been so many acts of sacrilege, and they did
+hope women would not add their influence, to weaken the faith of the
+people in the divine origin of the Holy Book, for, if men and women
+could change it in one particular, they could in all. On the whole the
+correspondence was discouraging.
+
+Later Miss Lord became deeply interested in psychical researches, and I
+could get no more work out of her. And as soon as we had finished the
+Pentateuch, Mrs. Blatch declared she would go no farther; that it was
+the driest history she had ever read, and most derogatory to women. My
+beloved coadjutor, Susan B. Anthony, said that she thought it a work of
+supererogation; that when our political equality was recognized and we
+became full-fledged American citizens, the Church would make haste to
+bring her Bibles and prayer books, creeds and discipline up to the same
+high-water mark of liberty.
+
+Helen Gardener said: "I consider this a most important proposal, and if
+you and I can ever stay on the same side of the Atlantic long enough, we
+will join hands and do the work. In fact, I have begun already with
+Paul's Epistles, and am fascinated with the work. The untenable and
+unscientific positions he takes in regard to women are very amusing.
+Although the first chapter of Genesis teaches the simultaneous creation
+of man and woman, Paul bases woman's subjection on the priority of man,
+and because woman was of the man. As the historical fact is that, as far
+back as history dates, the man has been of the woman, should he
+therefore be forever in bondage to her? Logically, according to Paul, he
+should."
+
+I consulted several friends, such as Dr. William F. Channing, Mr. and
+Mrs. Moncure D. Conway, Gertrude Garrison, Frederick Cabot, and Edward
+M. Davis, as to the advisability of the work, and they all agreed that
+such a volume, showing woman's position under the Jewish and Christian
+religions, would be valuable, but none of them had time to assist in the
+project. Though, owing to all these discouragements, I discontinued my
+work, I never gave up the hope of renewing it some time, when other of
+my coadjutors should awake to its importance and offer their services.
+
+On October 27, 1886, with my daughter, nurse, and grandchild, I again
+sailed for England. Going out of the harbor in the clear early morning,
+we had a fine view of Bartholdi's statue of Liberty Enlightening the
+World. We had a warm, gentle rain and a smooth sea most of the way, and,
+as we had a stateroom on deck, we could have the portholes open, and
+thus get all the air we desired. With novels and letters, chess and
+whist the time passed pleasantly, and, on the ninth day, we landed in
+Liverpool.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ENGLAND AND FRANCE REVISITED.
+
+
+On arriving at Basingstoke we found awaiting us cordial letters of
+welcome from Miss Biggs, Miss Priestman, Mrs. Peter Taylor, Mrs.
+Priscilla McLaren, Miss Mueller, Mrs. Jacob Bright, and Mme. de Barrau.
+During the winter Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, Drs. Kate and Julia
+Mitchell, Mrs. Charles McLaren, Mrs. Saville, and Miss Balgarnie each
+spent a day or two with us. The full-dress costume of the ladies was a
+great surprise to my little granddaughter Nora. She had never seen bare
+shoulders in a drawing room, and at the first glance she could not
+believe her eyes. She slowly made the circuit of the room, coming nearer
+and nearer until she touched the lady's neck to see whether or not it
+was covered with some peculiar shade of dress, but finding the bare skin
+she said: "Why, you are not dressed, are you? I see your skin!" The
+scene suggested to me the amusing description in Holmes' "Elsie Venner,"
+of the efforts of a young lady, seated between two old gentlemen, to
+show off her white shoulders. The vicar would not look, but steadily
+prayed that he might not be led into temptation; but the physician, with
+greater moral hardihood, deliberately surveyed the offered charms, with
+spectacles on his nose.
+
+In December Hattie and I finished Dowden's "Life of Shelley," which we
+had been reading together. Here we find a sensitive, refined nature,
+full of noble purposes, thrown out when too young to meet all life's
+emergencies, with no loving Mentor to guard him from blunders or to help
+to retrieve the consequences of his false positions. Had he been
+surrounded with a few true friends, who could appreciate what was great
+in him and pity what was weak, his life would have been different. His
+father was hard, exacting, and unreasonable; hence he had no influence.
+His mother had neither the wisdom to influence him, nor the courage to
+rebuke her husband; and alas! poor woman, she was in such thraldom
+herself to conventionalisms, that she could not understand a youth who
+set them all at defiance.
+
+[Illustration: THREE GENERATIONS.]
+
+[Illustration: MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY.]
+
+We also read Cotton Morrison's "Service of Man," which I hope will be a
+new inspiration to fresh labors by all for the elevation of humanity,
+and Carnegie's "Triumphant Democracy," showing the power our country is
+destined to wield and the vastness of our domain. This book must give
+every American citizen a feeling of deeper responsibility than ever
+before to act well his part. We read, too, Harriet Martineau's
+translation of the works of Auguste Comte, and found the part on woman
+most unsatisfactory. He criticises Aristotle's belief that slavery is a
+necessary element of social life, yet seems to think the subjection of
+woman in modern civilization a matter of no importance.
+
+All through that winter Hattie and I occupied our time studying the
+Bible and reading the commentaries of Clark, Scott, and Wordsworth
+(Bishop of Lincoln). We found nothing grand in the history of the Jews
+nor in the morals inculcated in the Pentateuch. Surely the writers had a
+very low idea of the nature of their God. They make Him not only
+anthropomorphic, but of the very lowest type, jealous and revengeful,
+loving violence rather than mercy. I know no other books that so fully
+teach the subjection and degradation of woman. Miriam, the eldest sister
+of Moses and Aaron, a genius, a prophetess, with the family aptitude for
+diplomacy and government, is continually set aside because of her
+sex--permitted to lead the women in singing and dancing, nothing more.
+No woman could offer sacrifices nor eat the holy meats because,
+according to the Jews, she was too unclean and unholy.
+
+But what is the use, say some, of attaching any importance to the
+customs and teachings of a barbarous people? None whatever. But when our
+bishops, archbishops, and ordained clergymen stand up in their pulpits
+and read selections from the Pentateuch with reverential voice, they
+make the women of their congregation believe that there really is some
+divine authority for their subjection. In the Thirty-First Chapter of
+Numbers, in speaking of the spoils taken from the Midianites, the live
+stock is thus summarized: "Five thousand sheep, threescore and twelve
+thousand beeves, threescore and one thousand asses, and thirty-two
+thousand women and women-children," which Moses said the warriors might
+keep for themselves. What a pity a Stead had not been there, to protect
+the child-women of the Midianites and rebuke the Lord's chosen people as
+they deserved! In placing the women after the sheep, the beeves, and the
+asses, we have a fair idea of their comparative importance in the scale
+of being, among the Jewish warriors. No wonder the right reverend
+bishops and clergy of the Methodist Church, who believe in the divine
+origin and authority of the Pentateuch, exclude women from their great
+convocations in the American Republic in the nineteenth century. In view
+of the fact that our children are taught to reverence the book as of
+divine origin, I think we have a right to ask that, in the next
+revision, all such passages be expurgated, and to that end learned,
+competent women must have an equal place on the revising committee.
+
+Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas came, in February, to spend a few days with
+us. She was greatly shocked with many texts in the Old Testament, to
+which we called her attention, and said: "Here is an insidious influence
+against the elevation of women, which but few of us have ever taken into
+consideration." She had just returned from a flying visit to America;
+having made two voyages across the Atlantic and traveled three thousand
+miles across the continent in two months, and this at the age of
+sixty-eight years. She was enthusiastic in her praises of the women she
+met in the United States. As her name was already on the committee to
+prepare "The Woman's Bible," we had her hearty approval of the
+undertaking.
+
+In October Hattie went to London, to attend a meeting to form a Woman's
+Liberal Federation. Mrs. Gladstone presided. The speeches made were
+simply absurd, asking women to organize themselves to help the Liberal
+party, which had steadily denied to them the political rights they had
+demanded for twenty years. Professor Stuart capped the climax of insult
+when he urged as "one great advantage in getting women to canvass for
+the Liberal party was that they would give their services free." The
+Liberals saw what enthusiasm the Primrose Dames had roused for the Tory
+party, really carrying the election, and they determined to utilize a
+similar force in their ranks. But the whole movement was an insult to
+women.
+
+The one absorbing interest, then, was the Queen's Jubilee. Ladies formed
+societies to collect funds to place at the disposal of the Queen. Every
+little village was divided into districts, and different ladies took the
+rounds, begging pennies at every door of servants and the laboring
+masses, and pounds of the wealthy people. One of them paid us a visit.
+She asked the maid who opened the door to see the rest of the servants,
+and she begged a penny of each of them. She then asked to see the
+mistress. My daughter descended; but, instead of a pound, she gave her a
+lecture on the Queen's avarice. When the fund was started the people
+supposed the Queen was to return it all to the people in liberal
+endowments of charitable institutions, but her Majesty proposed to build
+a monument to Prince Albert, although he already had one in London. "The
+Queen," said my daughter, "should celebrate her Jubilee by giving good
+gifts to her subjects, and not by filching from the poor their pennies.
+To give half her worldly possessions to her impoverished people, to give
+Home Rule to Ireland, or to make her public schools free, would be deeds
+worthy her Jubilee; but to take another cent from those who are
+hopelessly poor is a sin against suffering humanity." The young woman
+realized the situation and said: "I shall go no farther. I wish I could
+return every penny I have taken from the needy."
+
+The most fitting monuments this nation can build are schoolhouses and
+homes for those who do the work of the world. It is no answer to say
+that they are accustomed to rags and hunger. In this world of plenty
+every human being has a right to food, clothes, decent shelter, and the
+rudiments of education. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
+when one-tenth of the human family, booted and spurred, ride the masses
+to destruction. I detest the words "royalty" and "nobility," and all the
+ideas and institutions based on their recognition. In April the great
+meeting in Hyde Park occurred--a meeting of protest against the Irish
+Coercion Bill. It was encouraging to see that there is a democratic as
+well as an aristocratic England. The London journals gave very different
+accounts of the meeting. The Tories said it was a mob of inconsequential
+cranks. Reason teaches us, however, that you cannot get up a large,
+enthusiastic meeting unless there is some question pending that touches
+the heart of the people. Those who say that Ireland has no grievances
+are ignorant alike of human nature and the facts of history.
+
+On April 14 I went to Paris, my daughter escorting me to Dover, and my
+son meeting me at Calais. It was a bright, pleasant day, and I sat on
+deck and enjoyed the trip, though many of my fellow passengers were pale
+and limp. Whirling to Paris in an easy car, through the beautiful
+wheatfields and vineyards, I thought of the old lumbering diligence, in
+which we went up to Paris at a snail's pace forty years before. I
+remained in Paris until October, and never enjoyed six months more
+thoroughly. One of my chief pleasures was making the acquaintance of my
+fourth son, Theodore. I had seen but little of him since he was sixteen
+years old, as he then spent five years at Cornell University, and as
+many more in Germany and France. He had already published two works,
+"The Life of Thiers," and "The Woman Question in Europe." To have a son
+interested in the question to which I have devoted my life, is a source
+of intense satisfaction. To say that I have realized in him all I could
+desire, is the highest praise a fond mother can give.
+
+My first experience in an apartment, living on an even plane, no running
+up and down stairs, was as pleasant as it was surprising. I had no idea
+of the comfort and convenience of this method of keeping house. Our
+apartment in Paris consisted of drawing room, dining room, library, a
+good-sized hall, in which stood a large American stove, five bedrooms,
+bathroom, and kitchen, and a balcony fifty-two feet long and four feet
+wide. The first few days it made me dizzy to look down from this balcony
+to the street below. I was afraid the whole structure would give way, it
+appeared so light and airy, hanging midway between earth and heaven. But
+my confidence in its steadfastness and integrity grew day by day, and it
+became my favorite resort, commanding, as it did, a magnificent view of
+the whole city and distant surroundings.
+
+There were so many Americans in town, and French reformers to be seen,
+that I gave Wednesday afternoon receptions during my whole visit. To one
+of our "at homes" came Mlle. Maria Deraismes, the only female Free Mason
+in France, and the best woman orator in the country; her sister, Mme.
+Feresse-Deraismes, who takes part in all woman movements; M. Leon
+Richer, then actively advocating the civil and political rights of women
+through the columns of his vigorous journal; Mme. Griess Traut, who
+makes a specialty of Peace work; Mme. Isabelle Bogelot, who afterward
+attended the Washington Council of 1888, and who is a leader in charity
+work; the late Mme. Emilie de Morsier, who afterward was the soul of the
+International Congress of 1889, at Paris; Mme. Pauline Kergomard, the
+first woman to be made a member of the Superior Council of public
+Instruction in France, and Mme. Henri Greville, the novelist.
+
+Among the American guests at our various Wednesday receptions were Mr.
+and Mrs. John Bigelow, Mr. and Mrs. James G. Blaine, Mr. Daniel C.
+French, the Concord sculptor; Mrs. J.C. Ayer, Mr. L. White Busbey, one
+of the editors of the Chicago _Inter-Ocean_; Rev. Dr. Henry M. Field,
+Charles Gifford Dyer, the painter and father of the gifted young
+violinist, Miss Hella Dyer; the late Rev. Mr. Moffett, then United
+States Consul at Athens, Mrs. Governor Bagley and daughter of Michigan;
+Grace Greenwood and her talented daughter, who charmed everyone with her
+melodious voice, and Miss Bryant, daughter of the poet. One visitor who
+interested us most was the Norwegian novelist and republican,
+Bjornstjorne Bjornson.
+
+We had several pleasant interviews with Frederick Douglass and his wife,
+some exciting games of chess with Theodore Tilton, in the pleasant
+apartments of the late W.J.A. Fuller, Esq., and his daughter, Miss Kate
+Fuller. At this time I also met our brilliant countrywoman, Louise
+Chandler Moulton. Seeing so many familiar faces, I could easily imagine
+myself in New York rather than in Paris. I attended several receptions
+and dined with Mrs. Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, greatly enjoying her clever
+descriptions of a winter on the Nile in her own dahabeeyeh. I heard Pere
+Hyacinthe preach, and met his American wife on several occasions. I took
+long drives every day through the parks and pleasant parts of the city.
+With garden concerts, operas, theaters, and the Hippodrome I found
+abundant amusement. I never grew weary of the latter performance--the
+wonderful intelligence displayed there by animals, being a fresh
+surprise to me every time I went.
+
+I attended a reception at the Elysee Palace, escorted by M. Joseph
+Fabre, then a deputy and now a senator. M. Fabre is the author of a play
+and several volumes devoted to Joan of Arc. He presented me to the
+President and to Mme. Jules Grevy. I was also introduced to M. Jules
+Ferry, then Prime Minister, who said, among other things: "I am sorry to
+confess it, but it is only too true, our French women are far behind
+their sisters in America." The beautiful, large garden was thrown open
+that evening,--it was in July,--and the fine band of the Republican
+Guard gave a delightful concert under the big trees. I also met M.
+Grevy's son-in-law, M. Daniel Wilson. He was then a deputy and one of
+the most powerful politicians in France. A few months later he caused
+his father's political downfall. I have a vivid recollection of him
+because he could speak English, his father having been a British
+subject.
+
+I visited the picture galleries once more, after a lapse of nearly fifty
+years, and was struck by the fact that, in that interval, several women
+had been admitted to places of honor. This was especially noticeable in
+the Luxembourg Sculpture Gallery, where two women, Mme. Bertaux and the
+late Claude Vignon, wife of M. Rouvier, were both represented by good
+work--the first and only women sculptors admitted to that gallery.
+
+At a breakfast party which we gave, I made the acquaintance of General
+Cluseret, who figured in our Civil War, afterward became War Minister
+of the Paris Commune, and is now member of the Chamber of Deputies. He
+learned English when in America, and had not entirely forgotten it. He
+told anecdotes of Lincoln, Stanton, Sumner, Fremont, Garibaldi, the
+Count of Paris, and many other famous men whom he once knew, and proved
+to be a very interesting conversationalist.
+
+Old bookstands were always attractive centers of interest to Theodore,
+and, among other treasure-troves, he brought home one day a boy of
+fourteen years, whose office it had been to watch the books. He was a
+bright, cheery little fellow of mixed French and German descent, who
+could speak English, French, and German. He was just what we had
+desired, to run errands and tend the door. As he was delighted with the
+idea of coming to us, we went to see his parents. We were pleased with
+their appearance and surroundings. We learned that they were members of
+the Lutheran Church, that the boy was one of the shining lights in
+Sunday school, and the only point in our agreement on which they were
+strenuous was that he should go regularly to Sunday school and have time
+to learn his lessons.
+
+So "Immanuel" commenced a new life with us, and as we had unbounded
+confidence in the boy's integrity, we excused his shortcomings, and, for
+a time, believed all he said. But before long we found out that the
+moment we left the house he was in the drawing room, investigating every
+drawer, playing on the piano, or sleeping on the sofa. Though he was
+told never to touch the hall stove, he would go and open all the
+draughts and make it red-hot. Then we adopted the plan of locking up
+every part of the apartment but the kitchen. He amused himself burning
+holes through the pantry shelves, when the cook was out, and boring
+holes, with a gimlet, through a handsomely carved bread board. One day,
+in making up a spare bed for a friend, under the mattress were found
+innumerable letters he was supposed to have mailed at different times.
+When we reprimanded him for his pranks he would look at us steadily, but
+sorrowfully, and, immediately afterward, we would hear him dancing down
+the corridor singing, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." If he had given heed
+to one-half we said to him, he would have been safer in our hands than
+in those of his imaginary protector. He turned out a thief, an
+unmitigated liar, a dancing dervish, and, through all our experiences of
+six weeks with him, his chief reading was his Bible and Sunday-school
+books. The experience, however, was not lost on Theodore--he has never
+suggested a boy since, and a faithful daughter of Eve reigns in his
+stead.
+
+During the summer I was in the hands of two artists, Miss Anna Klumpke,
+who painted my portrait, and Paul Bartlett, who molded my head in clay.
+To shorten the operation, sometimes I sat for both at the same time.
+Although neither was fully satisfied with the results of their labors,
+we had many pleasant hours together, discussing their art, their early
+trials, and artists in general. Each had good places in the _Salon_, and
+honorable mention that year. It is sad to see so many American girls and
+boys, who have no genius for painting or sculpture, spending their days
+in garrets, in solitude and poverty, with the vain hope of earning
+distinction. Women of all classes are awaking to the necessity of
+self-support, but few are willing to do the ordinary useful work for
+which they are fitted. In the _Salon_ that year six thousand pictures
+were offered, and only two thousand accepted, and many of these were
+"skyed."
+
+It was lovely on our balcony at night to watch the little boats, with
+their lights, sailing up and down the Seine, especially the day of the
+great annual fete,--the 14th of July,--when the whole city was
+magnificently illuminated. We drove about the city on several occasions
+at midnight, to see the life--men, women, and children enjoying the cool
+breezes, and the restaurants all crowded with people.
+
+Sunday in Paris is charming--it is the day for the masses of the people.
+All the galleries of art, the libraries, concert halls, and gardens are
+open to them. All are dressed in their best, out driving, walking, and
+having picnics in the various parks and gardens; husbands, wives, and
+children laughing and talking happily together. The seats in the streets
+and parks are all filled with the laboring masses. The benches all over
+Paris--along the curbstones in every street and highway--show the care
+given to the comfort of the people. You will see mothers and nurses with
+their babies and children resting on these benches, laboring men eating
+their lunches and sleeping there at noon, the organ grinders and
+monkeys, too, taking their comfort. In France you see men and women
+everywhere together; in England the men generally stagger about alone,
+caring more for their pipes and beer than their mothers, wives, and
+sisters. Social life, among the poor especially, is far more natural and
+harmonious in France than in England, because women mix more freely in
+business and amusements.
+
+Coming directly from Paris to London, one is forcibly struck with the
+gloom of the latter city, especially at night. Paris with its electric
+lights is brilliant everywhere, while London, with its meager gas jets
+here and there struggling with the darkness, is as gloomy and desolate
+as Dore's pictures of Dante's Inferno. On Sunday, when the shops are
+closed, the silence and solitude of the streets, the general smoky
+blackness of the buildings and the atmosphere give one a melancholy
+impression of the great center of civilization. Now that it has been
+discovered that smoke can be utilized and the atmosphere cleared, it is
+astonishing that the authorities do not avail themselves of the
+discovery, and thus bring light and joy and sunshine into that city, and
+then clean the soot of centuries from their blackened buildings.
+
+On my return to England I spent a day with Miss Emily Lord, at her
+kindergarten establishment. She had just returned from Sweden, where she
+spent six weeks in the carpenter's shop, studying the Swedish Sloejd
+system, in which children of twelve years old learn to use tools, making
+spoons, forks, and other implements. Miss Lord showed us some of her
+work, quite creditable for her first attempts. She said the children in
+the higher grades of her school enjoyed the carpenter work immensely and
+became very deft in the use of tools.
+
+On November 1, 1887, we reached Basingstoke once more, and found all
+things in order. My diary tells of several books I read during the
+winter and what the authors say of women; one the "Religio Medici," by
+Sir Thomas Browne, M.D., in which the author discourses on many high
+themes, God, Creation, Heaven, Hell, and vouchsafes one sentence on
+woman. Of her he says: "I was never married but once and commend their
+resolution who never marry twice, not that I disallow of second, nor in
+all cases of polygamy, which, considering the unequal number of the
+sexes, may also be necessary. The whole world was made for man, but the
+twelfth part of man for woman. Man is the whole world--the breath of
+God; woman the rib and crooked piece of man. I speak not in prejudice
+nor am averse from that sweet sex, but naturally amorous of all that is
+beautiful. I can look all day at a handsome picture, though it be but a
+horse."
+
+Turning to John Paul Friedrich Richter, I found in his chapter on woman
+many equally ridiculous statements mixed up with much fulsome
+admiration. After reading some volumes of Richter, I took up Heinrich
+Heine, the German poet and writer. He said: "Oh, the women! We must
+forgive them much, for they love much and many. Their hate is, properly,
+only love turned inside out. Sometimes they attribute some delinquency
+to us, because they think they can, in this way, gratify another man.
+When they write they have always one eye on the paper and the other eye
+on some man. This is true of all authoresses except the Countess Hahn
+Hahn, who has only one eye." John Ruskin's biography he gives us a
+glimpse of his timidity in regard to the sex, when a young man. He was
+very fond of the society of girls, but never knew how to approach them.
+He said he "was perfectly happy in serving them, would gladly make a
+bridge of himself for them to walk over, a beam to fasten a swing to for
+them--anything but to talk to them." Such are some of the choice
+specimens of masculine wit I collected during my winter's reading!
+
+At a reception given to me by Drs. Julia and Kate Mitchell, sisters
+practicing medicine in London, I met Stepniak, the Russian Nihilist, a
+man of grand presence and fine conversational powers. He was about to go
+to America, apprehensive lest our Government should make an extradition
+treaty with Russia to return political offenders, as he knew that
+proposal had been made. A few weeks later he did visit the United
+States, and had a hearing before a committee of the Senate. He pointed
+out the character of the Nihilist movement, declaring Nihilists to be
+the real reformers, the true lovers of liberty, sacrificing themselves
+for the best interests of the people, and yet, as political prisoners,
+they are treated worse than the lowest class of criminals in the prisons
+and mines of Siberia.
+
+I had a very unpleasant interview, during this visit to London, with
+Miss Lydia Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs, and Miss Blackburn, at the
+Metropole, about choosing delegates to the International Council of
+Women soon to be held in Washington. As there had been some
+irreconcilable dissensions in the suffrage association, and they could
+not agree as to whom their delegate should be, they decided to send none
+at all. I wrote at once to Mrs. Priscilla Bright McLaren, pointing out
+what a shame it would be if England, above all countries, should not be
+represented in the first International Council ever called by a suffrage
+association. She replied promptly that must not be, and immediately
+moved in the matter, and through her efforts three delegates were soon
+authorized to go, representing different constituencies--Mrs. Alice
+Cliff Scatcherd, Mrs. Ormiston Chant, and Mrs. Ashton Dilke.
+
+Toward the last of February, 1888, we went again to London to make a
+few farewell visits to dear friends. We spent a few days with Mrs. Mona
+Caird, who was then reading Karl Pearson's lectures on "Woman," and
+expounding her views on marriage, which she afterward gave to the
+Westminster Review, and stirred the press to white heat both in England
+and America. "Is Marriage a Failure?" furnished the heading for our
+quack advertisements for a long time after. Mrs. Caird was a very
+graceful, pleasing woman, and so gentle in manner and appearance that no
+one would deem her capable of hurling such thunderbolts at the
+long-suffering Saxon people.
+
+We devoted one day to Prince Krapotkine, who lives at Harrow, in the
+suburbs of London. A friend of his, Mr. Lieneff, escorted us there. We
+found the prince, his wife, and child in very humble quarters;
+uncarpeted floors, books and papers on pine shelves, wooden chairs, and
+the bare necessaries of life--nothing more. They indulge in no luxuries,
+but devote all they can spare to the publication of liberal opinions to
+be scattered in Russia, and to help Nihilists in escaping from the
+dominions of the Czar. The prince and princess took turns in holding and
+amusing the baby--then only one year old; fortunately it slept most of
+the time, so that the conversation flowed on for some hours. Krapotkine
+told us of his sad prison experiences, both in France and Russia. He
+said the series of articles by George Kennan in the _Century_ were not
+too highly colored, that the sufferings of men and women in Siberia and
+the Russian prisons could not be overdrawn. One of the refinements of
+cruelty they practice on prisoners is never to allow them to hear the
+human voice. A soldier always accompanies the warder who distributes
+the food, to see that no word is spoken. In vain the poor prisoner asks
+questions, no answer is ever made, no tidings from the outside world
+ever given. One may well ask what devil in human form has prescribed
+such prison life and discipline! I wonder if we could find a man in all
+Russia who would defend the system, yet someone is responsible for its
+terrible cruelties!
+
+We returned to Basingstoke, passed the few remaining days in looking
+over papers and packing for the voyage, and, on March 4, 1888, Mrs.
+Blatch went with me to Southampton. On the train I met my companions for
+the voyage, Mrs. Gustafsen, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, and Baroness Gripenberg,
+from Finland, a very charming woman, to whom I felt a strong attraction.
+The other delegates sailed from Liverpool. We had a rough voyage and
+most of the passengers were very sick. Mrs. Dilke and I were well,
+however, and on deck every day, always ready to play whist and chess
+with a few gentlemen who were equally fortunate. I was much impressed
+with Mrs. Dilke's kindness and generosity in serving others. There was a
+lady on board with two children, whose nurse at the last minute refused
+to go with her. The mother was sick most of the way, and Mrs. Dilke did
+all in her power to relieve her, by amusing the little boy, telling him
+stories, walking with him on deck, and watching him throughout the day,
+no easy task to perform for an entire stranger. The poor little mother
+with a baby in her arms must have appreciated such kindly attention.
+
+When the pilot met us off Sandy Hook, he brought news of the terrible
+blizzard New York had just experienced, by which all communication with
+the world at large was practically suspended. The captain brought him
+down into the saloon to tell us all about it. The news was so startling
+that at first we thought the pilot was joking, but when he produced the
+metropolitan journals to verify his statements, we listened to the
+reading and what he had to say with profound astonishment. The second
+week in March, 1888, will be memorable in the history of storms in the
+vicinity of New York. The snow was ten feet deep in some places, and the
+side streets impassable either for carriages or sleighs. I hoped the
+city would be looking its best, for the first impression on my foreign
+friends, but it never looked worse, with huge piles of snow everywhere
+covered with black dust.
+
+I started for Washington at three o'clock, the day after our arrival,
+reached there at ten o'clock, and found my beloved friends, Miss Anthony
+and Mrs. Spofford, with open arms and warm hearts to receive me. As the
+vessel was delayed two days, our friends naturally thought we, too, had
+encountered a blizzard, but we had felt nothing of it; on the contrary
+the last days were the most pleasant of the voyage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN.
+
+
+Pursuant to the idea of the feasibility and need of an International
+Council of Women, mentioned in a preceding chapter, it was decided to
+celebrate the fourth decade of the woman suffrage movement in the United
+States by calling together such a council. At its nineteenth annual
+convention, held in January, 1887, the National Woman Suffrage
+Association resolved to assume the entire responsibility of holding a
+council, and to extend an invitation, for that purpose, to all
+associations of women in the trades, professions, and reforms, as well
+as those advocating political rights. Early in June, 1887, a call was
+issued for such a council to convene under the auspices of the National
+Woman Suffrage Association at Washington, D. C, on March 25, 1888. The
+grand assemblage of women, coming from all the countries of the
+civilized globe, proved that the call for such a council was opportune,
+while the order and dignity of the proceedings proved the women worthy
+the occasion. No one doubts now the wisdom of that initiative step nor
+the added power women have gained over popular thought through the
+International Council.
+
+As the proceedings of the contention were fully and graphically reported
+in the _Woman's Tribune_ at that time, and as its reports were afterward
+published in book form, revised and corrected by Miss Anthony, Miss
+Foster, and myself, I will merely say that our most sanguine
+expectations as to its success were more than realized. The large
+theater was crowded for an entire week, and hosts of able women spoke,
+as if specially inspired, on all the vital questions of the hour.
+Although the council was called and conducted by the suffrage
+association, yet various other societies were represented. Miss Anthony
+was the financier of the occasion and raised twelve thousand dollars for
+the purpose, which enabled her to pay all the expenses of the delegates
+in Washington, and for printing the report in book form. As soon as I
+reached Washington, Miss Anthony ordered me to remain conscientiously in
+my own apartment and to prepare a speech for delivery before the
+committees of the Senate and House, and another, as President, for the
+opening of the council. However, as Mrs. Spofford placed her carriage at
+our service, I was permitted to drive an hour or two every day about
+that magnificent city.
+
+One of the best speeches at the council was made by Helen H. Gardener.
+It was a criticism of Dr. Hammond's position in regard to the inferior
+size and quality of woman's brain. As the doctor had never had the
+opportunity of examining the brains of the most distinguished women,
+and, probably, those only of paupers and criminals, she felt he had no
+data on which to base his conclusions. Moreover, she had the written
+opinion of several leading physicians, that it was quite impossible to
+distinguish the male from the female brain.
+
+The hearing at the Capitol, after the meeting of the council, was very
+interesting, as all the foreign delegates were invited to speak each in
+the language of her own country; to address their alleged
+representatives in the halls of legislation was a privilege they had
+never enjoyed at home. It is very remarkable that English women have
+never made the demand for a hearing in the House of Commons, nor even
+for a decent place to sit, where they can hear the debates and see the
+fine proportions of the representatives. The delegates had several
+brilliant receptions at the Riggs House, and at the houses of Senator
+Stanford of California and Senator Palmer of Michigan. Miss Anthony and
+I spent two months in Washington, that winter. One of the great
+pleasures of our annual conventions was the reunion of our friends at
+the Riggs House, where we enjoyed the boundless hospitality of Mr. and
+Mrs. Spofford.
+
+The month of June I spent in New York city, where I attended several of
+Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll's receptions and saw the great orator and
+iconoclast at his own fireside, surrounded by his admirers, and heard
+his beautiful daughters sing, which gave all who listened great
+pleasure, as they have remarkably fine voices. One has since married,
+and is now pouring out her richest melodies in the opera of lullaby in
+her own nursery.
+
+In the fall of 1888, as Ohio was about to hold a Constitutional
+convention, at the request of the suffrage association I wrote an appeal
+to the women of the State to demand their right to vote for delegates to
+such convention. Mrs. Southworth had five thousand copies of my appeal
+published and distributed at the exposition in Columbus. If ten
+righteous men could save Sodom, all the brilliant women I met in
+Cleveland should have saved Ohio from masculine domination.
+
+The winter of 1888-89 I was to spend with my daughter in Omaha. I
+reached there in time to witness the celebration of the completion of
+the first bridge between that city and Council Bluffs. There was a grand
+procession in which all the industries of both towns were represented,
+and which occupied six hours in passing. We had a desirable position for
+reviewing the pageant, and very pleasant company to interpret the
+mottoes, symbols, and banners. The bridge practically brings the towns
+together, as electric street cars now run from one to the other in ten
+minutes. Here, for the first time, I saw the cable cars running up hill
+and down without any visible means of locomotion.
+
+As the company ran an open car all winter, I took my daily ride of nine
+miles in it for fifteen cents. My son Daniel, who escorted me, always
+sat inside the car, while I remained on an outside seat. He was greatly
+amused with the remarks he heard about that "queer old lady that always
+rode outside in all kinds of wintry weather." One day someone remarked
+loud enough for all to hear: "It is evident that woman does not know
+enough to come in when it rains." "Bless me!" said the conductor, who
+knew me, "that woman knows as much as the Queen of England; too much to
+come in here by a hot stove." How little we understand the comparative
+position of those whom we often criticise. There I sat enjoying the
+bracing air, the pure fresh breezes, indifferent to the fate of an old
+cloak and hood that had crossed the Atlantic and been saturated with
+salt water many times, pitying the women inside breathing air laden with
+microbes that dozens of people had been throwing off from time to time,
+sacrificing themselves to their stylish bonnets, cloaks, and dresses,
+suffering with the heat of the red-hot stove; and yet they, in turn,
+pitying me.
+
+My seventy-third birthday I spent with my son Gerrit Smith Stanton, on
+his farm near Portsmouth, Iowa. As we had not met in several years, it
+took us a long time, in the network of life, to pick up all the stitches
+that had dropped since we parted. I amused myself darning stockings and
+drawing plans for an addition to his house. But in the spring my son and
+his wife came to the conclusion that they had had enough of the solitude
+of farm life and turned their faces eastward.
+
+Soon after my return to Omaha, the editor of the _Woman's Tribune_, Mrs.
+Clara B. Colby, called and lunched with us one day. She announced the
+coming State convention, at which I was expected "to make the best
+speech of my life." She had all the arrangements to make, and invited me
+to drive round with her, in order that she might talk by the way. She
+engaged the Opera House, made arrangements at the Paxton House for a
+reception, called on all her faithful coadjutors to arouse enthusiasm in
+the work, and climbed up to the sanctums of the editors,--Democratic and
+Republican alike,--asking them to advertise the convention and to say a
+kind word for our oppressed class in our struggle for emancipation. They
+all promised favorable notices and comments, and they kept their
+promises. Mrs. Colby, being president of the Nebraska Suffrage
+Association, opened the meeting with an able speech, and presided
+throughout with tact and dignity.
+
+I came very near meeting with an unfortunate experience at this
+convention. The lady who escorted me in her carriage to the Opera House
+carried the manuscript of my speech, which I did not miss until it was
+nearly time to speak, when I told a lady who sat by my side that our
+friend had forgotten to give me my manuscript. She went at once to her
+and asked for it. She remembered taking it, but what she had done with
+it she did not know. It was suggested that she might have dropped it in
+alighting from the carriage. And lo! they found it lying in the gutter.
+As the ground was frozen hard it was not even soiled. When I learned of
+my narrow escape, I trembled, for I had not prepared any train of
+thought for extemporaneous use. I should have been obliged to talk when
+my turn came, and if inspired by the audience or the good angels, might
+have done well, or might have failed utterly. The moral of this episode
+is, hold on to your manuscript.
+
+Owing to the illness of my son-in-law, Frank E. Lawrence, he and my
+daughter went to California to see if the balmy air of San Diego would
+restore his health, and so we gave up housekeeping in Omaha, and, on
+April 20, 1889, in company with my eldest son I returned East and spent
+the summer at Hempstead, Long Island, with my son Gerrit and his wife.
+
+We found Hempstead a quiet, old Dutch town, undisturbed by progressive
+ideas. Here I made the acquaintance of Chauncey C. Parsons and wife,
+formerly of Boston, who were liberal in their ideas on most questions.
+Mrs. Parsons and I attended one of the Seidl club meetings at Coney
+Island, where Seidl was then giving some popular concerts. The club was
+composed of two hundred women, to whom I spoke for an hour in the dining
+room of the hotel. With the magnificent ocean views, the grand concerts,
+and the beautiful women, I passed two very charming days by the seaside.
+
+My son Henry had given me a phaeton, low and easy as a cradle, and I
+enjoyed many drives about Long Island. We went to Bryant's home on the
+north side, several times, and in imagination I saw the old poet in the
+various shady nooks, inditing his lines of love and praise of nature in
+all her varying moods. Walking among the many colored, rustling leaves
+in the dark days of November, I could easily enter into his thought as
+he penned these lines:
+
+    "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
+    Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear.
+    Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
+    They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread."
+
+In September, 1889, my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, came East to
+attend a school of physical culture, and my other daughter, Mrs. Stanton
+Blatch, came from England to enjoy one of our bracing winters.
+Unfortunately we had rain instead of snow, and fogs instead of frost.
+However, we had a pleasant reunion at Hempstead. After a few days in and
+about New York visiting friends, we went to Geneva and spent several
+weeks in the home of my cousin, the daughter of Gerrit Smith.
+
+She and I have been most faithful, devoted friends all our lives, and
+regular correspondents for more than fifty years. In the family circle
+we are ofttimes referred to as "Julius" and "Johnson." These euphonious
+names originated in this way: When the Christy Minstrels first appeared,
+we went one evening to hear them. On returning home we amused our
+seniors with, as they said, a capital rehearsal. The wit and philosopher
+of the occasion were called, respectively, Julius and Johnson; so we
+took their parts and reproduced all the bright, humorous remarks they
+made. The next morning as we appeared at the breakfast table, Cousin
+Gerrit Smith, in his deep, rich voice said: "Good-morning, Julius and
+Johnson," and he kept it up the few days we were in Albany together. One
+after another our relatives adopted the pseudonyms, and Mrs. Miller has
+been "Julius" and I "Johnson" ever since.
+
+From Geneva we went to Buffalo, but, as I had a bad cold and a general
+feeling of depression, I decided to go to the Dansville Sanatorium and
+see what Doctors James and Kate Jackson could do for me. I was there six
+weeks and tried all the rubbings, pinchings, steamings; the Swedish
+movements of the arms, hands, legs, feet; dieting, massage, electricity,
+and, though I succeeded in throwing off only five pounds of flesh, yet I
+felt like a new being. It is a charming place to be in--the home is
+pleasantly situated and the scenery very fine. The physicians are all
+genial, and a cheerful atmosphere pervades the whole establishment.
+
+As Christmas was at hand, the women were all half crazy about presents,
+and while good Doctors James and Kate were doing all in their power to
+cure the nervous affections of their patients, they would thwart the
+treatment by sitting in the parlor with the thermometer at seventy-two
+degrees, embroidering all kinds of fancy patterns,--some on muslin, some
+on satin, and some with colored worsteds on canvas,--inhaling the
+poisonous dyes, straining the optic nerves, counting threads and
+stitches, hour after hour, until utterly exhausted. I spoke to one poor
+victim of the fallacy of Christmas presents, and of her injuring her
+health in such useless employment. "What can I do?" she replied, "I must
+make presents and cannot afford to buy them." "Do you think," said I,
+"any of your friends would enjoy a present you made at the risk of your
+health? I do not think there is any 'must' in the matter. I never feel
+that I must give presents, and never want any, especially from those who
+make some sacrifice to give them." This whole custom of presents at
+Christmas, New Year's, and at weddings has come to be a bore, a piece of
+hypocrisy leading to no end of unhappiness. I do not know a more pitiful
+sight than to see a woman tatting, knitting, embroidering--working cats
+on the toe of some slipper, or tulips on an apron. The amount of nervous
+force that is expended in this way is enough to make angels weep. The
+necessary stitches to be taken in every household are quite enough
+without adding fancy work.
+
+From Dansville my daughters and I went on to Washington to celebrate the
+seventieth birthday of Miss Anthony, who has always been to them as a
+second mother. Mrs. Blatch made a speech at the celebration, and Mrs.
+Lawrence gave a recitation. First came a grand supper at the Riggs
+House. The dining room was beautifully decorated; in fact, Mr. and Mrs.
+Spofford spared no pains to make the occasion one long to be remembered.
+May Wright Sewall was the mistress of ceremonies. She read the toasts
+and called on the different speakers. Phoebe Couzins, Rev. Anna Shaw,
+Isabella Beecher Hooker, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Clara B. Colby, Senator
+Blair of New Hampshire, and many others responded. I am ashamed to say
+that we kept up the festivities till after two o'clock. Miss Anthony,
+dressed in dark velvet and point lace, spoke at the close with great
+pathos. Those of us who were there will not soon forget February 15,
+1890.
+
+After speaking before committees of the Senate and House, I gave the
+opening address at the annual convention. Mrs. Stanton Blatch spoke a
+few minutes on the suffrage movement in England, after which we hurried
+off to New York, and went on board the _Aller_, one of the North German
+Lloyd steamers, bound for Southampton. At the ship we found Captain
+Milinowski and his wife and two of my sons waiting our arrival. As we
+had eighteen pieces of baggage it took Mrs. Blatch some time to review
+them. My phaeton, which we decided to take, filled six boxes. An easy
+carriage for two persons is not common in England. The dogcarts prevail,
+the most uncomfortable vehicles one can possibly use. Why some of our
+Americans drive in those uncomfortable carts is a question. I think it
+is because they are "so English." The only reason the English use them
+is because they are cheap. The tax on two wheels is one-half what it is
+on four, and in England all carriages are taxed. Before we Americans
+adopt fashions because they are English, we had better find out the
+_raison d'etre_ for their existence.
+
+We had a very pleasant, smooth voyage, unusually so for blustering
+February and March. As I dislike close staterooms, I remained in the
+ladies' saloon night and day, sleeping on a sofa. After a passage of
+eleven days we landed at Southampton, March 2, 1890. It was a beautiful
+moonlight night and we had a pleasant ride on the little tug to the
+wharf. We reached Basingstoke at eleven o'clock, found the family well
+and all things in order.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+MY LAST VISIT TO ENGLAND.
+
+
+As soon as we got our carriage put together Hattie and I drove out every
+day, as the roads in England are in fine condition all the year round.
+We had lovely weather during the spring, but the summer was wet and
+cold. With reading, writing, going up to London, and receiving visitors,
+the months flew by without our accomplishing half the work we proposed.
+
+As my daughter was a member of the Albemarle Club, we invited several
+friends to dine with us there at different times. There we had a long
+talk with Mr. Stead, the editor of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, on his
+position in regard to Russian affairs, "The Deceased Wife's Sister
+Bill," and the divorce laws of England. Mr. Stead is a fluent talker as
+well as a good writer. He is the leader of the social purity movement in
+England. The wisdom of his course toward Sir Charles Dilke and Mr.
+Parnell was questioned by many; but there is a touch of the religious
+fanatic in Mr. Stead, as in many of his followers.
+
+There were several problems in social ethics that deeply stirred the
+English people in the year of our Lord 1890. One was Charles Stewart
+Parnell's platonic friendship with Mrs. O'Shea, and the other was the
+Lord Chancellor's decision in the case of Mrs. Jackson. The pulpit, the
+press, and the people vied with each other in trying to dethrone Mr.
+Parnell as the great Irish leader, but the united forces did not succeed
+in destroying his self-respect, nor in hounding him out of the British
+Parliament, though, after a brave and protracted resistance on his part,
+they did succeed in hounding him into the grave.
+
+It was pitiful to see the Irish themselves, misled by a hypocritical
+popular sentiment in England, turn against their great leader, the only
+one they had had for half a century who was able to keep the Irish
+question uppermost in the House of Commons year after year. The course
+of events since his death has proved the truth of what he told them, to
+wit: that there was no sincerity in the interest English politicians
+manifested in the question of Home Rule, and that the debates on that
+point would cease as soon as it was no longer forced on their
+consideration. And now when they have succeeded in killing their leader,
+they begin to realize their loss. The question evolved through the
+ferment of social opinions was concisely stated, thus: "Can a man be a
+great leader, a statesman, a general, an admiral, a learned chief
+justice, a trusted lawyer, or skillful physician, if he has ever broken
+the Seventh Commandment?"
+
+I expressed my opinion in the _Westminster Review_, at the time, in the
+affirmative. Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Ellen Battelle Dietrick of Boston,
+Kate Field, in her _Washington_, agreed with me. Many other women spoke
+out promptly in the negative, and with a bitterness against those who
+took the opposite view that was lamentable.
+
+The Jackson case was a profitable study, as it brought out other
+questions of social ethics, as well as points of law which were ably
+settled by the Lord Chancellor. It seems that immediately after Mr. and
+Mrs. Jackson were married, the groom was compelled to go to Australia.
+After two years he returned and claimed his bride, but in the interval
+she felt a growing aversion and determined not to live with him. As she
+would not even see him, with the assistance of friends he kidnaped her
+one day as she was coming out of church, and carried her to his home,
+where he kept her under surveillance until her friends, with a writ of
+_habeas corpus_, compelled him to bring her into court. The popular idea
+"based on the common law of England," was, that the husband had this
+absolute right. The lower court, in harmony with this idea, maintained
+the husband's right, and remanded her to his keeping, but the friends
+appealed to the higher court and the Lord Chancellor reversed the
+decision.
+
+With regard to the right so frequently claimed, giving husbands the
+power to seize, imprison, and chastise their wives, he said: "I am of
+the opinion that no such right exists in law. I am of the opinion that
+no such right ever did exist in law. I say that no English subject has
+the right to imprison another English subject, whether his wife or not."
+Through this decision the wife walked out of the court a free woman. The
+passage of the Married Women's Property Bill in England in 1882 was the
+first blow at the old idea of coverture, giving to wives their rights of
+property, the full benefit of which they are yet to realize when
+clearer-minded men administer the laws. The decision of the Lord
+Chancellor, rendered March 18, 1891, declaratory of the personal rights
+of married women, is a still more important blow by just so much as the
+rights of person are more sacred than the rights of property.
+
+One hundred years ago, Lord Chief Justice Mansfield gave his famous
+decision in the Somerset case, "That no slave could breathe on British
+soil," and the slave walked out of court a free man. The decision of the
+Lord Chancellor, in the Jackson case, is far more important, more
+momentous in its consequences, as it affects not only one race but
+one-half of the entire human family. From every point of view this is
+the greatest legal decision of the century. Like the great Chief Justice
+of the last century, the Lord Chancellor, with a clearer vision than
+those about him, rises into a purer atmosphere of thought, and
+vindicates the eternal principles of justice and the dignity of British
+law, by declaring all statutes that make wives the bond slaves of their
+husbands, obsolete.
+
+How long will it be in our Republic before some man will arise, great
+enough to so interpret our National Constitution as to declare that
+women, as citizens of the United States, cannot be governed by laws in
+the making of which they have no part? It is not Constitutional
+amendments nor statute laws we need, but judges on the bench of our
+Supreme Court, who, in deciding great questions of human rights, shall
+be governed by the broad principles of justice rather than precedent.
+One interesting feature in the trial of the Jackson case, was that both
+Lady Coleridge and the wife of the Lord Chancellor were seated on the
+bench, and evidently much pleased with the decision.
+
+It is difficult to account for the fact that, while women of the highest
+classes in England take the deepest interest in politics and court
+decisions, American women of wealth and position are wholly indifferent
+to all public matters. While English women take an active part in
+elections, holding meetings and canvassing their districts, here, even
+the wives of judges, governors, and senators speak with bated breath of
+political movements, and seem to feel that a knowledge of laws and
+constitutions would hopelessly unsex them.
+
+Toward the last of April, with my little granddaughter and her nurse, I
+went down to Bournemouth, one of the most charming watering places in
+England. We had rooms in the Cliff House with windows opening on the
+balcony, where we had a grand view of the bay and could hear the waves
+dashing on the shore. While Nora, with her spade and pail, played all
+day in the sands, digging trenches and filling them with water, I sat on
+the balcony reading "Diana of the Crossways," and Bjornson's last novel,
+"In God's Way," both deeply interesting. As all the characters in the
+latter come to a sad end, I could not see the significance of the title.
+If they walked in God's way their career should have been successful.
+
+I took my first airing along the beach in an invalid chair. These bath
+chairs are a great feature in all the watering places of England. They
+are drawn by a man or a donkey. The first day I took a man, an old
+sailor, who talked incessantly of his adventures, stopping to rest every
+five minutes, dissipating all my pleasant reveries, and making an
+unendurable bore of himself. The next day I told the proprietor to get
+me a man who would not talk all the time. The man he supplied jogged
+along in absolute silence; he would not even answer my questions.
+Supposing he had his orders to keep profound silence, after one or two
+attempts I said nothing. When I returned home, the proprietor asked me
+how I liked this man. "Ah!" I said, "he was indeed silent and would not
+even answer a question nor go anywhere I told him; still I liked him
+better than the talkative man." He laughed heartily and said: "This man
+is deaf and dumb. I thought I would make sure that you should not be
+bored." I joined in the laugh and said: "Well, to-morrow get me a man
+who can hear but cannot speak, if you can find one constructed on that
+plan."
+
+Bournemouth is noteworthy now as the burial place of Mary Wolstonecraft
+and the Shelleys. I went to see the monument that had been recently
+reared to their memory. On one side is the following inscription:
+"William Godwin, author of 'Political Justice,' born March 3rd, 1756,
+died April 7th, 1836. Mary Wolstonecraft Godwin, author of the
+'Vindication of the Rights of Women,' born April 27th, 1759, died
+September 10th, 1797." These remains were brought here, in 1851, from
+the churchyard of St. Pancras, London. On the other side are the
+following inscriptions: "Mary Wolstonecraft Godwin, daughter of William
+Godwin and widow of the late Percy Bysshe Shelley, born August 30th,
+1797, died February 1st, 1851. Percy Florence Shelley, son of Percy
+Shelley and Mary Wolstonecraft, third baronet, born November 12th, 1819,
+died December 5th, 1889. "In Christ's Church, six miles from
+Bournemouth, is a bas-relief in memory of the great poet. He is
+represented, dripping with seaweed, in the arms of the Angel of Death.
+
+As I sat on my balcony hour after hour, reading and thinking of the
+Shelleys, watching the changing hues of the clouds and the beautiful
+bay, and listening to the sad monotone of the waves, these sweet lines
+of Whittier's came to my mind:
+
+    "Its waves are kneeling on the strand,
+     As kneels the human knee,--
+    Their white locks bowing to the sand,
+     The priesthood of the sea!
+
+    "The blue sky is the temple's arch,
+     Its transept earth and air,
+    The music of its starry march
+     The chorus of a prayer."
+
+American letters, during this sojourn abroad, told of many losses, one
+after another, from our family circle; nine passed away within two
+years. The last was my sister Mrs. Bayard, who died in May, 1891. She
+was the oldest of our family, and had always been a second mother to her
+younger sisters, and her house our second home.
+
+The last of June my son Theodore's wife and daughter came over from
+France to spend a month with us. Lisette and Nora, about the same size,
+played and quarreled most amusingly together. They spent their mornings
+in the kindergarten school, and the afternoons with their pony, but
+rainy days I was impressed into their service to dress dolls and tell
+stories. I had the satisfaction to hear them say that their dolls were
+never so prettily dressed before, and that my stories were better than
+any in the books. As I composed the wonderful yarns as I went along, I
+used to get very tired, and sometimes, when I heard the little feet
+coming, I would hide, but they would hunt until they found me. When my
+youngest son was ten years old and could read for himself, I graduated
+in story telling, having practiced in that line twenty-one years. I
+vowed that I would expend no more breath in that direction, but the
+eager face of a child asking for stories is too much for me, and my vow
+has been often broken. All the time I was in England Nora claimed the
+twilight hour, and, in France, Lisette was equally pertinacious. When
+Victor Hugo grew tired telling his grandchildren stories, he would wind
+up with the story of an old gentleman who, after a few interesting
+experiences, took up his evening paper and began to read aloud. The
+children would listen a few moments and then, one by one, slip out of
+the room. Longfellow's old gentleman, after many exciting scenes in his
+career, usually stretched himself on the lounge and feigned sleep. But
+grandmothers are not allowed to shelter themselves with such devices;
+they are required to spin on until the bedtime really arrives.
+
+On July 16, one of the hottest days of the season, Mrs. Jacob Bright and
+daughter, Herbert Burroughs, and Mrs. Parkhurst came down from London,
+and we sat out of doors, taking our luncheon under the trees and
+discussing theosophy. Later in the month Hattie and I went to Yorkshire
+to visit Mr. and Mrs. Scatcherd at Morley Hall, and there spent several
+days. We had a prolonged discussion on personal rights. One side was
+against all governmental interference, such as compulsory education and
+the protection of children against cruel parents; the other side in
+favor of state interference that protected the individual in the
+enjoyment of life, liberty, and happiness. I took the latter position.
+Many parents are not fit to have the control of children, hence the
+State should see that they are sheltered, fed, clothed, and educated. It
+is far better for the State to make good citizens of its children in
+the beginning, than, in the end, to be compelled to care for them as
+criminals.
+
+While in the north of England we spent a few days at Howard Castle, the
+summer residence of Lord and Lady Carlisle and their ten children. So
+large a family in high life is unusual. As I had known Lord and Lady
+Amberley in America, when they visited this country in 1867, I enjoyed
+meeting other members of their family. Lady Carlisle is in favor of
+woman suffrage and frequently speaks in public. She is a woman of great
+force of character, and of very generous impulses. She is trying to do
+her duty in sharing the good things of life with the needy. The poor for
+miles round often have picnics in her park, and large numbers of
+children from manufacturing towns spend weeks with her cottage tenants
+at her expense. Lord Carlisle is an artist and a student. As he has a
+poetical temperament and is aesthetic in all his tastes, Lady Carlisle
+is the business manager of the estate. She is a practical woman with
+immense executive ability. The castle with its spacious dining hall and
+drawing rooms, with its chapel, library, galleries of paintings and
+statuary, its fine outlook, extensive gardens and lawns was well worth
+seeing. We enjoyed our visit very much and discussed every imaginable
+subject.
+
+When we returned to Basingstoke we had a visit from Mrs. Cobb, the wife
+of a member of Parliament, and sister-in-law of Karl Pearson, whose
+lectures on woman I had enjoyed so much. It was through reading his
+work, "The Ethic of Free Thought," that the Matriarchate made such a
+deep impression on my mind and moved me to write a tract on the subject.
+People who have neither read nor thought on this point, question the
+facts as stated by Bachofen, Morgan, and Wilkeson; but their truth, I
+think, cannot be questioned. They seem so natural in the chain of
+reasoning and the progress of human development. Mrs. Cobb did a very
+good thing a few days before visiting us. At a great meeting called to
+promote Mr. Cobb's election, John Morley spoke. He did not even say
+"Ladies and gentlemen" in starting, nor make the slightest reference to
+the existence of such beings as women. When he had finished, Mrs. Cobb
+arose mid great cheering and criticised his speech, making some
+quotations from his former speeches of a very liberal nature. The
+audience laughed and cheered, fully enjoying the rebuke. The next day in
+his speech he remembered his countrywomen, and on rising said, "Ladies
+and gentlemen."
+
+During August, 1891, I was busy getting ready for my voyage, as I was to
+sail on the _Ems_ on August 23. Although I had crossed the ocean six
+times in the prior ten years I dreaded the voyage more than words can
+describe. The last days were filled with sadness, in parting with those
+so dear to me in foreign countries--especially those curly-headed little
+girls, so bright, so pretty, so winning in all their ways. Hattie and
+Theodore went with me from Southampton in the little tug to the great
+ship _Ems_. It was very hard for us to say the last farewell, but we all
+tried to be as brave as possible.
+
+We had a rough voyage, but I was not seasick one moment. I was up and
+dressed early in the morning, and on deck whenever the weather
+permitted. I made many pleasant acquaintances with whom I played chess
+and whist; wrote letters to all my foreign friends, ready to mail on
+landing; read the "Egotist," by George Meredith, and Ibsen's plays as
+translated by my friend Frances Lord. I had my own private stewardess, a
+nice German woman who could speak English. She gave me most of my meals
+on deck or in the ladies' saloon, and at night she would open the
+porthole two or three times and air our stateroom; that made the nights
+endurable. The last evening before landing we got up an entertainment
+with songs, recitations, readings, and speeches. I was invited to
+preside and introduce the various performers. We reached Sandy Hook the
+evening of the 29th day of August and lay there all night, and the next
+morning we sailed up our beautiful harbor, brilliant with the rays of
+the rising sun.
+
+Being fortunate in having children in both hemispheres, here, too, I
+found a son and daughter waiting to welcome me to my native land. Our
+chief business for many weeks was searching for an inviting apartment
+where my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, my youngest son, Bob, and I
+could set up our family altar and sing our new psalm of life together.
+After much weary searching we found an apartment. Having always lived in
+a large house in the country, the quarters seemed rather contracted at
+first, but I soon realized the immense saving in labor and expense in
+having no more room than is absolutely necessary, and all on one floor.
+To be transported from the street to your apartment in an elevator in
+half a minute, to have all your food and fuel sent to your kitchen by an
+elevator in the rear, to have your rooms all warmed with no effort of
+your own, seemed like a realization of some fairy dream. With an
+extensive outlook of the heavens above, of the Park and the Boulevard
+beneath, I had a feeling of freedom, and with a short flight of stairs
+to the roof (an easy escape in case of fire), of safety, too.
+
+No sooner was I fully established in my eyrie, than I was summoned to
+Rochester, by my friend Miss Anthony, to fill an appointment she had
+made for me with Miss Adelaide Johnson, the artist from Washington, who
+was to idealize Miss Anthony and myself in marble for the World's Fair.
+I found my friend demurely seated in her mother's rocking-chair hemming
+table linen and towels for her new home, anon bargaining with butchers,
+bakers, and grocers, making cakes and puddings, talking with enthusiasm
+of palatable dishes and the beauties of various articles of furniture
+that different friends had presented her. All there was to remind one of
+the "Napoleon of the Suffrage Movement" was a large escritoire covered
+with documents in the usual state of confusion--Miss Anthony never could
+keep her papers in order. In search of any particular document she roots
+out every drawer and pigeon hole, although her mother's little spinning
+wheel stands right beside her desk, a constant reminder of all the
+domestic virtues of the good housewife, with whom "order" is of the
+utmost importance and "heaven's first law." The house was exquisitely
+clean and orderly, the food appetizing, the conversation pleasant and
+profitable, and the atmosphere genial.
+
+A room in an adjoining house was assigned to Miss Johnson and myself,
+where a strong pedestal and huge mass of clay greeted us. And there, for
+nearly a month, I watched the transformation of that clay into human
+proportions and expressions, until it gradually emerged with the
+familiar facial outlines ever so dear to one's self. Sitting there four
+or five hours every day I used to get very sleepy, so my artist
+arranged for a series of little naps. When she saw the crisis coming she
+would say: "I will work now for a time on the ear, the nose, or the
+hair, as you must be wide awake when I am trying to catch the
+expression." I rewarded her for her patience and indulgence by summoning
+up, when awake, the most intelligent and radiant expression that I could
+command. As Miss Johnson is a charming, cultured woman, with liberal
+ideas and brilliant in conversation, she readily drew out all that was
+best in me.
+
+Before I left Rochester, Miss Anthony and her sister Mary gave a
+reception to me at their house. As some of the professors and trustees
+of the Rochester University were there, the question of co-education was
+freely discussed, and the authorities urged to open the doors of the
+University to the daughters of the people. It was rather aggravating to
+contemplate those fine buildings and grounds, while every girl in that
+city must go abroad for higher education. The wife of President Hill of
+the University had just presented him with twins, a girl and a boy, and
+he facetiously remarked, "that if the Creator could risk placing sexes
+in such near relations, he thought they might with safety walk on the
+same campus and pursue the same curriculum together."
+
+Miss Anthony and I went to Geneva the next day to visit Mrs. Miller and
+to meet, by appointment, Mrs. Eliza Osborne, the niece of Lucretia Mott,
+and eldest daughter of Martha C. Wright. We anticipated a merry meeting,
+but Miss Anthony and I were so tired that we no doubt appeared stupid.
+In a letter to Mrs. Miller afterward, Mrs. Osborne inquired why I was
+"so solemn." As I pride myself on being impervious to fatigue or
+disease, I could not own up to any disability, so I turned the tables on
+her in the following letter:
+
+     "New York, 26 West 61st Street,
+
+     November 12, 1891.
+
+     "Dear Eliza:
+
+     "In a recent letter to Mrs. Miller, speaking of the time when we
+     last met, you say, 'Why was Mrs. Stanton so solemn?' to which I
+     reply: Ever since an old German emperor issued an edict, ordering
+     all the women under that flag to knit when walking on the highway,
+     when selling apples in the market place, when sitting in the parks,
+     because 'to keep women out of mischief their hands must be busy,'
+     ever since I read that, I have felt 'solemn' whenever I have seen
+     any daughters of our grand Republic knitting, tatting,
+     embroidering, or occupied with any of the ten thousand digital
+     absurdities that fill so large a place in the lives of Eve's
+     daughters.
+
+     "Looking forward to the scintillations of wit, the philosophical
+     researches, the historical traditions, the scientific discoveries,
+     the astronomical explorations, the mysteries of theosophy,
+     palmistry, mental science, the revelations of the unknown world
+     where angels and devils do congregate, looking forward to
+     discussions of all these grand themes, in meeting the eldest
+     daughter of David and Martha Wright, the niece of Lucretia Mott,
+     the sister-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison, a queenly-looking
+     woman five feet eight in height, and well proportioned, with
+     glorious black eyes, rivaling even De Stael's in power and pathos,
+     one can readily imagine the disappointment I experienced when such
+     a woman pulled a cotton wash rag from her pocket and forthwith
+     began to knit with bowed head. Fixing her eyes and concentrating
+     her thoughts on a rag one foot square; it was impossible for
+     conversation to rise above the wash-rag level! It was enough to
+     make the most aged optimist 'solemn' to see such a wreck of
+     glorious womanhood.
+
+     "And, still worse, she not only knit steadily, hour after hour, but
+     she bestowed the sweetest words of encouragement on a young girl
+     from the Pacific Coast, who was embroidering rosebuds on another
+     rag, the very girl I had endeavored to rescue from the maelstrom of
+     embroidery, by showing her the unspeakable folly of giving her
+     optic nerves to such base uses, when they were designed by the
+     Creator to explore the planetary world, with chart and compass to
+     guide mighty ships across the sea, to lead the sons of Adam with
+     divinest love from earth to heaven. Think of the great beseeching
+     optic nerves and muscles by which we express our admiration of all
+     that is good and glorious in earth and heaven, being concentrated
+     on a cotton wash rag! Who can wonder that I was 'solemn' that day!
+     I made my agonized protest on the spot, but it fell unheeded, and
+     with satisfied sneer Eliza knit on, and the young Californian
+     continued making the rosebuds. I gazed into space, and, when alone,
+     wept for my degenerate countrywoman. I not only was 'solemn' that
+     day, but I am profoundly 'solemn' whenever I think of that queenly
+     woman and that cotton wash rag. (One can buy a whole dozen of these
+     useful appliances, with red borders and fringed, for twenty-five
+     cents.) Oh, Eliza, I beseech you, knit no more!
+
+     "Affectionately yours,
+
+     "Elizabeth Cady Stanton."
+
+To this Mrs. Osborne sent the following reply:
+
+     "Dear Mrs. Stanton:
+
+     "In your skit
+    Against your sisterhood who knit,
+     Or useful make their fingers,
+    I wonder if--deny it not--
+    The habit of Lucretia Mott
+     Within your memory lingers!
+
+    "In retrospective vision bright,
+    Can you recall dear Martha Wright
+     Without her work or knitting?
+    The needles flying in her hands,
+    On washing rags or baby's bands,
+     Or other work as fitting?
+
+    "I cannot think they thought the less,
+    Or ceased the company to bless
+     With conversation's riches,
+    Because they thus improved their time,
+    And never deemed it was a crime
+     To fill the hours with stitches.
+
+    "They even used to preach and plan
+    To spread the fashion, so that man
+     Might have this satisfaction;
+    Instead of idling as men do,
+    With nervous meddling fingers too,
+     Why not mate talk with action?
+
+    "But as a daughter and a niece,
+    I pride myself on every piece
+     Of handiwork created;
+    While reveling in social chat,
+    Or listening to gossip flat,
+     My gain is unabated.
+
+    "That German emperor you scorn,
+    Seems to my mind a monarch born,
+     Worthy to lead a column;
+    I'll warrant he could talk and work,
+    And, neither being used to shirk,
+     Was rarely very solemn.
+
+    "I could say more upon this head,
+    But must, before I go to bed.
+     Your idle precepts mocking,
+    Get out my needle and my yarn
+    And, caring not a single darn.
+     Just finish up this stocking."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLASS OF 1832--THE WOMAN'S BIBLE.
+
+
+I returned from Geneva to New York city in time to celebrate my
+seventy-sixth birthday with my children. I had traveled about constantly
+for the last twenty years in France, England, and my own country, and
+had so many friends and correspondents, and pressing invitations to
+speak in clubs and conventions, that now I decided to turn over a new
+leaf and rest in an easy-chair. But so complete a change in one's life
+could not be easily accomplished. In spite of my resolution to abide in
+seclusion, my daughter and I were induced to join the Botta Club, which
+was to meet once a month, alternately, at the residences of Mrs. Moncure
+D. Conway and Mrs. Abby Sage Richardson. Though composed of ladies and
+gentlemen it proved dull and unprofitable. As the subject for discussion
+was not announced until each meeting, no one was prepared with any
+well-digested train of thought. It was also decided to avoid all
+questions about which there might be grave differences of opinion. This
+negative position reminded me of a book on etiquette which I read in my
+young days, in which gentlemen were warned, "In the presence of ladies
+discuss neither politics, religion, nor social duties, but confine
+yourself to art, poetry, and abstract questions which women cannot
+understand. The less they know of a subject the more respectfully they
+will listen." This club was named in honor of Mrs. Botta, formerly Miss
+Anne Lynch, whose drawing room for many years was the social center of
+the literati of New York.
+
+On January 16, 1892, we held the Annual Suffrage Convention in
+Washington, and, as usual, had a hearing before the Congressional
+Committee. My speech on the "Solitude of Self" was well received and was
+published in the Congressional Record. The _Woman's Tribune_ struck off
+many hundreds of copies and it was extensively circulated.
+
+Notwithstanding my determination to rest, I spoke to many clubs, wrote
+articles for papers and magazines, and two important leaflets, one on
+"Street Cleaning," another on "Opening the Chicago Exposition on
+Sunday." As Sunday was the only day the masses could visit that
+magnificent scene, with its great lake, extensive park, artificial
+canals, and beautiful buildings, I strongly advocated its being open on
+that day. One hundred thousand religious bigots petitioned Congress to
+make no appropriation for this magnificent Exposition, unless the
+managers pledged themselves to close the gates on Sunday, and hide this
+vision of beauty from the common people. Fortunately, this time a sense
+of justice outweighed religious bigotry. I sent my leaflets to every
+member of Congress and of the State legislatures, and to the managers of
+the Exposition, and made it a topic of conversation at every
+opportunity. The park and parts of the Exposition were kept open on
+Sunday, but some of the machinery was stopped as a concession to narrow
+Christian sects.
+
+In June, 1892, at the earnest solicitation of Mrs. Russell Sage, I
+attended the dedication of the Gurley Memorial Building, presented to
+the Emma Willard Seminary, at Troy, New York, and made the following
+address:
+
+     "MRS. PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNAE:
+
+     "It is just sixty years since the class of '32, to which I
+     belonged, celebrated a commencement in this same room. This was the
+     great event of the season to many families throughout this State.
+     Parents came from all quarters; the _elite_ of Troy and Albany
+     assembled here. Principals from other schools, distinguished
+     legislators, and clergymen all came to hear girls scan Latin verse,
+     solve problems in Euclid, and read their own compositions in a
+     promiscuous assemblage. A long line of teachers anxiously waited
+     the calling of their classes, and over all, our queenly Madame
+     Willard presided with royal grace and dignity. Two hundred girls in
+     gala attire, white dresses, bright sashes, and coral ornaments,
+     with their curly hair, rosy cheeks, and sparkling eyes, flitted to
+     and fro, some rejoicing that they had passed through their ordeal,
+     some still on the tiptoe of expectation, some laughing, some in
+     tears--altogether a most beautiful and interesting picture.
+
+     "Conservatives then, as now, thought the result of the higher
+     education of girls would be to destroy their delicacy and
+     refinement. But as the graduates of the Troy Seminary were never
+     distinguished in after life for the lack of these feminine virtues,
+     the most timid, even, gradually accepted the situation and trusted
+     their daughters with Mrs. Willard. But that noble woman endured for
+     a long period the same ridicule and persecution that women now do
+     who take an onward step in the march of progress.
+
+     "I see around me none of the familiar faces that greeted my coming
+     or said farewell in parting. I do not know that one of my
+     classmates still lives. Friendship with those I knew and loved best
+     lasted but a few years, then our ways in life parted. I should not
+     know where to find one now, and if I did, probably our ideas would
+     differ on every subject, as I have wandered in latitudes beyond the
+     prescribed sphere of women. I suppose it is much the same with many
+     of you--the familiar faces are all gone, gone to the land of
+     shadows, and I hope of sunshine too, where we in turn will soon
+     follow. "And yet, though we who are left are strangers to one
+     another, we have the same memories of the past, of the same type of
+     mischievous girls and staid teachers, though with different names.
+     The same long, bare halls and stairs, the recitation rooms with the
+     same old blackboards and lumps of chalk taken for generation after
+     generation, I suppose, from the same pit; the dining room, with its
+     pillars inconveniently near some of the tables, with its thick,
+     white crockery and black-handled knives, and viands that never
+     suited us, because, forsooth, we had boxes of delicacies from home,
+     or we had been out to the baker's or confectioner's and bought pies
+     and cocoanut cakes, candy and chewing gum, all forbidden, but that
+     added to the relish. There, too, were the music rooms, with their
+     old, second-hand pianos, some with rattling keys and tinny sound,
+     on which we were supposed to play our scales and exercises for an
+     hour, though we often slyly indulged in the 'Russian March,'
+     'Napoleon Crossing the Rhine,' or our national airs, when, as
+     slyly, Mr. Powell, our music teacher, a bumptious Englishman, would
+     softly open the door and say in a stern voice, 'Please practice the
+     lesson I just gave you!'
+
+     "Our chief delight was to break the rules, but we did not like to
+     be caught at it. As we were forbidden to talk with our neighbors in
+     study hours, I frequently climbed on top of my bureau to talk
+     through a pipe hole with a daughter of Judge Howell of Canandaigua.
+     We often met afterward, laughed and talked over the old days, and
+     kept our friendship bright until the day of her death. Once while
+     rooming with Harriet Hudson, a sister of Mrs. John Willard, I was
+     moved to a very erratic performance. Miss Theresa Lee had rung the
+     bell for retiring, and had taken her rounds, as usual, to see that
+     the lights were out and all was still, when I peeped out of my
+     door, and seeing the bell at the head of the stairs nearby, I gave
+     it one kick and away it went rolling and ringing to the bottom. The
+     halls were instantly filled with teachers and scholars, all in
+     white robes, asking what was the matter. Harriet and I ran around
+     questioning the rest, and what a frolic we had, helter-skelter, up
+     and down stairs, in each other's rooms, pulling the beds to pieces,
+     changing girls' clothes from one room to another, etc., etc. The
+     hall lamps, dimly burning, gave us just light enough for all manner
+     of depredations without our being recognized, hence the unbounded
+     latitude we all felt for mischief. In our whole seminary
+     course--and I was there nearly three years--we never had such a
+     frolic as that night. It took all the teachers to restore order and
+     quiet us down again for the night. No suspicion of any
+     irregularities were ever attached to Harriet and myself. Our
+     standing for scholarship was good, hence we were supposed to
+     reflect all the moralities.
+
+     "Though strangers, we have a bond of union in all these memories,
+     of our bright companions, our good teachers, who took us through
+     the pitfalls of logic, rhetoric, philosophy, and the sciences, and
+     of the noble woman who founded the institution, and whose unselfish
+     devotion in the cause of education we are here to celebrate. The
+     name of Emma Willard is dear to all of us; to know her was to love
+     and venerate her. She was not only good and gifted, but she was a
+     beautiful woman. She had a finely developed figure, well-shaped
+     head, classic features, most genial manners, and a profound
+     self-respect (a rare quality in woman), that gave her a dignity
+     truly royal in every position. Traveling in the Old World she was
+     noticed everywhere as a distinguished personage. And all these
+     gifts she dedicated to the earnest purpose of her life, the higher
+     education of women.
+
+     "In opening this seminary she could not find young women capable of
+     teaching the higher branches, hence her first necessity was to
+     train herself. Amos B. Eaton, who was the principal of the
+     Rensselaer Polytechnic School for boys here in Troy, told me Mrs.
+     Willard studied with him every branch he was capable of teaching,
+     and trained a corps of teachers and regular scholars at the same
+     time. She took lessons of the Professor every evening when he had
+     leisure, and studied half the night the branches she was to teach
+     the next day, thus keeping ahead of her classes. Her intense
+     earnestness and mental grasp, the readiness with which she turned
+     from one subject to another, and her retentive memory of every rule
+     and fact he gave her, was a constant surprise to the Professor.
+
+     "All her vacation she devoted to training teachers. She was the
+     first to suggest the normal-school system. Remembering her deep
+     interest in the education of women, we can honor her in no more
+     worthy manner than to carry on her special lifework. As we look
+     around at all the educated women assembled here to-day and try to
+     estimate what each has done in her own sphere of action, the
+     schools founded, the teachers sent forth, the inspiration given to
+     girls in general, through the long chain of influences started by
+     our alma mater, we can form some light estimate of the momentous
+     and far-reaching consequences of Emma Willard's life. We have not
+     her difficulties to overcome, her trials to endure, but the
+     imperative duty is laid on each of us to finish the work she so
+     successfully began. Schools and colleges of a high order are now
+     everywhere open to women, public sentiment welcomes them to
+     whatever career they may desire, and our work is to help worthy
+     girls struggling for a higher education, by founding scholarships
+     in desirable institutions in every State in the Union. The most
+     fitting tribute we can pay to Emma Willard is to aid in the
+     production of a generation of thoroughly educated women.
+
+     "There are two kinds of scholarships, equally desirable; a
+     permanent one, where the interest of a fund from year to year will
+     support a succession of students, and a temporary one, to help some
+     worthy individual as she may require. Someone has suggested that
+     this association should help young girls in their primary
+     education. But as our public schools possess all the advantages for
+     a thorough education in the rudiments of learning and are free to
+     all, our scholarships should be bestowed on those whose ability and
+     earnestness in the primary department have been proved, and whose
+     capacity for a higher education is fully shown.
+
+     "This is the best work women of wealth can do, and I hope in the
+     future they will endow scholarships for their own sex instead of
+     giving millions of dollars to institutions for boys, as they have
+     done in the past. After all the bequests women have made to Harvard
+     see how niggardly that institution, in its 'annex,' treats their
+     daughters. I once asked a wealthy lady to give a few thousands of
+     dollars to start a medical college and hospital for women in New
+     York. She said before making bequests she always consulted her
+     minister and her Bible. He told her there was nothing said in the
+     Bible about colleges for women. I said, 'Tell him he is mistaken.
+     If he will turn to 2 'Chron. xxxiv. 22, he will find that when
+     Josiah, the king, sent the wise men to consult Huldah, the
+     prophetess, about the book of laws discovered in the temple, they
+     found Huldah in the college in Jerusalem, thoroughly well informed
+     on questions of state, while Shallum, her husband, was keeper of
+     the robes. I suppose his business was to sew on the royal buttons.'
+     But in spite of this Scriptural authority, the rich lady gave
+     thirty thousand dollars to Princeton and never one cent for the
+     education of her own sex.
+
+     "Of all the voices to which these walls have echoed for over half a
+     century, how few remain to tell the story of the early days, and
+     when we part, how few of us will ever meet again; but I know we
+     shall carry with us some new inspiration for the work that still
+     remains for us to do. Though many of us are old in years, we may
+     still be young in heart. Women trained to concentrate all their
+     thoughts on family life are apt to think--when their children are
+     grown up, their loved ones gone, their servants trained to keep the
+     domestic machinery in motion--that their work in life is done, that
+     no one needs now their thought and care, quite forgetting that the
+     hey-day of woman's life is on the shady side of fifty, when the
+     vital forces heretofore expended in other ways are garnered in the
+     brain, when their thoughts and sentiments flow out in broader
+     channels, when philanthropy takes the place of family selfishness,
+     and when from the depths of poverty and suffering the wail of
+     humanity grows as pathetic to their ears as once was the cry of
+     their own children.
+
+     "Or, perhaps, the pressing cares of family life ended, the woman
+     may awake to some slumbering genius in herself for art, science, or
+     literature, with which to gild the sunset of her life. Longfellow's
+     beautiful poem, 'Morituri Salutamus,' written for a similar
+     occasion to this, is full of hope and promise for all of us. He
+     says:
+
+    "'Something remains for us to do or dare;
+    Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear.
+    Cato learned Greek at eighty; Sophocles
+    Wrote his grand Oedipus, and Simonides
+    Bore off the prize of verse from his compeers,
+    When each had numbered more than four-score years.
+    And Theophrastus, at three-score and ten,
+    Had but begun his Characters of Men;
+    Chaucer, at Woodstock with the nightingales,
+    At sixty wrote the Canterbury Tales;
+    Goethe at Weimar, toiling to the last,
+    Completed Faust when eighty years were past.
+    These are indeed exceptions; but they show
+    How far the gulf-stream of our youth may flow
+    Into the Arctic regions of our lives,
+    Where little else than life itself survives.
+    For age is opportunity no less
+    Than youth itself, though in another dress,
+    And as the evening twilight fades away
+    The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.'"
+
+On December 21, 1892, we celebrated, for the first time, "Foremothers'
+Day." Men had celebrated "Forefathers' Day" for many years, but as women
+were never invited to join in their festivities, Mrs. Devereux Blake
+introduced the custom of women having a dinner in celebration of that
+day. Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker spent two days with me, and together
+we attended the feast and made speeches. This custom is now annually
+observed, and gentlemen sit in the gallery just as ladies had done on
+similar occasions.
+
+My son Theodore arrived from France in April, 1893, to attend the
+Chicago Exposition, and spent most of the summer with me at Glen Cove,
+Long Island, where my son Gerrit and his wife were domiciled. Here we
+read Captain Charles King's stories of life at military posts, Sanborn's
+"Biography of Bronson Alcott," and Lecky's "History of Rationalism."
+
+Here I visited Charles A. Dana, the Nestor of journalism, and his
+charming family. He lived on a beautiful island near Glen Cove. His
+refined, artistic taste, shown in his city residence in paintings,
+statuary, and rare bric-a-brac, collected in his frequent travels in the
+Old World, displayed itself in his island home in the arrangement of an
+endless variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers, through which you caught
+glimpses of the Sound and distant shores. One seldom meets so gifted a
+man as the late editor of the _Sun_. He was a scholar, speaking several
+languages; an able writer and orator, and a most genial companion in the
+social circle. His wife and daughter are cultivated women. The name of
+this daughter, Zoe Dana Underhill, often appears in our popular
+magazines as the author of short stories, remarkable for their vivid
+descriptions.
+
+I met Mr. Dana for the first time at the Brook Farm Community in 1843,
+in that brilliant circle of Boston transcendentalists, who hoped in a
+few years to transform our selfish, competitive civilization into a
+Paradise where all the altruistic virtues might make co-operation
+possible. But alas! the material at hand was not sufficiently plastic
+for that higher ideal. In due time the community dissolved and the
+members returned to their ancestral spheres. Margaret Fuller, who was a
+frequent visitor there, betook herself to matrimony in sunny Italy,
+William Henry Channing to the Church, Bronson Alcott to the education of
+the young, Frank Cabot to the world of work, Mr. and Mrs. Ripley to
+literature, and Charles A. Dana to the press. Mr. Dana was very
+fortunate in his family relations. His wife, Miss Eunice MacDaniel, and
+her relatives sympathized with him in all his most liberal opinions.
+During the summer at Glen Cove I had the pleasure of several long
+conversations with Miss Frances L. MacDaniel and her brother Osborne,
+whose wife is the sister of Mr. Dana, and who is now assisting Miss
+Prestona Mann in trying an experiment, similar to the one at Brook Farm,
+in the Adirondacks.
+
+Miss Anthony spent a week with us in Glen Cove. She came to stir me up
+to write papers for every Congress at the Exposition, which I did, and
+she read them in the different Congresses, adding her own strong words
+at the close. Mrs. Russell Sage also came and spent a day with us to
+urge me to write a paper to be read at Chicago at the Emma Willard
+Reunion, which I did. A few days afterward Theodore and I returned her
+visit. We enjoyed a few hours' conversation with Mr Sage, who had made
+a very generous gift of a building to the Emma Willard Seminary at
+Troy. This school was one of the first established (1820) for girls in
+our State, and received an appropriation from the New York legislature
+on the recommendation of the Governor, De Witt Clinton. Mr. Sage gave us
+a description that night of the time his office was blown up with
+dynamite thrown by a crank, and of his narrow escape. We found the great
+financier and his wife in an unpretending cottage with a fine outlook on
+the sea. Though possessed of great wealth they set a good example of
+simplicity and economy, which many extravagant people would do well to
+follow.
+
+Having visited the World's Exposition at Chicago and attended a course
+of lectures at Chautauqua, my daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, returned
+to the city, and as soon as our apartment was in order I joined her. She
+had recently been appointed Director of Physical Training at the
+Teachers' College in New York city. I attended several of her
+exhibitions and lectures, which were very interesting. She is doing her
+best to develop, with proper exercises and sanitary dress, a new type of
+womanhood.
+
+My time passed pleasantly these days with a drive in the Park and an
+hour in the land of Nod, also in reading Henry George's "Progress and
+Poverty," William Morris on industrial questions, Stevenson's novels,
+the "Heavenly Twins," and "Marcella," and at twilight, when I could not
+see to read and write, in playing and singing the old tunes and songs I
+loved in my youth. In the evening we played draughts and chess. I am
+fond of all games, also of music and novels, hence the days fly swiftly
+by; I am never lonely, life is ever very sweet to me and full of
+interest.
+
+The winter of 1893-94 was full of excitement, as the citizens of New
+York were to hold a Constitutional Convention. Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi
+endeavored to rouse a new class of men and women to action in favor of
+an amendment granting to women the right to vote. Appeals were sent
+throughout the State, gatherings were held in parlors, and enthusiastic
+meetings in Cooper Institute and at the Savoy Hotel. My daughter, Mrs.
+Stanton Blatch, who was visiting this country, took an active part in
+the canvass, and made an eloquent speech in Cooper Institute. Strange to
+say, some of the leading ladies formed a strong party against the
+proposed amendment and their own enfranchisement. They were called the
+"Antis." This opposing organization adopted the same plan for the
+campaign as those in favor of the amendment. They issued appeals,
+circulated petitions, and had hearings before the Convention.
+
+Mrs. Russell Sage, Mrs. Henry M. Sanders, Mrs. Edward Lauterbach, Mrs.
+Runkle, and some liberal clergymen did their uttermost to secure the
+insertion of the amendment in the proposed new constitution, but the
+Committee on Suffrage of the Constitutional Convention refused even to
+submit the proposed amendment to a vote of the people, though half a
+million of our most intelligent and respectable citizens had signed the
+petition requesting them to do so. Joseph H. Choate and Elihu Root did
+their uttermost to defeat the amendment, and succeeded.
+
+I spent the summer of 1894 with my son Gerrit, in his home at Thomaston,
+Long Island. Balzac's novels, and the "Life of Thomas Paine" by Moncure
+D. Conway, with the monthly magazines and daily papers, were my mental
+pabulum. My daughter, Mrs. Stanton Lawrence, returned from England in
+September, 1894, having had a pleasant visit with her sister in
+Basingstoke. In December Miss Anthony came, and we wrote the woman
+suffrage article for the new edition of Johnson's Cyclopedia.
+
+On March 3, 1895, Lady Somerset and Miss Frances Willard, on the eve of
+their departure for England, called to see me. We discussed my project
+of a "Woman's Bible." They consented to join a revising committee, but
+before the committee was organized they withdrew their names, fearing
+the work would be too radical. I especially desired to have the opinions
+of women from all sects, but those belonging to the orthodox churches
+declined to join the committee or express their views. Perhaps they
+feared their faith might be disturbed by the strong light of
+investigation. Some half dozen members of the Revising Committee began
+with me to write "Comments on the Pentateuch."
+
+The chief thought revolving in my mind during the years of 1894 and 1895
+had been "The Woman's Bible." In talking with friends I began to feel
+that I might realize my long-cherished plan. Accordingly, I began to
+read the commentators on the Bible and was surprised to see how little
+they had to say about the greatest factor in civilization, the mother of
+the race, and that little by no means complimentary. The more I read,
+the more keenly I felt the importance of convincing women that the
+Hebrew mythology had no special claim to a higher origin than that of
+the Greeks, being far less attractive in style and less refined in
+sentiment. Its objectionable features would long ago have been apparent
+had they not been glossed over with a faith in their divine inspiration.
+For several months I devoted all my time to Biblical criticism and
+ecclesiastical history, and found no explanation for the degraded status
+of women under all religions, and in all the so-called "Holy Books."
+
+When Part I. of "The Woman's Bible" was finally published in November,
+1895, it created a great sensation. Some of the New York city papers
+gave a page to its review, with pictures of the commentators, of its
+critics, and even of the book itself. The clergy denounced it as the
+work of Satan, though it really was the work of Ellen Battelle Dietrick,
+Lillie Devereux Blake, Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Clara Bewick Colby,
+Ursula N. Gestefeld, Louisa Southworth, Frances Ellen Burr, and myself.
+Extracts from it, and criticisms of the commentators, were printed in
+the newspapers throughout America, Great Britain, and Europe. A third
+edition was found necessary, and finally an edition was published in
+England. The Revising Committee was enlarged, and it now consists of
+over thirty of the leading women of America and Europe.[A]
+
+The month of August, 1895, we spent in Peterboro, on the grand hills of
+Madison County, nine hundred feet above the valley. Gerrit Smith's fine
+old mansion still stands, surrounded with magnificent trees, where I had
+played in childhood, chasing squirrels over lawn and gardens and wading
+in a modest stream that still creeps slowly round the grounds. I
+recalled as I sat on the piazza how one time, when Frederick Douglass
+came to spend a few days at Peterboro, some Southern visitors wrote a
+note to Mr. Smith asking if Mr. Douglass was to sit in the parlor and at
+the dining table; if so, during his visit they would remain in their
+own apartments. Mr. Smith replied that his visitors were always treated
+by his family as equals, and such would be the case with Mr. Douglass,
+who was considered one of the ablest men reared under "The Southern
+Institution." So these ladies had their meals in their own apartments,
+where they stayed most of the time, and, as Mr. Douglass prolonged his
+visit, they no doubt wished in their hearts that they had never taken
+that silly position. The rest of us walked about with him, arm in arm,
+played games, and sang songs together, he playing the accompaniment on
+the guitar. I suppose if our prejudiced countrywomen had been introduced
+to Dumas in a French salon, they would at once have donned their bonnets
+and ran away.
+
+Sitting alone under the trees I recalled the different generations that
+had passed away, all known to me. Here I had met the grandfather, Peter
+Sken Smith, partner of John Jacob Astor. In their bargains with the
+Indians they acquired immense tracts of land in the Northern part of the
+State of New York, which were the nucleus of their large fortunes. I
+have often heard Cousin Gerrit complain of the time he lost managing the
+estate. His son Greene was an enthusiast in the natural sciences and
+took but little interest in property matters. Later, his grandson,
+Gerrit Smith Miller, assumed the burden of managing the estate and, in
+addition, devoted himself to agriculture. He imported a fine breed of
+Holstein cattle, which have taken the first prize at several fairs. His
+son, bearing the same name, is devoted to the natural sciences, like his
+uncle Greene; whose fine collection of birds was presented by his widow
+to Harvard College.
+
+The only daughter of Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Smith Miller, is a
+remarkable woman, possessing many of the traits of her noble father. She
+has rare executive ability, as shown in the dispatch of her extensive
+correspondence and in the perfect order of her house and grounds. She
+has done much in the way of education, especially for the colored race,
+in helping to establish schools and in distributing literature. She
+subscribes for many of the best books, periodicals, and papers for
+friends not able to purchase for themselves. We cannot estimate the good
+she has done in this way. Every mail brings her letters from all
+classes, from charitable institutions, prisons, Southern plantations,
+army posts, and the far-off prairies. To all these pleas for help she
+gives a listening ear. Her charities are varied and boundless, and her
+hospitalities to the poor as well as the rich, courteous and generous.
+The refinement and artistic taste of the Southern mother and the heroic
+virtues of the father are happily blended in their daughter. In her
+beautiful home on Seneca Lake, one is always sure to meet some of the
+most charming representatives of the progressive thought of our times.
+Representatives of all these generations now rest in the cemetery at
+Peterboro, and as in review they passed before me they seemed to say,
+"Why linger you here alone so long?"
+
+My son Theodore arrived from Paris in September, 1895, and rendered most
+important service during the preparations for my birthday celebration,
+in answering letters, talking with reporters, and making valuable
+suggestions to the managers as to many details in the arrangements, and
+encouraging me to go through the ordeal with my usual heroism. I never
+felt so nervous in my life, and so unfitted for the part I was in duty
+bound to perform. From much speaking through many years my voice was
+hoarse, from a severe fall I was quite lame, and as standing, and
+distinct speaking are important to graceful oratory, I felt like the
+king's daughter in Shakespeare's play of "Titus Andronicus," when rude
+men who had cut her hands off and her tongue out, told her to call for
+water and wash her hands. However, I lived through the ordeal, as the
+reader will see in the next chapter.
+
+After my birthday celebration, the next occasion of deep interest to me
+was the Chicago Convention of 1896, the platform there adopted, and the
+nomination and brilliant campaign of William J. Bryan. I had long been
+revolving in my mind questions relating to the tariff and finance, and
+in the demands of liberal democrats, populists, socialists, and the
+laboring men and women, I heard the clarion notes of the coming
+revolution.
+
+During the winter of 1895-96 I was busy writing alternately on this
+autobiography and "The Woman's Bible," and articles for magazines and
+journals on every possible subject from Venezuela and Cuba to the
+bicycle. On the latter subject many timid souls were greatly distressed.
+Should women ride? What should they wear? What are "God's intentions"
+concerning them? Should they ride on Sunday? These questions were asked
+with all seriousness. We had a symposium on these points in one of the
+daily papers. To me the answer to all these questions was simple--if
+woman could ride, it was evidently "God's intention" that she be
+permitted to do so. As to what she should wear, she must decide what is
+best adapted to her comfort and convenience. Those who prefer a spin of
+a few hours on a good road in the open air to a close church and a dull
+sermon, surely have the right to choose, whether with trees and flowers
+and singing birds to worship in "That temple not made with hands,
+eternal in the heavens," or within four walls to sleep during the
+intonation of that melancholy service that relegates us all, without
+distinction of sex or color, to the ranks of "miserable sinners." Let
+each one do what seemeth right in her own eyes, provided she does not
+encroach on the rights of others.
+
+In May, 1896, I again went to Geneva and found the bicycle craze had
+reached there, with all its most pronounced symptoms; old and young,
+professors, clergymen, and ladies of fashion were all spinning merrily
+around on business errands, social calls, and excursions to distant
+towns. Driving down the avenue one day, we counted eighty bicycles
+before reaching the post-office. The ancient bandbox, so detested by our
+sires and sons, has given place to this new machine which our daughters
+take with them wheresoever they go, boxing and unboxing and readjusting
+for each journey. It has been a great blessing to our girls in
+compelling them to cultivate their self-reliance and their mechanical
+ingenuity, as they are often compelled to mend the wheel in case of
+accident. Among the visitors at Geneva were Mr. Douglass and his
+daughter from the island of Cuba. They gave us very sad accounts of the
+desolate state of the island and the impoverished condition of the
+people. I had long felt that the United States should interfere in some
+way to end that cruel warfare, for Spain has proved that she is
+incompetent to restore order and peace.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote A: Part II. of "The Woman's Bible," which completes the work,
+will be issued in January, 1898.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+MY EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY.
+
+
+Without my knowledge or consent, my lifelong friend, Susan B. Anthony,
+who always seems to appreciate homage tendered to me more highly than
+even to herself, made arrangements for the celebration of my eightieth
+birthday, on the 12th day of November, 1895. She preferred that this
+celebration should be conducted by the National Council of Women,
+composed of a large number of organizations representing every
+department of woman's labor, though, as the enfranchisement of woman had
+been my special life work, it would have been more appropriate if the
+celebration had been under the auspices of the National Woman's Suffrage
+Association.
+
+Mrs. Mary Lowe Dickinson, President of the National Council of Women,
+assumed the financial responsibility and the extensive correspondence
+involved, and with rare tact, perseverance, and executive ability made
+the celebration a complete success. In describing this occasion I cannot
+do better than to reproduce, in part, Mrs. Dickinson's account,
+published in _The Arena_:
+
+"In the month of June, 1895, the National Council of Women issued the
+following invitation:
+
+"'Believing that the progress made by women in the last half century may
+be promoted by a more general notice of their achievements, we propose
+to hold, in New York city, a convention for this purpose. As an
+appropriate time for such a celebration, the eightieth birthday of
+Elizabeth Cady Stanton has been chosen. Her half century of pioneer work
+for the rights of women makes her name an inspiration for such an
+occasion and her life a fitting object for the homage of all women.
+
+"'This National Council is composed of twenty organizations; these and
+all other societies interested are invited to co-operate in grateful
+recognition of the debt the present generation owes to the pioneers of
+the past. From their interest in the enfranchisement of women, the
+influence of Mrs. Stanton and her coadjutor, Miss Anthony, has permeated
+all departments of progress and made them a common center round which
+all interested in woman's higher development may gather.'
+
+"To this invitation came responses, from the Old World and the New,
+expressing sympathy with the proposed celebration, which was intended to
+emphasize a great principle by showing the loftiness of character that
+had resulted from its embodiment in a unique personality. The world
+naturally thinks of the personality before it thinks of the principle.
+It has, at least, so much unconscious courtesy left as to honor a noble
+woman, even when failing to rightly apprehend a noble cause. To afford
+this feeling its proper expression, to render more tangible all vague
+sympathy, to crystallize the growing sentiment in favor of human
+freedom, to give youth the opportunity to reverence the glory of age, to
+give hearts their utterances in word and song was perhaps the most
+popular purpose of the reunion. In other words, it gave an opportunity
+for those who revered Mrs. Stanton as a queen among women to show their
+reverence, and to recognize the work her life had wrought, and to see in
+it an epitome of the progress of a century.
+
+"The celebration was also an illustration of the distinctive idea of the
+National Council of Women, which aims to give recognition to all human
+effort without demanding uniformity of opinion as a basis of
+co-operation. It claims to act upon a unity of service, notwithstanding
+differences of creed and methods. The things that separate, shrank back
+into the shadows where they belong, and all hearts brave enough to
+think, and tender enough to feel, found it easy to unite in homage to a
+life which had known a half century of struggle to lift humanity from
+bondage and womanhood from shame.
+
+"This reunion was the first general recognition of the debt the present
+owes to the past. It was the first effort to show the extent to which
+later development has been inspired and made possible by the freedom to
+think and work claimed in that earlier time by women like Lucretia Mott,
+Lucy Stone, Mrs. Stanton, and many others whose names stand as synonyms
+of noble service for the race. To those who looked at the reunion from
+this point of view it could not fail of inspiration.
+
+"For the followers in lines of philanthropic work to look in the faces
+and hear the voices of women like Clara Barton and Mary Livermore; for
+the multitude enlisted in the crowded ranks of literature to feel in the
+living presence, what literature owes to women like Julia Ward Howe; for
+the white ribbon army to turn from its one great leader of to-day whose
+light, spreading to the horizon, does not obscure or dim the glory of
+the crusade leaders of the past; for art lovers and art students to
+call to mind sculptors like Harriet Hosmer and Anna Whitney, and
+remember the days when art was a sealed book to women; for the followers
+of the truly divine art of healing to honor the Blackwell sisters and
+the memory of Mme. Clemence Lozier; for the mercy of surgery to reveal
+itself in the face of Dr. Cushier, who has proved for us that heart of
+pity and hand of skill need never be divorced; for women lifting their
+eyes to meet the face of Phebe A. Hanaford and Anna Shaw and other women
+who to-day in the pulpit, as well as out of it, may use a woman's right
+to minister to needy souls; for the ofttime sufferers from unrighteous
+law to welcome women lawyers; for the throng of working women to read
+backward through the story of four hundred industries to their beginning
+in the 'four,' and remember that each new door had opened because some
+women toiled and strove; for all these the exercises were a part of a
+great thanksgiving paean, each phase of progress striking its own chord,
+and finding each its echo in the hearts that held it dear.
+
+"To the student of history, or to him who can read the signs of the
+times, there was such a profound significance in this occasion as makes
+one shrink from dwelling too much upon the external details. Yet as a
+pageant only it was a most inspiring sight, and one truly worthy of a
+queen. Indeed as we run the mind back over the pages of history, what
+queen came to a more triumphant throne in the hearts of a grateful
+people? What woman ever before sat silver-crowned, canopied with
+flowers, surrounded not by servile followers but by men and women who
+brought to her court the grandest service they had wrought, their best
+thought crystallized in speech and song. Greater than any triumphal
+procession that ever marked a royal passage through a kingdom was it to
+know that in a score or more of cities, in many a village church on that
+same night festive fires were lighted, and the throng kept holiday,
+bringing for tribute not gold and gems but noblest aspirations, truest
+gratitude, and highest ideals for the nation and the race.
+
+"The great meeting was but one link in a chain; yet with its thousands
+of welcoming faces, with its eloquence of words, with its offering of
+sweetest song from the children of a race that once was bound but now is
+free, with its pictured glimpses of the old time and the new flashing
+out upon the night, with the home voices offering welcome and gratitude
+and love, with numberless greetings, from the great, true, brave souls
+of many lands, it was indeed a wonderful tribute, worthy of the great
+warm heart of a nation that offered it, and worthy of the woman so
+revered.
+
+"It seemed fitting that Mme. Antoinette Sterling, who, twenty years ago,
+took her wonderful voice away to England, where it won for her a unique
+place in the hearts of the nation, should, on returning to her country,
+give her first service to the womanhood of her native land. 'I am coming
+a week earlier,' so she had written, 'that my first work in my own
+beloved America may be done for women. I am coming as a woman and not as
+an artist, and because I so glory in that which the women of my country
+have achieved.' So when she sang out of her heart, 'O rest in the Lord;
+wait patiently for him!' no marvel that it seemed to lift all listening
+hearts to a recognition of the divine secret and source of power for all
+work.
+
+"One charming feature of the entertainment was a series of pictures
+called 'Then and Now,' each illustrating the change in woman's condition
+during the last fifty years. And after this, upon the dimness there
+shone out, one after another, the names of noble women like Mary Lyon,
+Maria Mitchell, Emma Willard, and many others who have passed away. Upon
+the shadows and the silence broke Mme. Sterling's voice in Tennyson's
+'Crossing the Bar.' And when this was over, as with one voice, the whole
+audience sang softly 'Auld Lang Syne.'
+
+"And last but not least should be mentioned the greetings that poured in
+a shower of telegrams and letters from every section of the country, and
+many from over the sea. These expressions, not only of personal
+congratulation for Mrs. Stanton, but utterances of gladness for the
+progress in woman's life and thought, for the conditions, already so
+much better than in the past, and for the hope for the future, would
+make of themselves a most interesting and wonderful chapter. Among them
+may be mentioned letters from Lord and Lady Aberdeen, from Lady Henry
+Somerset and Frances E. Willard, from Canon Wilberforce, and many
+others, including an address from thirty members of the family of John
+Bright, headed by his brother, the Right Honorable Jacob Bright; a
+beautifully engrossed address, on parchment, from the National Woman
+Suffrage Society of Scotland, an address from the London Women's
+Franchise League, and a cablegram from the Bristol Women's Liberal
+Association; a letter from the Women's Rights Society of Finland, signed
+by its president, Baroness Gripenberg of Helsingfors; telegrams from the
+California Suffrage Pioneers; and others from the Chicago Woman's Club,
+from the Toledo and Ohio Woman's Suffrage Society, from the son of the
+Rev. Dr. William Ellery Channing, and a telegram and letter from
+citizens and societies of Seneca Falls, New York, accompanied with
+flowers and many handsome pieces of silver from the different societies.
+There were also letters from Hon. Oscar S. Strauss, ex-minister to
+Turkey, Miss Ellen Terry, and scores of others. An address was received
+from the Women's Association of Utah, accompanied by a beautiful onyx
+and silver ballot box; and from the Shaker women of Mount Lebanon came
+an ode; a solid silver loving cup from the New York City Suffrage
+League, presented on the platform with a few appropriate words by its
+President, Mrs. Devereux Blake.
+
+"Hundreds of organizations and societies, both in this country and
+abroad, wished to have their names placed on record as in sympathy with
+the movement. Many organizations were present in a body, and one was
+reminded, by the variety and beauty of the decorations of their boxes,
+of the Venetian Carnival, as the occupants gazed down from amid the
+silken banners and the flowers, upon the throng below. The whole
+occasion was indeed a unique festival, unique in its presentation, as
+well as in its purpose, plan, character, and spirit. No woman present
+could fail to be impressed with what we owe to the women of the past,
+and especially to this one woman who was the honored guest of the
+occasion. And no young woman could desire to forget the picture of this
+aged form as, leaning upon her staff, Mrs. Stanton spoke to the great
+audience of over six thousand, as she had spoken hundreds of times
+before in legislative halls, and whenever her word could influence the
+popular sentiment in favor of justice for all mankind."
+
+My birthday celebration, with all the testimonials of love and
+friendship I received, was an occasion of such serious thought and deep
+feeling as I had never before experienced. Having been accustomed for
+half a century to blame rather than praise, I was surprised with such a
+manifestation of approval; I could endure any amount of severe criticism
+with complacency, but such an outpouring of homage and affection stirred
+me profoundly. To calm myself during that week of excitement, I thought
+many times of Michelet's wise motto, "Let the weal and woe of humanity
+be everything to you, their praise and blame of no effect; be not puffed
+up with the one nor cast down with the other."
+
+Naturally at such a time I reviewed my life, its march and battle on the
+highways of experience, and counted its defeats and victories. I
+remembered when a few women called the first convention to discuss their
+disabilities, that our conservative friends said: "You have made a great
+mistake, you will be laughed at from Maine to Texas and beyond the sea;
+God has set the bounds of woman's sphere and she should be satisfied
+with her position." Their prophecy was more than realized; we were
+unsparingly ridiculed by the press and pulpit both in England and
+America. But now many conventions are held each year in both countries
+to discuss the same ideas; social customs have changed; laws have been
+modified; municipal suffrage has been granted to women in England and
+some of her colonies; school suffrage has been granted to women in half
+of our States, municipal suffrage in Kansas, and full suffrage in four
+States of the Union. Thus the principle scouted in 1848 was accepted in
+England in 1870, and since then, year by year, it has slowly progressed
+in America until the fourth star shone out on our flag in 1896, and
+Idaho enfranchised her women! That first convention, considered a "grave
+mistake" in 1848, is now referred to as "a grand step in progress."
+
+My next mistake was when, as president of the New York State Woman's
+Temperance Association, I demanded the passage of a statute allowing
+wives an absolute divorce for the brutality and intemperance of their
+husbands. I addressed the Legislature of New York a few years later when
+a similar bill was pending, and also large audiences in several of our
+chief cities, and for this I was severely denounced. To-day fugitives
+from such unholy ties can secure freedom in many of the Western States,
+and enlightened public sentiment sustains mothers in refusing to hand
+down an appetite fraught with so many evil consequences. This, also
+called a "mistake" in 1860, was regarded as a "step in progress" a few
+years later.
+
+Again, I urged my coadjutors by speeches, letters, and resolutions, as a
+means of widespread agitation, to make the same demands of the Church
+that we had already made of the State. They objected, saying, "That is
+too revolutionary, an attack on the Church would injure the suffrage
+movement." But I steadily made the demand, as opportunity offered, that
+women be ordained to preach the Gospel and to fill the offices as
+elders, deacons, and trustees. A few years later some of these
+suggestions were accepted. Some churches did ordain women as pastors
+over congregations of their own, others elected women deaconesses, and a
+few churches allowed women, as delegates, to sit in their conferences.
+Thus this demand was in a measure honored and another "step in
+progress" taken.
+
+In 1882 I tried to organize a committee to consider the status of women
+in the Bible, and the claim that the Hebrew Writings were the result of
+divine inspiration. It was thought very presumptuous for women not
+learned in languages and ecclesiastical history to undertake such work.
+But as we merely proposed to comment on what was said of women in plain
+English, and found these texts composed only one-tenth of the Old and
+New Testaments, it did not seem to me a difficult or dangerous
+undertaking. However, when Part I. of "The Woman's Bible" was published,
+again there was a general disapproval by press and pulpit, and even by
+women themselves, expressed in resolutions in suffrage and temperance
+conventions. Like other "mistakes," this too, in due time, will be
+regarded as "a step in progress."
+
+Such experiences have given me confidence in my judgment, and patience
+with the opposition of my coadjutors, with whom on so many points I
+disagree. It requires no courage now to demand the right of suffrage,
+temperance legislation, liberal divorce laws, or for women to fill
+church offices--these battles have been fought and won and the principle
+governing these demands conceded. But it still requires courage to
+question the divine inspiration of the Hebrew Writings as to the
+position of woman. Why should the myths, fables, and allegories of the
+Hebrews be held more sacred than those of the Assyrians and Egyptians,
+from whose literature most of them were derived? Seeing that the
+religious superstitions of women perpetuate their bondage more than all
+other adverse influences, I feel impelled to reiterate my demands for
+justice, liberty, and equality in the Church as well as in the State.
+
+The birthday celebration was to me more than a beautiful pageant; more
+than a personal tribute. It was the dawn of a new day for the Mothers of
+the Race! The harmonious co-operation of so many different
+organizations, with divers interests and opinions, in one grand jubilee
+was, indeed, a heavenly vision of peace and hope; a prophecy that with
+the exaltation of Womanhood would come new Life, Light, and Liberty to
+all mankind.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX OF NAMES.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+Aberdeen, _Lord_ and _Lady_,
+Addington, Laura,
+Albert, _Prince_,
+Alcott, A. Bronson,
+Alcott, Louisa M.,
+Allison, Miss,
+Amberly, _Lord_ and _Lady_,
+Ames, Mary Clemmer,
+Anderson, Dr. Garrett,
+Andre, _Major_ John,
+Andrews, _Governor_ John A.,
+Anthony, Daniel,
+Anthony, _Senator_ Henry B.,
+Anthony, Lucy,
+Anthony, Mary,
+Anthony, Susan B.,
+Arnold, _General_ Benedict,
+Arnold, Matthew,
+Astor, John Jacob,
+Auchet, Hubertine,
+Austin, _Dr_. Harriet N.,
+Ayer, Mrs. J.C.,
+
+Backus, Wealthea,
+Bagley, _Governor_,
+Bagley, Mrs.,
+Baird, _General_,
+Baldwin, Elizabeth McMartin,
+Balgarnie, Miss,
+Banning, Ella B.,
+Banning, William L.,
+Barclay, Cornelia,
+Barrau, Caroline de,
+Bartlett, Paul,
+Barton, Clara,
+Bascom, Mr.,
+Bascora, Mary,
+Bayard, _Dr_. Edward,
+Bayard, Henry,
+Bayard, Thomas F.,
+Bayard, Tryphena Cady,
+Beach, Myron,
+Beaman, _Rev. Dr_.,
+Becker, Lydia,
+Beecher, Catharine,
+Beecher, _Rev_. Henry Ward,
+Bellamy, Edward,
+Bellows, Rev. Henry,
+Benedict, Lewis,
+Bently, _Judge_,
+Berry, Mme.,
+Berry, Marguerite,
+Berry, Mrs.,
+Bertaux, Mme. Leon,
+Besant, Annie,
+Bickerdyke, _Mother_,
+Biddle, Chapman,
+Biddle, George,
+Biggs, Caroline,
+Bigelow, John,
+Bigelow, Mrs. John,
+Bingham, John A.,
+Bird, Frank W.,
+Birney, James Gr.,
+Bjornson, Bjornstjorne,
+Blackburn, Miss,
+Blackwell, Antoinette Brown,
+Blackwell, _Dr_. Elizabeth,
+Blackwell, H.B.,
+Blaine, _Senator_ James G.,
+Blaine, Mrs. James G.,
+Blair, _Senator_ Henry W.,
+Blake, Lillie Devereux,
+Blatch, Harriot Stanton,
+Blatch, Nora Stanton,
+Blatch, William H.,
+Blavatsky, Mme.,
+Bloomer, Amelia,
+Bogelot, Isabella,
+Bogue, _Rev. Dr_.,
+Bonaparte, Napoleon,
+Botta, Anne Lynch,
+Boucherett, Jessie,
+Bowles, Samuel,
+Bradburn, George,
+Bradlaugh, _Hon_. Charles, M, P.,
+Bradwell, Myra,
+Bright, _Hon_. Jacob, M.P.,
+Bright, Mrs. Jacob,
+Bright, _Hon_. John, M.P.,
+Broomall, John M.,
+Brougham, Henry, Lord,
+Brown, Antoinette L.,
+Brown, John,
+Brown, Olympia,
+Brown, Mr.,
+Browne, Sir Thomas, M.D.,
+Browning, Robert,
+Brownson, Orestes A.,
+Bryan, William J..
+Bryant, Miss,
+Bryant, William Cullen,
+Bullard, Laura Curtis,
+Burlingame, Anson,
+Burleigh, Celia,
+Burleigh, Mrs. William,
+Burnet, Rev. J.,
+Burr, Frances Ellen,
+Burroughs, Herbert,
+Busbey, L. White,
+Bushnell, Horace,
+Butler, General Benjamin F.,
+Butler, Josephine,
+Byron, Lady,
+Byron, Lord,
+
+Cabot, Frederick,
+Cady, Judge Daniel,
+Cady, Eleazer,
+Cady, Margaret Livingston,
+Caird, Mona,
+Cameron, Judge Hugh,
+Carlisle, Lora and Lady,
+Carlyle, Thomas,
+Carnegie, Andrew,
+Carroll, Anna,
+Cary, Alice,
+Cary, Phoebe,
+Channing, Rev. Dr. William Ellery,
+Channing, Dr. William F.,
+Channing, Rev. William Henry,
+Chant, Ormiston,
+Chapman, Maria,
+Chase, William,
+Cheever, Rev. George B.,
+Child, Lydia Maria,
+Choate, Joseph H.,
+Christie, Margaret,
+Clark, Helen Bright,
+Clarkson, Thomas,
+Cleveland, Grover,
+Clinton, Governor De Witt C,
+Cluseret, General,
+Cobb, Mr. and Mrs.,
+Cobbe, Frances Power,
+Cobden, Jane,
+Cochrane, James,
+Cochrane, _General_ John,
+Cochrane, Mary,
+Colby, Clara B.,
+Cole, Senator Cornelius,
+Coleridge, Lady,
+Collyer, Rev. Robert,
+Combe, Andrew,
+Comte, Auguste,
+Conkling, Judge Alfred,
+Conkling, Roscoe,
+Conway, Rev. Moncure D.,
+Conway, Mrs. Moncure D.,
+Cooley, Judge Thomas M.,
+Couzins, Phoebe W.,
+Croly, Jennie C,
+Crowninshield, Captain A.S.,
+Crowninshield, Mary,
+Cox, S.S.,
+Coxe, Bishop,
+Curtis, George William,
+Cushier, Dr.,
+Cushman, Charlotte,
+
+Dana, Charles A.,
+Dana, Eunice MacDaniel,
+Darling, Anna B.,
+Darlington, Chandler,
+Darlington, Hannah,
+Davis, Edward M.,
+Davis. Paulina Wright,
+Davitt, Michael.
+Depesyrons, Professor,
+Deraismes, Mme. Feresse,
+Deraismes, Maria,
+Dickinson, Anna E.,
+Dickinson, Mary Lowe,
+Dietrick, Ellen Battelle,
+Dilke, Mrs. Ashton,
+Dilke, Sir Charles,
+Dix, Dorothy, L.,
+Dix, General John A.,
+Douglass, Frederick,
+Douglass, Mr.,
+Dowden, Professor,
+Dudley, Blandina Bleecker,
+Dumas, Alexandre,
+Durand, Mme. M.E.,
+Dyer, Charles Gifford,
+Dyer, Hella,
+
+Eaton, Professor Amos B.,
+Eaton, Daniel C,
+Eaton, Harriet Cady,
+Eddy, Miss,
+Eddy, Mrs. Jackson,   s
+Edmunds, Senator George F.,
+Eliot, George,
+Euet, Elizabeth F.,
+Ellsler, Fanny,
+Elmy, Mrs.,
+Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
+England, Isaac W.,
+England, Mrs. Isaac W.,
+Everett, Charles,
+
+Fabre, Senator Joseph,
+Fairchild, Governor Lucius,
+Faithful, Emily,
+Farnham, Mrs..
+Fawcett, Henry, M.P.,
+Fawcett, Milicent J.,
+Ferry, Jules,
+Ferry, Senator Thomas W.,
+Field, Rev. Dr. Henry M.,
+Field, Kate,
+Fine, Judge,
+Finney, Rev. Charles G.,
+Fitzhugh, Ann Carroll,
+Fitzhugh, Miss,
+Folsom, Abigail,
+Forbes, Arethusa,
+Forney, John W.,
+Foster, Abby Kelly,
+Foster, Rachel,
+Foster, Stephen,
+Frederic, Harold,
+Fremont, _General_ John C,
+French, Daniel C,
+Frothingham, _Rev_. O.B.,
+Fronde, James Anthony,
+Fry, Elizabeth,
+Fuller, Kate,
+Fuller, Margaret,
+Fuller, W.J.A.,
+Furness, _Rev_. William H.,
+
+Gage, Frances Dana,
+Gage, Matilda Joslyn,
+Gardener, Helen H.,
+Garibaldi, _General_ G.,
+Garrison, Gertrude,
+Garrison, William Lloyd,
+Garrison, Mrs. W.L.,
+Gay, Sidney Howard,
+Geddes, Mr.,
+George, Henry,
+Gestefeld, Ursula N.,
+Gibbons, Abby Hopper,
+Gillespie, Mrs.,
+Gladstone, _Right Hon_., William E.,
+Gladstone, Mrs. W.E.,
+Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft,
+Godwin, William,
+Grant, _General_, Ulysses S.,
+Greeley, Horace,
+Greeley, Mrs. Horace,
+Greene, Beriah,
+Greenough, Mrs. W.H.,
+Greenwood, Grace,
+Greville, Henri,
+Grevy, _President_ Jules,
+Grevy, Mme. Jules,
+Grew, Mary,
+Grey, Maria G.,
+Grimke, Angelina,
+Grimke, Sarah,
+Gripenberg, _Baroness_ Alexandra,
+Gurney, John Joseph,
+Gurney, Samuel,
+Gustafsen, Mrs.,
+
+Hammond, _Dr_. William A.,
+Hanaford, _Rev_. Phebe A.,
+Harbert, Elizabeth Boynton,
+Harberton, _Lady_,
+Harvey, _Rev_. A.,
+Hawley, _General_ Joseph R.,
+Hawthorne, Nathaniel,
+Hazeltine, Mayo W.,
+Heine, Heinrich,
+Hertell, _Judge_
+Hertz, Fannie,
+Hicks, Elias,
+Higginson, Thomas Wentworth,
+Hill, Octavia,
+Hill, _President_,
+Hinckley, _Rev_. Frederick A.,
+Hoar, _Senator_ George F.,
+Hoggan, _Dr_. Frances E.,
+Hoisington, Rev. William,
+Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
+Hooker, Isabella Beecher,
+Holyoake, George Jacob,
+Hosack, _Rev_. Simon,
+Hoskins, Frances,
+Hosmer, Harriet,
+Hovey, Charles,
+Howe, Julia Ward,
+Howell, _Judge_,
+Howell, Mary Seymour,
+Howells, William D.,
+Howells, Mrs. William D.,
+Howitt, Mary,
+Hudson, Harriet,
+Hugo, Victor,
+Hunt, Jane,
+Hunt, _Dr_. Harriet K.,
+Hunt, _Judge_ Ward,
+Hunt, Richard,
+Hurlbert, _Judge_,
+Huron, Mr.,
+Hutchinson, _Family_,
+Hutchins, Mr.,
+Hyacinthe, _Pere_,
+
+Ingersoll, Robert G.,
+
+Jackson, Francis,
+Jackson, _Dr_. James,
+Jackson, _Dr_. Kate,
+Jackson, Mr. and Mrs.,
+Jackson, Mrs.,
+Jacobi, _Dr_. Mary Putnam,
+Jameson, Anna,
+Janes, _Bishop_,
+Jarvis, Helen,
+Jenckes, Thomas A.,
+Jenkins, Lydia,
+Jenney, Mr. and Mrs.,
+Johnson, Adelaide,
+Johnson, Mariana,
+Johnson, Oliver,
+Johnson, _Sir_ William,
+Joly, _Professor_ Nicholas,
+Jones, Phoebe,
+June, Jennie,
+
+Kelley, William D.,
+Kelley, Abby,
+Kennan, George,
+Kent, _Chancellor_,
+Kergomard, Pauline,
+Kilpatrick, _General_,
+Kimber, Abby,
+King, _Captain_ Charles,
+Kingsford, Anna,
+Kingsley, _Canon_ Charles,
+Klumpke, Anna,
+Krapotkine, _Prince_,
+
+Laboulaye, Edouard R.L.,
+LaFayette, _Marquis_ de,
+Lampson, _Father_,
+Lapham, Anson,
+Lauterbach, Mrs. Edward,
+Lawrence, Frank E.,
+Lawrence, Margaret Stanton,
+Lawson, _Sir_ Wilfrid,
+Leavitt, Joshua,
+Lecky, W.E.H.,
+Lee, Richard Henry,
+Lee, Theresa,
+Lieneff, Mr.,
+Lincoln, Abraham,
+Livermore, Mary A.,
+Livingston, Colonel James,
+Livingston, Margaret,
+Livingston, Mary,
+Logan, Olive,
+Long, Governor John D.,
+Longfellow, Henry W.,
+Longfellow, Rev. Samuel,
+Lord, Dr.,
+Lord, Emily,
+Lord, Frances,
+Louis Philippe,
+Lowell, James Russell,
+Lozier, Dr. Clemence S.,
+Lucas, Margaret Bright,
+Lyon, Mary,
+
+McClintock, Elizabeth,
+McClintock, Mary Ann,
+McKeon, Judge,
+McLaren, Charles,
+McLaren, Mrs. Charles,
+McLaren, Hon. Duncan, M.P.,
+McLaren, Priscilla Bright,
+McLaren, Walter,
+McMartin, Donald,
+McMartin, Duncan,
+McMartin, Margaret Cady,
+MacDaniel, Eunice,
+MacDaniel, Frances L.,
+MacDaniel, Osborne,
+Macaulay, Thomas Babbington,
+Maire, Rev. Hugh,
+Mann, Horace,
+Mann, Prestona,
+Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice,
+Mansfield, Mrs. A.A.,
+Marsh, Luther R.,
+Martineau, Harriet,
+Massey, Gerald,
+May, Rev. Samuel J.,
+Mellen, Mrs. William,
+Mendenhall, Dinah,
+Meredith, George,
+Michel, Louise,
+Michelet, Jules,
+Milinowski, Captain Arthur,
+Mill, John Stuart,
+Mill, Mrs. John Stuart,
+Miller, Charles Dudley,
+Miller, Colonel,
+Miller, Elizabeth Smith,
+Miller, Gerrit Smith,
+Miller, Jenness,
+Miller, John B.,
+Miller, Judge,
+Miller, Justice Samuel F.,
+Minor, Virginia L.,
+Mitchell, Dr. Julia,
+Mitchell, Dr. Kate,
+Mitchell, Professor Maria,
+Moffett, Rev. Dr.,
+Moliner, Professor,
+Morley, John,
+Morpeth, Lord,
+Morris, William,
+Morrison, Cotton,
+Morsier, Emilie de,
+Morton, Edwin,
+Mott, Lucretia,
+Mott, Lydia,
+Moulton, Louise Chandler,
+Moulton, Mrs.,
+Mueller, Eva,
+Mueller, Henrietta,
+Murray, Eliza, in,
+
+Napoleon,
+Neal, Elizabeth,
+Nichol, Elizabeth Pease,
+
+O'Connell, Daniel,  go,
+O'Conor, Charles,
+Olmstead, Rev. John W.,
+Olmstead, Mary Livingston,
+Opie, Amelia,
+Orr, Mrs.,
+Osborne, Eliza W.,
+O'Shea, Mrs. Kitty,
+Owen, Robert Dale,
+
+Palmer, Senator John M.,
+Parker, Margaret,
+Parker, Theodore,
+Parkhurst, Mrs.,
+Parnell, Charles Stewart,
+Parsons, Chauncey C,
+Parsons, Mrs. Chauncey C,
+Patton, Rev. Dr.,
+Peabody, Elizabeth,
+Pearson, Karl,
+Pease, Elizabeth,
+Phelps, Elizabeth B.,
+Phillips, Ann Green,
+Phillips, Wendell,
+Pierpont, John,
+Pillsbury, Parker,
+Plumb, Senator Preston B.,
+Pochin, Mrs.,
+Pomeroy, "Brick,"
+Powell, Aaron,
+Powell, Professor,
+Priestman, Annie,
+Priestman, Mary,
+Pugh, Sarah,
+
+Quincy, Edmund,
+
+Ramsey, Mr.,
+Reid, Mrs. Hugo,
+Remond, Charles,
+Richer, Leon,
+Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich,
+Ripley, George,
+Ripley, Mrs. George,
+Richardson, Abby Sage,
+Ristori, Marchionesse Adelaide,
+Robinson, Governor Charles,
+Roby, Matilda,
+Rogers, Caroline Gilkey,
+Rogers, Nathaniel P.,
+Roland, Mme.,
+Rosa, Mr.,
+Rose, Ernestine L.,
+Root, Elihu,
+Rouvier, M.,
+Runkle, Mrs.,
+Ruskin, John,
+
+Sackett, Fudge Gerrit V.,
+Sage, Russell,
+Sage, Mrs. Russell,
+Sanborn, Frank,
+Sanders, Mrs. Henry M.,
+Sargent, Senator Aaron A.,
+Sargent, Mrs. Aaron A.,
+Saville, Mrs.,
+Scatcherd, Alice Cliff,
+Scatcherd, Mr.,
+Schenck, Elizabeth B.,
+Schenck, Robert C,
+Scoble, Rev. John,
+Seaman, Mr.,
+Seidl, Professor,
+Sewall, May Wright,
+Sewall, Samuel E.,
+Sewall, Mrs. Samuel E.,
+Seward, Governor William H.,
+Seward, Mrs. William H.,
+Shaftesbury, Lord,
+Shaw, Rev. Anna,
+Shelley, Percy Bysshe,
+Shelley, Percy Florence,
+Smalley, George W.,
+Smith, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh,
+Smith, Elizabeth Oakes,
+Smith, Gerrit,
+Smith, Greene,
+Smith, Professor Horace,
+Smith, Mrs. Horace,
+Smith, Peter Sken,
+Smith, Sidney,
+Smith, Sisters,
+Somerset, Lady Henry,
+Southwick, Abby,
+Southwick, Joseph,
+Southwick. Thankful,
+Southworth, Louisa,
+Spaulding, Bishop,
+Spence, Clara,
+Spencer, John C,
+Spencer, Sarah Andrews,
+Spofford, Jane Snow,
+Spofford, Mr.,
+Sprague, Governor William,
+Stael, Mme. de,
+Stanford, Senator Leland,
+Stanley, Dean,
+Stansfeld, Mr., M.P.,
+Stanton, Hon. Daniel Cady,
+Stanton, Edwin M.,
+Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, Granddaughter of author,
+Stanton, _Hon_. Gerrit Smith,
+Stanton, Harriot Eaton,
+Stanton, Henry,
+Stanton, _Hon_. Henry Brewster,
+Stanton, Margaret Livingston,
+Stanton, Marguerite Berry,
+Stanton, Robert Livingston,
+Stanton, Theodore,
+Stead, William T.,
+Stebbins, Catharine F.,
+Stebbins, Giles,
+Stebbins, Mrs.,
+Steinthal, _Rev_. Mr.,
+Stepniak,
+Sterling, Antoinette,
+Stevens, Thaddeus,
+Stevenson, Robert Louis,
+Stewart, Alvin,
+Stone, Lucy,
+Stout, _Rev_. C.,
+Stowe, Harriet Beecher,
+Straus, Oscar S.,
+Stuart, Charles,
+Stuart, _Dr_. Jacob H.,
+Stuart, Mrs. Jacob H.,
+Stuart, _Professor_,
+Sturge, Joseph,
+Sumner, Charles,
+Sutherland, _Duchess_ of,
+Swift, Isabella,
+Swift, _Lieutenant_,
+
+Tanner, Mrs.,
+Taylor, Helen,
+Taylor, Mrs. Peter A.,
+Terry, Ellen,
+Thacher, _Mayor_,
+Thomson, Adeline,
+Thomasson, _Hon_. John P., _M. P_.,
+Thomasson, Mrs. John P.,
+Thompkins, _Governor_ Daniel D.,
+Thompson, George,
+Thompson, May Wright,
+Tilton, Theodore,
+Train, George Francis,
+Traut, Mme. Griess,
+Tree, Ellen,
+Tudor, Mrs. Fenno,
+Tyler, _Professor_, Moses Coit,
+Tyng, _Dr_. Stephen,
+
+Underhill, Zoe Dana,
+
+Van Vechten, Abraham,
+Vest, _Senator_ George G.,
+Victoria, _Queen_,
+Vignon, Claude,
+Villard, Fanny Garrison,
+Villard, Henry,
+Vincent, Henry,
+Virchow, _Professor_,
+
+Waite, _Chief Justice_ Morrison R.,
+Walter, Ellen Cochrane,
+Walsingham, _Sir_ Francis,
+"Warrington,"
+Washington, _General_ George,
+Weed, Thurlow,
+Weld, Angelina Grimke,
+Weld, Theodore D.,
+Wellington, _Duke_ of,
+Wells, Emeline B.,
+West, Benjamin,
+Weston, Deborah,
+Whipple, E.P.,
+Whitney, Anna,
+Whittier, John G.,
+Whittle, _Dr._ Ewing,
+Wigham, Eliza,
+Wigham, Jane,
+Wilberforce, Canon,
+Wilberforce, William,
+Wilbour, Charlotte Beebe,
+Wilkeson, Catherine Cady,
+Wilkeson, Samuel,
+Willard, Amelia,
+Willard, Emma,
+Willard, Frances E.,
+Willard, Mrs. John,
+Williams, _Senator_ C.G.,
+Williams, Elisha,
+Wilson, Daniel,
+Winckworth, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen,
+Winslow, Emily,
+Woodhull, Victoria,
+Wollstonecraft, Mary,
+Woodward, Mr.,
+Worden, Mrs.,
+Wright, David,
+Wright, Frances,
+Wright, Henry C.,
+Wright, Martha C.,
+Wright, Mr.,
+Wright, Paulina,
+
+Yost, Elizabeth W.,
+Yost, Maria,
+
+Zackesewska, _Dr._ M.E.,
+
+[_Portions of Chapters X. and XI. of this book are taken by permission
+from an article written by Mrs. Stanton for "Our Famous Women,"
+published by A.D. Worthington & Co._]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences
+1815-1897, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE ***
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