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diff --git a/11982.txt b/11982.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a355fd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/11982.txt @@ -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 *** + +***** This file should be named 11982.txt or 11982.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/9/8/11982/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Grenet and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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