early championship of a despised cause taught me to hold very sacred those pioneers in holy efforts, which to embrace was to suffer the pangs of a daily martyrdom.
Your friend, as of old, JEANNIE MARSH.
_May 29, 1867._
It is foolish to say that the advocates of the "Woman Movement" demand "special legislation" for woman, or desire to array her in hostility to man. It is the enemies of this movement who have made special legislation necessary, since they declare woman not to be the equal of man. We desire nothing but one common law alike for each, with woman holding the ballot, not as the enemy, but as the peer and friend of man.
ANNA E. d.i.c.kINSON.
KENOSHA, WIS., _May 1, 1868_.
I saw your notice of the meeting of the American Equal Rights a.s.sociation in that banner of freedom, the Boston _Investigator_. A thousand times I wish you success. We, in this State, intend to make a determined fight next year for female suffrage. The resolution submitting it to the people pa.s.sed the a.s.sembly and Senate by more than two to one (57 against 24. and 19 against 9); yet you must not suppose that our cause is so favorable as that. I send a few extracts, copied from the Racine _Advocate_; and to that number I am pleased to add the Milwaukee _News_, the leading Democratic paper of the State.
Mr. Sholes, one of the leading Republicans of the State (elector on the last Presidential ticket), is warmly in support of your cause.
Certainly the great car of progress is under motion, and no bigoted, conservative fogyism can long stay its progress. In the meantime, I really hope to see some of your best speakers in the Wisconsin field before the election of 1868. Where can I get some pamphlets containing the best arguments for universal suffrage? Go bravely on. Let not the scoffs and sneers of the low, mean, and vulgar intimidate, defeat, or discourage you.
Most respectfully, R. F. MILLS.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
_Receipts at the Eleventh National Woman"s Rights Convention, held in New York, May 10, 1866._
Abby Hutchinson Patton $50 00 Jessie Benton Fremont 50 00 Mrs. C. Lozier, M.D. 20 00 James and Lucretia Mott 10 00 Anna Densmore, M.D. 10 00 Margaret E. Winchester 5 00 Eliza Wright Osborn 5 00 Martha C. Wright 8 00 Gerrit and Nancy Smith 10 00 Elizabeth Smith Miller 5 00 C. C. Williams 2 00 S. R. Ferris 50 Mrs. L. M. Ward. M.D. 2 00 M. P. Allen 1 00 M. A. Halsted 1 00 Mrs. J. B. Mix 1 00 H. Phelps 1 00 J. H. Smith 1 00 Frances V. Hallock 1 00 Ella M. Clymer 1 00 Sarah S. White 1 00 Cordelia Curtis 1 00 Mrs. D. T. Tompkins 1 00 Josephine S. Griffing 1 00 Mrs. F. Knapp 1 00 Mary M. Bingham 1 00 Harriet Clisby 1 00 Sarah E. Payson 1 00 Christiana T. Wallace 1 00 D. J. H. Wilc.o.x 1 00 Albert O. Wilc.o.x 1 00 J. H. H. Wilc.o.x 1 00 Frances D. Gage 1 00 Louisa Humphrey 1 00 A. M. Odell 1 00 Dr. J. E. Snodgra.s.s 1 00 Gustavus Muller 1 00 Charles Lenox Remond 1 00 Mary Curtis 1 00 Jane P. Thurston 1 00 Martha T. Ketchum 1 00 Sarah H. Hallock 1 00 Elizabeth Barton 1 00 Mrs. Geo. C. White 1 00 A. Raymond 1 00 Susan M. Davis 1 00 A. M. Powell 1 00 General collection 46 50
_Receipts at the Equal Rights Convention, held at Boston, May 27, 1866._
Anna E. d.i.c.kinson $100 00 E. D. and Anna F. Draper 50 00 Geo. J. and Mary B. H. Adams 20 00 Mr. and Mrs. A. M. McPhail 20 00 Anna Davis Hallowell 10 00 C. Prince 5 00 Mrs. M. P. Snow 5 00 Caroline M. Severance 5 00 R. H. Ober 4 00 Mrs. L. Prang 1 00 A. E. Heywood 2 00 Parker Pillsbury 1 00 Mrs. E. D. Cheney 1 00 L. H. Ober 1 00 Mrs. M. H. Prince 3 00 John T. Sargent 2 00 R. P. Hallowell 2 00 Mrs. C. A. Baker 1 00 E. H. Merrill 1 00 Maria S. Page 2 00 Mary C. Shannon 50 N. Allen 1 00 S. Reynolds 50 R. T. Greene 50 M. Halliburton 50 Harriet A. Foster 2 00 A. B. Morey 50 C. S. Perry 50 A. S. Sisson 50 S. Boynton 50 Henry Abbott 2 00 Lewis Ford 1 00 Sarah J. Nowell 1 00 Friend 35 Col. Wm. B. Green 5 00 R. H. Morrill 2 00 Mrs. M. A. Dotcher 1 00 M. C. Wolson 1 00 Mary Willey 50 Cash 1 15 Abby H. Stephenson 5 00 Lewis McLaughlin 1 00 Mrs. S. D. Young 3 25 Sarah H. Young, M.D. 5 00 M. E. Woods 1 00 M. E. Jameson 1 00 C. F. Haywood 1 00 H. A. Comly 2 00 Anna R. Southwick 1 00 H. E. Sawyer 1 00 Richard Plummer 1 00 R. Howland 1 00 S. R. Duzen 1 00 F. A. Green 5 00 D. B. Morey 1 00 J. Wetherbe 1 00 Isaac H. Marshall 1 00 Maria B. Clapp 1 00 J. E. Bruce 50 A. J. Patterson 50 Cash 3 05 T. B. Rice 50 Cash 1 00 Frances H. Drake 1 00 Kate C. Atkinson 50 Wilmot Wilson 1 00 Cash 50 Mary C. Sawyer 2 00 Elizabeth Mendum 5 00 H. W. Carter 50 L. F. Lalve, M.D. 50 K. E. Walker 50 Charles K. Whipple 1 00 Ruth Buffum 1 00 S. Cheney 50 K. C. Atkins 50 Elizabeth M. F. Denton 5 00 H. N. Green 50 M. E. Steward 1 00 Margaret N. Wood 1 00 Cash 2 50 Kate Reynolds 2 00 John L. Whiting 1 00 Universal Suffrage 1 00 M. E. Darey 1 00 General collection 41 00
_Receipts from June 1, 1866, to May 1, 1867._
Levi Coates $1 00 Mrs. A. C. L. Hyde 1 00 Jane Voorhees 25 00 Harriet V. Rice 10 00 Mary F. Gilbert 1 00 F. A. Hinckley 1 50 Louisa Frost 2 00 M. B. Linton 10 00 Olympia Brown 5 00 Mary E. Ranks 1 00 Mary E. Deuls 2 00 Sarah H. Hallock 50 Dansville E. R. a.s.sociation (per James C. Jackson, M.D.) 105 00 Gerrit Smith 100 00 James and Lucretia Mott 53 00 C. S. Lozier, M.D. 50 00 Samuel E. Sewall 40 00 Sinclair Tousey 10 00 G. P. Lowrey 10 00 Dr. Dio Lewis 5 00 Martha C. Wright 5 00 Eliza W. Osborn 5 00 E. V. d.i.c.key 6 00 Edward M. Davis 5 00 Matilda E. J. Gage 5 00 E. D. Hudson 5 00 Job Parker 5 00 Aaron Stedman 1 00 Mrs. B. P. Markham 50 Mrs. D. F. Rogers 50 Emily Rogers 50 Maggie Clemmer 25 James Eaton 1 00 Addison B. Tuttle 1 00 Anna H. McAvoy 25 Isadore Harrison 25 Joseph A. Sherman 1 00 Frank Conway 25 Mary Jackson 25 J. D. Cook 50 J. G. Howe 2 00 R. Lippis 50 H. W. Hale 25 William Litch 50 Sarah Willis 1 00 Mrs. E. B. Judson 10 00 S. J. May 5 00 Joseph Savage 5 00 H. Delano 5 00 T. G. White 3 00 Dr. H. S. Sparks 2 00 Mr. and Mrs. L. Spalding 2 00 J. M. Wieting 2 00 Mrs. W. H. Williams 5 00 Anna Willets 5 00 Emily Jaques 5 00 Sarah E. Wall 5 00 James Freeman Clarke 5 00 Parker Pillsbury 4 00 Mrs. S. M. Doty 3 00 Mary Grew 2 00 Sarah Pugh 2 00 Margaret J. Burleigh 2 00 Geo. H. Sisson 3 00 E. G. Folsom 2 00 Joseph Carpenter 2 00 Susan Ormsby 1 00 Frances Ellen Burr 1 00 J. D. Stephenson 1 00 Paulina Gerry 1 00 J. H. Root 1 00 Mrs. Avery 1 00 Martha Pierce 1 00 James Pierce 1 00 A Friend 1 00 Equal Rights 1 00 Mrs. C. S. Lozier, M.D. 10 00 Mrs. E. Sanderson 5 00 Isaac Sherwood 5 00 Mrs. P. L. Upham 5 00 John B. Ba.s.sett 2 00 H. T. Douley 1 00 Sarah F. Rice, M.D. 1 00 Joseph Post 1 00 Huldah S. Warrington 1 00 Mary Styles 1 00 M. Parish 25 Mrs. Field 50 Martha Hudson 1 00 Sarah E. Johonnet 1 00 John Lancaster 1 00 Dr. and Mrs. A. L. Ward 2 00 Frances E. Smith 1 00 Mrs. Whitley 1 00 Mrs. D. B. Hontz 50 J. Sinclair 50 Anna Rice Powell 1 00 Mrs. Mix, M.D. 50 Alice Hall 50 Ella Clymer 1 00 Linda Dietz 1 00 Mrs. Dietz 50 Dr. James Burson 25 L. A. Van Cort 25 William Russel 1 00 Sarah B. Perry 50 D. H. Hoffman 50 P. A. Neale 50 Edward Kingsley 2 00 f.a.n.n.y M. Callow 2 00 L. Jenny Kellogg 1 00 Caroline H. Sherwood 1 00 Delia A. Barker 1 00 Gustavus Muller 3 00 William L. Jayc.o.x 25 E. P. Bailey 50 M. Newth 1 00 Cynthia DeLong 5 00 John Castor 25 W. R. and M. H. Hallowell 5 00 Mary B. F. Curtis 5 00 Sarah Smith 1 00 J. N. Holmes 1 00 M. Merrick 1 00 Charles D. B. Mills 1 00 A. P. Brown 50 Mrs. F. L. Brown 50 E. C. Lewis 1 00 Mrs. L. H. Hinsdale 50 Mrs. B. Brook 25 C. A. Abbott 25 Fayette Clark 50 Priscilla Clark 50 Louisa J. Phelps 1 00 Lydia P. Savage 1 00 Mrs. Charles B. Sedgwick 1 00 Mary A. Horton 25 J. T. Williams 25 Mrs. G. G. Sperry 50 A. D. Waters 25 S. Brewer 50 H. C. Todd 25 C. G. Alton 50 Mrs. L. A. Strowbridge 3 00 Martha C. Wright 5 00 Eliza W. Osborn 5 00 Mrs. Dr. Hall 1 00 Abby Thayer Chase 50 Philadelphia E. R. Convention 28 00 Esther Cole 1 00 L. Kelsey 1 00 J. S. Northrup 2 00 Mrs. A. Leaton 1 00 Samuel Sutton 50 Caroline Thompson 2 00 Elizabeth M. Atwell 2 00 Jacob and Eliza Powell 10 00 Zenus Brackett 10 00 Mrs. Judge Owen 1 00 Margaret Vanderpool 75 James McEntee 5 00 H. M. Crane 3 00 James G. Lindsley 1 00 Walter B. Crane 1 00 Horatio Falks 1 00 J. E. Lasher 1 00 Mrs. Vanta.s.sell 1 00 Jonathan Buffum 10 00 Luther Melendy 5 00 Anson Lapham 40 00 Mary S. Moses 3 00 Mrs. Oliver Dennett 10 00 Mr. Armstrong 5 00 Elisabeth J. Vail, M.D. 1 00 Matilda T. Saxton 5 00 Rosanna Thompson 2 00 Helen Philleo 1 00 James Halleck 1 10 P. H. Boyce 50 Ellis Ellis 1 00 Charlotte M. Schofield 25 John Cadawalder 10 David Perry 25 Le Grand Marvin 1 00 J. Van Vleck 1 00 Cyrus P. Lee 1 00 Aaron R. Vail 2 00 E. c.u.mming 31 Mrs. J. Watson 5 00
_Receipts at the First Anniversary, May 9 and 10, 1867._
Elizabeth B. Chace $25 00 Parker Pillsbury 25 00 Mrs. Luther Marsh 20 00 Lydia Mott 25 00 Mrs. P. H. and M. Jones 25 00 Susan B. Anthony 50 00 Cora A. Syme 10 00 Two Ladies, $5 each 10 00 Frances D. Gage 13 00 Samuel J. May 10 00 L. Francis 10 00 Westchester E. R. a.s.sociation (per E. A. Studwell) 15 00 Jane Clegg 15 00 Joseph and Mary Post 10 00 Charlotte D. Lozier, M.D. 5 00 Elizabeth W. Brown 5 00 Oliver Johnson 5 00 A. O. Willc.o.x 5 00 J. K. H. Wilc.o.x 5 00 E. c.u.mmings 5 00 Mary C. Sawyer 5 00 J. C. Fergusson 5 00 Fred. H. Hernan 5 00 Harry H. Hall 5 00 Charles P. Somerby 5 00 Robert J. Johnston 5 00 Mrs. S. M. Chickering 5 00 J. Miller McKim 5 00 Sarah E. Wall 3 00 R. F. Hudson 2 00 Mrs. Gayno 2 00 Mrs. Dodge 2 00 Mrs. L. Francis 2 00 Mrs. Elmer Stone 2 00 Hannah W. Bell 2 00 S. S. Foster 1 00 Mrs. Brown 5 00 T. W. Higginson 1 00 S. D. White 1 00 Cash 1 00 A. n.o.ble, Sr. 1 00 C. B. Halsart 1 00 E. Underhill 1 00 A. M. Powell 1 00 J. E. Snodgra.s.s 1 00 Mrs. Hibbard 1 00 Nellie Lord 1 00 D. B. and A. Morey 1 00 R. Salmon 1 00 Adolphus O. Johnson 1 00 Levi K. Joslin 1 00 Mary F. Davis 1 00 Wm. P. Bolles 1 00 Cash 1 00 E. Ostrander 1 00 Esther t.i.tus 1 00 L. B. Humphrey 1 00 Martha Hudson 1 00 Susan M. Davis 1 00 Sojourner Truth 1 00 T. M. Newbold 1 00 M. E. Woodson 50 Mrs. M. Johnson 50 Ann Ellsworth Hunt 50 L. Blake 50 J. L. Langworthy 50 T. B. Pierce 50 Esther C. Pierce 50 E. Campbell 50 M. H. McKinnon 50 Mrs. J. B. Mix, M.D. 50 Samuel D. Moore 25 M. P. Allen 25 R. Williams 25 P. E. Kipp 25
_Pledges._
Anna E. d.i.c.kinson $100 00 Margaret E. Winchester 100 00 A. O. Wilc.o.x 55 00 C. and M. H. Prince 25 00 Gillis, Harney & Co. 25 00 H. Hart 20 00 D. B. and A. B. Morey 20 00 John Smith 10 00 C. F. Wallace 5 00 C. E. Reason 5 00 Mrs. C. E. Collins 5 00 Euphemia Cochrane 5 00 Melissa Johnson 5 00 W. F. Douley 2 00 Mrs. H. P. Baldwin 1 00 Dr. Chavau 1 00 S. A. Turner 1 00 Dio Lewis, M.D. 50 00 R. C. Browning 30 00 George H. Taylor, M.D. 5 00
SOJOURNER TRUTH ON THE PRESS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE WORLD:--We have had the pleasure of entertaining Mrs. Stowe"s "Lybian Sybil" at our home for the last week, and can bear our testimony to the marvelous wisdom and goodness of this remarkable woman. She was a slave in this State for forty years, and has devoted forty years of freedom to the best interests of her race.
Though eighty years of age, she is as active and clear-sighted as ever, and "understands the whole question of reconstruction, all its "quagmires and pitfalls," as she says, as well as any man does."
The morning after the Equal Rights Convention, as the daily journals one by one made their appearance, turning to the youngsters of the household, she said: "Children, as there is no school to-day, will you read Sojourner the reports of the Convention? I want to see whether these young sprigs of the press do me justice. You know, children, I don"t read such small stuff as letters, I read men and nations. I can see through a millstone, though I can"t see through a spelling-book.
What a narrow idea a reading qualification is for a voter! I know and do what is right better than many big men who read. And there"s that property qualification! just as bad. As if men and women themselves, who made money, were not of more value than the thing they made. If I were a delegate to the Const.i.tutional Convention I could make suffrage as clear as daylight; but I am afraid these Republicans will "purty, purty" about all manner of small things week out and week in, and never settle this foundation question after all." Sojourner then gathered up her bag and shawl, and walked into the parlor in a stately manner, and there, surrounded by the children, the papers were duly read and considered. The _Express_, the _Post_, the _Commercial Advertiser_, the _World_, the _Times_, the _Herald_, the _Tribune_, and the _Sun_, all pa.s.sed in review. The _World_ seemed to please Sojourner more than any other journal. She said she liked the wit of the _World"s_ reporter; all the little texts running through the speeches, such as "Sojourner on Popping Up," "No Grumbling," "Digging Stumps," "Biz," to show what is coming, so that one can get ready to cry or laugh, as the case may be--a kind of sign-board, a milestone, to tell where we are going, and how fast we go. The readers then call her attention to the solid columns of the other papers, and the versification of the _World_. She said she did not like the dead calm.
She liked the breaking up into verses, like her songs. That is a good thing; it gives the reporter time to take breath and sharpen his pen, and think of some witty thing to say; for life is a hard battle anyway, and if we can laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. "But, children, why did you not send for some of those wicked Democratic papers that abuse all good people and good things." "They are all here," said the readers in chorus. "We have read you all the Republicans and the Democrats say."
"Why, children, I can"t tell one from the other. The millennium must be here, when one can"t tell saints from sinners, Republicans from Democrats. Is the _World_ Horace Greeley"s paper?" "Oh, no; the _World_ is Democratic!" "Democratic! Why, children, the _World_ does move! But there is one thing I don"t exactly see; if the Democrats are all ready to give equal rights to all, what are the Republicans making such a fuss about? Mr. Greeley was ready for this twenty years ago; if he had gone on as fast as the Democrats he should have been on the platform, at the conventions, making speeches, and writing resolutions, long ago." "Oh," said some one of larger growth, "Mr.
Greeley is busy with tariffs and protective duties. What do you think, Sojourner, of free trade? Do you not think if England and France have more dry-goods than they want that they had better send them to us, and we in turn send them our fruits and flowers and grains; our timber, iron, fish, and ice?" "Yes, I go for everything free. Let nature, like individuals, make the most of what G.o.d has given them, have their neighbors to do the same, and then do all they can to serve each other. There is no use in one man, or one nation, to try to do or be everything. It is a good thing to be dependent on each other for something, it makes us civil and peaceable. But," said Sojourner, "where is Theodore Tilton"s paper?" "Oh, the _Independent_ is a weekly, it came out before the Convention." "But Theodore is not a weekly; why did he not come to the Convention and tell us what he thought?" "Well, here is his last paper, with a grand editorial," and Sojourner listened to the end with interest. "That"s good," said she, "but he don"t say woman." "Oh, he is talking about sectarianism, not suffrage; the Church, not the State." "No matter, the Church wrongs woman as much as the State. "Wives, obey your husbands," is as bad as the common law. "The husband and wife are one, and that one the husband." I am afraid Theodore and Horace are playing bo-peep with their shadows. Did you tell me that Mr. Greeley is a delegate to the Const.i.tutional Convention?" Yes, and I hope that he will soon wake up to the fact that the Democrats are going ahead of him, and instead of writing articles on "Democracy run mad," on tariffs and mining interests, it behooves him to be studying what genuine republicanism is, and whether we are to realize it in the Empire State this very year or not. "Speaking of shadows," said Sojourner, "I wish the _World_ to know that when I go among fashionable people in the Church of the Puritans, I do not carry "rations" in my bag; I keep my shadow there. I have good friends enough to give me clothes and rations. I stand on principle, always in one place, so everybody knows where to find Sojourner, and I don"t want my shadow even to be d.o.g.g.i.ng about here and there and everywhere, so I keep it in this bag." "I think,"
said one of the group, "the press should hereafter speak of you as Mrs. Stowe"s Lybian Sybil, and not as "old church woman."" "Oh, child, that"s good enough. The _Herald_ used to call me "old black n.i.g.g.e.r,"
so this sounds respectable. Have you read the _Herald_ too, children?
Is that born again? Well, we are all walking the right way together.
I"ll tell you what I"m thinking. My speeches in the Convention read well. I should like to have the substance put together, improved a little, and published in tract form, headed "Sojourner Truth on Suffrage;" for if these timid men, like Greeley, knew that Sojourner was out for "universal suffrage," they would not be so afraid to handle the question. Yes, children, I am going to rouse the people on equality. I must sojourn once to the ballot-box before I die. I hear the ballot-box is a beautiful gla.s.s globe, so you can see all the votes as they go in. Now, the first time I vote I"ll see if a woman"s vote looks any different from the rest--if it makes any stir or commotion. If it don"t inside, it need not outside. That good speech of Henry Ward Beecher"s made my heart leap for joy; he just hit the nail right on the head when he said you never lost anything by asking everything; if you bait the suffrage-hook with a woman you will certainly catch a black man. There is a great deal in that philosophy, children. Now I must go and take a smoke!" I tell you in confidence, Mr. Editor, Sojourner smokes!
Yours respectfully, E. C. S.
P. S.--She says she has been sent into the smoking-car so often she smoked in self-defense--she would rather swallow her own smoke than another"s.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE KANSAS CAMPAIGN, 1867.
IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE IN KANSAS--A VIGOROUS CANVa.s.s ANTIc.i.p.aTED.
ST. LOUIS, April 3.
The _Democrat"s_ Topeka, Kansas, special says: "A large convention of those in favor of impartial suffrage is in session in this city. Lucy Stone and Dr. Blackwell, and delegates from different parts of the State are in attendance.
"An a.s.sociation has been formed for the purpose of canva.s.sing the State thoroughly and distributing doc.u.ments. The object is to carry the female suffrage clause as well as the negro. The officers of the a.s.sociation are Gov. Crawford, for President; Lieut. Gov. Green, for Vice-President; Judge S. N. Wood, for Corresponding Secretary; and an Executive Committee of fourteen, including such men as Chas. Robinson, J. P. Root, J. B. Abbot, Col. Moonlight, all the members of the Supreme Court, and other leading men of the State. Arrangements are made to have the most prominent advocates of impartial suffrage from the East to stump the State. Money will be raised to conduct the fall campaign, which will probably be the most vigorously conducted of any which has yet taken place."
The _State Record_, Kansas, says: "The opponents of woman suffrage use the argument very freely that its advocates are not in favor of negro suffrage. This is wickedly and wilfully false. The most earnest and influential supporters of woman suffrage in the State are equally anxious to give the negro his rights, and Republicans, generally, will vote for both propositions. We hope none will be deceived by these false charges made by those who write and speak in the interest of saloons, and who to turn expect to be elevated to office through their agency. The most bitter and relentless and united efforts now making against woman suffrage, are by those who are devoting their lives to degrading men and women too, and we are sorry to see a few respectable men keeping them company, under the foolish impression that the movement originated and is carried on by those who aim to defeat negro suffrage. We earnestly hope the day is near at hand when all men and women everywhere will be allowed to exercise their political rights."
Extract from a letter written by Mrs. S. N. Wood for the Lawrence _Tribune_, May, 1867: "The women of Cottonwood Falls have pa.s.sed through this horrid furnace of an election, and come out unscathed.
Our laws require that a majority of all the legal voters in the district must vote to issue bonds to build a school-house, before bonds can be issued. As women were legal voters, to stay at home was to vote against bonds. The election had to be conducted exactly as other elections. It was a busy time; none of our men liked to leave their work to spend the day at the polls, so three women were chosen and qualified to act as judges. No guardians of the ballot-box ever acted with more ability or behaved with more propriety and dignity than they. There was not the least rudeness among the men; no brawling or swearing. Not a woman there lost a particle of refinement, or became a grain coa.r.s.er, or neglected her family. Not one of the misguided women whose bad influences Mr. Reynolds, of the _Journal_, so much dreads, came to the polls. That kind of women, I judge, are literally opposed to women demoralizing themselves by voting. But if such lived in our district, and had offered to vote, I trust their votes would have been received and counted just the same as the votes of the men who support and encourage them in their wicked career. I never knew what men meant when talking about bonds, until I learned that I must vote on the subject. I wanted to vote intelligently; sought the requisite information; and I went to the polls feeling stronger and safer for that little knowledge gained. When I came home my little ones hailed me as lovingly as ever, and the same mother-love guided my hands for their comfort.
"In 1858, a "woman"s rights" man, in Kansas, believing that there should be a perfect equality as to property rights between men and women, wrote to Gerrit Smith, Wm. Goodell, Lucy Stone, and other advocates of woman"s rights, asking them to send him a form of a law that would secure that object. Among others he received the framework of a law written by Lucy Stone. He wrote it over according to her pattern, and Lyman Allen introduced it into the Legislature. It became a law in February, 1859. The original in Lucy Stone"s handwriting is yet in existence. The law is virtually the one that, to-day, on our statute book testifies to the honest sense of justice that their conflict with tyranny nurtured in our men in the early days of Kansas.
It testifies to Lucy Stone"s zeal in behalf of her s.e.x."
The following address to the Southern people was largely circulated in Kansas during the spring campaign, by Mr. Blackwell.
WHAT THE SOUTH CAN DO.
HOW THE SOUTHERN STATES CAN MAKE THEMSELVES MASTERS OF THE SITUATION.
TO THE LEGISLATURES OF THE SOUTHERN STATES:--I write to you as the intellectual leaders of the Southern people--men who should be able and willing to transcend the prejudices of section--to suggest the only ground of settlement between North and South which, in my judgment, can be successfully adopted.
Let me state the political situation. The radical principles of the North are immovably fixed upon negro suffrage as a condition of Southern State reconstruction. The proposed Const.i.tutional Amendment is not regarded as a finality. It satisfies n.o.body, not even its authors. In the minds of the Northern people the negroes are now a.s.sociated with the idea of loyalty to the Union. They are considered citizens. They are respected as "our allies." It is believed in the North that a majority of the white people of the South are at heart the enemies of the Union. The advocates of negro suffrage daily grow stronger and more numerous.