Certainly, as we are supposed to have brought "original sin"
into the world with its fearful forebodings of eternal punishment, any modification of Hades in fact or name, for the _men_ of the race, the innocent victims of our disobedience, fills us with satisfaction.
From the club the ladies hastened to the beautiful residence of Mrs. Fenno Tudor, fronting Boston Common, where hundreds of friends had already gathered to do honor to the n.o.ble woman so ready to identify herself with the unpopular reforms of her day.
Among the many beautiful works of art, a chief attraction was the picture of the grand-mother of Parnell, the Irish agitator, by Gilbert Stuart. The house was fragrant with flowers, and the una.s.suming manners of Mrs. Tudor, as she moved about among her guests, reflected the glory of our American inst.i.tutions in giving the world a generation of common-sense women who do not plume themselves on any advent.i.tous circ.u.mstances of wealth or position, but bow in respect to morality and intelligence wherever they find it. At the close of the evening Mrs. Stanton presented Mrs. Tudor with the "History of Woman Suffrage" which she received with evident pleasure and returned her sincere thanks.
At the close of the anniversary week in Boston, successful meetings were held in various cities,[80] beginning at Providence, where Dr.
Wm. F. Channing made the arrangements. These conventions were the first that the National a.s.sociation ever held in the New England States, presenting the national plan of woman"s enfranchis.e.m.e.nt through a sixteenth amendment to the United States Const.i.tution.
FOOTNOTES:
[53] "True labor reform: the ballot for woman, the unpaid laborer of the whole earth."
"Man"s work is from sun to sun, But woman"s work is never done."
"Taxation without representation is tyranny. Woman is taxed to support pauperism and crime, and is compelled to feed and clothe the law-makers who oppress her."
"Women are voting on education, the bulwark of the republic, in Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon, New Hampshire and Ma.s.sachusetts."
"Women are voting on all questions in Wyoming and Utah. The vote of women transformed Wyoming from barbarism to civilization."
"The financial problem for woman: equal pay for equal work, and one hundred cents on the dollar."
"When a woman _Will_, she WILL, and you may depend on it, she WILL vote."
[54] _California_, Jane B. Archibald; _Connecticut_, Julia E. Smith (Parker), E. C. Champion; _Delaware_, Mary A. Stuart; _District of Columbia_, Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford, Ellen H.
Sheldon, Sara J. Messer, Amanda M. Best, Belva A. Lockwood, Mary A.
S. Carey, Rosina M. Parnell, Mary L. Wooster, Helen Rand Tindall, Lura McNall Orme; _Illinois_, Miss Jessie Waite, daughter of Caroline V. and Judge Waite; _Indiana_, Zerelda G. Wallace, Emma Mont McRae; Flora M. Hardin; _Iowa_, Nancy R. Allen; _Kansas_, Della Ross; _Louisiana_, Elizabeth L. Saxon, _Maine_, Sophronia C.
Snow; _Maryland_, Lavinia Dundore; _Michigan_, Catherine A. F.
Stebbins; _Missouri_, Phoebe W. Couzins; _New Hampshire_, Marilla M. Ricker; _New Jersey_, Lucinda B. Chandler; _New York_, Susan B.
Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Lillie Devereux Blake, Dr. A.
W. Lozier, Jennie de M. Lozier, M. D., Helen M. Sloc.u.m; _Pennsylvania_, Rachel G. Foster, Julia T. Foster; _South Carolina_, Mary R. Pell.
[55] Signed by Matilda Joslyn Gage, _Chairman Executive Committee_: Susan B. Anthony, _Vice-president-at-large_; Sara Andrews Spencer, _Corresponding Secretary_: Jane H. Spofford, _Treasurer_.
[56] This week has been devoted almost exclusively to the women, who as temperance leaders, female suffragists and general reformers, have become a power in the land which can no longer be ridiculed or ignored. Yesterday Lincoln Hall was packed to its utmost capacity with such an audience as no other entertainment or amus.e.m.e.nt has ever before gathered in this city. Women of refinement and cultivation, of thought and purpose, women of standing and position in society, mothers of families, wives of clergymen, were there by the hundreds, to listen to the words of wisdom and eloquence that fell from the lips of that a.s.sembly, the most carefully organized, thoroughly governed, harmoniously acting a.s.sociation in this great country. Members of congress, professors of colleges, judges and gentlemen of leisure, sat or stood in admiration of the progress of the women, who are so earnestly striving to regenerate our beloved republic, over which the shadow of anarchy and dissolution is hovering with outspread wings. These women are no longer trembling suppliants, feeling their way cautiously and feebly amid an overpowering ma.s.s of obstructions; they are now strong in their might, in their unity, and in the righteousness of their cause. Men will do wisely if they attract this power instead of repelling it; if they permit women to work in concert with them, instead of compelling them to be arrayed against them. The fate of Governor Robinson and Senator Ecelstine of New York, indicates what they can do, and what they will do, if obliged to a.s.sume the att.i.tude of aggressors. Congress has heard no such eloquence upon its floors this week as we have listened to from the lips of these n.o.ble women.--[Washington correspondent of the Portland (Me.) _Transcript_, Jan. 23, 1880.
These conventions occur yearly and although the ladies have fought long and hard, and seem to have not yet reached a positive a.s.surance of success, still they continue to force the fight with greater earnestness and redoubled energy, and their meetings are conducted with much wisdom and decided spirit. There is one thing to the credit of these ladies which cannot be said of the opposite s.e.x, and that is, their conventions are models of good order and parliamentary eloquence, and they put their work through in a graceful, business-like manner.--[Washington _Critic_, Jan. 21, 1880.
The announcement that the public session of the National Woman Suffrage Convention would begin at one o"clock yesterday afternoon at Lincoln Hall sufficed to attract a most brilliant audience, composed princ.i.p.ally of ladies, occupying every seat and thronging the aisles. The inconvenience of remaining standing was patiently endured by hundreds who seemed loth to leave while the convention was in progress.--[Washington _National Republican_, Jan. 22, 1880.
The session of the Woman Suffrage Convention in Washington this week has developed the fact that these strong-minded women are making progress. The convention itself was composed of women of marked ability, and its proceedings were marked by dignity and decorum. The very best citizens of the city attended the meetings.--[Washington correspondent Syracuse _Daily Standard_.
[57] Letters were read from Mary Powers Filley, N. H.; Martha G.
Tunstall, Texas; M. A. Darling, Mich.; May Wright Thompson, Ind.; Sarah Burger Stearns, Minn.; Miss Martin, Ill.; W. G. Myers, O.; Annie L. Quinby, Ky.; Zina Young Williams, Utah; Barbara J.
Thompson, Neb.; Mira L. Sturgis, Me.; Orra Langhorne, Va.; Emily P.
Collins, La.; Charles P. Wellman, esq., Ga.
[58] Judge Edmunds meeting Miss Anthony afterwards, complimented her on having made an argument instead of what is usually given before committees, platform oratory. He said her logic was sound, her points unanswerable. Nor were the delegates familiar with that line of argument less impressed by it, given as it was without notes and amid many interruptions. It was one of those occasions rarely reached, in which the speaker showed the full height to which she was capable of rising. We have not s.p.a.ce for the whole argument, and the train of reasoning is too close to be broken.--[M. J. G.
[59] Speeches were also made by Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Spencer and Miss Anthony.
[60] _Alabama_, Mrs. P. Holmes Drake, Huntsville. _Connecticut_, Elizabeth C. Champion, Bridgeport. _District of Columbia_, Belva A.
Lockwood, Eveleen L. Mason, Jerusha G. Joy, Ellen H. Sheldon, Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford. _Illinois_, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, vice-president of the National a.s.sociation and editor of the "Woman"s Kingdom" in the _Chicago Inter-Ocean_, Evanston; Dr. Ann M. Porter, Danville. _Indiana_, Mary E. Haggart, vice-president; Martha Grimes, Zerelda G. Wallace, May Wright Thompson, A. P. Stanton, Indianapolis; Salome McCain, Frances Joslin, Crawfordsville; Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, editor of the "Bric-a-brac department" of the _Lafayette Courier_, Lafayette; Thomas Atkinson, Oxford; Mrs. Dr. Rogers, Greencastle; Florence M.
Hardin, Pendelton. _Iowa_, Mrs. J. C. M"Kinney, Mrs. Weiser, Decorah. _Kentucky_, Mary B. Clay, Richmond; Mrs. Carr, Mrs. E. T.
Housh, Louisville. _Louisiana_, Elizabeth L. Saxon, New Orleans, _Maryland_; Mary A. Butler, Baltimore. _Michigan_, Catherine A. F.
Stebbins, Detroit. _Missouri_, Mrs. Virginia L. Minor, Mrs. Eliza J. Patrick, Mrs. Annie T. Anderson, Mrs. Caroline Johnson Todd, Mrs. Endie J. Polk, Miss Phoebe Couzins, Miss M. A. Baumgarten, Miss Emma Neave, Miss Eliza B. Buckley, St. Louis; Mrs. Frances Montgomery, Oregon. _New Hampshire_, Parker Pillsbury, Concord.
_New Jersey_, Lucinda B. Chandler. _New York_, Mrs. Blake, Mrs.
Gage, Miss Anthony. _Ohio_, Mrs. Amanda B. Merrian, Mrs. Cordelia A. Plimpton, Cincinnati; Sophia L. O. Allen, Eva L. Pinney, South Newberry; Mrs. N. L. Braffet, New Paris. _Pennsylvania_, Rachel Foster, Julia T. Foster, Philadelphia. _South Carolina_, Mary R.
Pell, Cowden P. O.
[61] _Colorado_, Florence M. Haynes, Greely. _Connecticut_, Elizabeth C. Champion, Bridgeport. _District of Columbia_; Belva A.
Lockwood, Sara Andrews Spencer, Jane H. Spofford, Ellen H. Sheldon, Eveleen L. Mason, Jersuha G. Joy, Helen Rand Tindall, Amanda M.
Best, Washington. _Illinois_, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Sarah Hackett Stephenson, Kate Newell Doggett, Catherine V. Waite, Elizabeth J. Loomis, Alma Van Winkle, Chicago; Dr. Ann Porter, Danville; Mrs. F. Lillebridge, Rockford; Ann L. Barnett, Lockport; Mrs. F. A. Ross, Mrs. I. R. Lewison, Mansfield; Amanda Smith, Prophetstown. _Indiana_, Helen M. Gougar, Lafayette; Dr. Rachel B.
Swain, Gertrude Garrison, Indianapolis. _Iowa_, Nancy R. Allen, Maquoketa; Jane C. M"Kinney, Mrs. Weiser, Decorah; Virginia Cornish, Hamburg; Ellen J. Foster, Clinton; Clara F. Harkness, Humboldt. _Kansas_, Amanda B. Way, Elizabeth M"Kinney, Kenneth.
_Kentucky_, Mary B. Clay, Sallie Clay Bennett, Richmond.
_Louisiana_, Elizabeth L. Saxon, New Orleans. _Maryland_, Mary A.
Butler, Baltimore. _Ma.s.sachusetts_, Addie N. Ayres, Boston.
_Minnesota_, A. H. Street, Albert Lee. _Michigan_, Catherine A. F.
Stebbins, Detroit; Eliza Burt Gamble, Miss Mattie Smedly, East Saginaw; P. Engle Travis, Hartford; Dr. Elizabeth Miller, South Frankford. _Missouri_, Virginia L. Minor, Phoebe W. Couzins, Annie T. Anderson, Caroline J. Todd, St. Louis; Dr. Augusta Smith, Springfield. _New Hampshire_, Parker Pillsbury, Concord.
_Nebraska_, Harriet S. Brooks, Omaha; Dr. Amy R. Post, Hastings.
_New Jersey_, Margaret H. Ravenhill. _New York_, Susan B. Anthony, Rochester; Matilda Joslyn Gage, Fayetteville; Lillie Devereux Blake, New York city. _Ohio_, Eva L. Pinney, South Newbury; Julia B. Cole. _Oregon_, Mrs. A. J. Duniway (as subst.i.tute), Portland.
_Pennsylvania_, Rachel Foster, Julia T. Foster, Lucinda B.
Chandler, Philadelphia; Cornelia H. Scarborough, New Hope. _South Carolina_, Mary R. Pell, Cowden P. O. _Tennessee_, Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, Memphis. _Wisconsin_, Rev. Olympia Brown, Racine; Almedia B. Gray, Schofield Mills. _Wyoming Territory_, Amelia B.
Post.
[62] HISTORICAL SOCIETY ROOMS, 140-42 DEARBORN AVE., CHICAGO, May 19, 1880.
_Mrs. E. C. Stanton, President National Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation, 476 West Lake street:_
_Dear Madam:_ I write you in behalf of the Chicago Historical Society, and with the hope that you will obligingly secure for and present to this society a full ma.n.u.script record of the _ma.s.s-meeting_ to be held in Farwell Hall in this city, June 2, 1880, duly signed by its officers. We hope too you will do the society the great favor to deposit in its archives all the letters and postals which you may receive in response to your invitations to attend that meeting.
This meeting may be an important one and long to be remembered. It is hard to measure the possibilities of 1880. I hope this meeting will mark an epoch in American history equal to the convention held in Independence Hall in 1776. How valuable would be the attested ma.n.u.script record of that convention and the correspondence connected therewith! The records of the Farwell-hall meeting may be equally valuable one hundred years hence. Please let the records be kept in the city in which the convention or ma.s.s-meeting is held.
I am a Republican. I hope the party to which I belong will be consistent. On the highest stripe of its banner is inscribed "Freedom and Equal Rights." I hope the party will not be so inconsistent as to refuse to the "better half" of the people of the United States the rights enjoyed by the liberated slaves at the South.
The leaders should not be content _to suffer it to be so_, but should work with a will to make it so. I have but little confidence in the sincerity of the man who will shout himself hoa.r.s.e about "shot guns" and "intimidation" at the South, when ridicule and sneers come from his "shot gun" pointed at those who advocate the doctrine that our mothers, wives and sisters are as well qualified to vote and hold official position as the average Senegambian of Mississippi.
We should be glad to have you and your friends call at these rooms, which are open and free for all.
Very Respectfully, A. D. HAGER, _Librarian_.
[63] By Mrs. Saxon of New Orleans, La.; Mrs. Meriwether of Memphis, Mrs. Sallie Clay Bennett, daughter of Ca.s.sius M. Clay of Richmond Ky.; and others. Mrs. Bennett related a little home incident. She said: A few days ago she was in her front yard planting with her own hands some roses, when "our ex-governor," pa.s.sing by, exclaimed: "Mrs. Bennett, I admire that in you; whatever one wants well done he must do himself." She immediately answered: "That is true Governor, and that is why we women suffragists have determined to do our own voting hereafter." She then informed him that she wanted to speak to him on that great question. He was rather anxious to avoid the argument, and expressed his surprise and "was sorry to see a woman like her, surrounded by so many blessings, with a kind husband, numerous friends and loving children, advocating woman suffrage! She ought to be contented with these.
She was not like Miss Anthony--" "Stop, Governor," I exclaimed, "Don"t think of comparing me to that lady, for I feel that I am not worthy to touch the hem of her garments." She was, she said, indeed the mother of five dear children, but she [Miss Anthony] is the mother of a nation of women. She thought the women feared G.o.d rather than man, and it was only this which encouraged them to speak on this subject, so dear to their hearts, in public. One lady gave as a reason why she wanted to vote, that it was because "the men did not want them to," which evoked considerable merriment.
This induced the chair to remind the audience of Napoleon"s rule: "Go, see what your enemy does not want you to do and do it." Of the audience the _Inter-Ocean_ said: "The speakers of all the sessions were listened to with rapt attention by the audience, and the points made were heartily applauded. It would be difficult to gather so large an audience of our s.e.x whose appearance would be more suggestive of refinement and intelligence."
[64] Miss Anthony, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Spencer and Mrs.
Haggart.