Mr. and Mrs. Clark I found very agreeable, progressive people, with a nice family of boys and girls. Like all English children, they suffered too much repression, while our American children have too much lat.i.tude. If we could strike the happy medium between the two systems, it would be a great benefit to the children of both countries. The next day we drove down to see Glas...o...b..ry cathedral.
England is full of these beautiful ruins, covered with flowers and ivy, but the saddest spectacles, with all this fading glory, are the men, women and children whose nakedness neither man nor nature seeks to drape.
Returning to London we accepted an invitation to take tea with Mrs.
Jacob Bright. A choice circle of three it was, and a large server of tempting viands was placed on a small table before us. Mrs.
Bright, 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 b.u.t.ter, cake, strawberries and cream, silver, china, in one conglomerate ma.s.s. 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, Mr. 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 gave a presentation of the industrial, legal and political status of American women; while I set forth their educational, social and religious limitations. Mr.
John P. Thoma.s.son, M. P., made the closing address, expressing his satisfaction with the addresses of the ladies and the progress made in both countries.[582]
Mrs. Thoma.s.son, daughter of Mrs. Lucas, gave several delightful evening parties,[583] receptions and dinners, some for ladies alone, where an abundant opportunity was offered for a critical a.n.a.lysis of the idiosyncracies of the superior s.e.x, especially in their political 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 Liberals to flight in a twinkling, members whom these n.o.ble 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 them.
Verily their divine faith and patience merited more worthy action on the part of their representatives.
We formed very pleasant friendships with Miss Frances Lord and Miss Henrietta Muller, spending several days with the latter at 58 Cadogan square, and both alike visited us at different times in Basingstoke. Miss Lord has translated some of Ibsen"s plays very creditably to herself, and, we understand, to the satisfaction of the Swedish poet. Miss Lord is a cultured, charming woman, attractive in society, and has a rare gift in conversation; she is rather shrinking in her feelings. Miss Muller, her devoted friend, is just the opposite; fearless, aggressive and self-centered. Miss Lord discharged her duties as poor-law guardian faithfully, and Miss Muller, as member of the London school-board, claimed her rights when infringed upon, and maintained the dignity of her position with a good degree of tact and heroism. We met Miss Whitehead, another poor-law guardian, at Miss Muller"s, and had a long talk on the sad condition of the London poor and the grand work Octavia Hill had done among them. Miss Muller read us a paper on the dignity and office of single women. Her idea seems to be very much like that expressed by St. Paul in his epistles, that it is better for those who have a genius for public work in the church or State not to marry; and Miss Muller carries her theory into practice thus far. She has a luxurious establishment of her own, is fully occupied in politics and reform, and though she lives by herself she entertains her friends generously, and does whatever it seems good to her to do. As she is bright and entertaining and has many worshipers, she may fall a victim to the usual fate in spite of her admirable essay, which has been printed in tract form and circulated extensively in England and America. Miss Muller gave Miss Anthony and myself a farewell reception 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 as could not come at the hour appointed. Dr.
Elizabeth Blackwell took breakfast with us; Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs.
Seville[584] 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 pa.s.sed my birthday, November 12, in Basingstoke. It was a sad day to us all, knowing that it was the last before my departure for America. When I imprinted the farewell kiss on the soft cheek of little Nora in the cradle, she in the dawn and I in the sunset of life, I realized how widely the long years and the broad ocean would separate us forever. Miss Anthony, who had been visiting Mrs. Parker, near Warrington, met me at Alderly Edge, where we spent a few days in the charming home of Mr.
and Mrs. Jacob Bright. There we found their n.o.ble sisters, Mrs.
McLaren and Mrs. Lucas, young Walter McLaren and his lovely bride, Eva Muller, 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 here we visited Dean Stanley"s birthplace; but on his death the light and joy went out, and the atmosphere of 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 all around was beautiful, cows and sheep were still grazing in the meadows, the gra.s.s as green as in June. This is England"s chief charm, forever green, some compensation for the many cloudy days. An evening reception in Mrs. Bright"s s.p.a.cious parlors, with friends from Manchester and other adjoining towns, with speeches of welcome and farewell, finished our visit at Alderly Edge.
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, Mrs. Scatcherd and Dr. f.a.n.n.y d.i.c.kinson of Chicago. Another reception was given us at the residence of Dr. Ewing Whittle. Several short speeches were made, all cheering the parting guests with words of hope and encouragement for the good cause.
Here the wisdom of forming an international a.s.sociation was considered. The proposition met with such favor from those present that a committee was appointed to correspond with the friends in different nations. As Miss Anthony and myself are members of that committee,[585] now that these volumes are finished and we are at liberty once more, we shall ascertain as soon as possible the feasibility of a grand international conference in New York in 1888, to celebrate the fourth decade of our movement for woman"s enfranchis.e.m.e.nt. Such conventions have been held by the friends of anti-slavery, peace, temperance, social purity and evangelical christianity, and why may not the suffrage cause, too, receive a new impetus from the united efforts of its friends in all countries.
On the broad Atlantic for ten days we had many opportunities to review all we had seen and heard. There we met our n.o.ble friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hussey of New Jersey; also Mrs. Margaret Buchanan Sullivan of Chicago, just returning from an extended tour in Ireland, who gave us many of her rich experiences. Sitting on deck hour after hour, how often I queried with myself as to the significance of the boon for which women were so earnestly struggling. In asking for a voice in the government under which we live, have we been pursuing a shadow for forty 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 ent.i.ty 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, is better than indirect influence, be it ever so far-reaching.
Though influence, like the pure white light, is all-pervading, yet it is oft-times obscured with pa.s.sing 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 given purpose. But as the prism by dividing the rays of light reveals to us the brilliant coloring of the atmosphere, and as the burning-gla.s.s by concentrating them in a focus intensifies their heat, so does the right of suffrage reveal the beauty and power of individual sovereignty in the great drama of national life, while on a vital measure of public interest it combines the many voices of the people in a grand chorus of protest or applause.
After an unusually calm, pleasant voyage, for November, we sailed up our beautiful New York harbor just as the sun was rising in all his glory, gilding every hill-top and distant spire in the landscape, and with grateful hearts we celebrated the national Thanksgiving-day once more with loving friends in the great Republic.
FOOTNOTES:
[575] He asked me confidentially if I knew what the "D" in his name stood for. "Why," said I, "in line with your profession, it must be for "Divinity," or "Doxology."" "No," said he, "for "Dynamite."" As we were being blown up just then in all parts of London, I begged him not to explode until Sunday morning in old South Church, as I would rather see a wreck of the old theologies than of our charming hostess and Corney Green, who were giving us this pleasant entertainment.
[576] She says she prefers to be known as the wife of Duncan McLaren, a member of parliament from Edinburgh for sixteen years, who always voted right on the woman question, while John Bright is opposed to the movement.
[577] She occupies the home of an English woman who has taken her seven children to Germany for their education. How strange it is that so many parents imagine that they can educate their children better in a foreign land.
[578] After dinner, while the gentlemen still lingered at the table, the ladies being alone, an unusual amount of heresy as to the rights of "the divinely appointed head of the house" found expression. A young English-woman, who had been brought up in great retirement, turned to me and said, "I never heard such declarations before; do you ladies all really believe that G.o.d intended men and women to be equal, and do you really feel that girls have a right to enjoy as many privileges as boys?" In chorus we all promptly said, "We do," and I added, "If you will recall all the events of your life thus far, and your own feelings at times, you will find that again and again your own heart has protested against the injustice to which you have been subjected. Now," said I, "think a little, and see if you can recall no sense of dissatisfaction at the broad difference made between your sisters and brothers."
"Well," said she, "I did often wonder why father gave the boys half a crown a week for spending money, and us girls a few pence; why so much thought and money were expended on their education, and so little on ours; but as I saw that that was the custom everywhere, I came to the conclusion that they were a superior order of beings, and so thought no more about it, and I never heard that theory contradicted until this evening."
[579] Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Haslam, Mr. Wigham, brother of Eliza Wigham, and his cultured wife; Hannah Webb, the daughter of Richard, and Thomas Webb and daughters, in whose old family-record book of visitors she was shown the autographs of William Lloyd Garrison and Nathaniel P. Rogers over the date of 1840.
[580] On one occasion I counted fourteen: Miss Risley Seward, Mrs.
Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Laura Curtis Bullard, Miss Rachel Foster, Mrs. William Mellen and two sons and daughters, Mr.
Theodore Tilton. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Stanton Blatch and myself.
[581] Aside from those already mentioned were William Henry Channing, L. N. Fowler, the phrenologist, and his daughter; Mrs.
Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Phillips, several members from the Bright, the McLaren and the Cobden families, Mrs. Conway, Miss Emily Faithful, Mr. William Henry Blatch, Mr. Stark, the artist; Philip Marston, the blind poet; Miss Orme and Miss Richardson, attorneys-at-law; Judge Kelley, wife and daughter Florence, Miss Lydia Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs and sisters, Miss Julia Osgood.
[582] Among the distinguished persons on the platform were Frances Power Cobbe, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Thoma.s.son, Mrs. Margaret Parker, Mrs. Alice Scatcherd, Miss Becker, Miss Biggs, Mrs. Moore, Mr. and Mrs.
Conway, Oscar Wilde and his queenly mother, Charles McLaren, M. P., Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Miss Helen Taylor, Miss Orme, Miss Muller, Miss Lord, Miss Foster, Mrs. and Miss Blatch, Mrs. Mellen, Miss Tod of Belfast, Mrs. Chesson, daughter of George Thompson, the great anti-slavery orator, and very many others whose names we cannot recall.
[583] Where we met Mrs. Fawcett, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Sir Hugh Staples, Mr. Mitch.e.l.l, the Misses Stackpole and brothers, Madame Venturi, Miss Biggs and sisters, Miss Frances Lord and her sister, who is doing a n.o.ble work in her kindergarten.
[584] Mrs. Seville, whose husband was a professor at Sandhurst College, having recently awoke to the indignities the church heaps upon women, made her protest in discarding her bonnet and appearing on Sundays with her head uncovered, contrary to Paul"s injunctions.
Having thus attended church for two years, involving much criticism and disturbance, both the vicar and the bishop labored with her to resume the bonnet, but she remained incorrigible. She read us a letter of remonstrance from the bishop, over which we all had a hearty laugh.
[585] The following is the report of the action prepared that evening by Mrs. Parker: "At a large and influential gathering of the friends of woman suffrage, at Parliament Terrace, Liverpool, November 16, 1883, convened by E. Whittle, M. D., to meet Mrs.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony prior to their return to America, it was proposed by Mrs. Margaret E. Parker of Penketh (near Warrington), seconded by Mrs. McLaren of Edinburgh, and unanimously pa.s.sed:
"That this meeting, recognizing that union is strength and that the time has come when women all over the world should unite in the just demand for their political enfranchis.e.m.e.nt; therefore
"_Resolved_, That we do here appoint a committee of correspondence, preparatory to forming an International Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.
"_Resolved_, That the committee consist of the following friends, with power to add to their number:
"_For the American Center_--Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Miss Susan B. Anthony, Miss Rachel Foster. _London Center_--Mrs. Peter A.
Taylor, Mrs. Margaret B. Lucas, Miss Helen Taylor, Miss Henrietta Muller, Miss Caroline A. Biggs, Mr. and Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Eliza Orme, Miss Rebecca Moore, London; Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch, Basingstoke. _Manchester Center_--Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bright, Manchester; Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Thoma.s.son, Bolton; Mrs.
Margaret E. Parker, Penketh; Dr. and Mrs. Whittle, Liverpool; Mrs.
Oliver Scatcherd, Leeds; Mr. and Mrs. Walter McLaren, Bradford; Mrs. Philips, Liverpool; Mr. and Mrs. Crook, Bolton; Mr. Berners, Mr. Russell, Liverpool; Miss Becker, Manchester. _Bristol Center_--Miss Helen Bright Clarke, Street; Mrs. Alfred Ostler, Birmingham; Miss Priestman, Bristol. _Center for Scotland_--Mrs.
Duncan McLaren, Mrs. Elizabeth Pease Nichol, Miss Eliza Wigham, Edinburgh. _Center for Ireland_--Miss Tod, Belfast; Mrs. Haslam, Dublin. _Center for France_--M"lle Hubertine Auclert, Mr. and Mrs.
Theodore Stanton, Charlotte B. Wilbour, Paris.
APPENDIX.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CENTENNIAL YEAR.
Among those who sent most cordial letters of greeting, with requests that their names should be enrolled in the centennial autograph-book as signers of the woman"s declaration of sentiments, were: _Maine_, Lavinia M. Snow, Lucy A. Snow; _New Hampshire_, Marilla M. Ricker, Abby P. Ela; _Ma.s.sachusetts_, E. T. Strickland, Sarah E. Wall; _Rhode Island_, Paulina Wright Davis; _Connecticut_, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Frances Ellen Burr, Julia and Abby Smith; _New York_, Clemence S. Lozier, Henrietta Paine Westbrook, Nettie A. Ford, Elizabeth B. Phelps, Charlotte A. Cleveland, Elizabeth M.
Atwell; _Pennsylvania_, E. A. Stetson Lozier, Anna Thomson; _New Jersey_, Ellen d.i.c.kinson, S. Mary Clute, Mary M. Van Clief, S. H.
Cornell, Emma L. Wilde, Jennie Dixon, Casa Tonti, Marie Howland, Lucinda B. Chandler; _District of Columbia_, Addie T. Holton, Margaret E. Johnson, Sabra P. Abell, Ruth Carr Dennison, Ellen H.
Sheldon, Mary Shadd Cary and ninety-four others, Mary F. Foster, Susan A. Edson; _Virginia_, Sally Holly, Carrie Putnam; _Kentucky_, Annie Laurie Quinby; _Tennessee_, Elizabeth Avery Meriwether; _Louisiana_, Elizabeth Lisle Saxon; _Michigan_, Sarah C. Owen, Margaret J. E. Millar; _Illinois_, A. J. Grover, Edward P. Powell, Cynthia A. Leonard, Susan H. Richardson; _Missouri_, Francis Minor, Annie R. Irvine; _California_, Sarah L. Knox, Sarah J. Wallis, Carrie M. Robinson, Mary E. Kellogg, Georgiana Bruce Kirby; _Oregon_, Mrs. A. J. Johns, Eveline Merrick Roork, Charles A. Reed; _Washington Territory_, Mary Olney Brown, Abby H. H. Stuart; _Utah Territory_, Annie G.o.dbe; _Iowa_, Amelia Bloomer, Submit C. Loomis, Philo A. Lyon and seventy-five others of Humboldt, Jane A. Telker, Nancy R. Allen, Margaret Euart Colby, Mrs. Ellen M. Robinson, Mrs.
G. R. Woodworth, Mrs. W. W. Johnson, Mrs. Caroline A. Ingham, Mrs.
Mabel A. Stough, Mrs. R. H. Spencer, Mrs. J. W. Kenyon, Mrs. A. M.
Horton, Miss L. T. Dood, Mary L. Watson, Mrs. Sarah A. McCoy, Mrs.
J. J. Wilson, Mrs. F. L. Calkins, Mrs. L. H. Smith, Mrs. Emma C.
Spear, Mrs. M. L. Burlingame, Mrs. G. W. Blanchard, Mrs. D. L.