CQRTMELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Robert E, Stsntton Eighty years and more (1815-1897) ighty yeai ill olin 3 1924 032 654 315 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032654315 5 *^ V EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE (1815-1897) REMINISCENCES OP ELIZABETH CADY STANTON "Social science affirms that woman's place in society marks the level of civilization." NEW YORK EUROPEAN PUBLISHING COMPANY 1898 Copyright, 1897, BY ELIZABETH CADY STANTON THB MERSHON COMPANY PRBSS^ KAHWAY, K. J. I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME TO SUSAN B. ANTHONY, MY STEADFAST FRIEND FOR HALF A CENTURY. PREFACE. The interest my family and friends have always manifested in the narration of my early and varied ex- periences, and their earnest desire to have them in permanent form for the amusement of another genera- tion, moved me to publish this volume. I am fully aware that its contents have no especial artistic merit, being" composed partly of extracts from my diary, a few hasty sketches of my travels and people I have met, and of my opinions on many social questions. The story of my private life as the wife of an earnest reformer, as an enthusiastic housekeeper, proud of my skill in every department of domestic economy, and as the mother of seven children, may amuse and benefit the reader. The incidents of my public career as a leader in the most momentous reform yet launched upon the world — the emancipation of woman — ^will be found in " The History of Woman Suffrage." Elizabeth Cady Stanton. New York City, September, 1897. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Childhood, i II. School Days, 20 III. Girlhood, 35 IV. Life at Peterboro, 51 V. Our Wedding Journey, 71 VI. Homeward Bound, 92 VII. Motherhood, 108 VIII. Boston and Chelsea 127 IX. The First Woman's Rights Convention, . . 143 X. Susan B. Anthony, 155 XI. Susan B. Anthony (Continued^ .... 169 XII. My First Speech Before a Legislature, . 186 XIII. Reforms and Mobs 200 XIV. Views on Marriage and Divorce, ... 215 XV. Women as Patriots, 234 XVI. Pioneer Life in Kansas — Our Newspaper "The Revolution,'' 245 XVII. Lyceums and Lecturers, 259 XVIII. Westward Ho ! 283 XIX. The Spirit of '76, 307 XX. Writing "The History of Woman Suffrage," , 322 XXI. In the South of France, 337 XXII. Reforms and Reformers in Great Britain, . 351 XXIII. Woman and Theology, 377 XXIV. England and France Revisited, . . . 394 XXV. The International Council of Women, . . 412 XXVI. My Last Visit to England 422 XXVII. Sixtieth Anniversary of the Class of 1832— The Woman's Bible, 439 XXVIII. My Eightieth Birthday 458 Index of Names, 469 vii LIST OF PORTRAITS. The Author Margaret Livingston Cady Judge Daniel Cady, Henry Brewster Stanton, .... The Author and Daughter, .... Susan B. Anthony, ...... The Author and Son Elizabeth Smith Miller, Children and Grandchildren, .... The Author, Mrs. Blatch, and Nora, . The Author, Mrs. Lawrence, and Robert Livingston Stanton Frontispiece Facing p. 20 51 71 108 155 200 259 307 394 458 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. CHAPTER I CHILDHOOD, . /- II 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 awaken- ing to one, giving an impulse in a certain direction that may last for years, may make no impres'sion on another. People wonder why the children of the same family dif- fer 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 maj^es 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 con- dition of rebellion; the other, more easily satisfied, 2 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 disap- pointment 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 insig- nificant to their elders is often to tliem 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, 181 5, 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 ex- citement 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. CHILDHOOD. 3 My father was a man of firm character and unim- / peachable 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 re- pose and reserve of manner that, as children, we regarded him with fear rather than affection. My mother, Marg^aret 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 strong- hold 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 sus- picious 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 act- ing 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 de- 4 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. fend 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_iear,_ rather than love, of God and parents a like, predomi- nated^ Add to this our timiditj in our intercourse with servants and teachers, our dread of the ever present devil, and the reader will see that, under such con- ditions, 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 car- ried me to see the little stranger, whose advent was a matter of intense interest to me for many weeks after. The large, pleasant room withthe 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 h'eard so many friends remark, ^ " What a pity it is she's a giri! " that I felt a kind of compassion for the little baby. True, our family con- sisted 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 CHILDHOOD. S 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 f ormer 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," " cot- ton," " flannel," " calico," etc., as well as ancient mascit- line 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, butfer, 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 bufif and other games when the day's work was done. These two roolns are the center of many of the merriest memories of my childhood days. I can recall three colored men, Abraham, Peter, and. Tacob, who acted as menservants in our vo nth Tn... turn they"wourd 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 6 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 differept 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 en- thusiasm, we were invariably summoned to some disagreeable duty, which would appear to show that thus early I keenly enjoyed outdoor life. Theodore T-i1tnTiJi:^S tlii iri Honpr . lbpd the p larp 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 un- marked 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 CHILDHOOD. 7 iflteUectual wrestlings of Kent, Tompkins, Spencer, Elisha WiiKainiTand 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 of? 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 8 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 clang- ing 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 vir- tue. 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 im- proved." I consented, and, slight as my eyebrows were, they seemed to have had some expression, for the loss of them had a most singular eflfect on my appear- ance. 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. CHILDHOOD. 9 I cannot recall how or when I conquered the alpha- bet, 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 " Mur- ray'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 ruflfie that, through a lack of skill on the part of either the laundress or the nurse who sewed them in, proved a con- stant 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 ex- pletives. But we were sternly rebuked for complain- ing, and if we ventured to introduce our little fingers between the delicate skin and the irritating linen, our hands were slapped and the ruflfie readjusted a degree lO EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 mo- notonous. 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 disUke 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 comprehepd the feel- ings of a.Uttle 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, say- ing, " 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 prefer- ences, 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 every- thing 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 not Even at CHILDHOOD. II 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 T 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 y6u 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 suf- fered nothing from anticipation of troubles, while my sorrows were intensified fourfold by innumerable appre- hensions 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 even- ings we could, by dint of skillful twisting and compress- ing, 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 12 EIGHTY YEARS AMD MORE. 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 " tan- trums." 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 man- ner in which sister Margaret and I defied all the tran- sient orders and strict rules laid down for our guidance. If we had observed themi 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 amus- , ing themselves. One charming feature of our village was a stream of water, called the Cayadutta, which ran through the nor-th end, in which it was our dehght to walk on the broad slate stones when the water was low, in order to pick up pretty pebbles. These joys were also forbid- den, though indulged in as opportunity afforded, espe- cially 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 Dun- can McMartin of Iowa. I can see her now, hat in hand, her long curls flying in the wind, her nose slightly re- trousse, 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 CHILDHOOD. 13 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 Academ y, where we made thp argiiaintanrpnTTlTP dang-h-tera nf tlhyjjjiiyr-Tfppp*^ anrl frhp rrmpiy f;h?nft. They were a few years my senior, but, as I was ahead of them in all my studies, the difference of age was somewhat equal- ized and we became fast friends. This acquaintance opened to u s two new sources of enjoyment — t he free- dom 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 o 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 fre- quent visits to the iail and became deeply, concerned about the fate of the prisoners, who were greatly pleased with pur 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 court- house 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, thejnoise" 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 privi- lege. But more especially I enjoyed listening to the conversations in regard to the probable fate of 14 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. our friends the prisoners in the jail. On one oc- casion. I projected a few remarks into a conver- sation between two lawyers, when one of them turned abruptly to me and said, " Child, you'd better at- tend 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 per- fectly 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 ihe lawyers knew him, and wher- ever 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 dan- ger 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 thosehappy 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 CHILDHOOD. IS evenings in uninterrupted enjoyment. A large fire- place with huge logs shed warmth and cheerfulness around. In one comer sat Peter sawing his violin, while our youthful neighbors danced with us and played blindman's buff almost every evening during the vaca- tion. 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 in- side) 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 antici- pations of what would be in our stockings- next morn- ing. 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 distrib- utes 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 catechisjn or the New Testament would appear, show- l6 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. ing 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 Christ- mas 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 mort- gages 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 vege- tables, 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 CHILDHOOD. t*l 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 iuUy returned. He was the only being, visible or invisible, of whom we had no fear. We would go to divine service with Peter, Christmas morn- ing 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 vet so strong was prejndire ag ainst color in i82;^!!EE ai..nf> nno iBTTtrltl'^neelT^rae jJKmT On leaving us, on one of these occasions, Peter toi3rus 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 les- son it must have been to that prejudiced congregation! The first time we entered the church together the sex- ton 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 numer- ous and protracted, beginning then, as now, at mid- night with bonfires and cannon; while the day was ushered in with the ringing of bells, tremendous can- nonading, and a continuous popping of fire-crackers and torpedoes. Then a procession of soldiers and citizens 1 8 *»^'' EIGHTY YEARS. AND MORE. marched through the town, an oration was delivered, the Declaration of Independence read, and a great din- ner 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 con- /^dered worth seeing; but I cannot say that I enjoyed very much either " general training " or the Fourth of July.^fcajP addition to my fear of cannon and torpe- does [^n)y_^ sympathies were deeply touched by the sad- ness of our cook, whose drunken father always cut an- tics 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 con- dition 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 cow ard compelled me tO' go through; those trying ordeals. 1 As my nerves were all on the surface, no wordSTTSn 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, bum our houses, and drive us all into the street. Sir William Johnson's mansion of solid masonry, gloomy and threatening, still stood in our neigh- borhood. I had seen the marks of the Indian's toma- hawk 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 CHILDHOOD. 19 the day rounded all his glowing periods with denuncia- tions of the mother country, we need not wonder at the national hatred of everything English. Our patri- otism 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 ginger- bread 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 sail- ing 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. Accord- ingly we all jumped on the raft, loosened it from its moorings, and away we went with the current. Navi- gation 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 res- cued 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 ccrtriposition, which he read in school, describing the adventure and emphasizing the ignorance of the laws of navigation ghown 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 Col- lege, came h Om,q to die. A young man of great talent and promise, he was the pride of my father's heart. We earlv felt that this son filled a large r placei n our father's affections and future plans thaajUie_f ive daughters to-. gether. Welfdo 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 assem- bled 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 whilej 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!" MARGARET LIVINGSTOX CAUY. SCHOOL PA VS. 21 iThrowing my arms about his neck, I replied: '^j^jidlL t ry to be all my brother was/1 . ■^Then and there I resolved that I would not give so much time as heretofore to play, but wo uld study and strive to be at the he ad of all my classes and thus de^ lig|it tHy lather's heart. All that day and far into the , -niglrt-l-puildered lire"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 vaiiish 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 Hke 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 sor- row which took possession of me when I discovered that a girl weighed less in the scale of being than a boy, and he praised my determination to prove the con- 22 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. trary. The old grammar which he had studied in the University of Glasgow was soon in my hands, and the Greek article was learned before breakfast. 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 dur- ing 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 par- sonage 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 horse- back. 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 doc- tor's shoulder. Soon after this I began to study Latin, Greek, and mathematics with a class of boys in the Academy, many SCHOOL DAYS. 23 of whootti 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 re- member my joy in receiving that prize. There was no sentiment of ambition, rivalry, or triumph oyer my com- panions, nor feeling of satisfaction in receiving this, honor in the presence of those assembled on the day of the exhibition. On e thought alone filled my mind. " N ow." said I, " m^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 ex- claimed: "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 rec- ognized 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 suc- cess. He was then confined to the house with his last illness. He asked me that day if I would like to have, when he was gone, the old lexicon, Testament, and grammar that we had so often thumbed together. " Yes, but I would rather have you stay," I replied, " for what can I do when you are gone? " " Oh," said he tenderly, " I shall not be gone; my spirit will still be with you, watching you in all life's struggles." Noble, generous friend! He had but little on earth to be- 24 EIGHTY VeARS AND MORE. queath tO' anyone, but when the last scene in his life was ended, and his will was opened, sure enough there was a clause saying: "My Greek lexicon, Testament, and grammar, and four volumes of Scott's commentaries, I will to Elizabeth Cady." I never look at these books without a feeling of thankfulness that in childhood I was blessed with such a friend and teacher. I can truly say, after an experience of seventy years, that all the cares and anxieties, the trials and disap- pointments of my whole life, are light, when balanced with my sufiferings in childhood and youth from the theological dogmas which I sincerely believed, and ^he 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 neigh- bors who had tears to shed, did so copiously and sum- moned up their saddest facial expressions. At the grave came the sober warnings to the living and some- times 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 pun- gent oil they used in the vain hope of making their weary limbs more supple; the aped parson buried in his library in the midst of musty „. and papers — all this SCHOOL DAYS. 25 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 at- tractions for the youthful mind. The preacher, shut up in an octagonal box high above our heads, gave us ser- mons 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 shep- herd, 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 chilTecI'to Lllti VB ' y emu, bylijtuiiii^ to bci- - mons on-^^TTred^atffiati on," " justification by fa ijJi.Iland-^ •^ tr t ern ar aaffiTaation.""" i o De restless, or to fall asleep under such solemn, cir- cumstances 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 be- lieved 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 iiursery. Ah! how many times I have stolen out of 26 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. bed, and sat shivering on the stairs, where the hall lamp and the sound of voices from ttie^ parlor would, in a measure, mitigate my terror.^ Thanks to a vigorous constitution and overflowing arrnnakspirits, I was able to endure for years the strain of these depressing influ- ences, until my reasoning powers aQi,e^mon sense triumphed at last over my imagination, ^he memory of my own suffering has prevented me from ever shadowing one young soul with any of the supersti- tions 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, beau- tiful 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 mar- riage of my oldest sister, Tryphena, to Edward Bay- lard of Wilmington, Delaware. He was a graduate of [Union College, a classmate of my brother, and fre- quently visited at my father's house. At the end of Jiis 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 con- sideration, my father's reputation made his office a de- sirable 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- SCHOOL DAYS. 27 daughters. We thus had the advantage of many pleas- ant acquaintances from the leading families in the coun- try, and, in this way, it was that four of the sisters eventually selected most worthy husbands. Though only twenty-one years of age when mar- ried, Edward Bayard was a tall, fully developed man, remarkably fine looking, with cultivated literary taste and a profound knowledge of human nature. Wanm and affectionate, generous to a fault in giving and serv- ing, he was soon a great favorite in the family, and gradually filled the void made in all our hearts by the I loss of the brother and son. ' My father was so fully occupied with the duties of his protession, which otten called him from home, and my moth er so weary wit h the cares of a large family, having had ten children, though only five survived at this time, that they were quite willing to s hift their bur- dens to younger shoulders. Our eldest sister and her ^usbclillitl, therefore, soon became our counselors and advisers. They selected our clothing, books, schools, acquaintances, and directed our reading and amuse- ments. Thus the reins of domestic government, little by little, passed into their hands, and the family arrange- ments were in a manner greatly improved in favor of greater liberty for the children. The advent of Edward and Henry Bayard was an in- estimable 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. 28 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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, illustrat- ing 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 per- sonages 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! " "Seethe angels on Jacob's ladder! " Our exclamations could not be kept within bounds. The guests were amused SCHOOL DAYS. 29 beyond description, while my mother and elder sisters were equally mortified; but Mr. Bayard, who appre- ciated 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 con- jured us " not to act as if we had just come out of the woods and had never seen anything before." How- ever, there are conditions inthechild soul in which re- pjessi^ TslinpossiEle, wtierifliemind~takesln"notlmig 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 Hke 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. Fortu- nately, there was no pictorial wall paper in the old City Hotel. But the decree had gone forth that, on the re- mainder 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 humili- ating. But eating, even there, was difficult, as we could hear the band from the old museum, and, as our 30 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 spend- ing 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, dsince, 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'g untiring efforts to keep us within bounds, or whether the novelty of the journey was in a measure gone, it is difficult to de- termine, but we evidently were not so buayanL_and were duly complimented on our good behavior. When we feach'ed home and told our village com- panions what we had seen in our extensive travels (just>" seventy miles from home) they were filled with wonder,'^ SCHOOL DAYS. 31 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 illus- trations in the dining room of the old Given's Hotel. ^, A s^my fathe r's of fice joined the house. I snent there muchof rny tirnp, wk.»n r« jt of school^ listen)f|f>- tn th e, clients sta ting their cases , tnllrinr w'th th? ctn^pnt.^ a pd reading, the laws in,re^ard_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 allevi- ate 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, 32 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 sm oke." 1 ^' -Wj th jhis constant, bantering from students^nd^the ^jTc omplaints ot'thFwottlfeil, my mind^waTsoreljuer- glexed- ?'^^f'r\^^rnmi\mf' in t|mf, lTiya±tpntinn was galled toT^ese odious^ kws, I jvsttld.mark^ pencil, and becoming morfi.amLjPK)^re.4iQflvm£S!dLS:LillS. necessit-y- of taking some active measures against these unjust provisionsXl resolved to seize "ffie-EfSt^OppeF- tunity, when Sl^re 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 ac- complished, for dear old^ Flora Campb ell, to whom I confided my plan for the atnelioration of the wrongs of my unhappy sex, wt arnp.( j| my father of what I proposed to do. Without letting me know that he had dis- covered my secret, ^le ex plained to me one eve ning:..hj3w-, Jaws were m ade, the large number of lawyers and libra- ries there wefe"all over the State, and that if his Hbrary should burn up it would make no difference in woman's condition. " When you are grown up, and able to pre- pare 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 suflferings of these Scotchwomen, robbed of their inheritance and left dependent on their unworthy sons, and, ii_you can persuade thgmtgupass-^ new Ja.ffiSi_^he old ones wilT Bea dead letter." Thus, jmS-Jthfi-futurT^o^ecrof my life 'foreshadowed and my duty plainlyouEliired-by--him who was •ines.t^ op- SCHOOL DAYS. 33 posed to my public career when, in due time, I entered upon it. Until I was sixteen years old, I was a faithful stu- dent 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 disT tinction of sex. True, the boys would cany the school books and pull the sleighs up hill for their favoritd girls, but eqiiality was the general basis of our schooj relations^^Xdai'e Biiy the buj/s did iiuL make LheirsifrQw^ balls 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 bar- rier that prevented me from following in their footsteps — " no girls admitted here " — my vexation and- morti- fication 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 unde- termined. Again I felt more keenly than ever the 34 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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, espe- cially 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 Bay- ard 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. 9^ Mrs. Willa rd's Seminary at Troy was the fashion- able 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 stimu- lus 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 engi- neers 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 thait 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 35 36 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. a good voice I enjoyed singing, with a guitar accom- paniment, and, having a good ear for time, I appreciated the harmony in music and motion and took great de- light 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 meas- ured 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 girfs, most of them older than myself, I heard many subjects discussed of which I had never thought before, and in a manner it were better. I had never heard. The healthful restraint always existing between boys and girls in conversation is apt to be relaxed with either sex alone. In all my^ intimate association with boys up to that period, I can- GlRLHOOl). 37 not recall one word or act for criticism, but I cannot say the same of the girls during the three years I passed at the seminary in Troy. My own experience proves to me that it is a grave mistake to send boys and girls to, separate institutions of learning, especially at the most impressible age. The stimulus of sex promotes alike a healthy condition of the intellectual and the moral faculties and gives to both a development they never can acquire alone. 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 arid 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 girlSj fitting them for teachers, with a pro- viso 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 com- position, 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 pro- posed 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 38 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. platitudes I was sorry I had changed, and still more so in the denouement. Those selected to prepare compositions read them be- fore 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, re- turning 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 con- founded that I could not speak, and I looked the personification of guilt. I saw at a glance the con- temptible 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 GIRLHOOD. 39 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 com- position 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 compo- sitions 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 be- havior, 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 compo- sitions. 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 be- fore the whole school." " Why did you not defend yourself on the spot? " "I could not speak, neither did I know what to say." 40 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. " 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 sus- picious 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. Per-' haps the experience was beneficial, as it is quite neces- sary 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 differ- ent from a large school of girls, with the petty jealousies GIRLHOOD. 41 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 eflfort on the part of Mr. Finney and his confreres was one of those intense revival sea- sons 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 train- ing in the old Scotch Presbyterian church, and my vivid imagination, I was one of the first victims. We at- tended 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 stand- point that nothing could be more puzzling and harrow- ing 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. 42 EIGHTY YEARS AMD MORE. Having brought yoti into a condition of profound humility, the only cardinal virtue for one under con- viction, 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 sin- cerely 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 chil- dren of God — rather than sinners and outcasts. But Dr. Finney's terrible anathemas on the deprav- ity 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'" GIRLHOOD. 43 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 for- bear 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 appre- hended 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. Accord- ingly 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 " Constitu- tion of Man," his " Moral Philosophy," and many other liberal works, all so rational and opposed to the old the- ologies that they produced a profound impression on 44 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 De- pravity," " 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 cur- rent of my thoughts, my mind was restored to its nor- mal 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 Hkes, 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 GIRLHOOD. 45 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 thral- dom from which few mortals escape. The period when love, in soft silver tones, whispers his first words oi adoration, painting our graces and virtues day by day in living colors in poetry and prose, stealthily punctu- ated 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 sel- dom 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 suffi- ciently broken to make our simple country pleasures always delightful and enjoyable. An entirely new life now opened toi me. The old bondage of fear of the visible and the invisible was broken and, no longer sub- ject 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 con- sideration of all the varied problems of life. To me and my sisters he was a companion in all our amusements, 46 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. a teacher in the higher departments of knowledge, arid a counselor in all our youthful trials and disappoint- ments. He was of a metaphysical turn of mind, and in the pursuit of truth Was in no way trammeled by popu- lar superstitions. He took nothing for granted and, like Socrates, went about asking (juestions. 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 my- self 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, philoso- phy, political economy, history, and poetry, and to- gether 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 ther- mometer below zero, we took long walks and sleigh- rides 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 sea- son vve 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 GIRLHOOD. 47 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 fol- lowed 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 bom again, as they say, for we found our tastes and enjoyments the same as ever. My brother-in-law ex- plained to us the nature of the delusion we had all experienced, the physical conditions, the mental proc- 48 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. esses, the church machinery by which such excitements are worked up, and the impositions to which credulous minds are necessarily subjected. As we had all been through that period of depression and humiliation, and had been oppressed at times with the feeling that all our professions were arrant hypocrisy and that our last state was worse than our first, he helped us to under- stand these workings of the human mind and recon- ciled 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 vexa- tion in the students in my father's office. A suc- cession of them was always coming fresh from college and full of conceit. Aching to try their powers of de- bate 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 GIRLHOOD. , 49 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 dis- mount, 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 flirtatioris, 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 char- acter, to idealize the sex in general. In addition to our 50 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 crit- ically 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 alf 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 profes- sion, with its odious statute laws and infamous de- cisions. And this, after reading Blackstone, Kent, and Story, and thoroughly understanding the status of the vnife under the old common law of England, which was in force at that time in most of the States of the Union. JUDGE DAXIEL CADY. 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. Tn ougti he was a reformer an d was ver^^ radical in many of his ideas, yet, being a man of broad sympa- thies, 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 bar- gains of the father, they had a right to the son's hos- pitality, with annual gifts of clothing and provisions. The slaves, ■ too, J iadJaea«lu)Lfi£OiLS03ith, thp abnU- K Bute for Canada. His mansion was, in fact, one of the stations on the l'l.gndeignati«*--ra11road " 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 kitcheri floor were utilized as chambers for the black man from the south- ern plantation and the red man from his home in the forest. 52 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 Biddies, 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 rep- resented by General John Cochrane and his sisters. General Baird and his wife from West Point, the Fitz- hughs from Oswego and Geneseo, the Backuses and Tallmans from Rochester, and the Swifts from Geneva. Here one was sure to meet scholars, philosophers, phil- anthropists, judges, bishops, clergymen, and statesmen. Judge Alfred Conkling, the father of Roscoe Conk- ling, 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 mani- festations 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 sim- plicity of manner melted the sternest natures and made the most reserved amiable. There never was such an LIFM AT PETESSORO. J3 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 Peter- boro. To go anywhere else, after a visit there, was like coming down from the divine heights into the val- ley of humiliation. How changed from the early days when, as strict Presbyterians, they beUeved in all the doctrines of Cal- vin! Then, an indefinite gloom pervaded their home. Their consciences were diseased. They attached such i 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 re- fined 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 in- terpretation, 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 re'mainder of their lives. Their only daughter, Elizabeth, added greatly to the attractions of the home circle, as she drew many youhg people round her. Besidie her personal charm she was the heiress of a vast estate and 54 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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-sla very question was up for hot discussion. In alPthe^neighboririg" 'tTmrn-'ro iive iit iofl T^were^Tifekl in which James G. Bimey, a Southern gentleman who had emancipated his slaves, Charles Stuart of Scotland, and George Thomp- son 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. Q g-the question^ ^f temper ance, 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 Wash- ingtonian movements, and the position of the Church on these questions intensified and embittered the con- flict. This brought the Cheevers, the Pierponts, the Delevans, the Nortons, and their charming wives to Peterboro. It was with such company and varied dis- cussions on every possible phase of political, religious, and social life that I spent weeks every year. Gerrit Smith was cool and calm in debate, and, as he was armed at all points on these subjects, he could afford to be patient and fair with an opponent, whether on the platform or at the fireside. These rousing argu- LIPE AT PETERBORO. SS ments at Peterboro made social life seem tame and profitless elsewhere, and the youngest of us felt that the conclusions reached in this school of philosophy were not to be questioned. The sisters of General Cochrane, in disputes with their Dutch cousins in Schenectady and Albany, would end all controversy by saying, " This question was fully discussed at Peter- boro, and settled," The youngsters frequently put the lessons of freedom and individual rights they heard so much of into prac- tice, 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 memo- rable 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-emi- nently a spectacular performance. The imagination even cannot do justice to the limp, woe-begone appear- ance 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 superin- tending some men whO' were laying a plank walk in the rear of his premises. Some half dozen of us were in- vited 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 5$ EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 strug- gled 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 ac- tive 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 forth- coming. 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 LIFE AT PETERBORO.. 57 head. My room was on the first floor, and Miss Fitz- hugh's immediately overhead. On these terms we ac- cepted our freedom. Accordingly, I gently raised the window and called Charley confidentially within whis- pering 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 re- venge 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. Unfortu- nately 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 be- ing 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 des- perate efifort he squeezed in a little farther and, raising the bottle, he poured the contents on her head. The S8 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 daugh- ters. A yard or more of the carpet was ruined, the wallpaper and bedclothes spattered, and the poor vic- tim 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 Lfirst met on e- who w as- then considered the _niDst-eloq-ueiit. J^id impassioned QratOT^Dn^THe^^tTjlai^e^ He had come over from Utica with Alvin Stewart's beautiful daughter, to whom report said he was en- gaged; 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. UF£ AT PBTEkBORO. 59 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 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 for- get 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 thrilHng 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 happi- ness crowded into one short month. I had become interested in the anti-slavery and temperance questions, and was deeply impressed with the appeals and argu- ments. I felt a new inspiration in Hfe and was enthused with new ideas of individual rights and the basic princi- ples 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 con- ventions 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 6o EIGHTY YEARS AMD MORE, 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. ^,-Q«e-4 3Utcome of th ngp glnrinns dpy^ <^^ October, 1839, was a mar riage, in Johnstown , the loth day of, May,T84Qrana' 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 con- stantly 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 moon- light 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 satis- faction. 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. LIFE AT PETERBORO. 6 1 under his roof, to free himself from all responsibility by giving me a long dissertation on love, friendship, mar- riage, 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 let- ter 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 po- sition 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 finan- cial standpoint. These were two of the most bewilder- ing 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 sensibiHties of a WQm9,n's heart, in trying to subjugate her to their will! 02 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. The love of protecting too often degenerates into downright tyranny. Fortunately all these sombre pic- tures of a possible future were thrown into the back- ground 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 ver- dure and blossoms of promise. However, many things were always transpiring at Peterboro to turn one's thoughts and rouse new inter- est 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 readi-ly pledged ourselves in the m6st 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 se,e 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 an- other opportunity of seeing a slave girl face to face, so ask her all you care to know of the system of slavery." For two howrs we listened to the sad story of her LIFE AT PETERBORO. 63 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 possi- ble, 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 de- layed 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 con- versation, 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 difificulty. In due time the clerk returned with the good news 64 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. that Harriet was safe with friends in a good' sittiation 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, send- ing 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 Chap- man Biddle, of Philadelphia. The festivities, which were kept up for three days, involved most elaborate preparations for breakfasts, dinners, etc., there be- ing 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 mana- ger of the occasion, and to each one was assigned the specialty in which she claimed to excel. Those who fe^d no specialty were assistants to those who had. In. LIFE AT PETERBORO. 65 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 considerabie 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 aflfect 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 cheerful- ness 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 dis- tances, until the house and grounds were full. A son 66 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. of Bishop Goxe, who married the tall and stately sister of Roscoe Conkling, performed the ceremony. The beautiful young bride was given away by her Uncle Ger- rit. 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 oflf the next day, our thoughts now turned in that direction. The re- sponsibility 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 tlie 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 exclarnation of surprise and entered the butler's pantry just in time to see the heiress of the Smith estate stand- ing like a statue, tin pan in hand, soup in her curls, her eyebrows and eyelashes, — collar, cuflfs, and morning dress saturated,— and Belle, at a little distance, looking at her and the soup on the floor with surprise and dis- gust depicted on every feature. The tableau was in- expressibly 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 LIFE AT PETERBORO. 67 o'clock making that soup you would not stand there like a laughing monkey, without the least feeling of pity! " Poor Lizzie was very soriy, 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 of? 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 Phila- delphia 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-scmp 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 annoy- ing her in divers ways; at length she drew the grater across his nose, gently, as she intended, but alas! she took the skin ofif, 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 68 EIGHTY. YEARS AND MORE. 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 evolv-^ ing from a pan of flour and water that miracle In the pie department called pufif 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 but- ter 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 fea- tures, 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 sum- moned 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 LIFE AT PETMRBOHO. 69 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 jour- ney 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 thermome- ter 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 chas- tened 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 Hving letters, "Equal rights for all!" "Rescue Cuba nowj " The religious services were short and simple; the Uni- tarian 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 Biddies, the Dixwells, the Sedgwicks, the Barclays, and Stan- tons, and three generations of his immediate family. With a few appropriate words from General John 76 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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. ^?(^^^i^^_ 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 con- flict because the step I proposed was in opposition to _the_wishes of all my family. Whereas, heretofore, friends were continually suggesting suitable matcheTfor me and painting the marriage relation in the most daz- zling 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, jjacd- pressed, I broke my engagement, after months of anxiety " and bewilde-i iirc nt ; suddenly I d ecided to re new itjjis Mr. Stanton was going to iLurope as a delegate to the World's Anti-slavery Convention, and we did not wish the ocean to roll between us. Thursday, May lo, 1840, I determirred to take the fateful step, without the slightest preparation for a wed- ding 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 un- lucky 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 72 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 fls to postpone it until Saturday; but, as we were to sail early in the coming week, that was impossible. That poi nt settled, the next difficulty was to _E£CSua.de -iBanOo-leave out the word " r).hey " in the marriafre ^»~'ltI!2r"JLZjilZi^^^'^^^''"^y refused to obey one wiU i j\fhom I su££osedJ^jwas entering_inta..an.-equaJLrela- •tion, that point, too, was conceded. ., A few friends were invited to "berpfeient and, in a simple white evening dress, I was married.. But the good priest avenged himself fbr 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 man- ner and speech, who danced about the floor, as he laid down the law, in the most original and comical man- ner. 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, ac- cent, 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. Accord- OUK WEDDING JOURNEY. 73 ingly, I had a desperate chase after him all over the vessel, but in vain.. He had the last " tag " and escaped. As I was compelled, under the circumstances, to conduct the pursuit with some degree of decorum, and he had the advantage of height, long limbs, and freedom from skirts, I really stood no chance whatever. However, as the chase kept us all laughing, it helped to soften the bitterness of parting. Fairly at sea, I closed another chapter of my life, and my thoughts turned to what lay in the near future. Tames 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 W orld's Anti ^IaV:ery Convention, and both interesteH them-' selves in my anti-slavery education. They gave me boolfs 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 im- provement, so I laughingly told him, one day, that he need not make his criticisms any longer in that round- about way, but might take me squarely in hand and polish me up as speedily as possible. Sitting in the saloon at night after a game of chess, in which, per- 74 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. chance, 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 per- missible 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 evi- dently 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 rath'er hypercritical and that we were as nearly per- fect as mortals need be for the wear and tear of ordi- nary 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. Bimey 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 OUR WEDDING JOURNEY. 75 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, re- turning from various parts of the world to visit their native land. When out of their hearing, Mr. Birney used to ridi- cule them without mercy; so, one day, by way of mak- ing 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 educa- tion? " 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 ta my existence, yet, as it was deemed important that I should thor- oughly understand the status of the anti-slavery move- ment in my own country, I spent most of my time reading and talking on that cfuestion. Being the wife of a d elegate to the World's Convention, we all telt it im portant that I should he- ah1e to answ-er -whatever question s I might be asked in England on all phases of the slavery question. The^c^ptain, a jolly'fellow, was always ready to sec- ond me in my explorations into every nook and cranny of the vessel. He imagined that my reading was dis- tasteful 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. 16 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. But all things must end in this mortal life, and our voyage was near its termination, when we were be- calmed 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 per- suasion, Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney consented to go. Accordingly we were lowered into the boat in an arm- chair, 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, turn- ing 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 CUR WEDDING JOURNEY. 77 anything so beautiful as the drive up to Exeter on the top of a coach, with four stout horses, trotting at the rate ol ten miles an hour. It was the first day of June, and the country was in all its glory. The foHage wasof 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 post- man 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 gar- den 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 im- pressed 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 shad- ows and threw a mysterious amber light over all. As the choir was practicing, the whole effect was height- ened 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 some- thing to break the spell that bound us. Can one won- der 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 some- thing to read, we asked the waiter for the daily papers. 78 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 worid 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 attend- ant 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 establish-^ ment, 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. -Xhe ce had been a sp lit in thp Ameriran ant i-slavery ranks, an d delegates ca? from both branches, and, as they were equally repre- sented at our lodgings, I became familiar with the whole controversy, ^bf PfttCTt f1"^'-nt which caused the jiiyisiQix.wis the womajn. question, and as the Garri- §oni?ia,br?wi?h maintained theright of women to spea^ OUR WEDDING JOURNEY. 79 ^d vote in the_coirifiiiti©«Sr-alI my sympathies were wittr-tfe€r-6SmsOTians, though Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney belonged to the other branch, called political abolitionists. To' me there was no question so im- portant a s the igmancipation ot women trom the dog- ln^_o fj:he TTabL, -poltt-i€al;-reHgiTmsr--aH4— eeeiati — It struck laie as very remarkable that abolitionists, who felt so keenly the wrongs of the slave, should be so ob- livious 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. Dele- gates 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- slaveiy 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 andjss^etweef ^^ well as those distinctiveily of their own sex, v et all alike were rejected because they were women. Women, ac- cording to knglish prejudices at that time, were ex- cluded 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, 8o EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. When we consider that Lady Byron, Anna Jameson,. Mary Howitt, Mrs. Hugo Reid, Elizabeth Fry, Amelia Opie, Ann Green Phillips, Lucretia M-ott, and many remarkable women, speakers and leaders in the Society of Friends, were all co mpelled to listen in sil ence to the masculine pl^HTtTiTpS^^n^jynrna^^ sphe Fe. one mg V TomT snTTie"r?fea~^g^^^t^ emdimia^ unprejudiced. Tnena5, — aild:'''''espeaaiiythat of such women as Lydia Maria Child, Maria Chapman, Deborah Wes- ton, 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 feel- ings, 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 tiro st vio- lerLtJn.i ta opposition. The clergymen seemed toTSve 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-sus- taining 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, OUR WEDDING JOURNEY. 8l Bible ill hand, argued woman's subjection, divinely de- creed 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 repre- sentatives, 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,- pfetending to be teachers and leaders of men, so cruelly remanding their own mothers, with the rest of woman- kind, 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 so- cieties 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, Brit- ish, and American Sblons 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 bat- tling so many long years," said Garrison, " for the Hber- ties of African slaves, I can take no part in a convention that strikes down the most sacred rights of all women." 8 2 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. After coming three thousand miles to speak on the sub- ject 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 con- vention 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 Qua- ker, 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 abolition- ists who, while eloquently defending the natural rights of slaves, denied freedom of speech to one-half the peo- ple 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 distin- guished women present with red-hot irons, but the crucifixion of their pride and self-respect, the humilia- tion of the spirit, seemed to them a most trifling matter. The action of this conventibn was the topic of discus- sion, 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 poHtical equality both in England and the United States. As the convention adjourned, the remark was heard on all sides, " It-is-«feewfe-ti«ie..SQ.me demand was made for new liberties for women." As Mrs. Mott antl~i: walked home, arm in arm, commenting on the incidents OUR WEDDING JOURNEY. 83 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 apart- ments, 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 ses- sions, at the table and in the drawing room. These were the first women I had ever met who "be- lieved in the equality of the sexes and who did not believe in the popular orthodox religion. The ac- quaintance of LucretJaJt/Tottr wh" wa.sa-b.oaa<%-4ibpra1 " thiiikg rpill bohtics; 5iigiej»rand all questions of T°eforin7 TienecTtoTR?' a n ew 3 K.oiM,.QLJJie«glrty---A9-we walked about to seeTEe sights of London, I embraced every opportunity to talk with her. It was intensely gratify- ing 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 — womrcn, too, of rare intel- ligence, 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 be- cause 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 84 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. Fry seemed quite unwilling to breathe the same atmos- phere 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 amus- ing 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 dele- gates, whereupon a profound silence reigned. After a few moments Mrs. Fry's voice was heard deploring the schism among the American Friends ; that so 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 Shep- herd of our faith. The prayer was directed so point- edly 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 uncharitable- ness, and be led by the Spirit into higher light. " Oh, ho ! " 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 fami- lies and many other philanthropists of different de- nominations interested in the anti-slavery movement. On all these occasions our noble Garrison spoke most eflfectively, and thus our English friends had an OVR WnDDING JOURNEY. H dppdrtunity 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 ex- plored St. Paul's Cathedral, the British Museum, the Tower, various prisons, hospitals, galleries of art, Wind- sor Castle, and St. James's Palace, the Zoological Gar- dens, the schools and colleges, the chief theaters and churches, Westminster Abbey, the Plouses of Parlia- ment, 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.Bimey 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 lead- ing families, such as the Ashursts, the Alexanders, the Priestmans, the Braithwaites, and Buxtons, the Gur- neys, the Peases, the Wighams of Edinburgh, and the Webbs of Dublin. We spent a few days with John Joseph Gumey 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 dele- gation, about forty in number, were invited to dine with Samtiel Gurney. He and his brother, John Joseph Gurney, were, at that time, the leading bankers in Lon- don. Someone facetiously remarked that the Jews 86 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 ? pa.sp. 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 wel- comed in plain language, " How does thee do, Henry? " " How does thee do, Elizabeth? " This sounded pecu- liarly sweet to me — z. 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 gener- ous, 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 accom- plished by some magical influence. Before leaving London we spent a delightful day in June at the home of Samuel Gumey, surrounded by a fine park with six hundred deer roaming about — OUK WEDDING JOURNEY. 87 always a beautiful feature in the English landscape. As the Duchess of Sutherland and Lord Morpeth had ex- pressed 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 out- riders, 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 Tsland of Jamaica to read to us, we formed a circle on the lawn to listen. England had just paid one hun- dred millions of dollars to emancipate the slaves, and we were all interested in hearing the result of the experi- ment. 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 an- nounced. 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 t"6 temperance, and, as the bottles went around there was a general headshaking, and the right hand ex- 88 EIGHTY VEAkS AMD MORE. tended over the glasses. Our English friends were amazed that none of us drank wine. Mr. Gurney said he had never before seen such a sight as forty ladies and gentlemen sitting down to dinner and none of them tasting wine. In talking with him on that point, he said: " 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. OUR WEDDING JOURNEY. 89 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-slav- ery 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 appear- ance 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-de- veloped, 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 Eng- land 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 expi;essive features, his wonderful gestures, and the pose of his whole body. When he finished, the natives joined in the general ap- plause. 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 go EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 cany that measure. " No," he said, " but it is always good policy to claim the uttermost arid then you will be sure to get some- thing." 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 continu- ally fanned into life, and the nation subjugated, form the darkest page in the history of England. But the peo- ple 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 radi- cal utterances of Irish patriots were received with pro- longed 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 holly- hocks 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 OUR WEDDING JOURNEY. 91 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 at- tractive 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 Ips- wich. 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 de- mand for emancipation in Jamaica, But their trials were mild, compared with what Garrison and his co- adjutors had suffered in America. Having read of all these people, it was difificult to real- ize, as I visited them in their own homes from day to day, that they were the same persons I had so long wor- shiped 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 com- partments and its indefinite number of horses, har- nessed with rope and leather, sometimes two, some- times three abreast, and sometimes one in advance, with an outrider belaboring the poor beasts with- out cessation, and the driver yelling and cracking his whip. The uproar, confusion, and squabbles at every stopping place are ovenvhelming; 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. HOMEWARD BOUND. 93 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 stage- coach 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. Eng- lishmen 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 dififer- ent languages. Thus the Englishman would not talk, the Frenchman could not, and the intelligent, loqua- cious American driver, who discourses on politics, reli- gion, national institutions, and social gossip was un- known on that side of the Atlantic. What the curious American traveler could find out himself from observa- tion 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 Fugh, Abby Kimber, Mr. Stanton, and myself. I . had many amusing experi- etlces in making my wants known when alone, having forgotten most of my French. For instance, traveU ing night and day in the diligence to Paris, as the stops were short, one was sometimes in need of something to 94 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 sim- ple piece of cake or biscuit, and lo! a piece of hot meat was ofifered 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 " sweet- breads." " When we reached Paris we secured a courier who could speak English, to show us the sights of that won- derful 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, in- cluding beautiful little carriages drawn by four goati with girls or boys driving, boats sailing in the air, seem- HOMEWARD BOUND. 95 ingly propelled by oars, and hobby horses flying round on whirligigs with boys vainly trying to catch each other. No people have ever taken the trouble to in- vent 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 amuse- ment seekers, some reading and playing games, some sewing, knitting, playing on musical instruments, danc- ing, 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 thfit 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 re- mains of Napoleon. We witnessed the wild excite- ment of that enthusiastic people, and listened with deep interest to the O'ld 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 snufifed 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. gfi EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. The ship that brought back Napoleon's remains was the Belle Poule (the beautiful hen!), which landed af^ -Cherbourg, November 30, 1840. The body was con- veyed 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 im- mortal 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 pur- poses. 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. Theie 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. Gen- eral Grant expressed the wish that he might be interred in our metropolis and added: " Wherever I am buried, HOMEWARD BOUND. 97 I desire that there shall be room for my wife by mV side." His wishes, too, are fulfilled. He rests, in thd chief city of the American Republic, whose shores are washed by the waters of the Hudson, and in his mag- nificent mausoleum there is room for his wife by his side. Several members of the Society of Friends from Bos- ton 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 mili- tary coats of the time of George Fox, the soldiers, sup- posing 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 read- ing 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 car- ried 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 gS EIGHTY- YEARS AND MORE. was an exile in our country, where he earned his living by teaching school. What an honor for Yankee chil- dren to have been taught, by a French king, the rudi- ments 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 light- ning. 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 de- termined to make the most of it. A wonderful con- trast with that gloomy day in London, where all places of amusement were closed and nothing open to the peo- ple but the churches and drinking saloons. The streets and houses in which Voltaire, LaFayette, 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 king- craft 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 sev- eral months. We visited the scenes that Shakespeare, HOMEWARD BOUND. 99 Bums, 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 Car- lyle, 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 hypo- crite, but his character was vindicated by later writers. " Never," says Macaulay, " was a ruler so conspicu- ously born for sovereignty. The cup which has in- toxicated 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 din- ing 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 birth- place 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 loo EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. / his genius, came too late for his safety and encourage- ;nent. In a glass of whisky he found, at last, the rest and cheer he never knew when sober. - Envfirty- agd^ ;g»^.=4M^^vv>-a«^t1i>> parpnt s of intemperance, and that vice will n''vfi^bj^s22J113?flP''^--"^*^--*^^---^"^^^"'^ ^J ^^^^_ are equally jhared_ 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 his- torical personages in poetry and prose, until our sympa- thies flowed out to the real and ideal characters. Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, Ellen Douglas, Jeanie and Efl&e Deans, Highland Mary, Rebecca the Jewess, Di Vernon, and Rob Roy all alike seemed real men and women, whose shades or descend- ants 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 school- boy, 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 news- papers on the entire trip, and aimed to get exact knowl- IfOMEtVAliD SOUND. lol edge of all we saw; thus I had the advantage of the in- formation 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 explora- tions, 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 hne, 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, tooi, 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 half- way up we were in a dripping perspiration, our feet were soaking wet, and we were really too tired to pro- ceed". 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 102 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 cour- age. 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 north- easter. When your teeth are chattering with the cold, and the wind threatening to make havoc with your rai- ment, you are not in a favorable condition to appre- ciate 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 envel- oped 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 HOMEWARD SOUND. 103 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 brQad 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 expe- dition in several days, and we made no more experi- ments of exploring strange places without guides. We learned, too, that mountains are not so hospitable as they seem nor so gently undulating as tliey appear in the distance, and that guides serve other purposes be- sides extorting money from travelers. If, under their guidaince, 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. vwhat 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 chil- dren, 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. Gar- rison 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 BOSTON AND CHELSEA. 129 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 im- promptu 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 peo- ple from other States, and made Boston a social center for the coadjutors of Garrison and Phillips. These con- ventions 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 deco- rated. 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 indififerent 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 130 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. the intetest in both. I never grew weary of the con- ventions, though I attended all the sessions, lasting, sometimes, until eleven o'clock at night. The fiery elo- quence 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." Occa- sionally 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 amuse- ment of the audience. A ripple of merriment would unsettle, for a moment, even the dignity of the plat- form 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 mak- ing 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 main- tained a certain degree of freedom outside its regu- lar 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 BOSTON AND CHELSEA. 131 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 ofif 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 con- nected 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 Hamp- shire, 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 bal- lads, the mob would listen five minutes to Wendell Phil-, lips 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 slave- holders themselves. These were the classes the mob 132 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 ,pf all these forces of evil, it triumphed at last. X-^'aa iff Eoo ton 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 regu- larly. I was ambitious to absorb all the wisdom I could, but, really, I could not give an intelligent re- port 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 utter- ances, and not permitted to preach in any of their pul- pits. 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 BOSTON AND CHELSEA. 133 that I was surprised at the bitter criticisms I heard ex- pressed. 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." Ac- cordingly we went there and heard them again, with equal satisfaction. During the winter in Boston_X-at tended all the lecs- tures, churches, thea ters, concerts, and te mperance , peace, and prison-reform convent ions withm my reach , or had never lived in such an enthusiasticdly 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 the- ology. There, too, I met Orestes Bronson, a remark- ably well-read man, who had gone through every phase of religious experiehce 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 arbi- trary 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 hungeriug, thirsting condition for truth on every 134 EIGHTY VEAJiS AND MORE. subject, the friendship of such a man was, to me, an m- estimable blessing. Reading Theodore Parker's lec- tures, 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 un- usually 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 hetero- dox 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-foned organ. Mrs. Oliver Johnson and I spent two days at the Brook Farm Community when in the height of its pros- perity. There I met the Ripleys, — who were, I believe, the backbone of the experiment, — William Henry Chan- ning, 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 BOSTON AND CHELSEA. I3S 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 be- ginning and end of this experiment of community lite 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 com- munity was dissolved and he was obliged to return to the old Hfe of competition, he would gladly have been laid under the sod, as the isolated home seemed so soli- tary, silent, and selfish that the whole atmosphere was oppressive. I n 184 ;^ m vJather moved tn Albany. tn. 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. Thi s enabled me to s pen d several winterg jtt, tbr fapifal-^aairl to take an active part '"J'^'^ Hifjf^ntiqinn ^f t^^ IVrgrripH \\/^rnnan'q-. J^roperty Bill,^hen pending in the legislature. William HTSewSrarGovernor 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 136 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. we commenced housekeeping, which afforded me an- other chapter of experience. A new house, newly fur- nished, with beautiful views of Boston Bay, was all I could desire. Mr. Stanton announced to me, in start- ing, 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 estabUsh- ment, one has that same feeling of pride and satisfac- tion 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 out- goings 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 contem- plate. 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 clothes- lines. The children, only, had no deviation in the regu- BOSTON AND CHELSEA. 137 larity of their lives. They had their drives and walks, their naps and rations> in quantity and time, as usual. I had all the most approved cook books, and spent half my time preserving, pickling, and experimenting in new dishes. ^ I felt the same ambition to excel in all depart- ments ofthe culinary art th at_Lilid at school in th e different branches of learning. Mv love of order and cleanUness 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 sea- son, 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 house- keepers 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 pic- ture, even more attractive than a domestic scene hung on the wall. The love of the beautiful can be illus- ' trated 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. 138 . EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. Our house was pleasantly situated on the Chelsea HiUs, 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 de- licious, so I had no anxiety/ on that score. But, un- fortunately, 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 exceed- ingly mortifying. As Mr. Smith and my husband were both good talkers, I told them they must cover all de- fects with their brilliant conversation, which they prom- ised to do. Rose had all the points of a good servant, phreno- BOSTON AND CHELSEA. 139 logically and physiologically. She had a large head, with great bumps of caution and order, her eyes were large and soft and far apart. In selecting her, scien- tifically, I had told my -husband, in triumph, several times what a treasure I had found. Shortly after din- ner, 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. Stan- ton 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 house- keeping, 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 imreserved 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. ^_Ijs.hall 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 in- dignation as we described dififerent scenes _in the World's Anti-slavery Convention in London!\ He laughed immoderately at the Tom Campbell eptlode. Poor fellow! he had taken too much wine that day, and 140 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. when V/hittier'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 Whit- tier'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 re- plied. " 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 pervad- ing 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 embarrass- ment, 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 BOSTON ANP CHELSEA. i\l 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 pro- posed 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, ad- miring 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 cir- cumstances 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 n6 t only o ne o f .. thc moot im - portant factors in the ^nt;-g]^ YPry ^yar pnH viVtnrjr , hii<* they have been equally potent iji em ancipating_ _tlie minds of his generation from-'tlie-gloomy'5trp«FS-ttt40ns of the puritanical religion. —Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his eulogy of Whittier, says that his influence on th^ re- 142 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. ligious 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 Bos- ton, with many regrets, and sought a more genial cli- mate 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 seven- teen trunks, for Albany, where we rested over night and part of the next day. We had a very fatiguing jojw^y, looking after so many trunks and cKiMfSflT^i' my sister's children persisted in standing on the platform at every opportunity, and the younger ones would fol- low 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 re- ceived 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 slum- bers were indeed refreshing. How rapidly one throws ofif all care and anxiety under the parental roof, and how 144 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. at sea one feels, no matter what the age may be, when the loved ones are gone forever and the home of child- hood 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 surround- ings 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 re- formers, 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; Ger- rit Smith at Peterboro, and Beriah Green at Whites- borq. "^ The house we were to occupy had been closed for some years and needed many repairs, and the grounds, comprising fivfe acres, were overgrown with weeds. Myfather gave me a check and said, with a smile, " You believe in, woinan'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 Nwoodhouse, and in one month took possession. Hav- ing left my children with my mother, there wei-e no im- pediments 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 fre- quent consultation with Judge Sackett and Mr. Bas- gom. The latter was a member of the Constitution?il THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION. 14S Convention, then in session in Albany, and as he used to wS^k~dow fl when ever 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 Cotistrtution, strik- ing out the word " mak," which limits the suffrage to men. But, while he fully agreed with all I had to say tJtrrRe political equality of women, he had not the cour- age to make himself the laughing-stock of the conven- tion. Whenever I cornered him on this point, manlike he turned the conversation to the painters and carpen- ters. 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 con- veniences, and well-tra:ined servants. Here our resi- dence 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 4ialf 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 146 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 hiinself. I never had one of them offer the least re- sistance, and in time they all came to regard me as one having authority. I strengthened my influ- ence 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 chil- dren 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 sufifering endured in unwelcome motherhood in the abodes of THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION. 147 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, bat, .now theZre aTstrtlg'ferle was upon mt. — My - duties were too num ero us and v aried, and none suffi- m^3lgli£i:--ia£uitie.s, I sufifered with mental hunger, , which, like an empty stomach, is veiy 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 m6. Emerson says, "A healthy discontent is the first step to progress." The general discontent I felt with woman's portion as wife, mother, housekeeper, physi- ' 148 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. cian, and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into which everything fell without her constant supervision, and the wea ried, anxious look of the majority of women impressed me with a strong feeling- that some activeln easures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of society in generaLaad. oi-WX>ro^n^ in iiarticujar. My experience at the World's Anti-slavery Convention, all I had re ad of the legal status of women, and the oppression I saw everywhere, tog ether swept across my soiJlTtirreiTSified liow Tjv many personafe xperience s.' It seFmed as if air lHeeIenientr"fiad conspired to impel ,me to some onward step. I could not see what to do or where td begin — my only thought was a public meet- ing for protest and discussion. r In this tempest-tossed" condition of mind I received an invitation to spend the_ i 3 ay w '<^ T 'if i-pt ia Mnt t^ 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 vehe- mence 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 " Womaj;i's-/Rig hts Conventio n." We wrote the call that ev ening and publishe31t"in~the SeneccTComty'Courier the next day, the 14th of July, 1848," giving only"^fivT"dayf"noriper 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 -jvere Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann McClintock, Jane Hunt, Martha C. Wright, and my- THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION. 140 self. The convention, which was held two days in the Methodist Church, was in every way a s trand success . The house was crowded at every session, the speaking good, and a religious earnestness dignified all the pro- ceedings. These were the hasty initiative steps of " the most - momentous reform that had yet been launched on the world — t he fir st orga nized protest against the injustice , which ha^ brooded lor -ages-over -the Gh^acter , an4 - destiny of^nesljalfahei-FaG®." 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 theconvention and in his paper. The North Star, but so pronounced was the popu- lar 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. Fortu- IS<» EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. nately, the first one seemed to have drawn all the fire, and of the second but little was said. But we had set the ball in motion, and now, in quick succession, con- ventions 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 Gar- rison, Phillips, Channing, Parker, and Emerson took part. It was one of these that first attracted the atten- tion 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 ^"■1!^° F'-"pg'^ty TR\]\^ whir^ had given rise to some discussion on woman's rights in New York, had passed the legislature. This encouraged action on thie"parE~ 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 prop- erty 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 aristoc- racy, 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 de- rnands made in the convention were not entirely new THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION. 151 to the reading and thinking public of New York — the first State to take dny 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 op- portunity 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 poiritsln the neighborhood. One nignt, fiTFhe Quaker Meeting House at Farmington, I invited, as usual, dis- cussion and questions when I had finished. We all waited in silence for a long time; at lehgth a middle- aged man, with a broad-brimmed hat, arose and re- sponded 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 cha- grined in having what I considered my unanswerable arguments so summarily disposed of, and the serious impression I had made on the audience so speedily dis- sipated. The good man intended no disrespect, as he told me afterward. He simply put the whole argo- ment 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 152 MIGHTY YEARS A^D MORE. gradually took a subordinate place. Now I ^igganto write article s for the press, letters to conventionsKeld" in other States, and private letters to friends, to arouse them to thought on this question. The pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Bogue, preacheH severaljermons on Woman's bphere, criticis- ing the action of tiie~convehtions 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. I n answeri ng all the attacks, we were compell ed to study canon an3~ civifl^^^const^utrons^ Bi hlftSj . srienre, philosophy, and history^ .^asieij^nijprQfane. -Maw my rnind, ^^ w^|) riff, "^Y hanrls, wac; frilly c\cci.\i^i.»Ar-%»nA-vn^ stead 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 re- freshments 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 Hght 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 offi- THB FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION. iS3 cer for the evening, who called the meeting to order, and introduced the essayist. That finished, he asked each member, in turn, what he or she had read or thought on the subject, and if any had criticisms to make on the essay. Eygjgaaas -wa&^expect&d^Ao^gon- tribute something. Much information was thus gained, andTTnany spicy discussions followed. All the ladies, as well as the gentlemen, presided in turn, and so be- came 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 sub- jects and brought together the best minds in the com- munity. 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 ad- vantages 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: Fran- ces Hoskins, who was principal of the girls' de- partment in the acadeqiy, 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 aris- tocracy in Albany. She died suddenly, after a short illness. I was with her in the last hours and held her 154 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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, intel- ligent 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 de- lighted with the change, and wondered why they had ^ot 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 daugh- ters came down to get their breakfast (for they did all their own work) they were filled with grief and disap- pointment. 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. -^^<^.e^ ^^ .^^^^^'^^^^^^ ^^<£^- /tf'-^^^-^ CHAPTER X. SUSAN B. ANTHONY. The reports of the conventions held in Seneca Falls and Rochester, N. Y., in 1848, attracted the atten- tion 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 bur struggle. At this time she was teaching in thje 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 va- cation, she was surprised to find that her sober Quaker parents and sister, having attended the Rochester meetings, regarded them as very profitable and inter- esting, and the demands made as proper and reason- able. 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 efiforts have been given to the enfranchisement ol women. As, from this time, my friend is closely connected 155 IS6 EIOHTV YEARS AND MORE. 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 unmar- ried 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 conver- sation with a remarkably gifted Englishwoman. She was absorbed in many public interests and had con- scientiously resolved never to marry, lest the cares nec- essarily involved in matrimony should make inroads upon her time and thought, to the detriment of the public good. " Unless," said she, " some women dedi- cate 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 mem- bers 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 wis- SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 157 dom, and ponder the mysteries of the unknown. All hail to Maria Mitchell, Harriet Hosmer, Charlotte Cushman, Alice and Phoebe Gary, Louisa Alcott, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Frances Willard, and Clara Barton ! All honor to the noble women who have devoted earnest lives to the intellectual and moral needs of mankind! 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 rebel- lious cry. There the baby steps were taken, and at the village school the first stitches were learned, and the ABC 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 con- trast 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 whole- some respect for individual freedom and a brave adherence tp tryth. He wa? a man of food busi- IS8 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. ness capacity, and a thorough manager of his wide and lucrative interests. He saw that compensa- tion 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 " dis- owned," 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 com- mitted offense ! He admitted that he was " sorry " for something, so was taken back into the body of the faith- ful ! 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 alto- gether, 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 temp- tation to drink if the lessons were given in the hotel; and, being a rigid temperance man, he readily con- sented, 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 SUSAN B. ANTHONY. IS9 discrimination in what it deemed sin, nor such com- promise with worldly frivolity, and so Mr. Anthony was seen no more in meeting. But, in later years, in Roch- ester he was an attentive listener to Rev. William Henry Channing. The effect of all this on Susan is the question of in- terest. 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, de- teriorated 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, concen- trated worker. Eyery 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 l6o EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 con- fronted 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 An- thony'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 adopt- ing 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 un- conscious 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 un- compromising truthfulness of the mature woman. Susan Anthony was taught simply that she must enter into the holy of holies of her own self, meet herself, and be true to the revelation. She first found words to express her convictions in listen- St/SAAr £. AJSTTHOtfY. i6l ing to Rev. William Henry Channing, whose teaching had a lasting spiritual influence upon her. To-day Miss Anthony is an agnostic. As to the nature of the' Godhead and of the life beyond her hqrizon 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 he/ years of young womanhood had given preparation. Her father, though a man of wealth, made it a matter pf conscience to train his girls, as well as his boys, /to self-support. Accordingly Susan chose the profjes- sion of teacher, and made her first essay during a sum- mer 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 i62 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. Quaker maiden coming to teach — a Quaker maiden of peace principles. The anticipated day and Susan ar- rived. 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, there- upon, 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 dis- turbed 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 preg- nant 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 ex- perience of the disabihties 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 Ameri- can jurisprudence; yet the most casual review con- vinced her that these claims were but the logical out- growth 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 SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 163 remember the day! George Thompson and William Lloyd Garrison having announced an anti-slavery meet- ing 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 Anthonys on the comer 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 per- fection of neatness and sobriety. I liked her thor- oughly, 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 an- cestral 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 l64 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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, where- upon 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 them- selves to the barn for liberty. The youngest boy, Ger- rit, 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 con- ventions. Here we forged resolutions, protests, appeals, petitions, agricultural reports, and con- stitutional 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 stem encounter between my friend and the young experimenter. It is pleasapt to remember that he never seriously injured any of his victims, and only once came near fatally shooting him- self with a pistol. The ball went through his hand; SC/SAJV £. ANTHONY. 165 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 perti- nacity 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 oif 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 com- ing across my lawn, I knew that some happy convoca- tion of the sons of Adam was to be set by the ears, by one of our appeals or resolutions. The little portman- teau, 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 dis- graceful 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 faith- ful, here and there; stir up the women in Ohio, Penn- sylvania, or Massachusetts; call on The Lily, The Una, The Liberator, The Standard to remember our wrongs as i66 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. well as those of the slave. We never met without issu- ing 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 syn- thetic. 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 platfdrm, 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 dif- ferences in public. Thus united, at an early day we be- gan 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 se- SUSJJ\r B. ANTHONY. 167 cured. Speedily the State was aflame with disturbances in temperance and teachers' conventions, and the press heralded the news far and near that women delegates had suddenly appeared, demanding admission in men's conventions; that their rights had been hotly contested session after session, by liberal men on the one side, the clergy and learned professors on the other; an over- whelming majority rejecting thewomen with terrible an- athemas 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 reforrns 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 com- placently say, " If these pioneers in reform had only ■ pressed their measures more judiciously, in a more lady- like manner, in more choice language, with a more deferential attitude, the gentlemen could not have be- haved so rudely." I give, in these pages, enough of the characteristics of these women, of the sentiments tjiey 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 tonquered 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 con- servatism to yield its ground so far as to permit women to participate in all debates, deliver essays, vote,^^id^ 168 MiGffTV YBAkS Ar^H MOkB. hold honored positions as officers. She labored as sin- cerely 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 elo- quent lips of such men as George Thompson, Phillips, and Garrison, first proclaimed to Miss Anthony its press- ing financial necessities. To their inspired words she gave answer, four years afterward, by becoming a regu- larly employed agent in the Anti-slavery Society. For her espoused cause she has always made boldest de- mands. 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 ring- ing 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 inter- ested? Now we see her on the far-off prairies, enter- taining, with sterling common sense, large gatherings of men, women, and children, seated on rough boards in some unfinished building; again, holding public de- bates in some town with half-fledged editors and 169 170 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 con- ventions, and congressional committees, discussing with senators and judges the letter and spirit of con- stitutional 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 travel- ing 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 insti- tution 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 address- ing 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 proc- ess 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. SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 171 what was said as fast as uttered; and by laughter, tears, and applause, the pupils showed that they fully appre- ciated 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 tlie very bosom of the great " Mother of Waters." Only once in all these wander- ings 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 mo- ment 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, crimi-^ nals, 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 sin- cere and -lasting friendships, or a more extensive cor- respondence with a large circle of noble men, yet I tji EIGHTY YEAkS AND MORE. 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 Con- stitution as a white male, native born, American citi- zen, 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 en- franchisement 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 mar- ried 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 Bos- ton 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 move- ment. To the most brilliant occasion of this kind, the invitation cards were as follows: SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 173 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 shovv their appreciation of her long services in behalf of woman's emanci- pation. 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 An- thony 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 occasioni by the Gary 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. AH 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 An- thony 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 exhaust- ive plea, in 1880, for a. Sixteenth Amendment before 174 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, Senator Ed- munds 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 td leave his sick room, and that he felt fully re- paid by her grand speech, which neither in matter nor manner would he have changed in the smallest particu- lar. But into Miss Anthony's private correspondence one must look for examples of her most effective writ- ing. 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 nrercilessly perse- cuted woman. Miss Anthony has become the most honored and respected in the nation. Witness the praises of press and people, and the enthusiastic ova- tions she received on her departure for Europe in SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 1 75 1883. Never were warmer expressions of regret for an absence, nor more sincere prayers for a speedy re- turn, 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 Washing- ton, 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 consti- tutional 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. Ac- cordingly, 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 cap- tain'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 1^6 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 esthetic 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 Ues, on a small table, an open book, in which visitors register. On the oc- casion of Miss Anthony's visit the pen and ink proved so unpromising that her entire party declined this op- portunity 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. Sar- gent, 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 con- sent of the governed," etc. In a few days an official brought back a large package, saying, " Such senti- ments are not allowed to pass through the post office." SUSAN- B. ANTHONY. 177 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 tour- ist. She seemed interested only in historical monu- ments, 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 poHtical 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 Labou- laye (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 Com- mune of 1 87 1 were ruthlessly shot and buried in a com- mon grave; and a woman's rights meeting, held in a little hall in the Rue de Rivoli, at which the brave, far- seeing Mile. 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 com- prehend, were to her bitter realities. We can imagine to what desperation she was brought when her Quaker 178 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. prudishness could hail an emphatic oath in English from a French ofificial 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 con- versation. Here she was the recipient of many gener- ous 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 edu- cational 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 Presi- dential 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 Su- preme Court of the United States, regretfully deter- mined 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 can- vassed 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;- SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 179 if the decision were left to a jury drawn from Miss An- thony's enlightened county, transferred the trial to the Ontario County term, in June, 1873. It was now necessary to instruct the citizens of an- other county. In this task Miss Anthony received valu- able assistance from Matilda Joslyn Gage; and, to meet- all this new expense, financial aid was generously given, unsolicited, by Thomas Wentworth Higgin- son, 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 Cen- tral 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 inconsisten- cies were embodied in that Judge, punctilious in man- ner, scrupulous in attire, conscientious in trivialities, and obtuse on great principles, fitly described by Charles O'Conor — " A very ladylike Judge." Behold him sit- ting 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 hun- dred 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: l8o EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. " 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, em- bodied for the moment in the liberty of a single indi- vidual, received a rebuff on June 17, 1873; but, just as surely as our Revolutionary heroes were in the end vic- torious, 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 sec- retary 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 audi- ences, 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 Sl/SA/\r B. AJ^TtiONV. i8i 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 thousancf dol- lars. There is recognition on these pages of more than one thousand dollars obtained by sohciting advertise- ments, 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 l^rave 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 lectur- ing, 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 forget- fulness of self-interest and ready sacrifice to the needs of Qthers. When laboring, in 1874, to fill every en- gagement, in order to meet her debts, her mother's sudden illness called her home. Without one selfish l82 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 con- sideration 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 xwas 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 dol- lar. The very night of the transfer Miss Anthony went to Rochester with the dollar in her pocket, and the lit- tle 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 yfear 1876 Miss Anthony's ac- counts 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. SlfSAN B. ANTtiOl^V. 183 In vain will you search these telltale books for evi- dence of personal extravagance; for, although Miss Anthony thinks it true economy to buy the best, her tastes are simple. Is there not something very touch- ing 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,-7-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 An- thony's personal appeafance 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 con- scientious 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 re- fuse 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 tS4 EIGItTV YMARS AN'D more. 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 s^elf-respect wavered, or a feeling of resentment shadowed her mind. Often- times, when I hkve been sorely discouraged, thinking that the .prolonged struggle was a waste of force which in other dirpctions 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 obsta- cles, difficulties, or dangers ever appear to us insur- mountable. Reviewing the life of Susan B. Anthony, I ever liken her to the Doric column in Grecian archi- tecture, 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 com- 'mon friend Theodore Tilton wrote of us in 1868: " Miss Susan B. Anthony, a well-known,^ indefati- gable, and lifelong advocate of temperance, anti-slavery, and woman's rights, has been, since 185 1, Mrs. Stanton's intimate associate in reformatory labors. These cele- brated 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 SUSAJV B. ANTHONY. 185 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, di- minish each other's discretion. " But, whatever may be the imprudent utterances of the one or the impolitic methods of the other, the ani- mating 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 las-t thirty years, been dili- gent 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; some- times to the pleasant surprise and half welcome of the members, more often to the bewilderment and prostra- tion 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 coun- try. 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 sub- ordinate position, both in private and public affairs, that a gradually growing feeling of rebellion among them quite exasperated the men, and their manifesta- tions of hostility in pubHc 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 po- 'sition. When women abandoned, the temperance re- form, all interest in the question gradually died out in the State, and practically nothing was done in New )S6 My FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE. 187 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 c onvinced Miss Anthony that the ballot was the key to the situation; that when we had a voice in the laws we shoin3n5e~wiIcome"to^any "pTatf ormT In tuiming the intense ■earhesIhess'"lnTT^TgTonr*e!TThusi- asm of this great-souled woman into this channel, I soon felt the power of my convert in goading me for- ever 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 strength- ened, we have labored faithfully together. From the year 1850 con ventions were held in various Strifes, and their respective legislatures were continu- ally be siege^ New YorlTwas thoi^bughlv 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 legisla- ture. That was a great event in my life. I felt so nervous over it, lest it should not be worthy the oc- casion, 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 ofifice, I entered and took my seat on the opposite side of-his table. On 1 88 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE: no occasion, before or since, was I ever more embar- rassed — 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 comer 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 in- justice ,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 MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE. 189 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 lier 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 sor- rows 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 im-^ provements 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^legis- lature, 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, Chan- ning, Ernestine L. Rose, Antoinette L. Brown, and 190 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 : lobody left below them." Poor human nature loves to lave something to look down upon! Here is a specimen of the wayi^such editors talked it 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 petti- coats 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 per- formances of Punch and Judy on fair days, or the min- strelsy of gentlemen with blackened faces, on banjos, the; tambourine, and bones. But the joke is becoming stale. People are getting cloyed with these perform- ances, and are looking for some healthier and more intellectual amusement. The ludicrous is wearing away, and disgust is taking the place of pleasurable sen- sations, arising from the novelty of this new phase of hypocrisy and infidel fanaticism. " People are beginning to inquire how far public senti- ment should sanction or tolerate these unsexed women, MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE. 19I 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 contro- versies and trafficking of the world, upheave existing institutions, and overrun all the social relations of Hfe. " It is a melancholy reflection that, among our American women, who have been educated to better things," there should be found any who 'are wilUng 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 discussipo 192 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. of these various bills, Susan B. Anthony circulated peti- tions, 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 utter- most 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, peti- tion 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 ineffi- cient — 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 legis- lature, some of the ladies, in congratulating me, in^ 'quired, 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, MY FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE. 193 and, having accoitipHshed my mission, we shall all re- turn home together." When my children reached the magic number of seven, my good angel, Susan B. Anthony, would some- times 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 en- joyed the steadfast sympathy and confidence of her own home circle. Her faithful sister Mary, a most success- ful 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 to- gether; 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, in- terrupted with occasional visits from others of the faith- 194 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. ful. Hither came Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Paulina Wright Davis, Frances Dana Gage, Dr. Harriet Hunt, Rev. Antoinette Brown, Lucy Stone, and Abby Kelly, until all these names were as familiar as household words to the children. 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 wis- dom, 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 pres- ence 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 pro- longed injustice to women. We found, however, that, after expressing ourselves in the most vehe- ment 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 denun- ciations, 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. MV FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE. 19S 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 sufifrage. 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 exam- ined 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 in- formed 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 tbe right tickets and then I feel sure that I am faithfully repre- sented, 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, 196 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 ob- jected 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 con- nection with some great reform movement. Thus we all suffer or enjoy the same publicity — ^we are alike ridi- culed. 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 MV FtasT SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLATURE. ^97 ' 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 Chijna 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 im- modest 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, 198 MIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. and both being cool and self-possessed, and in wit and sarcasm quite equal to any of thetn, we fought the Senator, inch by inch, until he had a very narrow platform to stand on. Mrs. Seward maintained an un- broken 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 em- barrassment 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, lib- eral tendencies of her mind. What a tide of disagree- able 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 im- possible, 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, approach- ing 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 My FIRST SPEECH BEFORE A LEGISLA TURE. I99 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 s^id were: " Before we part I must confess that I was fairly van- quished 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 ad- vocate 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 im- provement in the appearance and conduct of the office was generally acknowledged. A neat little room ad- joining the public office became a kind of ladies' ex- change, 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 ¥k ^^^g^tfS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^ ■^ma ^^^^^'^f^'-- ■ ■..:''v-:5'.-::>- . . -mfiy^- ,,/.-■.'- HPv!?^^^m^^^^^l^^^^^ * ' ^^^^^^^H^^H ^^l^^^^l ifc f : i vM MRS. STANTON AND SON, 1854. , REFORMS AND MOBS. 201 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 ma^terial, 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 psirts Qf the coun- 202 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. try, adopted the costume, and farmers' wives especially proved its convenience. It was also worn by skaters, gymnasts, tourists, and in sanitariums. But, while the few realized its advantages, the many laughed it to scorn, and heaped such ridicule on its wearers that they soon found that the physical freedom enjoyed did not compensate for the persistent persecution and petty annoyances suffered at every turn. To be rudely gazed at in public and private, to be the conscious subjects of criticism, and to be followed by crowds of boys in the streets, were all, to the very last degree, exasperating. A favorite doggerel that our tormentors chanted, when we appeared in public places, ran thus: " Heigh ! ho ! in rain and snow, The bloonier 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 try- ing 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 REFORMS AND MOBS. 203 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 Grimk^, Mrs. William Burleigh, Celia Bur- leigh, 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 any- where with those who wore it. People would stare,, many men and women make rude remarks, boys fol- lowed in crowds, with jeers and laughter. So that gen- tlemen 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 commo- tion 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 eflfort was not lost. We were well aware that the dress was not ar- tistic, 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 464 EIGHTY YEAHS AND MORE. 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. 1 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 them- selves 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 do- mestic life, and for thirty years was the joy of our house- hold. 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 XEFOSMS AND MOBS. 205 far 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 possibili- ties, 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,r-a worthless thing, — and too small for any,purpose. Consequently half their viands were spoiled in the cooking, and the cooks left in dis- gust, one after another. In telling me, one day, of these kitchen misadven- tures, 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 darn- ing 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 hpw— on your ojd stove, he 'vvpuld set it out of doors 2o6 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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, " sup- pose 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 con- trary," I replied, " as your husband is wealthy, you had better get all you really need now. Mr. S. will proba- bly 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 de- REFORMS AND MOBS. 207 lighted with their large playrooms, and madam jubi- lant 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 ol 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 de- tract from your beauty. Men cannot resist beauty and tears. Never mar their efifect with anything bordering on sobs and hysteria; such violent manifestations being neither refined nor artistic. A scene in which one per- son does the talking must be limited in time. No ordi- nary man can keep at white heat fifteen minutes; if his victim says nothing, he will soon exhaust himself. Re- member 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 dinper, and, as I expected 2o8 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. him, I had all things in order. He seemed very happy to see me and the children, and we had a gay time look- ing 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 mo- ment, 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 grid- dle, 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: ' \^il- liam, 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, find I have npt heard a word about the stoves since. I REFORMS AND MOSS. iog 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 210 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 Lin- coln, the abolitionists decided to hold a series of con- ventions in the chief cities of the North. All their available speakers were pledged for active service. The Republican party, having absorbed the political abo- litionists within its ranks by its declared hostility to the extension of slavery, had come into power with over- whelming majorities. Hence the Garrisonian aboli- tionists, 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 princi- ples, 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 Republi- cans all over the country, that anti-slavery conventions would not be tolerated. Thus Republicans and Demo- crats 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 REFORMS AN^D MOBS. all 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, effec- tually, interrupted the proceedings. Such was our ex- perience 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 ex- pense, 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 plat- form 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 dis- cuss with us the right of free speech and the constitu- tionality 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 sub- ordinates, 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 ap- preciative, jocose fflob. At this point Aaron Powell 212 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 exhaus- tion, 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 sarcasti- cally 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 juris- diction. Through all the sessions of the convention Mayor Thatcher sat on the platform, his police sta- tioned 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 ma-de the slightest interrup- tion, 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, Reforms and mobs. 213 to and from the Delevan House. The last night Ger- rit 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 Hne 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 try- ing experience was progressing, day by day, behind the scenes. Miss Anthony had been instrumental in help-^ ing 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 An- thony, knowing that she was not, and believing fully that theunhappy 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, argu- 214 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. ments, and warnings from Mr. Garrison, Mr. Phillips, and the Senator on the one side, and from Lydia Mott, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet, and Abby Hopper Gibbons, on the other, poured in upon her, day after day; but Miss Anthony remained immovable, although she knew that she was defying and violating the law and might be arrested any moment on the platform. We had known so many aggravated cases of this kind that, in daily counsel, we resolved that this woman should not be recaptured if it were possible to prevent it. To us it looked as imperative a duty to shield a sane mother, who had been torn from a family of little children and doomed to the companionship of lunatics, and to aid her in fleeing to a place of safety, as to help a fugitive from slavery to Canada. In both cases an unjust law was violated; in both cases the supposed owners of the victims were defied; hence, in point of law and morals, the act was the same in both cases. The result proved the wisdom of Miss Anthony's decision, as all with whom Mrs. P. came in contact for years afterward, ex- pressed the opinion that she was, and always had been, perfectly sane. Could the dark secrets of insane asy- lums be brought to light we should be shocked to know the great number of rebellious wives, sisters, and daugh- ters who are thus sacrificed to false customs and barbar- \Ous 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 i860. A very liberal bill, in- troduced 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 discus- sion, 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 op- position 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 2i6 EIGHTY YEARS AND- MORE. 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 Bene- dict, 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 fol- low 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, u was only surprised when I encountered it, and no number of experiences have, as yet, taught me to fear gublic opinion. What I said on divorce thirty-seven X^ears 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. Ernes- VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 217 tine L. Rose and Lucretia Mott briefly added their views on the question. Although Mrs. Mott had urged Mrs. Rose and myself to be as moderate as possible in our demands, she quite unconsciously made the most radical utterance of all, in saying that marriage was a question beyond the realm of legislation, that must be left to the parties themselves. We rallied Lucretia on her radicalism, and some of the journals criticised us severely; but the following letter shows that she had no thought of receding from her position: " 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 ' de- pository.' 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 ex- pecting 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 meet- ing. 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 2l8 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. would prove useless. The great charter, in establish- ing the supremacy of law over prerogative, provides only for justice between man and man ; for woman noth- ing is left but common law, accumulations and modifi- cations of original Gothic and Roman heathenism, which no amount of filtration through ecclesiastical courts could change into Christian laws. They are de- clared 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 ques- tion 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 resolu- tions, 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 VIEWS ON- MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 2I9 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 conven- tion 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, al- though, in my speech, I had quoted many laws to show the reverse. Mr. Garrison and Rev. An- toinette L. Brown were ahke opposed to Mr. Phillips' motion, and claimed that marriage and divorce were legitimate subjects for discussion on our plat- form. 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 con- trary to all parliamentary usage to say that, when the speeches which enforced and advocated the resolutions are reported and published in the proceedings, the reso- lutions 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 thfe sexes. By it man gains all ; woman loses all ; tyrant la v and lust reign supreme with him; meek submission anl ready obedience alone befit her. Woman has never been consulted; her wish has never been taken into con- sideration as regards the terms of the marriage compac|t. By law, public sentiment, and religion, — from the tin^e of Moses down to the present day, — woman has never 2io EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. \ been thought of other than as a piece of property, to be i disposed of at the will and pleasure of man. And at 1 this very hour, by our statute books, by our (so-called) \ enlightened Christian civihzation, she has no voice Whatever in saying what shall be the basis of the re- lation. She must accept marriage as man proffers it, or hot 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 in- equality 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 conven- tion will not vote to forbid the publication of those ^ resolutions with the proceedings." Rev. William Hoisington (the blind preacher) fol- lowed 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 Con- vention many were surprised to hear Wendell Phillips VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 221 pbject to the question of marriage and divorce as irrele- vant to our platform. He said: ' We had no right to discuss here any laws or customs but those where in- equality 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 im- mense 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 marriag'e 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 aflfections of her nature; laws which transcend the limits of human legislation, in a convention called for the express purpose of consider- ing her wrongs? He might as well object tO' a protest against the injustice of )ianging ,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 sus- pended 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 222 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 'Commentaries,' says: 'The legal efifects of marriage are generally dedudble 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 suh potestate viri. Her moral responsibility, even, is merged in her husband. Th6 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 connec- tion by which she is placed under the power and pro- tection of her husband.' She is possessed of certain rights tmtil 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 tarms 'marital power,' 'marital rights,' 'obedience and re- straint,' ' dominion and control,' ' power and protec- tion,' etc., etc.? Many cases are stated, showing the exercise of a most questionable power over the wife, sus- tained by the courts. (See ' Bishop on Divorce,' p. 489.) " The laws on divorce are quite as unequal as those on VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 223 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 sus- tain the suit, is not regarded as a strict right in her, but of sound discretion in the court.' (' Bishop on Di- vorce,' 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. Montes- quieu, 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," torn. 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 224 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. 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 con- tract based on the idea of the supremacy of man as the keeper of woman's virtue — ^her sole protector and sup- port? 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 happi- ness. 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 be- - fore the legislatures of our respective States and de- mand 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 nmn VIEWS OjV marriage AND DIVORCE. 225 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 metro- politan and State press. So alarming were the com- ments 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 proceed-" ing. I was constantly called on for a definitioin of mar- riage and asked to describe home life as it would be when men changed their wives every Christmas. Let- ters 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 bbm, 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, 226 EIGHTY YEARS AND MORE. who had completely alienated his wife's affections, while Mr. Richardson, who had long been a cherished ac- quaintance of the family, befriended the wife in the darkest days of her misery. She was a very refined, at- tractive 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 Rich- ardson, 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 serv- ice. 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 helpless- ness 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 i VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 22? meeting's, for women alone, to protest against the de- cision