History of Woman Suffrage Volume I Part 47

In regard to Mr. Grew, Mr. G. said he had long known him and loved him. He was a man of purity and charity, and he was glad he had given his views. Yet this kindly man did not stand upon a solid foundation.

Why go to the Bible to settle this question? As a nation, we have practically ignored the Bible. The a.s.sertion of the equality and inalienability of the rights of man, in the Declaration of Independence, includes the whole of the human race. He would never attempt to prove to an American the right of any man to liberty. He a.s.serted the fact; and considered that in holding slaves while they proclaimed liberty to all men, the American people were hypocrites and tyrants. Mr. Grew goes to St. Paul to prove that woman is not equal to man. Why go to the Bible? What question was ever settled by the Bible? What question of theology or any other department? None that I ever heard of! With this same version of the Bible, and the same ability to read it, we find that it has filled all Christendom with theological confusion. All are Ishmaelites; each man's hand against his neighbor.

The human mind is greater than any book. The mind sits in judgment on every book. If there be truth in the book, we take it; if error, we discard it. Why refer this to the Bible? In this country, the Bible has been used to support slavery and capital punishment; while in the old countries, it has been quoted to sustain all manner of tyranny and persecution. All reforms are anti-Bible. We must look at all things rationally. We find women endowed with certain capacities, and it is of no importance if any book denies her such capacities. Would Mr. Grew say that woman can not preach, in the face of such a preacher as LUCRETIA MOTT?

Mrs. MOTT begged leave to subst.i.tute friend Grew's own daughter, Mary Grew, who has already spoken on this platform!! and said, Mr. Grew himself does not take all the Bible as inspiration, in which most of the speakers concurred. She expressed her attachment to the Scriptures, and said many excellent lessons could be learned from them. She showed the misinterpretations of the texts quoted by Mr. Grew and others against the equality of the s.e.xes. Mr. Grew does not take the Bible for his guide, altogether. Mrs. Mott then quoted St. Paul in regard to marriage, and said: Why in opposition to that text has Mr. Grew married a second time? It was because he did not really believe that the Scriptures were entirely inspired.

EMMA R. COE made a few remarks on the position of the clergy generally toward this reform, the most beneficent in its results of any, man has ever yet been called upon to consider. We often hear it remarked that woman owes so much to Christianity. It can not be the Christianity that the clergy have proclaimed on our platform. From them we hear only of woman's degradation and subjection. We have certainly nothing to be thankful for if such are the principles Christ came into the world to declare; the subjection of one-half of the race to the other half, as far as we are concerned, is no improvement upon the religions of all nations and ages.

At the close of this protracted discussion on the Bible position of woman, the following resolutions, presented by Mr. Garrison, were unanimously adopted:

_Resolved_, That while remembering and gladly acknowledging the exceptional cases which exist to the contrary, we feel it a duty to declare in regard to the sacred cause which has brought us together, that the most determined opposition it encounters is from the clergy generally, whose teachings of the Bible are intensely inimical to the equality of woman with man.

_Resolved_, That whatever any book may teach, the rights of no human being are dependent upon or modified thereby, but are equal, absolute, essential, inalienable in the person of every member of the human family, without regard to s.e.x, race, or clime.

JOHN SIDNEY JONES made a few remarks on the monopoly of the pulpit.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY wished to remind the friends, before separating, of one practical measure to be considered in the advancement of our n.o.ble enterprise. For the purpose of holding Conventions, circulating tracts and pet.i.tions, giving prizes for good stories, supporting newspapers and agents, the first great requisite is money, and I hope every one present will contribute generously to help us carry on this grand reform.

Mr. GARRISON seconded Miss Anthony's demand for "the sinews of war." He said we Americans are a theoretical people, and we are also a practical people. If the women intend to knock at the door of every State house to demand their rights, the question must be argued in a practical way with facts and statistics.

When I undertook to have the gallows abolished in Ma.s.sachusetts, I asked the Committee of the Legislature if they wanted a certain number of Bible texts quoted on each side of the question, they said, "No, we want facts and statistics; we do not ask the opinions of Moses and Aaron on this point, but the result of human experience in the punishment of crime." So in this case; Legislatures will not ask for nor appreciate Bible arguments; they will ask for facts as to woman's achievements in education, industry, and practical usefulness.

JOSEPH DUGDALE, whose special concern always seemed to be the action of dead men on this question, said it had been his fortune to be present at the making of the last wills and testaments of many men, and he never knew of a case where a dying husband would practically admit that his wife was his equal. He stated a case in which a husband of his acquaintance proposed to leave a large property, the inheritance and acc.u.mulation of his wife's labors, to _her_ as long as she remained his widow, and then to divide it among _his_ family relatives. And yet this husband claimed to have great admiration and affection for this woman whom he would deliberately rob of her inheritance from her own father. The magnanimity of man pa.s.ses all understanding!

Mrs. PRINCE, a colored woman, invoked the blessing of G.o.d upon the n.o.ble women engaged in this enterprise, and said she understood woman's wrongs better than woman's rights, and gave some of her own experiences to ill.u.s.trate the degradation of her s.e.x in slavery. On a voyage to the West Indies the vessel was wrecked, and she was picked up and taken to New Orleans. Going up the Mississippi she saw the terrible suffering of a cargo of slaves on board, and on the plantations along the sh.o.r.es. On her return voyage, attached to the steamboat was a brig containing several hundred slaves, among them a large number of young quadroon girls with infants in their arms as fair as any lady in this room.

MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE spoke at length of the brilliant record of women in the past in every department of human activity--in art, science, literature, invention; of their heroism and patriotism in time of war, and their industry and endurance in many equally trying emergencies in time of peace. Woman has so fully proved her equality with man in every position she has filled, that it is too late now for clergymen on our platform to remand us to the subjection of the women of Corinth centuries ago. We have learned too well the lessons of liberty taught in our revolution to accept now the position of slaves.

Mrs. TRACY CUTLER: It would appear, after all, that we women are placed pretty much in the condition of the veriest slave. We must prove our own humanity by exhibiting our skill in work. We must bring forth our own samples; put them, as it were, on the auction-block, and thus make our claim to equality of rights a matter of dollars and cents. Is it here only that woman can touch man's sympathy? She then described the degraded condition of women in Europe, and particularly in London, where poverty and the tyranny of man have driven women to despair, until they were forced to prost.i.tute their own bodies to procure bread. This vice, horribly revolting as it is, seems to go hand in hand with intemperance. She did not wish women to go into the field to be yoked with mules, or to turn scavenger, to pick up rags and crusts in the streets to carry home in their ap.r.o.ns. Men bring the elements to their aid, and we wish women to do the same. She then adverted to the difference in the labor of the kitchen and other pursuits open to women. Let the printer advertise for two girls to set type, and a hundred applications will be made, while women for the kitchen are very scarce. The reason for this is, that all other kinds of work are better paid. When woman's labor is justly remunerated and equally respected in all departments of industry, there will be no such difference in the supply of help for the factory, shop, and kitchen.

FRANCES D. GAGE said: The reason why the work of the kitchen is looked upon as degrading, is because the girl is never taken by the hand. Where are your philanthropic ladies who a.s.sist her?

Where is she to go when her work is done? Does she sit in the same room with you? Does she eat at the same table? No, to your shame, she is confined to the bas.e.m.e.nt and the garret. It is not so much because the pay for kitchen labor is not so good, as it is chiefly because of the public opinion that they are employed to _serve_. It is true that there are many who will take a quarter off the wages of a girl to put a new bow on their own bonnets. The men are not to be blamed for this; they have enough sins to answer for.

Mrs. COE said: It would afford women great pleasure to be able to pay their own expenses on pleasure excursions and to the concert-room, instead of being always compelled to allow the gentlemen to foot the bills for them. Women must have equal pay for equal work. Among the Quakers the s.e.xes stand on an equality, and everything moves on smoothly and happily.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY, after relating several instances of the injustice of the laws that made the wife subject to the husband, said: And all these wrongs are to be redressed by appeals to the State Legislatures. In New York and Ohio the women had already commenced with every prospect of success. Thousands of pet.i.tions had been sent into both Legislatures asking for suffrage and equal property rights, and their Committees had granted hearings to our representatives--Caroline M. Severance, in Ohio; Ernestine L. Rose, Rev. William Henry Channing, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rev. Antoinette L. Brown, and herself, in New York. And closed with an earnest appeal to the women of every State to pet.i.tion, PEt.i.tION, remembering that "what is worth having is worth asking for," and that "who would be free must themselves strike the blow."

Frances D. Gage moved that the next National Convention be held at Cincinnati, Ohio. A gentlemen suggested Was.h.i.+ngton, to which Mr.

Garrison replied, "We shall go there by and by."[72] After discussion by Mrs. Mott, Mrs. Rose, and others, the motion was unanimously adopted. Mrs. Gage then spoke of the Press of the city; its faithful reports of the proceedings of the Convention, and moved a vote of thanks. Edward M. Davis begged Mrs. Gage to accept as a subst.i.tute the following resolutions:

_Resolved_, That the thanks of this Convention are due, and are hereby conveyed, to Mrs. Ernestine L. Rose, of New York, for the courtesy, impartiality, and dignity with which she has presided over its proceedings.

_Resolved_, That in the crowded and intelligent audiences which have attended the sessions of this Convention; in the earnest attention given to its proceedings from the commencement to its close; in the fair reports of the Press of the city, and in the spirit of harmony and fraternity which has prevailed amongst its members, we see evidence of the rapid progress of our cause, and find incitement to renewed and more earnest efforts in its behalf.

Thus closed another most successful Convention. Notwithstanding an admission fee of ten cents during the day and twenty-five at night, the audiences grew larger every session, until the last evening the s.p.a.cious hall, aisles, stairs, and all available standing-room, was densely packed, and hundreds went away unable to get in.

Let us remember that behind the chief actors in these Conventions, there stands in each State, a group of women of stern moral principle, large experience, refinement and cultivation, filling with honor the more private walks of life, who, by their sympathy, hospitality, and generous contributions, are the great sources of support and inspiration to those on the platform, who represent the ideas they hold sacred, whose tongues and pens proclaim their thoughts. Among such in Pennsylvania, let us ever remember Sarah Pugh, Mary Ann McClintock, Elizabeth Phillips, Anna and Adeline Thomson, Abby and Gertrude Kimber, Margaretta Forten, Harriet Forten Purvis, Hannah M.

Darlington, Dinah Mendenhall, Sarah Pierce, Elizabeth and Sarah Miller, and Ruth Dugdale. When success shall at last crown our efforts, in according due praise to those who have achieved the victory, such names as these must not be forgotten.

Alice Bradley Neal, of Philadelphia, ridiculed this Woman's Rights Convention in her husband's[73] paper, and Jane Grey Swisshelm indignantly replied in her _Pittsburgh Sat.u.r.day Visitor_ as follows:

Mrs. Neal can not be ignorant that the princ.i.p.al object of the Convention, and all the agitation about woman's rights, is to secure to the toiling millions of her own s.e.x a just reward for their labor; to save them from the alternative of prost.i.tution, starvation, or incessant life-destroying toil; and yet the whole subject furnishes her with material for scorn and merriment! Tell it not in Gath! Publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the sons of the Phillistines rejoice that one of the daughters of Eve, beautiful and gentle, throws down her knitting-pins, and tries her strength to wield the hammer of old Vulcan to aid them in forging fetters for the wrists of her unfortunate sisters. We would that it had been some one else than the gentle Alice Neal who had volunteered to soil her white hands and sweat her fair face, laboring in such a blacksmith-shop.

While ever and anon during the last forty years Mrs. Swisshelm has seized some of these _dilettante_ literary women with her metaphysical tweezers, and held them up to scorn for their ridicule of the woman suffrage conventions, yet in her own recently published work in her mature years, she vouchsafes no words of approval for those who have inaugurated the greatest movement of the centuries. She complains that in some of the woman suffrage conventions she attended, there was not a strict observance of parliamentary rules, and that the resolutions and speeches were unworthy the occasion. Yet the only time Mrs.

Swisshelm ever honored our platform at a National Convention, her speech was far below the level of most of the others, and the resolutions she offered were so verbose and irrelevant, that the Committee declined to present them to the Convention.

It is quite evident from her last p.r.o.nunciamento that she has no just appreciation of the importance and dignity of our demand for justice and equality. A soldier without a leg is a fact so much more readily understood, than all women without ballots, and his loss so much more readily comprehended and supplied, that we can hardly blame any one for doing the work of the hour, rather than struggling a life-time for an idea. Hence it is not a matter of surprise that most women are more readily enlisted in the suppression of evils in the concrete, than in advocating the principles that underlie them in the abstract, and thus ultimately doing the broader and more lasting work. On this ground we can excuse the author of "Half a Century" for giving the reader one hundred and twenty-five pages of her own work in hospitals and three to the Woman Suffrage movement, but considering the tone of the three pages, the advocates of the measure should be thankful she gave no more.

Mrs. Swisshelm's contempt is only surpa.s.sed by Mrs. Hale's "Jeremiad"

over the infidelity of the n.o.ble leader of our movement. For a woman so thoroughly politic and time-serving, who, unlike the great master she professed to follow, never identified herself with one of the unpopular reforms of her day, whose pen never by any chance slipped outside the prescribed literary line of safety, to cheer the martyrs to truth in her own generation; lamentations from such a source over Lucretia Mott, are presumptuous and profane. If such a life of self-sacrifice and devotion to the best interests of humanity; such courage to stand alone, to do and say the right,'mid persecution, violence and mobs; such charity and faithfulness in every relation of life, as daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend; such calm declining years and peaceful death could all be realized without a belief in the creed of Sarah Josepha Hale; the philosophical conclusion is that there may be some Divine light and love outside of Mrs. Hale's horizon; that her s.h.i.+bboleth may after all not be the true measure for the highest Christian graces.

Sarah J. Hale, shuddering over the graves of such women as Harriet Martineau, Frances Wright, Mary Wollstonecroft, George Sand, George Eliot and Lucretia Mott, might furnish a subject for an artist to represent as "bigotry weeping over the triumphs of truth."

Nevertheless, as Mrs. Hale lived in Pennsylvania forty years, the women of that State may rejoice in the fact that in her great work, "Woman's Record," she has given "Sketches of all the distinguished women from the Creation to A.D. 1868"; a labor for which our s.e.x owe her a debt of grat.i.tude. To exhume nearly seventeen hundred women from oblivion, cla.s.sify them, and set forth their distinguished traits of character, was indeed an herculean labor. This is a valuable book of reference for the girls of to-day. When our opponents depreciate the achievements of woman they can turn to the "Woman's Record" and find grand examples of all the cardinal virtues, of success in art, science, literature, and government.

In Jane Grey Swisshelm, Pennsylvania can boast a successful editor of a liberal political newspaper during the eventful years of our anti-slavery struggle. _The Pittsburgh Sat.u.r.day Visitor_ was established Jan. 20, 1848. It was owned and edited by Mrs. Swisshelm for some years; merged into _The Family Journal and Visitor_ in 1852, in which she was co-editor until 1857, when she removed to Minnesota.

In spite of a few idiosyncrasies, Mrs. Swisshelm is a n.o.ble woman, and her influence has been for good in her day and generation. However much we may differ from her in some points, we must concede that she is a strong, pointed writer.

Among the editors of Pennsylvania, Anna E. McDowell deserves mention.

In _The Una_ of January, 1855, we find the following:

THE WOMAN'S ADVOCATE.

We have received the first number of a paper bearing the above name. It is a fair, handsome sheet, seven columns in width, edited by Miss Anna E. McDowell, in Philadelphia. It claims to be an independent paper. Its design is not to press woman's right to suffrage, but to present her wrongs, and plead for their redress.

It is owned by a joint stock company of women, and is printed and all the work done by women. We most heartily bid it G.o.d-speed, for the great need of woman now is work, work, that she may eat honest bread.

Miss McDowell continued her paper several years, and has ever since been a faithful correspondent in many journals, and now edits a "Woman's Department" in _The Philadelphia Sunday Republic_. She pleads eloquently for the redress of all the wrongs of humanity. Jails, prisons, charitable inst.i.tutions, the oppression of women and children, the laborer, the Indian, have all in turn been subjects of her impartial pen.

Philadelphia was the first city in this country to open her retail stores to girls as clerks, and among the first to welcome them as type-setters in the printing offices.

In the city press, from 1849 to 1854, we find the following announcements, which show the general agitation on woman's position:

_The Pennsylvania Freeman_: "A Discourse on Woman," to be delivered by Lucretia Mott, at the a.s.sembly Buildings, December 17, 1849.

Lectures by Elizabeth Oakes Smith, April 6, 8, and 10, 1853, on "Manhood," "Womanhood," "Humanity."

_North American and United States Gazette_: Lucretia Mott will deliver a lecture on the "Medical Education of Woman,"

February 2, 1853.

Horace Mann will lecture on "Woman," February 3, 1853.

_Philadelphia Public Ledger_, January 20, 1854: Lucy Stone will deliver a lecture on "Woman's Rights," at Musical Fund Hall, Sat.u.r.day evening, January 21.

April 12, 1854: Mrs. Ernestine L. Rose will lecture on Thursday evening, April 13, at Spring Garden Inst.i.tute, on "The Education and Influence of Woman"; and on Friday evening, April 14th, at Sansom Street Hall, on "The Legal Disabilities of Woman." Tickets, 25 cents.

WOMAN'S MEDICAL COLLEGE OF PENNSYLVANIA.