In this circular women of all opinions were represented, but a special circular, signed only by ladies of Conservative views, was sent to the conservative associations. These ladies pointed out that justice to women themselves, and the welfare of the whole community are involved in the admission of the women householders who at this moment are possessed of the existing statutory qualifications:

To bring in a new class, under new conditions, whilst continuing to exclude those who fulfill the present conditions, would be very injurious to those excluded and set a wrong example before the community. Every enlargement of the electoral franchise for men which can now take place necessarily includes many whose interests in the country cannot equal those of the women who now claim it. Their position is already recognized by their possession of every local franchise whatsoever. Justice requires that the principle should be fully carried out by extending to women the right to vote for members of parliament, whose legislation so strongly affects their welfare. Prudence also requires that an important class of educated and philanthropic persons should not be left out, or their claims postponed, when a large addition is likely to be made to the less educated portion of the electorate. We most seriously believe that few things could happen more dangerous for the real happiness of the nation than to permit the opportunity to pass without the admission of legally qualified women within the circle of the constitution.

A correspondence also was conducted with Mr. Gladstone by the Bristol Ladies' Liberal Association and others whom they invited to join them, of known Liberal views, urging him to receive a delegation and praying that

It may not in the future be said that women alone were unworthy of any measure of confidence which you so rightly extended even to the humblest and most ignorant men.

Mr. Gladstone declined to receive the deputation, partly on the ground of illness, partly lest the admission of their views might interfere with his plans for the bill. So the day of battle drew on, when a rumor began to be circulated that the government intended to oppose Mr. Woodall's clause, on the ground that its admission might endanger the bill. Strenuous efforts were at the same time made to induce him to withdraw the amendment, and the government whips plainly intimated that the question would not be considered an open one, on which members were to be free to vote according to their convictions, but as one which the government had made up their minds to oppose. With the hope of changing this determination a memorial was signed by seventy-seven members of parliament, and presented to Mr. Gladstone, asking him to leave the introduction of the clause an open question. It represented—

That the Franchise bill being now in committee a favorable opportunity is afforded for the discussion of the amendment for extending its provisions to women, of which notice has been given by Mr. Woodall.

That your memorialists have heard a rumor that her majesty's government have declared against allowing the question to be discussed and decided on its merits, on the ground that the adoption of the proposal might endanger the bill.

That your memorialists are of the opinion that the claim of women who are householders and ratepayers is just and reasonable, and that the time when the House is engaged in amending the law relating to the representation of the people is the proper time for the consideration of this claim.

That during the discussion in committee on the Reform bill of 1867, an amendment for extending its provisions to women was introduced by Mr. John Stuart Mill, and that on that occasion the government of the day offered no opposition to the full and free discussion of the question, and placed no restriction on the free exercise of the judgment of members of their party as to the manner in which they should vote. The tellers appointed against Mr. Mill's motion were not even the government tellers.

That your memorialists earnestly pray that the precedent so instituted may be followed on the present occasion, and that the clause proposed by Mr. Woodall may be submitted to the free and unbiased decision of the House on its own merits.

They desire earnestly to express their conviction that the course of allowing the question to be an open one, on which the government is prepared to accept the decision of the House, cannot possibly endanger or prejudice the Franchise bill. In connection with this your memorialists would press on your attention the fact that Mr. Woodall's amendment is in the form of a new clause, and would not therefore come under discussion until the bill as it stands has passed through committee.

This request was refused. On June 9, such unexpected progress was made by the committee of the House of Commons with the Franchise bill that all the government clauses were carried. There were many amendments on the paper which took precedence of Mr. Woodall's, but these were hastily gone through or withdrawn, and in the middle of the morning sitting of June 9, he rose and moved the introduction of his clause. Mr. Woodall's speech was a masterpiece of earnest but temperate reasoning. He was fortunate enough to present an old and well-worn subject in new lights. He said that Mr. Gladstone had affirmed the principle of the measure to be to give every householder a vote, and it would now be his endeavor to pursuade parliament that women were capable citizens, who would meet all the conditions so clearly laid down by the prime minister. Against the charge of inopportunity in bringing the subject forward at this crisis, he reminded the House of Mr. Chamberlain's words on a recent occasion, that it was always opportune to do right.

Mr. Gladstone said there were two questions to be considered. One of these was the question whether women were to be enfranchised, the other whether the enfranchisement should be effected by a clause introduced in committee on the present bill. The second question was that on which he was about to dwell. He deprecated the introduction of new matter into the bill. The cargo which the vessel carried was, in the opinion of the government, as large as she could carry safely. The proposal was a very large one. It did not seem unreasonable to believe that the number of persons in the three kingdoms to be enfranchised by the amendment would be little short of half a million. What was the position in which Mr. Woodall placed the government when he requested them to introduce a completely new subject on which men profoundly differed, and which, it was clear, should receive a full and dispassioned investigation? It was not now practicable to give that investigation. This was one of those questions which it would be intolerable to mix up with purely political and party debates. If there was a subject in the whole compass of human life and experience that was sacred beyond all other subjects it was the character and position of woman. Did his honorable friend ask him to admit that the question deserved the fullest consideration? He gave him that admission freely. Did he ask whether he (Mr. Gladstone) wished to bind the members of the Government or his colleagues in the cabinet with respect to the votes they would give on this question? Certainly not, provided only that they took the subject from the vortex of political contention. He was bound to say, whilst thus free and open on the subject itself, that with regard to the proposal to introduce it into this bill he offered it the strongest opposition in his power, and must disclaim and renounce all responsibility for the measure should Mr. Woodall succeed in inducing the committee to adopt his amendment.

On motion of Lord John Manners the debate was adjourned till June 12.

On the intervening day a meeting was summoned of the general committee of the society. Miss Cobbe first, and Mr. Woodall subsequently, presided, and the following resolutions were passed:

Resolved, That the claim of duly qualified women to the exercise of the suffrage having been continuously presented before parliament and the country since the Reform bill of 1867, this meeting is of opinion that the time when the legislature is again engaged in amending the law relating to the representation of the people is the proper time for the consideration of this claim.

Resolved, That this meeting heartily approves of the amendment which Mr. Woodall has moved in committee on the Franchise bill for extending its provisions to duly qualified women, and pledge themselves to support his action by every means in their power.

Resolved, That they have heard with astonishment that her majesty's government refuse to allow this amendment to be discussed on its merits and to be decided by the free exercise of the judgment of members of the House of Commons, but that the government require their supporters to refrain from such free exercise of their judgment on the alleged ground that the adoption of the proposal would endanger the Franchise bill.

Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the exercise of such pressure appears to be an infringement of the privileges of a free parliament and an aggression on the rights of the people. They hold that all sections of the community, whether electors or non-electors, have an indefeasible right to have matters affecting their interests submitted to the unbiased judgment, and decided by the unfettered discretion of the members sent to represent them in parliament.

Resolved, That a declaration signed by 110 Liberal members of the House of Commons was presented last session to Mr. Gladstone which set forth that, in the opinion of the memorialists, no measure for the assimilation of the borough and county franchise could be satisfactory unless it contained provisions for extending the suffrage, without distinction of sex, to all persons who possess the statutory qualifications for the parliamentary franchise.

Resolved, That this meeting calls upon those who signed this declaration, and all other members who believe that the claim of duly qualified women to the parliamentary franchise is reasonable and just, to support the clause moved by Mr. Woodall, in committee on the Franchise bill, for extending its provisions to such women.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to Mr. Gladstone and to every member of parliament.

Resolved, That petitions to both houses of parliament in support of Mr. Woodall's clause be adopted and signed by the chairman on behalf of this meeting.

Some members of parliament who attended this meeting explained that though they were as firmly convinced as ever of the justice of the claim, they could not vote for it after Mr. Gladstone's distinct declaration that he would abandon the bill if the amendment were passed. On June 12 Lord John Manners resumed the debate. He said:

That although this proposal had never been of a party character, it had always been a political question. There was no question connected with the franchise which had been more thoroughly discussed, threshed and sifted. Guided by every consideration of justice and fairness, of equity, of analogy and experience, he should give it his cordial and unhesitating support.

The next speech of importance was Mr. Stansfeld's. He maintained that the acceptance of the clause by the government would have strengthened rather than weakened the bill, and that its insertion certainly would not have rendered the bill less palatable to the House of Lords:

The principle of this bill is household suffrage. Household suffrage is one of two things—it is either put as a rough test of capable citizenship, or else it means what I will call the family vote. The women to be enfranchised under this clause would be first of all women of property, intelligence and education, having a status in the country; secondly a large class of women of exceptional competency, because having lost the services and support of men who should be the bread-winners and the heads of families, they are obliged to step into their shoes and to take upon themselves the burdens and responsibilities which had previously devolved upon men, and because they have done this with success. I decline either by word or deed to make the admission that these women are less capable citizens than the 2,000,000 whom the right honorable gentleman proposes to enfranchise by this bill. Well, then, let it be the family vote—that is to say, exceptions apart, let the basis of our constitution be that the family, represented by its head, should be the unit of the State. Now that is the idea which recommends and has always recommended itself to my mind. But on what principle, or with what regard to the permanence and stability of that principle, can you exclude the head of the family and give that family no voice, because the head happens to be a woman? If this clause be excluded from the measure, as it will be, this will not be a bill of one principle, but of two principles. It will not be a bill containing only the principle of household suffrage interpreted as the family vote, but one founded on these two principles—first, a male householding vote; and, secondly, the exclusion of the head of the household when the head is a woman. That is a permanent principle of exclusion, and therefore the bill with this clause left out is a declaration for ever against the political emancipation of women.

After some speeches against the motion Colonel King-Harman said:

In the old state of the franchise it was not so much a matter of importance to women whether they possessed votes or not, but now that this bill proposed to create two million new voters of a much lower order than those now exercising the franchise, it became of importance to secure some countervailing advantage. They were told this was a matter which could wait. What were the women to gain by waiting? They had waited for seventeen years during which the subject had been discussed, and now they were told to wait till two million of the common orders had been admitted to a share in the parliamentary management of the country. The honorable member for Huddersfield (Mr. Leatham) had used an argument which he (Colonel King-Harman) thought a most unworthy one, namely, that the franchise was not to be extended to women, because, unhappily, there are women of a degraded and debased class. Because there were 40,000 of them in this metropolis alone, the remaining women who were pure and virtuous were to be deprived of the power of voting. But would Mr. Leatham guarantee that the 2,000,000 men he proposes to enfranchise shall be perfectly pure and moral men? Would he propose a clause to exclude from the franchise those men who lead and retain in vice and degradation these unfortunate women? No—men may sin and be a power in the State, but when a woman sins not only is she to have no power, but her whole sisterhood are to be excluded from it. He believed that every idea of common sense pointed to the desirability of supporting the amendment, and he therefore had great pleasure in doing so.

There were also excellent speeches from Mr. Cowen (Newcastle), General Alexander, Sir Wilfred Lawson and Mr. Story, and finally from Sir Stafford Northcote the leader of the Conservative opposition. He observed:

That the prime minister had told them that they did not consider this clause to be properly introduced now, because this was not the time for the question. It seemed to him, on the contrary, that it was the very best opportunity for dealing with it, because they were going enormously to increase the electorate, and would, therefore, make the inequality between men and women much greater than it was before. It would be said they were going to extend the property franchise if this amendment were carried. On that issue they were prepared to join and to maintain that it was a right thing, and it was the duty of that House to make proper provision for those classes of property holders now without a vote. Members who had canvassed boroughs would remember that after going into two or three shops and asking for the votes of those who were owners, they have come to one perhaps of the most important shops and have been told, "Oh, it is of no use going in, there is no vote there." Such women are probably of education and gentle character, and perhaps live as widows and take care of their families; they have every right to be consulted as to who should be the man to represent the constituency in which they lived and to take care of their interests and the interests of those dependent on them. That was the ground on which Lord Beaconsfield stood. They had adhered to that ground for several years, and there they stood now.

The division took place at a late hour with the result that the clause was defeated by 271 votes to 135, being a majority against it of 136, or two to one. But though such a vote would have been a sore discouragement if it had represented the real opinion of the House, on the present occasion it meant little if anything. The government had sent out a "five-line" whip for its supporters, and so effective had this whip been, combined with Mr. Gladstone's assertion that he would give up the responsibility of the bill if the clause were carried, that 98 Liberals and 6 Home Rulers, known to be supporters of our cause, voted with the government, even Mr. Hugh Mason being among this number, while 34 Liberals and 7 Home Rulers, also friends of ours, were absent from the division. We may safely assume that had the government more wisely left it an open question, upon which members were free to vote according to their consciences, our defeat would have been turned into a victory. On the other hand while our Liberal friends thus voted against the amendment or abstained from voting, the bulk of our supporters in this division were Conservatives, a circumstance unknown in the previous history of the movement.

An important conference of friends and supporters was held the next morning in the Westminster Palace Hotel at which Mr. Stansfeld presided. To use Miss Tod's words:

Never had a defeated army met in a more victorious mood. There was much indeed to encourage in the degree of importance to which the question had attained. It had risen from a purely speculative into a pressing political question; it had been debated during two days, and it was heartily supported by the Conservative leader.

The speeches at the conference were animated and full of hope for the future. Mr. Stansfeld congratulated the meeting on having made a new departure; their question had become one of practical politics, and they had now to address themselves in all the constituencies to the political organizations.

A magnificent meeting was held in St. James Hall the following week. The hall was densely crowded in every part, and an overflow meeting was arranged for those unable to gain admission. Some of the speakers[562] proposed as the best measure for agitation, a determined resistance against taxation.[563]

Repeated attempts to obtain a day for the debate and division were followed by repeated disappointments. The session commenced in November, 1884. Mr. Woodall at once gave notice of a bill. In presenting it to the House, he concluded after consultation with parliamentary friends, to add a clause defining the action of his bill to be limited to unmarried women and widows.[564] The enacting clause of the bill was as follows:

For all purposes of and incidental to the voting for members to serve in parliament, women shall have the same rights as men, and all enactments relating to or concerned in such elections shall be construed accordingly, provided that nothing in this act shall enable women under coverture to be registered or to vote at such elections.

The addition of this clause excited much discussion. Those in favor of it argued that this limitation would certainly be imposed in committee of the House, which though it was in all probability prepared to give the vote to women possessed of independence, dreaded the extension of faggot votes which would have been the almost inevitable consequence of admitting married women; while the result would be the same whether the limitation clause was introduced by the promoters of the bill or by a parliamentary committee, and it would be more likely to obtain support at the second reading if its intentions were made clear in the beginning. On the other hand it was argued that the principle of giving the vote to women in the same degree that it was given to men, was the basis upon which the whole agitation rested; that marriage was no disqualification to men, and therefore should not prove so to women; and that, though it might be necessary to accept a limitation by parliament, it was not right for the society to lower its standard by proposing a compromise. This divergence in the views of the supporters of the movement was the cause of much discussion in the public press and elsewhere, and unfortunately resulted in the abstention of some of the oldest friends of the cause from working in support of this particular bill, although it was admitted on all sides that if a day could be obtained its chances in a division were very good.

The bill was introduced on November 19, 1884, and its opponents took the unprecedented course of challenging a division at this stage. Leave was however given to bring it in, and the second reading was set down for November 25, and then for December 9; on each occasion it was postponed owing to the adjournment of the House. It was next set down for Wednesday, March 4, but its chance was again destroyed by the appropriation by the government of all Wednesdays for the Seats bill. Mr. Woodall then fixed on June 24, but before that time the ministerial crisis occurred, and when that day arrived the House had been adjourned for the reelections consequent upon a change of government. He then obtained the first place on Wednesday, July 22, but again ministers appropriated Wednesdays, and all chances for the session being over, Mr. Woodall gave order to discharge the bill.

This delay stands in sharp and painful contrast with the promptness with which parliament passed the Medical Relief bill. A clause had been inserted in the Franchise bill disfranchising any man who had been in receipt of parish medical aid for himself or family. This clause caused great dissatisfaction as it was stated it would disqualify from voting a large number of laborers in the agricultural counties; parliament therefore found time amidst all the press of business and party divisions to pass the Medical Relief bill removing this disfranchisement from men, though we are repeatedly assured that nothing but the want of time prevents their fair consideration of the enfranchisement of women. It is another proof that there is always time for a representative government to attend to the wants of its constituents.

Another effort was made in the House of Lords by Lord Denman who introduced a bill for extending the parliamentary vote to women. The committees[565] were unaware of his intention until they read a notice of the bill in the newspapers. The enacting clause was as follows:

All women, not legally disqualified, who have the same qualifications as the present and future electors for counties and divisions of counties and boroughs, shall be entitled to vote for knights of the shire for counties and divisions of counties and for boroughs, at every election.

A division was taken upon it on June 23, just after the Seats bill had been passed and the peers were about to adjourn in consequence of the change of government. Many protests were made that the time was ill chosen, and some peers left the House to avoid recording their votes while others voted against it without reference to its merits as a question. The division showed 8 in favor and 36 against. There appears to be a strong impression that if a bill to enfranchise women were passed by the Commons it would be accepted by the Lords, while there is at the same time a feeling that any measure dealing with the representation of the people should originate with the Commons, and not in the upper House.

During the year 1885 we sustained the loss of many of the earliest friends of the movement; chief among these Professor Fawcett, who from the commencement of its history had given it his firm and unflinching support. His conviction that justice and freedom must gain the upper hand often caused him to take a more sanguine view of the prospect than the event has justified. He was the firm friend of women in all their recent efforts, and helped them to obtain employment in the civil service, to enter the medical profession, to open the universities, and in many other ways. Next to be mentioned is the death of Mrs. Stansfeld. She was the daughter of Mr. William H. Ashurst, who was a staunch advocate of freedom and may be remembered as the first English friend of William L. Garrison. She had been a member of the suffrage committee in London for more than sixteen years, and gave unfailing sympathy to all the efforts made by her noble husband, James Stansfeld, in behalf of the rights of humanity. This year has also been saddened by the death of Mrs. Ronald Shearer, formerly Helena Downing, an able and true-hearted woman, who had devoted her strength and talents to the furtherance of our cause at a time when its advocates were still the objects of ridicule and attack.

The electorate of three millions of men is now increased to five millions, and by this extension of the suffrage the difficulty of waging an up-hill fight in the interests of the still excluded class has also been increased. The interests of the newly represented classes will imperatively claim precedence in the new parliament. Like the emancipated blacks who received the vote after the American civil war, while the women who had supported the cause of the Union by their enthusiasm and their sacrifices were passed over, the miners and laborers of English counties have received the franchise for which they have never asked, in preference to the women who have worked, petitioned and organized themselves for years to secure it. Women have now to appeal to this new electorate to grant that justice which the old electorate has denied them; they have to begin again the weary round of educating their new masters by appeals and arguments; they will once more see their interests "unavoidably" deferred to the interests of the represented classes; they will once again be bidden to stand aside till it is time for another Reform bill to be considered!

In recounting the history of woman suffrage frequent allusion has been made to the parallel movements which have been carried on through the same course of years; the most important of these have been: (1) The admission of women to fields of public usefulness; (2) removal of legal disabilities and hardships; (3) admission to a better education and greater freedom of employment. Much of the progress that has been made has been the work of the active friends of woman suffrage, and under the fostering care of the suffrage societies.

Under the first division comes the work of women on the school-boards. The education act of 1870 expressly guaranteed their right of being elected, and even in the first year several were elected. One, Miss Becker, in Manchester, has retained her seat ever since. In London the number of lady members has greatly varied. Beginning with two, Miss Jarrett and Miss Davis, in 1879 it rose to nine, but now, 1885, has sunk again to three, Miss Davenport Hill, Mrs. Westlake, and Mrs. Webster. Taken as a whole, their influence has been very usefully exerted for the benefit of the children and the young teachers. Under this head also comes women's work as poor-law guardians. The first was elected in Kensington in 1875. Six years afterwards a small society to promote the election of women was founded by Miss Mueller, and the number elected is steadily increasing. There are now in England and Scotland in all forty-six. In Ireland women are still debarred from this useful work. The election occurs every year, and it is one of the local franchises that women as well as men exercise. Last year three ladies were appointed members of the Metropolitan Board which looks after London hospitals and asylums. In 1873 Mr. Stansford, then president of the local government board, appointed Mrs. Hassan Session assistant inspector of work-houses, and after an interval of twelve years Miss Mason was appointed to the same position. Women are also sometimes appointed as church wardens, overseers of the roads, and registrars of births and deaths. These are the only public offices they fill.

Under the second heading, the removal of legal disabilities, is included the Married Woman's Property act, which was finally passed in 1882, twenty-five years after it had been first brought forward in parliament by Sir Erskine Perry. The ancient law of England transferred all property held by a woman, except land, absolutely to her husband. A step was gained in 1870 by which the money she had actually earned became her own. This was followed by frequent amendments, sometimes in Scotland, sometimes in England, and a comprehensive bill met with frequent vicissitudes, now in the House of Lords, now in the Commons. The honor of this long contest is chiefly due to Mrs. Jacob Bright and Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy, whose unwearied efforts were finally crowned with success by the act of 1882, under which the property of a married woman is absolutely secured to her as if she were single, and the power to contract and of sueing and being sued, also secured to her. The right to the custody of their own children is another point for which women are struggling. In 1884, Mr. Bryce, M. P., brought in a bill to render a mother the legal guardian of her children after the father's death. This was read a second time by a vote of 207 for, and only 73 against. In 1885, however, though passing the House of Lords, it was postponed till too late in the Commons. Another important alteration in the legal condition of married women was made in 1878. In that year Mr. Herschell introduced the Matrimonial Causes act to remedy a gross injustice in the divorce law, and Lord Pensance inserted a clause which provided that if a woman were brutally ill-treated by her husband, a magistrate might order a separate maintenance for her and assign her the care of her children. It is no secret that the original drafting of this clause was due to Miss Frances Power Cobbe. The long struggle which is not yet terminated against the infamous Contagious Diseases acts belongs to this division of work. The acts were passed in 1866, '69, and for many years were supported by an overpowering majority of the House of Commons. Mr. Stansfeld, who has always been the supporter of every movement advancing the influence of women, has been the leader of this agitation. Mrs. Josephine Butler, Mrs. Stewart of Ougar, and latterly Mrs. Ormiston Chant, have been the most untiring speakers on this question. On April 26, 1883, Mr. Stansfeld carried a resolution by a vote of 184 against 112 for the abolition of the acts, since which time the acts have been suspended, but we must look to the new parliament for their total repeal. The Criminal-law Amendment act was the great triumph of 1885. It had been postponed session after session, but the bold denunciation of Mr. Stead, editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, finally roused the national conscience, and now a larger measure of protection is afforded to young girls than has ever been known before.

Of the successive steps by which colleges have been founded for women, and the universities opened to them, it is impossible to give any record. The London University and the Royal University of Ireland, recognize fully the equality of women; nine ladies secured the B. A. diploma from the latter university in 1884, and nine more in 1885. Oxford and Cambridge extend their examinations to women. The Victoria University acknowledges their claim to examination. The London school of medicine gives a first rate education to women (there are 48 this session), and the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, admits them to its classes. There are now about 45 ladies who are registered as medical practitioners. One of them, Miss Edith Stone, was appointed by Mr. Fawcett medical superintendent of the female staff at the general post-office, London. The success of the movement for supplying women as physicians for the vast Indian empire has attained remarkable success during the last two years.

FOOTNOTES:

[536] This was called out by the movement in America. A report of a convention held in Worcester, Mass., published in the New York Tribune, fell into the hands of Mrs. Taylor and aroused her to active thought on the question. She comments on a very able series of resolutions passed at this convention, in which such men as Emerson, Parker, Channing, Garrison and Phillips took part.—[EDITORS.

[537] Council of the Association—Mrs. S. Turner, Mrs. S. Bartholomew, Mrs. E. Stephenson, Mrs. M. Whalley, Mrs. E. Rooke, Mrs. E. Wade, Mrs. C. Ash, president pro tem., Mrs. E. Cavill, treasurer, Mrs. M. Brook, financial-secretary, Mrs. A. Higginbottom, corresponding secretary.

[538] Mrs. Biggs, Anna Knight, Mrs. Hugo Reid and many other English women were roused to white heat on this question, by the exclusion of women as delegates from the World's Anti-slavery Convention held in London in 1840. That was the first pronounced public discussion, lasting one entire day, on the whole question of woman's rights that ever took place in England, and as the arguments were reproduced in the leading journals and discussed at every fireside, a grand educational work was inaugurated at that time. The American delegates spent several months in England—Lucretia Mott speaking at many points. She occupied the Unitarian pulpit in London and elsewhere. As Mrs. Hugo Reid sat in this convention throughout the proceedings and met Lucretia Mott socially on several occasions, we may credit her outspoken opinions, in 1843, in a measure to these influences.—[EDITORS.

[539] The committee as at first formed, consisted of the following persons: The very Rev. the Dean of Canterbury, Dr. Alford, Miss Jessie Boucherett, Professor Cairnes, Rev. W. L. Clay, Miss Davies, the originator of Girton College, Lady Goldsmid, Mr. G. W. Hastings, Mr. James Heywood, Mrs. Knox, Miss Manning, and Mrs. Hensleigh Wedgwood. Mrs. Peter A. Taylor was treasurer, and Mrs. J. W. Smith, nee Miss Garrett, honorary secretary. A few months later Mrs. Smith's death left this post vacant, and Mrs. P. A. Taylor then assumed the office of secretary which she retained with the aid of Miss Caroline Ashurst Biggs till 1871. No one else could have rendered such services to our movement while it was in its infancy as Mrs. Taylor gave. Her gentle and dignified presence, her untiring energy, the experience of organization and public life which she already possessed, her influence with an extended circle of friends chosen from among the most liberal thinkers of the nation, secured at once attention and respect for any cause she took up. Many years before she had worked hard for the association of the Friends of Italy, and on the breaking out of the American civil war her sympathies and practical knowledge led her to found a society for assisting the freedmen. In acknowledgment of the invaluable assistance she rendered, her friends in America sent a book containing a complete set of photographs of all the chief anti-slavery workers. When she began her efforts for women's suffrage, the English Abolitionists were among the first correspondents to whom she applied, and they nearly all responded cordially. For years her house, Aubrey House, Kensington, was the centre of the London organization to which she gave her time, strength, and money, well earning the title of "Mother of the Movement," which loving friends have since bestowed.

[540] In 1869, 255 petitions, signed by 61,475 persons; in 1870, 663 petitions, signed by 134,561 persons; in 1871, 622 petitions, signed by 186,976 persons (75 of these petitions were from public meetings and signed only by the chairman, or from town councils and sealed with the official seal); in 1872, 829 petitions with 350,093 signatures; in 1873, 919 petitions, with 329,206 signatures; in 1874, 1,494 petitions with 430,343 signatures; and in 1875, 1,273 petitions were sent in containing 415,622 signatures.

[541] This lady, sister of John and Jacob Bright, and wife of the senior member for Edinburgh, Mr. Duncan McLaren, so much esteemed that he was sometimes spoken of as the "Member for Scotland," unites in her own person all the requisites for a leader of the movement. She has the charm and dignified grace so generally found among Quaker ladies, and the pathetic eloquence which belong to her family. She is clear-sighted in planning action, and enthusiastic and warm-hearted in carrying it out, and for the past sixteen years the movement in Scotland has centered around her.

[542] Mr. Thomas Hare, Mr. Boyd Kinnear, Mr. Mill, who was no longer in parliament, the Rev. Charles Kingsley (this was the first and only meeting at which he was present), Prof. Fawcett, M. P. and Mrs. Fawcett, Lord Houghton, Mr. John Morley, Sir Charles W. Dilke, Bt. M. P., Mr. P. A. Taylor, M. P., Professor Masson of Edinburgh, and Mr. Stamfeld, M. P.

[543] Mrs. Penington, Mr. Hopwood, Q. C. and Professor Amos were honorary secretaries the first year, and succeeding them Miss C. A. Biggs and Miss Agnes Garrett. The principal committees united with the central, including Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin and the North of Ireland.

[544] Minutes of a meeting at the House of Commons, June 23, 1875. Present: The Right Honorable E. P. Bouverie, in the chair; and the following members of parliament: Right Hon. H. C. Childers, Marquis of Hamilton, Lord Randolph Churchill, Hon. E. Stanhope, Mr. Bentinck, Mr. Beresford Hope, Mr. Chaplin, Mr. Hayter, Sir Henry Holland, Sir Henry James, Mr. Kay Shuttleworth, Mr. Edward Leatham, Mr. Merewether, Mr. Newdegate, Mr. Raikes, Mr. de Rothschild, Mr. Scousfield, Mr. Whitbread.

Resolved, That a committee of peers, members of parliament and other influential men be organized for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the franchise, in opposition to the claims for the extension of the parliamentary suffrage to women.

Resolved, That Mr. E. P. Bouverie be requested to act as chairman, and Lord Claud John Hamilton and Mr. Kay Shuttleworth as honorary secretaries.

The following members have since joined those named above: Lord Elcho, Right Hon. E. Knatchbull-Hugessen, Right Hon. J. R. Mowbray, Sir Thomas Bazley, Mr. Butt, Mr. Gibson and Colonel Kingscote.

[545] We must mention the names of the ladies who during the previous two or three years had been most active in speaking and organizing societies. So many meetings had been held that there was hardly a town of any importance in England, Ireland or Scotland where the principles of woman suffrage had not been explained and canvassed. One of the foremost for her activity in this department of work was Miss Mary Beedy, an American lady, resident for some years in England. She had thoroughly mastered the legal and political condition of the question in this country, and her untiring energy, her clear common sense, and her ready logic made her advocacy invaluable. The regret was general when she was compelled to return to America. Miss Helena Downing, niece of Mr. McCarthy Downing, member of parliament for Cork, arranged and gave many lectures during 1873 and 1874. Miss. Lillias Ashworth, honorary secretary of the Bristol committee, frequently spoke at meetings about this time. In Scotland Miss Jane Taylour and others still continued their indefatigable labors, in which they were frequently assisted by Miss Isabella Stuart of Balgonie in Fifeshire. In Ireland, in addition to the usual meetings in the north, a series of meetings in the south was undertaken by Miss Tod, Miss Beedy and Miss Downing. Other meetings were addressed by Miss Fawcett, Miss Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs, Miss Eliza Sturge, Miss Rhoda Garrett, Mrs. Fenwick-Miller and many others. During 1873 Mrs. Henry Kingsley, sister-in-law of one novelist and wife of another, also spoke frequently. Space fails me to do justice to the varied powers of the speakers who have carried our movement on during these years of patient perseverance; to the clear logic and convincing power of Mrs. Fawcett's speeches; to the thrilling eloquence of her cousin, Rhoda Garrett, now, alas! no longer with us; to Miss Becker's accurate legal knowledge and masterly presentation of facts and arguments; to Miss Helena Downing's eloquence marked by the humor, pathos and power which were hers by national inheritance. During these years of trial, too, the cause owed much to the strenuous advocacy of the Misses Ashworth, Anne Frances and Lillias Sophia, nieces of Jacob Bright. Miss Ashworth did not herself speak at meetings, but she comforted and helped those who did, while Lillias possessed the family gift of eloquence and charmed her audience by her witty, forcible and telling speeches. So numerous and so well attended have been these meetings during these and subsequent years, that it is impossible to exonerate men and women from the charge of willful blindness if they still misconstrue the plain facts of the question.

[546] First in the list came six ladies, members of school-boards: Mrs. Buckton of Leeds, Miss Helena Richardson of Bristol, Mrs. Surr, Mrs. Westlake, Mrs. Fenwick Miller and Miss Helen Taylor, London; then followed the opinions of ladies who were guardians of the poor. Forty ladies known as authoresses or painters came next on the list; among these were Mrs. Allingham, Mrs. Cowden Clarke, Mrs. Eiloart, Mary Howitt, Emily Pfeiffer, Augusta Webster. Women doctors came next: Dr. Garrett Anderson, Dr. Annie Barker, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake, Dr. Eliza Dunbar, Dr. Frances Hoggan, Dr. Edith Pechey; and next to the doctors came Miss Eliza Orme, the only woman who was successfully practicing law. The section of education included the names of Mrs. Wm. Gray, and her sister. Miss Shirreff, Mrs. Nichol (Edinburgh), Miss Emily Davies, founder of Girton College, Miss Byers, founder of the Ladies' Collegiate School, Belfast, Mrs. Crawshay and Miss Mary Gurney. Nineteen ladies, the heads of women's colleges and high-schools, next gave their reasons why they desired the suffrage. After these came ladies engaged in philanthropic work, which included the sisters Rosamund and Florence Davenport Hill, Florence Nightingale, Miss Ellice Hopkins, eminent for rescue work; Miss Irby, well-known for her efforts among the starving Bosnian fugitives; Miss Manning, secretary of the National Indian Association; Mrs. Southey, secretary of the Women's Peace Association; Mrs. Lucas, and Mrs. Edward Parker, president and secretary of the British Women's Temperance Society. The opinions were various, both in kind and in length, some being only a confession of faith in a couple of lines, others a page of able reasoning.

[547] Miss Tod gives the spirit to each movement in Ulster, which is the intellectual headquarters of Ireland. She is the pioneer in all matters of reform; she is asked to speak in churches; she instigated the efforts which led to girls participating in the benefits of the Irish Intermediate Education act, which was being restricted to boys; she has organized and has won friends and votes not only over her own district of Ulster, but in many other quarters of Ireland; and often when in England some indefinable torpor has crept over a meeting—as will happen at times—a few eloquent and heart-stirring words from her have been sufficient to raise the courage and revive the interest.

[548] Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Lucas, Miss Biggs, Miss Rhoda Garrett, Miss Jessie Boucherett, Mrs. Arthur Arnold, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Lady Harberton, Mrs. Pennington, Miss Helen Taylor, step-daughter of John Stuart Mill, Miss Henrietta Mueller, member of the London school-board, and others.

[549] Mrs. Jacob Bright, Miss Becker, Mrs. Scatcherd, Miss Corbutt, Mr. Steinthal, Mrs. Thomasson, and others.

[550] Led by Mrs. Lillias Ashworth Hallett, Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, niece and daughter of John Bright, Mrs. Beddoe, Miss Snyder, Miss Estlin, the Priestman sisters, Miss Blackburn and Miss Colby, Eliza Sturge, Mrs. Ashford, Mrs. Matthews. Mrs. Ann Comen and Mrs. Alfred Osler, niece of Mrs. Peter Taylor, are the chief Birmingham and Nottingham workers.

[551] Lady Harberton, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Ashworth Hallet, Mrs. Josephine Butler, Mrs. Ellis, Miss Eliza Sturge, Mrs. Wellstood (Edinburgh), Mrs. Haslam (Dublin), Miss Becker, Mrs. Pearson, Miss Jessie Craigen, Miss Helena Downing, Miss Lucy Wilson, Mrs. Nichols (Edinburgh), Mrs. O'Brien, and in the overflow meeting Mrs. Lucas and Miss Biggs. At the close of the meeting the enthusiastic and prolonged cheering which rose from the crowd, the cordial hand-shakes of utter strangers with words of encouragement and sympathy brought tears to the eyes of many who had the privilege of being present on that occasion.

[552] Mrs. McLaren occupied the chair and was accompanied by Mrs. Nichol, Miss Wigham, Miss Tod, Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Craigen, Miss Becker, Miss Beddoe, Mrs. Shearer (formerly Miss Helena Downing), Miss Flora Stevenson, Mrs. Wellstood, Miss Annie Stoddart, Mrs. Burton and a distinguished visitor from New York, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was able on this visit to England to estimate the wide difference in the position of women since the time—more than forty years before—she had been refused a seat as a delegate in the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London.

[553] MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY COMMITTEE.—The committee, at the time of the final meeting, November 18, 1882, consisted of the following ladies and gentlemen: Mrs. Addey; Mr. Arthur Arnold, M. P.; Mrs. Arthur Arnold; Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P.; Mrs. Josephine E. Butler; Mr. Thomas Chorlton; Mr. L. H. Courtney, M. P.; Sir C. W. Dilke, Bart., M. P.; Rev. Alfred Dewes, D.D., LL.D.; Mrs. Gell; Lady Goldsmid; Rev. Septimus Hansard; Mr. Thomas Hare; Miss Ida Hardcastle; Mrs. Hodgson; Mr. William Malleson; Mrs. Moore; Mr. H. N. Mozley; Dr. Pankhurst; Mrs. Pankhurst; Mrs. Shearer; Mrs. Sutcliffe; Mr. P. A. Taylor, M. P.; Mrs. P. A. Taylor; Mrs. Venturi; Miss Alice Wilson; Miss Lucy Wilson; Treasurer, Mrs. Jacob Bright. Secretary, Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy.

The immediate passage of this bill was in a large measure due to Mrs. Jacob Bright, who was unwearied in her efforts, in rolling up petitions, scattering tracts, holding meetings, and in company with her husband having private interviews with members of parliament. For ten consecutive years she gave her special attention to this bill. I had the pleasure of attending the meeting of congratulation November 18, and heard a very charming address from Mrs. Bright on the success of the measure. Mr. Jacob Bright and other members of the committee spoke with equal effect.—[E. C. S.

[554] The Contagious Diseases acts.

[555] Miss Henrietta Mueller and her sister Mrs. Eva McLaren, Mrs. Ormiston Chant, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Mrs. Oliver Scatcherd, Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Florence Balgarnie, Miss Laura Whittle, Florence and Lillie Stacpoole, Miss Frances Lord, Mrs. Stanton Blatch and Mrs. Helena Downing Shearer.

[556] The inscription was: "Women Claim Equal Justice with Men. The Friends of Women: Henry Fawcett, John Stuart Mill, Chas. Cameron, Jacob Bright, Leonard Courtney, Duncan McLaren, George Anderson, James Stansfeld, Sir Wilfred Lawson, J.P. Thomasson."

[557] Mrs. Buchanan, Curriehill; Mrs. O. Scatcherd, Leeds; Mrs. Nichol, Mrs. M'Laren, Miss Wigham, Dr. A. M'Laren, Miss Hunter, Mrs. Paterson, Miss L. Stevenson, Miss F. Stevenson, Mrs. M'Queen, Mrs. Hope, Mrs. M. Miller, Miss S.S. Mair, Miss R. Smith, Miss E. Kirkland, Mrs. Raeburn and Miss A.G. Wyld, Edinburgh; Mrs. O. Chant, Mrs. Hodgson, Bonaly; Miss Tod, Belfast; Mrs. Somerville, Dalkeith; Mrs. Forbes, Loanhead; Mrs. D. Greig, Mrs. Erskine Murray, Miss Greig, Mrs. Lindsay, Miss Barton and Mrs. A. Campbell, Glasgow; Miss Simpson, Miss Caldwell, Portobello; Mrs. M'Kinnel, Dumfries; Mrs. M'Cormick, Manchester; Miss Burton, Liberton; Miss Balgarnie, Scarborough; Miss A.S. Smith, Gorebridge; Miss Drew, Helensburgh; Miss Blair, Girvan; Mrs. Smith, Mrs. F. Smith, Bothwell.

[558] Miss Helen Taylor, Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Fawcett, London; Mrs. Thomasson, Bolton; Miss Orme, Miss Jane Cobden, Miss C. A. Biggs, Mrs. Fenwick-Miller, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, London; Mrs. Hallet, Bath; Miss Becker, Manchester; Miss Priestman, Bristol; Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, Street, Somersetshire; Miss Mueller, London; Mrs. Eva M'Laren, Bradford; Mrs. Charles M'Laren, London; Mrs. Pochin, Bodnant, Conway; Mrs. Campbell, Tilliechewan Castle; Mrs. Charteris, Edinburgh; Mrs. Edward Caird, Mrs. Young, Mrs. Kinnear, Mrs. A. B. M'Grigor, Glasgow; Mrs. Arthur, Barshaw, Paisley; Mrs. Readdie, Perth; Miss Birrel, Cupar; Mrs. Dunn, Aberdeen; Miss Duncan, Foxhall; Miss Chalmers, Slateford; Miss Smith, Linlithgow; Miss Macrobie, Bridge of Allan; Mrs. Ritchie, Mrs. Greenlees, Glasgow; Mrs. Ord, Nesbit, Kelso; Mrs. Gordon, Nairn; Mrs. Gerrard, Aberdeen; Miss Stoddart, Kelso; Mrs. Robertson, Paisley; Miss Maitland, Corstorphine.

[559] EDINBURGH.—The first resolution was moved by Miss Tod and seconded by Mrs. Scatcherd:

Resolved, That this meeting, whilst thanking the 110 Liberal members who signed the memorial to Mr. Gladstone to the effect that no measure of reform would be satisfactory which did not recognize the claims of women householders, trusts that since the bill unjustly excludes them, these members will be faithful to the convictions expressed in that memorial, and will support any amendment to the bill which has for its object the enfranchisement of duly qualified women.

The second resolution, a memorial to Mr. Gladstone, was moved by Miss Flora Stevenson, member of the Edinburgh school-board, seconded by Mrs. McLaren and supported by Miss Florence Balgarnie and Mrs. Ormiston Chant. The third resolution, the adoption of petitions, was moved by Miss S. S. Mair, a grand-niece of Mrs. Siddons, and Mrs. Lindsay of Glasgow.

BATH, GUILD HALL.—Presided over by the mayor. Among other speakers were Mrs. Beddoe, Miss Becker, Mrs. Jeffrey and Mrs. Ashworth Hallet.

NEWCASTLE, TOWN HALL.—Followed on April 21, under the presidency of the mayor. The crowd was so great that an overflow meeting had to be arranged. The speakers were Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Miss Tod, Mrs. Eva McLaren and Mrs. Scatcherd. The audience was largely composed of miners and working people, and the enthusiasm manifested was striking. A Newcastle paper reports that this was the first occasion on which Mrs. Ashton Dilke had appeared in public since her husband's death, and tears glistened in many eyes as the men who were his constituents welcomed her among them once more. Some miners walked twelve miles to hear her and twelve miles back after the meeting, who had to go down the pit at 3 o'clock next morning. Some could not get in, and pleaded piteously for an overflow meeting. "We have come a long way to hear Mistress Dilke; do bring her." Some women after hearing Miss Tod said: "She's worth hearing twice, is that," and insisted on following her to the overflow meeting.

LONDON, ST. JAMES HALL.—Three days later there was a great meeting presided over by Sir Richard Temple G. C. S. I., and addressed by Mr. W. Summers, M. P., Mrs. Fawcett, the Rt. Hon. Jas. Stansfeld, M. P., Mrs. Charles McLaren, Mr. Woodall, M. P., Mr. J. Rankin, M. P., Miss Tod, Mr. J. R. Hollond, M. P., Viscountess Harberton and Miss Jane Cobden.

[560] The result is as follows:

No. of Inhabited Estimated No. of Houses. Women Householders. ENGLAND AND WALES. Boroughs, 2,098,476 340,746 Counties, 2,733,043 390,434 —————4,831,519 ————740,180 SCOTLAND. Boroughs, 329,328 54,888 Counties, 409,677 58,525 ————739,005 ———-113,413 IRELAND. Boroughs, 129,837 21,339 Counties, 784,571 98,034 ————914,108 ———-119,373 ———- 972,966

[561] Signed by Eveline Portsmouth (Countess of Portsmouth), E. P. Verney (Lady Verney), Florence Nightingale, Anne J. Clough (Newham College), Clara E. L. Rayleigh (Lady Rayleigh), Selina Hogg (Lady Hogg), Anna Swanwick, Julia Camperdown (Countess of Camperdown), Mina E. Holland, (Mrs. John Holland), (Lady) Dorothy Nevill, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Helen P. Bright Clark, Jane E. Cobden, Elizabeth Adelaide Manning, M. Power (Lady Power), Louisa Colthurst (Dowager Lady Colthurst), Frances E. Hoggan, M. D., Florence Davenport Hill (Poor-law Guardian), Louisa Twining (Poor-law Guardian), Maryanne Donkin (Poor-law Guardian), Rosamond Davenport Hill (M. L. S. B.), Mary Howitt, Maria G. Grey, Emily A. E. Shireff, Deborah Bowring (Lady Bowring), Emily Pfeiffer, Barbara L. S. Bodichon, Augusta Webster, Catherine M. Buckton, Frances M. Buss (North London Collegiate School), Sophia Bryant, B. Sc., Malvira Borchardt (Head Mistress of Devonport High School), Louisa Boucherett, Jessie Boucherett, Margaret Byers (Ladies' Collegiate School, Belfast), Ellice Hopkins.

[562] Mrs. Lucas presiding, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Miss Becker, Miss Orme, Mrs. Beddoe, Mrs. Scatcherd, Mrs. Eva M'Laren, Mrs. Simcok, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, Mrs. Louisa Stevenson, Miss Balgarnie, Miss Mueller, Miss Wilkinson, Mrs. Ashworth Hallett, Miss Tod.

[563] Miss Mueller's spirited protest against taxation without representation, owing to her official reputation as a member of the London school-board, attracted unusual attention. For some time she kept her doors barred against the coarse minions of the law, but ultimately they entered the house, seized her goods and carried them off to be sold at public auction, but they were bought in by friends next day. Miss Charlotte E. Hall and Miss Babb have protested and resisted taxation for many years.

It is probable that Miss Mueller's example will be followed by many others next year. This quiet form of protest used to be very generally followed by members of the society of Friends, and must command the sympathy of our co-workers in the United States, who date their national existence from their refusal to submit to taxation without representation.—[E. C. S.

[564] The bill was prepared and brought in by Mr. Woodall, Mr. Illingworth, Mr. Coleridge Kennard, Mr. Stansfeld, Mr. Yorke and Baron Henry de Worms.

[565] Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage—Mrs. Ashford (Birmingham), Miss Lydia E. Becker (Manchester), Alfred W. Bennett, esq., M. A., Miss Caroline Ashurst Biggs, Miss Helen Blackburn, Miss Jessie Boucherett, Hon. Emmeline Canning, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Miss Jane Cobden, Miss Courtenay, Leonard Courteny, esq., M. P., Mrs. Cowen (Nottingham), Miss Mabel Sharman Crawford, Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Hon. Mrs. Maurice Drummond (Hampstead), Mrs. Millicent G. Fawcett, Miss Agnes Garrett, Rev. C. Green (Bromley), Mrs. Ashworth Hallett (Bristol), Viscountess Harberton, Thomas Hare, esq., Mrs. Ann Maria Haslam (Dublin), Frederick Hill, esq., Mrs. John Hollond, Mrs. Frank Morrison, C. H. Hopwood, esq., Q. C., M. P., Mrs. John Hullah, Coleridge Kennard, esq., M. P., Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, Mrs. E. M. Lynch, Robert Main, esq., Mrs. Laura Pochin McLaren, Mrs. Eva Mueller McLaren (Bradford), Mrs. Priscilla Bright McLaren (Edinburgh), Miss Henrietta Mueller, Frederick Pennington, esq., M. P., Mrs. F. Pennington, Miss Reeves, Mrs. Saville, Miss Lillie Stacpole, Rev. S. A. Steinthal (Manchester), J. S. Symon, esq., Miss Helen Taylor, Sir Richard Temple, G. C. S. I.; J. P. Thomasson, esq., M. P., Mrs. Katherine Lucas Thomasson (Bolton), Miss Isabella M. Tod (Belfast), Miss Williams, William Woodall, esq. M. P. Secretary, Miss Florence Balgarnie. Assistant Secretary, Miss Torrance. Organizing Agent, Miss Moore. Treasurer, Mrs. Laura Pochin McLaren. Office, 29 Parliament street, London S. W.



CHAPTER LVII.

CONTINENTAL EUROPE.[566]

BY THEODORE STANTON.

If you would know the political and moral status of a people, demand what place its women occupy.—[L. AIME MARTIN.

There is nothing, I think, which marks more decidedly the character of men or of nations, than the manner in which they treat women.—[HERDER.

The Woman Question in the Back-ground—In France the Agitation Dates from the Upheaval of 1789—International Women's Rights Convention in Paris, 1878—Mlle. Hubertine Auclert Leads the Demand for Suffrage—Agitation began in Italy with the Kingdom—Concepcion Arenal in Spain—Coeducation in Portugal—Germany: Leipsic and Berlin—Austria in Advance of Germany—Caroline Svetla of Bohemia—Austria Unsurpassed in contradictions—Marriage Emancipates from Tutelage in Hungary—Dr. Henrietta Jacobs of Holland—Dr. Isala van Diest of Belgium—In Switzerland the Catholic Cantons Lag Behind—Marie Goegg, the Leader—Sweden Stands First—Universities Open to Women in Norway—Associations in Denmark—Liberality of Russia toward Women—Poland—The Orient—Turkey—Jewish Wives—The Greek Woman in Turkey—The Greek Woman in Greece—An Unique Episode—Woman's Rights in the American Sense not known.

The reader of the preceding pages will be sorely disappointed if he expects to find in this brief chapter a similar record of progress and reform. If, however, he looks simply for an earnest of the future, for a humble beginning of that wonderful revolution in favor of women which has occurred in the United States, and to a less degree in England, during the past quarter of a century, his expectations will be fully realized. More than this; he will close this long account of woman's emancipation in the new world convinced that in due season a similar blessing is to be enjoyed by the women of the old world.

For the moment, the woman question in Europe is pushed into the background by the all-absorbing struggle still going on in various forms between the republican and monarchical principle, between the vital present and the moribund past; but the most superficial observer must perceive, that the amelioration of the lamentable situation of European womanhood is sure to be one of the first problems to come to the front for resolution, as soon as liberty gains undisputed control on this continent,—a victory assured in the not-distant future. When men shall have secured their rights, the battle will be half won; women's rights will follow as a natural sequence.

The most logical beginning for a sketch of the woman movement on the continent, and indeed of any step in advance, is of course France, where ideas, not facts, stand out the more prominently; for, in questions of reform, the abstract must always precede the concrete,—public opinion must be convinced before it will accept an innovation. This has been the role of France in Europe ever since the great revolution; it is her role to-day. She is the agitator of the old world, and agitation is the lever of reform.



The woman movement in France dates from the upheaval of 1789. Though the demands for the rights of man threw all other claims into the shade, a few women did not fail to perceive that they also had interests at stake. Marie Olympe de Gouges, for example, in her "Declaration of the Rights of Woman," vindicated for her sex all the liberties proclaimed in the famous "Declaration of the Rights of Man." During the empire and the restoration the reform slept; under the July monarchy there was an occasional murmur, which burst forth into a vigorous protest when the revolution of 1848 awakened the aspirations of 1789, and George Sand consecrated her talent to the cause of progress. During the second empire, in spite of the oppressive nature of the government, the movement took on a more definite form; its advocates became more numerous; and men and women who held high places in literature, politics and journalism, spoke out plainly in favor of ameliorating the condition of French women. Then came the third republic, with more freedom than France had enjoyed since the beginning of the century. The woman movement felt the change, and, during the past ten years, its friends have been more active than ever before.

The most tangible event in the history of the question in France is the International Woman's Rights Congress, the first international gathering of the kind, which assembled in Paris in the months of July and August during the exposition season of 1878. The committee which called the congress contained representatives from six different countries, viz.: France, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Russia and America. Among the eighteen members from France were two senators, five deputies and three Paris municipal councilors. Italy was represented by a deputy and the Countess of Travers, an indefatigable friend of the undertaking, who died just before the opening of the congress. The American members of the committee were Julia Ward Howe, Mary A. Livermore and Theodore Stanton. Among the members[567] of the congress, besides those just mentioned, were deputies, senators, publicists, journalists, and men and women of letters from all parts of Europe. Sixteen different organizations in Europe and America sent delegates. The National Woman Suffrage Association was represented by Jane Graham Jones and Theodore Stanton, and the American Woman Suffrage Association by Julia Ward Howe.

The work of the congress was divided into five sections, as follows: the historical, the educational, the economic, the moral, and the legislative. The congress was opened on July 25, by Leon Richer, its promoter and originator, and one of the most indefatigable friends of women's rights in France. He invited Maria Deraismes, an able speaker well known among Paris reformers, to act as temporary chairman. The next thing in order was the election of two permanent presidents, a man and a woman. The late M. Antide Martin, then an influential member of the Paris municipal council, and Julia Ward Howe were chosen. Mrs. Howe, on taking the chair, made a short speech which was very well received; Anna Maria Mozzoni, of Milan, a most eloquent orator, followed; and then Genevieve Graham Jones advanced to the platform, and in the name of her mother, Jane Graham Jones, delegate of the National Woman Suffrage Association, she conveyed to the congress messages of good-will from the United States. This address, delivered with much feeling, and appealing to French patriotism, was enthusiastically received. When Miss Jones had taken her seat, M. Martin arose, thanked the foreign ladies for their admirable words, and concluded in these terms: "In the name of my compatriots, I particularly return gratitude to Miss Graham Jones for the eloquent and cordial manner in which she has just referred to France, and in turn, I salute republican America, which so often offers Europe examples of good sense, wisdom and liberty."

At the second session was read a long and eloquent letter from Salvatore Morelli,[568] the Italian deputy. Theodore Stanton read a paper entitled, "The Woman Movement in the United States." The third session was devoted to the educational phase of the woman question. Tony Revillon, who has since become one of the radical deputies of Paris, spoke, and Miss Hotchkiss presented an able report on "The Education of Women in America." After Miss Hotchkiss had finished, Auguste Desmoulins, now a member of the Paris municipal council, offered, as president of the section, a resolution advocating the principal reforms—the same studies for boys and girls, and coeducation—demanded by Miss Hotchkiss. The resolution was carried without debate. Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna, of Florence, followed in a few remarks on the "Mission of Woman." Eugenie Pierre, of Paris, spoke on the "Vices of Education in Different Classes of Society," and in closing complimented America in the highest terms for its progressive position on the woman question. In fact, the example of the United States was frequently cited throughout the proceedings of this congress, and the reformers of America may find some joy in feeling that their labors are producing fruit even in the old world.

At the last session of the congress, August 9, 1878, a permanent international committee was announced. France, England, Italy, Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Poland, Russia, Roumania and the United States are all represented on this committee.[569] The chief duties of this committee were to be the advancement of the reforms demanded by the congress and to issue the call for the next international gathering. The congress ended with a grand banquet on the evening of the last day's session, in which about two hundred guests participated.

The present situation in France is full of interest and encouragement. There are societies, journals, and different groups of reformers all striving independently but earnestly to better the situation of French women politically, civilly, morally and intellectually. At the head of the agitation in favor of women's political rights stand Hubertine Auclert and her vigorous monthly, La Citoyenne[570]; the reformers of the code are lead by Leon Richer and his outspoken monthly, Le Droit des Femmes[571]; the movement in favor of divorce, which was crowned with success in the summer of 1884, is headed by Alfred Naquet in the senate, and finds one of its earliest and ablest supporters in Olympe Audouard; the emancipation of women from priestly domination—and herein lies the greatest and most dangerous obstacle that the reformers encounter—counts among its many advocates Maria Deraismes; woman's moral improvement, to be mainly accomplished by the abolition of legalized prostitution, is demanded by Dr. and Mrs. Chapman and Emilie de Morsier; while the great uprising in favor of woman's education has such a host of friends and has already produced such grand results, that the brief limits of this sketch will permit neither an enumeration of the one nor the other.

* * * * *

The transition from France to Italy is easy and natural, for it is on the Cisalpine peninsula that Gallic ideas have always taken deeper root than elsewhere on the Continent, and, as might be expected, the Italian woman movement resembles in many respects that of which we have just spoken.

With the formation of the kingdom of Italy in 1870 began a well-defined agitation in favor of Italian women. The educational question was first taken up. Prominent among the women who participated in this movement were Laura Mantegazza, the Marchioness Brigida Tanari, and Alessandrina Ravizza. Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna, who has devoted her whole life to improving the condition of her countrywomen, writes me from Florence on this subject. "Here it was," she says, "that the example of American and English women, who in this respect were our superiors, was useful to us. While we were still under foreign domination and ignorant of solidarity of sex, they were free and united." The new political life produced a number of able women orators and writers, such as Anna Mozzoni, Malvina Frank, Gualberta Beccari, and many others. The last named founded at Venice La Donna, and in 1872 Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna established in Florence La Cornelia, which has since ceased to exist, while in 1882 Ernesta Napollon began at Naples the publication of the short-lived L'Umanitario, the youngest of a goodly list of journals which have done much to excite an interest in the woman question. The Italian government has generously seconded the efforts of the reformers. The code has been modified, schools have been established, the universities thrown open and courses in agriculture proposed.

But the most significant sign of progress in Italy was afforded by the great universal suffrage convention, held at Rome on February 11, 12, 1881. Anna Mozzoni, delegate to the convention from the Milan Society for the Promotion of Woman's Interests, of which she is the able president, made an eloquent appeal for woman suffrage and introduced a resolution to this effect which was carried by a good majority.[572] In 1876 a committee of the Chamber, of which the deputy Peruzzi was chairman, reported a bill in favor of conferring on women the right to vote on municipal and provincial questions (voto amministrativo), a privilege which they had formerly enjoyed in Lombardy and Venice under Austrian rule. This bill was reintroduced in 1882 by the Depretis ministry and was reported upon favorably by the proper committee in June, 1884. It is believed that the proposition will soon become a law. If such is the case, Italian women will enjoy the same rights as Italian men in municipal and provincial affairs, with this exception, that they will not be eligible to office in the bodies of which they are electors.[573] Aurelia Cimino Folliero de Luna, says:

I make no doubt that in a few years the question of the emancipation of women in Italy will be better understood; will be regarded from a more elevated standpoint and will receive a more general and greater support; for if we turn to the past, we shall be astonished at what has already been accomplished in this direction.

* * * * *

Concepcion Arenal, the distinguished Spanish authoress, signals several signs of progress in her country. This lady writes:

In the schools founded by the Madrid Association for the Education of Women, nearly five hundred girls pursue courses in pedagogics, commercial studies, modern languages, painting, etc. This instruction, for the most part gratis, is given by professors who devote their time and strength to this noble object without receiving any remuneration,—worthy continuators of the grand work of the founder of the Madrid high-school for women, Fernando de Castro, of blessed memory, one of the most philanthropic men I ever met, who so loved mankind that his name should be known in every land. Nine hundred and eighteen girls attended the session of 1880-1881 of the school of music and declamation at Madrid, and the number has since increased.

A few years ago a school of arts and trades was founded at the capital, and women were admitted to the classes in drawing. In 1881, one hundred and thirty availed themselves of this privilege. In 1882, one hundred and fifty-four female students were present at the institutions (institutos) for intermediate education in Spain. The coeducation of the sexes, therefore, is not unknown to us. In that year Valencia, Barcelona, Gerona and Seville each counted sixteen, while the single girl at Mahon discontinued her studies on the ground that she preferred not to mingle with boys. At Malaga, the only female aspirant for the bachelor's degree took seven prizes, and was "excellent" in all her studies. During the academic year, 1881-1882, twelve women attended lectures in the Spanish universities. The three at Madrid were all working for the doctorate, and one had passed the necessary examinations; the two at Valladolid were occupied with medicine, while at Barcelona five were studying medicine, one law, and one pharmacy. Three of the medical students have passed their examinations, but instead of the degrees, which are refused them, they are granted certificates which do not allow them to practice.

Our public opinion is progressing, as is evidenced by the laws, and especially by the educational reforms, which are the exclusive work of men. The council of public instruction, a consulting body holding by no means advanced ideas, was called upon a short time ago, to decide whether the university certificates conferred upon women could be converted into regular degrees, which would entitle the recipients to the enjoyment of the privileges attached to these titles. The learned council discussed, hesitated, tried to decide the question, but finally left it in a situation which was neither clear nor conclusive. This hesitancy and vagueness are very significant; a few years ago a negative decision would have been given promptly and in the plainest terms.

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Portugal is following closely upon the steps of Spain, and, in the former as in the latter country, it is in the department of education that the most marked signs of an awakening are to be found. Rodrigues de Freitas, the well-known publicist and republican statesman of Porto, says:

There is not a single intermediate school for girls in all Portugal. In 1883, the Portugese parliament took up the subject of intermediate instruction, and discussed the question in its relation to women, and the progress in this direction realized in France during the last few years. A deputy who opposed the reform, recalled the words of Jules Simon, pronounced in a recent sitting of the council of public instruction at Paris. The philosopher remarked:

We are here a few old men, very fortunate gentlemen, in being excused from having to marry the girls you propose to bring up.

Our minister of the interior, who has charge of public instruction, followed, and declared that he was in favor of the establishment of girls' colleges. He said:

It is true that M. Jules Simon considers himself fortunate in not having to marry a girl educated in a French college; but I think I have discovered the reason for this aversion. He is getting in his dotage, otherwise he would experience no repugnance in proposing to such a girl, provided, of course, that, along with an education, she was at the same time pretty and virtuous.

The chamber laughed. And such is the situation to-day: the minister favorable to the better instruction of women, while neither minister nor deputies make an earnest effort to bring it about.

This dark picture is relieved, however, by one or two bright touches. There are many private boarding schools where families in easy circumstances send their daughters, who learn to speak several languages, are taught a little elementary mathematics and geography, and acquire a few accomplishments. Some of the pupils of these institutions pass with credit the examinations of the boys' lyceums or colleges. Article 72, of the law of June 14, 1880, on intermediate instruction, reads as follows: "Students of the female sex, who wish to enter the State schools, or pass the examinations of said schools, come within the provisions of this law, except as regards the regulations concerning boarding scholars." That is to say, girls enjoy in the State intermediate schools the same privileges as male day scholars. Many girls have availed themselves of this opportunity and have passed the lyceum examinations.

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Crossing the Rhine into the Teutonic countries, we find less progress on the whole, than among the Latin races. Germany, however, if behind France and Italy, is far ahead of Spain and Portugal. The agitation is divided into two currents: the Leipsic and the Berlin movements. The former is the older, the General Association of German Women having been founded in Leipsic in October, 1865. Louise Otto-Peters, the prime mover in the organization of this association, may be considered the originator of the German movement. A novelist of much power, whose stories all teach a lesson in socialism, she established in 1848, the year of the great revolutionary fermentation throughout Europe, the first paper which advocated the interests of women in Germany. The aims of the Leipsic and Berlin reformers were of an economic and educational nature. It was felt that the time had come when woman must have wider and better paid fields of work, and when she must be more thoroughly educated in order to be able the easier to gain her livelihood. A paper, New Paths (Neue Bahnen), was established as the organ of the association. It still exists. The plan of holding annual conventions—much like those which have been in progress in America for so many years—in the chief cities of Germany was settled upon, and numerous meetings of this kind have already occurred. At these gatherings all questions pertaining to woman's advancement are discussed, and auxiliary associations organized. The General Association of German Women has sent several petitions to the Reichstag, or imperial parliament, demanding various reforms and innovations. The principal members of the association are Louise Otto-Peters, the president and editor of the Neue Bahnen; Henriette Goldschmidt, the most effective speaker of the group; and Mrs. Winter, the treasurer, all of whom live in Leipsic; Miss Menzzer of Dresden; Lina Morgenstern, the well-known Berlin philanthropist; and Marie Calm of Cassel, perhaps the most radical of the body, whose ideas on woman suffrage are much the same as those entertained in England and the United States. In fact, an American is frequently struck by the similarity between many of the features of the General Association of German Women, and the Woman's Rights Association in the United States.

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The Berlin movement, which resembles that of Leipsic in everything except that it is rather more conservative, owes its origin to that distinguished philanthropist, Dr. Adolf Lette. The Lette Verein, or Lette Society, so called in honor of its founder, was organized in December, 1865, but a few months after the establishment of the Leipsic association. The object of the society is, as has already been said, to improve the material condition of women, especially poor women, by giving them a better education, by teaching them manual employments, by helping to establish them in business—in a word, by affording them the means to support themselves. The Lette Society has become the nucleus of similar organizations scattered all over the German empire. Its organ, the German Woman's Advocate (Deutcher Frauenanwalt), is a well-conducted little monthly, edited by the secretary of the society, Jenny Hirsch. Anna Schepeler-Lette, daughter of the founder, has been for many years and is still at the head of this admirable society. She writes me:

If we are asked whether we would have women enter public life, whether we would wish them to become professors in the university, clergymen in the church, and lawyers at the bar, as is the case in America, we should make no response, for they are but idle questions. These demands have not yet been made in Germany, nor will they be made for a long time to come, if ever. But why peer into the future? We have to-day many institutions, many customs, which past centuries would have looked upon as contrary to Divine and human law. In this connection we would say with Sancho Panza: "What is, is able to be."

The German philosopher, Herr von Kirchmann, is more decided in his views concerning the future of his countrywomen. In one of his last works, entitled "Questions and Dangers of the Hour" (Zeitfragen und Abenteuer) is a chapter on "Women in the Past and Future," where it is shown that the female sex has been gradually gaining its freedom, and the prediction is made that the day is near at hand when women will obtain their complete independence and will compete with men in every department of life, not excepting politics.

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Turning to the other great Germanic nation, Austria, we find still less progress than in the north. In fact, the movement in the south is little more than a question of woman's self-support. The important problem of woman's education is not yet resolved in Germany, and in Austria still less has been done. "In two particulars," writes a Berlin correspondent, "Austria may be said to be in advance of Germany. The admission of women to the university does not present such insurmountable difficulties, and her employment in railroad, post, and telegraph offices does not encounter such strong opposition." But it must not be supposed from this statement that the Austrian universities are open to women. "Our universities are shut against women," Professor Wendt, of Troppau, informs me; "but they may pass the same examinations as boys who have finished their preparatory studies, though it is distinctly stated in the women's diplomas that they may not continue their studies in the university." The professors, however, sometimes allow foreign girls to attend lectures. Professor Bruhl, of Vienna, for example, has lectured to men and women on anatomy. The Academy of Fine Arts at Vienna is not open to women, though the Conservatory of Music is much frequented by them. In 1880, in fact, three women received prizes for musical compositions. Johanna Leitenberger, of Salzburg, writes:

Several newspapers are devoted to the different phases of the woman's movement in Austria. Some years ago an ex-officer, Captain A. D. Korn, who, if I am not mistaken, had passed some time in England and America, founded the Women's Universal Journal (Allgemeine Frauen Zeitung). This newspaper was wholly devoted to women's interest, but it soon died. The same thing is true of the Women's Journal (Frauenblaetter) of Gratz, which appeared for a short time under my editorship. * * * * On October 9, 10, 11, 1872, the third German women's convention (Deutsche Frauenkonferenz) was held at Vienna, under the auspices of the general society for popular education and the amelioration of women's condition. The other two sittings of this society had been held at Leipsic and Stuttgart. The soul of this new movement was Captain Korn, whom I have already mentioned. His study of the woman question in the United States may have prompted him to awaken a similar agitation among the women of the Austrian empire. Addresses were delivered at this convention by ladies from Vienna, Hungary, Bohemia and Styria and all the various interests of women were discussed. * * * * The proceedings of the convention attracted considerable attention, and produced favorable impressions on the audience, which was recruited from the better classes of the population. But the newspapers of Vienna ridiculed the young movement, its friends grew lukewarm, and every trace was soon lost of this first and last Austrian women's rights convention.