From Mrs. Avery's suburban home at Somerton, Miss Anthony sent grateful letters to every one of the 202 contributors to her annuity. She addressed the 500 students at Drexel Institute, and left for New York March 12. Here she had an important business meeting with Mary Lowe Dickinson, the newly elected president of the National Council, and then went to tell all about the Atlanta convention, the Woman's Council and various other events to Mrs. Stanton, who still felt the liveliest interest although not physically able to take an active part.

The day after Miss Anthony reached home she read in the morning paper that two of the State Industrial School girls and two of the free academy boys had been seen the night before coming out of a questionable place; the girls were arrested and locked up in the station house, the boys were told to go home. It was an everyday injustice but she determined to protest, so she went straightway to the police court, where she insisted that the boys should not go free while the girls were punished. She pleaded in vain; the girls were sent to the reformatory, the boys being used as witnesses against them and then dismissed without so much as a reprimand.

A short time afterwards Miss Anthony went to the Baptist church one Sunday evening to hear a young colored woman, Miss Ida Wells, lecture on the lynching of negroes in the South. The speaker was rudely interrupted several times by a fellow from Texas who was in Rochester attending the theological school. She answered him politely but at length he asked: "If the negroes don't like it in the South, why don't they leave and go North?" At this Miss Anthony, who had been growing more indignant every moment, sprung to her feet and, with flashing eyes and ringing voice, said: "I will tell you why; it is because they are treated no better in the North than they are in the South." She then related a number of instances, which had come to her own knowledge, of the cruel discrimination made against colored people, to the utter amazement of the audience who did not believe such things possible.[111]

She took Miss Wells home with her for the rest of her stay. She had employed a young woman stenographer for a few weeks to clear up her accumulated correspondence and, having to go away the next day, she told Miss Wells the girl might help her with her pile of letters. When she returned in the evening she found her scribbling away industriously and the stenographer at leisure. In answer to her inquiry the latter replied: "I don't choose to write for a colored person." "If you can not oblige me by assisting a guest in my house," said Miss Anthony, "you can not remain in my employ." The girl, although in destitute circumstances, gave up her situation.

Miss Anthony had been feeling for a long time that, in justice to herself and to the State Industrial School, she should resign her position on the board of managers. When she accepted it she had intended to give up the greater part of her travelling and direct her forces from the seat of government in her own home, but she had found this practically impossible. The demands for her actual presence and personal work were too strong to be resisted. There were very few women in the country who could draw so large an audience as herself, or who knew so well how to manage a convention or carry on a campaign, and the women of the different States, who had one or the other of these in hand, were unwilling to accept a substitute. She was as well and vigorous as at fifty, and there seemed to be no adequate reason why she should refuse the many opportunities to advance the cause for which she had given the active service of nearly half a century. The several years since she began housekeeping, therefore, had found her at home no more of the time than those which had preceded.

When she first visited the school she found the boys' departments fitted up with all the appliances of a steam laundry, while a large number of the girls were bending their backs over washtubs and ironing-boards the whole of every week. She soon succeeded in having the washing sent over to the laundry, where a few girls were able to do it all in two or three days; she also made many valuable suggestions in the sewing department. When in the city she went to the school on Sunday, helped with the services and talked to the 700 boys and 150 girls. Some of the latter came to her one Sunday and said pathetically that it was the first time a speaker ever had seemed to know there were any girls there! She wrote in her journal, with quiet humor, that the men on the board were going the next day to select a cooking stove. She realized even more strongly than ever that, though the best and wisest men may be on the boards of public institutions, there is need also of women, but she felt that, with so vast an amount of other work on hand, she could not do her duty by the school. As she was about to go away again for a number of months she decided to delay her resignation no longer and forwarded it to Governor Morton April 15, after having served about two and a half years. She then finished her lecture engagements and completed arrangements for what proved to be one of the pleasantest journeys of her life.

FOOTNOTES:

[107] At these annual feasts gentlemen are permitted to sit in the gallery, listen to the toasts and watch the ladies enjoy the dinner.

[108] During this year Mrs. Gross had presented Miss Anthony with $1,000 to complete the education of a nephew and niece.

[109] A plan for a great Liberal Religious Congress, the outgrowth of the Parliament of Religions in 1893.

[110] After 1892 Miss Anthony had to read most of Mrs. Stanton's addresses, and the latter wrote her: "If you pronounce what I write 'good,' I know it is up to the mark. Many thanks for reading all my papers so well as everybody says you do. I am sure of your rich voice and deep sympathy with the subject, and I much prefer to have you read my speeches rather than any other person, as I am always told that your reading makes a deep impression. Our thoughts have the same trend on the woman suffrage question, and we have written and talked over every phase of the subject so much together that what I write is essentially yours as well as mine."

[111] The Rochester dailies came out next morning with full reports of this episode and editorial remarks; citizens of both sexes wrote to the papers, pro and con; other newspapers took up the question, and a wave of comment swept over the country.



CHAPTER XLV.

THE SECOND VISIT TO CALIFORNIA.

1895.

It has been said in another chapter that Miss Anthony established herself firmly and forever in the hearts of the people at the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Men and women were there from every State in the Union, many of whom never had seen or heard her and had been deeply prejudiced against her, but she conquered all and they returned home henceforth to sing her praises. Naturally they wanted their friends and neighbors to be converted like themselves, and invitations to lecture came from all quarters. One of the most urgent was from the Woman's Congress Auxiliary of the great California Midwinter Exposition, which followed the World's Fair, but as she had two campaigns on hand in 1894 she could not accept it. Out of this auxiliary had grown a permanent Woman's Congress Association, with Sarah B. Cooper at its head. When a pressing request came to attend their first anniversary in San Francisco, in 1895, she accepted with pleasure. The corresponding secretary, Mrs. Minna V. Gaden, wrote in reply:

I can not attempt to express to you the joy and gratification of the executive board over your consent to be with us and take part in the congress in May. I wish I could have phonographed the exclamations of delight and photographed the beaming countenances of the members when I read them your letter. In answer to your question as to whether we desired to have you speak upon some special point of the subject for which you stand, I would say we want Susan B. Anthony and all that she is; and we are sure that the right word will be said, the great facts made plain and the true inspiration given. We want you and all that your presence means and all that your life's work has brought.

Miss Anthony had another reason for wishing to go to California in addition to the desire of meeting and helping the women of that beautiful State in their congress. Its legislature, the previous winter, had submitted a woman suffrage amendment which was to be voted on in 1896. This visit would enable her to look over the field, talk with the men and women, and render any assistance they might desire towards planning their campaign. She wrote Mrs. Cooper stating that she did not wish to make the journey alone, that she liked to have one of her "lieutenants" to relieve her of the burden of much speaking, and would be glad of the privilege of bringing with her Rev. Anna Shaw. Mrs. Cooper responded with a check of $450, for travelling expenses, saying: "We rejoice to know that Miss Shaw will come with you, as another grand helper for us. I send you the money and want you to have every possible comfort on the journey."

From that time until Miss Anthony reached California not over three days ever passed without a letter from Mrs. Cooper, rejoicing over the promised visit. "Everybody is full of expectancy looking for your advent. I have engaged the First Congregational church of San Francisco for Miss Shaw's sermon. Hattie and I send you a heart full of love. May God hold you safe in His keeping." "San Francisco and the whole Pacific coast have a warm welcome for you both; every one is looking forward to meeting you, great and noble champion of all that is good." So the letters ran, and they were supplemented by long and loving ones from the daughter Harriet, who lived but to second her mother's work and wishes.

When the papers heralded abroad the news that Miss Anthony was going to California, the large western towns along the route sent earnest requests for lectures and visits, and the journey assumed the aspect of a triumphal tour. She started April 27, full of health and spirit and with happy anticipations; spent one day with Mrs. Upton, at Warren, O., one with Mrs. Sewall, at Indianapolis, going thence to Chicago, where she was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Gross. Here she found Harriet Hosmer, who had been with them seven months, while she worked on her statue of Lincoln. In the evening half a dozen reporters called and the papers bristled with interviews. The next day she went with her hostess to the famous Woman's Club. Miss Shaw joined Miss Anthony in Chicago, and May 1 they left for St. Louis, where they remained four days at the New Planters' Hotel, the guests of Mrs. Gross, who had accompanied them.

Their mission at St. Louis was to address the Mississippi Valley Woman's Congress, under the auspices of the W. C. T. U., Mrs. E. B. Ingalls, presiding. Miss Anthony spoke on "The Present Outlook," and the papers described enthusiastically "the splendid ovation" she received, the many floral offerings, and the hundreds of personal greetings at the close of the evening. Just before her address, seventy-five little boys and girls, several colored ones among them, marched past her on the platform, each laying a rose in her lap. The day after the congress the State Suffrage Association held its convention, and on the evening of May 4 a handsome banquet, with covers laid for 200, was given for her at the Mercantile Club rooms.

She reached Denver May 8, at 4 A. M., remained in the sleeper till six and then could stand it no longer but took a carriage and sallied forth. When the reception committee came to the station at seven to escort her to the elaborate breakfast which had been prepared at the Brown Palace Hotel, where a large number of friends were waiting, the guest had flown and could not be found. While in the city she was entertained at the home of Hon. Thomas M. Patterson, of the Rocky Mountain News, whose progressive and cultured wife was her warm personal friend and had been an advocate of suffrage long before it was granted to the women of Colorado. Reverend Anna was the guest of ex-Governor and Mrs. Routt. That afternoon Miss Anthony went to Boulder, where she was engaged to lecture.

The next day the Woman's Club gave a large reception in their honor at the Brown Palace Hotel, attended by over 1,200 women. The News, in its account, said: "The scene marked, to the retrospective mind, the enormous change that has taken place in the status of the sex within the lifetime of one woman. It hardly seemed possible, as the spectator beheld Miss Anthony surrounded by the richest and most conservative women of Denver, to believe that in her youth the great lecturer was hissed from the stage in the most cultured and liberal cities of the United States, and cast out from polite society like a pariah. It is not often either that one who has been a pioneer in an unpopular cause lives to see it become fashionable and herself the center of attention from a younger generation which has profited by her labors of earlier years." The same paper commented editorially: "To accomplish the political enfranchisement of her sex and open a broader field of work and influence for women everywhere, Miss Anthony has devoted her life.... Among all the noble women who have stood boldly to champion the cause of their sisters, she is easily chief, and is worthy of all the honors that have been bestowed upon her. It must have been a proud satisfaction for her yesterday to meet the women of Colorado, who are now endowed with equal political rights because of the crusade she has been instrumental in starting and maintaining. Well may these newly enfranchised women do her reverence. Not more loyal should the silver men of Colorado be to Dick Bland, than the women of Colorado to the apostle of equal suffrage—Susan B. Anthony."

The Denver Times said in a leading editorial: "To Miss Anthony the women of today owe a great debt, for through her life's work they enjoy a hundred privileges denied them fifty years ago. From her devotion to a cause which for decades made her a martyr to the derision of an unsympathetic public, has grown a new order of things. Her hand has most helped to open every profession and every line of business to women. While all the women of the United States are under many obligations to her, those of Colorado, who are now equal citizens, owe her the greatest allegiance." The Times also quotes in an interview with Miss Anthony: "When asked what subject she would take for her speeches to the people of Colorado, she shook her head with a kindly smile and said: 'My usual lectures will not do. What can I say to the women who have the franchise? I can only encourage them to use their new power wisely, to stand bravely for the right, and to help the equal suffrage cause in other States.'"

The ladies lectured that evening to an immense audience in the Broadway Theater. The papers reported with great headlines: "Enthusiastic Greeting by Colorado's Enfranchised Citizens. Miss Anthony Overcome with Hearty Congratulations. America's Joan of Arc Shakes Hands with an Army of Women Voters." One searches in vain in these newspapers for evidences of the terrible loss of respect which women were to experience when they were endowed with the ballot. The News, in over a column report, said:

Miss Anthony's voice was clear and powerful, filling the big theater without any apparent effort. She began by saying that she believed the thing she had always claimed had come true; that the women had learned a new and higher self-respect with their added rights and responsibilities.... She paid the men of Colorado the compliment of declaring them the best in the world. The men of Wyoming had occupied this proud position up to 1893, but those of Colorado had granted the ballot to a disfranchised class not through the legislature, but by a popular vote. This act stands alone in the history of the world; no class of men has ever done as much for even another class of men....

She said she had heard that some of the women had voted with sagacity and some had not. This was not strange, since men continued to do this after more than one hundred years of voting. If women made mistakes this year, they would remedy them next year, and in time she believed they would become the balance of power between the two parties in all social, moral and educational questions.

At Cheyenne Senator and Mrs. Carey gave an elegant dinner party in their honor, attended by Governor and Mrs. Rich, Senator and Mrs. Warren, Mrs. Esther Morris, the first woman judge, Mrs. Therese Jenkins, State president, Mrs. Amalia Post, a suffrage pioneer, and other distinguished guests. They went immediately from dinner to the new Baptist church, which was filled to overflowing, and were introduced by the governor. At the close of the lectures, Mrs. Jenkins said, "Now I desire to introduce the audience to the speakers." She then called the names of the governor and all his staff, the attorney-general, the United States judges, the senators and congressmen, the mayor and members of the city council. Each rose as his name was mentioned, and before she was through, it seemed as if half the audience were on their feet, and the applause was most enthusiastic. Here again one could not discern an indication of the dreadful loss of respect which was to be the portion of enfranchised women.

It was long after midnight before the travellers were quietly in bed in the delightful home of the Careys, but at half-past seven they had finished breakfast and were on board train en route for Salt Lake City. Learning from the conductor that Mrs. Leland Stanford's private car was attached, Miss Anthony sent her card and soon was invited to a seat in that luxurious conveyance, where she enjoyed a visit of several hours. Mrs. Stanford told her of the government suit against the estate, and Miss Anthony's parting words were a warning not to leave her lawyers to go before the Supreme Court alone, but to be present herself in Washington to protect her own interests and those of the great university.

At Salt Lake, on Sunday morning, a large delegation of women, representing the different religious sects and political organizations, met the travellers and drove to the Templeton, where seventy-five sat down to breakfast, and they were then taken for a drive over the city. Miss Anthony was the guest of Mrs. Beatie, daughter of Brigham and Zina D. H. Young, and Miss Shaw of Mrs. McVicker. At 3 P. M., the Reverend Anna preached in the great Tabernacle, Bishops Whitney and Richards assisting. At the close they congratulated her on having preached a Mormon sermon; afterwards a Methodist minister who was in the audience thanked her for her good Methodist sermon; and a little later a Presbyterian minister shook her hand heartily and expressed his pleasure at hearing her Presbyterian doctrine; so she concluded she had made a politic address. Sunday evening she preached in the theater at what was intended to be a union service. All of the Gentile ministers had been invited to take part and all declined but the pastor of the Unitarian church. He and the principal of the public schools, formerly a Unitarian minister, were the only men on the stage.

The Inter-Mountain Woman Suffrage Association of Utah, Montana and Idaho opened the next morning, May 13. The first day's sessions were held in the new city building, but it was so crowded that an overflow meeting was necessary and the next day the convention was transferred to the big assembly hall. The seat of honor was given to Miss Anthony; on her right Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells, president of the Utah association, on her left, Rev. Anna Shaw. They were surrounded by a semicircle of the illustrious women of the Territory who, for many years, had been active in the work for suffrage. The hall was draped with the national colors and above the stage were portraits of Lincoln, Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton. The introductory address was made by Governor West, who, after paying an earnest tribute to Miss Anthony, predicted that the new State constitution, which was to go to the voters containing a woman suffrage clause, would be overwhelmingly ratified.

During their stay in Salt Lake Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw received the highest consideration. Monday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Richards gave a reception in their honor, and were assisted in receiving by Governor West, President Woodruff, Hon. George Q. Cannon, and many ladies. The next afternoon a reception was tendered by the W. C. T. U. In the evening, a large party went to Ogden, where a banquet was given, a great meeting held in the city hall, and an overflow meeting in one of the churches.

The 16th of May found the travellers at Reno, Nev., where they were the guests of Mrs. Elda A. Orr, president of the State association. In the morning Miss Anthony talked to the 800 men and women students of the State University. In the evening they spoke in the opera house, which was crowded to its limits, while on the stage were the representative men and women of the city and neighboring towns. The house was beautifully decorated with flowers and banners, a brass band played on the balcony and an orchestra within. They were introduced by Miss Hannah H. Clapp, who had presented Miss Anthony to a Nevada audience at Carson, in 1871. Saturday afternoon they enjoyed a charming reception in the parlors of the women's clubhouse.

Late that day they resumed their journey, took supper at Truckee on the summit of the Sierras, and had a delicious glimpse of Lake Donner just as they plunged into the forty miles of snow-sheds. They were glad of a long night's rest after the strain of the last three weeks and, when they awoke the next morning, were rolling through the fertile Sacramento valley. California in May! Never was there a pen inspired with the power to describe its beauties. Not the brush of the most gifted artist could picture the mountains with their green foot-hills and snow-capped summits; the valleys, nature's own lovely and fragrant conservatories of brilliant blossoms and luxuriant, riotous vines, and the great oaks with their glossy foliage, all enveloped in a warm and shimmering atmosphere and, bending above, the soft blue sky scarcely dimmed by a fleeting cloud. They can not be put into words, they must be lived.

The travellers had been up and dressed and enjoying the sweet air and lovely landscape for a long time when the train stopped at the Oakland station at half-past seven Sunday morning, May 19. Early as was the hour, with the mists still hovering over the bay, they found awaiting them, laden with flowers, Mrs. Cooper and her daughter Harriet, from San Francisco, Mrs. Isabel A. Baldwin, Mrs. Ada Van Pelt and several other Oakland ladies, and Rev. John K. McLean, the Congregational minister, whose eldest brother was the husband of Miss Anthony's sister. He conveyed her at once to his own home, while the others took charge of Miss Shaw. At 11 o'clock the reverend lady was in Dr. McLean's pulpit, fresh and smiling, in her soft, black ministerial robes, with dainty white lawn at neck and wrists. Every seat was filled, chairs were placed in the aisles, people sitting on the steps, and the happiest woman in all the throng was Susan B. Anthony as she sat beside her friend. That evening the scene was repeated in the Congregational church of San Francisco, where the chancel was adorned with lilies and the revered Sarah B. Cooper made the opening prayer.

The Woman's Congress opened at Golden Gate Hall, on the morning of May 20. The newspapers of San Francisco had decreed that this congress should be a success, and to this end they had been as generous with space and as complimentary in tone as the most exacting could have desired. The result was that at not a session during the week was the great hall large enough to hold the audience which sought admission. It presented a beautiful sight on the opening morning, festooned from end to end with banners; the stage a veritable conservatory, with a background of palms, bamboo and other tropical plants, and in front a bewildering array of lilies, roses, carnations, sweet peas and other fragrant blossoms. Grouped upon the platform, on chairs and divans, under tall, shaded lamps, were the speakers and guests. At the right of the president's desk was a large arm-chair artistically draped with flowers beneath a canopy of La France roses. At half-past ten Mrs. Cooper stepped out from the wings escorting Miss Anthony, followed by Mayor Adolph Sutro and Rev. Anna Shaw. The audience burst into a storm of applause and, amid cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs, Miss Anthony was conducted to her floral throne. As soon as she was seated, one woman after another came up with arms full of flowers until she was literally buried under an avalanche of the choicest blossoms. No one who was present ever will forget the lovely scene.

Mayor Sutro made the address of welcome, in which he emphasized his belief that "the ballot should be placed in the hands of woman as the most powerful agent for the uplifting of humanity." At the preceding congress the general topic had been, "The Relation of Women to the Affairs of the World," and the criticism had been made that it was too much of a woman suffrage meeting. For this one the subject selected was "The Home," but the results were the same. Whatever the paper—"Hereditary Influence," "The Parents' Power," "The Family and the State"—all led to suffrage; and the more suffrage, the greater the applause from the audience. Mrs. Cooper had written Miss Anthony, "I told the committee to put you and Miss Shaw anywhere on the program, that you could speak on one subject as well as another;" so they found themselves down for "Educational Influences of Home Life;" "Which Counts More, Father's or Mother's Influence?" "Does Wifehood Preclude Citizenship?" "The Evolution of the Home;" "The Family and the State;" "Shall We Co-operate?" "The Rights of Motherhood;" and numerous other topics. Both spoke every day during the Congress and the people seemed never to tire of hearing them.

Mrs. Cooper presided in her dignified and beautiful manner, and in her presentation said: "I have the very great honor and pleasure of introducing to this assembly one who has done more towards lifting up women than any other one person—Miss Susan B. Anthony." The Chronicle reported: "Then the audience made still further demonstrations. They clapped and cheered and waved, and some of the gray-haired women wiped their eyes because it is so seldom that people live to be appreciated. But Susan B. stood like a princess of the blood royal. Very erect of head and clear of voice she began her little speech. It was full of reminiscences, but some few people have the privilege of telling recollections without the fear of ever boring any one. Miss Anthony is one of these...."

Miss Shaw also received a hearty welcome; and all through that wonderful week the bright, appreciative, warm-hearted California audiences crowded the hall and listened and applauded and brought their offerings of flowers and fruit to lay at the feet of these two women, who had come from the far East to clasp their hands and unite with them in one great cause—the uplifting of womanhood. The Chronicle said:

Twelve hundred women went to Golden Gate Hall on Monday; fourteen hundred went Tuesday; two thousand Wednesday; twenty-five hundred Thursday. Golden Gate Hall could not hold one-fourth of the crowds, so all three of yesterday's sessions were held at the First Congregational church. Even there a stream of humanity blocked every aisle clear to the platform. Nobody ever supposed that the women of San Francisco cared for aught except their gowns, their teas and their babies. But they do. They like brains, even in their own sex. And they can applaud good speeches even if made by women, and they have all fallen madly, desperately in love with a very short, very plump little woman whose name is Anna Shaw. A year ago there were not more than a hundred women in San Francisco who could have been dragged to a suffrage meeting, but yesterday twenty-five times that number struggled and tore their clothing in their determination to hear Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw.



Again it commented: "There has been some talk that the Woman's Congress which expired last night attracted its crowds under false pretenses—that it promised to talk about the home and then preached suffrage. That is usually the case when Miss Anthony is about, but it was always suffrage in its relation to the home. Who, knowing Miss Anthony's reputation, could suppose that she would cross the continent in the evening of her life to discuss the draping of a lace curtain or the best colors for a parlor carpet?... Five thousand people waiting on the steps of the Temple Emanu-El for the purpose of hearing the woman preacher's last address does not look as if her position were uncertain. Mere curiosity does not take the same people to nineteen consecutive sessions."

"Apotheosis of Woman," the Examiner headed its fine reports; and the Call, the Bulletin, the Post, the Report, and the newspapers around the bay all gave columns of space to this great meeting which had discovered to the State of California its own remarkable women.

Miss Anthony had been the guest of her old friend, Mrs. A. A. Sargent, whose hospitality she had enjoyed so many years in Washington City. As the suffrage amendment was to come up the next year, Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw met with a large number of ladies at the Congregational church and helped them organize a campaign committee, with Mrs. Cooper as its chairman. In accepting the office she said: "I intend to put all there is of me into current coin and use it to forward this Heaven-ordained work. If ever a woman was thoroughly converted to this idea I have been, and in this spirit I accept the charge."

In the afternoon of this same day Mrs. Cooper escorted them to the Y. M. C. A. Hall to address the Congregational ministers at their regular Monday meeting, to which they had been officially invited. That evening they were the guests of honor at the Unitarian Club dinner at the Palace Hotel, Miss Anthony responding to the toast, "The Rights and Privileges of Man;" Miss Shaw to "The Manly Man;" Rev. A. C. Hirst and Dr. Horatio Stebbins to "The Rights and Privileges of Woman" and "The Womanly Woman;" and the evening was a lively one. They addressed the girls' high school, and accepted also an invitation to speak to the 900 teachers at the institute in session at Golden Gate Hall. They were the guests of the Century Club, Sorosis and other San Francisco societies of women.

A friend, Mrs. Mary Grafton Campbell, wrote from Palo Alto that she heard President Jordan say every remaining day and evening of the semester were filled, and when she exclaimed, "But Miss Anthony is coming; what about her?" he replied, "There will be room for Miss Anthony if we have to give up classes." Immediately he wrote her a cordial invitation to visit the university, offering to pay her travelling expenses and expressing a wish to entertain her in his home. She accepted for herself and Miss Shaw, and they spoke to as many students as could crowd into the chapel. Mrs. Stanford sent a personal invitation for them to attend the reception which she was to give the first graduating class in her San Francisco residence.[112] They were invited to the beautiful Water Carnival at Santa Cruz, and to the Flower Festival at Santa Barbara. It would be impossible, indeed, to mention all the delightful invitations of both a public and private nature, and there was not a day that did not bring a remembrance in the shape of flowers and the delicious fruit in which Miss Anthony revelled.



On May 29 the Ebell Club of Oakland gave them a breakfast at 11:30; at 2 P. M. they addressed the Alameda County Auxiliary of the Woman's Congress, Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes, president. The audience filled every inch of space in the Unitarian church, the most prominent ladies of Oakland occupied seats on the platform, and a large reception in the parlors followed the speaking. The evening session was held in the Congregational church, an enthusiastic crowd in attendance. The next afternoon they started for the Yosemite Valley, having for companions Dr. Elizabeth Sargent and Dr. Henry A. Baker, Miss Anthony's grand-nephew. There Miss Anthony, at the age of seventy-five, made the usual trips on the back of a mule. She relates that the name of her steed was Moses and Anna Shaw's Ephraim, and they had great sport over them. They enjoyed to the full all the beauties of that wonderful region, which never pall, no matter how often one visits them or how long one remains among them. During this trip Miss Shaw went with one of the Yosemite commissioners, George B. Sperry, to the Mariposa Big Trees. Two, in a group of the largest three, were christened George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and he offered her the privilege of naming the third. She gave it the title of Susan B. Anthony, it was appropriately marked, and thus it will be known to future generations.

At San Jose they were the guests of Mrs. Sarah Knox Goodrich, who gave a dinner for them, and over a hundred called during the evening. Sunday afternoon Miss Anthony spoke in the Unitarian church, and Monday morning addressed the students of the Normal School. At noon Mrs. Elizabeth Lowe Watson gave a luncheon party under the great trees at her lovely home, Sunny Brae, where the ladies spoke in the afternoon to several hundred people from neighboring ranches. In the evening they lectured at San Jose and, although fifty cents admission was charged, not nearly all who had bought tickets could get into the building. When they left for Los Angeles Mrs. Goodrich slipped into the hand of each $50 in gold, as a present; just as Mrs. Sargent had done when they left San Francisco.

Long before Miss Anthony had started for California, cordial invitations had been received from the southern part of the State, from old friends and new. It was of course impossible to accept more than a small fraction of these, but from the time the twain reached Los Angeles, there was one continuous ovation. On the evening of their arrival, June 12, they addressed an audience of over 2,000 in Simpson tabernacle, which had been transformed into a bower of choicest blossoms. While in the city they were the guests of Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, with whom Miss Anthony had worked for suffrage in Ohio forty years before.

In Riverside a reception was given them at the Glenwood by Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Richardson, relatives of Miss Anthony. The beautiful drives for which that place is famous were greatly enjoyed, and they went into raptures over the oranges, which they never before had seen in such quantities. They spoke to a large audience in the handsomely decorated Methodist tabernacle at Pasadena. While here they were the guests of Mrs. P. C. Baker, on Orange Avenue, and received many social attentions from the people of this lovely little city. Thence they went to Pomona, where they were met at the station by a delegation of ladies, escorted to the Palomares Hotel, and found the committee had adorned their rooms with flowers in a profusion which would be impossible outside of California. They spoke here also in the Methodist church. The next day Miss Shaw preached in Los Angeles and Miss Anthony spent the Sunday at Whittier with Mrs. Harriet R. Strong at her ranche, so widely noted for its walnut groves and pampas fields.

Monday morning they journeyed to San Diego where they were the guests of Miss Anthony's niece, Mrs. George L. Baker. Elaborate preparations had been made to receive them and they addressed a large audience in the evening. The next afternoon a reception was given at the Hotel Florence by all the woman's clubs of the city. The Union said: "The two guests of honor were simply loaded and garlanded with flowers. They were presented with baskets of sweet peas by the Y. W. C. A., yellow blossoms by the suffrage club, red, white and blue by the Datus Coon corps; bouquets of white roses by the W. C. T. U., of red and white carnations in a holder of blue satin by Heintzelman W. R. C., of red roses by the Woman's League, of pink roses by the Jewish women. There was music by an orchestra as an accompaniment to the sociability of the occasion, in which some 700 women participated during the afternoon."

The following day a picnic was given by the Woman's Club at "Olivewood," the home of Mrs. Flora M. Kimball, near National City, where tables were spread on the lawn for the 200 guests who came by train and carriage. That same evening, by request of many who could not be present at the first meeting, the two ladies lectured again in San Diego. The next day they returned to Los Angeles, laden with souvenirs of their delightful visit; and that evening, without an hour's rest, addressed a mass meeting there.

The following day the Los Angeles Herald gave an excursion to Santa Monica in their honor. The ladies of that pretty seaside resort, under the leadership of Mrs. C. H. Ivens, met them with carriages and conducted them to the Hotel Arcadia. After luncheon, as they started for the hall where they were to speak, twelve little girls strewed flowers in their pathway, and after the addresses twelve large bouquets of choice blossoms were laid at their feet. They were taken for a long drive by Mrs. E. J. Gorham, then to the residence of her brother, Senator John P. Jones; and at the close of a lovely day, returned to Los Angeles. That evening a reception was given them by Mrs. Mark Sibley Severance, which Miss Anthony always remembered as one of the handsomest in her long experience. The next morning they met a committee from the suffrage club and had a conference on the broad piazza of their hostess in regard to the work of the coming campaign; and in the afternoon took the train for San Francisco, after two of the most delightful weeks in all their recollection. An especially gratifying feature was the attitude of the press of Southern California. There had been scarcely a discordant note in the extended reports of the public meetings and social entertainments, and the editorial comments on the two ladies and the cause of which they were leading representatives, were dignified, fair and friendly.[113]

They reached San Francisco June 24 and were welcomed at the ferry by a number of friends from the two cities. The next day they were entertained at an elaborate dinner-party of ladies and gentlemen in the artistic home of Mrs. Emma Shafter Howard, of Oakland. From the table they went at once to the evening meeting. The Enquirer said: "It needed no preliminary brass band or blare of trumpets to pack the Congregational church with a live Oakland audience. The simple announcement that Susan B. Anthony and Rev. Anna H. Shaw were to speak was sufficient, and the chairman, Colonel John P. Irish, looked out over an animated sea of faces."

The following evening the San Francisco farewell meeting was held in Metropolitan Temple. Friday and Saturday were filled with social engagements, sight-seeing and shopping. On Sunday Miss Shaw preached in the California street Methodist church in the morning and the Second Congregational in the evening, while Miss Anthony addressed a union meeting of all the colored congregations in the city at the M. E. Zion church, the historic building in which Starr King preached before the war. Monday they spoke again at the Ministers' Meeting. The fact that they would be present had been announced in the papers, and ministers of all denominations were there from most of the towns within a radius of forty miles. Miss Anthony told them in vigorous language: "The reason why they, as a class, had so little influence with men of business and political affairs was because the vast majority of the people they represented had neither money nor votes; that if four or five hundred ministers of the State should go up to Sacramento to ask for any legislation, they would be treated politely and bowed out precisely as would so many of their women church members. Whereas, on the other hand, one manufacturer, one railroad official, one brewer or distiller, could go before the same body and get whatever he asked, because every member would know that behind this request were not only thousands of dollars but thousands of votes." The ministers seemed to realize fully the force of this statement and many expressed themselves thoroughly in favor of the enfranchisement of women.

The State Suffrage Association, with a good delegate representation, met in Golden Gate Hall, July 3, for their annual convention. There had been heretofore some dissensions in this organization and, at this critical time, co-operation was so vitally necessary that the friendly offices of Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw were requested in the interests of harmony. In view of the arduous campaign approaching, all desired that Mrs. A. A. Sargent should accept the presidency, and the close of the convention found the forces united and ready for work.

The Fourth of July witnessed the last public appearance of the two eminent visitors, and thereby hangs a tale. The last of May Miss Anthony had received from the chairman of the Fourth of July Executive Committee, William H. Davis, the following: "Fully realizing the great importance of your life-work, and rejoicing with you in the certainty that the fruition of your labors and hopes is now no longer problematic, but merely a question of days, we take much pleasure in extending to you the right hand of American fellowship ... We cordially invite you to an honorary position on our committee, and hope that you will do us the honor of allowing us to select for you an appropriate and prominent place in the celebration of our national independence."

When it had been decided to celebrate the Fourth on a more elaborate scale than usual, an auxiliary board was appointed, composed of the leading women of the city, with Sarah B. Cooper, chairman. Thinking to add an interesting feature to the occasion, she requested of the literary committee that Rev. Anna Shaw be placed on the program as one of the orators of the day. To her amazement she was refused in discourteous manner and language. The executive committee, learning of this action, requested that it should be reconsidered and Miss Shaw invited to speak. This being refused, the executive committee notified them that unless it was done, their committee would be discharged and a new one appointed. They then yielded to the inevitable, placing Miss Shaw's name upon the list of orators, and the announcement was received with cheers by all the other committees. The reverend lady had not the slightest desire to make a Fourth of July speech, but she did wish to see Mrs. Cooper win her battle with the little sub-committee. Meanwhile the committee in Oakland, P. M. Fisher, chairman, did not wait to be asked, but invited her to deliver an oration in that city as soon as she had finished in San Francisco, and she accepted.

In the great Fourth of July procession, the very next carriage to that of the mayor contained Mrs. Cooper, Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw, and the rousing cheers of the people along the whole line of march showed their appreciation of the victory gained for woman. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the ladies took seats on the platform at Woodward's Pavilion, facing an audience of 5,000 people. San Francisco never heard such an oration as was delivered that day by the little Methodist preacher, her natural eloquence fired by the efforts to prevent her making it. After she had finished and the cheers upon cheers had died away, there was a great shout from the immense crowd, "Miss Anthony, Miss Anthony!" Finally she was obliged to come forward and, when a stillness had settled upon the audience, she said in strong, ringing tones: "You have heard today a great deal of what George Washington, the father of his country, said a hundred years ago. I will repeat to you just one sentence which Abraham Lincoln, the savior of his country, uttered within the present generation: 'No man is good enough to govern another man without his consent.' Now I say unto you, 'No man is good enough to govern any woman without her consent;'" and sat down amidst roars of applause.

Miss Shaw had been placed at the very end of the program and when she got out into the street it was 5 o'clock. It would require an hour to reach Oakland, and she supposed of course some one had telegraphed the situation and the people there had long since gone home; but this had not been done, and a great audience on that side of the bay had assembled in the Tabernacle, many going as early as 1 o'clock, and had waited until 6. Knowing there was some mistake they separated with the understanding that if Miss Shaw could be secured for the evening the church bells would be rung. That lady had just seated herself at the dinner table when a telegram was received explaining the situation. She replied at once: "I will be with you at half-past eight." Miss Anthony would not let her go alone and so, exhausted as they both were by the hard demands of the day, they crossed the bay, reaching Oakland at 8 o'clock. No one was at the station to meet them, so they took a carriage and drove to the Tabernacle but found it dark and deserted. They then went the rounds of the churches, but all were closed. Finally they gave up in despair and made the long journey back to San Francisco, reaching the Sargent home at 11 o'clock. Why the telegram was not received was never satisfactorily determined.

After a meeting with the amendment campaign committee the next morning and a long discussion of their plan of work, the travellers started eastward at 6 P. M. They were met at the Oakland ferry by a crowd of friends from both cities with flowers, fruit and lunch baskets, and left amidst a shower of affectionate farewells. They carried away the sweetest memories of a lifetime and could find no words to express their love and admiration for the people of California.

Miss Anthony preserves, as a memento of this visit, a large scrap-book of over 200 pages entirely filled with personal notices from the newspapers of that State during the six weeks of her stay, all, with a few exceptions, of such a character as to make their reading a pleasure. A source of even greater satisfaction was the wide discussion of woman suffrage which her visit had inspired and the favorable consideration accorded it by the press. In the months which followed she received scores of letters from California women, many of them unknown to her, expressing the sentiments of one from a teacher, which may be quoted: "Many of us who could attend but few of the meetings and had not even time to meet you personally, have caught something of their spirit and have been with you in heart. We bless the day which brought you to us; for your kindly words to women, and to men for women, have lifted the fog, and the veiling mists are drifting away, leaving us a clearer view of our duty not only to humanity but to ourselves. You have left a trail of light."

FOOTNOTES:

[112] As soon as they arrived in California they were presented by Mrs. Stanford with railroad passes throughout the State.

[113] The Los Angeles Times, Harrison Gray Otis, editor, furnished the only exception of any importance to this rule.



CHAPTER XLVI.

MRS. STANTON'S BIRTHDAY—THE BIBLE RESOLUTION.

1895-1896.

On the way homeward they were met at every large station by friends with something to add to the pleasure of their trip. Miss Shaw went through to Chicago, but Miss Anthony journeyed towards Leavenworth. She dined with friends at Topeka, and while waiting in the station, one of them remarked, "We are to have our suffrage meeting tomorrow, what shall we tell them from you?" In a spirit of fun she dashed off a resolution saying that "since 130,000 Kansas men declared themselves against woman suffrage at the late election and 74,000 showed their opposition by not voting; therefore it is the duty of every self-respecting woman in the State to fold her hands and refuse to help any religious, charitable or moral reform or any political association, until the men shall strike the adjective 'male' from the suffrage clause of the constitution."

She was in Topeka only five hours, but during that time attended a dinner party, gave a two-column interview to a reporter from each of the city papers, and furnished a resolution which set all the newspapers in the country by the ears. "Talk about hysterics," she said, laughingly, as she read the clippings, "it takes the editors to have 'em, if they are opposed to woman suffrage and can get hold of something to help them out." Any one who could have the patience to read the fearful morals which were deduced, the frightful sermons which were preached, from what was intended as a joking resolution, would quite agree with her. Even had it been meant seriously, it would have been only such retaliation as men would have visited upon women had the latter been possessed of the power and voted three to one to take the ballot away from them.

She visited a week in Leavenworth and Fort Scott, arrived at Chicago July 15, and was thus described by a Herald reporter:

Miss Anthony has grown slightly thinner since she was in Chicago attending the World's Fair Congresses, thinner and more spiritual-looking. As she sat last night with her transparent hands grasping the arms of her chair, her thin, hatchet face and white hair, with only her keen eyes flashing light and fire, she looked like Pope Leo XIII. The whole physical being is as nearly submerged as possible in a great mentality. She recalls facts, figures, names and dates with unerring accuracy. It was no Argus-eyed autocrat who told with pardonable pride last night of how her chair at every great function in San Francisco was hung with floral wreaths, how bouquets were piled at her feet until she could scarcely step for them. It was a pleasing story, told by a sweet old woman, of honors which she accepted for the sake of a beloved cause.

The next day she resumed her journey with Mr. and Mrs. Gross and Harriet Hosmer, who were going to Bar Harbor. She reached her own home at daybreak, and here, the diary shows, she sat down on the steps of the front porch and read the paper for an hour or two rather than disturb her sister's morning nap. The first word received from Miss Shaw was that she had arrived at her summer home on Cape Cod with a raging fever, the result of the great strain of constant speaking and travelling so many weeks without rest, and she continued alarmingly ill the remainder of the summer. She was much distressed because of an engagement she had to lecture to the Chautauqua Assembly at Lakeside, O., and to relieve her mind Miss Anthony telegraphed her that she would go in her place. She herself felt not the slightest ill effect from her journey, and the long interviews published in all the Rochester papers during the week she was at home, displayed the keenest and strongest mental power. She reached Lakeside on the 25th of July and the next day spoke to a large audience. Towards the close of her address, she ended abruptly, dropped into her chair and sank into a dead faint.

She was taken at once to Mrs. Southworth's summer home, at which she was a guest, and telegrams were sent out by the press reporters announcing that she could not live till morning. She learned afterwards that long obituary notices were put in type in many of the newspaper offices. One Chicago paper telegraphed its correspondent: "5,000 words if still living; no limit, if dead." She was very much vexed at this momentary weakness and, using her will-power, by the next day had rallied sufficiently to return home. The national suffrage business committee, by previous arrangement, met at her house, and she forced herself to keep up for two days, but felt very dull and tired, and on the morning of July 30 she did not rise. A physician was summoned and a trained nurse, and for a month she lay helpless with nervous prostration; her first serious illness in seventy-five years.

She is quoted as saying that if she "had pinched herself right hard she would not have fainted." One of the papers remarked that "then she never would have known how much the American people thought of her." Every newspaper had something pleasant to say,[114] many friends wrote letters of sympathy, and scores whom she had not known personally sent their words of admiration. Only her body was weak, her mind was abnormally alert; she appreciated all that was said and done for her, and remarked often that this was the only real rest of her lifetime. A number of relatives came to visit her, and a little later Mrs. Coonley and Mrs. Sewall. Mr. and Mrs. Gross also stopped on their way home, the latter leaving $50 for "the very prettiest wrapper that could be had." From her old anti-slavery co-worker, Samuel May, now eighty-five, came the words:

I suppose there is hardly another person in the United States, man or woman, who has been engaged in actual hard public labor so long as yourself; and is it not a part of your business and a part of your duty—in view of the unattained results—to allow yourself larger spaces of rest and to put upon yourself more moderate and less exhausting tasks? We would not willingly see you retire from the field altogether; therefore we want you to do less of the common soldier's work and take charge of the reserves, keeping watch from your tower of experience, and personally appearing only when and where the enemy rallies in unusual numbers or with unusual craftiness. This does not imply a lessening of your usefulness but an increase, being a wiser application of your strength and resources.

From Parker Pillsbury, the old comrade, aged eighty-six: "We have heard of your late illness, a warning to constant prudence and care for your health as you come down to 'life's latest stage.' Hold on, my dear—our dear—Susan, hold on to the last hour possible. You have seen great and glorious changes, almost revolutions, but yet how much remains to be encountered and accomplished.... We shall hope you may live to see the one grand achievement—the equal civil and political rights of all women before the law. Then you may well say: 'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.'"

Mrs. Stanton wrote: "I never realized how desolate the world would be to me without you until I heard of your sudden illness. Let me urge you with all the strength I have, and all the love I bear you, to stay at home and rest and save your precious self." From Mrs. Cooper this urgent message: "You are too far along in years to work as hard as you do. Take it easy, my beloved friend, and let your young lieutenants bear the heat and burden of the day, while you give directions from the hill-top of survey. Age has the right to be peaceful, as childhood has the right to be playful. You are the youngest of us all, nevertheless nature cries a halt and you must obey her call in order to be with us as our leader for a score of years to come."

There is a long hiatus in the diary, and then for many days the brief entry, "On the mend." In September she began to walk out a little and then to call on the nearest friends, and by the last of the month she attended a few committee meetings. The rumor had been persistently circulated that she was to resign the presidency of the National-American Association and retire to private life. In fact, she never had the slightest intention of giving up active work. She realized that inactivity meant stagnation and hastened both physical and mental decay, and she was determined to keep on and "drop in the harness" when the time came to stop.[115] It was evident, however, that she must have relief in her immense correspondence. This she recognized, and so secured an efficient stenographer and typewriter in Mrs. Emma B. Sweet, who assumed her duties October 1, 1895. The five large files packed with copies of letters sent out during the remaining months of the year show how pressing was the need of her services. Miss Anthony relates in her diary with much satisfaction, that she "managed to have a letter at every State suffrage convention held that fall."

She thought possibly she might have to work a little more moderately for a while, and one of her first letters was written to the head of the Slayton Lecture Bureau: "I should love dearly to say 'yes' to your proposition for a series of lectures at $100 a night. Nothing short of that would tempt me to go on the lyceum platform again, and even to that, for the present, I must say 'nay.' I am resolved to be a home-body the coming year, with the exception of attending the celebration of Mrs. Stanton's eightieth birthday and our regular Washington convention." Among the characteristic short letters is this to Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, of Chicago, who had asked for a word of encouragement in regard to a hospital she was founding for mothers whose children were born out of wedlock:

I hope your beneficent enterprise may succeed. I trust the day will come when there will be no such unfortunate mothers, but until then, it certainly is the duty of society to provide for them. The first step towards bringing that day is to make women not only self-supporting but able to win positions of honor and emolument. Since no disfranchised class of men ever had equal chances in the world, it is fair to conclude that the first requisite to bring them to women is enfranchisement. It is not that all when enfranchised will be capable, honest and chaste, but it is that they will possess the power to control their own conditions and those of society equally with men. Therefore my panacea for the ills which your hospital would fain mitigate is the ballot in the hands of women.

The editor of the Voice wrote for her opinion as to the cause of the prevailing "hard times," and she answered:

The work of my life has been less to find out the causes of men's failure to successfully manage affairs, than to try to show them their one great failure in attempting to make a successful government without the help of women. It used to be said in anti-slavery days that a people who would tacitly consent to the enslavement of 4,000,000 human beings, were incapable of being just to each other, and I believe the same rule holds with regard to the injustice practiced by men towards women. So long as all men conspire to rob women of their citizen's right to perfect equality in all the privileges and immunities of our so-called "free" government, we can not expect these same men to be capable of perfect justice to each other. On the contrary, the inevitable result must be trusts, monopolies and all sorts of schemes to get an undue share of the proceeds of labor. There is money enough in this country today in the hands of the few, if justly distributed, to make "good times" for all.

Reporters were constantly besieging her for her views on "bloomers," which had been re-introduced by the bicycle, and she usually replied in effect:

My opinion about "bloomers" and dress generally for both men and women is that people should dress to accommodate whatever business or pastime they pursue. It would be quite out of good taste as well as good sense, for a woman to go to her daily work with trailing skirts, flowing sleeves, fringes and laces; and certainly, if women ride the bicycle or climb mountains, they should don a costume which will permit them the use of their legs. It is very funny that it is ever and always the men who are troubled about the propriety of the women's costume. My one word about the "bloomers" or any other sort of dress, is that every woman, like every man, should be permitted to wear exactly what she chooses.

When women have equal chances in the world they will cease to live merely to please the conventional fancy of men. As long as there was no alternative for women but to marry, it was about as much as any woman's life was worth to be an old maid, and her one idea was to dress and behave so as to escape this fate. She now has other objects in life, and her new liberty has brought with it a freedom in matters of dress which is cause for rejoicing.

These opinions might be multiplied almost to infinity and all would emphasize two points: 1st, the broad views entertained by Miss Anthony on all questions, based on her idea of individual freedom, the same for both sexes; 2d, her fundamental belief that, until women cease to be a subject class, and until they stand upon the plane of perfect equality of rights and privileges, there can be no such thing as a fair solution or adjustment of the issues of the day, either great or small; in other words, that these can not be satisfactorily and permanently settled through the judgment and decision of only one-half the people.

On October 18 she celebrated her complete recovery by accepting an invitation to "come and take a cup of tea with Aunt Maria Porter," in honor of her ninetieth birthday. She was obliged to cancel her engagement to speak at the Atlanta Exposition, but during this month made a trial of her strength by an hour's speech at the annual meeting of the Monroe County Suffrage Club at Brockport, "attempting it," she says, "with fear and trembling, but going through as if I never had had a scare." Assured by this that she had herself well in hand once more, she went to Ashtabula, Ohio, for a three days' convention of the State association, attending every business meeting and public session. This fact being duly heralded in the newspapers, they put the obituary notices back into their pigeonholes.

She started for New York November 6 to be present at an event to which she had looked forward with more pleasure than to anything of that nature in all her life—the celebration of the eightieth birthday of Mrs. Stanton. At the convention in February it had been unanimously decided that the National-American Association should have charge of this, but at the Woman's Council in Washington it was agreed that it would have greater significance if held under the auspices of that body, which cheerfully accepted the charge. Its new president, Mary Lowe Dickinson, urged Miss Anthony to take the chairmanship of the committee of arrangements, insisting that no one else could make so great a success of it, but Miss Anthony assured her of what afterwards proved to be true, that no one could manage the affair more perfectly than Mrs. Dickinson herself.

Naturally many of the suffrage women resented having any one outside their own association as the leader on this great occasion, and Lillie Devereux Blake wrote: "Mrs. Stanton stands for suffrage above all else and she should be honored by our societies. To have the celebration under the charge of the secretary of the King's Daughters, an orthodox organization, seems very much out of taste, greatly as I honor Mrs. Dickinson. I do not think any one else will make the celebration such a success as you would; you, the long-time companion and co-worker with our dear leader, are the person who should be at the head and, with your admirable manner as a presiding officer, you would give a tone to it that no one else could." To this Miss Anthony replied:

All of you fail to see the higher honor to Mrs. Stanton in having the celebration mothered by a great body composed of twenty national societies, instead of by only our one. Surely, for all classes of women—liberal, orthodox, Jewish, Mormon, suffrage and anti-suffrage, native and foreign, black and white—to unite in paying a tribute of respect to the greatest woman reformer, philosopher and statesman of the century, will be the realization of Mrs. Stanton's most optimistic dream. I am surprised and delighted at the action of the council. It shows a breadth and comprehensiveness on the part of the leaders of its twenty-in-one organization of which I am very proud. Of course Mrs. Stanton stands for suffrage first, last and all the time, and the conservative women who join in this celebration do so knowing that she stands thus for a free and enfranchised womanhood.

Don't you see that for Anthony to head the fray, preside and be general master of ceremonies, would reduce it to a mere mutual admiration affair? The celebration is not taken away from us. We, the suffrage women, will have our modicum of time to set forth what Mrs. Stanton has done for our specific cause, and the other women will have theirs. O, no, my dear, it is not possible that the greater can be less than one of the parts which compose it.

Her own "girls," Mrs. Sewall and Mrs. Avery, could not help being a little jealous for their general, and insisted that her name should head the invitations, but to them she wrote:

Do you not see that for Susan B. Anthony's name to stand at the top, will frighten the conservatives? Everybody will conclude that the big suffrage elephant has possessed the council, body and soul—all thrust into the suffrage hopper and the wheel turned by S. B. A. To make me chairman will wholly spoil the intention of the council, which is and should be to bring the fruits of Mrs. Stanton's first demand, fifty years ago, and lay them at her feet; not only the suffrage children, but those of education, literature, science, reform, religion, all as one. If Mrs. Dickinson single out the hoofed and horned head of suffrage as the commander-in-chief, not only the nineteen other societies but all the world outside will say it is suffrage after all; which it will be, because the others won't train under our leadership. No, no; Mrs. Dickinson herself must be the chief cook of this broth and appoint her own lieutenants, one of whom, with name far down in the middle of the list, I shall be most happy to be, and do all I possibly can to help, but always in the name of the president of the council.

She was true to her word, and in every way assisted Mrs. Dickinson in the immense amount of preparation necessary for what was the largest and most perfect affair of this nature ever given in America. At her request Miss Anthony wrote over a hundred letters to collect funds, secure the presence of the pioneer workers among women, etc., but still insisted on keeping herself so much in the background as even to refuse to make one of the principal speeches of the occasion. When she reached New York, she went for the night to her cousin, Mrs. Lapham, and early the next morning to Mrs. Stanton's to read over the birthday speech, of which she writes: "My only criticism was that she did not rest her case after describing the wonderful advance made in state, church, society and home, instead of going on to single out the church and declare it to be especially slow in accepting the doctrine of equality to women. I tried to make her see that it had advanced as rapidly as the other departments but I did not succeed, and it is right that she should express her own ideas, not mine."

The next day she went to Newburgh to address the State convention, returning to New York on the 9th. Friends had come from all parts of the country to attend the celebration, and the three days following were pleasantly spent in visiting with them at the different hotels. On the evening of the 12th occurred the birthday fete. There is not room in these pages to describe in full that magnificent gathering, the great Metropolitan Opera House crowded from pit to dome, each of the boxes brilliantly and appropriately decorated and occupied by the representatives of some organization of women. On the stage was a throne of flowers and above it an arch with the name "Stanton" wrought in red carnations on a white ground. When Mrs. Stanton entered, the entire audience of 3,000 rose to salute her with waving handkerchiefs. At the right and left of the floral throne sat Miss Anthony and Mrs. Dickinson. Instead of responding with a set speech, when called upon, Miss Anthony paid an eloquent tribute to the "pioneers," and then read the most important of the one hundred telegrams of congratulation which had been received from noted societies and eminent men and women in the United States and Europe.[116] The New York Sun said: "In ordinary hands this task would have been dull enough, but Miss Anthony enlivened it with her wit and cleverness and made a success of it." It may be truly said that not one woman in that audience, not even Mrs. Stanton herself, was prouder or happier than Miss Anthony over this splendid ovation.

The next day a large reception was given at the Savoy by Mrs. Henry Villard, the only daughter of Wm. Lloyd Garrison; and after various luncheons and dinners and good-by calls, Miss Anthony returned to Rochester. She plunged into the mountain of correspondence and, expecting to spend most of the next year at home, gave every spare moment to the arranging and classifying of her mass of documents, preparatory to some contemplated literary work. On November 21, the Political Equality Club celebrated Mrs. Stanton's birthday in a beautiful manner at the Anthony home, over 200 guests attending. Several unkind newspaper attacks being made upon Miss Anthony by disgruntled women, she wrote Mrs. Stanton, who was much distressed: "This fresh onslaught reminds me of the old adage, 'When one is over-praised by the many, the few will try to pull down and destroy.' Certainly I know that in my head and heart there never has been any but the strongest desire that all the other workers should have their full meed of opportunity and reward."

A telegram came November 25 announcing the sudden death, in Boston, of Mrs. Ellen Battelle Dietrick. She had been actively in the suffrage work for only a few years, but in that time Miss Anthony had learned her splendid powers and had said of her: "I feel that into her hands can safely fall the work of the future, both as to principle and policy." She had been made chairman of the national press work, and had shown an unsurpassed beauty and strength of style and thought. "She was a philosopher, a student," Miss Anthony wrote, "possessed of the conscience and the courage to stand by the truth as she saw it. Can it be that she is gone in the very prime of her womanhood? Why can not we keep with us the brave and beautiful souls; why can not the weak and wicked go? The world seems darker to me now, a light has gone out."

On December 2 she gathered about her a group of the very oldest and dearest friends in memory of what would have been her mother's one hundred and second birthday. She records attending a lecture by President Andrew D. White, at the close of which he presented his wife to her, saying: "I want you to know her; she is of your kind." The day before Christmas came another telegram, this one from May Wright Sewall, containing simply the words: "Dear General, my Theodore is taken." It meant the desolation of one of the happiest, most perfect homes ever made by two mortals. It told the breaking of as strong and sweet a tie as ever united husband and wife. What could she write? Only, "Be brave in this inevitable hour; take unto yourself the 'joy of sorrow' that you did all in mortal power for his restoration, that his happiness was the desire of your life; find comfort in the blessed memories of his tender and never-failing love and care for you in all these beautiful years." But the poverty, the powerlessness of words in times like this!

And so the old year rolled into the past and the record was finished. Among the letters which came to cheer its close, was one from Mary Lowe Dickinson, which ended:

In every way, in all this work, how grandly you stood by and helped me! Some day you will understand how grateful I am, and how thoroughly I appreciate the support, moral and other, that you have given me. I know this holiday season will bring you a great many loving souvenirs from all over the world, and I haven't sent you anything at all; but I have a gift for you, notwithstanding, a gift of loyal reverence for the grand outspoken bravery of your life and service, a gift of genuine gratitude for what you have been and what you have done, and an affection that has been growing ever since my first talk with you in Chicago. This is quite a declaration for a reserved woman, but it is as sincere as it is unusual, and I wish you all sorts of blessings for the New Year, and most of all that it may show great progress in the work which lies so close to your heart.

And this from her beloved friend, Mrs. Leland Stanford:

It is needless for me to express all I feel in regard to your tender and long-continued friendship. I always prized it when I had my dear husband by my side to help me bear the burdens and sorrows of life, but now, standing as I do alone with the weighty cares and sacred duties depending upon me, I cherish your sympathy, your friendship and your tender words as an evidence of God's love. He can instigate and guide hearts to reach out sustaining helpfulness to His children, who need just such support as you have given me. Long years past and gone, you and Mrs. Stanton were appreciated and extolled by my husband more than you ever realized. He predicted twenty years ago what has now come, and mainly through the instrumentality of yourself and her—the advancement and elevation of womanhood—and we are only on the eve of what is to follow in the twentieth century.



Miss Anthony was very glad to go back to Washington with the annual convention, which was held January 23 to 28, 1896. She went on a week beforehand to satisfy herself that all was in readiness. Although the details of the work were assumed by the younger members of the board, she was always on the scene of action early enough to look over the ground before the battle opened. This year the papers said: "A notable feature of the suffrage movement is the large number of college alumnae and professional women who are coming into the ranks." The committee reported organizations in every State and Territory except Alaska. Delegates were present from almost every one, among them Mrs. Hughes, wife of the governor of Arizona, Mrs. Teller, wife of the senator from Colorado, Mrs. Sanders, wife of the ex-senator from Montana, the wives of Representatives Arnold, Allen, Shafroth and Pickler, Mrs. Ella Knowles Haskell, assistant attorney-general of Montana. Most of them addressed the committees of the Senate and House, who gave long and respectful hearings.

The principal cause of rejoicing at this convention was the admission of Utah as a State with the full enfranchisement of women. A clause to this effect had been put into the State constitution, endorsed by all political parties, voted on by the men of the Territory and carried. This constitution had been accepted, the new State admitted by Congress, and the bill was signed by President Cleveland January 4, 1896. A noteworthy circumstance in this case was that, while the admission of Wyoming with a woman suffrage clause in its constitution was fought for many days in both Senate and House in 1890, that of Utah was accepted with scarcely a protest against its enfranchisement of women. There was also rejoicing over the fact that, during the autumn of 1895, the full franchise had been conferred upon the women of South Australia.

The occurrence of the convention which forever made its memory a sad one to Miss Anthony was the so-called "Bible resolution." It had this effect not only because of the resolution itself but because those who were responsible for it were especially near and dear to her. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, assisted by a committee of women, had been for several years preparing a work called the "Woman's Bible." It contained no discussion of doctrinal questions but was simply a commentary upon those texts and chapters directly referring to women, and a few others from which they were conspicuously excluded. Naturally, however, this pamphlet caused a great outcry, especially from those who had not read a word of it. That women should dare analyze even the passages referring to themselves in a book which heretofore, neither in the original writing nor in all the revisions of the centuries, had felt the impress of a woman's brain or the touch of a woman's hand, stirred the orthodox to their greater or less depths. Mrs. Stanton was honorary president of the National-American Suffrage Association, but had not attended its meetings or actively participated in its work for a number of years.

Several members of the board, who were children when she and Miss Anthony founded that organization, and unborn when Mrs. Stanton called the first woman's rights convention, decided that her Woman's Bible was injuring the association, although only the chapters on the Pentateuch thus far had been published. They determined that this body should take official action on the question, but they understood perfectly that it would have to be brought before the convention without any previous knowledge on the part of Miss Anthony. Therefore it was planned to have a paragraph of condemnation and renunciation of the Woman's Bible incorporated in the report of the corresponding secretary. When it was read in open meeting she was struck dumb. Mrs. Colby sprung to her feet and moved that the report be accepted, all but the paragraph relating to the Woman's Bible. After an animated discussion the secretary's report was laid on the table and later was adopted with the offending clause stricken out. Miss Anthony supposed this was the end of the matter but, to her amazement, the committee on resolutions reported the following: "This association is non-sectarian, being composed of persons of all shades of religious opinions, and has no official connection with the so-called Woman's Bible, or any theological publication."

This resolution was wholly gratuitous. While true that the association was composed of persons of all shades of religious opinion, it comprised also among some of its oldest and ablest members those who entertained no so-called religious beliefs. Mrs. Stanton invariably had announced that this revision of the Scriptures was the individual work of herself and her committee, and there was no ground for holding the whole association responsible. The resolution, however, was debated for an hour. Miss Anthony was moved as never before. Not only was she fired with indignation at this insult to the woman whom she loved and revered above all others, but she was outraged at this deliberate attempt to deny personal liberty of thought and speech. Leaving the chair she said in an impassioned appeal:

The one distinct feature of our association has been the right of individual opinion for every member. We have been beset at each step with the cry that somebody was injuring the cause by the expression of sentiments which differed from those held by the majority. The religious persecution of the ages has been carried on under what was claimed to be the command of God. I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. All the way along the history of our movement there has been this same contest on account of religious theories. Forty years ago one of our noblest men said to me, "You would better never hold another convention than allow Ernestine L. Rose on your platform;" because that eloquent woman, who ever stood for justice and freedom, did not believe in the plenary inspiration of the Bible. Did we banish Mrs. Rose? No, indeed!

Every new generation of converts threshes over the same old straw. The point is whether you will sit in judgment on one who questions the divine inspiration of certain passages in the Bible derogatory to women. If Mrs. Stanton had written approvingly of these passages you would not have brought in this resolution for fear the cause might be injured among the liberals in religion. In other words, if she had written your views, you would not have considered a resolution necessary. To pass this one is to set back the hands on the dial of reform.

What you should say to outsiders is that a Christian has neither more nor less rights in our association than an atheist. When our platform becomes too narrow for people of all creeds and of no creeds, I myself can not stand upon it. Many things have been said and done by our orthodox friends which I have felt to be extremely harmful to our cause; but I should no more consent to a resolution denouncing them than I shall consent to this. Who is to draw the line? Who can tell now whether these commentaries may not prove a great help to woman's emancipation from old superstitions which have barred its way? Lucretia Mott at first thought Mrs. Stanton had injured the cause of all woman's other rights by insisting upon the demand for suffrage, but she had sense enough not to bring in a resolution against it. In 1860 when Mrs. Stanton made a speech before the New York Legislature in favor of a bill making drunkenness a ground for divorce, there was a general cry among the friends that she had killed the woman's cause. I shall be pained beyond expression if the delegates here are so narrow and illiberal as to adopt this resolution. You would better not begin resolving against individual action or you will find no limit. This year it is Mrs. Stanton; next year it may be I or one of yourselves, who will be the victim.

If we do not inspire in women a broad and catholic spirit, they will fail, when enfranchised, to constitute that power for better government which we have always claimed for them. Ten women educated into the practice of liberal principles would be a stronger force than 10,000 organized on a platform of intolerance and bigotry. I pray you vote for religious liberty, without censorship or inquisition. This resolution adopted will be a vote of censure upon a woman who is without a peer in intellectual and statesmanlike ability; one who has stood for half a century the acknowledged leader of progressive thought and demand in regard to all matters pertaining to the absolute freedom of women.