Women -- Suffrage -- History; Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History; Women's rights -- History; Women's rights -- United States -- History
In this debate on the Bible-position of woman, Mr. Garrison having
always been a close student of that Book, was so clear in his
positions, and so ready in his quotations, that he carried the
audience triumphantly with him. The Rev. Dr. Nevin came out of the
contest so chagrined, that, losing all sense of dignity, on meeting
Mr. Garrison in the vestibule of the hall, at the close of the
Convention, he seized him by the nose and shook him vehemently. Mr.
Garrison made no resistance, and when released, he calmly surveyed his
antagonist and said, "Do you feel better, my friend? do you hope thus
to break the force of my argument?" The friends of the Rev. Mr. Nevin
were so mortified with his ungentlemanly behavior that they suppressed
the scene in the vestibule as far as possible, in the Cleveland
journals, and urged the ladies who had the report of the Convention in
charge, to make no mention of it in their publication. Happily, the
fact has been resurrected in time to point a page of history.
A question arising in the Convention as to the colleges, Antoinette
Brown remarked:
That much and deeply as she loved Oberlin, she must declare that
it has more credit for liberality to woman than it deserves.
Girls are not allowed equal privileges and advantages there; they
are not allowed instructions in elocution, nor to speak on
commencement day. The only college in the country that places all
students on an equal footing, without distinction of sex or
color, is McGrawville College in Central New York. Probably
Antioch College, Ohio (President Horace Mann), will also admit
pupils on the same ground.
Mrs. ROSE said she knew of no college where both sexes enjoyed
equal advantages. It matters not, however, if there be. We do not
deal with exceptions, but with general principles.
A sister has well remarked that we do not believe that man is the
cause of all our wrongs. We do not fight men--we fight bad
principles. We war against the laws which have made men bad and
tyrannical. Some will say, "But these laws are made by men."
True, but they were made in ignorance of right and wrong, made in
ignorance of the eternal principles of justice and truth. They
were sanctioned by superstition, and engrafted on society by long
usage. The Declaration issued by the Seneca Falls Convention is
an instrument no less great, no less noble than that to which it
bears a resemblance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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