Women -- Suffrage -- History; Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History; Women's rights -- History; Women's rights -- United States -- History
My experiences in these semi-political labors were often racy, never
unsatisfactory. In a public conveyance one day, an honest old
Pennsylvania farmer asked if I was "the lady who made an appointment
to speak in his place on Kansas, and did not come?" I replied that I
had filled all the appointments made for me with my knowledge; that I
made a point of keeping my promises. "I believe you, ma'am," said he.
"I suspicioned then it was jest a republican trick. You see, ma'am,
our folks all are dimocrats and wouldn't turn out to hear the
republican speakers; so they appointed a meeting for _you_ and
everybody turned out, for we'd hearn of your lectures. But instid of
you, General D---- and Lawyer C---- came, and we were mad enough. I
was madder, 'cause I'd opened my house, seein' as it was the largest
and most convenient in the neighborhood."
Occasionally I stumbled on a loose segment of woman's sphere, even
among the friends of "free Kansas." In a populous Vermont village, at
a meeting called for the purpose, a committee was appointed to invite
me to speak, composed of the two clergymen of the village and Judge
S----. Reverend W---- excused himself from the service on the ground
of "conscientious scruples as to the propriety of women speaking in
public." Judge S----, a man who for a quarter of a century had, by a
racy combination of wit and logic, maintained his ground against the
foes of temperance and freedom, with inimitable gravity thanked the
audience for the honor conferred on him; adding, "I have no
conscientious scruples about getting desirable information wherever I
can find it."
In Sinclairville, Chautauque County, New York, where I arrived late,
in consequence of a railroad accident, I found a crowded church. A
gentleman introduced to me as "Mr. Bull" was sitting at a table in the
extreme front corner of the spacious platform, recording the names and
advance payments of a class in music, which, as I had been told
outside, was being organized by a gentleman who had arrived with the
news of my probable detention.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account