The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2): Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty YearsHarper, Ida Husted
History
The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2): Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years
Harper, Ida Husted
Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906
The Tenth National Woman's Rights Convention assembled in Cooper
Institute, May 10, 1860. Miss Anthony called it to order and read a
full and interesting report of the work and progress of the past year.
The usual eloquent speeches were made by Phillips, Mrs. Rose, Rev.
Beriah Green, Mary Grew, Rev. Samuel Longfellow, brother of the poet,
and others. The warmest gratitude was expressed "toward Susan B.
Anthony, through whose untiring exertions and executive ability the
recent laws for women were secured." A hearty laugh was enjoyed at the
expense of the man who shouted from the audience, "She'd a great deal
better have been at home taking care of her husband and children." The
proceedings were pleasant and harmonious, but next morning the whole
atmosphere was changed and Elizabeth Cady Stanton did it with a little
set of resolutions declaring that, under certain conditions, divorce
was justifiable. She supported them by an address which for logic of
argument, force of expression and beauty of diction never has been,
never can be surpassed. No such thoughts ever before had been put into
words. She spoke on that day for all the women of the world, for the
wives of the present and future generations. The audience sat
breathless and, at the close of the following peroration, burst into
long-continued applause:
We can not take our gauge of womanhood from the past but from the
solemn convictions of our own souls, in the higher development of
the race. No parchments, however venerable with the mold of ages,
no human institutions, can bound the immortal wants of the royal
sons and daughters of the great I Am--rightful heirs of the joys of
time and joint heirs of the glories of eternity. If in marriage
either party claim the right to stand supreme, to woman, the mother
of the race, belongs the scepter and the crown. Her life is one
long sacrifice for man. You tell us that among all womankind there
is no Moses, Christ or Paul--no Michael Angelo, Beethoven or
Shakespeare--no Columbus or Galileo--no Locke or Bacon. Behold
those mighty minds so grand, so comprehensive--they themselves are
_our_ great works! Into you, O sons of earth, goes all of us that
is immortal. In you center our very life, our hopes, our intensest
love. For you we gladly pour out our heart's blood and die, knowing
that from our suffering comes forth a new and more glorious
resurrection of thought and life.
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