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
To crown the result I went to the colored church to hear Sallie
Holley, but she did not come. Mrs. Coleman was in the pulpit and
read a poem of Gerald Massey on Peace, spoke a few minutes and said
she saw Miss Anthony present and hoped she'd occupy the time. Then
rang round the house the appalling cry of "Miss Anthony." There was
no escape, and I staggered up and stammered out a few words and sat
down--dead, killed--thoroughly enraged that I had not spent the
forenoon in making myself ready at least to read something, instead
of poring over Adam Bede.
To this Mrs. Stanton replies: "You speak of the effect of Adam Bede on
you. It moved me deeply, and The Mill on the Floss is another agony.
Such books as these explain why the 'marriage question' is
all-absorbing. O, Susan, are you ever coming to visit me again? It
would be like a new life to spend a day with you. How I shudder when I
think of our awful experience with those mobs last winter, and yet even
now I long for action." Miss Anthony was equally restive in her own
seclusion which, although by no means an idle one, had shut her from
the great outside world that at this hour seemed to cry aloud for the
best service of every man and woman. In January, 1862, she went to Mrs.
Stanton's and together they prepared an address for the State
Anti-Slavery Convention to be held at Albany, February 7 and 8, and
here in the society of Garrison and Phillips, she received fresh
inspiration. Soon after reaching home, at Phillips' request, she
arranged a lecture for him in Rochester. After paying all expenses, she
sent him a check--there is no record of its size--but he returned a
portion, saying:
DEAR SUSAN: Thank you, but you are too generous. I can't take such
an awful big lion's share, even to satisfy your modesty. Put the
enclosed, with my thanks, into your own pocket, as a slight
compensation for all your trouble. Remember and pay my successor
not one cent more than you can afford.... I had to charter a
locomotive all to myself to get back from Oswego in time for
Rondout. Riding in the darkness with the engineer through the snow
gave me time to think of the pleasant group and supper I missed the
night before at the Hallowells. Kind regards to them. Tell Mrs.
Hallowell her lunch tasted good about midnight, as I entered
Syracuse.
Miss Anthony managed the usual series of lectures this winter. When she
sent Mr. Tilton his check he returned this rollicking answer:
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