[43] This meeting was arranged by Dr. Frances Dickinson, who had persuaded Miss Anthony to make the journey to Chicago in order to preside over it. On the way to the hall she was detained at a drawbridge and Miss Willard kindly took her place. [44] See Appendix for full text of letter. [45] Mrs. Foster Avery has proved an exception to the rule and, during the ten years since her marriage, has performed as much work, to say the least, as any of the younger generation of women, besides contributing thousands of dollars. CHAPTER XXXVI. CONVENTIONS FROM WASHINGTON TO SOUTH DAKOTA. 1889. The eleventh of January, 1889, found Miss Anthony in her usual pleasant suite of rooms at the Riggs House. She plunged at once into preparations for the approaching convention, interviewing congressmen, calling at the newspaper offices and conferring with local committees. The Twenty-first National Convention opened January 21, in the Congregational church, with the speakers as bright and full of hope as they had been through all the score of years. The opening address was given by Hon. A. G. Riddle and, during the sessions, excellent speeches were made by Hon. William D. Kelley, Senator Blair, Rev. Alexander Kent and State Senator Blue, of Kansas. Rev. Anna H. Shaw made her first appearance on the National platform and delivered her splendid oration, "The Fate of Republics." Laura M. Johns gave a practical and pleasing talk on "Municipal Suffrage in Kansas;" and there was the usual array of talent. Miss Anthony presided, putting every speaker to the front and making a substantial background of her own felicitous little speeches, each containing an argument in a nutshell. [Illustration: Autograph: "Very truly yours, Wm D Kelley"] While in Washington she was entertained at dinner by the "Six O'clock Club," and seated at the right hand of its president Dr. Wm. A. Hammond. The subject for the evening was "Robert Elsmere" and, in giving her opinion, she said she had found nothing new in the book; all those theological questions had been discussed and settled by the Quakers long ago. What distressed her most was the marriage of Robert and Catherine, who, any outsider could have seen, were utterly unfitted for one another, and she wondered if there could be any way by which young people might be able to know each other better before marrying.