The Olivia Letters: Being Some History of Washington City for Forty Years as Told by the Letters of a Newspaper CorrespondentBriggs, Emily Edson
History
The Olivia Letters: Being Some History of Washington City for Forty Years as Told by the Letters of a Newspaper Correspondent
Briggs, Emily Edson
United States -- Politics and government -- 1865-1933; Washington (D.C.) -- History
hear her pronounced the evening’s entertainment a success.
Ten o’clock, January 18, the hour and day appointed for the Woman
Suffrage Convention, found Lincoln Hall decorated. Soon after a
few women came in; slowly the number increased until a small and
appreciative audience had gathered. Very few men were sprinkled
around, but quite enough to receive the anathemas that were to be
showered upon the whole sex. At just a quarter to 11 a side door from
the platform opened and some of the shining lights of the “cause”
came into view. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, majestic and beautiful as
a snowy landscape, came forward with that grace as indescribable
as it is incomparable. An elegant black silk and a camel’s hair
scarf made up her perfect costume. At her right sat Mrs. Pauline
Davis, of Providence, R. I., another exquisite picture of the snow.
She was most daintily attired in blue satin and black velvet, and
in the contemplation of this serene and noble picture the mind is
reconciled to old age. Susan B. Anthony was there in black silk,
with soft white lace around her throat, but even lace, frothy as
sea-foam, failed to relieve that practical face. Just what a gnarled
oak is amongst trees Susan B. Anthony is to her sex,--hard, obdurate,
uncompromising. Josephine Griffin, best among women, was there at her
post, one of the most earnest in the cause. Mrs. Wright, the sister
of Mrs. Mott, brought a kind greeting from that venerable woman, who
was kept at home by age and other infirmities. But the ornament of
the platform was Phœbe Couzins, of St. Louis, a young law student
of that distinguished city. Her elegant outfit was made of a light,
neutral-tinted silk adorned with tiny flounces. A double-breasted
jacket of blue velvet, with jaunty Lombardy hat to match, upon which
a bird of paradise seemed to nestle from choice. Don’t we pity the
judge when Phœbe shall plead before him! One flash from those eyes
surmounted by the arched brows--but, stop, the illusion is not
complete, the rosy lips are wanting. Henry Clay had a large mouth,
and it did not prevent his becoming a great lawyer.
A description of Professor J. K. H. Wilcox, so prominently identified
with the “cause,” is necessary, in order to show why, in some
respects, the movement is retarded. This man is afflicted with a
mild form of lunacy, after the form of George Francis Train, and,
like every other decoction of weakness, becomes sickening from its
insipidity. He is called professor, but the most minute inquiry
fails to discover by what means he has earned this appellation.
Like Train, whom he takes for his model, his object is notoriety,
and it is safe to assume he will achieve a success. Professor Wilcox
was entrusted with a message to his countrymen from Clara Barton,
who is now residing abroad. A few simple words were sent to the late
soldiers by this good woman, but why the paper should be read at a
woman’s meeting only Professor Wilcox can disclose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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