Woman and the Republic: A Survey of the Woman-Suffrage Movement in the United States and a Discussion of the Claims and Arguments of Its Foremost AdvocatesJohnson, Helen Kendrick
History
Woman and the Republic: A Survey of the Woman-Suffrage Movement in the United States and a Discussion of the Claims and Arguments of Its Foremost Advocates
Johnson, Helen Kendrick
Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States; Women -- Suffrage -- United States
The most remarkable thing about this resolution is, that it was
promulgated by a woman who was at that very time a gifted and eloquent
preacher, so that to her, who cared for it so highly, man had not closed
that avenue to wealth and distinction. As she had a husband to support her
and her children, she was much more free to attain those desirable ends
than most of the ministers who were preaching for humanity's sake and the
gospel's, at salaries ranging from five hundred to two thousand dollars a
year, and who had families to support out of their slender pittance. If
any woman was in a position to "overthrow the monopoly of the pulpit,"
surely she was. Stately and beautiful of mien, fervent in spirit, eloquent
in language, one who had learned the Hebrew and Greek that she might read
the Scriptures in the original tongues, what did she lack? Not only was no
pulpit of another faith than hers ever opened to her, but more than half
those of her own form of worship were closed against hearing the inner
voice as interpreted by her. In that schism that rent the Society of
Friends as no other religious body has ever been rent, she threw in her
fortunes, or led others to throw in their fortunes (for she had been
preaching nine years when the division occurred), with that portion that
placed the "inner light" above all Scripture. When the Friends came from
the London meeting to testify against the teachings of the schismatics,
they besought Lucretia Mott to return to the faith of her childhood, but
she resisted from conviction that she was right. Elias Hicks, her leader,
had instigated the members of his congregation to refuse to pay their
taxes to the Government during and following the war of 1812, on the
ground that they represented an encroachment of the secular power on
Christian liberty, and were used to support war, which was sin. Lucretia
Mott preached that "no Christian can consistently uphold a government
based on the sword, or relying on that as an ultimate resort." The country
has always suffered from this doctrine. The Tory Quakers of the Revolution
called publicly upon Friends "to withstand and refuse to submit" "to
instructions and ordinances" not warranted by "that happy Constitution
under which we have long enjoyed tranquillity and peace." Thomas Paine,
whose parents were Friends, in "The Crisis," says: "The common phrase of
these people is, 'Our principles are peace.' To which it may be replied,
'and your practices are the reverse.'" Another striking instance of this
disagreement between principle and practice is seen in Lucretia Mott's
behavior. From the platform where she demanded the ballot for woman, she
proclaimed that all voting was sinful. That bodies of people who so held
should continue to enjoy the Government's protection of themselves and
their property, through the sacrifices made by those who carried on
government by giving willingly their money and their strength, is a proof
of our wonderful freedom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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