The memorial of Victoria Woodhull to the Honorable the Senate and the House of Representatives, United States of America, in Congress assembled, respectfully showeth:That she was born in the State of Ohio, and is above the age of twenty-one years; that she has resided in the State of New York during the past three years; that she is still a resident thereof, and that she is a citizen of the United States as declared by the fourteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States.That since the adoption of the fifteenth article of amendment to the Constitution neither the State of New York nor any other State, nor any Territory, has passed any law to abridge any citizen of the United States to vote, as established by said articles, neither on account of sex or otherwise.That, nevertheless, the right to vote is denied to women citizens of the United States by the operation of election laws in the several States and Territories, which laws were enacted prior to the adoption of the said fifteenth article, and which article is inconsistent with the Constitution as amended, and therefore are void and of no effect; but, which, being still invoked by the said States and Territories, render the Constitution inoperative as regards the right of women citizens to vote.And whereas article six, section second, declares “That this Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and all judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution and laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”And whereas no distinction between citizens is made in the Constitution of the United States on account of sex, but the fourteenth article of amendments to it provides that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of the citizens of the United States nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”And whereas Congress has power to make laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution all powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, and to make or alter all regulations in relation to holding elections for Senators and Representatives, and especially to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of the fourteenth article.And whereas the continuance of the enforcement of said local election laws, denying and abridging the right of citizens to vote on account of sex, is a grievance to your memorialists and to various other persons, citizens of the United States, being women.Therefore your memorialists would most respectfully petition yourhonorable bodies to make such laws as in the wisdom of Congress shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the right vested by the Constitution in the citizens of the United States to vote without regard to sex.And your memorialists will ever pray.Victoria C. Woodhull.New York City,December 19, 1870.
The memorial of Victoria Woodhull to the Honorable the Senate and the House of Representatives, United States of America, in Congress assembled, respectfully showeth:
That she was born in the State of Ohio, and is above the age of twenty-one years; that she has resided in the State of New York during the past three years; that she is still a resident thereof, and that she is a citizen of the United States as declared by the fourteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
That since the adoption of the fifteenth article of amendment to the Constitution neither the State of New York nor any other State, nor any Territory, has passed any law to abridge any citizen of the United States to vote, as established by said articles, neither on account of sex or otherwise.
That, nevertheless, the right to vote is denied to women citizens of the United States by the operation of election laws in the several States and Territories, which laws were enacted prior to the adoption of the said fifteenth article, and which article is inconsistent with the Constitution as amended, and therefore are void and of no effect; but, which, being still invoked by the said States and Territories, render the Constitution inoperative as regards the right of women citizens to vote.
And whereas article six, section second, declares “That this Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and all judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution and laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”
And whereas no distinction between citizens is made in the Constitution of the United States on account of sex, but the fourteenth article of amendments to it provides that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of the citizens of the United States nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
And whereas Congress has power to make laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution all powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, and to make or alter all regulations in relation to holding elections for Senators and Representatives, and especially to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of the fourteenth article.
And whereas the continuance of the enforcement of said local election laws, denying and abridging the right of citizens to vote on account of sex, is a grievance to your memorialists and to various other persons, citizens of the United States, being women.
Therefore your memorialists would most respectfully petition yourhonorable bodies to make such laws as in the wisdom of Congress shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the right vested by the Constitution in the citizens of the United States to vote without regard to sex.
And your memorialists will ever pray.
Victoria C. Woodhull.
New York City,December 19, 1870.
After Mrs. Woodhull had finished her memorial, Miss Susan B. Anthony took the floor and told the committee that she had hurried as fast as railroad and speed would allow her from Kansas, last winter, at this time, in order to get a petition before this body, but after all she was glad that Wall Street had spoken.
Mrs. Beecher Hooker now arose and said that after the subject had been presented to her in this light she had immediately written to Myra Bradwell, who was practicing law in Chicago, for a judicial opinion. She had also invited Mrs. Bradwell to come to this convention and plead the case. Mrs. Bradwell declined on the plea of ill-health, but at the same time she sent a written opinion of the judge of the Superior Court and had presented this to Mr. Riddle, one of the ablest lawyers in the country, and, at her request, Mr. Riddle would now address the committee.
Mr. Riddle arose and said he meant to say nothing save what would bear upon the case; however, he meant to say strongly what he intensely felt, and whoever would take the pains to examine the Constitution which he held in his hands would not attempt to gainsay the facts contained therein. The right of suffrage is a natural right. The right of self-government pertains to all alike, the right to be exercised as all other rights. The right to dress is a natural right, and the right to consume food no matter how artificially prepared is another. What was necessary to bring the negro race to the enjoyment of their natural rights? It was simply to remove obstructions. Legislation can regulate the franchise but not prohibit it. Those who were content for women to vote must do it in one of two ways—either get rid of the word“male” or define the meaning of citizenship. A gifted woman has just given us an argument that can not be refuted. This change has been wrought by an amendment to the Constitution.
The speaker was interrupted by Mr. Cook, of Illinois, asking: “What clause of the Constitution would give us the right to allow Mrs. Woodhull the exercise of suffrage in New York?”
Mr. Riddle replied: “All persons who live under the Constitution are citizens of the United States; those who framed it meant citizenship. We have no half citizens.”
Mrs. Hooker arose and said this term “citizen” had not been fully defined.
Mr. Riddle proceeded to say: “If you look into the dictionaries, you will find it means an inhabitant of a city who is allowed the enjoyment of political rights. The fourteenth amendment claims that all born within the jurisdiction of the United States are citizens, and it also says no State shall make laws to abridge the privileges of citizenship. What does privilege or immunity mean? It means that New York shall not do anything to abridge the privileges.”
The speaker was again interrupted by Mr. Eldridge, of Wisconsin, asking, “Do you claim by this prohibition that the natural rights of infants must not be interfered with, as well as idiots, who must come under the law as you interpret it?”
Mrs. Hooker answered, “That State may say when I may exercise it, but not whether I may do so.”
Mrs. Hooker’s lawyer then proceeded to read from law books some very substantial authority, but the writer could not see its application to the case. He then said two citizens of two different States had a law-suit. Delaware set out to know whether she had the right to rake the oyster beds of New Jersey. In this suit the meaning of “citizen” was thoroughly and carefully discussed, but Mr. Riddle did not let us know whether the Jersey oysterbeds were raked. The eloquent speaker went on to say that the right of self-government was older than any amendment to the Constitution. The right of suffrage already exists, but it is not for Congress to define the full meaning of the Constitution. The married woman’s fate is one of servitude. Her identity is lost in that of her husband. She is his servant, and as such only is known to the law. If Mrs. Riddle were killed by an accident on the railway, I could only recover damages for my servant. But, gentlemen, I leave the case in your hands after defining the word “citizen.” It is the natural person rounded and finished with political rights.
Mrs. Hooker arose and said that it was not of so much consequence when the right came. For her part she would not allow men to vote until they were twenty-five years old. The one great power that keeps a government alive is personal responsibility and personal liberty. She had heard people say that we could run our national machine alone; but here comes the foreigner with his ignorance and his ways so different from ours. When he first comes he expects to be equal with the first in the country, but he sees his neighbor living in a fine house, unaccustomed to labor, and the spirit of hatred is engendered. But at the polls, at least one day in the year, he is equal to the greatest man in the whole land, and it makes a man of him. It teaches him to think that he is helping to frame the laws under which we live. I used to think a man should be here ten or twenty years in order to understand our institutions, but now I would give him the ballot as soon as his naturalization papers could be made out; and, gentlemen, when you limit manhood, you cut your own throats. When, with God’s aid, the oak ribs were put in theMayflower, he knew what was to be the result.
Miss Anthony then arose and said few women have persecuted Congress as she had done, and she was glad that new, fresh voices were heard to-day. “But, gentlemen,I entreat you to take this matter up in Congress. You have let a petition, presented by the Honorable Mr. Julian, last winter, come to its death. When I went to Illinois last year I told the people not to return Mr. Trumbull, for he had allowed the same thing to take place in the Senate. I ask you, gentlemen, to report this matter, so that I can lay off my armor, for I am tired of fighting. If Mr. Riddle had presented his argument infavor you wouldnot hesitate about your course. No woman has a fault to find with the old Constitution. I begged you not to put the word ‘male’ into the amendment. I hurried from Kansas as fast as the locomotive would bring me, but all in vain. I think that is General Butler I see sitting before me, though I never saw him before. I wish, General, you would say ‘contraband’ for us. But, gentlemen, bring in a report of some kind, either for or against; don’t let the matter die a natural death here. Make it imperative that every man in the House must show whether he is for or against it.”
Mrs. Hooker caught the last refrain as Miss Anthony sat down and said: “Pledge yourselves, gentlemen, that we should have a hearing in Congress;” but the gentlemen did not pledge themselves, and the meeting between Mrs. Woodhull and her Co-workers and the Judiciary Committee came to an end.
Mrs. General Farnsworth, wife of the member from Illinois, and Mrs. Ely, of New Hampshire, represented the Congressional element of the House, but the Senatorial dames were unfortunately detained elsewhere.
Olivia.
Woman’s Rights Discussed by Mesdames Hooker, Blake, Anthony, and Others.
Washington,January 12, 1871.
After the Judiciary Committee meeting adjournment, the leader of the woman suffrage movement visited the Senate to hear Senator Sumner on the San Domingo muddle; but two hours later found Lincoln Hall invaded, and the inevitable ball set in motion, which Susan B. Anthony says never shall rest until woman is in the possession of every right, both foreign and domestic. The sweet liquid voice of Mrs. Hooker called the meeting to order, and the divine Olympia Brown prayed as only a woman can pray when she is thoroughly in earnest.
Mrs. Paulina Davis was on the platform, one of the most queenly women in the court of intellect, and as beautiful and as exquisite as a winter landscape. This woman is the possessor of great wealth, the highest social position, and, to use her own words to describe her: “I care very little for dress; my tastes are very simple. But this movement is very expensive. Last summer I paid the whole expense of a convention in New York City. It cost me five hundred dollars. I don’t mind that, because in this way I think I am doing the greatest good.”
Susan B. Anthony was in her place, for what would a woman suffrage convention be worth without Susan to give it flavor? And then she is so patient and irrepressible, and has such a wholesome antipathy to men.
Miss Lillie Peckham represented the youth and audacity of Wisconsin, and Miss Kate Stanton the beauty and fire of her illustrious name. The people who had assembled to listen, proved, by personal inspection, tohave grown higher in the social scale than those attending last year. Women were present who unmistakably were the heads of families—comely matrons who had left the pot boiling at home. Butterflies spread their wings there in the same way as they would attend any other place of amusement, but the wives and daughters of Congressmen for some reason stayed away.
After the prayer, Mrs. Hooker introduced Mrs. Victoria C. Woodhull, who commenced to say that she was not in the habit of speaking in public meetings—a fact which her manner instantly proved. Although it would seem that a Wall-street experience would fit a woman to face the worst, yet Mrs. Woodhull’s heart went pit-a-pat, and the blood rose and fell from her cheek as fortunes go up and down on ‘change. Mrs. Woodhull read anew her petition to the Judiciary Committee, and this being her solitary ewe lamb, after its presentation there was nothing left to do, and she quietly took a back seat.
Mrs. Devereaux Blake, of New York, was then introduced—a medium-sized woman, rather pretty than otherwise, and very carefully done up in handsome, fashionable clothes. Mrs. Blake, however, had nothing new to offer on the question under discussion. She rehashed the subject of women carrying arms, and proved by the old argument this was not a necessity; and then she told us of women’s sacrifices, and how, in extremest dilemma, they had sacrificed their hair. She said a woman’s life was love, and for this reason it was a great wrong to deprive her of that she loved best.
After other weighty arguments of this kind this speaker melted away to give place to Miss Lillie Peckham, of Wisconsin. This young woman did not attempt the difficult task of striking out a new path, but contentedly ambled along over the old highway; but, nevertheless, she had a very interesting, parrot-like way of expressing herself, and very wonderful, because so difficult to imitate.
As the hour of adjournment drew near, Susan B. Anthony came forward and talked “business.” Oh, the inimitable, the delectable Susan; the woman with a peculiar relish which one has to learn to love; the woman of whom a very small piece goes a great way; the musk among drugs; the acid in the Chemist’s laboratory! Susan has finished and the meeting ends.
The evening session of the woman suffrage convention met at the Congregational Church on Tenth street. Before the hour appointed, there was quite a gathering at the church, and the notables, as fast as they arrived, took their seats on the platform. With those assembled on the topmost round of expectation, the coming woman was seen marching up the aisle, wearing the jolly form of Senator Pomeroy. In the modest aspect of this distinguished man, one could see the embryo of the first female President; and Senator Nye following close behind showed that he meant to come in for the second best time on record. All the lights of the morning were on the platform except Tennie Claflin of the Wall-street firm. Miss Claflin must be one of the most charming little brigands in Wall street, else her peaked hat and chubby face tell a wrong story. Her merry brown eyes twinkle like the peepers of Santa Claus or old Nick; and worst of all she keeps her mouth shut, and this proves the brewing of mischief. Tennie looks like one of the women in the picture of the “Merry Wives of Windsor,” and she seems to be the one above all others fitted to sustain her position in Wall street.
Senator Nye arose to open the meeting. He said he had yielded to the pressing invitation of a woman on the platform to preside at the meeting, and had given a reluctant consent. He had never seen a good reason why the mothers of voters should not vote. One thing is certain, as mothers are elevated, so are the children; as women are degraded, the rule holds the same. But he felt that he was out of place in presiding over a meetingof ladies; that he was more in the habit of being presided over by them.
He then introduced Miss Kate Stanton, of Rhode Island, as one of the fairest daughters of the State. Senator Nye added that she had undertaken to work in a field where strong men often fail, but he trusted, in her case, that she would meet with success. Miss Stanton then came forward, half hesitating, her eyes brilliant with excitement and true carnation in her cheek. This was the second time in her life that she had faced an audience, and the ordeal was quite as much as she could bear. She commenced reading her lecture, and when she became accustomed to her own voice she glided along gracefully, as only a truly gifted woman can. Miss Stanton will be one of the stars in the lecture field if she speaks equally well on other subjects as the one at present under discussion. She has a remarkably clear, fine voice, a most pleasing personal presence, an unusually cultivated mind, and the true vim of a young American woman. It is true she did not give us any new ideas about woman suffrage, but she treated the subject in a natural, girlish way; and if sentiment predominated, it seemed a halo around her head, for young people are romantic, and when they are otherwise, the gloss of youth has gone forever. Miss Stanton’s great point in her so-called argument may be summed up in a few words. The laws made by man are fractional. The woman must be added to make the unit.
After Miss Stanton’s logic was finished, Senator Nye introduced Mr. Riddle. The lawyer went over exactly the same ground traversed in the morning before the Judiciary Committee. It is true he enlarged here, cropped off there, but it was the same thing altogether. He commenced by asserting that women were as broadly and deeply citizens as the men of this nation. That the right of government is a natural right. The right to govern is inherent in the people. That there is no rightto be conferred, for there is nothing to confer; and that all who stand in the way would have to get out or else get crushed. Mr. Riddle did not make his case clear, and the audience yawned in his presence for applause.
After he had finished, Mrs. Hooker arose and said she did not agree with Mr. Riddle in his denunciation of men; that women equally were to blame for the state of things. “A great many women say they do not wish the ballot, but I can prove to them that they do wish to vote. There are three vital questions equally dear to every woman’s heart: First, there is temperance. Are women indifferent to this? Then, there is education. Are not all women interested in the manner it shall be brought about, whether it shall be secular or religious, or whether education shall be compulsory or otherwise? And there is a third, of most absorbing interest, and this is chastity. The Bible says, ‘The wages of sin is death.’ Sin is sin, no matter who is the sinner. In England, a country governed by a queen, has been the battle-ground of great strife. It has attempted on behalf of the military to pass laws that should make the passage of vice easy, and the wages of sin not death. By some secret iniquity these laws passed Parliament, and then the attempt was made to include the cities with the military, but such women as Harriet Martineau and Florence Nightingale, as well as those belonging to royal families, went to work to prevent this great wrong. Petitions were gotten up, signed by thousands of the workingmen’s wives and daughters, and these petitions were brought to the feet of Parliament and they have, for a time at least, prevented the wrong. France sends word to England that her downfall in a great measure is owing to her social crimes. This subject is now being agitated in our own country. St. Louis and Cincinnati are shaking with doubts. Would you, women of America, have the passage to iniquity and sin made easy for your husbands and sons? These are the great questions upon you whichwe are obliged to think and speak.” When Mrs. Hooker finished, a kind of awe took possession of her hearers; and whilst this woman dwelt upon this last subject she spoke with all the force of a Beecher and with the purity and delicacy of an angel.
Olivia.
Signatures of Notable Ladies Against Granting the Ballot to Women.
Washington,January 13, 1871.
A bitter contest is going on in Washington between the women who do want their rights and those who do not. The following petition has been handed into the Senate, signed by a thousand of our countrywomen.
The Petition Against Woman Suffrage.To the Congress of the United States, protesting against an extension of woman suffrage:We, the undersigned, do hereby appeal to your honorable body, and desire respectfully to enter our protest against an extension of suffrage to woman; and in the firm belief that our petition represents the sober conviction of the majority of the women of the country. Although we shrink from the notoriety of the public eye, yet we are too deeply and painfully impressed by the grave perils which threaten our peace and happiness in these proposed changes in our civil and political rights to longer remain silent.Because the Holy Scripture inculcates a different and for us a higher sphere, apart from public life.Because as women we find a full measure of duties, cares and responsibilities devolving upon us, and we are therefore unwilling to bear other and heavier burdens, and those unsuited to our physical organization.Because we hold that an extension of suffrage would be adverse to the interests of the workingwomen of the country, with whom we heartily sympathize.Because these changes must introduce a fruitful element of discord in the existing marriage relation, which would tend to the infinite detriment of children, and increase the already alarming prevalence of divorce throughout the land.Because no general law, affecting the conditions of all women, should be framed to meet exceptional discontent.For these, and many more reasons, we do beg of your wisdom that no law extending suffrage to women may be passed, as the passage of such a law would be fraught with danger grave to the general order of the country.Should the person receiving this approve of the object in view,his or her aid is respectfully requested to obtain signatures to the annexed petition, which may, after having been signed, be returned to either of the following named persons:Mrs. Gen. W. T. Sherman, Mrs. John A. Dahlgren, Mrs. Jacob D. Cox, Mrs. Joseph Henry, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Butler, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Rankin, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Boynton, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Samson, Mrs B. B. French, Miss Jennie Carroll, Mrs. C. V. Morris, Mrs. Hugh McCulloch, all of Washington, D. C.; Mrs. Senator Sherman, Mansfield, Ohio; Mrs. Senator Scott, Huntingdon, Pa.; Mrs. Senator Corbet, Portland, Ore; Mrs. Senator Edmunds, Burlington, Vt.; Mrs. Luke P. Poland, St. Johnsbury, Vt.; Mrs. Samuel J. Randall, Philadelphia, Pa.; Mrs. Catharine E. Beecher, 69 West Thirty-eighth street, New York City.Please attach to this a paper for signatures.
The Petition Against Woman Suffrage.
To the Congress of the United States, protesting against an extension of woman suffrage:
We, the undersigned, do hereby appeal to your honorable body, and desire respectfully to enter our protest against an extension of suffrage to woman; and in the firm belief that our petition represents the sober conviction of the majority of the women of the country. Although we shrink from the notoriety of the public eye, yet we are too deeply and painfully impressed by the grave perils which threaten our peace and happiness in these proposed changes in our civil and political rights to longer remain silent.
Because the Holy Scripture inculcates a different and for us a higher sphere, apart from public life.
Because as women we find a full measure of duties, cares and responsibilities devolving upon us, and we are therefore unwilling to bear other and heavier burdens, and those unsuited to our physical organization.
Because we hold that an extension of suffrage would be adverse to the interests of the workingwomen of the country, with whom we heartily sympathize.
Because these changes must introduce a fruitful element of discord in the existing marriage relation, which would tend to the infinite detriment of children, and increase the already alarming prevalence of divorce throughout the land.
Because no general law, affecting the conditions of all women, should be framed to meet exceptional discontent.
For these, and many more reasons, we do beg of your wisdom that no law extending suffrage to women may be passed, as the passage of such a law would be fraught with danger grave to the general order of the country.
Should the person receiving this approve of the object in view,his or her aid is respectfully requested to obtain signatures to the annexed petition, which may, after having been signed, be returned to either of the following named persons:
Mrs. Gen. W. T. Sherman, Mrs. John A. Dahlgren, Mrs. Jacob D. Cox, Mrs. Joseph Henry, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Butler, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Rankin, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Boynton, Mrs. Rev. Dr. Samson, Mrs B. B. French, Miss Jennie Carroll, Mrs. C. V. Morris, Mrs. Hugh McCulloch, all of Washington, D. C.; Mrs. Senator Sherman, Mansfield, Ohio; Mrs. Senator Scott, Huntingdon, Pa.; Mrs. Senator Corbet, Portland, Ore; Mrs. Senator Edmunds, Burlington, Vt.; Mrs. Luke P. Poland, St. Johnsbury, Vt.; Mrs. Samuel J. Randall, Philadelphia, Pa.; Mrs. Catharine E. Beecher, 69 West Thirty-eighth street, New York City.
Please attach to this a paper for signatures.
Amongst this proud array of titled names it will be noticed that it is not headed by our “first lady,” and that none of the wives of the present Cabinet are enrolled amongst the same. When one of the leaders of this movement laid this petition before a Cabinet dame, asking her signature, this gracious lady answered, “I have all the rights I want; I find more than I can do in my own sphere of duties, but this subject is too deep, and too broad to be acted upon, except after the most serious reflection. Although I coincide with Catherine Beecher’s views, I think if we come out with our petitions we are doing that which we so much condemn in the strong-minded. Besides, I dare not accept the responsibility of speaking for the poor and lowly of my own sex. Let them talk if they want to; this is a free country, and they have a right to be heard.”
During one of the sessions of the convention, Mrs. Hooker alluded to this petition, and said she was glad that women were beginning to think. That anything was better than this apathy and indifference, for just as soon as women began to think about the subject all doubts concerning the success of the movement would be brushed away. She was glad that Miss Murdoch had been heard upon the same subject. These same strong-minded women had opened the platform to their sex, and they werewilling that women should now come forward to help extinguish that power.
The morning of the last day’s session opened with every star of the movement, both great and small, twinkling upon the stage, if we except one pale sister. This was the mischief, Tennie Claflin, of the Wall-street firm. Susan B. Anthony, who means to be close-mouthed, had opened her lips, and out came some useful information. She said that Mrs. Woodhull had been up whispering in the President’s ear, but just exactly what did take place at the White House would only be known to those who were present. Mrs. Victoria Woodhull sat sphinx-like during the talk of Miss Anthony. General Grant himself might learn a lesson of silence from the pale, sad face of the unflinching woman. Other women have talked during this convention, but Mrs. Woodhull has read what she had to say from printed slips of paper. No chance to send an arrow through the opening seams of her mail. Apparently she has had little to do in this campaign, and yet everything has revolved around her. She reminds one of the force in nature behind the storm, and if her veins were opened they would be found to contain ice. When money was needed to carry on this movement, she headed the list with ten thousand dollars. She did this without the least emotion perceptible on her face unless it seemed to say, “I have planted, but I can wait.”
But where was Tennie Claflin? The roguish, peaked hat and dainty coat-tails were besieging the doors of Congress. Whilst women were wasting breath in the convention, she was anywhere and everywhere to be found, where a worker ought to “turn up.” Oh, the irresistible Tennie! Congress has never been so tried since Vinnie Ream succeeded in getting a stone contract, and if Tennie would be modest, and ask only for ten thousand dollars’ worth of folly, she would win like her predecessor. If Tennie is bold, this quality in her is so originalin its kind that it disarms criticism in the opposite sex, and Mrs. Woodhull must have chosen her for a partner for the same reason that she whispered in the President’s ear.
Senator Warner, of Alabama, presided at this session; but, as it is feared that, sooner or later, he will become a woman, a description of his person may not be out of place. Originally he must have been as plump as a Baldwin apple; but the exigencies of the war and Senatorial duties must have had a trying effect upon him. Already signs are visible of his shrinking in size, yet abundance of material is left for all family purposes. A pleasant sound issues from the side of his head, which Susan B. Anthony takes advantage of, at the same time saying, “If men are not good for something in the ‘cause,’ pray what are they good for?”
Mrs. Halitz, a professor from one of the universities of Michigan, addressed the audience, and spoke in a very effective manner. Occasionally we heard the true click of the metal of oratory. She is a small woman, but filled to the brim with the pluck of determination. She burdened the air with javelins of wit as well as anathema, and she sat down amidst a round of applause.
Miss Anthony then arose and eulogized Mrs. Hooker because she belonged to the Beecher family; and the State of Michigan on account of its universities. It had sent out more strong-minded women than any other State. She then proposed a good old-fashioned love-feast to diversify the meeting.
An ominous silence prevailed for a little time; then Madame Ellis, clairvoyant and fortune-teller, proceeded to make herself heard in a loud voice. She commenced by declaring herself a convert to the doctrine, made so the previous night, but instead of reading the future fortune of the movement as laid in the horoscope of the stars, she kept on talking as if she was only a commonmortal. But she finally reached the bottom of her mind and sat down, and Susan B. Anthony clapped her hands.
Mrs. Hooker then came forward and wanted Miss Susan to tell her experience in Richmond. Miss Susan hesitated, for there was other work to be done, but she finally began by saying that she saw twenty black men in their seats on the floor of the legislature. She went there to invite all the members to attend a meeting in the evening, where she was expected to speak. Some one of the legislature moved that she might be invited to occupy the Speaker’s platform, but this could not be accomplished unless the rules were suspended in order to take a vote. A vote to suspend the rules was taken and lost—38 to 29; but amongst those who voted in her favor was every black man upon the floor. One of the white men upon the floor said if it had been Fred Douglass, instead of a white woman, he would have got the place.
Mrs. Hooker read an extremely interesting letter from Mrs. Justice Morris, late justice of Wyoming Territory. According to this letter, office-holding by a woman was a perfect success. Only one appeal was taken from her decision, and that was decided in her favor. Mrs. Morris’s family consisted of a husband and three sons, and all these were more willing to help her in official rather than in her domestic affairs. Mrs. Justice Morris was sixty years of age when she took upon herself the cares of official life.
Olivia.
The Suffrage Convention and Its Leading Participants.
Washington,January 14, 1871.
The last evening’s session of the woman suffrage convention opened with Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, on the stage. Although this Senator has greatest faith in Catharine Beecher’s views, it would be in direct opposition to all the acts of his past life to turn a cold cheek to the appeal of loving humanity; so his broad, genial face stood out from its luminous background like the moon attended by its starry host. The first person introduced to the audience was Mrs. Cora L. V. Hatch (now Tappan), and, judging by what followed, she must have been entranced. It could not be ascertained whether or not her mental machinery had been wound up with the expectation that it would run down at the end of a given period, but at any rate she kept on ticking until Senator Wilson drew an instrument out of a side pocket, apparently for no other reason but to find out whether she was gaining or losing time. Mrs. Hooker, in the meantime, looked anxious and weary, and Susan B. Anthony, like Banquo’s ghost, stalked across the stage. This seemed to bring the “medium” to her senses, and she closed after it was known that she had been innocent of having anything to say.
As if to reward the audience for its late patience, Miss Anthony came forward to give it some food for thought. She said the object of this convention is to prevail on Congress to decide on Mrs. Woodhull’s definition of the fourteenth amendment. “If we fail in this it is our intention to apply for registration in the differentdistricts where we belong, and if we are refused this privilege, suits will at once be commenced, and the case be followed up until it is decided by the highest court in the land. But suppose we fail to obtain justice under the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution, we can go back to our good old sixteenth, and work until our undertaking is crowned with success.” She then read the name of a grand central working committee, every name a well-tried, faithful servant of the cause. She said no name would be placed on that paper because she was a Mrs. Senator This or a Mrs. Rev. That. The names were then read:
National Central Committee.President, Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, Hartford, Conn.; Secretary, Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing, Washington, D. C.; Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N. Y.; Victoria C. Woodhull, New York City; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenaphy, N. J.; Lucretia Mott, Philadelphia, Pa.; Olympia Brown, Bridgeport. Conn.; Mrs. Emily Stevens, San Francisco, Cal.; Mrs. Harriet W. Sewall, Melrose, Mass; Mrs. Mary K. Spalding, Atlanta, Ga.; Mrs. Anna Bodeker, Richmond, Va.; Mrs. Francis Pillsbury, Charleston, S. C.; Mrs. Senator Gilbert, St. Augustine, Fla.; Paulina Wright Davis, Providence, R. I.; M. Adele Hazlett, Hillsdale, Mich.; Mrs. Dr. Ferguson, Richmond, Ind.; Jane G. Jones, Chicago, Ill.; Lillie Peckham, Wisconsin; Mrs. Francis Miner, St. Louis, Mo.; Mrs. J. M. Spear, San Francisco, Cal.; Mrs. C. I. H. Nichols, Wyandotte, Kans.; Mrs. Laura De Force, Gordon, Nev.; Mrs. M. E. Post, Cheyenne, Wyo.; Mrs. Mary McCook, Colo.
National Central Committee.
President, Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, Hartford, Conn.; Secretary, Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing, Washington, D. C.; Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, N. Y.; Victoria C. Woodhull, New York City; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tenaphy, N. J.; Lucretia Mott, Philadelphia, Pa.; Olympia Brown, Bridgeport. Conn.; Mrs. Emily Stevens, San Francisco, Cal.; Mrs. Harriet W. Sewall, Melrose, Mass; Mrs. Mary K. Spalding, Atlanta, Ga.; Mrs. Anna Bodeker, Richmond, Va.; Mrs. Francis Pillsbury, Charleston, S. C.; Mrs. Senator Gilbert, St. Augustine, Fla.; Paulina Wright Davis, Providence, R. I.; M. Adele Hazlett, Hillsdale, Mich.; Mrs. Dr. Ferguson, Richmond, Ind.; Jane G. Jones, Chicago, Ill.; Lillie Peckham, Wisconsin; Mrs. Francis Miner, St. Louis, Mo.; Mrs. J. M. Spear, San Francisco, Cal.; Mrs. C. I. H. Nichols, Wyandotte, Kans.; Mrs. Laura De Force, Gordon, Nev.; Mrs. M. E. Post, Cheyenne, Wyo.; Mrs. Mary McCook, Colo.
“The business of this committee is to go to work and get money to defray the expense of printing documents. Congress will be asked to make an appropriation to this end, but in case of disappointment from that quarter we shall fall back on the national central committee. We shall also ask the members to frank these documents, and we hope to fill Uncle Sam’s mail-bags with the same until they groan. Among all my acquaintances in Congress, I never found but one man who would allow me the use of his frank, and this was Brooks, of New York. Yes, Congressman Brooks. I know he is a Democrat, but I find Democrats just as much inclined to give us the ballotas the Republicans. And why should they not, for they are all of them nothing but men? She said the strongest kind of appeals would be made for money during the coming campaign. Mrs. Victoria Woodhull had subscribed ten thousand dollars, and would any man in the country do the same?”
Miss Lillie Peckham, of Wisconsin, was then introduced by Senator Wilson. Miss Lillie confined her remarks closely to the labor question, and her efforts this time were a marked improvement upon the last. She told her hearers all about the difficulties in the way of women when they attempt to enter the field of science and art. Harriet Hosmer had to go the length and breadth of this land before she could find a college where she was allowed to study anatomy; Rosa Bonheur was obliged to pursue her studies in the butcher shambles of Paris, and Myra Bradwell was not allowed to practice before the courts of Illinois because she was a married woman, and as such could not be recognized, in consequence of technicalities of the law. Ben Butler had said that women should not hold clerkships under the Government because they were needed for wives in the far West; Mr. Rodgers, of Arkansas, had introduced a law too infamous to mention. In forcible terms she painted the narrow field in which women who have no protectors must necessarily struggle and die. At the magic touch of her voice thousands of lowly women left their wretched basements and attics, folded their rags about them and stood on the stage. She went on to say, if the ballot improves the workingman’s condition, in Heaven’s name why not the workingwoman’s? Are they not the same flesh and blood, warmed by the same heat, frozen by the same cold, and subject to the same laws of life and death?
After Miss Peckham had finished Miss Anthony came to the financial point again, and appointed a committee of two persons to receive the amount which any weredisposed to give. Senators Wilson and Pomeroy made their donation in the most modest possible way, and a few others followed the example, and this brought the woman suffrage convention to an end.
It will be remembered that it was called and organized by three prominent women, and so far as it was a success it must be attributed to them. It is safe to say that the woman suffrage conventions at the capital are steadily improving in social refinement and intellectual culture as they succeed each other year after year. Women with pantaloons and men with long hair have taken the back seats, and if peaked hats and coat-tails are visible, these badges are confined exclusively to Wall street, and there may be a necessity for the peaked hats in this awful locality which the innocent world knows nothing about. Senators of the United States have presided at every session, and quite a number of members have attended the meetings from time to time. Occasionally the head of a bureau has peeped out from the audience, and a slight sprinkling of clerks has been noticed now and then, whilst the most perfect order has reigned from the beginning to the end.
When the question was asked Miss Kate Stanton, why the woman suffragists did not bring all their weapons to bear upon the women of the country, instead of wasting their ammunition upon the men, she replied: “It is of no use; we must make the movement popular with the men, and they will educate the women up to it.”
Owing to the misfortune that some of the delegates from a long distance did not reach Washington in time for the convention, a meeting took place in the lecture-room of the Young Men’s Christian Association building the following day. No business of importance took place. Mrs. Brooks, a small, timid woman, undertook to give a report of what was progressing in the West. But this she found was too much for her modesty, so she gave way for one of the masculine gender by the name ofJones, who feelingly gave the Western picture. Mrs. Post, of Wyoming, gave her experience of voting, and this of necessity was very interesting. She had “electioneered,” been to caucus meetings and to the polls side by side with the men, and, so far as she knew, her womanhood was just as good as ever, and matters had become greatly improved since woman suffrage was a fixed fact in Wyoming. Miss Anthony followed in one of her best speeches. Miss Peckham said that Senator Carpenter, of Wisconsin, was fully committed to the cause, and Mrs. Josephine Griffing was willing to pledge herself for the District. Mrs. Pauline Davis eulogized Rhode Island, and Mrs. Hazlett, of Michigan, spoke in her usual bright, crispy way. She said she would present her name for registration under the law of the fourteenth amendment, and had no fear as to the result. Mrs. Dr. Lockwood moved a vote of thanks to the reporters of the Washington press for their courtesy, kindness, and ability displayed during the convention, and the meeting adjournedsine die.
Olivia.
Mrs. Lucretia Mott, Mrs. Cady Stanton, and Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing.
Washington,January 19, 1871.
Stirring events are shaking the national capital. Scarcely have the colored lights of the country folded their tents and stolen away from their convention before Washington is visited by another dazzling meteoric shower. To-day, the great national woman’s rights convention has met and occupies its position upon the world’s stage. Senator Pomeroy, of Kansas, seems to be the central figure around which this planetary system of women revolve. As early as 10 o’clock a. m. a great number of the so-called weaker sex were seen hurrying along toward Carroll Hall, the place designated for the meeting. It was observed by all that these early comers were not those sisters of the community who wear silk and satin, and who fare sumptuously every day. They seemed to come from the even plain of society; they seemed to be the wives and daughters of the thrifty tradesmen and well-to-do mechanics. Some of them came in timidly, and took seats near the door, while others marched in boldly, being handsomely flanked or guarded by the “lords of creation.” Curiosity and suppressed mirthfulness characterized the appearance of the latter; at the same time these men had provided themselves with newspapers, into which they could plunge whenever it should seem the most convenient thing to do.
In a little side room at the right hand of the platform were gathered a handful of combustibles of sufficient strength and tenacity of purpose to move the world, if, like Archimedes, they had only a point upon which toplace the fulcrum. This fulcrum appeared to them to be the ballot. Before the patience of the medium-sized audience was entirely exhausted, Senator Pomeroy filed out of the side room, followed by the venerable Lucretia Mott, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Miss Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing, and a host of lesser lights; some few of the latter shining on the platform by reflection alone.
As it may be possible that some of the readers of theRepublicanhave never seen Pomeroy, a brief description of the man so long identified with this movement may not be out of place. It must first be acknowledged that he stood alone on the platform with this handful of pioneer women by his side. We mean by this that no other Congressmen were gathered there. Though Senator Pomeroy has not advanced to the snows of age, he has outlived the fiery turbulence of manhood. Nature did not cast him in her finest mould, but she gave him breadth of shoulder, and a brow broad and capacious enough for Jupiter; a brown eye, which twinkles as steadily as a fixed star; a good-sized American nose, and a mouth which has ever been devoted to the cause of the gentler sex, and which any woman of taste would approve. Senator Pomeroy called the meeting to order, and then remarked, “While one plants and another sows, it is God who giveth the increase.”
Prayer followed by the Rev. Dr. Gray, who committed the sad mistake of alluding to the scripture verse which says that woman was made of the rib of a man. As soon as the prayer was finished, a Mrs. Davis, of Philadelphia, undertook to take exception to the prayer, but Mrs. Lucretia Mott said though the audience might differ in the theological views, she questioned the good taste of discussing the subject at this convention. This was oil to the troubled waters, and peace followed forthwith. A very mother in Israel seemed this venerable woman, now advanced beyond her eightieth year. As she appearedbefore the audience in her prim Quaker garb, her voice, pure and distinct as the notes of a bell, seemed more like the tones of a spirit issuing from some crumbling ruin than that of a representative woman on the world’s stage to-day. Those who remember Thaddeus Stevens in his last days will recall a striking resemblance, both mental and physical, between these two individuals of a past generation, both belonging to the same State of the Union. Miss Anna Dickinson is very much like Mrs. Mott, and it may be well to remember that only the Quaker element, which centuries ago made it just as proper for the women to speak in public as the men, could produce two such marvels of oratory.
Following in the wake of Mrs. Lucretia Mott, up rose the brilliant Mrs. Cady Stanton, of the Revolution, one of the most beautiful and socially gifted women of the day; also a very firebrand in the camp of the enemy. What the poet says about roses in the snow finds a living embodiment in Mrs. Stanton. Have you never seen the heavens aglow with purple and gold before the sunset? And who would exchange these mellow beams for the pale, weak morning rays, or the sultry, stifling noon? Now add a voice of rare melody, sweet, persuasive, and enchanting as a flute, and you see a woman as potent in her way as Queen Elizabeth; an intellectual princess “to the manor born,” and who is fated to fill a niche in the history of our Republic. And now, reader, you see before you a woman stern, solid, aggressive. Her whole personnel is suggestive of the power of nature, strength, force. You can not help but feel that the good Dame Nature for once made a blunder. She put a man’s head on a woman’s shoulders; the massive brain and square brow, the large gray eyes that are set at cross purposes with each other, the clear cut, thinly chiseled lips, that, when brought together, seem to have the firm grip of a vise; a woman to command; a woman to suffer and die for opinion’s sake. Reader, you see Susan B. Anthony.You see the woman who would go to the edge of a fiery caldron, or a Democratic convention, to accomplish a purpose. If there is a pillar of strength among woman, upon which the weak, the degraded, the down-trodden can lean, it must be upon Miss Susan B. Anthony. If every State in the Union were blessed with two such women, the existing factions between the sexes would suddenly expire. Miss Anthony is a fine public speaker, choosing her words daintily from the pure Anglo-Saxon, and her voice is just the kind an orator would desire.
Another woman arises to address the audience. It is Mrs. Josephine S. Griffing, so long identified with the Freedmen’s Bureau. A fine-faced, sweet-voiced, elegant woman. You feel that she is thoroughly in earnest. You seem to know that she is the last one who would seek notoriety. You feel that you are listening to a woman who has to fight the battle of life for herself and little ones alone. In the depths of your heart you realize that it is such as she who breathe the breath of life into this unpopular cause; and her well-chosen words sink into your soul like dew in the honeyed corolla of a flower. If space would admit, other pictures might be added, but these shall be reserved for another day.
Olivia.
Jessie Benton Fremont Among the Notables in the Blue Room.
Washington,January 31, 1871.
The fashionable season at the capital is in the full meridian of glory. Every working day of the week is devoted by the beau monde to dissipation. Feminine faces seamed with the scars of sleepless nights are the rule, and plump, rosy cheeks the exception. All is glare, glitter and pomp, and nothing home-like and substantial. One social gathering is like another, except that the women change their dresses; but the ideas afloat upon all occasions are precisely the same. An exhibition of the weather takes place every day, consequently one topic of conversation can not be exhausted. Another subject, as Bret Harte would say, “never peters out.” Women who go to receptions must be “dressed;” consequently the taste, the quality, the cost of each other’s costumes afford endless food for comment. Whilst the season lasts there is no time for reading, sensible conversation, or reflection. The fashionable wife of a Senator has not time to rest her corporeal frame before a fresh demand is made upon her nervous and vital forces. In other cities of the Union the mansions of the opulent and hospitable are thrown open because the host and hostess desire to see their guests. In Washington this order of things is reversed. Entertainments are official instead of social, and the magnificent card reception of a Cabinet minister is as cold and formal as a President’s levee. Receptions of every kind seem to be cast in the same cruel and relentless mould. Whilst it is not expected that President Grant should stop the ceremonies of a leveeto introduce Jones to Brown, it would seem that a Senator’s wife, at an afternoon reception in her own little, quiet parlor at a boarding-house or hotel, would make her two or three guests acquainted for the time being, even though these women were foes ever after. But no introductions take place. The hostess must be a wonderful woman to keep three shuttles of conversation going without occasionally breaking threads. On account of these difficulties many of the “leaders” in the gay season invite a few particular friends to help carry on the tasks of reception day. Mrs. Grant set the example by inviting a number of ladies to preside at her “Tuesday afternoons.” But in order to make everything perfect the wife of the President orders the reserve force to come down at the last end of the battle. This battalion consists of General Grant and as many of the Cabinet officers as choose to follow, and if General Dent comes trickling after in his yellow kids there is nothing left to be done except for the sun and moon to stand still until the performance is over. In order to fortify the ladies for the afternoon’s work Mrs. Grant provides a dainty lunch beforehand, in the family dining-room. A spotless cover of white linen is spread over the national mahogany. Upon this pearly foundation rest rare and fragrant hothouse exotics. Fruits rifled from the trees of the tropics, luscious oysters from the smiling Chesapeake, sardines from the limpid Mediterranean, and pastry concocted by the “incomparable Melah” lend their charms to grace the feast provided by our “first lady” for the maids of honor when they go to the White House to grace reception day. Being only mortal, like the rest of us, it does sometimes happen that Mrs. Grant and her accomplished assistants linger a little too long over the nutritious chocolate and Bahei; consequently, callers assemble in the East Room and stamp their feet with impatience because the performance does not commence.
At last the hour has arrived, the doors of the “Blue Room” are thrown open, and the play begins. Daylight has been as carefully excluded as if it had thievish propensities. An immense chandelier hung in the centre of the room throws a fitful glare over the enchanted scene. Blue and gold everywhere. Blue satin damask masks the walls; blue velvet carpet under the feet; blue and gold upholstery scattered profusely around. Baskets of natural flowers make the air fragrant with faintest perfume. Mrs. Grant stands near the entrance, with General Michler, master of ceremonies, at her left, and her maids of honor at her right. General Michler’s face lights up with real joy at the delightful prospect before him. Not a woman of the vast incoming throng, be she hag or beauty, but must come in contact with him before she reaches the Mecca of her hopes. Mrs. Grant, one of the most amiable and excellent of women, looks as if she meant to make everybody welcome, and she puts so much hearty good feeling into a hand-grasp that she would certainly lose caste in the fashionable world if she was not safely intrenched behind an impregnable fortress. She is clad in a heavy, pearl-colored brocade, embroidered with field flowers and modestly trimmed with point lace. Mrs. Grant has never been accused of being a beauty, and yet there may be seen in her person a great many points which help to make the handsome woman. She has a very fine figure, and an arm as beautiful as Mrs. Slidell’s (and the Greek Slave statue was modeled upon the plan of this elegant Creole rebel). Mrs. Grant has an exquisite complexion, lovely hair, and a sincere, unaffected manner, which endears her to every personal acquaintance. General Grant thinks her beautiful, and, as he is the highest authority in the nation, this question is settled. Now let the country hold its peace.
Next to the “first lady” stands the superb wife of the Secretary of State. She is clad in palest of lavender, richly ornamented with duchess lace. Mrs. Fish is a fine,queenly looking woman, of middle age. Time has gently touched her, for her figure is as erect, her complexion as faultless, and her eyes as bright as in the days of her girlhood. A Long Island acquaintance of Mrs. Grant is also assisting to receive. She is rather pretty, and is becomingly dressed in pink silk, underneath white muslin and lace.
The wife of Judge Dent is also lending a helping hand in the ceremonies. She is a Southern woman by birth, and the mistress of all those charms for which the daughters of sunny climes are noted. She is clad in lemon-colored silk, and her person makes a delightful place for the eye to rest upon after long and severe wanderings.
Last, but not least, the brilliant wife of General Horace Porter makes up the group. She is a dazzling little woman, with pearly teeth, all her own. She may be an American, but she looks like a French woman. Her costume is made up of pink and blue, the two colors shaded with an artist’s brush. She is talking to some friend about the “baby left at home,” which proves that Horace Porter is consoled in his difficult position by a very sweet wife and a thoughtful mother.
The guests have begun to assemble, not only in scores, but hundreds. Conspicuous in the throng, towering like a palm in an oasis, might have been seen the majestic form of Sir John Rose, of Canadian fame. His fine old English face seemed alive with festive animal spirits, sound health, and the good results of a long temperate life. He might have been thinking of the solution of the fishery difficulties, but his eyes did not betray the least fishy appearance as they rested upon the fair faces and fine forms of our countrywomen. He remained only a short time, but was spirited away by some member of one of the foreign legations. About the time of the appearance of Sir John Rose the President and Cabinet, with the exception of General Belknap, descended from some unknown region and enlivened the brilliancy of theafternoon. General Grant appeared in a plain working suit, and his manner from the first betrayed business. Whilst he seemed willing to take every fairy by the hand, he was very careful at the same moment to look in an opposite direction. It might be possible that this was a mere political dodge to gain time to be prepared for woman suffrage; at any rate, no delicate creature could have left the Executive presence feeling that she had been particularly favored, and the most perfect gossip present pronounced his manner noncommittal, as usual. In close proximity to the Chief Magistrate might have been noticed the slender scion of a famous stock, in the shape of the quaint form of Secretary Boutwell, of Massachusetts. There seemed to be nothing dangerous in the appearance of the distinguished financier except the immense size of his feet. However, to set the mind of the country aright in regard to the foundation of the national finances, it is here declared, upon highest authority, that Secretary Boutwell’s extremities are precisely like other men’s, but the huge boots have been purposely built to frighten away female applicants for office, and bold impertinent Congressmen. Secretary Boutwell has a fine face, a gracious presence, and can be ornamental at times, as well as useful.
Far away in the offing might have been seen a jolly “iron-clad” who is well known in Washington society as the gallant Secretary of the Navy. No telescope was necessary to see him cruising about, with his main-sail handsomely squared, and his jib-boom set in the right direction. All at once he changes his course and bears down upon a modest little craft that seems entirely unaware of danger. Ugh! it is all over! No lives lost! They have bespoken each other on the wild waters of conversation, and each hurries forward to a different port.
One of the most distinguished women who paid her respects to Mrs. Grant, and honored the large assembly,was Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont, the better part of the great “Pathfinder,” of Pacific Railroad fame. General Fremont may have found a great many wonders in his terrific exploration, but the best thing he ever did find is “Jessie,” and if he is ever crowned with immortal bays, it will be because in their youth they ran away. Although Mrs. Fremont is below the average height of her countrywomen, she has a royal presence and a queenly face. Neither paint, powder, nor any other artifice of the age conceals or enhances the mischief time has wrought with her features, and her head is crowned with an abundance of snowy hair, but her countenance is lighted up by a pair of brilliant eyes, and the dimples that enchanted the “Pathfinder” still remain.
How shall we manage to get space inThe Pressto describe the wives of Congress? Every adjective and adverb in the dictionary might be used and the work not then be accomplished. One most noticeable fact in relation to the receptions of the winter is the wearing of last year’s costumes. Very few new dresses are seen, and black silk was worn by nine-tenths of the ladies who went to Mrs. Grant’s reception. A very few trains were seen, but walking-dresses were the rule and long dresses the exception. A great many hats were worn, but the most elegant toilettes were finished by bonnets. Mrs. Hunter, wife of the Major-General, wore a black silk dress and a white satin bonnet; and Mrs. Cresswell, wife of the Postmaster General, wore the usual habiliments of the season. It will be noticed that the taste of American women is becoming more chaste and refined. Visiting suits are sombre; rich high colors are reserved for the evening. But more of this anon.
Olivia.
Vinnie Ream Secures an Additional Appropriation for Her Statue of Lincoln.
Washington,March 2, 1871.
With the exception of appropriation bills legislative work appears to have come to an end. The mildew of dissolution is approaching, and for the moment the whole strength of the House seems to be in a seething state of excitement preparatory to the organization of a new Congress. When it became lawful for a new Congress to assemble within an hour after the death-knell of the old, a blow of utter demoralization was aimed at the short session of the national legislature. This law was made to Checkmate Andy Johnson; and like many patent medicines, it may be excellent for some particular disease, but its action upon all the other organs is mischievous and weakening, in its tendency at least.
The Forty-first Congress had 121 members who quietly slip back into private life. It is their last few days at the Capitol, and they decide upon having a good time, leaving the drudgery to the new Congress. These members will not agree to night sessions. It is impossible to assemble a quorum, and during the days the least possible work is accomplished. In order to show the country how a large mountain can bring forth a small mouse, yesterday the rules were suspended in order to put into the appropriation bill the amount necessary for the public buildings in different parts of the country. The yeas and nays were called, but owing to those intellectual antics which members know so well how to perform, the root of the matter could not be reached. The vote was takeneleven times, and after all this manoeuvring the whole matter was laid upon the table. Over seven precious hours of the time was wasted and the country has nothing to show for it except its depleted purse. During the last short session of Congress a majority of the members feel little or no responsibility, if they are to be judged by their deportment and work.
The officers to be elected in the new Congress are Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Postmaster, and Doorkeeper. Pennsylvania is in possession of the Clerk’s office, and there seems to be little or no opposition to the present accomplished officer. New York holds fast to the Doorkeeper, and at this point of the proceedings there seems little cause for alarm. The great struggle, however, is going to be between the contestants for Postmaster and Sergeant-at-Arms. The present Postmaster has all the strength of the House, because he has proved himself a worthy and efficient officer, but Sergeant Sherwood ought to have the place, because he would make one of the handsomest officers in the House, where beauty is at a discount; besides he takes good care of his widowed mother, and he has but one shapely leg and no wife to comfort him in case he is defeated. If women were on the floor of Congress, Sergeant would be elected without a dissenting voice, and a mild hint is feelingly insinuated that every man on the floor shall vote exactly as if he expected at some future time in his life to become the connecting link between woman and the angels.
But whilst the old Forty-first Congress is prostrated with a paralytic stroke a great cry is heard from the hungry South. It is declared that the New England and Western States are represented in the leading offices of the House, but nowhere is the voice of the sugar-cane heard. Louisiana and Tennessee have both lifted up their eyes, and refused to be comforted unless room is found for one or the other in the national council. At the same time, between the groans of the dying monarch, merrimentand feasting are heard. The present New Hampshire Sergeant-at-Arms is busily engaged in tickling the palates of helpless Congressmen. Across Capitol square, in a house of modest pretension, a table is spread which would make the President’s “incomparable Melah” clasp his hands with joy. It has been proven beyond a doubt that the vote of Congressmen often lies in the stomach, and with this end in view New England has been searched for chaste white pullets to make chicken salad as thorough in its action as a bottle of Spaulding’s glue. And yet, in the very midst of the feasts, a member with a stomach as capacious as a cotton-gin has shown alarming symptoms. His limbs have begun to tremble, and his knees act like the arch in carnival time. His mouth is seen to open without apparent cause, and a sound issues therefrom: “I say, Ordway! Any more chicken salad? I don’t like to bet on the champagne. You can have my vote (hic). Free country! Free carriages! Hip! hip! hooray!”
The House is still in session. The sonorous voice of the reading clerk opens the appropriation bill and reads: “To Joseph S. Wilson, for the valuable scientific Museum at the General Land Office, $10,000.”
At this point of the proceedings Mr. Kelsey, of New York, declares that Mr. Wilson is not entitled to one cent of it. Mr. Kelsey affirms that Mr. Edmunds, the predecessor of Mr. Wilson, sent a circular to surveyors, registers, and receivers of land offices throughout the country, thus officially authorizing them to collect the specimens of which this mineral and geological cabinet is composed. Mr. Kelsey likewise declared that Professor Hayden, formerly of the Interior Department, had donated to the Land Office his collection, gathered during the time he was connected with the Department. In 1868 Mr. Wilson sent a circular into the country, after the manner of his predecessor, and all specimens weighing less than four pounds were allowed to be sent throughthe mails free. These articles were arranged by a clerk and labeled by the same, and put in paper cases, at an expense of a little more than $9,000 to the Government. After this plain statement of the case, Mr. Kelsey subsided, yet the House voted $10,000 to Joseph S. Wilson for superintending this work less than three years, in addition to his own salary. Mr. Sargent, of California, said in extenuation of his vote that Mr. Wilson had been a faithful public officer for forty years, and although he had a perfect knowledge of the land system he didn’t own a single acre, and that he was now compelled to apply for copying for members of his family or to rent rooms for lodgings to support the same; and now, instead of pensioning an old and faithful public servant, as is done in every civilized country except our own, it is sought to rob him of the acknowledgment of meritorious service.
Upon the same principle that the Government is responsible for the pecuniary condition of those it employs, General Banks moved that Vinnie Ream should be paid an additional five thousand dollars for her immortal statue of Lincoln. In the most feeling manner he referred to the years of patient toil which the young artist had bestowed upon the model. In language of a statesman he depicted the woman, and the beauty and purity of the marble of which the celebrated statue is composed. All the strong points of the case were handled with a master’s dexterity, and General Banks suddenly collapsed before the scorching corruscations of his own mind. General Butler then arose and declared himself safe on the woman question. He had no objection to Vinnie Ream’s rosy lips and bright eyes, so long as they continued to be Congressional property, but he dare not, even for her sake, pick the national pockets in the daytime; and he therefore gave way to Mr. Dawes, the most economical man in Congress, who seemed to be exceedingly annoyed that his gallantry should be held up as a target for the shafts of less scrupulous Congressmen. Mr.Dawes protested against this bold proposition of General Banks; but a disinterested observer could perceive by the drooping of his eyelids, and the ready, flute-like tones of his voice, that a woman was in some way mixed up with the case, and that he was battling as only a man can with the waters of demoralization. Another Congressman was about to make a speech against giving Vinnie the additional five thousand, but before he had time to open his lips he was seized by one of the monsters of the lobby and hurried to a spot where a view of Vinnie’s modest studio greeted his vision. Filmy lace shrouded the tall gaunt windows. The clear little doves which the inimitable artist had brought from Rome were cooing and kissing, and baskets of flowers were slowly steeping in the beams of amber sunshine. The member fell on his face and wept, at the same time General Banks and the motion were carried.
Olivia.